The pain, even the threat of pain, evaporated.
He was tempted-but he let the extending muscles relax. When he tightened the retracting muscles, his penis slid back inside the pouch through the tantalizing texture of his fur.
Stephen Thomas fastened his pants and glanced at Arachne's display. Astonished by too much information to take in all at once, he forgot his own changes. A new star system. Four inhabited planets. Technological civilizations. And . . . Europa's boat approaching Starfarer, about to dock. The alien humans had returned, and half the alien contact department was not even there to meet them. J.D. had an excuse-he checked quickly; she had not caught up to Starfarer. Nemo's ship was nowhere to be seen.
Stephen Thomas hurried from his office.
Victoria's going to kill me for being late, he thought.
And if I tell her I was late because I was in the web pretending to be Feral . . . she'll kill me twice.
Out of habit, he glanced at the DNA sequencer as he headed out of the lab. It had finished working. He expected these results to be as confusing as all the others.
He stopped short.
All the conflicting results between the bacteria from alien, human, and alien human environments suddenly came clear to him.
The test samples were normal.
But the recent samples from Starfarer, the bacteria Stephen Thomas had used as a control, had changed. They had been contaminated.
Stephen Thomas flung his presence through Arachne and into the waiting room of the boat dock. Arachne created an image of the waiting room around him. He was standing, but everyone else was floating in zero g. Vertigo spun the image before him for a moment: it spun, but it did not move. He felt drunk.
The pressure equalized between Starfarer and Europa's boat; the hatch opened.
"Don't let them in!" Stephen Thomas exclaimed.
Europa floated into Starfarer. Androgeos followed, his pleated red kilt flowing around his legs. Gerald Hernminge shook their hands in greeting. Europa's meerkats bounced in after her.
"Oh, shit!" Stephen Thomas said.
"What a charming welcome, Stephen Thomas," Europa said. "How nice to see you again, too, and when did you get so tan?"
"You contaminated us!" Stephen Thomas said.
Everyone stared at him.
"Contaminated-7 Victoria said. "But we tested-"
Stephen Thomas ran his hands through his hair, pushing it out of his face; it had come loose again. The swimming webs smoothed the strands behind his ears.
"Are you an ichthyocentaur, too?" Europa asked, surprised. "Why didn't
I notice before?"
"T'he Chi came back clean," Stephen Thomas said. "But . . . I'm coming up there." Stephen Thomas withdrew his image from the waiting room.
Splashing through the muddy spots, wading across a bridge inundated by an overflowing creek, he strode down the path that led to Starfarer's end. He started to run, letting his anger at Europa-and his pleasure in his body-fuel his speed.
By the time Stephen Thomas reached the waiting room, floating in to join the visual cacophony of people, real and virtual, the atmosphere quivered with tension. The meerkats hovered together, each in sentry position.
"Explain yourself, Stephen Thomas," Professor Thanthavong said. He had never seen her so distraught.
"The bacteria have changed," Stephen Thomas said. "The free-living, garden variety soil bacteria. Sometime between now and the last time we took samples-"
"After the missile attack," Professor Thanthavong said. "As a precaution. What do you mean, 'changed'?"
"Their DNA fingerprints are the same. That's what confused me for so long." Everyone except Professor Thanthavong and Europa looked confused.
"When DNA mutates, the print changes. It's almost impossible to put in an alteration that doesn't change the print." He glanced at Europa with grudging admiration. "Quite an accomplishment-to make so many changes without changing the print. Clever. Subtle. Deliberate. Nothing showed up till I did a complete sequence."
"You shouldn't be angry," Europa said mildly. "I gave you the traditional gift for new members of the community."
"Some gift!" Stephen Thomas said.
"It protects your ecosystem!"
"It is unforgivable," Miensaem Thanthavong said.
"I would appreciate it," Victoria said, her voice soft
and tight, "if one of you would explain what you're talking about."
"They supercharged our bacteria," Stephen Thomas said.
Everybody looked at him like they thought he was crazy. We have too damn many specialists, he thought. I'll bet J.D. would know what I was talking about.
