“Peer-tek. I am here to prevent Jimmy from gluing his hands together.” A brief scuffle, quelled by a stern glance.
“Anna. If we’re out on a mission and one of us gets hurt, it would be best if we could help each other, without depending on others.”
“Peggy. I wasn’t going to come, but I cut my finger a few minutes ago in art class, so I was heading here anyway.” A murmur of laughter and whistling.
“All right, then. Peggy, come up here and show everybody your finger. Let’s get started.”
Ms. Wilson's Diplomacy class was ready for a more advanced lesson. At least, she hoped so.
“We've had many lessons and practice sessions about coming into a conflict situation and finding out the cause of the trouble. Now it's time to start solving the problem once you've identified it. What's the one thing that defines the right solution? Who's done the reading?”
A forest of hands rose up. Well, after all, they were a motivated bunch. She pointed to La-ren.
“The right solution is the one that everyone can live with. That addresses everyone's underlying concerns to an acceptable degree. Otherwise, there is only the illusion of a solution. Because it won't last.”
If only the text had summed up the matter so neatly! “That's right. A 'solution' that unravels a week or a month after you leave is no solution at all. Jimmy — is La-ren saying that everyone has to be happy with your solution? No, don't look at Peer-tek.”
Jimmy chewed his lip, then grinned. “Can I look at La-ren, then?”
Ms. Wilson let the children laugh for a moment. “All right, then, back to you, La-ren. Is that what you were saying?”
“Not exactly. We may not be able to make everyone happy. The goal is not to leave anyone too unhappy.”
“Just so. And now I want all of you to get your tablets out. Assume that your proposed compromise involves a change in the times that humans and Tofa will fish in the town's biggest river. Whom do you need to convince, and how might you go about doing it? Write for fifteen minutes, and then we'll compare ideas. I'll be right back.”
Ms. Wilson felt the need for a moment's privacy. She walked rapidly down the hall to the lavatory and leaned on the sink, looking at her reflection. It was smiling. It looked, perhaps, a bit intoxicated.
Ms. Wilson and her reflection pumped fists in the air. After years of preparation and preliminaries, they were finally getting somewhere.
Ms. Jergensen, Literature Coordinator, and Mr. Smollen, now elevated to Secondary Education Supervisor, were having another discussion.
“I noticed that your latest list included the novel Adam Bede by George Eliot. Please explain.”
Ms. Jergensen tried to look neither annoyed nor guilty. “Well, it’s one of a number of possibilities I reviewed to give the youngsters practice at inferring the mores of an unfamiliar culture. Much of the plot turns on a prohibition against premarital sex, but nowhere is that rule explicitly stated. There’s also some useful discussion of class distinctions, which isn’t something the Twin-Bred are familiar with first-hand.”
Mr. Smollen peered at something on his tablet. “One of a number of possibilities. It certainly is. And why did you choose Adam Bede in particular?”
Ms. Jergensen had hoped she would not need to offer this explanation. She thought she knew how it would be received, but she soldiered on.
“Adam Bede presents a theme I thought the children needed to consider: that in the end, good intentions matter less than actions. That actions can be irrevocable.”
“Or to amplify somewhat: that one misguided act can doom the actor as well as innocent parties. You needn’t look surprised that I actually know the work in question. I do not owe my present position entirely to political skills.”
Ms. Jergensen was glad she was not given to blushing.
“Ms. Jergensen, we are sending our young people out to meddle in others’ affairs, with what is — despite our best efforts — a necessarily inadequate preparation. They will do their best, and sometimes they will be wrong. That is already a sufficiently daunting prospect. Do you wish to terrify them into utter paralysis?”
Ms. Jergensen forced a laugh. “I think you’re overestimating their susceptibility.”
Mr. Smollen stood and ushered her out of his office. “It is my assessment that governs. Find another book. You might try Pride and Prejudice. In which errors may be corrected and sinners may be somewhat protected from the consequences of their sins.”
Chapter 27
Mara walked through the dormitory on her way back from lunch. She passed a Tofa standing at a desk in one of the study nooks, reading a textbook about chemical compounds and their uses. She could not always identify the Tofa Twin-Bred when their human siblings were absent, but she thought it was Sel-ran, Lao-tse’s brother.
Sel-ran looked up, saw Mara; stared in her direction; then smiled broadly, despite the lack of lips or cheeks.
“Mara mia!”
Mara stopped breathing and for a moment of panic could not start again. When the air came back she gasped for it, then looked around wildly for some stable support. Finding a pillar, she stumbled to it and clung to it as an anchor. The young Tofa was looking at her; despite his minimal features, he bore an expression both concerned and sardonic, a familiar expression though she had never seen it.
After two tries, she was able to speak. “Is there the remotest chance that I’m neither asleep nor insane?”
Sel-ran shrugged — her father’s shrug. Then another moment of staring. His face resumed its expected absence of expression.
“I do not understand your question. When my human brother sleeps, he does not walk and talk. I have heard that some humans walk and talk while sleeping. I do not know whether you walk and talk when you sleep. I do not know what insane means.”
“I saw a human expression. You spoke to me the way — in a way you couldn’t have known about. You moved your body in a human gesture.”
