Mankind is one of the few Galactic races that distinguishes Good from Evil. To take it a stage further, Mankind is one of the only intelligent species that assumes that there is something intrinsically and cosmically wrong with that which it does not like. Mankind, for instance, classifies the creatures of the Red Planet as evil because once they cut a swathe through the Greataway with their Weapon. In contrast, Mankind sees the kikihuahuas as good because they are helpful and agreeable.
However, if this matter was put to either the creatures of the Red Planet or the kikihuahuas, they would simply say they were trying to survive with the best means at their disposal. And they would grant their enemies the same motives.
This odd trait of Mankind — the concept of Good and Evil — makes it inevitable that, if a creature such as the Bale Wolf should evolve, it would happen within Mankind’s orbit.
*
Many centuries before the time of our story, when humans were beginning to lose the capability to build, service or even understand their own machines, the kikihuahuas developed a simple little animal from the same stock as the memory potto and presented it to Earth. It became known as the saybaby. It had a mind of great logic but extremely limited intelligence, and it had been indoctrinated with computer and human language. It worked in conjunction with the Rainbow, taking instruction from its human masters, quickly analyzing the available data, sorting it into logical order in human language and verbalizing it.
So when Brutus replaced the data crystal and gained access to it through the keyboard, he did not need to devise a complex program in order to extract the specific happenings that might relate to neoteny in their correct order of causality. He didn’t have the skill to do that, anyway. Instead, he summoned the saybaby, which condensed weeks of work into an hour.
Brutus, Selena, Zozula, Manuel and the Girl were present when the saybaby finally turned away from the flow of aural and visual displays. These displays had been far too rapid for the humans to understand, but the saybaby had seen them all with its goggling eyes, heard them all with its outsize ears, rejected what it did not need and sorted the remainder. Now it was ready to speak.
First, it cleared its throat with a tiny cough and gaped a couple of times as though practicing. Then it spoke in a piping voice.
It spoke of the Macrobes and the second mistake these little parasites had made. They had discovered through the Everlings that immortality was not necessarily the key to survival. They had observed human history and noted the natural appeal of juvenile characteristics: the plumpness, short limbs, snub noses, the innocence, and that natural goodness that triggers the protective instinct in adults.
“The Macrobes decided that the key to survival was to be loved,” piped the saybaby. So the Macrobes went back into the genes of their hosts. They identified those genes that were responsible for behavior, and they split the gentle from the aggressive. They identified the genes responsible for physical characteristics, and they split the rounded from the angular, the babyish from the adult, the pretty from the ugly. They did a very thorough job on the human form, and they accomplished this separation throughout the gene bank.
“The next time the vats were used, two distinct groups of creatures emerged. One was a gentle, lovable thing totally unsuitable for survival in any normal environment. The other was a cruel, violent demon.
“The Macrobes had made another mistake, but this time it affected the whole human race. The People Planet was the repository for the only remaining True Human tissue hardy enough to breed true and to survive. The samples had been gathered from Cuidadors long dead. And now the Macrobes had polluted the bank. It was a sad year for the True Human race.
“The evil monsters were sent into exile, and it is hoped that they remain there. But the neotenites will be there to rebuke Mankind until the last True Human dies and the People Planet closes down and Earth is left in the hands of the Wild Humans and the Specialists.” Having finished, the saybaby closed its eyes.
“So that’s how the neotenites came about,” said Selena.
The Girl said, “The evil monsters … You know what they are, of course. They’re the Bale Wolves. Do you remember, Manuel? When we were on the Sky train, the passengers were scared of meeting the Bale Wolves. I thought it was some kind of legend, but maybe they’re the real thing.”
“I’m sure they are,” said Manuel. “And I tell you who’s seen them.”
“Who?” Brutus asked the question so sharply that they stared at him. He began to twiddle his fingers in embarrassment.
“Loanna,” said Manuel. “The girl Horst brought back. She described them, remember? Hairy humans, nasty as all hell? Those are the Bale Wolves, for sure.”
