Elvians (The Silver Ships Book 18)

by S. H. Jucha

  As was the mandator’s habit, fronds steeped in the lamps’ light allowed dozing. The slowing, braking, and accelerating of the tram for herbivores and predators were familiar movements that didn’t disturb the mandator.

  When the tram reached its destination, the tasker hurried from the car and opened the bubble for the mandator. Dedicated to Scarlet Mandator, Olive Tasker knew to wake the mandator. A stalk reached and tapped the mandator several times before the bloom lifted.

  “The Scarlet Life Giver,” Olive Tasker beamed.

  The mandator and the tasker exited the tram and made use of a small, wheeled transport to follow a path through a thick portion of the forest. The dense overhead canopy prevented the Light from penetrating, and the mandator and the tasker closed their fronds against the cool air.

  The forest gave way to a luxuriant, grass meadow. The enormous clearing allowed the Scarlet Life Giver complete access to the Light. Every Life Giver was situated in such a location.

  The transports were never used to approach the Life Giver. So, the mandator descended, left the tasker behind, and followed the worn narrow path through the grasses to the base of the Life Giver.

  Like all Life Givers, the being was immense. Branches stretched high and wide to the Light. Thick roots ran deep into the World of Light’s fertile soil.

  The Mandator admired the numerous pods that hung from the Life Giver’s thick, upper limbs. The green ones were new buds; the larger, yellow ones were riper; and the scarlet ones were nearing maturity. To Scarlet Mandator, the Life Giver’s production of more offspring indicated a robust future for the Ollassa.

  Taskers worked around the Life Giver, carting nutrients to the being, protecting it against intrusive fauna, and carefully harvesting the mature scarlet pods. At the approach of the mandator, the taskers halted work, tipped their blooms, and retreated to a respectful distance.

  The rarest of Ollassa, an interpreter, sat at the base of the Scarlet Life Giver and was wrapped against the massive trunk. With starlight failing to penetrate near the trunk base, the interpreter’s fronds were withered. Nutrients were supplied to the interpreter via upper stalk pads, which penetrated the Life Giver’s outer core.

  Scarlet Mandator heard the usual terse command.

  “Speak,” Umber Interpreter beamed.

  “Invaders, animals have come again. We fired first. Ollassa ships were destroyed; beings were lost. The Omnians have returned to help us. Their leaders ask if we will consider an alliance with the invaders, who possess advanced technology. The invading race isn’t aggressive, but their protective protocols are strong.”

  Umber Interpreter translated for the Life Giver, stalks trembling to transmit the statements. The message had been intense, which meant that the Life Giver failed to respond in the expected amount of time.

  The Light crossed the sky and neared the horizon before the Life Giver responded. Its quivering branches indicated the effort of transmittal.

  “Protect Ollassa,” Umber Interpreter said, repeating the message.

  Scarlet Mandator waited for the remainder of the Life Giver’s message. The bloom regarded the interpreter. The Ollassa was somnolent. There would be nothing more to be gleaned from the Scarlet Life Giver.

  The mandator crossed the meadow. Petals closed against the dying of the Light, and stalks hurried.

  The tasker and the mandator boarded the transport, and the tasker wasted no time driving through the forest. The tram’s safety, light, and minerals beckoned.

  With stalks immersed in mineral baths, Olive Tasker asked, “Was your visit encouraging?”

  “It wasn’t discouraging,” the mandator replied, relishing the nourishing minerals feeding stalks, bloom, and fronds. “Although, I can’t say that I was satisfied.”

  “May I inquire?” Olive Tasker asked. Having worked with the mandator for many annuals, the tasker felt privileged to be able to broach the subject of the Life Giver’s message.

  “Protect Ollassa,” the mandator replied.

  The petals of the mandator’s bloom gently vibrated, indicating amusement. “If you’re waiting for more, there isn’t any more,” the mandator beamed.

  “Protect Ollassa,” the tasker repeated. “That’s obvious, isn’t it?”

  “It would seem so,” the mandator replied. “When the Light illuminates our path, we’ll proceed to the next Life Giver.”

