Scales

by Anthony G Williams

  'So what happened to me?'

  'That was a consequence of our exploration of the parallel worlds. Our scientists first became aware of the probability of these several thousand years ago, but we could not initially detect them. Eventually our technology enabled us to pick up signals within the electromagnetic spectrum which emanated from parallel worlds, and we began to receive their traffic. For a long time we were only aware of other worlds within our own local branch, because it is necessary for a civilisation to have developed radio before we can notice them. At first, we were only able to receive radio and TV broadcasts, but more recently we have developed the technology to pick up visual images; we can open a one-way window, so to speak, to look wherever we please, although we cannot receive sound unless it is broadcast electronically.'

  I smiled wryly. It had long been speculated that the sphere of our radio and television broadcasts, expanding at light speed from the Solar System, might eventually attract the attention of another intelligent race in our galaxy, but no-one had imagined that they would be received in a parallel Earth.

  'The discovery of your local group of worlds caused great excitement because it was the first time that we had encountered a non-saurian civilisation. I have to say that there are few Stage 3 saurian worlds, the main source of variation being those who, for philosophical and/or religious reasons, rejected the idea of altering their genetic make-up to enhance their mental abilities, so they still communicate by sound, as you do. We have therefore concentrated great efforts in finding out as much about you as we can, and in developing our technology to try to communicate with you.'

  'Well, you seem to be doing OK so far.'

  'Yes. We know a lot about you, and our various research groups have each concentrated on a particular human language and cultural group. You would no doubt be amused at some of the human-inspired cultural fashions which have percolated through our society. Although we three are the core of this research group, many others can speak English well enough to communicate. Finding you, Cade, was a bonus; we were not certain that we would be able to form a mind-link with a different race, and in fact we cannot with ordinary humans. With them, we are limited to verbal and visual communication via electronic means, as with the telephone and television.' His mood became one of uncomfortable embarrassment.

  'I have a feeling that you're getting to the point.'

  The discomfort increased. 'Yes, well, as I said we had been developing various technical approaches to communicating with your race, and one research group had gone further and were working on a method to open a link between parallel worlds so that they could transfer physical objects. I think that they had picked up some aspects of human science and melded them with their own knowledge: your wireless broadband internet links have been a great boon to us, incidentally, as they have made vast quantities of material accessible. One other thing these researchers seem to have acquired was a most un-saurian degree of impatience. They decided to test their theories, not in some remote place, but by dramatically contacting a member of the human race.'

  'I take it that I was the lucky one. Why me?'

  'They had become aware of you through your broadcasts and web articles, and it was clear that you had both scientific understanding and the skill of communication. They felt that you would make a good intermediary.'

  'So what went wrong? I nearly died.'

  The embarrassment became palpable. 'Yes. Well. What they discovered, the hard way, was that there is some kind of energy difference between our parallel worlds, or perhaps energy is released at the receiving end by the act of opening a physical link; exactly what happened is not yet completely understood. When they opened the link, that energy release caused the explosion and fire in your home. In fact, the energy flow continued for as long as the link was open.'

  I digested this for a moment. 'So how did I come to survive?'

  'One of their team saw that you had been fatally injured and had the presence of mind to slap a repair patch on your body before the link was closed.'

  'Repair patch?'

  'It is our standard first-aid measure in the event of accidental injury more serious than our in-built repair mechanisms can cope with. It consists of a kind of plaster or adhesive bandage which is rapidly absorbed into the body. It is impregnated with a broad spectrum of substances to reduce shock, fight infection, stimulate the formation of a protective seal over wounds and carry out repairs; both short-term and long-term, including the reinforcement of genetic material. We developed this to be pan-species so we could use it on animals, but didn’t know if it would work on you. It seemed worth a try, though.'

  'Genetic material.'

  'Yes. The repair patch is very powerful; it carries out a kind of scan of the body, identifies any injuries and deficiencies and does what is needed to put them right. Given time, it can even stimulate the regrowth of missing limbs. It seems that while the repairs were going on, your system absorbed some of the genes carrying saurian characteristics and this led to the changes in your body, and also in your mind. This does not happen with our native mammals, but your body clearly reacted differently. Again, we don't understand why and our geneticists are most keen to discover what happened.'

  'I see. That explains a lot. Just one thing, though; if you ever develop a repair patch for humanity, please add some anaesthetic!'

  'I'm sorry, our inbuilt systems control pain automatically, so we didn't bother to provide that.'

  I sensed a residual degree of discomfort about something still unsaid. 'What else?'

  'The experimenters also had time to take a small genetic sample from you, we hope you don't mind. We now have a complete picture of your genetic makeup before the changes which affected you. We now urgently want details of the genetic changes you have experienced, so we can discover exactly what happened and why.'

  I thought about this for a moment. 'Why did you take so long to contact me? You could have told me all this months ago, and it might have saved a lot of trouble.'

