The Fata Morgana

by Leo A. Frankowski

  "Eventually, the biggest one seemed to win whatever it was they were yelling about. With the other two horsemen finally sitting quiet, he starts talking to the crowd on the beach. This guy can talk so loud they could all hear him above the noise of the storm. He points around and starts giving orders, and everybody starts moving a lot faster. I was picked up by eight hefty guys and taken off in one direction, and two of them took you in another. After that, you probably know as much as me. I been treated real good by the two fine ladies that live here, and everybody lives rich and dresses rich while in fact they're all absolutely dirt poor!"

  "How do you figure that?" I asked. "I mean, their technology is pretty much nonexistent, but everybody lives well enough. People back home would drool over these mansions they've got. From what Roxanna tells me, even the poorest people here have at least twenty or thirty thousand square feet to live in."

  "That's because they've been digging these holes for at least two thousand years, boss. What's more, they got to keep on digging them, since the rock here is all volcanic, good fertilizer. Rock, animal dung, and human shit are about the only fertilizers they got. Plus, of course, a certain amount of soil is always being washed away, and it has to be replaced."

  "Call it inherited wealth, if you want to. It's still wealth."

  "Boss, they got volcanic featherrock, they got a little clay, and that's all the minerals they got. Any wood they got was raised like in a nursery. They got no coal, no oil, and no ores of any kind. What's worse, they got no trade to anyplace else to make up for what they ain't got here. I call that poor."

  "I guess I've been asking the wrong questions. So their lack of technology is due to their lack of materials to use it on."

  "Yeah. Only don't sneeze at all of their technology, boss. In some ways, they're way ahead of us. Have you taken a good look at the clothes they wear?"

  "Well, it's beautifully embroidered, but I'd hardly call that high tech."

  "You would if you realized that half the clothes here are more than a hundred years old! These people got the growing, the processing, and weaving of plant fibers down pat. They do it way better that we do back in America. Their stuff lasts almost forever. That's why they can afford to spend so much time on the embroidery. Anything they make, they'll give to their grandkids someday!"

  "Incredible."

  "Believe it anyway. Maybe they know about technology and maybe they don't. It wouldn't make any difference here, 'cause except for plants, there's nothing here to make a machine with."

  "It could be you're right. Perhaps they really are poor. Adam, they made me promise to not tire you out, but there's one thing that has really been bugging me. Have you noticed the way the sun seems to rise and set anyplace it feels like?"

  "Forty days and you ain't got that figured out yet, boss? You must have been hit harder on the head than I thought. You're asking seriously, aren't you?"

  "Yes, I'm serious, damn it!"

  "You'll be embarrassed you didn't figure it out yourself. This ain't an island, no matter what they call it. Islands stay in one spot. This place floats!"

  "We're on a stone boat?"

  "More like a stone raft. The other place you get featherrock is in Hawaii. It comes out of this volcano they got there. Sometimes it runs all the way to the ocean, and when it does, the rock just floats away. The specific gravity is way below one. It's so light it floats."

  "Huh. That's going to take some thinking. But like I said, I promised not to tire you out."

  "I'm not tired, and our ladies are the sort who'll throw you politely out on your ass when they think I've had enough. But before they do, there's something I got to ask you about."

  "So ask. Since when did you need to ask permission to ask about anything, Adam?"

  "Okay. You remember all those times you asked me to be your partner instead of an employee?"

  "Sure, although we're both glad now that you never took me up on it. If you had, you would have gone bankrupt the same time that I did, and then where would your gold and silver coin collection be now? Or The Brick Royal, for that matter?"

  "Yeah, well, I want to take you up on it now. We go partners, Even Steven, sixty-sixty on everything but the ladies. The boat, the gold, the whole shot."

  "Adam, that's crazy. The boat is a wreck, and its salvage value probably won't cover the costs of our medical bills, and whatever they'll charge us for pulling the stuff out and storing it. You'd be taking the short end of the stick."

