Eye of the Gazelle

by Marcia Tucker

  Honorifics make no sense? Vekta wondered, then nodded. I suppose a culture that hasn’t been exposed to such a convention could be bewildered by them. He knew that the practice, coming out of a variety of cultures on the Asian continent on Terra many centuries ago, was unique to the Draconic culture.

  Thho continued, “About our telepathy… your subspecies recognizes a rating scale from 1 to 8, 1 being nontelepathic, and 8 as your highest rating, which is where you are. According to this scale, Pelans generally fall within Levels 4 and 5. Obviously I am a unique Pelan. I know of one other who would be a 6 and one who would be at Level 8, but for personal reasons I will have nothing to do with them.”

  Though the being spoke matter-of-factually, Vekta thought this piece of information was tremendously revealing. I don’t even know if it’s a he or she or qe or some equivalent… must be very lonely. Personal reasons? Too well he knew the isolation of being a High telepath — and the responsibility. The Perseus Defense Agency had enabled him to utilize his powers and to associate with others of like abilities. Outside of the Agency he’d have to confine himself to nonvoided planets such as Draco, Chidrac, Vriesia, or Eson to be able to freely use his powers. Orbglen was a voided planet, but as a retired Starguard, Vekta could have claimed telepathy use privilege had he desired.

  He peered more closely at his companion. “Don't you associate with those High telepaths? You really would not share the Attitudes with that Level 8?”

  Thho did not respond at first except to swim away in a slow circle in the center of the cave, avoiding his gaze. Vekta could catch a hint of uneasiness in the other’s emmind. “Are they related to you?” he added.

  It was apparently the wrong thing to ask. Vekta was startled by a swift wave of revulsion from the Pelan that was quickly suppressed. “You ask that only because you do not know us,” Thho tersely replied. “I suppose I will need to explain. Those two… were created by my body.”

  How much like dolphins are Pelans anyway? Vekta thought, puzzled. Are they even warm-blooded mammals? I get no inkling from its emmind as to gender… but obviously they have offspring, so this being is apparently equivalent to a female. Somehow the thought that the Pelan was a mother was incongruous.

  “Pelans are not very social as a rule,” Thho murmured reluctantly.

  “What do you mean? And I’m sorry if I asked something offensive,” Vekta responded quietly.

  Thho slowly edged back toward him. “I am somewhat of a social being, or else I would not have had the interest to look off-planet for other species. I am actually a freak among Pelans, and not just because of my mental powers. We do not have family structures as your culture does. Normally I would rarely have any contact with … with—” Again the wave of revulsion. “—with those whom I have borne. Yet I have maintained a relationship of sorts with them. They tolerate me but only for what I could teach them about their powers.”

  She really will not use the terms “mother” or “children?” Vekta considered, stunned. Thinking of Thho’s distaste at the concept of physical relatedness and open revulsion at the idea of being touched, he could see it might be a very bad idea to inquire after the paternal heritage of her children. “So you’ve been lonely, having such powers.”

  “Not in the way you think, Vekta Rentclifv,” she replied quickly. “I am still a Pelan. I am isolated by choice, yet I have seen more of the universe than I have of my own planet, thanks to the Attitude of Being. No, I am not in any way lonely for others of my own kind. In many ways, I am one of a kind. Still, I desire to share the Attitudes with a being that can understand and use them.”

  Vekta couldn't help but think that this was still loneliness, but chose not to contest it. As Thho fell silent and would not talk any more for a while, he was left to explore the confines of the cave, including swimming in her pool. He experimented with moving up and down and laterally; he perceived the water to have a higher density than the waters of Draco or Orbglen. Like on Draco, this ocean was freshwater, not saline.

  We’re not in Alpha Universe... and I don't even know what galaxy this is. The thought was unnerving, but at least Vekta hoped that this being could send him back home — eventually. As antisocial as she was, surely she wouldn’t want him around after this.

