"For you are the modern representatives of what we call the Ancients, that mighty species we supposed were the ultimate Kirlians. We strove so desperately to master your colossal technology, to comprehend your science and your rationale and your mysterious fate, never suspecting that these things were not because you were superior, but because you were inferior. You pushed Kirlian technology far beyond what we have because that was the only way you could use it. Your machines had to be virtually perfect. You have no auras of your own.
"And so we are mutually guilty. We were looking for super-Kirlians, so did not recognize you when you came. You were looking for weed-species, so did not recognize the developed fruit of your prior effort here. We both saw you as conquerors, as exterminators, so of course you were. But now we can work together to solve the problem we both face. Energy."
The Coordinator did not respond.
"We assumed that your Kirlian science had eliminated Spherical regression," Herald continued with more confidence. "Actually, you never settled long enough in a cluster to experience it. You use half-light-speed ships for your maneuvering, and special mattermission and energy-Transfer for the long hops. It takes a great deal of time, but you have that. What you don't have is aura—and that is what motivated you to undertake this fantastic everlasting mission."
The Coordinator just watched him. And Herald realized with a sinking sensation that this creature, this representative of a species that had remained in virtual stasis for many millions of years, like the Solarian termite society, simply could not grasp the concept of success. The Amoeba suffered no regression—but it also enjoyed no further progression. "Soul Sapience" was indeed a term whose meaning had been lost.
He tried again, bemused by this unexpected difficulty, but knowing he had to break through somehow. The shape of life itself in the Universe depended on it! "Coordinator, we of this Cluster are Soul Sapient. I invite you to verify this in myself. I am the type of life you seek."
The Coordinator made a signal, and a force field closed about Herald and Sixteen. Beams played over them. Amoebites might not be receptive to new ideas, but they acted with extreme efficiency.
A flanking Amoebite, evidently a technician, read off the analysis: |||The entities are of an evolved cousin-species, sapient, fractional aura, not the type we seek. We normally isolate such types from the main galaxies and let them be. Male amplifies his aura to two hundred thirty-five times sentient norm, mechanism uncertain. Pattern corresponds to that typical of the interference force recently encountered in several sites around this cluster. Female is normal for her species, aura still far below level required. She is gravid, parturition due momentarily. |||
Gravid! Suddenly Herald realized what was wrong with Sixteen. She was not sick; she was about to give birth to what she had conceived—by him. The interval between copulation and parturition varied widely around the Cluster, from seconds to centuries. Had he thought about it, he would have realized she was due. His half-willful blindness, again! She had put herself into this danger because he had asked her to, even though he wanted her to be host to another female—the one he really loved.
Had it been conscious irony on her part? To let her rival be present for the birth of the offspring? What would Psyche think of that!
&Let the female go. We do not execute the innocent.&
They did not execute the innocent! Apparently the Coordinator was unconscious of the irony, as he prepared to exterminate all life within this Cluster that was sapient!
Sixteen, evidently released from the force field, jetted to the far side of the ship. Herald remained in stasis, able to speak but not to move.
&So this is the source of our annoyance! Now he claims to be Soul Sapient, thinking to deceive us with his artificially enhanced aura. He shall pay the penalty for that blasphemy.&
The field intensified. It had held him firmly but without discomfort. Now it caused pain, rising steadily. The Coordinator had resolved his doubt by refusing to absorb any of Herald's explanation. Blindness—how to get around it?
"Listen to me!" Herald cried. "There is no aural generator or enhancing mechanism. I was in your equipment; I can exist in any male host of any Kirlian species. Test me! Let me show you that what I say is true!"
&We have no suitable 'hosts.' What you claim is impossible and heretic. We shall not waste time on it.&
Herald cast about for some way to penetrate this determined wall of ignorance before the pain made thought impossible. The Amoeba knew that Kirlian sapience did not exist, therefore was blind to its manifestation. Just as the sapients of the Cluster had known the Ancients were super-Kirlians, and that the Amoeba formation near Furnace was only a minor natural formation of dust, so had been unable to recognize their true natures—or their connection to each other. Melody of Mintaka had been smart enough to comprehend part of the truth, but had declined ever to speak of it. No, no words, no demands would sway this mentally moribund Coordinator!
