The Space Between

by Scott J Robinson

  A few minutes later, Keeble was searching through the locker in the corner of the room. Pulling out boxes and books and shoving them back in.

  "Keeble, why don't you and Tuki have a game of chess?" Kim reached past him and pulled a wooden chessboard from the top shelf.

  When she turned to look at Meledrin, the elf sighed and translated. "He states that he is unaware of the rules," she said after he replied.

  "Well, I'll show him."

  She beckoned Tuki over to a table. He was reluctant to rise from his brooding but did as he was asked. Kim set the board up between the two of them. For the next half hour, with Meledrin's help, she ran through the rules and even played a game to let them get the idea. Then she watched while the two of them played against each other. It was slow going, but they both seemed to remember the rules enough to get by. What one didn't know, the other did.

  "Keeble wishes to know who made this game," Meledrin said after a while, sounding bored. "He is enjoying its exact nature."

  "You like exact, Keeble? You like things to be black and white?"

  “[Well, yes. I think so.]” His forehead wrinkled in thought. “[But I like Rugby as well, you know the game where they stomp on each other and jump on each other. That isn't very exact, is it?]”

  Kim laughed when she heard the translation. "That makes it a bit more like real life than chess, doesn't it? Nothing in real life is exact. There are always different ways to look at things. And life wouldn't be much fun if everyone agreed on everything." Kim looked at Meledrin as she continued. "On the other hand, it wouldn't be much fun if people couldn't politely acknowledge another person's point of view even though they don't agree with it."

  Keeble cursed under his breath as Tuki took a pawn.

  * * *

  Several hours later, after four meals of hospital grade food had been brought, Airman Dongoske returned to the room. He didn't have the 'glass with him but was obviously intending to stay for a while.

  "Have you come to resume the farce of questioning?"

  Dongoske smiled. "Well, I've come to talk."

  Kim raised her eyebrows.

  "Just talk." Dongoske included the others in his gaze. "We sit here and see where conversations about current events take us."

  "Well, that should be fun."

  "Miss McLean, you really pissed the brass off around here. You could be smarter about things."

  "And where's the fun in that?"

  "For starters, you’d get out of here quicker."

  "We won't be out of here before the war finishes, if your bosses have their way. And by then, they'll be on a number of planets and they can have all sorts of wars and excuses to keep us a while longer."

  "You really believe that?"

  "Yes. Look at Tuki. I don't believe he's capable of harming anyone, and yet he's in here with us. He had one possession of any value, I bet, and you didn't even have the decency to steal it while he was awake."

  "He needed to be tested for diseases. He needed to be tested for resistance to our diseases."

  "And then he needed to be robbed."

  Dongoske sighed. "Kim —"

  "Miss Mclean to you."

  "Miss McLean, the skyglass needs to be tested."

  "And how have you done so far?"

  The Airman blushed. "We can't even turn it on. We've been through just about the entire vocabulary of Shoshone using a computer with no result."

  "Did you think of asking Tuki? But no, that's silly: you stole the glass from him, so why would he tell you anything?"

  "Kim. Miss McLean. I just —"

  "Do what you're told? Don't all soldiers."

  "We're under attack from aliens. We didn't provoke this, so we must simply do what we can to get safely through."

  "Have any been captured alive?"

  There was a momentary pause, a slight hesitation that told Kim everything she needed to know. "Not that I know of."

  "Has anyone tried talking to them?"

  "The aliens? There's no evidence they understand us, and besides, they attacked us for no reason."

  Kim leaned forward in her chair. "I saw one spare an old woman, Dongoske. I saw one point its weapon at her and choose to turn away." She sighed and sat back, scratching at the table top with a fingernail. "We may not know what reason they have for attacking us, it may not be a reason we think is good enough, but they have a reason. They aren't monsters."

  "Anyone who attacks us like they did deserves to be treated as such."

