This thing -- it's taking me in its claws -- rather gently, actually -- and its dome lights up. But suddenly all the ugly images melt away. It's doing the opposite of what the other one's dome did to me. I feel peaceful!
I can stand up now. It takes me by the hand and we walk out the big door. My head still hurts a bit. I'm a bit dizzy.
'I believe you are my new neighbour, are you not?' he says.
I'm not sure. I guess Shav did say this was the one who lived next to us.
'You live with Friend Heptosh, don't you?' he says.
I nod my head.
'You may have heard of me. My name is Nueryzh. Friend Heptosh has told me about you. I'll take you home.'
We reach the coourzt stall.
Neuryzh tells Mrs. b'n Shammah, 'Friend Eetoo has had an unfortunate experience with one of the new arrivals, a Groki, I believe. If you have no objection, I will take him home. He needs a rest.'
Tsaphar is looking at me, looking worried.
It's okay with Mrs. b'n Shammah.
He takes me slowly to the place where they keep the vehicles. We come to a carrier -- it's the same one I saw Heptosh come in that other time.
We get in. It starts without Nueryzh doing anything. It seems to drive itself.
'I control this vehicle through mental power,' he explains. 'That's a capacity humans don't have.'
We go along for a while.
'Do you enjoy living on Tok?'
'Yes,' I say.
'What do you like about it?'
'-- er -- I -- it's so different.'
'The landscape is different isn't it.'
'Yes.'
'Your planet, I believe, is one of the man made planets.'
'I guess.'
'I admired the Nephteshi civilisation very much for their achievements. They built many planets scattered all over this galaxy. But Tok is a natural planet. I think the planet where humanity was born was also a natural planet, was it not?'
'I don't know. I don't know where it is.'
'I'm not absolutely sure myself, but I'm sure it's a natural planet with many beautiful and unique features. Planets that give birth always are.'
We're quiet for a while.
'This planet gave birth to the Tzozks. I think you've met Friend Fra. He's the one who helped you after that terrible incident. Even though many kinds of creatures live on this planet, we honour the Tzozks by asking them to make the final decisions. They are quite capable administrators, Fra especially so.'
I feel good when he talks to me like that.
'What else do you like about Tok?'
I don't know what to answer. I think about Tsaphar.
'Do you enjoy the family you were with in the market?'
I nod my head.
'They are good people.'
Good?
'But Rav, he try to make Tsaphar get married,' I say.
'Ahh. And I suppose she doesn't desire it, does she?'
'No.'
'That happens sometimes in an Akkadi family. But perhaps there will be a happy solution.'
After a while, he says, 'Who knows? Perhaps you will be part of the solution.'
Does he really think so? Tsaphar didn't.
'But I must find golden tablets.'
'Yes, you must. That is your mission.'
Now we're getting close to the edge of the mountains where Heptosh's house is. I feel a lot better now.
'Why don't you come up to my abode for a visit?' he says.
'Okay.'
The carrier goes right up to the mountain and starts going straight up the side, the same as I saw it do the other time.
I look down. It's almost like being in the spaceship with Heptosh.
I see the edge of the rock in front of me -- the big vertical beams that look like computer pins, long things with six sides, all stuck together. The higher we go, the smoother the edges are. They were rather rough down below, like granite rock. Here, it's getting more like crystal.
Now, we're almost at the top. I can almost see through the rock. I still don't see a house though.
'Here we are.'
In front of us there's an opening in the crystal rock beams. The carrier slides in.
Neuryzh gets up, and I follow him.
Now, I see. The whole top of the mountain is a house. We go into a sort of cave made of the vertical crystal beams. It's a bit hard for me to walk though.
'I'm afraid this house isn't well suited to humans. You may have to spend time climbing over things.'
He steps gracefully on the pointed tops of the beams like a bird stepping on branches. They're just right for his feet.
It's very bright in here with the sun shining down through the crystal, but it's nice and cool.
'Where do you sleep?' I ask.
'Right here. We Utzes don't lie down to sleep in the way humans do. We perch, like this.'
He's perched, like a bird, on a couple of pointed tops.
'Climb over to there. It's a seat I've built for human visitors.'
I see a seat carved out of the top of a beam. I climb over to it and sit down.
There are things all over the room that are hard for me to tell what they are. A lot of them are made of crystal. There are some big cloth, or skin things, that look as though they must be his clothes. They're hanging over one of the beams.
'I wanted to show you this,' he says. He's holding a big round crystal thing, like a bubble.
'What is it?'
'It is -- now, listen very carefully, your tongue and ears aren't used to Utz words -- it's a borunñnvotzp.'
'Huh?'
'A borunñnvotzp. won't be able to pronounce it correctly with your human tongue. There are even sounds in the word your ears can't hear. It's best if you pronounce the middle part of the word, "nñn", by rubbing your tongue back and forth across the roof of your mouth. Try saying it: borunñnvotzp.'
'Ba-roo-nya-vots,' I say.
'I suppose that's about as close as you'll come. However if you said that in Utz conversation, it would be thought amusing, as what you said means something far different.'
'But, what is it?'