Unless— "Flame!" Herald cried. "Flame of Furnace. She is still in the site on Planet £!" If she survived! "You think of her as an aberration in the equipment, as machine consciousness, but ask her who she is. She will show you she is sapient, Kirlian life."
The Coordinator considered, as though willing to humor the condemned entity. &Does the site £ aberration re-main?&
X It remains,X an Amoebite answered on the communication screen. These creatures did not seem to bother with holography; perhaps it took up too much useful space. X We have isolated it, but have not yet been able to destroy it without damaging the site itself. X
The Coordinator addressed Herald again. &You claim this force can animate a female host of this cluster with sapience?&
"Yes! If you will only get a host—"
&Then she will animate this female host,& be said, indicating Sixteen.
Oh, no! Then there would be no host for Psyche! Multiple auras could occupy a single host in special circumstances, but the nervous system of a Jet was simply too restricted to accommodate two auras of this intensity. How could he give up Psyche? Yet the alternative was complete failure.
Psyche, forgive me! Herald cried mentally with a terrific burst of emotion enhanced by the agony of the crucifixion he was undergoing in the alien force field. Then he steeled himself and said: "Bring Flame's aura here, if you can. Abate your interference pattern, leave her a channel, so she can Transfer. She will animate this host." He hoped/feared.
&We convey the aberration to this unit. Now it arrives. Direct it.&
So soon! "Flame!" Herald cried. "Flame of Furnace: Animate the Jet host. We must prove we are Kirlian sapients, to save the Cluster! Flame!"
Sixteen's body paused. Would it work? Could Flame hear him? Would she do it? Could she do it?
Then Sixteen changed, subtly. Even from this distance, Herald felt the change of aura. He could not read the aural family, but if this were the fringe of it, the strength at the center had to be on the order of two hundred. Flame.
|||Aural generation!||| the technician said.
&It is a technical trick,& the Coordinator cried. &She has a generator.&
"Oh, come on!" Herald exclaimed. "You searched her yourself! Have more faith in your own readings! What machine could she have? How could she turn it on without your knowledge?"
|||They must have technology we have not analyzed,||| the technician said.
"Flame, tell them who you are!" Herald cried. "All our lives depend on it!"
"I am—" she started, but broke off. She shuddered. "I must—"
Then Herald realized what was happening. "Parturition is upon her!" he cried. What a time to have this happen. And it was his own fault—in more than one way! Sixteen had tried to tell him, and he, obsessed with his own mission, had not listened. Like the Amoeba, he had allowed his singleness of purpose blind him to a matter vitally affecting its success.
Then it was Sixteen talking. "Oh, Herald, I tried to delay it," she said. "But the shock of Possession—"
; She gave an involuntary heave. From her tube an object shot out, one of the obstructions that had reduced her mobility. It was a tiny Jet, nurtured on the lining of her tube, nourished by the gases that passed through her system. Now it found itself in air, and took its first individual breath. A thin stream of gas shot out from it, bringing control.
But Sixteen was heaving again, birthing another infant. Then a third. That completed her litter.
&You offered to demonstrate Soul Sapience in this female,& the Coordinator said. &Instead you have demonstrated parturition, a phenomenon already known to us. This consumes time. We shall now eliminate you, and return female and offspring to a reservation in the hope that in several million more years this subspecies will achieve the goal.& He signaled the technician.
Herald's pain became intolerable. He knew they were going to kill him. It had all been for nothing! The Coordinator had all that he needed to know, and was wrapping up the matter efficiently. Just as Prince Circlet of Crown had been assured that Psyche was Possessed, so had burned her.
