Echo. Part 42

I thanked him and put them in the bedroom.

The apartment, if you could call it that, was spare. But it beat living in the woods. We had thick curtains to maintain some privacy. Carpets in both rooms. The walls could have used a restorative, but they were okay. There was a sketch near the door, of an angel, or a G.o.ddess, a woman with spreading wings, clothed in a flowing garment, one breast exposed.

Turam came by to see how we were doing. He brought with him a tall, thin, scholarly woman with intense eyes. Her name was Viscenda, and it was fairly clear that she was the person in charge. The director or mayor of the community. Or maybe the queen. I could also see that she wasn't excited about having people from outside interrupting the routine. She went through the motions of making us feel welcome. Then she left.

Turam stayed behind to try to determine how we were doing. He asked about Alex's leg. Alex was explaining it was coming along nicely when Belle became active. "I need direct interaction with these people," "I need direct interaction with these people," she said, she said, "if you expect me to become conversant." "if you expect me to become conversant."

"Not right now, Belle," Alex said. "Let's give it a little time."

We indicated to Turam, as best we could, that we wanted to learn the names of things. I pointed at the river. What do you call it? And what were those that hung on the windows and kept the sun out?

He understood, and seemed anxious to help. He pointed out objects in the room, the windows and curtains and books. We figured out how to ask for a book, how to describe the act of either opening or reading it (we couldn't be sure which), and how to ask for a pen. The only writing instruments they had were long, metal-tipped instruments that had to be dipped into a bottle of ink. But that gave us translations for "ink" and "bottle." When Belle pa.s.sed out of range, it didn't matter. We kept going.

In the midst of the conversation, a woman arrived, carrying a tray with cups and bowls, something that looked like bread, a pitcher filled with a cherry-colored liquid, and a covered tureen trailing a wisp of steam.

There were utensils for each of us, a spoon, a knife, and something I can only describe as a set of needles.

Alex's eyes caught mine. Was the food safe?

It smelled good. Like beef stew. With lots of onions.

"It's probably okay," I said. Turam looked at us, trying to figure out why we were hesitating. "Let's not offend the host," I added.

The woman filled two bowls with the stew and showed us the accompanying condiments. I nodded. This one, please. It looked like pepper.

She set Alex's food on a tray, and Turam helped him sit up. Alex tried his before mine arrived. "Only thinking of your safety," he said with a smile.

There were several types of meat in the mix. I had to a.s.sume it was real off-the-bone animal meat, but I put that out of my mind. Alex was thinking the same thing, and we exchanged shrugs. Any port in a storm.

I tried the gravy first. It didn't taste like anything I'd had before. Closest I could come would be pork with maybe a twist of lemon brewed in. It was good. The liquid in the cup was brewed, but it also had a unique flavor. A tea with some sort of fruit additive? And the bread had a rye flavoring.

It was good.

"Chase." Belle was overhead again. Belle was overhead again. "How are you doing?" "How are you doing?"

"We're fine, thanks," I said.

"I'm glad to hear it. Can we conduct some conversations with the natives?"

"There's no one here at the moment except Alex."

"Okay. May I suggest that, on the next pa.s.s, you arrange to be out in some public area? I'll be content just to listen, if you prefer. But the more exposure I have, the quicker I'll be able to grasp the language."

THIRTY-EIGHT.

The real threat implied by the arrival of a visitor from, say, Andromeda, is not that he might be the point man for an invading force. Rather, it is that he might embody a new perspective. We feel secure with viewpoints that have been around awhile. We like them, and we don't want anybody messing with them. Most of us are still trying to hang on to the sixty-seventh century.

-Arkham of Chao Cyra, from an address to the graduates at Korva University, cla.s.s of 6703 Alex had a bad first night. He didn't complain, but he was hurting. I tried sitting with him until he told me I was making him nervous, and I should please go to sleep. He seemed to be running a slight fever, so I kept a damp cloth on his forehead.

Seepah came during the night, administered medication for both of us, more of the stuff that had knocked me out earlier, except probably in a diminished dose. He drew the curtains while he was there, shutting out the moonlight. He checked Alex's pulse again. Shook his head. Looked puzzled.

In the morning, they brought us a pitcher of water and a plate of hard bread, with a jar of the local subst.i.tute for grape jelly to smear on it.

We were still munching when Turam showed up.

He made himself comfortable, watched curiously while we ate, and managed to ask questions that did not require a knowledge of the language. For example, he waved his hands and imitated something going down and crashing. Then a quizzical look.

I did an impression of a guy with a rifle. He nodded.

Okay. What about that thing we'd ridden down out of the sky? What was that?

Where were we from?

We'd put together a schedule of times when Belle would be available. She was, at that moment, almost directly overhead. I looked at Alex.

"Go ahead," he said. "See what happens."

So I showed Turam my bracelet and asked Belle to say h.e.l.lo. He was looking at it, puzzled, when it spoke to him. "Faloon, Turam." "Faloon, Turam."

I thought he was going to fall off his chair. But he got the message. We came from very far away.

