Cheela - Starquake Part 13

"You're not so special," said the non-speckled one raising his pull-pike that he used to bring down fruits from the taller plants.

"That's enough ofthat," Qui-Qui hollered from a distance. "You younglings are acting just like a bunch of hatchlings."

07:12:02 GMT TUESDAY 21 JUNE2050.

While Hohmann-Transfer was busy with her scrollwork, some of her eyes noticed that one of the stars in the sky was rapidly growing in size. She let the scroll roll up and went to the command deck as the star grew larger and larger. By the time she got there, she could see the yellow-white speck in front of the star. It was the last of the large interstellar exploration ships, the Abdul Nkomi Farouk. Now, all that were left out in interstellar s.p.a.ce were a few scout ships.

"East Pole s.p.a.ce Station calling Abdul," said Hohmann-Transfer. There was nearly two methturns delay while the signal traveled across the 30 kilometers that separated them. During the wait the spinor warp drives on Abdul were turned off and the star receded back into the heavens, while the ship stayed in orbit around Egg.

"This is Captain Searching-Eye of the interstellar exploration ship Abdul reporting to base as ordered.

Captain Far- Ranger and Admiral Steel-Slicer were given the last positions of our two scout ships and were still searching for them when we left Here X-l. What is the status of things on Egg? We are all concerned."

"Terrible," said Hohmann-Transfer. "We are reduced to depending upon the capabilities of an entertainer, and she has been able to do nothing for two dozen greats of turns. I am calling a general meeting as soon as you get here."

The main meeting bowl on East Pole s.p.a.ce Station was jammed with bodies. The larger a.s.sembly rooms elsewhere on the station were also crowded with concerned s.p.a.cers watching the video links to the main meeting bowl.

"It has now been two dozen greats of turns since the disastrous starquake destroyed civilization on Egg,"

Hohmann-Transfer began. "I have done the best I can with the inadequate support from the surface, but the situation continues to look completely hopeless. The one engineer we had left on the surface flowed before we could save him. We are now reduced to training our own engineers with an entertainer as the teacher."

"She is doing a good job under the circ.u.mstances," said Cliff-Web. "The problem is that without robots and other labor-saving machines, everyone on the surface has to spend a good deal of his time just keeping himself alive. We give them as much advice as possible, but the two-grethturn time delay in the communication link doesn't help."

"How much longer will it be before they will be able to get a gravity catapult into operation?" someone asked.

"It all depends upon whether Qui-Qui can keep things under control down there and keep the cla.s.ses going," said Cliff-Web. "If she can, then by selecting out the ones most competent in gravitational engineering and keeping them free to go to cla.s.ses, we should soon have someone competent enough to go to the gravity catapult sites at the East and West Poles and tell us how bad the damage is.If the damage is not too bad, then it will only be another one or two dozen greats until we have trained a batch of engineers who can fix the damage, repair a power plant to run the catapult, and get it into operation."

"You are talking about generations!" exclaimed Hohmann-Transfer. "You didn't tell me that before! We can't wait that long!"

"I told you, but you wouldn't listen," said Cliff-Web. "And we have no alternative but to wait as many generations as it takes."

"But we're getting older all the time. Without rejuvenation we will all be dead before they finish!" said Hohmann-Transfer. "You will have to make some rejuvenation machines."

"You forget we are limited to the materials that we have on hand in the s.p.a.ce stations and s.p.a.ceships. I have had my engineers look into the problem. We could easily rework some of the metal in the less essential portions of the ships into machines to produce the rejuvenation enzymes. But the actual process requires the use of a rare metal isotope. In the whole s.p.a.ce fleet there is just enough to make two machines, each capable of making enough enzyme for one person every three dozen greats. Basically, only two people can be kept alive by rejuvenation."

"Then the rest will have to die!" said Hohmann-Transfer. "What is the use of fixing the gravity catapult if there are only two people left to save?"

"We can't allow the s.p.a.ce contingent to die off to two people," said Cliff-Web. "The cheela on the ground have lost all their scrolls and all their technology. We need to keep the s.p.a.ce contingent at full strength. Since we don't have rejuvenation machines to make young cheela out of old ones, we will have to make younglings the old-fashioned way. I understand that it's not bad, once you get used to it."

There were a number of amused rumbles from the audience, but they went right under the tread of Hohmann-Transfer.

"I don't understand," she said.

"I am recommending that the medicos take selected personnel off their contraceptive drugs. Can't you just see it?" he said, his eye-stubs sweeping around the large meeting bowl. "We could put the egg-pen down here at the bottom of the meeting bowl, with the hatchling pens stretching up the sides, and the creche-schools around the top."