"So alien bacteria won't survive," he said.
"You should be grateful," Europa said. "You should pour wine to the gods for such a gift. We've solved a serious problem for you."
"You should have told us!" Professor Thanthavong said. "Asked us! How dare you introduce biological contaminants-!"
"The changed bacteria won't hurt you! They aren't any different from what you're used to, except that they're stronger. As long as they're in their own environment, alien autotrophs won't grow in their presence."
"Can we stop them?" Thanthavong asked.
"Of course not. That's the point."
"Your anger's normal," Androgeos said. He sounded disappointed in them all. "So ordinary. Can't you appreciate what we've done for you?"
"You've fixed it so we can't join the community-"
"You did that yourselves!"
11
-and maybe we can't go home, either."
"Wait a minute." Infinity's image appeared, its background stars and the inspection web. "Andro's fight. I wish Europeans had thought about the problem! Their diseases killed ninety percent of the people in the new world. . . . Europa and Androgeos didn't bring diseases. They brought prevention. Protection."
"I'm glad someone is sensible here," Androgeos said.
"We aren't monsters," Europa said. "We exist to help you join the community. Can't you give us a little help?"
"You should have told us," Thanthavong said stiffly. "Infinity may be right. You may be right. But you should have let us make the choice."
"I'm sorry." Europa sounded sincere.
"J.D.'s going to be really pissed off at you," Stephen Thomas said.
"I think you're all crazy!" Androgeos could restrain himself no longer. "You're objecting to bacteria, when your ship is infested with parasites!
I told you to avoid the squidmoths."
"Parasites?" Stephen Thomas said. "What parasites?"
"The squidmoth egg," Androgeos said.
Victoria nudged Stephen Thomas and gestured toward the small exterior display.
"Christ in a clutch," Stephen Thomas muttered. The thing bulged, moved, nestled deeper into its rocky cradle.
,,The squidmoths don't even bother to raise their children," Europa said. "You'll have a job prying it loose."
"Maybe you'll be lucky," Androgeos said, "and it'll die."
"I don't think so," Infinity said. "It's already changing. It's growing, and it's, I don't know, putting feelers down into the rock."
"Oh, great."
"We are * n't in any danger yet," Infinity said quickly.
"It's only half a meter down, and there's nothing vital anywhere near."
"You should destroy it," Androgeos said confidently.
"No," Victoria said. "Zev was right. J.D. will never forgive us if we destroy it." At least part of her urge to protect it was because Androgeos wanted to be rid of it. "What will happen if we leave it?"
"As you see Andro gestured toward-the im
age.
In the cross-section, mycelia from the egg case extended another handsbreadth into the substance of the wild side's shell.
"Ultimately, I mean. How big will it get?"
Andro shrugged. "Who knows? We have other things to do than follow the life cycle of a squidmoth."
"I want to talk about this," Euro
pa said.
She reached into a deep pocket in her skirt, and drew out an age-mottled jawbone with unsettling proportions. It had lost all its teeth, except a single sharp fang.
"The art project," Gerald Hernminge said.
Europa gazed at Gerald fondly. "Your intelligence gives me hope for our species. Until I inspected the fossil myself, I was inclined to believe in the art project. Clever of you to disguise it so openly." She smiled at Stephen Thomas. "Rather like the bacteria. But this bone is real, it's very old, and it's of critical importance to Civilization. I must see where it came from."
Gerald started to say something. Stephen Thomas interrupted him.
"Why?"
"I believe you've found a clue to the other ones," Europa said. "The ones who came before us, and disappeared, except for their starships . . . and their control of the cosmic string."
"Good god," Stephen Thomas said, and thought: Now what?
"If you'll follow me," Gerald Hemminge said, "I'll take you to the . .
. the fossil bed."
On the path to the riverbank, Europa quickened her step. She allowed herself to look like a person well advanced in years, but she had the energy of a teenager. Her meerkats followed her, pacing at her heels or scampering to the top of a hummock to make a quick scan for predators. Victoria had to lengthen her stride to keep up.