"I've been listening," she said to Alex and me. she said to Alex and me. "And watching. I believe I have acquired some facility with the language." "And watching. I believe I have acquired some facility with the language." So they went back and forth, Turam and the bracelet, in the local language. Turam's eyes jumped back and forth between me and the link. He looked stunned. He smiled. He made faces. He squeezed his temples with his fingertips. So they went back and forth, Turam and the bracelet, in the local language. Turam's eyes jumped back and forth between me and the link. He looked stunned. He smiled. He made faces. He squeezed his temples with his fingertips.

"What are you telling him?" I asked.

"Just that we appreciate their help. I'm beginning to pa.s.s out of range."

"Tell him you won't be able to speak to him for a while."

"I already have. Unfortunately, I don't have the capability to tell him why, or how long it will take before we can resume the conversation, because I have no idea yet how these people measure time. By the way, you should be aware that it was a productive session."

Moments later, she faded out. Turam stared at the bracelet. He looked like a guy who'd just experienced a divine visitation.

Seepah returned a few hours later to examine Alex again. The first thing he did was to take his pulse. He still didn't like the result. Then he checked the leg. Finally, he produced a thermometer and waited for him to open his mouth.

Alex hesitated. Looked toward me. "You think they sterilize these things?"

"Sure," I said.

He opened up, and Seepah inserted the device. After a minute or so, the doctor-he was clearly the local medical pract.i.tioner-produced a notebook and recorded the result. I don't think he liked that either. They brought more food and liquids, hot and cold. And another pitcher of water.

When they were gone, Alex felt his forehead, frowned, and asked me to try. "Feels okay," I said.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Alex said. "He seems worried about something."

On her next orbit, Belle, speaking only to me, reiterated that her time with Turam had been fruitful. "We should not waste opportunities. I should talk with him some more, or with someone, every time we can. And there's something else: We've received transmissions from Audree and Robin, which I've downloaded to your respective links." "We should not waste opportunities. I should talk with him some more, or with someone, every time we can. And there's something else: We've received transmissions from Audree and Robin, which I've downloaded to your respective links."

The closest thing to an available private place was the washroom. I'd have preferred to go outside, but the image of Robin flickering on the gra.s.s might have upset the locals. So I retreated down the hall and waited until it was empty.

Robin looked good. He was sitting on his front deck, sipping lemonade, wearing a broad-brimmed hat to keep the sun off. "Chase," "Chase," he said, he said, "I just wanted you to know I miss you. Nothing here is the same without you. "I just wanted you to know I miss you. Nothing here is the same without you.

"There's not much happening. My uncle Allen will be in town tomorrow, and I'll have to take him sightseeing. It'll be a long day. He's a nice guy, but he never stops talking. Always about either sports or the family. Anyhow, I'm counting the hours till you get back. Hope everything's okay."

It would, of course, be several days before he heard about our incident.

The main building housed approximately fifteen families. There were as many more scattered across the grounds in the individual homes, all of modest dimensions and purely utilitarian. Turam took me on a tour.

The compound extended over a large piece of farmland. It occupied almost a kilometer of riverfront and included two docks, a boathouse, and a waterwheel. Crops were everywhere.

The community had a manually operated printing press, ran a supply center in the main building, and they had a school. I noticed two more greenhouses in back, but they seemed underused. They were growing flowers in them. The two I'd seen originally appeared to be shut down completely.

Food was served at regular hours in a large dining hall. Apparently everyone was welcome, and almost everyone gathered-everybody who wasn't working-for the evening meal. During the time we were there, I never walked past the dining hall during the day and saw it empty. If people weren't eating, they were sitting around talking or playing cards. When Belle made her next pa.s.s, I grabbed a chair and sat in, with the link on so she could watch, and partic.i.p.ate in, the conversation.

The news about the bracelet that talked spread quickly, and everybody wanted to see it. Most were skeptical, of course, especially when Belle was out of range. See: I told you they were making it up. See: I told you they were making it up.

There was a play area for kids out back. Alex, on his crutches, hobbled outside, found a bench, and sat down to watch. When Belle reentered the zone a few minutes later, she commented that the locals did not understand why we seemed so weak.

"It's the gravity," I said. "They're used to it."

"I wonder," said Alex, "what the average life span is here."

"I don't know," I said, "but I can tell you there'll never be a move to take over their real estate."

"That reminds me," said Alex. "Belle, have you asked them what happened here? What went wrong?"

"No. I've been reluctant. It might seem like bad manners. If I may suggest, Alex, it might be best if we wait until you and Chase have enough command of the language to put the question to them."

Alex nodded. "Makes sense," he said.

Turam and a couple of women showed up with clothes for us, shirts and leggings, made of heavy linen of a sort I'd not seen before. And socks and undergarments. They didn't look especially comfortable, but I was grateful to be able to get cleaned up and change.

The really good news was that they had indoor plumbing and a water-purification system. They had soap, although they hadn't figured out how to pipe in hot water. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the shower had only one faucet until I was out of my clothes. Two buckets had been placed in a corner of the washroom for the convenience of the user. The kitchen, I learned later, kept a fire going round the clock, and always had hot water available. But even had I known, there was no way I was going to climb back into my clothes. So I had a memorable shower.