  Primo's mood became apologetic. 'There was an intense debate here over what to do about you. We were conscious that revealing our identity would immediately cause a Stage 3 change to your world, and many thought that such interference would be fundamentally wrong. However, more pressing concerns eventually overrode this.'

  My head suddenly started aching and Primo instantly made his apologies and withdrew. 'I'll contact you again when I've recovered,' I said. I slowly took off the headnet and sat waiting as the headache receded. I had, to say the least, a very great deal to think about.

  I ran through the "conversation" in my mind. I gradually became aware of something which the novelty of the mind-link had initially concealed: the saurians' minds were different from human. Their thinking was slower, calmer, more deliberate, moving with a glacial kind of logical inevitability. Their minds felt as strange as their voices sounded. I suddenly remembered something that Luke had said:

  'You are different, you know, apart from the obvious. You were always very excitable and talked so quickly it was hard to keep up, but now you're much calmer and more deliberate, and you seem – not colder, exactly, I think that "dispassionate" is the word I'm looking for.'

  I also remembered how calmly I had accepted a transformation which should have seen me screaming over the edge. I felt a chill running down my spine. The repair patch had done more than just change my body and add some abilities; the rewiring of my brain had changed my personality. I had always assumed that the changes were superficial, but was now forced to admit to myself that I was no longer entirely human in any sense; I was a hybrid of human and saurian.

  That evening Freya returned, her air of excitement preceding her into the house.

  'Great news!' She announced cheerfully. 'You've been invited to address the General Assembly of the United Nations – they've just started their regular annual session!'

  My response was muted, my mind full of the link with the saurians.

  'Aren't you please
d?' She was clearly deflated.

  'Yes of course,' I answered automatically. Then the potential use of this opportunity struck home. 'In fact, I'm delighted; I have a lot to say to them.'

  'Good! You'll be provided with help to write your speech, of course.'

  I could imagine the sort of speech which the UN officials would like me to make, and smiled inwardly. 'That won't be necessary, thanks; I know what I want to say.'

  She radiated a degree of concern. 'It is usual for such speeches to be vetted first by the Secretary General's office.'

  'Not this time. I have some surprises in store, but I can assure you that no-one will be disappointed in what I have to say.'

  'Right' she said dubiously. She brightened up again. 'Anyway, we have to get you some more suitable clothes. You can't address the General Assembly in jogging kit. I've arranged for a tailor to visit tomorrow.'

  The next few days were a blur of activity. I woke early each morning – I needed little sleep anyway – and spent hours mind-linking with the saurians, my head under the bedclothes to conceal the headnet. One very useful trick they taught me was how to tune my mind to block out the raucous background noise typical of a major city while still remaining receptive to people close to me. They also showed me how to shield parts of my mind from the mind-link, or to block contact altogether, to preserve my privacy if I wished.

  The tailor duly arrived to take measurements while Freya looked on critically. 'You look heavier than you did when you arrived.'

  'More food, less running and more balanced exercise. I'm just getting back to the shape I used to be.' I had to confess to myself an atavistic satisfaction in my physical power, particularly since my rather unathletic youth had given way to an early and paunchy middle age.

  She grinned engagingly. 'Well, I wasn't criticising!'

  Sometime during the week I was able to get in touch with Brian the Consultant at the East Anglian hospital in which I had first woken up, and persuaded him to fax the results of the detailed genetic analysis they had carried out after my transformation. Primo told me later that this transmission had successfully been intercepted, and was now in the hands of their geneticists.

  My final preparatory task was to liaise with the audio-visual technicians at the UN. Then everything was ready.

  The cabin cruiser came to collect me on the morning of my speech to the UN. I was relieved to find that I could indeed tune out the mental cacophony as we approach New York. Freya came along for the ride, and obviously enjoyed the contrast with her usual car journey. I felt her suppressed excitement at the event and had to admit that it infected me also. She didn't know it, but this was going to be a presentation such as the UN – or the world – had never seen.

  I was used to public speaking but, even so, the butterflies were performing their dance in my stomach as I waited to be introduced. I scanned the representatives in the packed Chamber as I walked to the podium and picked up a mixture of interest, curiosity, awe, suspicion and revulsion – in other words, just the usual reactions.

  'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the invitation to address the General Assembly. I appreciate the honour, and I hope that you will not be disappointed in what I have to say.' I paused for a moment to ensure I had their full attention. I picked up a touch of concern from Freya, concealed off to one side, and assumed that I had probably omitted the customary honorifics. 'I was invited here to talk to you about how I might be able to help the work of the United Nations. But in fact, I have a development of much greater import to tell you about. I have discovered what happened to me, to turn me from an ordinary man into this strange being you see standing before you. I have discovered this because I have been in contact with the people who were responsible. And those people come from an alien race – they are not human.'