It was ultimately decided to proceed with the building of the two rejuvenation machines. It would be important to have some continuity as the collection of s.p.a.ce stations and s.p.a.ceships were converted into a s.p.a.ce colony. After much debate, Hohmann-Transfer and Cliff-Web were chosen to use the rejuvenation machines. The rest of the cheela were allocated one egg each, for the s.p.a.ce stations could not handle much more than a doubling in the population. Many cheela went through many greats of serious thought before they finally decided on their "egg partner."

07:15:16 GMT TUESDAY 21 JUNE 2050.

Qui-Qui was called to the communicator by one of the scribes, Quick-Writer.

"I am still copying a section of a maintenance manual for auxiliary power generators." Quick-Writer told Qui-Qui when she arrived at the flyer. "They inserted a message to you a few methturns ago asking that you come."

Qui-Qui waited while Quick-Writer finished writing down the last words of the maintenance manual on the scroll in his neat script from the dictation 406 kilometers above. Quick-Writer then activated the video link. Some diagrams appeared on the screen. He copied them quickly, for the video link was extremely wasteful of energy. As soon as he was done, the link was switched back to audio only. There was a pause, then Cliff-Web came on the link.

"Our new s.p.a.ce Council has come to a decision," said Cliff-Web. "We feel that it is now time for you to go to the West Pole and undergo rejuvenation. Now, I know what you are probably thinking-that Zero-Gauss should be the one to go, since she is older. The problem with that is the rejuvenation robot has been unable to get more than one enzyme machine going. If we send Zero-Gauss now, then you can't go for some 36 greats. By then you would be close to 90 greats old and might flow before you could be rejuvenated. We decided we couldn't afford to lose you. You are the only one with the mixture of drive, determination, optimism, and charisma that is needed to keep the surface younglings concentrating on our joint goal, reunification of the clans of Egg. The vote was 288 to 1. I needn't tell you who the 'one' was.

As soon as you can, you are to travel to the West Pole, undergo rejuvenation, then return bringing the rejuvenation robot and the enzyme machine. The robot will be useful in getting some power generators running at Bright's Heaven and possibly repairing some of the other equipment."

Qui-Qui acknowledged the message, then turned the communications link back to Quick-Writer. He started writing again as the dictation continued.

It took a few turns for Qui-Qui to get things organized so that she could be gone the half-great it would take for her to undergo rejuvenation. One of the engineering students, Coulomb-Force, removed the communicator and an acc.u.mulator from the flyer so the education of the cla.s.ses could continue.

Zero-Gauss was relieved that it wasn't she that had been chosen for rejuvenation, for she wanted nothing more than to be with her little ones. Now that there were adults to help take care of the older hatchlings and run the creche-cla.s.ses, she had nothing to do but hatch eggs and tell stories of the old days before the starquake.

As the flyer carrying Qui-Qui zoomed down the old road toward the West Pole, it pa.s.sed by a large herd of food Slinks. Speckle-Top was with the herd, teaching her herding cla.s.s. Everyone in the cla.s.s had speckles and at least one pink eye. She was teaching them things that were not found in the textbooks, like how to look at an animal with your special pink eyes and tell where it hurt, and how to approach an animal so that it would think you were a friend.

As Speckle-Top watched the flyer pa.s.s, an old worry began nagging her brain-knot. Every turn they came closer to fixing one of those gravity machines they kept talking about. Then down would come the s.p.a.cers and with them their laws. Then after that would come the clankers and their lashes. Speckle-Top didn't want the s.p.a.cers to come; she liked things the way they were.

07:15:32 GMT TUESDAY 21 JUNE2050.

Eighty turns later, Qui-Qui returned from her rejuvenation in her flyer, bringing the rejuvenation robot and the enzyme machine with her. She glided to a landing near the Inner Eye Inst.i.tute. No one seemed to be around, so Qui-Qui got out to attach the flyer to the tie-bolts. She heard a slithering in the crust, and her eyes saw a number of miniature pet Swifts approaching. She didn't recognize any of them. She had a little bit of food in a carrying pouch and took it out. She formed some tendrils to pat the animals and called them to her.

The pack of Swifts saw the food, and their slither turned into a charge. Their maws opened, and sharp teeth snapped out into ripping position. Roaring with hunger, they rushed at Qui- Qui. She threw the bit of food to one side to distract them, then made a dash for the flyer. The robot watched impa.s.sively as she flowed rapidly aboard the flyer and slammed the magnetic shield shut, a manipulator dripping juices where she had fended off one of the beasts.

Hurt and a little frightened, Qui-Qui became concerned. Something had happened while she was gone.

She raised the flyer, flew over the frustrated pack of Swifts, and moved slowly down the streets. The plants that once had flourished on the grounds of the Inner Eye Inst.i.tute looked untended. All the fruits and pods had been stripped. She came to a compound in the middle of the Inst.i.tute that looked sealed off. The doors were shut and rocks were placed outside so that it was difficult even to get to the door to open it. The sliding window panels were shut too, and bars were placed across many of the openings.