He sets it on the pointed top of one of the beams, and it stays there, balanced.
'You humans have art, sculpture and writing. You've probably seen different kinds of it, as you've now met people from several cultures.'
I have. Heptosh has lots of pictures and statues in his house. The b'n Shammah family do too, but they're a bit different. In my village, we like to decorate the wood about the doors of our houses. We cut the wood with a knife and rub rose petals and coloured rock on it. People decorate their spirit altars like that too. I like to draw pictures in sand, or on a slate.
'Apart from singing, the Utz have only one art form. We spend many years making our borunñnvotzp. I've had this one for a hundred years now. Every once in a while, when I feel creative, I add more to it. '
'But I don't see anything.'
'Only another Utz or a similar creature can fully appreciate a borunñnvotzp, but I can show you parts of it. Look straight at it. I'll direct some light into it.'
He reaches up to the roof and I see there's some bits of the crystal that's on hinges that he can turn this way and that. Suddenly a beam of light goes straight down to the crystal bubble.
I look at it and colours start coming out. There's sound too, music, some like I've never heard before, but some of it is just like what I thought was the wind blowing through the top of the mountain. That must have been him, then. There are pictures but they're moving. There's things dancing out in middle of the room all about the bubble. I've never seen anything like it!
I start to see lots of different creatures, like they're different from each other, and some look as though they're so different, they couldn't possibly appreciate one another, or even be together, but there's something that makes them want to be near each other. There's a big thing, like a monster, being good to something very tiny. Then, suddenly the tiny thing he
lps the big thing in a way the monster never thought of before -- like I would have never thought the tiny thing could help the big one, but it does, in a real way -- the monster's not just pretending to appreciate it either, but it's really helping. There's lots of things like that. The music makes me think about that too, even though I can't hear any words.
Neuryzh says, 'I'm going to show a story through the borunñnvotzp. I want you to tell me the story as you see it, but I want you to tell me in your native language.'
'In Fa-tzi-zhi?'
'Yes.'
'But you don't know Fa-tzi-zhi!'
'I will when we're finished.'
I start seeing people doing things. I tell him what I see in Fa-tzi-zhi. It's a nice story, about a boy and a girl -- human ones. They go somewhere. I'm telling the story to him. I'm really into it, so I forget that I'm telling him. The boy talks. He's not speaking Fa-tzi-zhi, but somehow I know what he's saying, and what the girl is saying. I'm saying it in Fa-tzi-zhi.
There's a bad thing that he's fighting. He's protecting the girl. The thing is getting him down. It's going to kill him, but he knows he has to protect the girl. Suddenly the girl gets up and does something totally unexpected. That chases the bad thing away.
They start to dance. There's music. No one's singing, but the music means something. I know what it means, and I'm telling Nueryzh what it is in Fa-tzi-zhi. It's beautiful things about people needing each other and helping one another in ways only they can. There's another song about how everything that has life is beautiful and precious.
The boy and girl meet people that only love things they can get. The boy and girl are trying to show people that there's something better than those things, and that's each other. The people don't want to listen. Suddenly, I see the bad thing the boy was fighting before, but it's using the people who won't listen. It's using their desire for power and riches, to fight the boy and girl. They boy and girl are fighting the thing, but at the same time, the song is going on and telling them to be careful not to fight the people, but the bad thing that is using them. They know they have to get something that will help them.
As I'm watching, I feel as though I'm that boy. They have to get something, like golden plates -- the ones I have to find. I look at the girl again.
It's Tsaphar!
I shout. It's like I'm waking up from a dream.
'It - it's me and Tsaphar!'
'Yes. I've been creating the story as you've been watching it. The story of you, Tsaphar and the golden plates is now a part of my borunñnvotzp.'
He's talking -- in Fa-tzi-zhi!
'You -- you talk like a ...'
'Yes. I've been learning your language as you speak it. Utzes have that capacity. Now, you can explain things to me like you couldn't before.'
'Wow!'
'Now, there's just one word I didn't hear. I'm wondering if we have it in our language.'
'What word?'
'In Nephteshi, they say, thank you. How would we say that in Fa-tzi-zhi?'
' -- er -- I don't know!'
'It's a word we need to express how valuable another person is to us. When someone does something for you, you can say in Nephteshi, thank you, or if you're speaking in Akkadi, toda. Perhaps in Fa-tzi-zhi, we can use a substitute word, such as, "you are kind". Practice saying it every time someone does something for you, even a small thing. Saying it will bring you closer to that person.'
'Okay.'
I look at him. He's just looking at me -- oh, I get it!
'You are kind,' I say.`
His head begins to glow a bit. I think that's the way he smiles. 'You, also are kind to show me about yourself. I've also learned many things today -- not only your language.'
I think he means it.
'When you speak to Elkhem, the One who has sent you on your mission, say it to Him also, because He has also been very kind to you.'
The sun is starting to set. The beams from the sun are showing rainbow colours all over the room. It's really beautiful.
I'm thinking about all he's been telling me, and showing me in that 'ber-unya-whatever'.
Then it's time to go home. He takes me down in the carrier, and we go to Heptosh's house.
