TMV (Jim Able: Offworld Book 3)

by Ed Charlton

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Remember what you learned about the Regdekol. All their writings are there, all the ideas available to all.”

  “Yeah, that’s about right.”

  “This correspondence is also taking place within the bounds of the Regdekol.”

  “But...” Jim caught his breath. “So what?”

  “It is not against himself or against us that he argues. He is laying down the philosophical justification for our meeting. They have been isolated for a long time. They need to remember that it is permissible to deal with the audnir. He is already convinced, but he must not seem to be acting individually. He needs a theoretical basis for his actions.”

  “And he wants us to provide it.”

  “If we cannot, he cannot. He cannot be seen to have instigated this. He is looking, perhaps, for something specific from us.”

  #

  angaraVmyournVregde1Vapp

  Greetings, Angara Myourn.

  Perhaps you are correct, and we are corrected.

  Then you are the doctors to whose expertise we must submit and have our vision healed.

  Unless, of course, the distortion you diagnose comes not from disease or injury but from the differences in what we have seen.

  Is it possible, Angara Myourn, that others have seen Beauty elsewhere?

  Is it possible, Regdenir, that you protect and serve but one instance of Beauty and that Beauty is manifest in other places in the universe?

  Would this not be a glorious discovery?

  Is the chance of this not worth a small consideration?

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  #

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, visitors.

  We have for many centuries lamented the blindness of our audnir. They look where we look, but see it not. They know what we know, and understand it not.

  You suggest that you are audnir of a different kind, who do not see what we see and see something we do not, and yet who know what we know and understand what we understand.

  That such a differentiation exists between audnir on our world and audnir from other worlds is not an idea with which we are yet comfortable.

  As for your claim that Beauty is not unique? I must keep in mind that your voice is neither that of a child nor an audnir of this world nor a heretical Regdenir but a new voice. I should warn you strangers that tongues were burnt out for such words in days past, though I do not believe it is our practice today.

  To know if this could be true would require the investigation and analysis of our greatest minds. If this could be true, the Regdenir would face a profound change. This is not a light matter. This is of deep and lasting consequence.

  I do not know how best to proceed to investigate such a claim.

  My colleagues and I will need to address this matter with all haste.

  Continue with your proposal to land at the Berwashe Retreat House until more discussion can take place.

  Rest in Beauty.

  angaraVmyournVregde1Vapp

  #

  Tella clapped its hands together. “As you say, Jim, ‘Bingo!’”

  “Unbelievable. You think we’ve done it?”

  “It is done. He needs only to arrange which of his ‘greatest minds’ will meet us.”

  “Do you want to orbit TMV or its moon?” asked Jim as they arrived in the Turcanis Major system.

  “The moon. There is no need for secrecy.”

  “We should find out what Madhar Nect has arranged for us.”

  Tella nodded. “She should be prepared for me. I fear they will find me more alien than they did you.”

  Jim nodded. “I’d suggest covering up as much as possible.”

  “We usually do,” Tella replied, and Jim thought he detected a tinge of sadness.

  #

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Madhar Nect.

  We have arrived.

  I am here with Tella of Neraff, whose appearance is different from mine, but I know you’ll get along fine. How have the arrangements worked out?

  Jim Able

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  #

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Jim Able.

  Not good. Things, as I told you, are fluid in our government. Already, three of the officials I talked to have been moved into positions where they can no longer assist us.

  Your imminent arrival has fed something of a frenzy. All are looking for the maximum leverage for when trade starts. I don’t know that the current administration is strong enough to handle the pressure. I never thought I’d live to see the day I wished for a dictator!

  Do not visit me yet. I will continue to work to set up the meetings, but it may take several days.

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  #

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Madhar Nect.

  We are sorry to be the focus of such unfortunate attention.

  Under the circumstances, we may have to meet with your Regdenir cousins before we meet your officials. We have set up a session with them tomorrow.

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  #

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Jim Able.

  I am amazed! After what you went through last time, are you seriously going back? I urge you to wait. With the situation as it is, I can’t guarantee your safety. I don’t think there would be unanimity in arranging a second rescue. Please don’t do anything so foolish!

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  #

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Madhar Nect.

  Too late—we are committed. I don’t think this will have the same kind of outcome. This time we are meeting with Regde1 people. We would not go if we thought we were in danger. But just in case, we will be at the same location.

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  #

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Jim Able.

  Are all alien races so stubborn and unwilling to take advice? I do not have the faith that you show in the good nature of even the Regde1. They are crazy! Do not trust them. Do not go without at least a plan to get out quickly!

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  #

  Tella nodded slowly. “Her caution is wise. We will have a remote control for the flier with us at all times.” He drew out a compact device from a compartment in the ceiling. He spent several minutes explaining to Jim the main controls. “These are for the weapons. You can see here the targeting parameters.”