  The tasker’s bloom tipped and relaxed, while the body was replenished.

  In the morning, Olive Tasker made good time to the location of the Teal Life Giver. The mandator’s transport crossed a bridge over a wide stream to reach the meadow. At the base of the Teal Life Giver, the mandator repeated the request, adding the Scarlet Life Giver’s message.

  Again, most of the cycle was spent waiting for a reply. When it came, it was as terse as the first one.

  “Trust one,” the interpreter said and then quickly fell asleep.

  So it went — journey after journey, Life Giver after Life Giver, and message after message. The mandator’s tram had crisscrossed nearly half the planet to visit every Life Giver. On the return to Mesa Control, the mandator mulled the collection of pronouncements.

  They were as follows.

  - Protect Ollassa

  - Trust one

  - Calm fears

  - New path

  - Not threatening

  - Eliminate destruction

  - New walker

  - Numerous Lights

  - Life Givers

  - Share pods

  - Embrace fauna

  “I’ve a thought,” the mandator mused, tipping the bloom toward the car’s overhead ultraviolet lights, while the tram was stopped for the night. “I believe I haven’t received a group of messages. I think I’ve received one message.”

  “Each Life Giver received the message or messages delivered previously,” Olive Tasker noted, “and they’re speaking to the Ollassa who wears the World of Light’s crescents.

  “Yes, I’m convinced that the message is a totality, but I’ve two problems,” the mandator affirmed. “Recall that we visited the Life Givers in an order chosen by us. Therefore, I must ask myself if the parts of this message were given to me in the order that they should be examined.”

  “And the second?” Olive tasker asked.

  “What does the message mean?” Scarlet Mandator replied.

  Olive Tasker watched the mandator’s bloom petals vibrate rapidly. There was some indication of humor, but the tasker detected an element of anxiety. The mandator feared failing the Ollassa.

  During the long trip to return to Mesa Control, the mandator signaled that a meeting of the centers’ mandators would be required.

  Always the mandator returned to the tram car’s panel, which beamed the message’s parts. A stalk was used on the touch-sensitive screen to reorder the parts, while the mandator hoped to make sense of the entirety.

  The tram entered the underground tunnel of Mesa Control, and Scarlet Mandator thanked friend and confidant Olive Tasker. Then the mandator entered the lift and rode it upward to the conference room, where other mandators waited.

  Taskers had listed the Life Givers’ messages in the order received on a large panel display. When Scarlet Mandator entered the conference room, the mandators were studying the list.

  Blooms swung Scarlet Mandator’s way, and opinions were beamed. The thoughts varied widely. Each mandator used personal beliefs to interpret the messages.

  Scarlet Mandator held up a stalk for silence. Into the quiet, the mandator said, “I’m convinced these messages aren’t to be interpreted individually. We’re to perceive the Life Givers’ intentions.”

  “Why wasn’t more information given you?” Citron Mandator asked.

  “You might ask the Life Givers that question,” Scarlet Mandator replied. “I believe the Life Givers have communicated a path that we might follow. It’s not a simple one. Therefore, we must fill in the details.”

  “You seem certain of the intent,
” Plum Mandator beamed. “What’s your interpretation of the messages?”

  “I wish I knew,” Scarlet Mandator replied. “I think it’s the job of this group to contemplate what we’ve been told and understand what we must do. I can tell you that we’re being told to regard the arrival of the Elvians and the Omnians in a different light.”

  “Or to reject the arrival of both animal races,” Citron Mandator commented.

  No progress was made during that meeting, and it wasn’t made during the following two cycles. At issue was the vagueness of the parts. Each one could be given three or four different meanings. Taken as a whole, the multiple meanings produced millions of combinations.

  On the fourth cycle, Scarlet Mandator encountered Mist Monitor waiting in the corridor outside the conference room.

  “I don’t wish to be presumptuous, Scarlet Mandator,” the monitor beamed, “but I believe I’m able to provide a plausible interpretation of the Life Givers’ collective message.”

  “How is that?” the mandator inquired.

  “Renée was a great help,” the monitor replied.