  "No, I wouldn't. There's a lot of metal on that boat, and any kind of metal is worth a fortune here. But that's not why I want the partnership. The real reason is, well, social."

  "Social? I don't follow you."

  "Look. In America, I could take your paycheck and still meet you after work for a beer. Things don't work like that here. On the Western Isles, the word for employee is the same as the word for servant. And being a servant here is like being a third-class person. Once I'm out of these casts, the fine ladies who have been taking care of me won't have nothing to do with me if I'm only a servant. It'll be like I'm tainted. If they knew, they'd even be embarrassed about having taken care of me."

  "Oh. I can see your problem. But why worry? The fact is that you have not been my employee since the company went belly up."

  "Boss, the way they look at it, if I'd ever been a servant, the best I could be afterwards would be something like a freed slave. Once I got the lay of the land, I told them that we was partners, and now I need you to back me up on that."

  "I see. Well, don't worry. As of this moment, I hereby decree us to be the sole members of an undissolvable partnership, retroactive back to the beginning of time. Good enough?"

  "Great, boss. I knew I could count on you."

  "And I'll count on you to give me twenty-three pounds of gold for your enlargement to the ranks of free and noble men."

  "The gold, you've got, and your share of the silver might be worth even more here, since they use silver for money, but gold only for jewelry. A tiny silver coin, smaller than a dime and as thin as paper is worth . . . well, it's worth a lot. Another thing. They take that `noble' stuff pretty serious around here. You really think we should try and fake it that way?"

  "Maybe we'd better not. It would be too easy to slip up somewhere, and that could mean big trouble. If we need the status later, we can always claim to be members of the Knights of Columbus, or something."

  "Which I happen to be, but which you ain't qualified for. Oh, yeah. They take religion real serious around here, too. Keep that Atheism shit of yours under your hat, too."

  "Now, do I rag you about your religion? Out loud, I mean, and in public. And is that any way to speak to your new partner?" I laughed as the ladies came back.

  TWELVE

  "Felix, the Right Honorable Earl of Godelia, Lord of Privy Information," the guard beyond the door announced.

  The earl entered, bowed, and then locked the door behind him out of sheer habit.

  Duke Guilhem Alberigo XXI turned from his spacious desk. "Ah, Uncle Felix. I'm so glad that you could get here so quickly."

  "My services are always instantly available to the crown, Your Grace, especially when your note said that all you wanted was my advice," he said, pausing to blow his stuffed-up nose. The earl's eyes were watering and his sinuses were throbbing as well. For a nobleman accustomed to long years of vigorous health, the head cold was particularly vexing.

  "I see that you've got it, too. I'd be more sympathetic except that I was one of the first to be stricken with the damnable disease. We can only hope that the benefits we gain will be worth the price we're all paying. Naturally, what I wanted to discuss with you is the newcomers."

  "I'm at your service, but I'm not sure what I can contribute, just yet. I haven't seen either of them, of course, but my men have carefully recorded every word they've said in either Westronese or English. What we've learned so far, which isn't very much, is that they are very probably exactly what they at first seemed to be,
simply two men with a largish pleasure boat that had the bad luck to be caught in the worst storm we've seen in fifty years.

  "The larger of the two might have been, at some time in the past, the servant of the smaller, but the relationship seems to have been more like a journeyman's service to a master, which isn't servitude in the ordinary sense of the word. They have since declared themselves to be partners, and I think that we should acknowledge them to be such. The larger also claims to be a `Knight of Columbus,' and thus is perhaps a chevalier, but I'm not sure that we should consider him as such under our law."

  "Their precise legal status can be deferred for the time being, Uncle. The real question is, are they our enemies?"

  "It is most unlikely that they are the covert representatives of any outsider government. They seem to be genuinely surprised that we are here, so if our existence is known to their government, it is keeping us a secret."