  He had a momentary stab of terror in contemplating the weight of the powers this creature wished to develop in him. Would I even be Human anymore? Would I be able to relate to my own species? Will I lose… who I am? Then the sensation passed as the awakened Starguard within reminded him of how badly these powers were needed, to defend against the Sdaldi, those irritating energy creatures, and most critically, the Eye of the Gazelle. If that strange bubble in space could even be affected.

  I will be able to do so much after I have this potential for the Attitudes developed... At least he hoped he could. Traversing the dimensions!

  Vekta was also aware of the possibilities available if he should bring the knowledge of the Attitudes of Consciousness to the High telepaths of his home federation. At the very least, he himself would be able to enter the universe of the Eye of the Gazelle and discover the cause of the dimensional bubble wreaking havoc in the Gozgazel System in his own universe. And might he be able to repair that weakness in the fabric of dimensions?

  The twins need not be involved!

  Vekta fought for a moment to keep his emmind calm, then thought, So that must be what I saw in their minds, the potential for the Attitudes, latent also within my own mind. How many others? Novella for sure. All Level 8 telepaths? Level 7's? What the Starguards can do with such powers! Then he had a chilling thought: I would never have had to think of involving my own children. They would not have had to receive their telepathy training so early...

  “It will not hurt them,” Thho commented softly.

  “How can you read my mind?” Vekta demanded, turning to look at the Pelan. “I have a pretty formidable mentshield!”

  “For your kind, yes. Only through the Attitude of Powerlessness do you truly become impervious and impenetrable,” she continued smoothly. “Mental barriers can be breached. As you have witnessed when that energy entity sent you into unconsciousness.”

  Vekta knew another note of alarm. “Do they have the Attitudes, too?” The two entities: Korgovax’s controller and the “scorpion” on the Andromedea. “I have no idea where they are, or what they are.”

  “There are a few of their powers which may be on the level of the Attitudes, but I alone possess all eight, I assure you.”

  He considered the situation with his children again. He should never have left them — or left them behind. He wanted so much to reach them, reassure them, at least tell them he was all right. And Novella... she must have been shocked at my disappearance.

  “I cannot explain this to you, but those small ones will have their own task to do,” Thho said abruptly.

  “The Eye's too dangerous!”

  “Their path does not lie there.”

  The Dracon's dark brown eyes gazed intently upon the black ones of the Pelan. “You've seen them? What is it?” He neared, facing the creature again.

  “It has not yet come to pass. It will unfold in the next several of your day periods.”

  Vekta settled slowly to the floor of the cave again, awestruck at the implications of her words. “You... can see into the future?”

  The black eye continued to stare unblinking at him. “Only a short way ahead. Time, as you know, is yet another type of dimension, different from the spatial ones. I see you learning to use the Attitudes in the next few days, though not clearly beyond that. Only I possess a ninth Attitude you will not be able to use, Temporality. But it only allows me to view the multitude of time-streams of possible outcomes.”

  “Can... will you tell me what will happen to my children?” When the Pelan reacted again with that faint wave of disgust at the concept of “children,” Vekta tried something else. “All right... you never explained to me how you found and chose
me. Could you tell me now?”

  6: Thho

  For a few moments, Thho turned and swam slowly back and forth, thinking. Vekta wondered again how any being could even see into another universe. Then the Pelan was still again. “Actually I have been observing the actions of your colleagues for some time. Your home planet has a high concentration of High telepathic minds, so it naturally drew my curiosity once I had looked around your universe. Being that my own planet is in a globular cluster in a satellite galaxy to your own, I had searched over a good portion of your galaxy before I found your species.”

  “Satellite galaxy?”

  “Your ancient astronomers called this star cluster Messier 54 in the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy which you now refer to as the SagDeg. I searched within what you call the Perseus Arm of your galaxy, which you now term Lactavia — strange name! Latin for ‘Milky Way,’ a simplistic designation. I studied dozens of species just within that sector. Then, after I had been watching the Draconic subspecies of Humans for a long time, there was a surge of a very peculiar emotion that caught my attention... and I happened upon you. I was amazed and intrigued by your reaction to the death of your associate.”