Sel-ran blinked slowly twice — this time, the Tofa equivalent of a shrug. “There was contact; it ended.”
“There was contact!? How was there contact? Did you make it happen?”
“An interesting question. I have no answer. Is it a matter of concern?”
Mara ran to her office, ignoring curious glances and stares. She slammed the door and leaned against the window sill, panting. “So talk to me. What in hell, what amazing thing just happened? Levi! Are you there? TALK TO ME!”
“Sorry, sis. I think I’m speechless. Hey, take it easy. Don’t cry. You haven’t cried in years. I’m not used to it any more.”
“And I’m not used to — I’m not used to seeing YOU! In an alien child! And I said they couldn’t read minds! But nothing like this — I mean, nobody’s talked about the Tofa spilling their secrets. And even if they wouldn’t, because after all, it’s about secrets — with all the monitoring, we’d have seen it by now. We’d have seen evidence that the children were poking about in people’s heads.”
“Mara, isn’t it obvious?”
“I’m not the only twin. We have several staffers who are twins. We looked for them, gave them hiring preference — as long as we had a place for both of them.”
“Which makes it highly likely you’re the only one here who has lost a twin. It may be the combination — the twinship bond, and the void that should have been filled.”
“What will I do if Sel-ran tells someone? Or if someone checks that monitor feed?”
“If anyone asks questions, you can say that Sel-ran somehow tapped into a dream you had. That’ll keep them busy, and it isn’t far from the truth.”
“Far enough to waste people’s time. And corrupt the scientific process.”
“We’re borrowing trouble, Mara mia. But if it comes down to it, you’ll have to decide whether your credibility and possibly your position here are more important, scientifically and every other way, than any distortion of the data. Besides, it’s possible that the researchers would actually learn something fro
m following it up. You can pull rank and plead schedule to stay out of it yourself.”
“I’ll still worry.”
“Naturally. You’re addicted to worry. It may as well be about something this interesting.”
For the next two weeks, Mara attempted to bury herself in her work. There was certainly plenty of it. She caught up on administrative tasks, and then invented new ones. She dropped in on various departments, heard progress reports, solicited complaints.
One morning, she found herself gazing out the window with no memory of how long she had sat or what she had seen. She looked at her desk and saw the drawing she had made, in the sketchbook she did not remember opening: a young Tofa, with human facial features where blankness should be, and a sardonic expression.
She tore the drawing out, crumpled it into a tight ball and stuffed it deep in her wastebasket.
“Mara? Isn’t it time for your call with Dr. Tanner?”
“I canceled it. I just sent a message — I didn’t talk to him. I don’t know what to do, Levi. It’s been hard enough, carrying on when I can’t give him details of what happens in my life. This — even if I could talk more about the Project, even if he knew about the Twin-Bred, I’m not sure I could tell him what happened. With Sel-ran.”
“Yes, you could. You trust him. Deservedly.”
“But anyway, I can’t. There’s no way to tell him anything meaningful without the details, this time. And if I can’t talk about something this big, there isn’t much point any more. But I have to figure out what to say to him. I owe him a decent explanation. I don’t want him to think I’ve stopped respecting him as a doctor.”
“I think Dr. Tanner is tougher than that. What you do owe him is a decent goodbye. He cares about you — being one of the few for whom you’ve made that possible.”
“Got any suggestions?”
“Truth, when feasible, is sometimes less complicated than spinning a tale. Tell him that something important happened, and that you can’t tell him enough about it. That you’re OK, and you’ll be fine, even though you wish you could go on working with him. And that I’m here as his man in the field, to pick up the pieces when necessary.”
“I may do just that.”
She took a deep breath, another, and another, and then reached to connect the call.
Chapter 28
Mara paused on her way into her office to talk to her assistant. “Well, we lost our last Tofa host mother. Hit-ron-fa.”
“She stayed quite a bit longer than any of the others.”
“Yes. She seemed content here. And she spent a fair amount of time with the children. She even seemed to take an interest in the child she carried — the surviving human, of course.”
“How is the child taking it?”
“He’s sad. His best friend — his ῾twin’ — is doing her best to cheer him up, and the other children are trying to help.”
“What do we know about why she left? Or why she stayed until now?”
“What do you think? Not much, naturally. But she apparently made a cryptic comment or two. Something about wishing she had choices.”
“Dr. Cadell? We’ve got a Tofa delegation outside the administration building. A big one.”
The tech looked sick to his stomach. Mara switched her monitor to the security feed and selected the entrance to the administration building. “Big by their standards, but not by ours. Hmmm. I wonder if the size of a typical Tofa crowd is related to the physical limit of their telepathic projection of speech elements.”
“Dr. Cadell!”
“Sorry. Now take a deep breath. Yes, literally! Have they said anything?”
“They want the children. I’d say, they’re demanding the children. We’re not sure if they want all of the Twin-Bred, or only the Tofa ones.”
“Which twins are up this week for Tofa community contact?”
The tech fidgeted. “I’m sorry — I haven’t checked.”
