by Zach Hughes
actually believe the verdict of the data, the end of all life on the planet, but the evidence was undeniable. «Where,» asked a young Far Seer attached to the Eastern Establishment, «is the hope you promised us, Red Earth? The Breathers die, breeding toward their own extinction. The clouds stir the accumulated poisons. People are dying.» «He is among us,» Red Earth said. Once again Rack had to demonstrate his powers. He merged, to Beautiful Wings' squirming displeasure, with a weakened Power Giver, bringing her back to strength. He ate, breathed, stored, and merged again with an ancient Far Seer, who was eased, but who was so near natural death that Rack was unable to do more than give momentary comfort. «It is my hope,» Red Earth said, «that this power has been latent in all Healers. We will listen as Rack the Healer explains. Then the Healers will try to emulate him.» Embarrassed Healers placed their small mouths on the heads of the Far Seers, and the mouths of the Power Givers, watching the pictures sent by Rack. But the Far Seers concluded that the power in Rack came from a totally unknown section of the mind, a strangely shaped area that seemed to be missing completely in the other Healers. The experiment was abandoned. Red Earth, an impressive figure, rose to face the council. «Nature has sent the New One. Is it accepted?» «It is accepted.» «Would she send the New One without purpose?» A chorus of negative, negative. «There is, then, only the question of finding the purpose,» Red Earth said. «And, for some time, she has been trying to tell us, in her own way, the nature of that purpose.» He sent a picture of elapsed time measuring back to Rack's trek to the valley of the hot waters. He projected an exact picture of the object found there. «This object, which has been studied by our foremost minds, was a message.» Rack, who had been letting his mind wander, was brought to full attention. He had been unaware that such a study had been made. The last time he had seen the object, it was lying on the floor of Red Earth's establishment where it had been flung in revulsion by Red Earth. «The fact that nature told this Healer that it was time to dig"—a shudder of fear passed through the assembly—"was also a message, a message we, who are supposed to be wide-seeing and wise, chose to ignore. How long had the object been hidden below the soft poison of the earth? And what of the nuggets of hard material? We have considered them useless, but they too may be part of nature's overall plan for us.» Following a dramatic pause, Red Earth continued. «In the beginning nature imbued the Healers with a fascination for the hard-material nuggets. To them they are beauty, wonder, possessions of aesthetic worth. The reason for this apparent folly of nature is now clear. Do you see it?» He waited, the look of a questioning teacher in his pictures. There were small, shamed negatives. Even Rack was silent, waiting to hear Red Earth's conclusion, as he tried to group his own confused thoughts. «Balanced against this curiosity, this yen for possession of the nuggets, was the ancient knowledge that to dig meant death. Thus it was for an incomprehensible picture of time. And yet, even as the planet died, nature had long since planted our salvation. It was there in the valley of the hot waters, a strange and wonderful place, for where, in our tortured world, does one find clean water, good air, and soft, unpoisoned soil? This valley was not an accident, but part of nature's design. It must have been there for countless sun circles, and Healers have always been a restless, wandering lot.» A twitter of amusement. «But no Healer came upon this wondrous valley until Rack set out on his summer explorations during that fateful sun circle. Had another Healer, not blessed with the abilities of the New One, come upon this valley, he would have breathed the air, and appreciated the beauty of the place, but would he have dug?» He indicated a young Healer. «Would you have had the courage to go against the ancient teaching?» «I fear negative,» admitted the Healer. «Only the New One had such daring,» Red Earth said. Rack, a bit embarrassed by all the praise, said, «I felt there was no danger. Then, too, I didn't dig. It was the water that dug.» «Yet, it was an act of daring,» Red Earth continued. He motioned with his mind for Rack to be patient. «It was the act of the New One and it was all a part of nature's intricate design. It was her intent for the New One to dig, to find new values, to unearth this object.» He had it in his hand, produced from his pack which rested on a nearby piece of furniture. «And this object has been adjudged by our best minds not to have originated on this planet.» Rack felt disappointment. «So,» Red Earth continued, «where has this message from nature, this alien object, come from?» He paused. «A sister world? We who can contact them know the distances involved to be too great. Yet there is another world, a world much closer, only a short lag in senses away. There is only one conclusion. This strange object, which lay under the earth, is a message sent by nature from our satellite.» «Possible,» Rack mused. For after having searched two continents in vain for traces of the Old Ones, he was prepared to accept new theories. «It is,» Red Earth went on, «a message full of meaning. There is obviously life on our satellite, for Rack the Healer's original contention that this is the remnant of a crafted object stands. But why were we sent this message at this time? We know our planet is dying. But we know that nature in her wisdom makes it possible for life to continue. We, in our ignorance of her grand design, cannot envision the continuation of life under the worsening conditions, and yet, she obviously intends for us to live on. But is she asking us for action?» Rack nodded, remembering his almost blasphemous thinking in regard to the manipulation of the environment by man. Red Earth was treading on new and daring ground. The squirmings of the assembly confirmed it. «I say nature is telling us that we must act, now. The message import of all these events— the emergence of the New One, the appearance of strange objects, the deterioration of conditions on our planet—is