Was simply meeting them as equals going to bring Earth’s civilization to their level? he asked himself. His sleepless night hadn’t given him an answer.
There was so much more to tell Kathryn about his own past, and about the Elders’ culture, that he knew it would take many days; she could absorb only a little of it at a time. For now, he needed to get on with his mission, sacrificial though it might prove to be. “The morning’s half over,” he said, “and I’d like to see the Council today, if that’s possible. Can you arrange it?”
“I think so—any member can call a meeting. They’ll be stunned, and so excited, to know that you’re alive. Did you know they named planet Four after you?”
“I heard that, yes.”
“Corwin was the first to die for Maclairn’s cause, and we thought you were the second, so since you’d named Three after him, it seemed fitting.”
“Well, it’s embarrassing now, though I hope ultimately I’ll have a place in our history as the Elders’ ambassador.”
Kathryn frowned. “Do you have to tell the others about the Elders? They’ll think what I thought, and it could be awkward—I’m not sure they’ll take my word that you’re not crazy. Let’s just keep it our secret.”
Terry stared at her in dismay. “Telling them is what I was sent back for,” he said. “I’m the official envoy to humankind; they can’t come here till I’ve prepared the Council to receive them. I thought you knew.”
She paled. “I didn’t. Oh, God, Terry, are they going to come here? Isn’t there some way you can talk them out of it?”
“Yes,” he said grimly, “there’s a way. I can fail to convince the Council that they’re real and should be welcomed. That would set Earth’s admission to the Federation back by many years, because they won’t force themselves on a civilization that isn’t ready. I’d be betraying their trust in me, and betraying all I worked for as Captain of Estel.”
Bewildered, she protested, “But why must you bring them here, when this world’s secret even from most humans?
“Secrecy is the point! Don’t you see, Kathryn—they can’t appear on Earth till long after contact with humans has been established. The public would think they were alien invaders, like in an ancient UFO vid. Maclairnans are better qualified than anyone else to learn about them, so the plan is not to reveal the Elders’ existence until Maclairn’s is made known.”
She was silent, trying to absorb an idea she clearly found disturbing. “I’ve come as ambassador,” he went on, “just as you were ambassador from Maclairn to the League when this world was discovered. Remember what a hard time you had convincing League officials that powers greater than what they thought “normal” were real, and setting up the terms for contact with us? I’ve got to do the same thing, so that Elders can serve here the way mentors have served on Earth.”
“Did they know about Maclairn before you told them?”
“Of course. What do you think they were doing in this solar system when I was captured? They have guarded Maclairn in secret for many years, knowing how important it is to Earth’s progress.”
“Then we’ve been their pawns—”
“No. It was to avoid influencing us that they wouldn’t risk letting the mentors learn prematurely from me that they exist.”
“And you’re their pawn! They’ve set you up to be thought mentally ill when you may not be able to convince anyone that you’re not.”
“I know that,” Terry said seriously. “But I consented to it. Not just because I longed to come home, or because of what I owe them for what they’ve given me, but because this is the fulfillment of the commitment I made to Maclairn in the Ritual.”
Kathryn sighed. “If it’s a matter of the Ritual then I know I can’t talk you out of it. But I don’t see the connection, Terry. As Stewards of the Flame we’ve pledged to pass mind-powers on to others, and to future generations—”
“And to move past our fears,” he reminded her.
She reddened. “That’s true. I guess it means we can’t let ourselves be afraid of aliens. But there’s nothing in the pledge about learning everything there is to know in the universe. We’re succeeding in the plan to get acceptance of psi into Earth’s collective unconscious—some think we’ve already reached the tipping point. What more are we obliged to do?”
Terry pondered it, trying to think of a way to express what he felt. And all at once it became clear. His glimmer of understanding blazed into the answer he’d spent the night searching for.
“Why are mind-powers important?” he asked.
“Because they’re the next step in evolution. And because having personal power frees people from tyranny, and telepathy leads to harmony between them.”
“Yes, but there’s got to be more than that. There’s got to be challenge ahead. Suppose we eventually do teach everyone in the world to use their whole minds—what then? A civilization can’t stay static; if it doesn’t look forward, it dies.”
“Maclairn’s culture hasn’t changed in three hundred years. People are content.”
“Maclairn has a goal, something yet to be achieved. People in the League colonies aren’t content—they’re depressed, in spite of having better living conditions than Earth’s, because founding more colonies is no longer a challenge. And people on Earth have given up looking for one; they’re just surviving with nothing ahead to live for. You know that, Kathryn.”
“Yes,” she said sadly. “It was that way when I was growing up there, and it’s even more true now.”
“A civilization can’t survive without challenge,” Terry declared. “Individual people are challenged by acquiring new mind-powers, which is why they were excited by what I said about Estel. But I also made them feel there was more, a bright future of some sort. Even though I didn’t reason it out, I knew inside that there’d be a time when humankind would enter a vast universe of new ideas and new experiences.”
“I–I never thought of it that way,” Kathryn said. “We looked at gaining mind-powers as the end, after which people could get rid of the League’s dictatorial government and concentrate on cleaning up the slums and putting an end to hate and violence. What about that, Terry? Isn’t it a challenge?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Terry declared. “I’ve read Earth’s history—”
“I remember you always liked to.”