  "I see. Was there any difficulty in placing your listening devices in the homes of the ladies tending them?"

  "None at all. There was easy access through the utility tunnels in both cases, so it was never necessary to inform the ladies of our actions."

  The duke said, "I suppose that's for the best. I can't say that I like this business any more now than when we agreed on it in the beginning. I hope that you've been able to find a sufficient number of listeners with the requisite decency, discretion, and honor such that the ladies will never suffer by whatever is heard in their homes."

  "Of that I can assure Your Grace. They know of the horrendous punishment that would fall on them should our snooping become common knowledge. But tell me, has anything been learned about the unusual instrumentation we found on their ship?"

  "Little, except that it may not be so unusual in their eyes. The Warlock is working on it, but he hasn't had much to report yet. It is still very early. I'll keep you informed, Uncle Felix."

  * * *

  On the way back from Adam's place, I asked Roxanna about the two Pelitier women. Were they a mother and daughter or two sisters?

  "Sisters, my lord. They are separated by twelve years, so your confusion is understandable. The younger of the two, Agnes, was the wife of the Council Wizard Vintiere, before his untimely death. Before the marriage, Maria had been Vintiere's lover for many years."

  "To live with two sisters, one for wife, one for girl friend. Very strange," I managed to say.

  "Unusual, but within the law, my lord, and the three of them were happy enough. You see, Vintiere and Maria were of an age, and were lovers before their testing. He was a commoner while she was the child of a baron. This alone would not have stopped their marriage, had he been of but ordinary abilities. However, Vintiere scored at the top of his age group in the testing for the Wizard's Academy, and thus was required to attend a long and arduous course of instruction. As an undergraduate student, he was forbidden marriage."

  "But didn't Maria wait for him?"

  "No, my lord, it was not permitted. She married a fisherman, following her father's wishes. Maria had a son by this man. It was only after both father and son died in a boating accident that she was free to cohabit with her first lover."

  "So many questions. Must be patient with me. Baron father felt fisherman good husband for daughter? And wizard not good husband?"

  "A student wizard might pass or he might fail, and if he failed he would be in a poor position to support a wife. A fisherman who owns his own boat is counted as wealthy, and an excellent provider."

  "Why baron father not want daughter to marry son of another baron? Would be like that in my country." I couldn't figure out how to say "same social class."

  She laughed a bit and said that such a thing would be impossible. When I looked confused, she gestured towards a bench in an alcove set into the wall of the tunnel-road and we sat down, leaving the maid standing and ignored. Adam was right. Servants here were treated like third-class humans.

  "First, my lord, such a thing would be impossible because all of the barons are brothers or cousins, grandsons of the present duke's father or grandfather. You see, a duke is encouraged to have as many children as possible, to ensure the continuation of the line. On the death of a duke, one of his sons is elected by the earls, the duke's brothers and uncles, to be the next duke. After the election, the other sons, on reaching their majority, will become earls in turn. The son of an earl becomes a baron, one step lower on the ladder of the nobility. The son of a baron becomes a chevalier, although in fact only the duke, the archbishop and the warlock actually have horses. The sons of a chevalier are commoners."

  "Hum. You talk of sons only. What happen to daughters?"

  "Why, they mostly get married, I suppose, except for those who feel a calling for the church, and even then, marriage and casual lovers are not forbidden the clergy, as I have heard is done in some of the outsider religions. Oh, I see what you mean. Well, my lord, you must understand that there is only one noble family on the Western Isles, and obviously it would be against the laws of God, man, and good breeding for a woman to marry back into her own family. Therefore, they must marry commoners. Oh, to be sure, they marry the wealthiest of these men if they have a choice, for they are of the best stock and come with good dowries. And of course, many score high in the testing, and marry wizards or clergymen."

  "Again you talk of testing. Explain, please."

  "Very well, my lord, although it is taking a long while to explain that two women are sisters!"