  "We can't understand the motives of people on the other side of our own world, and you expect me to believe we can understand the motives of aliens?" Kim held up a stalling hand. "Airman, we could go around in circles with this all night. Why don't you tell us all something interesting?"

  "Okay. Well, the giant statues on Easter Island? You know the ones?"

  Kim pulled her thoughts away from the aliens and nodded. "Yeah, of course. In general."

  "Well, they're called 'moai'."

  "Tuki's people are called moai, right?"

  Dongoske nodded. "But wait, there's more. My people, the Hopi Indians, who were based to the southeast of here, have legends about our ancestors arriving from other worlds by climbing up through holes in the ground. Our traditional religion is based around that idea with most ceremonies carried out in an underground chamber called a Kiva."

  "Kiva is the name of Tuki's world," Meledrin said.

  "Correct. So, suddenly, ancient legends take on a whole new light. Here we are, within a few meters of an underground gateway to a world called Kiva."

  "But the Indian cultures aren't that old, are they?"

  "They're a few thousand years old, but no, nowhere near the kind of timespans we're talking about here. We aren't saying that the Hopi really crossed from another world, but their legends had to start somewhere, and the coincidences are starting to build up. The predecessors of the Hopi were called the Anasazi, a word that means 'ancient ones' or 'lost ones' depending on who you ask."

  "What about Roswell? That's around here somewhere, isn't it?"

  Dongoske laughed. "Roswell is in New Mexico, not that close to here, but still within the Hopi and Anasazi regions. But, a spaceship did not crash there in 1954. A weather balloon crashed." He smiled at the look of disappointment on Kim's face. "However, when the Air Force went to investigate the claims of a spaceship crashing, they did come across something."

  "A spaceship?"

  Dongoske smiled some more. "Yes. It was made from an amazing material, some type of metal we've never seen. At least we think it's metal. It still looks brand new today. The bodies weren't inside the ship, but they were all protected in an almost airtight hangar. Those famous pictures of the creatures were real, but most of the public misunderstanding revolved around the fact that they thought the ship had just crashed. The bodies were dated at around fifty thousand years."

  "Fifty thousand?"

  "Yes. And who knows what that amount of time will do to a corpse in those conditions? Certainly no one around here. It wasn't until recently that we were able to discover for sure that they are — were — human."

  "You're kidding?"

  "Nope. DNA testing and other stuff says they're human. In fact, they're probably more human than we are."

  "How can you be more human than a human?"

  "Two cars coming off a production line one after the other won't be exactly the same. They both look perfect, they both run perfect, but they're still different. Neither of them will match the plan, but one'll be closer than the other. We still don't know what the whole plan looks like with humans, but we know enough to know that nobody matches it perfectly."

  "And those creatures were human?'

  Dongoske pointed at Keeble. "About his size, actually. And we already know that Keeble, Meledrin, and Tuki are human as well. Though Tuki does have an extra layer in his skull but we'd need to examine it before we know anything for sure."

  "I wouldn't even bother asking for permission i
f I was you. He won't mind." Kim smiled, and Dongoske ignored her.

  "The others are also human."

  "The others?"

  Dongoske looked uncomfortable. "Some others from Tuki's world. We had a bit of a confrontation. It wasn't our fault though."

  "Of course not."

  "The point is, they're all human."

  Kim turned to look at Keeble. "And what does that tell us?"

  Dongoske shrugged. "I have no idea."

  "Fair enough. But if there were people around fifty thousand years ago, wouldn't we have found more evidence?"

  "Perhaps. But we now know that there are other habitable worlds out there. Who says these people lived here and not out there?" He gestured vaguely. "Maybe they just visited."

  "So the earth was just one huge camping ground."

  Dongoske laughed. "Perhaps. Perhaps. Or maybe they had only just discovered Earth and hadn't gotten around to settling it yet. There could be any number of reasons. They found those hobbit, halfling skeleton things in Indonesia a few years back. Who knows what else is just lying around waiting to be discovered."