“This Loanna,” said Brutus, “she’s an Everling?”
“That’s right.” Manuel described the events at Horst’s Stones while Brutus nodded rapidly, again and again.
“Does this get us any further?” asked the Girl.
“Now we know the cause of neoteny,” said Selena. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
“Yes, but surely they’d have found the cure for neoteny back in the hundred and ninth millennium — if there is a cure.” The Girl sounded despondent. She had hoped the crystal would reveal a little more.
Zozula said, “I don’t suppose they even tried to find a cure. They blamed themselves for not policing their research more closely, and their main concern was to get the Bale Wolves out of there, fast. And then they probably closed down the vats for several generations. By the time they got back into production, the details of the Bale Wolves’ creation had been forgotten. They wanted to forget it.”
“They were so horrified by what had happened that they shipped off the data crystal with Loanna,” said Selena. “It was an indictment of their stupidity. They knew that the crystal would only return if the Bale Wolves were safely isolated.”
“But what are we going to do now?” asked the Girl.
Brutus said, “There’s only one thing we can do.”
“What is that, Brutus?” asked Selena eagerly. Zozula, looking at them, suddenly knew where the real power on the People Planet lay; he offered a silent prayer for the True Human race.
“We must obtain a genetic addendum to replace what the Girl and the other neotenites lack.”
“That’s easily said.” Selena was disappointed. “You know as well as I do, the science of synthesizing genes was never perfected. Where do you suggest we obtain the addendum from?”
Brutus bared his teeth in a smile without humor. “From the obvious source. The Bale Wolves themselves.”
TO CATCH A BALE WOLF
There was a silence while they regarded Brutus, who became nervous after a while and began to scratch himself.
Eventually Zozula spoke: “We don’t have the knowledge to prepare a genetic additive, even if a Bale Wolf were available. It’s a good suggestion, but, it’s not practicable, I’m afraid, Brutus.”
The gorilla-man said, “The Rainbow has the knowledge. The creature Caradoc in Dream Earth can probably help me find it. He is very knowledgeable.”
“And Brutus certainly has the ability to carry out the laboratory work,” added Selena.
“And where would we obtain our Bale Wolf?” asked Zozula sceptically.
“From the Nameless Planet,” replied Brutus.
“Do you really suppose he would volunteer his services?”
Brutus scowled. “I’m just a Specialist, trying to help you True Humans. I’m telling you that if you give me a Bale Wolf, I can probably cure your neotenites. I’m not going to catch a Bale Wolf for you; that’s your job.”
“Watch your tongue!” said Zozula imperiously.
Manuel said, “It’s no business of mine, because I’m just a savage Wild Human. But it seems to me that Brutus has a point. If you are to do your duty, as you so often call it, you must get hold of a Bale Wolf, Zozula. I’ll help you.”
“And how would we find our way to the Nameless Planet, Manuel
? Tell me that!”
“Loanna will show us the way.”
The Girl said uneasily, “You remember what they said on the Skytrain? The Bale Wolves are the most terrible creatures in the Galaxy. Nobody has ever survived meeting them.”
“Except Loanna. If she can survive, we can. And anyway,” said Manuel, warming to his theme, “they’re only another kind of human being. It’s not as though we were thinking of attacking the Red Planet.”
“How can anyone capture a Bale Wolf?” asked Zozula. “They can jump happentracks. As soon as we tried to get a net over it, or whatever, it would disappear into the next happentrack, if it didn’t kill us first.”
“Loanna will know a way,” said Manuel confidently.
Selena, who had been listening quietly, said, “We have no alternative, Zozula. None at all. This is the only chance the neotenites have.”
*
Loanna couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.
