There Goes the Neighborhood

by Gary J. Davies

18. If Einstein Could Fly

  Mary was excited that she was going to meet the unicorn; what young human wouldn't be? She had seen unicorns before of course, the last time being at the All Peoples Day celebration, but to actually have a private audience with one was beyond her wildest dreams. But she was frightened too. Why would a unicorn want to see her?

  "I'll bet it's because I can't do anything," she told Dorn. Dorn was a Pegasus, so he could of course fly, and he was Mary's best friend, which was doubly fortunate for her, since he could fly her to places she needed to go, such as to the Council Grounds to meet the unicorn. Just now she was perched atop her friend's strong back clinging tightly to his flowing mane, soaring through billowing white clouds towards the Council Grounds.

  "What do you mean?" was the young steed's predictable reply, though Mary had no doubt that he knew perfectly well what she meant. His kind of People always demanded very explicit communications, which made them less than popular companions, as most folks got tired of repeating and explaining things. Mary didn't mind it though. Besides, if he were popular, he wouldn't have time for her. Also, like her, he was an analytical thinker, and that was a characteristic that seemed rare among The People. Most People, including humans, were far more interested in practical things, such as music, poetry, or sports.

  "I mean, I'm twelve years old and I still can't do anything psychic. I can't fly, or make other things fly, or talk with my thoughts, or pop things from place to place, or shape shift, or heal the sick, or cause things to go through other things undamaged. I have no Talent. I'm dull!"

  Dorn could clearly sense the frustration in her voice, despite the wind-noise made by their speedy flight. "Your logic is faulty Mary," he snorted. "Some humans are late developers. It is not yet certain that you are dull. Besides, lots of The People are dull, and don't get called to Council Grounds to meet with a unicorn! There must be some other reason."

  Mary had no idea what that reason could be, but judging by the increase in air traffic they were fast approaching the Council Grounds and would soon find out. Dozens of People of all descriptions were flying all around them now, most moving in the same direction that they were. She liked watching the ones with wings best. Even though she knew that it was primarily psychic powers that allowed some People of Talent to fly, using wings made sense to her. Dorn banked to the left. This was one of the few regions where air traffic was heavy enough to require management, and she supposed that Dorn was receiving approach instructions telepathically even now.

  Coming suddenly upon a break in the clouds below, they could at last see their destination. Mary had never been to the Council Grounds before, and for the moment, seeing it from their vantage point thousands of meters overhead was so exciting that she forgot her apprehension about her upcoming audience with the unicorn. The Grounds consisted of a rich green valley, where huge trees surrounded a large open field known as Dragon's Rest, on which towered at one end the unicorn maintained Council Pavilion.

  "Hang on Mary!" said Dorn. "We've been instructed to drop right in!" Mary hated it when telepaths had to verbalize to her things she couldn't 'hear'. It reminded her that pathing was another thing that she couldn't do, and she felt like an invalid. On the other hand, she loved to fly, even as just a passenger, and she especially liked Dorn's more radical maneuvers such as 'dropping in’. She held on tightly to Dorn's fleecy mane as the young pegasus folded his wings and fell towards the Pavilion.

  As they dropped rapidly closer, Mary saw that everything was even more dazzling than she first thought. Dragon's Rest was huge, easily several kilometers across, and the greens were patch-worked with dozens of other brilliant flower colors. The giant green-cloaked trees that towered hundreds of meters over the edge of the clearing were certainly the most magnificent that Mary had ever seen. Most splendid of all was the Pavilion itself, a monumental, translucent, rainbow colored kaleidoscope of graceful spires and arches that shifted and shimmered in the morning sunlight. The many colors symbolized the joining of the many types of People that now inhabited Earth.

  All too soon in terms of sightseeing opportunities, Dorn extended his wings to help slow his dissent, and landed gently in front of the Pavilion on a great number '3' formed of flat, foot-smoothed stone. They happened to land facing towards Dragon's Rest, and the two youngsters were goggle eyed at the sight. The knee high grass vied with patches of vivid colored wild flowers and berries, upon which fed an equally colorful host of creatures ranging from bees and butterflies to deer and elk, and to People of all descriptions, including humans, unicorns, pegasuses, fawns, centaurs, ogres, and giants. The two visitors had never seen so large or so varied a gathering. Mary noticed with amazement that the plants were almost immediately growing back again after being eaten.