  Kim nodded. "I suppose. Is the Roswell ship here? Can I see it?"

  Dongoske laughed. "Not a chance. I've never seen it. Very few people are allowed down there. Probably no more than a hundred people have seen it since it arrived."

  "Awww, come on. What harm could it do? I wouldn't try to steal it or anything."

  "Not while anyone was looking, anyway."

  "Exactly."

  "Maybe Meledrin or Tuki or Keeble can work out something about it. Well, Tuki or Keeble." She looked at the moai. "Maybe Keeble can work something out."

  "We haven't been able to get into it, so unless he has the the keys? Or maybe he can pick the lock? I think we could pick the lock if we could find it." He shook his head. "You aren't going to see the ship, Kim. Change the subject."

  22: Long Day

  "Okay. What's happening on Sherindel?" Kim said. "Are you helping the elves?"

  "How would I know, Miss McLean? You know it's unlikely my superiors will tell me anything, even if the British army is passing on intelligence. For all I know the elves and dwarves are fighting on their own."

  At the mention of the word 'dwarves', amongst all the other babble, Kim saw Keeble pause in his mumbling and look at Dongoske. When the soldier said nothing more, the dwarf returned to his inspection of the wall.

  "So," Kim said, trying to rein in her thoughts, "how long are we going to be kept here? I've no doubt you have no qualms about keeping enemies locked away without trial, but what about people who came to you and offered their help?" Kim didn't blame the Americans for what they were doing, but that didn't mean she had to like it. And it didn't mean she thought it was the absolute best course of action.

  Dongoske returned Kim's gaze. "My superiors will lock up anyone, friend or foe, if they think it'll gain them an advantage in war. And we are at war, Kim, though it may not look like it most of the time."

  "And the enemy is learning, Airman, aren't they?"

  "Yes. Those bats of theirs can survive in a void, for hours at a time apparently. So now they just stay up in space and attack from there. They took out a lot of our satellites early on and now there isn't a lot we can do to retaliate, to tell you the truth. Not a lot that's having any success anyway."

  "To tell me the truth? Surely you don't want to do that!"

  "Kim, we are just doing what we have to do to survive."

  "Yes, but the American definition of survival is different from that of any other people."

  "You don't like us much, do you?"

  "Nothing against Americans as individuals, a lot of great people — hell, I'm one myself half the time — but as a group, as a nation..." She left the thought unfinished.

  "Do you want to know what Americans think of Australians?"

  "Not a lot, I imagine. Too busy thinking of themselves." Kim smiled slightly. "Do you know why I left the army?"

  Dongoske paused for a moment, as if unsure whether to answer. "I haven't read the reports in detail."

  "I jumped before I was pushed. I have a problem with authority, Airman. I had a few confrontations with superior officers over the years. They generally started with me telling them they were idiots in one way or another. And to this day, I'm sure I was right every time." She paused and held up her hand. "Okay, not every time, but most of them. So, don't get me wrong, it isn't just America I have a problem with. Australia's as bad. As a group, Australians are a hypocritical self-centered mob, and the government is about as pathetic as they get, and we all know they can get pretty pathetic. It's just that the American government has my attention at the moment."

  "We're saving the world here, Kim. Isn't that worth something?"

  "Of course it is. It's worth a damn lot and a lot of people, including myself, would be willing to thank you for it. But how would you feel in my situation, Airman? How about I tell you. You'd be scared, tired, and pissed off. I went to your government to offer assistance, but nobody believes me." Kim paused for a moment and gestured to the others in the room. "You have three aliens in this room, Airman. Three people, humans apparently, that have so much to offer, and yet the first thing you do is lock them up. Did you ever think that they might do everything they can to help of their own free will? That all of us would? Keeble is probably over there trying to work out if he'd rather be ruled by us or the aliens."

  Meledrin spoke. "Actually, he is trying to work out whether he should stay in this room or go somewhere else. It is quite a heated discussion he is having."