What was the matter with Horst? Why, after all these millennia, wouldn’t he speak to her? After the others had left, they had walked together to his shack, she talking brightly, half crying, immeasurably relieved to be back in the company of a real human being again. At first she had taken Horst’s silence for a quiet joy; but then, as the hours went by, it became clear that it was sullenness. He answered her questions in curt monosyllables and he seemed to flinch from her touch. In a moment of quick irritation — had she waited thirty-six thousand years for this? — she asked, “What the hell is the matter with you, Horst?”
He glanced up at her, then glanced away.
“No, look at me.” She insisted. “I really want to know.”
“You’re back, aren’t you?” he said at last. “Isn’t that enough? You beat the Bale Wolves, Loanna. You must be very proud. You certainly ought to be.”
“It’s not enough.”
“What more could you want?”
“You, Horst.”
He looked at her, a look of sudden wild misery, then jumped to his feet. He made a sound something very like a sob, then set off into the rain at a stumbling run. After a while, she left the shack, too, with some vague idea of finding him later, but initially with a desire to be alone to think.
Thirty-six thousand years was a long time, and it was conceivable that Horst had fallen out of love with her. Maybe he was involved with some girl from the village. But if that was so, why had he gone to the trouble of constructing his astral chart? When first she had seen that monumental undertaking, she had taken it as a measure of his love for her. Now, she wondered if he had built it out of some dogged sense of obligation.
Loanna walked through the rain and soon reached the top of the cliff. Below her, the water surged against the rocks, and as the heavy swell rolled into a cave far below her, the ground trembled. A few stones rattled down the cliff face. The land was under siege and within her lifetime would yield to the ocean. She would see the factory crumble and fall, and she would see the True Humans and the Specialists evacuate to Earth and the ocean cow bellow its death cries into the wind. And, perhaps, she would leave for Earth herself.
But all that was a long time in the future, and there was an infinity of chances of accidental death before that happened, before the People Planet became a world of water. For instance, she could slip and fall from this cliff …
She got a grip on herself and came to a decision. She would tackle Horst and find out what his problem was. After all, at one time they had shared every thought. It was ridiculous to be frightened of finding out the truth. She had survived far worse things.
And with that last thought the nightmares came flooding back like a tide, and the shivering started. The Bale Wolves … For thirty-six thousand years she had clung to the memory of Horst, shutting out the memory of each previous day’s torture because she knew that if she allowed the effects to accumulate, she would go mad. And the imperfections of her own mind had helped her, as the creatures had slapped her and hissed at her and sucked her blood and done whatever their limited imaginations permitted, because she began to forget specific incidents. Once they built a baby and cooked it and ate it in front of her, and she didn’t forget that. But otherwise one day was much like the last, and after a while one torture was much like the last, until eventually she was able to treat each day as it came, with Horst the only bright beacon in her memory. Horst, always Horst; her one love, her one hope.
She stepped back from the cliff. She turned her steps in the direction of the Stones.
Horst was not in sight, but she heard his voice from inside the shack and she felt a glow of joy.
Someone else said, “So you see, it’s important to the human race that we get hold of a Bale Wolf. We thought probably Loanna would be able to take us to them.”
And then Horst’s voice. “I’m sure she’ll take you.”
Then a voice that she recognized as the pathetic neotenite they called the Girl. “It’s a lot to ask. We’ll understand if she can’t face them again.”
Horst said, “Loanna isn’t afraid.”
Loanna felt a blinding flash of rage. Hardly aware of what she was doing, she strode into the shack and confronted the meeting. Zozula was there, and Selena and the young Wild Human and the Girl, all sitting on the floor around Horst.
“You have a damned nerve, Horst!” she said, furious. “If you think I’m going anywhere near those Bale Wolves again, whether the future of the human race depends on it or not, you’re crazy! You simply don’t know what I’ve been through. And now you want me to go back?”
“What’s the matter?” mumbled Horst. “Are you frightened of them?”
“Of course I’m frightened of them!”
“Well, you didn’t give that impression when you took off with them.”
“They were safely in a drogue! Horst, you spent a whole night with them. You know what they’re like!”