"What do you expect to learn from the fossil bed?" Victoria asked Europa. She chose her words with care.
"I expect nothing," Europa said. "I hope . . . for some clue to their origin."
"If we found where they came from," Androgeos said, "we might discover how they control the cosmic string."
Victoria glanced at Stephen Thomas. He rolled his eyes. Victoria was glad the fossil bed was a fake; no matter what else happened, it would never lead Andro to a source of great power.
"And we might overcome the effects of the squidmoths' greed," Andro said. "The squidmoths!" Victoria said. "Why do you hate them so much? They didn't seem greedy to me-quite the opposite."
Victoria found herself on the side of the squidmoths. Europa and Androgeos respected Victoria because they believed she was descended from the Pharaohs, as they claimed to be. But she was descended from escaped slaves, and her family history included stories of abuse and discrimination, not worship and power.
"We don't hate them!" Europa said. "But . . . they're an old species.
Just because they've been around longer than the rest of us, they inherited the possessions of the other ones, the earlier star travelers." Satoshi frowned. "What possessions? The squidmoths aren't dragons, sitting on a pile of gold! We met one of the beings, we talked to it. We saw how it lived. If an earlier culture left it everything they owned .
. . they must have been Spartans."
"They left their starships, " Europa said. She watched Victoria's reaction, and Satoshi's. "You understand. The squidmoths inhabit the other ones' starships. Civilization is left as scavengers. We're dependent on their castoffs."
"Some squidmoths never travel to another star," Androgeos said. "They could live on any piece of rock." He flicked his fingers toward the image of Starfarer's wild side. "And obviously some of them aren't particular." "They never use the ships to their potential. And they won't sell!
There's nothing they want!"
"Then how do you get any of them?"
"We scavenge."
"Salvage, " Androgeos said.
"Sometimes you find the ships abandoned," Europa said. "Maybe the squidmoths die. Who knows?"
"If you're lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time . . ." The face of the beautiful youth took on a predatory look. Androgeos grinned suddenly, showing his teeth. "Every time we returned to Tau Ceti, we hoped that starship might be empty. It would have made our fortunes."
What will this mean for J.D.? Victoria wondered suddenly, worried all over again for her friend. What if someone else was lurking, hoping to steal Nerno's ship . . . and J.D. was in the way?
"You've already got one starship," Satoshi said. "What do you need another for?"
Androgeos glanced at him, annoyed. Satoshi always asked the alien human questions he preferred not to answer.
"It isn't a matter of needing it," Europa said quickly. "As Andro said, a starship is valuable. If the opportunity comes up . . . Why shouldn't we take it?"
Europa glanced at Victoria and chuckled softly.
"Ah, Victoria, my dear, you have such a low opinion of us. We got off to a poor start, and now you wonder if these ancient Minoans don't wait for a ship to be empty. Perhaps we're really pirates."
"The possibility . . . crossed my mind."
"Too bad we can't be," Androgeos said. "We'd be a lot richer."
"Good lord, what else do you need?" Satoshi exclaimed. "You have a starship, a whole world of your own, complete freedom-!"
"One likes to have respect, as well," Europa said. "So far, you haven't helped our position in the community." She glanced at the fossil bone in her hand; she stroked the fang with her index finger.
"Are you pirates?" Zev asked curiously.
Europa laughed. "No, young Zev, my ichthyocentaur. We're civilized people, we don't murder each other for possessions. Besides, the squidmoths are far from defenseless. They want you to think they're harmless voyeurs. But in their own way, they're quite powerful."
"And deceitful and selfish," Androgeos said.
"Look who's talking," Stephen Thomas muttered.
Androgeos glared at Stephen Thomas, but Europa smiled at him benignly. "There are stories, old, old, stories, of people with . . . fewer ethics than our company here, who pursued squidmoths through transition, hunting them for their ships. The squidmoths were seen again. The hunters were not."
They reached the canyon, where the path plunged down to the river bank. Crimson Ng sat alone on the canyon edge, gazing into the current.