  “Well, you can do no worse than us,” the mandator replied and ushered the monitor into the conference room.

  Blooms indicated the mandators’ surprise that a monitor was to be included in the meeting. Before questions could be asked, Scarlet Mandator announced that they would hear the monitor’s thoughts about the message.

  “After my duties, I availed myself of the SADEs,” the monitor beamed hesitantly. “They connected me to the Omnian co-leader, Renée. She was kind enough to indulge me with her time, and I shared the message with her.”

  Mandators rose on their stalks, and blooms expressed outrage about the sharing.

  Mist Monitor quivered at the intensity of the rebukes.

  Scarlet Mandator’s stalk touched that of the monitor’s. Although the intent was to calm the monitor, it didn’t appear to help.

  To quell the other mandators, Scarlet Mandator rose and turned the body stalk sideways. The crescents, which were evident, were a reminder to the mandators exactly who had been given the honor and duty to lead the Ollassa. It quieted the other mandators.

  “We’ve made no progress,” Scarlet Mandator remonstrated. “I’m offered an alternative, which I bring to you, and you haven’t the Light’s grace to listen. I question why I bother to consult you. Now, you will hear what the monitor has to say. When the monitor is finished, you may question the monitor civilly.”

  When Scarlet Mandator finished, stalks eased into a relaxed position.

  “I shared the message’s concept, not the details,” Mist Monitor corrected.

  Scarlet Mandator’s bloom petals rattled, and the blooms of the other mandators ducked. The audience had failed to let Mist Monitor finish the opening remarks before they expressed their anger.

  “Renée didn’t request to hear the message’s details either, but she did say that much had happened aboard the Arcus, the Elvians’ ship,” the monitor continued. “She spoke briefly about many of the events. Then she suggested that I speak with the SADEs who held all the details.”

  Plum Mandator raised a stalk, which halted Mist Monitor’s presentation, and Scarlet Mandator allowed the query.

  “I fail to understand how your communications with Renée and the SADEs can explain the message,” Plum Mandator said.

  “Perhaps, I’m not explaining well the thoughts that have occurred to me,” Mist Monitor beamed. “I shared my ideas with the SADEs, and they were helpful. Respectfully, I suggest you listen to the SADEs.”

  Before the mandators could ask questions, Scarlet Mandator raised a stalk and signaled the control center to locate Killian.

  Within moments, Killian entered the conference room and greeted the mandators and the monitor. He noticed Mist Monitor’s trembling stalks, and said, via the holo-vid he held, “Mandators, apologies if I’ve overreached. I wasn’t informed that these messages were private to the Ollassa.”

  Scarlet Mandator waved a stalk in negation. “Killian, Mist Monitor indicates that you might be able to help us with the Life Givers’ messages,” the mandator beamed.

  Killian augmented the panel’s display. Moving the Life Givers’ short missives to the left, he added his own list of terse summaries of events aboard the Arcus and conjectures about the future.

  “Mandators, I invite you to consider the notes that I’ve added to your display,” Killian said. “SADEs have developed a consensus about the possible links between these two lists, if you’d be interested to hear.”

  Killian was linked to Bethley, Trium, and Renée. His companion SADEs had added their deductive logic, but it was Renée who guided his interaction with the Ollassa.

  “We would hear your thoughts, Killian, and those of other Omnians,” Scarlet Mandator beamed, having an inkling that Killian was connected to others.

  The panels’ display was reorganized, and two lists were coupled. They read:

  - Protect Ollassa: Tech advance to guard the Worlds of Light

  - Trust one: Alex Racine aboard the Arcus

  - Calm fears: Mandator meeting and Ollassa reactions

  - New path: Emerge from isolation

  - Not threatening: Elvians are essentially benign

  - Eliminate destruction: Elvian drones are dangerous

  - New walker: Elvian AI to receive an avatar

  - Numerous Lights: Many star systems

  - Life Givers: Distribute Life Givers among the stars

  - Share pods: Ollassa to be birthed on other planets

  - Embrace fauna: Align with other races

  To say that the mandators’ reactions were ones of astonishment was a vast understatement. Stalks became rigid, raising the mandators to their full heights. Petals rattled, and blooms beamed intensely at Killian.