  “My—” Vekta stopped, and a coldness came over him as he realized who the Pelan was referring to. “Pricilla Pliverr.”

  “Yes, your colleague who encountered the beings called Sdaldi,” Thho replied thoughtfully. “Amazing. A peculiar emotion... and one not foreign to you, though I find it completely alien. What you call death is merely a transition to us, if you will. We do not grieve. Grief, that is what you call it? I cannot fathom such a feeling!”

  Vekta was about to retort something when he remembered that the Pelans were antisocial as a species. It was incredible to think of a species that held no value for social relationships and who were disdainful of their own family members. Evidently only an urge for the continuation of the species necessitated procreation. And some of that, he would later learn, was only as a matter of pride to survive on a planet among the far more social Pelee. Were the Pelans even related to the intelligent fish-like Pelee? If so, were they a higher-evolved version or something that branched off early on? The scientist in Vekta couldn't help but wonder.

  “Transition?” Vekta wondered if he had misunderstood.

  “For such a long life as I have led,” the Pelan said with a wistful note, “there will be a price to pay. But life goes on. There is no loss.”

  I have no idea what she means; how cryptic was that? Vekta considered, confused. A price? Is that what she calls death?

  Five hundred years ago, the Draconic culture had universally chosen to defer thought about an afterlife because there was no real evidence to fully support any one of the dozen theories out there, including concepts such as “heaven” or “nirvana” or “reincarnation” left over from ancient Terran belief systems. What may happen after death was unknown, therefore it was deemed a waste of time to pursue these theories. Instead, the emphasis was on the here and now, and death was considered a translation to an unknown plane. Those left behind mourned their own loss, not what may happen to the spirit-energy or soul of the one who had passed. If anything, the tenets of an ancient philosophy called Taoism remained to assure the survivors that since everyone was connected to one another beyond space and time, there was only physical separation at death.

  “We mourn our loss, no more,” Vekta murmured in response. “Something I suppose you are unable to understand as well. Mourning... since we are social beings, we feel the loss acutely when someone dies.”

  “Whatever!” The Pelan was clearly irritated at the talk about social issues. “What I am trying to say is that because there was an outpouring of that emotion particularly among High telepaths in the region like yourself, it drew my attention even more. Then I was really intrigued when your vessel—”

  “My starship? You mean the Andromedea?”

  Thho shook herself, again in irritation. “Naming inanimate objects bewilders me... yes, your starship. When it shifted into another universe, I could not help but perceive the dimensional shift of so many minds at once. I grew excited, thinking there were many other minds after all who could traverse dimensions! Until I realized the vessel was responsible. Amazing! Nevertheless, I could not help but notice the caliber of minds there.”

  Vekta was stunned that Thho seemed to think it more incredible for a starship to travel between universes than a mind. He couldn't even imagine how it was possible to mentally cross a dimensional barrier. Austine Tauscher had developed the Starlock in ten years though of course building on centuries of research in astrophysics and theories about alternate universes. And it had taken his Crater to even make that possible.

  “You did not take note of us until the Guard collectively grieved for the loss of Pricilla Pliverr?” Vekta asked abruptly. Something in Thho's casual statement of that did not sound right.

  There was a long pause. I caught her in a lie, didn't I? Vekta thought sourly. My guess is she's been watching — stalking? — us for a long time.

  “Those two incorporeal entities who were present in the Gozgazel System,” Thho added instead of responding to the question. “It will interest you to know that one of those actually does possess the power to traverse dimensions and vast distances. This is the Attitude of Freedom, though that one does not possess the Attitudes. It is limited whereas the Attitudes are not limited. That entity is utterly unsuitable for my project.” Another wave of disgust.