“All right, you keep breathing. I’ll look it up. OK — this week it’s Judy and La-ren. Get them over here, and I’ll talk to them. And put together a security team — as tall as possible.”
Waiting for the twins, Mara reviewed their files, and the accounts of the last three unscheduled Tofa contacts. She mentally rapped her knuckles — she could have seen this coming. There had been a request to review status reports, granted in part, with selected and redacted samples. Then had come a request to watch twins interact — referred to the parents of some of the twins being raised in home environments.
Judy and La-ren had never handled a contact before. Mara buzzed the contact supervisor. “Judy and La-ren are on Tofa contact rotation, and it’s show time. It looks like a ticklish one. There’s may well be some governmental involvement. Are they up to it, or should I substitute a more experienced pair?”
“I assume you need an answer immediately. I hate immediately.”
“Sorry. So answer.”
“Shit. I think they can handle it — and I think they’ll let you know if they can’t. You can have another pair ready as backup. They’re on the tall side, which may help. One way we’re in luck — Judy’s especially fluent in Tofar. As much as any of them.”
“Thanks. Get on the security feed and stand by, in case I have questions or you have suggestions.”
The tech ushered in Judy and La-ren. Mara stood up.
“Judy, La-ren — please look at this security feed. We’ve got a delegation here, and we have an initial idea of what they want. Would you like to hear it, or would you rather start from scratch?”
La-ren buzzed for a moment. “Tell Judy, but not me. I will speak first to the delegation, and compare my understanding to what Judy has been told.”
“Judy, I’d rather they didn’t know at first how well you speak Tofar. It may not matter, but I’m playing a hunch here. We’re sending you out there with some human adults. We’ll have additional security standing by. If either of you feels you need their assistance, turn toward the security camera and touch your chin twice.”
The twins looked at each other. Judy appeared amused at this touch of melodrama.
“Are you nervous?”
Judy looked at La-ren, then back at Mara. “We’re excited that it’s our turn. We’re curious. If necessary, we can worry later.”
Mara beckoned to Judy. She whispered in her ear, then sent her back to La-ren’s side. She pointed to the door, where the rest of the contact team had assembled. “Off you go.”
“You’re shaking, sis. Tell me what happened.”
“It’s just low blood sugar. I forgot to eat. . . . They seemed surprised to see the twins. They weren’t sure whether to talk to them or to the human adults. La-ren pre-empted. He’s a cool customer, that one. He welcomed them in the name of all the Twin-Bred. He asked whether they were just paying their respects, or whether they had a request of some kind.”
“In Tofar, I presume. Grab a snack and keep talking.”
Mara obeyed. “His initial greeting was first in Tofar and then in Terran. That got them buzzing a bit. The rest was all Tofar. The tallest one did most of the talking. You know, even the Tofa Twin-Bred have trouble sometimes in understanding the normal Tofa. But they’re certainly better at it than we are.”
“I should hope so. Cut to the chase already.”
“They did demand the Tofa twins. They didn’t say why. La-ren asked them. They just stood there. La-ren said something to the effect that the Twin-Bred were children and children did not decide where to go, or with whom. He told them the Twin-Bred were important to the humans, and important humans would have to decide what happened to them. That’s based on La-ren’s report. Judy says he also told them the Tofa Twin-Bred would not want to leave their twins behind.”
“How did she seem to feel about all this?”
“Well, you know the human Twin-Bred are harder to read than other children. I wouldn’t say she was very upset. I think she has confidence in us, that we’ll keep the Twin-Bred together and
keep them from harm.”
“Dear innocent babe. Do we know if the Tofa have made this demand through governmental channels as well?”
“It appears not. I got both the Science and Tofa Relations Sub-Chairs on the line and told them, and I’d say they were surprised. To put it mildly.”
“And if you were putting it less mildly, they were apoplectic, panicky, ineffectual, and sure it was all your fault.”
“Indeed. They called in the new Chairman. He was gloating. His moment had come. He thought. I asked to speak to him privately.”
“Oh frabjous day! Are we glad that you kept up on your opposition research?”
“I am very grateful to my wise and ruthless consultant. The gentleman is now awaiting our recommendations. The Science Sub-Chair is waiting for fresh underwear.”
“What will you be kind enough to recommend?”
“We’re not going to self-destruct. If that’s even what the Tofa intended. We’re trying to come up with a way to give them something. Of course, since we don’t know why they wanted the children, we don’t know what a compromise should look like. The tricky thing is being sure we get them back.”
“So don’t send them. Make the Tofa come to you. You can set aside facilities for them to use. If they don’t want you watching, you can tell them you won’t.”
* CONFIDENTIAL *
CLEARANCE CLASS 3 AND ABOVE
LEVI Status Report, 3-1-86
Executive Summary
Tofa Examinations of Subjects
The Tofa have completed their series of tests on Tofa twin subjects. Efforts to limit the Tofa subjects made available were abandoned as overly problematic.
The Tofa did not express interest in testing the human twins. There appeared to be some attempt to exclude the human twins from testing sessions, but the Tofa twins’ refusal to proceed under such circumstances ultimately led to human twins being given the option of observing. Their presence has provided cover for the undisclosed recording of the test sessions.
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