Along the top of the wall was a makeshift coil of wire. Tiny curlicues of light appeared in the middle of the coils as stray nuclei from s.p.a.ce spiraled to their death in the super-strong magnetic fields.

A sliding panel in a barred window moved aside slightly, and a single eye-ball peeked through. The panel was thrust aside and Quick-Writer thrust half his eyestubs through the bars and waved frantically at the rapidly moving flyer. Qui-Qui raised the flyer up over the walls and brought it down inside the closed compound. She was greeted by eight of her former students. Three of them-Quick-Writer, the scribe; Coulomb-Force, the electromagnetic engineer; and Newton-Einstein, the gravitational engineer-were the older ones she had left in charge of the cla.s.ses. Of the three dozen that had been in advanced cla.s.ses when she left, there were now only five.

"It was terrible," said Coulomb-Force. "Right after you left, Zero-Gauss flowed. Then things got worse."

"Actually," said Quick-Writer. "Things were fairly stable while we went through the ritual of butchering Zero-Gauss and distributing her meat. Most of it went to the hatchlings, since she loved them so. After the ritual distribution, however, things did get worse. Speckle-Top told me to turn off the communicator."

"Why?" Qui-Qui asked.

"She said we shouldn't be paying attention to voices from the sky," interrupted Coulomb-Force. "Then she started to destroy the communicator, but I said she might get shocked and I would do it for her. I just disconnected it from the power source. Later I got some parts from a store in centertown and smashed them up, then hid the communicator."

"She also told the students that they didn't have to attend cla.s.ses anymore," said Quick-Writer. "Most of them cheered and went off to play games. A few came to me and asked if they could learn on their own.

There were eight. Three were killed in the fights."

"Fights!?!"

"They were terrible," said Coulomb-Force. "It only took a few turns of n.o.body working before the food got short. Some of the plain-hides tried to kill a food Slink and got into a fight with the speckled-hides."

"It ended with most of the plain-hides being driven off to the east," said Quick-Writer. "They stripped the plants before they left and managed to hold onto some herds of food Slinks. We went with them at first, but decided our first duty was to the future of Egg and came back to where Coulomb-Force had hidden the communicator. Speckle-Top and the rest of the speckled-hides didn't bother us as long as we kept out of sight."

"They obviously didn't like us, though," said Coulomb-Force. "So we started fortifying this compound.

How do you like my magnetic barrier?"

"Is that the coil across the top of the wall?" Qui-Qui asked.

"Yes, I've been collecting superconducting wire since I was a hatchling, and it finally found a good use. It sure used up the energy when I charged it, but it keeps us safe from speckles and Swifts alike."

"I was attacked by a pack of Swifts when I landed," said Qui-Qui.

"There are a lot of wild animals now," Quick-Writer told her. "All the pets that people used to have are now on their own. I also noticed that the young miniature Swifts and Flow Slows are bigger than the older ones. The hybrid miniaturization process must be a temporary one, since the new generations seem to be reverting."

"Where is Speckle-Top now?" Qui-Qui asked. "I didn't see .anyone around when I flew in."

"She knew you would be returning shortly," Quick-Writer replied. "I guess she didn't want to meet you eye-b.a.l.l.s to eyeb.a.l.l.s, so she and the rest of the speckled-hides left a dozen turns ago. They headed north, taking the food Slinks with them."

"We had better get the communicator operational again," said Qui-Qui. "I should tell this to the s.p.a.cers."

"They already know all about it," said Coulomb-Force. "I set up the communicator as soon as we secured this compound Newton-Einstein is using it now. I think he is getting instructions from Engineer Cliff-Web."

"Follow me and I'll take you there." Quick-Writer led them through a maze of wall and pa.s.sages. "Don't go that way," he said, pointing with his eye-stubs at what looked like the main pa.s.sageway while turning to his left into what looked like a storage alcove and climbing over some bags of dried nuts.

"Why?" asked Qui-Qui.

Coulomb-Force didn't answer, but picked up a heavy nut from a burst bag and rolled it down the corridor. The nut flashed into an incandescent glare of purple-hot plasma.

"Cliff-Web suggested it," said Coulomb-Force. "Of course it is more spectacular on a small object like a nut, but it is enough to turn a large cheela into dinner."

They worked their way through the maze to the inner compound where Newton-Einstein was at the communicator.

"Yes. She just arrived," said Newton-Einstein. "I will give her the directions."

Qui-Qui was hoping to hear the familiar voice of Cliff-Web again, but Newton-Einstein had obviously finished the conversation and wasn't willing to wait another two grethturns.