13
Heptosh sat down at the table. Already seated (or perched) were Varasha, head of the Human Affairs Department with a couple of her staff, Diggin the Tzozk, head of Sector Security, along with Neuryzh and Fra as advisers. Takanen, an elderly member of the Nefzedi community was also present as an authority on some of the matters to be discussed.
Varasha opened the meeting: 'Thank you, all of you, for coming. I was disturbed by the report Heptosh gave me, and I thought the rest of the sector should be informed. I'll simply let Heptosh introduce the subject and tell you what he told me. Heptosh?'
Heptosh began relating the details of his meeting with Shan. He referred them to what Shan had said earlier regarding the bionic control circuit, and then related that to Shan's brief comments he had been able to make despite being controlled by the external force.
Varasha again took the floor. 'The question I want us to try to answer is, who could be controlling the bionics on Kalodzu-Famta?'
Diggin said, 'Apart from Kalodzu-Famta, there have been no reports of any bionic activity in our sector. I had only heard of them existing elsewhere.'
'They were quite numerous in the Ziern Sector, I understand,' said Neuryzh.
'I would start by asking the question, what is the source of bionic technology?' said Fra. 'Is it a human invention?'
Varasha said, 'Heptosh, maybe now would be a good time to introduce your friend.'
'Thank you. Mr. Takanen was a historian while in Nefzed. He was also well up on current affairs there at the time of our evacuation.'
'Can you shed any light on the question, Mr. Takanen?' asked Varasha.
'I'll start by telling you what I don't know,' began Takanen. 'I've racked my memory, as well as those of older surviving Nefzedis before they passed on, and I've checked all sources that are available, and there's no hint as who first introduced bionic replication to Nefzed. Several well known people had taken an implant about the same time. One was a senator's wife, another a designer of fashions, there were a couple of storytellers and actors, one a comedian, among others. Of course, none are available to ask, though I'm sure their bionic counterparts are still moving about. If someone wishes to risk their life in returning to Nefzed to ask them, I'm sure that would be helpful. I understand that there were also bionics on some of the other human planets in the sector. Some of them were facing the same problems as we -- namely, that they didn't perceive it as a problem, but as a thing for everyone to do. As to the question of which planet had it first; that, I also don't know.
'I don't think bionics were a human invention,' he went on. 'The designing of synthetic substance that can replicate the functions of living D.N.A. is something far beyond the capacity of any human technology past or present. The fact that the designers were also able to insert additional programming that could alter the mindset of the resulting bionic creature, and at the same time, retain the original human memory, psychology and cultural orientation, is a further mark of something far beyond human ability. The embedded ambition to reproduce itself in other humans to the destruction of the original human's soul, while deceiving us into thinking otherwise, puts it in the realm of something anti human.'
Diggin said, 'The Nephteshi empire was quite advanced though. The building of planets and the discovery of logical relocation reflects some surprisingly high level research and thought.'
Takanen answered, 'I'm as in the dark as anyone as to the origins of the Nephteshi civilisation. However, I have heard it suggested that even Logical Relocation technology didn't originate with us. Whoever designed the system that interprets our digital coordinates into the analogue signals that the reverse beam carries into hyperspace, must have had profound intuition of the dynamics of that dimension. I'm inclined to think that early humans learned of it
from a visiting Utz or a Tzozk.'
Fra spoke up: 'The Groki were rather numerous in the Ziern Sector -- a majority, I understand. They're beginning to gain a noticeable presence in our own sector.'
'I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions regarding the Groki,' said Diggin. 'Knowing their temperament, it would be a disaster in inter-sector relations to bring an accusation without extensive evidence to back it up.'
Varasha decided to sum it all up. 'What we do know is that bionic technology is anti-human in its intent and application. We also know that it was introduced to Kalodzu-Famta. Now, we know that whoever introduced it there is now taking control of some of its creations, probably for malicious intent. The purpose of this meeting is to bring this to the attention of the sector, and to plead for assistance in this matter.'
Diggin responded: 'Plea noted. Thank you also, Mr. Takanen, for your input. I will bring this to the attention of the sector president as well as the appropriate department heads. What the bionics have apparently been designed to do is certainly not in the interest of the sector. However, in the meantime, please do all in your power to glean more information. We will do the same.'
Neuryzh added, 'There are other human populations still living on Kalodzu-Famta, are there not? The Fa-tzi-zhi, for example?'
'You mean the "Famtizhi"?' said Varasha.
'Yes. They call themselves the "Fa-tzi-zhi" as they don't end their syllables in consonants. Should we not make an attempt to ensure their safety against the bionic presence in the Kalodzu area?'
Varasha said, 'Yes. Perhaps, Mr. Heptosh, you could make another trip there sometime to see how things are with the Famtizhi people.'
'I'm not worried about the Fa-tzi-zhi. I'm told that bionics can't adapt to other cultures, so the tribal nature of the Fa-tzi-zhi society is their protection. Also, I'm all scheduled up with trips and negotiating sessions for the next two months.'
'Put it on your calender for the next available time slot, at least.'
So, it was decided.
14
sellers extolling the qualities of their wares create a cacophony
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