  That explains a few things, Vekta thought, though he was stunned to learn that one of those beings — probably the one interfering with Korgovax — had had that sort of dimensional power. Something to watch out for.

  “You had a lot of minds to choose from on the Andromedea,” Vekta challenged the Pelan. “Why me? Four of us were Level 8's. Why not Jaime Cenntl? He's a Starguard. Or Stander Kvaan. Or even Novella Aurand?”

  Thho emitted a sound through her airhole like a sigh. “I discerned that you possessed a greater openness to the unusual. None of those others had that quality to your degree. You must admit you are an unusual specimen of your species. I refer to your past work and your willingness to utilize controversial and unorthodox methods. And I needed someone who could best accept the circumstances in which you now find yourself.”

  A Starguard, perhaps, Vekta considered, thinking that neither Novella nor Stander would easily accept subjecting to such a personal metamorphosis in order to survive in this underwater environment. And though Jaime was a Starguard, he was not a Dracon, and therefore unfamiliar with many of the more uncommon mental techniques employed by his subspecies such as those dealing with mergestates. While Jaime didn’t avoid merging, he was not one to initiate such a thing. I suppose I'll never get rid of my Starguard mentality: the arrogance, audacity, single-mindedness.

  “There is one more factor that sets you apart,” Thho added. “That sentient Construct you designed,”

  “Hmm? You mean Crater?”

  But Thho did not reply for a few seconds, making him feel a bit uneasy. Then the Pelan said softly, “You do not know what you have made there, Vekta Rentclifv.”

  Vekta rolled his eyes, sighing. “Yes, I do. I know I've broken my own research directives by designing a fully sentient cybernism with a telepathic potential. I'm going to be universally hated when that last little tidbit gets out.”

  Thho paused again. “You have no idea, not really... and though I begin to share the Attitudes of Consciousness with you, it is that other one, the Construct, who truly interests me... but what the constructed one may become even I cannot yet imagine.”

  “Fine,” Vekta murmured after the Pelan dropped her cryptic statements about Crater. “I'm crazy enough to let you mattmorph me and to accept what you want to do — and I will do it — and also I suspect that it's because I'm Dracon. Am I right about that?”

  “Those of your subspecies are more likely to be able to develop the Attitudes, yes,” Thho replied, consid
ering her thoughts carefully. “And those you call Novella and Stander are more adaptable than you may think — in time. Still I chose you because you were the one who had caught my interest first. And later because of that... female.”

  Vekta frowned, for the Pelan had emtransed another little note of disgust at the mention of gender. So Thho chose me over Stander because of Novella?

  “Yes,” Thho responded, still reading his surface thoughts. “That one has a mind so like yours. Your powers increased tremendously when you... merged.” Another, lesser wave of revulsion. “I wondered whether you might have discovered the Attitudes for yourselves. Perhaps you would have in time, but I believe you have use for them now.”

  Did I menttrans? Vekta wondered, but he was more curious about something else. She sometimes avoids using personal pronouns that indicate gender. He wondered if it was connected to her discomfort in talking about her own children. A characteristic of a nonsocial species for whom sex is solely used for procreation? Isolationists, even within their own species. That must also explain her aversion to the idea of mental merging. Intimacy must be a concept utterly alien to her. It must be difficult to even be around another being at all.

  He addressed her last comment. “I doubt we would have found the Attitudes on our own. We've never imagined such limitless powers were possible. And it we could have, it wouldn't have been now. You're right; now is when we need the Attitudes.”

  Thho didn't respond to that.

  He decided he'd ask about the Eye later. “Thho, tell me now what will happen to my children... what you know.”

  The Pelan hesitated, then told him.

  *

  The knowledge was sobering. There was danger. It filled him with cold fear, but this, too, was plainly out of his hands, for clearly Thho had no intention of getting involved and would likely prevent any attempts on his part to assist. “You're not telling me everything,” he asked quietly when the Pelan had finished. Like how long you've really been studying Dracons!