"Greetings, Teacher Qui-Qui," Newton-Einstein said, his eye-b.a.l.l.s seemingly locked on her newly restored eye-flaps. "Rejuvenation has certainly treated you well. I would be glad to take lessons from you any turn."

Qui-Qui now regretted the necessity that had required her to mate with some of the young nubile males so long ago. They grew up so quickly and now seemed so brash.

"What were the directions from the s.p.a.cers?" she asked, ignoring his remarks.

"Cliff-Web now feels that I am properly prepared to evaluate the condition of the gravity catapults on Egg. He suggests that we start with the ones at the West Pole, since they were furthest from the epicenter. Shall we go?" He moved closer and extended an eye-stub out to her.

"We will bring Coulomb-Force along with us," said Qui-Qui, taking charge once again.

"Why?" Newton-Einstein asked. "He knows nothing about gravitational engineering. Besides, he is needed here to keep the power generators running."

"I brought a robot to take care of the power generators," Qui-Qui explained. "You forget that a gravity catapult also needs a power plant. While you are checking out the status of the gravity catapult, Coulomb-Force can be finding out if we have some way to run it."

"If you say so." Newton-Einstein was obviously disappointed that he wouldn't be taking the trip alone with Qui-Qui.

"Show me the rest of the compound." Qui-Qui started off down a corridor that had alternating stripes of dust and hard rock on the floor. "Then we should be on our way." Quick-Writer hurried to block her path.

"We don't have this one activated," said Quick-Writer. "But you should learn what those alternating stripes in the dust mean when you come across them in the maze."

"Another shock treatment?" asked Qui-Qui.

"Worse," said Quick-Writer. He pressed a portion of a picture on the wall in a coded pattern to activate the trap.

"Careful," warned Coulomb-Force.

"Sooner or later we are going to have to learn to do this with our eyes under flaps," said Quick-Writer.

He didn't pull in his eyes, but moved quickly over the striped pattern on the floor, his tread developing an exaggerated rippled that allowed his tread to touch the hard crust, but bridged over the undisturbed dusty portions. Safely on the other side, he rolled a nut back across the path. An explosion from a tube buried in the crust at the middle of the striped pattern sent a heavy weight up into the sky, trailing a thin, tough fiber. The weight fell back down, just to one side of the firing tube. It sank deep into the crust, carrying the end of the fiber with it. The sides of the hole glowed from the impact.

Qui-Qui looked at the two holes in the crust connected by a tough fiber, then looked at Quick-Writer.

"Those Zebu barriers are all through the compound," said Quick-Writer. "Only the outer ones are activated all the time. If the high speed weight doesn't damage your brain-knot, then the fiber will st.i.tch you to the crust until we get there to cut you loose."

Quick-Writer deactivated the barrier, and Qui-Qui tried to cross with the required exaggerated ripple.

She made it across with only one buzz from the training monitor.

Before they left, Qui-Qui took the flyer up on a high trajectory to look around. There were some large herds off in the distance to the north, but no danger nearby. Coulomb-Force obviously enjoyed the experience of flying, but Newton-Einstein came down with all twelve eye-b.a.l.l.s tucked under pale eyeflaps.

Leaving Quick-Writer in charge of the compound, Qui-Qui, Newton-Einstein, and Coulomb-Force set off for the West Pole, gliding just above the crust. One of the gravity catapults was not far from White Rock City. Qui-Qui had been taken to the catapult site for a visit when she was in creche-school.

As they approached the site, Coulomb-Force had Qui-Qui stop. "There is a major power conduit running alongside the road. The conduit joined the road just a meter or so back. I think it came from that power plant over next to those foothills." He flicked his eye-stubs to the north.

"We might as well look at it while we are here," said Qui-Qui. She turned the flyer to the north, raised the elevation to a few centimeters so she would pa.s.s easily over the deserted homes and office compounds, and headed for the artificial mound off in the distance.

The power plant was in surprisingly good shape. During the starquake, the crust motions had bounced back and forth through the chaotic pattern of mountain roots at the West Pole and had nearly cancelled out at the site of the plant Qui-Qui was so pleased with their find that she went back to the food lockers in her flyer and brought out a bag of sparkling wine to help pa.s.s away the time while they waited for the West Pole s.p.a.ce Station to respond. While they were traveling over the surface, Cliff-Web had orbited to the West Pole s.p.a.ce Station to keep the communications delay down.

"I'm glad to hear that most of the power equipment looks in good shape," Cliff-Web said. "The first thing to do is to connect the power circuits of the flyer to the control console. Hopefully we will find some power units that were shut down by the safety monitors before the units were damaged by the starquake.

Let me know what the status board says and what you plan to do before you activate anything. We don't have any ground power experts up here, but our s.p.a.ceship power plant engineers may have some suggestions."