  "Make room there on Three!" said a gruff, commanding voice. "You two don't think you're the only folks arriving today, do you?"

  Mary hopped off Dorn's back, it being impolite to ride about on an Earth-bound pegasus, and the two embarrassed youngsters quickly moved out of arrival area Three, while glancing back with curiosity at the grumpy centaur that had just ordered them to do so.

  Another round of goggle-eyed staring was prompted by what shimmered beyond the centaur: the glorious Council Pavilion itself! The result of the continuing efforts of hundreds of the planet's most gifted psychic artists working in shifts, there was nothing else on Earth that could match its ever changing beauty.

  Meanwhile, next to them on Three, a huge giant 'popped' in, and the two youngsters scrambled to politely get out of his way.

  "Be you Mary of Joanne Village?" asked a shrill, piping voice that must have come from a nearby rabbit, which was a bit curious, as rabbits of course don't talk, or even path.

  "Yes, that's me!" replied Mary, much more amazed by the fact that anyone at the Council Grounds knew her name than she was to be carrying on a conversation with a rabbit. "Who are you?"

  The little rabbit shape shimmered and grew until it was nearly her size, finally consolidating into the form of a fur-legged little man with horns protruding from his curly haired forehead. "Call me Fen!" said the little goat man, as he reached out to shake Mary's hand vigorously.

  "Do you always hang out at landing pads disguised as a rabbit?" asked Dorn, sarcastically.

  "Nope. Only when I'm waiting for someone and I'm hungry. Clover tastes best to a rabbit, winged wonder. Would you rather be greeted by a hungry ogre, wise guy? I could arrange that! Say, who are you anyway?"

  "Dorn, friend to Mary," replied the pegasus formally, bowing his head in the customary equine greeting.

  Fen responded by politely touching his favored hand to Dorn's forehead. "You would stand with her at Council, horse face? Friends are of course always welcome, but this isn't an official Council summons, so it isn't really mandatory."

  "I want him with me. He's my best friend!" said Mary proudly.

  "OK then, it's your right kid! Let's get going then." He led them towards the Pavilion, straight past a long line of People that were waiting for audiences, and past a Minor Dragon that sat at the Pavilion entrance. It was twice as big as a giant, and easily the biggest, most spectacular being that Mary had ever seen.

  "Pass, Fen of Council Great," intoned the Dragon as the trio walked past, in a voice deep as rolling thunder. It never moved a muscle, but followed them with its penetrating, all seeing red eyes.

  If Mary hadn't been walking with one hand resting on Dorn's mane, she might have fallen down when she suddenly realized that their companion was THE Fen, a member of the High Council!

  "Just follow me folks," directed Fen. "Don't pay any attention to walls and such. That's just for show; artist stuff for the public. We've already passed through the only true barriers. At that, he walked headlong into and apparently through a shimmering purple wall. Mary and Dorn looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. Soon they were pursuing the little goat man through waterfalls, statues, more walls, and even rainbows.

  Finally, th
e trio entered a comparatively plain looking room. Underfoot was a rich carpet of greenest grass and brightest wild flowers, encircled by a few small Aspen trees and some rather large boulders and old tree stumps. Surrounding all was a barrier of whitish mist, too dense to see through, while from above sunlight, softened by the shifting translucent towers and arches high overhead, filtered down.

  In the center of the grass and flowers on a small rise stood a most exquisite unicorn. Like all unicorns, its coat was a shimmering, glowing white, and a meter long, glowing spiral horn jutted out prominently from its forehead. A silver mane flowed down its neck, while similar silver hair formed prominent eyebrows and tufts about the erect, forward facing ears. A silver hair bob accented the end of the creature's tail, as its slim ankles as well. Its silver hooves didn't appear to sink into the soft ground at all, despite their tiny size.

  Still, what most captured Mary's attention were the creature's eyes. They were large, round, infinitely black pits, rather like the empty eye sockets of a skeleton, and they contrasted incredibly with the white and silver that surrounded them. The over-all effect of the creature's appearance was magical and unearthly. The unicorn seemed utterly flawless, and impervious to its surroundings.

  "Welcome to Council Pavilion, Mary of Joanne Village and friend Dorn. You may call me Pru."

  Mary and Dorn were stunned. This was Pru the Wise and Valiant, the most famous of unicorns in heroic ballad and legend, rumored to be as old as Earth itself!

  "Do you know why you are here, little one?"

  Mary could only shake her head no.