“Well, after more than eighty years on a ship with a full knowledgebase and time to kill in normal space between jumps, I’ve read a lot more. For centuries people thought they could do away with Earth’s problems if only everybody would make enough effort, and it never happened. There were always troublemakers, just as there still are—the Klan, for instance—and when they defeated some, others rose in their place; and the people not busy fighting them were nearly as bad off because the majority of them stopped trying to achieve anything at all. And that left them prey to autocratic governments like the League that create worse problems than the ones they claim to be solving.”
“But surely there were some challenges, or there would never have been any progress.”
“Sure there were—creating things, making discoveries—but those challenged just a few individuals. The only one that did have widespread impact was exploration, first of different areas on Earth and then of space. And the settling of new lands and new worlds. That’s why the colonies are less run-down than Earth, but they won’t be for long because the challenge is over for them now, and already they’re sinking into lethargy. People there have stopped thinking about the future.”
“Oh . . . you’re saying that just contact with something new and different, without the aliens taking any action to change us—”
“Yes—that’s what I didn’t see at first, because they said time was short for Earth’s civilization and yet I knew they wouldn’t interfere. Besides, despite all I’d thought about the Elders, I didn’t imagine how much there was to learn and think about till I went to their worlds. It will be like the Renaissance in ancient
times, only far more exciting.”
Kathryn sat up and reached for her robe. “You may be right,” she said. “Only I don’t want you to be hurt, Terry—and you will be, if the Council doesn’t buy it. It’s a good theory, you see, but if they don’t believe there really are aliens, it will be just theory. Something you’ve convinced yourself could save Earth from decline.”
“I know. But do you understand now why I have to try?”
She nodded. “When I think about what Aldren would say, I realize you haven’t got a choice. You never did have, even when you left me to hunt for the intruding ship—you are what you are, and I guess I wouldn’t have loved you if you were less.”
~ 70 ~
The Council meeting was scheduled for late afternoon. Terry wanted to spend the day renewing his acquaintance with Petersville, revisiting the places he’d envisioned with longing during the past century; but Kathryn pointed out that they’d meet people she knew and the presence of an unrecognized old man couldn’t be explained. She could hardly introduce him as her long-lost husband to one person at a time, and certainly not before she’d told their grandchildren.
“We have three,” she told him. “Bram and Arthur, named after my grandfather, and Mikaela, named after your shipmate Mikaela Orlov, who became copilot and later captain of Promise—she was one of my best friends until she and her husband Drew Larssen were promoted and transferred to Fleet headquarters. The kids live in other towns on Maclairn now with their own families—our great-grandkids and great-great grandkids—but they gather here often. I’ll call them tonight after you’ve talked to the Council and we can set a time for them to come.”
After lunch Terry and Kathryn sat under the trees in her garden, admiring her patch of the sunflowers that were grown in profusion on the planet, until it was time for the meeting. She had called the Council members individually but had said nothing about its purpose except that it was important. Only to the Council Head, Kenard, had she confessed that she’d brought the Captain of Estel down from Shepard on her own authority. He was surprised, she said, and not happy; but since the situation would have to be considered by the Council, there was nothing he could do to prevent Terry’s appearance.
“There’s something you need to know,” Kathryn told Terry. “There are two factions on Maclairn now. Most people believe we should go on as we always have, allowing contact with the League only through Promise, with the mentors and former observers on Earth maintaining strict secrecy. But there are some who think that since there’s little prejudice against psi remaining on Earth, we should start making ourselves known to everyone the mentors train. Kenard and most of the Council members are conservatives—that’s why he doesn’t like the idea of having the Captain of Estel here. He’s afraid it will lead to a push for more communication with the outside.”
Terry frowned. He was going to have enough trouble winning the Council over without being opposed on political grounds.
Just before sunset, they walked over to the house where the Council met—the house that had once been Jessica’s, where he had lived with Kathryn during his leaves from Shepard. It was a beautiful old structure of wood and stone with a great room patterned after the lodge on Undine where Maclairn’s founders had formed their group. Should he mention that he’d been to Undine? Terry wondered. The Maclairnans had probably received no news of what was happening there; would the thought of the Isle of Sleep be disturbing, or would they be comforted by knowing that their ancestors had at last been laid to rest?
As he entered the great room, memories swept over him. Here he had met Jessica and his mentor Tristan; here he and Kathryn had spent their wedding night beside the huge central fireplace; here the Ritual had been held. . . .
The Council had already gathered; Kathryn had timed their arrival so that Terry could be introduced to everyone at once. Her ten fellow-members were settled on the floor cushions by the fireplace and looked up, startled by the appearance of a stranger. Kenard rose and greeted Kathryn with a nod to Terry, saying “I suppose this is the mysterious Captain of Estel. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain.”
Terry took his hand and smiled, telepathically projecting friendliness but closing his mind to sensing of his thoughts. “Call me Terry,” he said. Since Maclairnans didn’t have surnames he didn’t offer his current one.