clear. Nature is telling us that there is some connection between life on our satellite and our own survival.» «If the message is clear to you, Red Earth, perhaps you can tell us what action we should take,» said an old Far Seer named Gray Body dryly. «So I shall,» Red Earth retorted. «Nature intends that the New One and his mate, Beautiful Wings the Power Giver, will soar to the world that rises each night in our eastern skies.» Rack started visibly. Had the old Far Seer taken his fantasies seriously? Around him there were mutters of disbelieving thought. Beautiful Wings sent him a sudden cold fear. «Not impossible,» Red Earth was defending, «for you have witnessed the healing power of the merge with the New One, have you not?» «But the satellite is many pictures of the distance around the planet away and space is cold and airless.» «There are problems, true,» Red Earth said, «but are we not intelligent life? I myself have soared with the New One and Beautiful Wings to the southern seas, a soar that ordinarily taxes the strength of a Power Giver. I have seen the New One power that flight at a cost of almost nothing to his reserves.» «But,» protested a Far Seer, «are we to send the New One into space, perhaps never to return, and be left without anything save a vague hope of some miracle from another world?» «The facts are recorded,» Red Earth said. «The union of Rack and Beautiful Wings produced a Keeper. Thus, his power, unless nature poses conditions favorable to another union, ends with him. Again, I think the import is clear. We are not to wait for nature to save us. We are to save ourselves. We are to take action.» «If the difficulties, and there are many, are overcome—if the New One reaches the satellite and finds life there—how is this to save us?» grumbled Gray Body. «If we could fathom nature's ways, we would have all the answers,» Red Earth said. «Since we do not, we must proceed with faith, taking the only course open to us, trusting that nature's wisdom has guided us properly. The object found by the New One is already old, as witnessed by its presence beneath the surface, but the inhabitants of the satellite have crafted it with a skill far beyond ours. As you may know, this material is impregnable to the acids of the atmosphere. It is not workable with tools fashioned from the Material. It is truly wonderful. Contact with such people would expand our knowledge, perhaps provide us with the techniques we would need to alter the falling survival factor.» The old, doubtful Far Seer Gray Body sent objection. «If this wonderful race of people are so advan
ced, why have they not made the far flight to our world, rather than waiting for us to make the contact?» «For this,» Red Earth agreed, «I have no answer. I merely repeat my faith. The events of nature are never without logic. Even the fatal winter storms follow a prescribed pattern imposed by the movements of the planets, the angle of the earth's axis, the position of the satellite, and the strength of the emissions of the sun. Not even death is random in nature, for it takes the old at the prescribed time. I contend that all these seemingly random happenings, if we could but understand, are a part of the whole. I contend that the nature of the Healers, combined with the lure of the hard-material nuggets, the emergence of the New One, and the conclusions of doom for life on our world, are all part of nature's scheme to send us into space. What we will find there I do not know.» He paused, then continued sadly in a new vein. «We must, in this crucial time, consider all possibilities. Perhaps we err in our understanding. The picture I now project is shocking, I know. I defend it from charges of blasphemy on the grounds of scientific speculation. Is it totally inconceivable to think that life, sacred as it is, is confined to this planet?» The council was indeed deeply shaken by the picture, but the seriousness of the times allowed it. «Should this be so—and I pray that it is not— then nature's design could be to pass this life along to a fresh, pure-aired world. In short, the abilities of Rack the New One could be given to him for the sole purpose of transplanting life from this dying planet to a new world. How often, in history, does a union produce such a lasting relationship?» He indicated Rack and Beautiful Wings, hand in hand, the Power Giver pale and fearful. «Its strength can be felt, even now. Perhaps, on a new world, they will be granted a second joining and will create a new race.» «I cannot accept the possibility of extinction of life on the planet,» said a bold Healer. «Nor can I,» agreed Red Earth. «But can we risk going against nature's obvious directives?» «There is merit in your thoughts,» sighed the old, wise Far Seer who had been given momentary relief from the aches of old age by Rack. «I volunteer my services in the project.» «Welcome,» Red Earth said. «For it will take the powers of many to prepare such a venture. Time will be required as well. I would be fearful that we were making a wrong decision if we were to send the New One soaring to the satellite today. But as we plan we will have time to study this long flight. Should events occur to prove us wrong we will have done nothing more serious than waste the time of those who have little time remaining. Nature may decree a new joining for the New One on this planet, in which case we can but hope for a breeder for his offspring to carry his seed. This possibility has not been neglected in my thinking, but I do not hold forth hope that it will save us. For, as our recent readings indicate, not even the abilities of many New Ones would keep alive a sufficient number of our people to carry our civilization forward. At best, the breeding of a new New One from Rack's loins would merely buy us another generation of life before the conditions wiped out even the New Ones, for the worsening of the survival conditions is irreversible. Still, we have time. Perhaps something will be revealed to us. If not, Rack the New One and his chosen mate, Beautiful Wings, will journey into the cold of airless space in search of the salvation of life.» Red Earth stood silent. When the buzzing thoughts stilled, he sent, «Is it agreed?» «Affirmative, affirmative,» the