“I thought you were braver than I.”
“Well, I wasn’t. I hadn’t been in their clutches, that’s all. I hadn’t been affected by them. Now I have — and I’m not going to let it happen again! I’m sorry, you people,” she addressed the others, “but I won’t take you. I can’t. I wouldn’t be able to compose myself for the Outer Think. It would be impossible!”
Horst’s demeanor changed. He took a deep breath and his shoulders lifted as though shrugging off a burden. “Impossible?” he repeated.
“Well, you know that, Horst. Look what happened to you.”
“Maybe I was a coward.”
“Cowardice had nothing to do with it.” She was talking more quietly now. Hesitantly, she sat beside Horst. “Is that what you’ve been thinking?”
“For a very long time.”
“Don’t think it anymore.” She took his hand. “I know what you went through, that night at the baby factory. And I know you did it for me, because we couldn’t have children. You’re no coward, Horst, and neither am I. There are certain things that we simply can’t do, no matter how much we may try. We can’t be blamed for that. Blame the structure of the Greataway, if you like, but don’t blame yourself.”
She kissed him.
Manuel cleared his throat and frowned at the others. Quietly they got to their feet and left.
*
It was a silent party that rode back to Boss Castle. Even the shrugleggers seemed depressed, plodding dismally through the rain, sensing the disappointment of their riders.
As they dismounted, Manuel burst out: “Well, you can hardly blame her!”
The Girl said sadly, “You’re right, Manuel.” A caracal-man helped her down from the shruglegger, grinning slyly. They walked through to Selena’s quarters.
Selena herself seemed ill at ease. Manuel drifted over to the painting of She and stood regarding it. The Girl snorted unpleasantly, and it was Zozula who finally spoke.
“Nobody could have done more than we have. Nobody could have tried harder.”
Selena said heavily. “It’s the end of everything. We might as w
ell close the People Planet down, now. I feel sorry for our Specialists. We’re taking away the whole purpose of their existence. But we can’t justify maintaining this place on the basis of the occasional fluky True Human birth — not now that we know what the real problem is.”
“I feel sorry for us,” said Zozula. “There’s no reason for our existence, either, now.”
Manuel swung round from the painting. “You True Humans give up easily, don’t you?”
With heavy sarcasm, Zozula said, “Perhaps you’d be good enough to tell us what you have in mind, Manuel. Have you rediscovered the Outer Think all by yourself? Don’t keep it a secret. By what means are we going to locate the Bale Wolves?”
“The Celestial Steam Locomotive,” said Manuel …
“Oh, no,” said the Girl softly. She remembered Dream Earth and the terrible creature who had held her prisoner, that black-cloaked monster who still tapped his way through her dreams with a white stick and dead eyes. “Oh, no, Manuel.”
“I’ll look after you, Girl.”
“The Locomotive, eh?” said Zozula pensively. “Now, that’s not a bad idea, Manuel. We have nothing to lose. Unless they’ve already met the Bale Wolves and been wiped out. The Locomotive may no longer exist.”
“I think …” Manuel struggled to find the right words. “I think the Locomotive always existed and always will. I don’t think it’s connected with Time, the way we are, Zozula.”
“You could be right. And right or wrong, it’s our only chance,” Zozula’s mood became buoyant. “Selena! We will depart for Earth immediately — Manuel, the Girl and I. Let those fox-people know. And I’d like you and Brutus to stay here and prepare for the Bale Wolf.”
“Can I speak to you in private for a moment?” Selena took his arm and led him into the next room, closing the door behind them. Here a huge window looked out over a vast expanse of tossing grey broken only by the island of the ocean cow’s breathing apparatus a kilometer away. She stood with her back to Zozula, watching the waves. “Do you remember … a long time ago, when we found something was wrong with the tissue bank, we decided to use samples from our own bodies. We thought we might clone ourselves, as a last resort.”
Gods of the Greataway Page 17