Sixteen moved. |||Desist, &!||| she cried. |||You abridge the ancient law at the peril of your mission!|||
The Coordinator paused, and Herald's agony abated. &You speak without translation!&
Indeed she had! Herald understood her mainly by the translation to Quote.
|||How many other clusters, elsewhere in the universe, have developed Kirlian sapience, Soul Sapience—and been eradicated by the Amoeba?||| she continued. |||You, &, who have cautioned your subordinates about the danger of overlooking the very thing you seek—you are doing it yourself! You are blind, intellectually sightless! When you take samples for verification and reverification of the absence of Soul Sapience, you call them animals, even when they are sapient, making your verifications worthless! The Ancients have become a machine: uncomprehending, ruthless, dedicated to a purpose without recourse to reason. This is their tragedy—and yours!|||
&How can this be?& It was as though the Coordinator had to listen to an indictment delivered in his own mode, and could not shunt it aside as easily as one delivered in an alien mode. &You are not one of us!&
|||I am not one of you,||| she agreed. |||I am of your fine old equipment, which performs its set mission better than you do yours. Even now, that machinery is turning against your misplaced thrust, halting your erroneous sterilization of this Cluster. No more Kirlian sapients shall be destroyed by your confusion.|||
&Terminate her!& the Coordinator said to his technician.
"Is this the way you spare innocents?" Herald called. How like this was to the final moments at Kastle Kade, but this time there could be no reversal of the tragedy. Flame, Psyche, the Cluster, and Kirlian life itself hung in the balance. And he—could do nothing!
There was a pause. |||I cannot!||| the tech cried, bewildered. |||The field does not respond!|||
He was correct. Suddenly Herald himself was released.
In a moment the Coordinator had verified it: The ship's controls did not obey his directives. &We have been betrayed, sabotaged!&
|||No,||| Flame Sixteen replied. |||You have been saved from your own folly. Now you shall be educated. Consider these my offspring, sired by this high-Kirlian male while in Transfer.|||
It was Sixteen talking, somehow, in Amoebic. But what was this about the Amoeba's own equipment turning against the invasion? Sixteen could not have set that up! Had Flame somehow managed to take over the unit from inside? But she was no longer in the circuitry! There was a missing element that confused him almost as much as it confused the Coordinator. No one not thoroughly conversant with the equipment of the Amoeba should have been able to wrest control from Amoeba technicians. He had occupied the related Ancient equipment himself and knew its complexity! This had to be some sort of bluff.
The technician played his analyzer beam over the infant Jets. At least that beam responded to control! ||| They have auras in the normal Kirlian-animal range— yet they are sapient,||| the technician announced, shaken.
"Normal auras?" Herald cried. "Not fractional?"
"They are normal," Sixteen said, this time in Quotes. So it couldn't be Flame, who had never occupied an Etamin host and did not speak Quotes. No, he was confusing himself; Flame would use the linguistics of the host. "I knew they would be. I had faith."
&Faith,& the Coordinator echoed faintly.
"Do you realize what this means?" Herald demanded of the Coordinator. "A male of Slash can interbreed with a female of Glob, in terms of aura. My aura of over two hundred merged with her aura of one two-hundredth, and the offspring are the median, or normal. That cannot be coincidence; no Jet has had that high an aura before! If a high-aura sapient Transferred to an Amoeba host—"
The Coordinator, shaken by the problem with the equipment and Sixteen's declarations, seemed on the verge of accepting part of the concept of existent Kirlian sapience. Right now he reminded Herald of the Duke of Kade, coming to recognize the horrible truth (yet untruth) of Possession. The Ancients were like the Cluster entities—if they could only accept it.
&Impossible. We have no auras at all.&
"But you are closely related to the Jets of Glob," Herald persisted. "With them and some genetic engineering, you might interbreed, and your offspring would have fractional auras. Then full Kirlians could Transfer into those hosts...."
The bait was too tempting. The Coordinator's resistance broke. He wanted to believe. &Our dream for these fifty thousand cycles! Soul Sapience at last!& The translation told Herald that was about four and a half million years, which suggested that the Ancients had been doing this for one and a half million years before they came to this Cluster the first time. Such persistence!
