[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”The spokesperson spoke to its fellows, and its words caused much excitement among the slow-moving creatures.Each one of them had something to say, even the small furry creature, though in a language faster than the honey-flow tongue of the tall ones.At length the spokesperson turned to Pharan and said, “We would be honoured to be taken to the Sleeper.With good fortune we might be able to assist in his return to his own people.”The very idea sent a shiver of excitement through Pharan.He said, “Then all is agreed.If it is convenient, we shall leave immediately.”The spokesperson conferred with its people, and again much debate was entered into.At last it spoke to Pharan, “We have decided that two of us shall accompany you.The others must remain and work upon various repairs to our ship.”Pharan gestured, and spoke to his acolytes, relaying the joyous information that their mission was to continue to the shrine of the jewelled vessel.But first, said the spokesperson, its people must eat.Pharan, curious as to the feeding habits of these strange people, stood beside his sharl and watched as one of the Fallen stepped into the rainforest and returned some minutes later bearing fruit in its arms.This bounty it placed before the spokesperson, evidently in some form of ritual.While all the Fallen looked on intently, the spokesperson tasted first the greer fruit, then a shod-berry, followed by a kurl.It ate slowly, very deliberately, speaking to its fellows as if discussing the merits or taste of each fruit.Then they waited, staring at the uneaten fruit on the ground, and Pharan wondered at their strange rituals.Perhaps five minutes later the spokesperson turned to the others, and moved its head again, and stretched the lengths of skin that surrounded its mouthpiece, and the others made odd low repetitive noises and fell upon the fruit and devoured it quickly, or as quickly as these slow-movers were able.Pharan watched it all, for soon he would make his observations known to Venerable Kham, and then write up his experiences, and perhaps with luck the events of his final days might find their way into the inviolable texts of the sacred scriptures.Five minutes later the spokesperson announced that the chosen two were ready to leave the clearing.These two included the spokesperson itself and a Fallen not unlike the spokesperson, in that it was the same shape and shade and had the same dark substance growing long upon its head.As they mounted the sharl, the spokesperson— after exchanging words with the black Fallen—asked Pharan if they might encounter any dangerous animals while on the trek north, to which Pharan replied that Calique was not a world of danger.They set off, though not before the second Fallen who would make the pilgrimage first embraced— and joined mouthpieces—with one of the Fallen who was to remain behind.Then Pharan mounted his sharl, and gave the order for the trek to resume, and as they left the clearing and plodded north through the forest, he gave thanks to the Creator for the wonder he was experiencing.* * * *3Hendry watched the strange procession leave the clearing.Sissy and Carrelli rode upon the first animal, while the alien who had introduced himself as Watcher Pharan rode upon the second.Two further animals, each bearing six insectile lizards, brought up the rear.There had been a heated debate as to who should accompany Carrelli to the tomb of the Sleeper.The medic had suggested first that Hendry join her, but Sissy had objected to that, stating in no uncertain terms that she had no desire to be left behind with a couple of aliens and Olembe.At that, Olembe had volunteered to accompany Carrelli himself, which Carrelli vetoed on the grounds that they needed someone to remain behind to work on the ship.By a process of elimination, Sissy had found herself dragooned into making the trek.“Can’t you go by yourself, Gina?” Sissy had asked.Olembe laughed.“Lovesick already?”Carrelli intervened.“It makes sense to go in pairs.These people seem friendly enough, but all the same they are aliens.Joe, you work on the ship with Friday, okay?”Hendry would rather have made the trek himself, but for the sake of diplomacy he acceded to Carrelli’s wishes.As the last of the animals disappeared through the forest, Olembe returned to the ship, attended by the alien called Ehrin, and inspected the open hatch in its flank.Hendry was still coming to terms with what he had shared with Sissy back in the forest, viewing his memory of the unexpected passion as if it was an episode in a dream.It was the culmination of days of increasing affection for the quiet, yet occasionally outspoken, Inuit woman.He was amazed that it had come to a head so soon, and with such rapidity.He had been alone, and then through some mysterious and wonderful fusion, like alchemy, he was no longer alone.At least, that was how it felt.His future had been uncertain, haunted by the absence of someone he had assumed would always be there.It seemed now that Sissy had in some odd way replaced Chrissie, and while euphoric at the turn of events, at the same time he could not help but feel guilty that he was beginning to enjoy life again while Chrissie was dead.Tears stung like acid in his eyes as it came to him that Chrissie would surely approve of his liaison with Sissy.Olembe pulled his head from the recess in the side of the ship.“I need a hand here, Joe.”He indicated a mass of fused circuitry and a fifteen-centimetre column of blackened steel, which looked as though it had exploded.“Our lemur friend here told Carrelli that this was the problem.Don’t ask me what the hell it is.I’m fucked if I know.”“But we need to replace it, right?”“Yeah, but with what? I’m a nuclear engineer, not a mechanic.Anyway, I need to get it out first.Hold this while I work it free, okay?”Hendry grasped a hank of charred wires while Olembe struggled to free the burst cylinder with something that resembled a monkey wrench.While they worked, Ehrin climbed nimbly up the sloping side of the ship and perched on a golden fin, watching them work.From time to time it gestured and chattered to itself.Hendry caught its glance and winked, not expecting a response and not getting one.He was aware of the creature’s rank animal smell, its quick respiration.He said to Olembe, “Supposing we do get the ship running again, we need to find an uninhabited Earthlike world before we go back for the colonists.”Olembe nodded.“Pity the lizards turned up.This place pretty much fits the bill, little of it we’ve seen.”“I wonder how different the neighbouring worlds might be? Think about it—how many hundreds of worlds are crammed onto each tier? They can’t all be occupied.”Olembe, head thrust into the hatch, paused in his work to shoot a glance at him.“No? What if the Builders populated each one when they built this place? What if we aren’t welcome here? We gatecrashed, remember.”“You’re one pessimistic bastard, Friday.”The African laughed.“Just pointing out how it looks to me.”Hendry looked up through the treetops.The great arc of the helix’s next tier curved through the clear blue sky, so vast that its extremity was lost to sight.He considered its enormity; not only its physical construction, but the notion behind it.What the hell had the Builders intended—a zoo, a haven? He said as much to Olembe.“How about,” Olembe said, grimacing with the effort of loosening the cylinder, “a lab experiment? They gather specimens of alien races from around the galaxy, build this Petri dish and populate it, and watch the extraterrestrials fight it out.”“I don’t buy it,” Hendry said
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]