council sent. «But you haven't asked us what we think,» Beautiful Wings wailed, sending pictures of death, vast, empty space, and unknown worlds in her agitation. «We know you will do your duty, whatever it is,» Red Earth said soothingly. «It is the nature of the Power Givers to be fearful,» Rack sent. «We will do our duty.» He touched her with his armored hand, blended his mind with hers, and quieted her fears. Feeling his strength, she was reassured. «Yes,» she said. «We will do our duty.» XI «Nature,» Red Earth the Far Seer said, «is admirably logical, never leaving the straight line of the advancement of life.» He had moved, at least temporarily, to the large dome of the Eastern Group Establishment, for space was needed to house the group that had been put together to plan and execute the grand, hopeful soar of Rack the Healer and Beautiful Wings the Power Giver. In addition to Rack, Beautiful Wings, and Red Earth, the group consisted of Shadow on the Moon, an aptly named young Far Seer who had spent much time in studying the satellite; Yellow Sky the Power Giver, who, to conserve the energy of Beautiful Wings, was to make some test soars with Rack; and, for the balancing value of his skeptical mind, the ancient Far Seer Gray Body. Supplemental to the main group were additional Healers and Keepers; the Healers would perform any needed goings about in the forbidding storms, the Keepers would assure detailed records of the events. Since the Eastern Group Establishment also had to continue its function as the prime source of broth and the Material, the extra bodies inside the large dome strained the available resources and made demands on the rights of personal privacy. However, no one grumbled. «Rack the New One,» Red Earth went on, «was responsible for leading my mind to a new concept of nature. In his eagerness to prove the abilities of the Old Ones, he set me to speculating about the nature of life on this world and on our sister worlds. On our world, at least in the beginning, life had many forms. Have you ever considered the meaning of some of our traditional name pictures? For example, the name picture of our late brother Growing Tree the Far Seer is something from the young days of our world when the soil was less toxic and could support vegetable life of amazing complexity. His picture is of a large, growing thing, green and fragile. In our records one finds many such names, one of the more notable being the picture of Rose the Healer. His name picture suggests something of beauty, a bright, fragile, short-lived thing that also grew out of the soil. Some of our other names suggest that there was, in addition to vegetable life, life of other sorts in the youthful days of the planet, such as flying things. Indeed, our own Juicers show vestigial wings, and the young Juicers are winged before their change. It is reasonable, then, to think that life adjusts to planetary conditions, resulting in a variety of life forms that serve some practical purpose that is unknown to us. As conditions alter in the natural order of a world, changes occur. Nature does not, I believe, destroy life, but alters its form. Life is concentrated into necessary forms, and some believe that there is a constant quantity of life allotted to each world. Should this be true, then the life force we embody could have, in the past, furnished animation to some strange life forms beyond our imagination. At this stage of our world's development life is evident in a small picture of forms—the four forms of us, the two forms of insects, the combination of vegetation and animal that is the Breather, and a few forms of vegetation. Think of the wisdom of this arrangement: only necessary things exist with no life force wasted in useless forms. You may point to the poisonous plants of the sink holes and question this statement, but who is to say that these things do not have a place in the future of life? We do not know the exact form of the Old Ones, but we do know that we are drastically different than they were. The New Ones, the logical advancement of nature, assuming that Rack the Healer's change is incomplete and will be perfected in some future birth, could be so radically different as to be able to utilize the poisonous plants of the sink holes for their own good.» «It would, indeed, seem that nothing is random in nature,» agreed Gray Body, the old Far Seer. «But in restating this concept, Red Earth, my brother, are you not seeking to ease doubts in your mind regarding our present course of action?» «I shall not deny certain misgivings,» Red Earth said. «Some of them are not worth considering, for the pain I feel when I think of losing the presence of two of my fellow beings is purely emotional and not at all in keeping with the logical mind of a Far Seer.» «You will not lose, but gain,» Rack said. «For the success of our journey will bring changes. We, having replenished our stores on the new, sweet world, will return, bringing to you the wisdom of our brothers there.» «I would like to think so,» Red Earth said. «The thought of such a journey is, of course, pleasing to a Healer, who is notoriously footloose,» Gray Body sent. «And I fear that the result of this venture may be mea
sured only in the pleasures received by those involved—a Healer who will see more of the universe than any Healer before him, a Power Giver who will make a soar that will diminish all past flights. Should you find the satellite to be empty, there would be a temptation to return, for it is horrible to think of a world empty of life force. You would be lonely. The temptation to return would be great.» «Yes,» Red Earth agreed. «Should nature decree that you discover a world empty of intelligent life, then you must suffer the loneliness. You must not return to our planet. You will breed, perhaps many times, for nature will preserve life, and you will people the new world.» «But if we can accept this blasphemous idea that nature limits life to one world at a time, then can we also entertain other blasphemies—such as random factors in nature?» asked a young Healer. «The consideration of that subject pains me,» Red Earth said, «but I have thought on it. We come, once again, to faith. Compare the pictures of