The Ways Between Worlds: Peter Cooper

by Larry E. Clarke

  We nodded agreement, unable to dispute his logic.

  The winds still blew raw and cold from the mountains but day by day the signs of spring grew stronger. The stone floor of the tavern was still like ice as we dressed before dawn but by afternoon we ran errands about town without need of heavy winter clothing. Along the river bank new plants pushed up from soil recently frozen. Buds formed on trees in the orchards outside the city walls. The sun was noticeably higher at noon each day. The snowline on the mountains receded just as surely as my hairline had in my late 20's.

  One day Urs said that he'd spoken to a party of hunters who indicated the snowline would soon be above the pass. We could expect the traders any day now. Urs knew we were eager to move west but couldn't understand why. Each time we spoke of leaving he questioned us: "Are you not happy here? Do you not know you are family to us?"

  After consulting Lady Camille and Leeta we decided to take Urs and Modran into our confidence. That evening when the last customers had staggered off to find his bed. We bid them join us in our little corner of the store room. Leeta brought out a jug of gofzeldar. They sat, looking expectantly from face to face for the news that required such formal sharing. Leeta began with her account of our meeting. I followed, with my history and and the reason for our mission to the West. They didn't seem especially surprised. . . .until Lady Camilla began to relate her portion of the story. In the end they accepted our accounts.

  "Had not our own forefathers all come from the stars before the time of the great fall?" Modran commented.

  They practically insisted that we speak to the town council and seek their assistance. Though this world was home now her inhabitants all maintained an intense intellectual curiosity about the places of their origin. "Most", Modran assured us, "would support any effort to reopen communications with the other worlds."

  "However" Urs added "there are a few reactionaries who will oppose such a step. They feared that whatever had caused the initial collapse--war? plague? ---still lurks, ready to destroy us". He lifted his eyes as if to underscore the silliness of such beliefs before continuing. "Although it is a minority view, you should know it is very strongly held by some."

  Lady cleared a space on the table before us and where we unrolled the Ursoid's map for our benefactors to see. "This map has been accurate so far. We hope to locate a second transporter site here" I said, pointing to a symbol near the western margin which matched that marking the starting point of our journey. His eyes widened as he spoke with great excitement.

  "A map! . . . There had been indications of the second transport site but for reasons known only to the "Old Ones" they could not communicate with it at the time of the Great Fall. Neither did they give the peoples specifications about where it might be found. Perhaps they feared that those who vented their anger on the buildings of the first site might ultimately destroy the second as well" he speculated.

  He continued. . ."In any event it was known that the two sites were geographically distant each other on the planet. Some of our scientists believe that this placement provided a sort of counterbalance in the physics of interstellar transport. Others thought that operating power was made from sunlight and sent down from space. They hold that the stations were located thusly to provide an uninterrupted source. No one knows. Perhaps even our ancestors did not know. Here he trailed off as if unable to connect the next thought. "I am unschooled as a scientist. This is another reason you must consult the council. They may have valuable information for you". I looked to Leeta and to Lady Camille. Both gestured their assent.

  “Then it is done” I nodded.

  Urs said he would make the arrangements for us to speak before the council. We asked only that he not reveal Lady Camille's secret. Although he saw no real need for such a precaution he would honor our wish. For our part we agreed to meet with the local mapmakers to allow copies to be made for each of the council members.

  For a community of limited technology there was fairly sophisticated printing equipment available. Engraving was still done by hand. They had not yet regained the level of doing photo-engraving though Urs told me they were working in the capital with a form of capturing images on treated paper by focusing the desired scene through glass lenses.

  Three days later the first of the Calixtian traders arrived with a small caravan of pack beasts. The strange creatures were quadrupeds whose limbs ended in a large pad the size and shape of a dinner plate. This leathery pad could fold over rocks or be held rigid to provide enormous support on loose sand or snow. Additionally the beasts had a third pair of limbs mounted at chest level. With these they could grasp food or other objects to bring it to their mouths or before their eyes for better viewing.

  They looked like they might have been distant cousins to Lady Camille. At one point she moved close to a couple and attempted to communicate with them. They reacted to her presence but did nothing to suggest intelligence.

  The Lady appeared quite distressed. Imagine finding a planet inhabited by creatures which looked beautifully human but whose intelligence was less than that of Cocker spaniels. (When I was on Backside some had joked that just such conditions existed in one of our larger western states!)

  The Calixtian was certainly as interesting as his pack animals. Clothed in heavy furs and coarse homespun materials it was hard to view much of his torso. He was identifiably a biped. His thick torso was connected via a mass of muscle (which looked somewhat like an elephants trunk) to equally thick legs. Each of the four toes ended in a thick, curved nail. His arms ended in stubby digits, each capable of working in opposition to the other, each equipped with its own thick, curved nail. He looked as if he could ascend an ice wall without need of axe or crampons.