  “That’s...That’s very dangerous, isn’t it?”

  “Danger is relative. If we need to activate this system, it means that the danger is imminent and, for some reason, we have lost control of the situation.”

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “I respect all life, as you do. But I have used this system in an emergency before. It has saved my life. I hope we do not have to activate it.”

  “Damn right!”

  Madhar Nect waited for a while to see if Jim Able would reply to her last warning. She was seated in her office at the Latsin Institute. It was midafternoon, and the teaching day was winding down. The last class was finishing its work in silence in the classroom next door. As soon as they were done, she could make her way to the TV studio for the evening broadcast.

  “Madhar Nect?”

  The voice came from the door to the corridor. Her visitor was tall and muscular. He wore a thick armored tunic and held a projectile weapon loosely in his hand.

  “No, she’s in the room down the end.”

  He hesitated only for a second. “You are Madhar Nect. You will come with me.”

  “I’m still teaching a class. Who are you?”

/>   “No questions. Come now!” He raised his weapon. As he did so, a young student opened the door from the classroom.

  “Professor?”

  “Not now, Yura! Can’t you see I’m being kidnapped?”

  The student froze in shock for only a second as she took in the scene, then she threw herself back into the classroom and slammed the door.

  “You must at least tell me who sent you.”

  “I don’t ask questions like that. Nor should you. Move quickly!”

  Madhar got up slowly from her desk. She gave a thought to Jim Able. This might complicate things for her friend. As she raised her hands and walked toward her visitor, she could hear her class moving next door. By the time she had stepped into the corridor, it was full of wide-eyed students.

  “Move back!” shouted her visitor.

  The students froze, and the corridor became silent.

  “Or you’ll do what?” asked Nect. “You’ll kill thirty-five students and me? I don’t think that’s quite what you were told to do, is it?”

  “Make way and no one will get hurt!”

  “No, my ignorant friend, that isn’t how we do things here. You will place your weapon on the floor, and we will let you leave unmolested.”

  “Stand aside!” Surprised, he forgot to keep his eyes on his target.

  Nect held a small device to the thug’s arm, pressed a button, and the would-be kidnapper crumpled to the floor.

  “Well done, everybody! Megra, call the principal. Andra, secure that weapon. You four, drag this oaf into the classroom. Segre and Thapi, go down and block the exit for his colleague. He’s probably waiting in an unmarked vehicle with darkened glass. You’ll have no trouble finding it. Darsenagre, get your jamming device onto the vehicle as soon as you can.”

  The youngsters leapt into action. Madhar withdrew to her office.

  #

  jisporaVflacVmeblishVnrc

  Greetings, Alliance Chair.

  I have had a visit from a hired kidnapper.

  Surveillance recordings of the attack upon my person will be included in tonight’s Science World unless you immediately take steps to ensure my safety as I have requested.

  I will soon have the attacker’s vehicle stripped down and its origins ascertained. This information will also be broadcast unless I receive your full protection.

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  #

  The next hour was a busy one for Madhar and her students. Only the presence of a TV news crew persuaded the driver to abandon his vehicle. Once that was done, the electronics were stripped from it and taken to one of Madhar’s labs. Government guards reported to the scientist: some took up positions throughout the institute, while others removed the still-unconscious kidnapper.

  “Results?”

  “Yes, professor,” said Yura Gre, pushing back her glasses. “We can identify the codes and addresses.”

  “Who was it?”

  “The Arpinata Chemical Company.”

  “Arpinata!” Madhar laughed coldly. “Well done. Say nothing to anyone else about this. Let me have your notes.”

  “Yes, professor.”

  She handed them over, smiling shyly.

  “Full marks,” said her teacher, smiling back.

  ***

  Tella landed the flier on the strip midmorning. The tidal waters had swollen the rivers to their fullest, and Beauty was a pale semicircle high above their heads. Jim and his friend watched it as they stood next to the flier. No one came to greet them.

  Jim walked first to the shed that Sopha had as good as demolished in his haste to escape. It had been rebuilt. No signs existed of the damage. Then he showed Tella the main building. All the doors were locked. There was no sign of life inside.

  “Take me to the promontory,” said Tella as Jim tried a door again.

  “Oh...sure. Up this way.”

  It seemed to take Jim longer to reach the platform than before, even though the path was easier to follow than he remembered. The humidity, however, was no better.

  Jim found the platform unchanged. He watched Tella circling with a frown of concentration on its pale brow, apparently fascinated by the markings carved into the rock.

  “Jim!”

  “What is it?”

  “We must photograph this place from the flier. This is amazing. Quite amazing!”

  “Sure, we can do that. Do you think you can decipher it?”

  “Perhaps. I wonder if the Regdenir can.”