  "Patience, please. We get back to sisters later. Talk about testing."

  "As you wish, my lord. At about the age of eighteen, every boy and girl in the isles is given a number of tests. The most important of these are written, and the young are tested for their intelligence, learning and piety. Other tests are physical, as in running, jumping and acrobatics. Among the boys, the best are selected for furthering their education either with the wizards, or with the church. Once they have satisfactorily completed their training, they enter into the ranks of those organizations."

  "And the girls?"

  "Those maidens at the top of the lists who are not themselves noble are wed to the nobility, and those below them to the wizards and clergy. The great majority of both sexes are rejected by the tests, and may marry whoever they choose."

  "Best girls are forced to marry nobles and wizards?"

  "Yes, although it is equally true that the young nobles and somewhat older wizards and clergymen are forced to marry the maidens. Remember that none of the tests were for beauty."

  I didn't like the sounds of this system at all.

  "In my country, people marry whoever they choose."

  "In your country, you have a population of far greater than our twelve thousand. Your gene pool is large enough to permit such freedoms. Here we are few in number, and the only way that we can assure that genetic drift does not turn our children into crippled imbeciles is with a program of deliberate breeding, and ruthless culling."

  Roxanna's expression was suddenly hard, but what really shocked me was that this apparently medieval lady was suddenly discussing modern genetics!

  "Culling? You mean killed?"

  "No, my lord, we are not quite that brutal, except in the rare cases of serious birth defects." I could she was getting upset with me, but I needed to get at the truth of this business.

  "What you mean, then?"

  "I'd really rather not discuss it now. Come. We must return home now if we wish to avoid an overcooked supper or a cold one."

  She got up and strode briskly down the tunnel. I was forced to follow her, for fear of getting lost in the maze of caverns under the surface of the island, if for no other reason. After a half hour or so of walking, she seemed to have calmed down, so I said, "So Agnes scored high on test, and wizard Vintiere marries sister of old sweetheart. Very lucky."

  "That a thing is improbable does not make it impossible, my lord. Also, well, sometimes things can be juggled, just a bit. It is illegal, of course, but I'm sure that it occasio
nally happens."

  "But now poor Vintiere is dead, you say. What happens to two sisters?"

  "You would know the answer better than I, my lord, but it seemed to me that your friend Adam was much taken by both of them."

  "And if Adam does not marry one of them?"

  "They have money for a year or two, I suppose, during which time they might find husbands or lovers. Barring that there is always the church."

  From her expression, I could see that I was getting far too close to forbidden ground again. I remained silent for the rest of the trip, and spoke only of inanities through supper.

  That evening, as I was getting ready for bed, the maid, Felicia, came by to see if I needed anything. I said yes, and told her to sit down. Since it happened that I was sitting on the only chair in the huge, sparsely furnished room, I gestured for her to sit on the bed. She did as asked, but she was suddenly very nervous, sitting bolt upright with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

  "What's wrong? I say something I should not?"

  "No, my lord. You are well within your rights. But still, I am a married woman."

  "What does . . . ? Oh golly! Felicia, I'm not think to have sex with you. It is just that on my country, a man does not force a woman standing while he is a friendly conversation with her. They would be not a polite. Understanding?"

  She relaxed, but not totally. "What do you wish, my lord?"

  "I want maybe answers to some few questions. I try to ask Lady Roxanna about them, but she is averse to give me straightaway answers. Would you help me, please?"

  "I'm not very learned, my lord. Even my parents were servants. Perhaps my husband could give you better help than I."

  I could see that I wasn't going to get much out of a woman who was worried about getting raped on the spot, so I said, "Good. Go now and send back husband."

  I moved from the chair over to the bed, to forestall any further misunderstanding. These people lived by the sun and it was getting dark as the man arrived, a spoon-shaped clay oil lamp in his hand.

  "I hope you'll forgive the light, my lord, but my wife felt you thought the matter urgent."