  His skull was heavily creased along the mid-line like a large seed that might cleave easily in half if struck there. Bristly fibers the size of pencil leads grew like brushes from the ridges on either side of his face. The eyes were too widely set on the head to allow them to work well together. Still, they were large and well articulated in their orbits. They could look back as well as ahead. It was disconcerting to see them operate, one scanning above and behind, the other fixed on the being with whom the Calixtian happened to be bargaining. Two tiny slits served as nostrils. Each seemed to have an inner flap for closing against dust in the air. In place of an upper lip a great flap of skin hung down to cover the mouth. This well muscled flap seemed capable of sweeping in whole plates full of veggies to be ground to mush by an efficient set of flat teeth. The overall effect was rather walrus like.

  His name I later discovered was Redrixt-tc'tl. Which translated to something like "Good friend--Bad enemy".

  A special meeting of the council was held the following evening. The Council Hall like most other buildings in town was made of dressed stone. Massive beams supported a slate roof. The walls were adorned with pennants, trophies, portraits, and other trappings as one might expect to find in a public building. There were also a number of trophies which were more reminiscent of a hunting lodge, mounted heads, horns and bare skeletons shared space on the walls and in the niches of the building.

  A semi-circular stone dias raised the benches of the twelve councilors half a meter or so above the rest of the room. Seated on a slightly higher bench in the middle, was the thirteenth member, president of the council. Urs had advised me that the president ran the proceedings but voted only when necessary to break a tie.

  On this evening the hall was filled to capacity and beyond. A special envoy from the Governor in Llhaven had arrived just that afternoon in one of the three new steam launches. He would bring a full report of the proceedings to the Governor.

  The meeting began as the head of the council rose from his bench and signaled for silence. An aide shook a rack of bells and the murmur of the crowd died .

  Tfvrag Sho'kln began slowly and deliberately. He outlined how Leeta and I had arrived from the country to the east only the past fall, how we'd taken employment at the Cornered Vanu and had be
en hard working, honest employees. He recounted my part in the rescue of Dhars Flonstrad's daughter and my role in bringing the Water Rikki II to a near victory in one of the most competitive races of recent memory. He reminded them of their own heritage as castaway travelers. He concluded with "Tonight we meet in High Council to hear Pa-tar and Leeta tell us of their mission. Then, looking to where we sat he asked. “Which of you will begin?"

  Leeta nudged me forward and the crowd fell silent, waiting for me. I had no notion of their mood. I stood for a moment without speaking, scanned the room and located a number of friendly faces. After a slightly deeper breath I began.

  As clearly as I could I told them of my accidental contact with the alien transport device on the backside. I described conditions as I found them at the transport site. I displayed the map I'd obtained from the Ursoid bent on killing me. By this time most of them had their own printed copies to examine. Finally, I explained my intent to visit the other transport site on the slim hope of returning to my home world.

  The council reporter, seated at a writing table to my right, scribbled every word in the crooked script of the River folk. A copy of the transcript would be sent with the Governor’s representative.

  As I finished most of the onlookers broke into the thigh slapping, foot stomping cadence which served as applause. I noticed, however, that a good number sat impassively. Support was far from unanimous. Question followed close on question for the next two hours. Leeta and I did our best to answer them simply and truthfully. We defended our plan as first one faction of the council and then the other took the lead in the interrogation.

  When at last the president indicated there would be no more discussion, two clear proposals had emerged. One group called for the council to provide as much help as possible; supplies, an escort, and most importantly, for an engineer who had specialized in studying what was known of the old technology to come from the capital to accompany us.

  The second group viewed any attempt to reach the transport site as little short of blasphemy. How would an upstart alien do what their own ancestors had never accomplished? Might not that same upstart damage the mechanism beyond repair, or even unleash a horrible force that could destroy the world? Their resolution would forbid us to leave for the other site.

  Once the debate drew to a close I asked permission to speak for a last time.

  Sho'kln sweep his hand over the crowd in a call for silence then nodded that I should proceed.

  "All of you, people of the River, pride yourselves on preserving the knowledge of your ancestors. In your schools and libraries you have struggled to retain the tiniest shreds of what was known to your forefathers. But I say to you--It is NOT enough! To strive only to hold what is old is to stagnate and die. Like your fore-parents you must thirst not only for the old knowledge but for new understanding. To forbid us even to try to locate the second transport site is to forbid an effort to know, to forbid a chance to understand.

  Nothing would be gained for us and much would be lost by any damage to the site. We know that full well. I delight at the prospect of your own experts accompanying me. With their help our chances for success are improved. It is not my desire to throw my life away foolishly. With slim hope of success we undertake a long and dangerous journey. We may make that journey only find this site already destroyed. The map we use may never guide us there. We may die in route. . . but we may also succeed. Think how much the journey itself may add to your understanding of your planet.

  At present you know little of what lies a dozen dozen passages to either side of the great river. You owe yourselves and to your children to know. Take this opportunity. If you lack the courage to act now, when will you ever act? Vote for the journey, vote to KNOW.

  The response was deafening and gratifying. Final council vote was for us ten to two.