  Airman Dongoske smiled, seeming to relish this interruption. "And where would he go?"

  "Anywhere, I would think. He loves caves, Airman, but has decided that your people did not make these ones and that they have tainted them."

  "He really says that?"

  "Yes."

  "And how does he know?"

  "These are caves, Airman. Stone. And Keeble is a dwarf. More than that I cannot explain. More than that does not need to be explained."

  * * *

  Kim knew it probably wasn't a good idea to fight with Airman Dongoske. She quite liked the man, but he was working for her captors. And she was tired and scared and pissed off. She had every right to be. If the Australian or British governments were holding her, she'd feel exactly the same way and would shout just as loudly. She could see how the situation might look to them — the world was being attacked, and they couldn't risk any resource being wasted — but it didn't make her feel better.

  Dongoske had hung around and chatted for an hour. When it became obvious he wasn't going to get a lot of useful information, he left. Perhaps she was supposed to think there was no reason to hide anything and that Dongoske was her friend.

  When Dongoske and his superiors returned early the next morning, Kim had just about had enough. Tuki rose from his position on the floor and walked over to one of the beds, the only seat large enough to accommodate him comfortably. Meledrin reluctantly made room, moving slightly to let him sit in the corner. But Kim wasn't going to let this continue.

  "Meledrin, tell Tuki that, no matter what question's asked, he's to answer with the words 'I won't say anything else until I speak with my lawyer'."

  "Why?"

  "Just tell him to do that. And you do the same thing."

  "'I will not say anything else until I speak with my lawyer'?"

  "That's right."

  "I know what a lawyer is, Kim, but Tuki does not have a word to match."

  "Legal representative? Law makers' conduit, maybe. I don't know. Use the word 'lawyer'. I don't care, just think of something."

  "Very well. And who is our lawyer? Do we have a lawyer?"

  "I have a lawyer friend in Seattle. Well, he's not a friend yet, but if I got him involved in this case he would be my friend for life." There was no such person, but nobody else knew that. Or perhaps they did know — she was dealing with the government of the United States, after all.

/>   General Hilliard shook his head. "Miss McLean, a Washington State lawyer is not allowed to practice in Nevada without the proper papers."

  "Yeah, well, I'm sure he knows enough to advise us. And he'll probably know some other lawyer we can use." Kim smiled. "I assume this is going to be a long day," she said, making a great show of getting comfortable.

  "All right," the General held up a placating hand. "As a show of faith, we'll return the Skyglass to Tuki."

  Kim laughed. "So, you've had absolutely no luck with the thing and hope Tuki will use it and show you what you're doing wrong? You're so tricky, General."

  "What would you like me to do, Miss McLean? I have the feeling you'll twist anything we do to your own advantage."

  "Well, General, I have to take every advantage I can get."

  "Think what you like, Miss McLean." He left the room with Dongoske and the other man close behind. A soldier brought the glass ball in a moment later and carefully set it on the table on a little polished brass stand. Tuki had the ball in hand before the man exited.

  Kim hurried over and laid a restraining hand on his.

  She glanced around, as if she'd be able to see those who were watching, or pick out the listening devices. "How does the ball work, Tuki?" she asked in the moai's language. Even though she whispered she was pretty sure the Americans would hear. But she figured that speed and clarity might be more useful than keeping her language abilities secret. The Americans probably wouldn't believe she could really speak Shoshone anyway. She could hardly believe it herself, but it almost felt as natural as speaking English.

  "You ask it questions, and the Mother Blower speaks back through it."

  The skyglass was growing warm. Kim quickly took her hand away. "You have to physically speak to it?"

  "Yes. Well, I think so."

  Kim looked around the room again then quickly dragged one bed across to the other and lined them up. It scraped and juddered across the stone floor.

  I hope that was deafening in somebody's earphones. That thought made her think of checking under the beds for bugs. She probably wouldn't know one if she saw it anyway. That done, she had Tuki lift the table up onto the beds.