  "She thinks it is because she is dull, wise Pru," volunteered the forward young pegasus.

  The unicorn whinnied a sound like dancing bells that could only be laughter. "You are not dull Mary! On the contrary, you show promise of a rare Talent. Do you recognize this?"

  Before Mary a small note-book popped out of nowhere, and hung suspended in the air. "Why it's my notes!" she exclaimed. "What are they doing here? I lost them two days ago!"

  "Not exactly, small one. Your parents found and looked at them, expecting to find poetry or other works that they could understand and recognize as being of value. They didn't know what it was they had found, and became so worried that they then showed them to a friend."

  "It is me they showed them to!" said Fen. "That was only natural, me being the only scientist they knew of! Do you know what you've done there near the end? With your tensor calculus, electrostatics, and relativity?"

  "I was trying to figure out how electricity should work," explained Mary. She had seen electricity exhibits in museums.

  "Well you did a bang-up job of it, young lady! You derived Maxwell's Equations! Ever hear of them?"

  "No sir!" admitted Mary.

  "Where did you get Einstein's equations to start with, kid?"

  "From an old book made of paper. Our library has a few of them. Nobody else was reading it, but I liked it. It made sense. Einstein must have been a great Person."

  "Yes, he was an exceptionally talented human, and an outstanding Person," said Pru. "I met him once, many years before The Change, when humans here on Earth were still quietly being studied. But why did you tell your parents you were doing poetry, Mary?" asked Pru.

  "That's what they wanted me to do. But I liked this better. Was what I did wrong? Is that why you asked me here?"

  Pru laughed again. "No, Mary. I asked you here mostly because I wanted to meet you. I thought that any young Person that could derive Maxwell's Equations as a hobby was a Person worth meeting, and I was right."

  Mary never felt so proud!

  "However, though what you do is perfectly fine, and a rare Talent that you can be proud of, it was wrong of you to deceive your parents about it."

  Mary's smile disappeared. "I'm sorry; It's just that I didn't want to disappoint them. They worry about me so!"

  "And there may indeed be an area of concern. Did you ever hear the term technology, Mary?" asked Pru.

  "Or TVs, computers, cell phones, airplanes or space ships?" added Fen.

  "Sure, I heard about some of them. Before The Change and humans got their Talents, and before all People lived together, humans used technology more, but it did bad things to the Earth and to humans."

  "Yes," explained Pru. "That's why many People don't like science much anymore, Mary. Science was used long ago to make technology. Technology did many fine things, but the price was too high."

  "I wasn't going to make any technology!" said Mary.

  "I should hope not!" agreed Fen indignantly.

  "Except maybe...," began Mary, in a worried tone.

  "Maybe what, child?" asked Pru gently.

  "You mentioned airplanes. Isn't that a machine that used to let people fly? That sounds so wonderful, is that really technology too? I've been thinking about airplanes lately!"

  "Yes, we noticed the design work in your note-book, and I'm afraid that airplanes are indeed technology," replied Pru sadly. "But why even think about airplanes Mary? Doesn't your friend Dorn fly with you on his back?"

  "Yes, and it's wonderful, but sometimes he has other things to do. Besides, I'd really like to fly myself."

  "Do you think much about flying, Mary?" asked Pru.

  "Oh yes!" gushed Mary. "All the time!"

  "Then you may yet develop a Talent for it. You wouldn't need an airplane then, would you?"

  "No, I guess that would be silly to use dirty machines if you don't need them."

  "Of course it would!" agreed Pru.

  "But what if I don't ever get flying Talent? Would it still be wrong to build an airplane?"

  "But why bother if you're going to be able to fly anyway?" argued Pru. "I know! While you are here now, I could scan you and tell you if you will develop a flying Talent someday. Is that your wish?"

  Mary hesitated. Did she truly want to know now if she was really dull, or keep her hope alive? Still, of late she had been reconciling herself to being dull, so she had little hope left to lose. "OK. I give you permission."

  Pru stepped closer and lowered her spiral horn to gently touch Mary's forehead. Immediately, the horn began to glow bright blue and white. Mary closed her eyes, but it didn't make any difference; everything was light. There was no sound, or up, or down, or conscious thought.

  "Mary!" said the clear, chiming unicorn voice after an indeterminate time. "You may wake now."

  "Are you all right, Mary?" asked Dorn, with concern.

  Everything snapped back into place for Mary, and she found herself still standing before the unicorn. "Yes, I'm fine."