“Terry? That’s an honored name among us, one of our historical heroes.” Kenard looked troubled; he evidently regretted the presence of an outsider. Like all Maclairn’s top leaders he was well over a hundred—he had led the Council for forty years, Kathryn had said, following Arnam, who had taken over when Jessica died at the age of one hundred thirty-three. He was, of course, a highly gifted mentor, as were several of the other Council members. Most of the rest were younger people in charge of practical affairs such as engineering and agriculture. It was an administrative rather than a legislative body; Maclairn had never needed formal laws.
They joined the others on the floor cushions and Kathryn introduced the members to Terry. “The Captain has come to us with momentous things to tell,” she announced, “so last night I brought him down from Shepard with me.”
“He is welcome, of course,” said Klarysa, a distinguished-looking woman with silver hair. “But I’m surprised, Kathryn, that you took it upon yourself to let an offworlder land without consulting us. We usually vote on exceptions to normal policies.”
“The Foundation has been trying to get in touch with the Captain of Estel for decades,” one of the younger members, Niall, protested. “Surely none of us would have turned him away, though I suppose Captain Aaronson tried to.”
“That was why I had to act last night,” Kathryn agreed. “Aaronson was all set to send him back on today’s crew transport. And you see, I was informed through another officer that he bore news about Terry Radnor.”
“Terry Radnor? But he died a hundred years ago!” exclaimed another of the women, Sumiko.
“No, we only thought he did,” said Kathryn, her voice strong with emotion. “This Terry is he, my first husband, who was taken from us by a strange turn of fate and is only now free to return. I hope you’ll all share my joy and listen to what he has to say.”
There was a stunned silence. Finally Kenard said, “Kathryn, we all respect you and the service you’ve given to Maclairn over the years. But sometimes remembered grief can do strange things to people our age. If this man has told you he is Terry Radnor it’s understandable that you want to believe it—but we’ve seen pictures of him uncolored by old memories, and there are differences that can’t be accounted for by age. For one, he seems to have regained two missing fingers.”
“Kenard,” Kathryn said, “surely you’re aware that a loved one is recognized by mind-touch, not by physical characteristics! I could hardly be mistaken about the mind-touch of my former husband.”
“There were deep bonds between you, of course,” said her mentor Devan. “But when a century has passed, isn’t possible that you might be feeling what you remember instead of what’s coming to your mind from outside? You have no real evidence—”
Kathryn looked him in the eye. “I have evidence,” she declared. “Last night Terry and I were intimate, and you know very well that the merging of minds during intimacy involves shared knowledge too vivid to be denied.”
“We’ll take your word then, Kathryn,” Kenard said. “But there’s a great deal that needs explaining.”
Terry stood. He drew a deep breath and declared, “What I’m about to tell you will be hard to believe. I swear by the flame I have worn in secret through most of the past century that it is true.” He opened his shirt and withdrew the lapel pin that, except during the years on Ciencia and on Draconis, had always been with him.
The Council members gasped. This, more than anything else, convinced them, for no one on Earth possessed those pins except the mentors, and if one had ever been lost or stolen, they would have been informed.
As they listened, fascinated, he recounted
the events that had led to his confinement to Ciencia just as he had to Jon and Alison, not revealing the identity of his captors, and briefly summarized what had happened since. When he got to the part about the terrorists, they were overcome by astonishment and dismay—the approach of his ship had been recorded in Maclairn’s history, but no one had known why it had turned back and crashed on an asteroid in a collision that was improbable, to say the least. They had not known about the colony’s close escape from destruction, or why Fleet had later decided that no intruder must ever be brought to the surface.
Kathryn turned pale; he had not mentioned this incident to her before. “God, Terry,” she burst out. “You might have been killed!”
“I almost was,” he admitted, “but I was able to get away in the damaged ship.” Silently he added, Don’t ask why I didn’t bring it here after the terrorists were dead. The Elders saved me, but I can’t say so to the Council yet.
“Now of course you’re wondering what kept me from coming back to Kathryn during the years since then,” he said. “Bear with me—I’m getting to that.”
They had grasped enough telepathically as he talked to know that he was being honest with them, but he’d kept his mind closed to deeper probing. When there was nothing left to tell except the most important thing, Terry paused. At last it was time to take the plunge, and he did not know how to begin. They would be too incredulous if he stated the whole truth directly. He would have to ease into it somehow.
An idea came to him. He recalled that when he’d first encountered the Elders and found them telepathic, he’d assumed they must have come from another human group that had discovered the same powers as the Maclairnans. Implying this would undoubtedly make his account easier to swallow.
“It was because I didn’t want to discourage your effort to teach mind-powers by revealing that I knew of greater ones of which you’re not aware,” he continued. “Aboard the ship that captured me I learned that there is another world where psi capability is universal, a world far in advance of Maclairn, and that for this secret to be revealed too soon would do great harm. Its people said the mentors would draw it from my unconscious mind, and later I came to see that they were right. So I swore never again to have any contact with a mentor; and only now am I free to break that oath.”
The Rising Flame: Box Set: Defender of the Flame + Herald of the Flame Page 88