  A wave of emotions broke from the audience; excitement, disbelief, derision and, above all, shock. The silence crackled.

  I went on to describe the first contact from the saurians, the existence of parallel worlds, and everything that Primo had told me at our first contact. I paused to scan the audience, who had recovered from their shock and now radiated scepticism, incredulity and, in a few cases, pity that I had lost my mind. Peripherally, I picked up Freya's deep anxiety. I signalled to the AV technicians and the screen high on the wall behind and to one side of me glowed into life as the data projector came on.

  'Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Primo.'

  His image suddenly filled the screen, looking down at the Assembly. The audible gasps were as nothing compared with the mental shockwaves which crashed against me. I took the opportunity to slip on the headnet discreetly. Primo could not sense for himself the reactions of his audience, but he could indirectly pick up my scans; a poor substitute for a saurian mind-link, but better than nothing.

  Primo started without preamble. 'Good afternoon, it gives me great pleasure to address the General Assembly of the United Nations, because what I have to say is important to the future of mankind.'

  The strange, alien voice echoed around the hall. Judging by the audience's emotional response, to say that he had grabbed their attention would be a serious understatement. I hoped that the link with the television broadcasting system was working; if so, his transmission was being received live across much of the world. I scanned the audience anxiously; I had worked on this speech with Primo, to make sure that his sometimes rather clumsy use of English was appropriate to the occasion.

  'First, I need to add a little more about us to the information which Cade has already given. As he has said, our civilisation has developed over a very long period of time. Compared with yourselves, we are slow learners.' Saurians did not smile, but he managed to put some humour into his tone. 'This chance has brought with it many benefits. In particular, it has ensured that we have always remained in harmony with our environment. The problems which you are wrestling with at the moment over pollution and climate change have never been an issue with us, as we have had plenty of time to analyse the effects of any new technological development and make corrections as necessary. We never experienced such a rapid change as your Industrial Revolution, never had our economy driven by such a strong consumer focus.' He paused for a moment. 'This is my home planet.'

  The view changed to a distant one of Earth as seen from space. The continents and ice caps were all familiar. The view zoomed steadily in, targeting the east coast of North America. It took me a second to realise that Primo was going to show us his planet's version of New York. The camera view paused at what seemed to be an altitude of about a thousand metres, presenting an oblique view of Manhattan.

  It was still the site of a city and a port; I realised that the natural advantages of the location would be utilised in any technological society. The buildings of the city were very different, however. What was instantly noticeable was that they were nearly all only one storey in height: the few exceptions were stepped pyramids with wide ramps linking the levels. The roofs were flat and green with vegetation. Most of the buildings were widely separated with green spaces and trees filling at least half of the space. The viewpoint zoomed in and another difference became clear; there were no cars or roads. Primo's voice-over explained that goods deliveries were achieved via underground tunnels. Down at ground level, what was instantly noticeable was the noise – or rather, the eerie lack of it. Birdsong seemed to predominate.

  The view then tracked across his world, pausing from time to time to close in on a particular scene. It looked simultaneously very familiar – the landscape and vegetation – and also like something from a science-fiction film, whenever buildings or transport came into view. Primo informed us that outside the cities, transport was primarily by electric or fuel-cell vehicle. In one view, an airship was visible; preferred to aircraft for long distance travel since they were safer and more spacious and comfortable, and the long-lived saurians, with their stable society, had little need for any urgency.

  Even more a
lien were the saurians. I had only seen head and shoulders views of them, and had vaguely assumed that they were humanoid only with scales. The first time one hopped into view I realised my error; they were human-like down to the waist, but below that more closely resembled kangaroos, with a long thick tail and powerful legs. Their preference for low buildings and ramps suddenly became clear. They could walk, at a rather slow waddle, but were clearly more comfortable hopping. At one point the view lingered on a small crowd of them, apparently youngsters engaged in sports, and I estimated that they could cruise at the speed of a human sprint, and sprint twice as fast. No wonder they only used passenger vehicles for longer distances. The relative weather-proofness of their tough scaly hides no doubt helped; they seemed to wear little in the way of clothes except harnesses to which tools and other possessions were attached. Close-ups showed that their arms were more slender than humans' and looked weaker; their hands were delicate, with the opposed thumb opposite the four fingers rather than alongside them. They resembled kangaroos in more than just body form; a small head poking out of a midriff pouch revealed that they were marsupials as well. I felt a brief flash of amusement as I imagined the fierce arguments among evolutionary biologists that these revelations would prompt.

  The saurian preference to be close to water was noticeable in all of their buildings; Primo explained they had created many large inland lakes in areas distant from the sea. At first I was puzzled as I couldn't recall any hopping animals on my Earth which were comfortable in water – until I remembered frogs.

  Overall, the most obvious difference in the saurian world was the lack of crowding, pollution and squalor, and the care with which buildings and other developments were blended into the landscape. It looked like an earthly paradise.