  Killian was cued by Renée to remain silent. she sent.

  Scarlet Mandator let the mandators vent. When patience ended, a stalk was raised, and beaming ceased.

  “I remind all of you that it was a SADE, Julien, who first spoke to me,” the mandator said. “Without Julien’s skills and experience, we might never have had Omnian help with the new invaders. Who among us has traveled to other stars? Who among us has spoken to races other than the Omnians? We might wish to consider our Worlds of Light are the extent of our space, but it’s obvious we don’t exist alone in the dark. Beings continue to arrive from beyond. Are we prepared to handle them, or are we to wait until we’re overrun?”

  Citron Mandator raised a stalk, and Scarlet Mandator tipped a bloom.

  “I ask two thoughts for the mandators to consider,” Citron Mandator said. “How is it possible for the Life Givers’ messages to be interpreted by the Omnians? The Life Givers couldn’t possibly know of the events aboard an alien ship. Next, I submit that the Omnians’ final four items are intended to direct the future of the Ollassa. It’s their vision of our future, not ours.”

  Flame Mandator signaled Scarlet Mandator to be recognized. Then the mandator said, “Scarlet Mandator wears the crescents of every Life Giver. When has that happened before in the history of the Ollassa? We shouldn’t be too hasty to believe that the Life Givers are isolated on their hills. Perhaps, they’re more connected than we’ve realized. Recall, they’ve existed longer than the Ollassa have embraced technology.”

  “I leave you to consider what you’ve learned,” Scarlet Mandator beamed, “and I thank Mist Monitor for bringing unique thoughts to my attention.” In an unusual motion, Scarlet Mandator directed a stalk to cross one of the monitor’s. “I also thank Killian and those he listens to for their help.”

  With that, Scarlet Mandator ushered Killian and Mist Monitor out of the conference room ahead of the mandator.

  17: Waiting, Waiting

  While Scarlet Mandator had toured the World of Light to meet with the Life Givers and receive their messages, Alex had waited aboard his traveler for developments among the attendant familie
s. In short order, he grew restless. However, he was loath to venture out of the bay for fear of influencing the conversations he hoped were ongoing in the arches.

  Alex tried exercising at the traveler’s aft end. The shuttle design provided some space, but he quickly found the workout repetitious. He tried inventing physical games with the SADEs, but he couldn’t compete. Then a thought occurred to him.

  Less than a half hour later, Trobath entered the bay. She hadn’t expected to guide the Omnians through the ship. With the ship’s engineering plans in their memories, Alex and the SADEs were capable of finding their own way.

  “Greetings, Trobath,” Alex said, paying the Elvian a courteous motion with one hand, while Miranda acted as translator.

  “Greetings, Alex,” Trobath replied, borrowing the Omnian phrase, but returning Alex’s courtesy with her own. “How can I help?”

  “Ever since we saw the huge open spaces on the upper decks and discovered the trove of Elvian music in Vyztram’s memories, we’ve thought your courtesies might have evolved from your race’s penchant for dancing,” Alex explained. “Miranda has worked with Vyztram to pull some vids from your AI’s earliest memories. Regard.”

  Miranda activated her holo-vid, and Trobath watched groups of Elvians perform intricate dances to music. She was fascinated, and Miranda continued to display various dances.

  “Do you think you could teach me one of these?” Alex inquired.

  Trobath eyed Alex’s solid massive frame. Her thin lips stretched wide, and her breathless repetition accented her amusement.

  “It’ll be a challenge,” Alex admitted, spreading his arms wide to acknowledge the limitations of his robust stature.

  “It would be my pleasure to accept the challenge, Alex,” Trobath said, displaying an intricate courtesy. “Which dance shall we practice?”

  Miranda repeated the sequence quickly for Alex and Trobath. He let her choose, which she did by pointing a digit into the display, which halted the vid.

  The dance Trobath chose involved four males, who surrounded a female. There was nothing spoken during the performance. The dancers were constantly in motion, with the female engaging each male in turn.