Victory had been granted to the Cluster—and to the Amoeba too. "I don't know how you did it," Herald said to Flame Sixteen. "I don't even know which of you did it. But it was a magnificent job, and I love you both." Then he had to add: "But Psyche is the one I long for. Without her, my personal life is bereft, and I have no wish to continue after I am assured the Cluster is secure."
Sixteen looked at him, not approaching. "How do you propose to explain your affairs with two other females?"
"I don't think I would even try. The exigencies of my position were foreign to her culture. Yet to promote her interest I would have affairs with a thousand other females, and each would be meaningless. Had I never met Psyche, I could have loved you, Flame; I know I could! In my ignorance I wronged you. And though I am emotionally deaf to low aura, I might have loved you, too, Sixteen. But I did meet Psyche, and she conquered me, and though it was her enhanced aura that first broke down my resistance, it is her I love forever, high aura or low, whether she lives or dies or whatever form she takes. I do love you girls, and know you each are worthy, but it is as a satellite to my greater love for her. I love you in part because you helped me in my quest for her. I regret that I must treat you so, using you both as I have, but that is the way it is. The truth must be told. Now I must search for her—for the rest of my life, if need be. Because without her I have no life."
Now Sixteen moved closer, and be felt more of her Transfer aura. "Flame understands," she said. "That is why she elected to stay in circuit and handle the equipment takeover. This is the prime unit, here aboard this ship; all others key into it. So she controls the Amoeba fleet, now."
Herald paused. "Flame controls it? But she—"
She was almost upon him, her aura passing two hundred. The equipment had enhanced it beyond Flame's level, obviously. "And Sixteen needs an aura, and I need a host." Now her aura paralleled his own, moving above it. "I, too, understand, Herald. I always understood. The ways of other cultures are not my own, and they cannot be judged in terms of mine. You were a creature of Slash, a foreign Galaxy, alien to me in form and culture, yet love ameliorated everything. All that sustained me through my long exile in hell, desperately hiding, concealing my nature from the meters of the devils, learning their language and custom and the liabilities of their largely automati
c system, coming to know that they were after all well-meaning sapients unswervingly loyal to their mission, as I was to mine—all that sustained me was my overwhelming love for you. I knew it was returned. Every dialogue you held near Ancient equipment I perceived, though I could not answer lest I betray myself and lose all. Now—"
"Psyche!" he cried, finally recognizing her aura, finally comprehending her meaning. "You jumped to the host, not Flame! You saved me from execution!"
"We all saved you—just in time for the family," she agreed. Then they were together—forever.
Epilogue
There were a number of details to be worked out. It took about two centuries. To the Kirlian sapients of the Cluster, Ancient science had represented the ideal of complete energy sufficiency and the abolition of the problem of Spherical regression. To the Amoeba, Soul Sapience had represented the ultimate civilization, with potential for truly universal scale—and energy sufficiency. Both cultures were disappointed.
Yet there were tremendous gains to be made through the combination of Ancient science with Kirlian sapience. A great deal more could be accomplished than had been possible before, by either type of life alone, and programs of further research were inaugurated. One avenue of exploration was the heredity of high auras. Another was the classification of information. The Amoeba had no texts, because the semimechanical memory system of the non-Kirlians served far more accurately than that of aural creatures. Ways had to be found to pool the complete knowledge of both types. This led to a continuing series of incidental benefits, elevating the levels of technology and comfort for both.
The program of the Amoeba was changed. There was to be no more elimination of sapient species, regardless of their type. Cluster animals were treated better, since the Amoeba revered all Kirlianism. Joint units initiated a quest for Kirlian sapients already existing in other Clusters of the Universe, advising them of the all-Kirlian Cluster and providing the technology to guarantee their survival in Clusters whose majority of sapients were non-Kirlian. These missions demonstrated to other Clusters that the future of sapient life lay in the integration of types. Gradually the super-civilization spread across the Universe, a nucleus of really sophisticated energy use and conservation and unmatchable technology. The process was open-ended, and not without hazard, for the Universe was effectively infinite. But where this wave of reform passed, the frequent wars of energy and genocide of sapients ceased. There was now a better way.
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