  “Well, I would guess they can. They built it.”

  Tella shook its head. “This is very ancient, perhaps older than the Barottin Regdenir. They may not know. I will ask, if we have the opportunity.”

  Jim stood, as he had before, on the westernmost end of the circular platform. He tried to recapture the wonder he had felt watching the planet rise. Beauty seemed pale and diminished in its half-dark phase, filtered through the sunlit air.

  “It’s strange,” he said. “During their ceremony it all seemed so real and powerful. But now...It’s like being in a theater the morning after a play. All the magic has gone.”

  Tella came to his side. “Do not underestimate the truth that can be conveyed in that way. The actors may have gone, but the insights you gained live with you. I do not doubt that you saw something beautiful, and that, if you had not been here with Sopha Luca, you would not have realized its importance.”

  Jim smiled and hung his head slightly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s a funny business.”

  Tella wandered away from him. Jim watched as the Neraffan squatted down beside some delicate carvings held in the sweep of a thicker line as it looped out from the center of the platform. Taking off a long glove, Tella pressed its forearm against the stone.

  The lines and curves of the carving were echoed in the Neraffan’s skin. Tella slowly moved its arm from side to side and watched the markings change. Jim could not see if the pattern was mimicked exactly or if it was only an echo of the original, but the look of intense concentration on Tella’s face shone clearly.

  “This is a wonderful place, Jim. These”—Tella swept its left arm out to encompass the whole platform—”are a treasure of enormous worth.”

  “If things go well here, perhaps they’ll let you come back and study it.”

  “Ah, that would be an unlooked-for blessing.”

  Tella got up and nodded vigorously and replaced its glove. “Come, Jim. Let’s see if our party has started without us!”

  They made their way back to the retreat house as TMV began to set behind the mountains. Already the rivers were running less deep. The noises of birds and animals were again louder than the hissing and gurgling of the water.

  There was still no sign of anyone at the retreat house. They boarded the flier, and Tella took it up to hover over the promontory, keeping one camera trained on the main building’s doors. While Tella was absorbed in taking images of the carvings, Jim remembered they should check for messages.

  #

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  Greetings, Jim Able.

  To emphasize my worries about your safety, I must tell you there was an incident here today. I am all right, thanks to the good discipline and courage of my students. However, I am, more than ever, concerned that your presence here will upset our political stability. No one has enough respect for our government to allow it to deal with you alone. There are many interested parties at work who are normally apolitical. In this case the boundaries overlap. You are a prize for the large corporations. You could become a board member of the finest companies on our world if you wished to. I would not recommend it, however.

  I hope your meeting there will be without trouble. How do I contact your world if I do not hear back from you?

  madharVnectVlatsinVux

  #

 
madharVnectVlatsinVux

  I am truly sorry that our being here is causing such problems. I had no idea things were so fragile. Perhaps we could meet alone with only the most senior politicians? I think it might be best to keep this in some way personal. What do you think?

  Attached are instructions in case our mission fails. Thank you again, good friend.

  g101VnectVlatsinVux

  #

  “Nothing from the Regdenir?” asked Tella.

  “No,” said Jim. “Maybe they’re not coming?”

  “I would be very surprised. It was settled that someone would come.”

  “Hmm. I guess you can take your time. We’ll land again when you’re done.”

  When the rivers were dry and both the planet and the sun had set, Jim and Tella walked out along the landing strip to look at the stars. Several of TMV’s sister planets could be seen, fiercely bright against the background of the twinkling stars. Pointing to a fast-moving point of light crossing the sky over their heads, Tella wondered, “Is that a satellite or Sopha on patrol?”

  “If you see the beginnings of a red glow, it’s probably already too late,” Jim deadpanned.

  Tella laughed. “Ah, human humor. I love it.”

  Jim’s eyes twinkled in the dark.

  As they turned to walk back to the flier, the lights came on in the retreat house. In silence they walked up the landing strip and through the open doors.

  There was no one in the fountain room, though the fountain had started to flow. Jim squatted down beside the water and let some wash over his hand. It was warm.

  “They’ve only just arrived, I think,” he said to Tella, who nodded silently.

  They waited for several minutes before they heard noises coming from below them.

  “There are rooms underground?” asked Tella.

  “Apparently so. I had no idea.”

  Through the kitchen and the classroom, they heard footsteps approaching. Three blue-cloaked figures entered the fountain room and stood with wide eyes staring at the two aliens.

  The three Regdenir said nothing but gestured to an area with seats at the end of the fountain room. Tella and Jim walked around the water and sat down. The Turcanians followed and sat in a row in front of them.

  Tella began.

  “I am Tella of Neraff. This is James Able of Earth. We greet you in the name of the people of Earth. We thank you for allowing this meeting.”