  "Good news, Mary! You will indeed develop flying Talent!" announced Pru.

  This was the best news that Mary could have imagined. She wasn't dull, and would have the best Talent of all! "Will it be soon?"

  "Quite soon, small one. But why be impatient? Even the great Einstein couldn't fly, nor did he enjoy any type of psychic Talents, and yet he was happy and highly respected."

  "If The Change happened earlier, perhaps Mr. Einstein would have been able to fly himself without technology," reasoned Mary. “Maybe that would have made him happy. Maybe then there wouldn’t have been as much bad technology.”

  "Quite possible, small one," agreed Pru. "But the point that I was trying to make is that if you wish, you may still enjoy yourself with science, even though there is no need to think of technology."

  "I'd like that, but my parents will worry."

  "I think that I'll be able to convince them that science is an appropriate pastime for you. Why don't I just pop your science notes home, and path a message to your parents that they needn't worry about your unusual hobby? And I'd like you to visit me again from time to time Mary, to talk with me," requested Pru.

  "That sounds wonderful!" said Mary.

  With a nod from Pru, Mary's note-book, which all the while had been floating in the air near the group, popped away suddenly, presumably to appear in Joanne Village three hundred kilometers away. "And bring your fri
end Dorn when you visit again, of course!" added the unicorn.

  Dorn whinnied in happy agreement.

  "And I'll give you some more books that you'll probably find interesting kid, and talk with you about them," said Fen. "You ever hear of multi-universe grand unified theories?"

  "No!" admitted Mary, overwhelmed.

  "Among other things, they help explain psychic powers such as Talents, young lady," added Fen.

  A brief discussion of the beauty of tensor mathematics ensued between Fen and Mary, after which it became apparent that there was nothing more to say.

  "Young ones," said Pru, "I enjoyed meeting both of you, and hope you will visit us again soon!"

  It was a happy pair of youngsters that Fen escorted from the Pavilion. This had certainly been the best day of Mary's young life. Why she had been apprehensive about coming, she couldn't now imagine. She was going to fly, something that even famous humans such as Einstein couldn't do without the help of evil technology! Plus, she was going to work on science problems with the famous Fen, and visit this wonderful place again and again to talk with Pru. Mary's dreams of building an airplane seemed childish to her now. Earth since The Change was such a wonderful place!

  After the visitors left and Fen returned, boulders and tree stumps around Pru shimmered and reformed into their normal shapes: male and female centaurs, goat-People, giants, and other non-human members of the Council.

  "Wise Pru, that was very well done indeed," said a centaur, in praise.

  "Agreed!" said a giant, as quietly as she could, so as not to deafen those nearby. "Satisfy their needs without technology, and they make fine People."

  "Bah!" said Fen. "Perhaps someday, but you're too trusting. Many of them still bear watching by observers such as Dorn. Can you believe it? After all these years, still thinking about airplanes? Guns and bombs would be next, and machines and chemicals of all sorts that poison their planet. If not technology made by Mary, then made by someone else that sees her relatively innocent contraptions and gets their own ideas. Humans are still much too dangerous to exist on their own."

  "In that you are correct," agreed Pru. "They require many more generations of therapy and study, and directed evolution, particularly the clever adventurous ones like Mary. Even daily flying with Dorn has not been enough to satisfy her. Today I changed her so that soon she’ll be able to fly on her own, but even that may not be enough to appease her. She is one of thousands that will always need to be closely watched and manipulated. Perhaps, even with us driving their evolution, humans will never be ready for freedom. Is that not the reason why we made Earth a penal colony?"

  Flying home on Dorn’s back, Mary thought more about science and technology. For the life of her, she couldn’t conceive of a connection between a flying machine and evil, and she still badly wanted to build an airplane. It would be interesting. She didn’t want to disappoint her parents, her best friend Dorn, or her new friends on the Council though. She smiled broadly when the obvious solution occurred to her. She would build her airplane in complete secrecy. That would protect them from technology and from hurt feelings.

  She would also figure out the science of Talents. Fen could help her with the science part. But if there was a science of how Talents worked, it followed logically that technology should be possible that could help even a dull Person perform Talents. She wanted to have the flying Talent more than anything, but why not have all the Talents? And perhaps stronger Talents and brand-new Talents! That would be an interesting thing to secretly develop, wouldn’t it? And won’t everyone be surprised!

  ****

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