  The governor's representative would carry the council's request for technical assistance to the capital. (I wondered if they had considered a telegaph line? They certainly had the necessary components or the capacity to make them. If I ever returned I'd have to explore that option)

  -----------

  Dawn was breaking cold, grey and clear before the last of the well wishers left the Vanu. Urs, in honor of the occasion, offered us the coming day off but I was too excited to sleep or spend the day in bed. Instead I woke the imperturbable Lady Camille to tell her all that had transpired. She was pleased to note that a local engineer would be accompanying us. She had seen two transport sites thus far and although the basic components were similar there were also differences.

  Leeta, scarcely able to keep her eyes open had fallen asleep on her cot. Modran appeared, on cue, to tuck another warm coverlet around her sleeping form.

  What a night!

  CHAPTER 19

  The council agreed to support the expedition to "Site II", but--as those with experience know-- having a politician's "support" is not the same as having the cash. There was the much needed new water project, and some of the quays along the river absolutely had to be repaired after the high water had damaged them. Then there were the usual expenses associated with the execution of criminals, the support of widows and orphans etc, etc, etc.

  What the council ultimately did was totally unromantic but effective. They declared a sort of garage sale/fund raiser. Business leaders were hustled to donate items either for direct use by the expedition or items to be re-sold with proceeds going for essentials. Although hastily organized it was a success.

  I felt like the poster being for the "Send a Worthy Alien to Camp" campaign. Still over 123 hists were raised for the venture.

  Lady Camille and Leeta accompanied me as I did some preliminary shopping. We limited ourselves to buying those items which either Lady Camille or I would personally need. These we purchased with our own funds.

  "That looks satisfactory " Lady Camille whispered indicating a well padded pack saddle with two sturdy baskets attached. The helpful shopkeeper even had her try it on and demonstrated how either basket could be easily removed. After less than the usual amount of dickering a bargain was struck. Evat t'Slonak, the harness maker, would be happy to report to future customers that he had sold equipment to the group. . . “ So unfortunatley lost searching out the old myth of a second transport site." or something like that.

  In a tiny shop down the street we bought a great bag of what might have passed for charcoal briquettes. Inside each--so Lady Camille said---was a small but very exquisite nut. The Lady could eat anything so these were scarcely "essential". I suspected we were buying the equivalent of bon-bons, a pure indulgence, but one I could in no way begrudge her.

  “Knowing your appetite I don't expect you will be carrying these long" I whispered in her ear.

  For myself I purchased some stout clothing, a short dagger in a leather scabbard, an ingeniously made air rifle which I found would fire iron pellets and could even be made to fire the (now modified) porcupine quill darts I had brought from the old transport site. Good walking boots, a cleverly made sleeping bag with a waterproofed outer cover, a few personal items and a rucksack to carry it all rounded out the shopping list.

  The main buying for the expedition we delayed until the governor’s representative could be consulted. We bought nothing for Leeta because --despite her long and loud protestations --Camille and I had both taken the firm position that she should remain with Urs and Modran who had come to love her dearly. Without her we would have been true babes in the woods and might never have reached MonTon. Now, however, the thought of exposing her to the dangers of a journey for perhaps thousands of kilometers into unknown territory was out of the question.

  "Pe-tar, his boat's just at the quay now". Urs called down to where Camille and I were organizing the afternoon's purchases. The representative from Llhaven had arrived. Camille slipped on the "halter" which she wore on such occasions and handed me the free end of the lead. She was coming with me to get a first look at the new man.

  "You're always handy to have
around when there's baggage to be toted " I joked, scratching her behind the ear ridges and inducing a purr of contentment.

  "Lets go get a look at this ‘engineer" she said nudging me up the broad ramp and toward the double doors through which supplies entered the inn’s cellar.

  Outside the breeze still had a raw edge but the rosy sunshine was about to banish the last of the mists hanging above the river. The walk to the quay was a short one. From the front of the Inn we could see that a riverboat sporting the red and green pennon of the governor was starting to unload. We made our way over the rough stones of the street to where a fellow, better dressed than the rest stood directing the discharge of cargo. As we drew near he turned to direct a longshoreman and saw us.

  “Petar!" "Dhars!" We spoke simultaneously. Hurrying forward we held our arms out from our sides palms forward and then pressed the palms of our left hands together in the customary greeting of the river folk. I was genuinely pleased to seem him. After a couple of rounds of the polite pleasantries I asked about the "engineer" we were expecting.

  "He stands before you Pe-tar. When I heard that you were planning a trip to the lost transport site I knew I had to go. All my life I have spent studying what we know of the Kwaijilii and their "doors" to other worlds. No one of my generation has even seen the site where you arrived. . . although from old records we knew of its existence and approximate location. Long ago the original travelers and the Kwijilli who tended the closer site pronounced it incapable of sending anyone off world. It never occured to us while we studied each line of their precious technical manuals that it would still be capable of still receiving a traveler. Your report to the council and the copies of the map have the whole capitol buzzing".

  He paused a moment, took a breath and added almost as an afterthought "Oh yes, Sontiera asked especially that I bring you her greetings.