Alex could not, of course, manage a shower. When he heard about the hot water, he thought it was funny. But he was taking a chance since he would have had a problem getting washed down without my help.

Our new garments fit tolerably well although they had a dull, rumpled look even after being pressed. Alex commented that they had clearly been around the block. But we were happy to have them.

I brought hot water in and washed the clothes we'd been wearing during the crash and hung them on a line outside. They might have been a bit demonstrative for the compound, though. We were concerned that putting them back on would have amounted to rejecting the generosity of our hosts. So we stayed with the contributions.

After we were washed and dressed, we headed down to the dining room, Alex hobbling along on his crutches. Every time Belle pa.s.sed over, we switched her on for eleven minutes so she could absorb as much of the conversation as possible.

Everyone was fascinated. They all wanted to talk to her and, secondarily, to us. Alex had a quick feel for languages, so he wasted no time picking up the basics. We'd already learned to say "h.e.l.lo" and "good-bye." And "I'm fine." During our first full day, we added comments like "It's nice to meet you," "I'm thirsty," "It's nice weather," and "How did you sleep?" Alex worked out how to say "The river is beautiful in the moonlight." And we learned to reply to questions about his neck chain and my bracelet. "Yes, they do speak but only at certain times." I always did that with a smile, and it inevitably provoked a laugh. But by then almost everyone had heard the magic voice.

We took turns stationing ourselves in the dining room during the first few days. Turam spent a lot of time with us, doing everything he could to help us learn the language although it was clear he didn't really understand what was going on. He had no concept of a radio, so the notion of someone speaking from a distant place was as remote to him as the possibility that the jewelry was talking.

By the end of each day, we were both tired and hurting. The day was several hours longer than we were accustomed to. As was the night. So our sleep cycle got derailed pretty quickly.

Belle pa.s.sed on some information about Turam. "Seepah informed me," "Seepah informed me," she said, she said, "that Turam's wife died recently from a disease that Seepah was unable to treat. He called it simply the Sickness, and said the community had been suffering from it for several years. Victims start with a fever, their skin turns yellow, heart palpitations ensue, and most are dead within two weeks. It's become a recurring problem, and it's one of the factors in a gradually decreasing population." "that Turam's wife died recently from a disease that Seepah was unable to treat. He called it simply the Sickness, and said the community had been suffering from it for several years. Victims start with a fever, their skin turns yellow, heart palpitations ensue, and most are dead within two weeks. It's become a recurring problem, and it's one of the factors in a gradually decreasing population."

"Are they in fact losing population?" Alex asked.

"I do not have numbers, but I suspect we can trust Seepah's perspective.

"Turam, by the way, has no family to fall back on. Seepah says he responded to the loss by putting emotional distance between himself and his friends. He no longer hangs out in the dining room after hours. Or at least he had stopped doing that until you two came on the scene. But he'd been sitting in his room alone, or going for long, solitary walks. That's why he happened to be nearby when you came down."

We'd been there about three days when Viscenda called us into her office to ask how we were doing. Did we need anything? Was the food satisfactory? If in fact we were from another world, why had we come to Bakar? (It was their name for their home world.) "We're simply explorers," Alex said.

A table stood in a corner of the room, partially shaded by a potted plant with broad leaves. Glittering in the filtered sunlight was a silvery statuette. The same figure that was depicted in the sketch in our quarters. An angel, or perhaps a G.o.ddess, with wings spread, about to take flight. With one breast uncovered. She was carrying a lantern. Viscenda's manner suggested this was how she thought of herself.

Later that afternoon we were sitting in the dining hall with the director, and with Turam and Seepah. At Alex's prompting, Belle put a question to them: "We landed and tried to speak with some fishermen. Far from here. But they attacked us. Without provocation. Can you explain why that might have happened?" "We landed and tried to speak with some fishermen. Far from here. But they attacked us. Without provocation. Can you explain why that might have happened?"

Conversation was still difficult. We told Belle what to say, and she translated their answers for us. We described the entire event, the man in the robe, the staff, the guys blasting away for no apparent reason.

"They saw the lander? In the air?" asked Seepah.

"Yes. They saw it."

They looked at one another. "The lander floats floats," Turam said. "In the air. Even when it was coming down, it wasn't really falling falling."

"It's called antigravity," we said.

"Some would have called it magic."

"Do you believe in magic?"

"There are are demons. The man with the robe, you said he had a staff. What did it look like?" demons. The man with the robe, you said he had a staff. What did it look like?"

"It was just a staff."

"Was it decorated in any way?" This came from Turam.

"There was a symbol on the top."

"Describe it."

"An 'X' inside a circle." I drew a picture.

They turned and looked at one another, nodding. I'd picked up enough of the language to catch the comment from Seepah: "I thought so."

"I think," said Viscenda, "that you ran into some true believers."

Turam commented: "They're religious fanatics. Horgans. They think the Dark Times were brought on because a lot of people weren't living according to their theology."