The river had flooded. Dirty brown water rushed and raced past the cliff. It riffled past the rough tock, showering everyone with muddy spray.
On the other side, a section of cliff collapsed into the water. The wild current snatched the shattered stone downstream, then dragged it beneath the surface.
The tremendous sound of floodwater possessed a pressure all its own, a low, dangerous roar with a counterpoint of boulder percussion rising from the bottom of the river.
The current was often strong enough to move the fist-sized rocks that formed its bed and beaches. Walking beside the river, Victoria liked to listen to the click and roll of stones in water. But now the river was changing its contours to the background of a kettledrum symphony.
When the water finally fell, the rapids and the pools would all be changed. And so would the riverbank, where the fossils lay.
Europa stared into the water. Stricken, she glanced at Crimson.
"We've had some bad weather," Crimson said calmly.
"But the fossils-! The other ones-!"
"It all washed downstream," Crimson said. "We'll have to do salvage archaeology."
Europa sat disconsolately on the riverbank beside Crimson. Crimson gestured down into the muddy water where the fossils had lain, describing what she had seen but not yet excavated. Androgeos kicked the rocky edge of the cliff, as if he might uncover another fossil bed. Professor Thanthavong spoke quietly and urgently with Stephen Thomas. Satoshi and Victoria stood together, with Zev nearby. Gerald hovered near Crimson and Europa, no longer trying to maintain that the fossils were an art project. The meerkats foraged on the bank, sending up sprays of wet dirt as they dug for insects. One of them climbed to the top of a bush, chittering when a branch sprayed it with collected raindrops.
"I don't believe this," Satoshi said softly.
Victoria covered her face with her hands, afraid she would start laughing. An image coruscated around them: the rainbow edge of a transition spectrum. When it faded, Arachne projected the sight of Nerno's ship plunging into the star system.
"J.D.!" Zev was the first to welco
me her. He whistled softly, a descending cascade of notes. He grimaced. "It doesn't sound right, in the air."
The gravity of Europa's ship had pulled Starfarer aside; the starcraft were in no danger of colliding. Victoria felt a rush of joy, unalloyed by fear. "Are you okay?" Victoria asked. "That is you-T'
They waited impatiently through the instant's timelag.
J.D.'s image appeared
"I'm here, Zev. I understood what you said. Me, too. Hi, Victoria."
"I'm so glad you're all right. What . . . what about Nemo?"
"Nerno's dead."
"J.D. . . . I'm so sorry." Victoria wished she were near enough to hug her friend.
"It's strange. . . . I'm sad, but I-is that Europa with you?"
"Hello, J.D.," Europa said. "You've lost a friend? I'm sorry."
"Thank you," J.D. said.
"How did you persuade the squidmoth to bring you here?" Europa asked.
"I didn't. The squidmoth-Nemo-died."
Androgeos swung around from the riverbank, his kilt swinging around his powerful legs. His feet were muddy to the ankles.
"I claim salvage!" he shouted.
"Salvage?" J.D. said. "What are you talking about?"
"The ship's abandoned. I claim salvage."
"My ffiend died and left the ship to me," J.D. said coldly. "It is not abandoned."
"Don't be selfish!" Androgeos pleaded. "It's useless to you,"
His usual tone of disdain vanished in his desperation; he spoke in the same tone as when he begged Victoria to give him her new algorithm.
"I'll come over and pith it, so we can harness it," he said. "Otherwise the Four Worlds will send out a salvage crew. What good can it do you?
You have to go back to Earth!"
"If I have to go back to Earth," J.D. said, "I'll take Nerno's ship with me."
"And just how do you propose to do that? Tow it with your pathetic sail?" The sailhouse trembled. A touch to Arachne showed that Europa's ship was moving again, curving its path in such a way as to fling Starfarer none too gently out of orbit.
"Hey, be careful!" Infinity said.
"Why should IT' Androgeos snarled. "You don't care enough about your ship to keep it clean of squidmoth spawn!"
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