The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  The goat was verbalizing loudly with a kind of a trill and whine. It was nearly all brown colored, with a rusty tone to its fur. It also had two prominent horns which rose from its head in a gentle arc backward. The horns were a deep gray color. The fur around its eyes, nose, mouth, and covering both ears was lighter brown color.

  “This one is different looking than the goats we saw before,” Cammarry observed.

  “Yes, it comes from a different world!” Khin laughed as he pulled the stubborn nanny goat along. “Probably came in a vehicle.”

  “The babies!” Jerome exclaimed as the two small kids leapt from the crawlspace. “Adorable!”

  Each of the young goats was about half reddish brown and half white colored. The white was over their hind parts, while the reddish brown covered the head, front shoulders, and upper legs. All four feet were black along the distal third of the limb.

  “Oh so cute,” Cammarry said as the kids trotted after their mother. They were not as distressed as the nanny goat. “What will you do with them?”

  “The mother is in prime condition for milking. I could smell her status. She will be added to our milking herd. The twin kids will stay with her for a while longer, then be distributed to the others of my people,” Khin said with a huge smile “Finding a nanny goat is not often as easy as this. Nor is simply catching one. Our people are always on the lookout for nannies to help our milk supply.”

  “Do your people live in a land of milk and honey?” Jerome asked as he recalled another old saying.

  “Honey is very hard to acquire. The bees defend their hives viciously. Do you wizards know a safe way to get honey? Some way to appease the bees?”

  Sandie the artificial intelligence system which had been monitoring the conversations as the humans traveled along responded, “There are honeybees on the Conestoga? This is very exciting. The honey bee was once prolific in the Earth’s biosphere, but the Honeybee Colony Breakdown Syndrome was a factor which led to other issues which were foundational to the Great Event. Just knowing that the honeybee survived is a thrill. It played an essential role in a multitude of plant lifecycles….”

  “Sandie, thank you, but we are not looking for birds right now,” Jerome said. “We need to understand what to expect of Khin’s people.”

  “Pardon me, Jerome. Honeybees are not a type of bird, they are an insect and it is very exciting to know they are part of this limited ecosystem which was hastily assembled.” Sandie sounded very pleased with the news.

  “Wizards and spirit-ghosts. You are both so funny. You ask about honey, but do not know about bees?” Laughter followed his comments. Khin led the still resisting nanny goat along and back around the corner. He then placed his hand on the blue illuminated symbol, while keeping hold of the cord with the other hand.

  The elevator doors hissed open and the light from the inside of the elevator spilled into the dim foyer. The inside of the elevator was not coated in growth materials, nor were any plants growing inside of it. It was one of the cleanest and most intact places Jerome and Cammarry had seen on the Conestoga. In that way alone, it was surprising.

  “Come along nanny,” Khin called as he led the reluctant goat into the elevator. The goat locked its front legs stiff and pulled back on the leather cord. Khin just swept in and tickled the goat somewhere on its abdomen, and it leaped up and into the elevator.

  “Bleeeeeaaaaa!” the nanny goat cried out in wonder but not in pain.

  The twin kids rushed into the elevator and snuggled against their mother. They were making bleating quiet sounds and other vocalizations as they leaned against their mother.

  Khin waved quickly to Jerome and Cammarry who walked into the brightly lit elevator. “It is like wizard lights in here, but we must tolerate that.”

  “It is refreshing to be able to see clearly,” Jerome said as he examined the control panel which ran vertically next to the door frame.

  Khin pressed a symbol which lit up as he did so. “I read this. It says it goes to where my people are.”

  The doors closed with a hiss, and there was a slight bounce as the elevator began to descend.

  Cammarry and Jerome looked at the column of buttons. Each one had a different symbol on it, but none had actual writing. The button that Khin had pressed was illuminated from behind it with a greenish glow. The symbol on it was four black rings around a black square. The other symbols varied from a simple triangle on the button at the top, to a complex set of twisting lines, and many others, with a total of sixteen.

  “Sandie? Are any of these symbols recognizable to you?” Jerome asked. “They seem either too vague or generic, or just unique to me.”

  The AI replied, “You make an astute evaluation, Jerome. Well done. For example, the first symbol at the top of the column is a triangle. The triangle symbol is very generic. In the database I have three-thousand-sixteen different interpretations of the triangle. Of course, that number can be reduced by looking at the type of triangle. An equilateral triangle, like on that symbol, with its apex pointing in a gravitationally upward direction has long held religious meaning. Seventy-one percent of the meanings I have for that symbol are of a religious connotation. For example, some sects of the ancient Egyptian pantheon, which predate the majority of the religions in my database, saw the equilateral triangle as representing three of their major deities: the God Horus, the sacred feminine Goddess Isis, and the powerful male God Osiris. Some sects of the Christian faith viewed the three sides of the equilateral triangle as being representative of the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Other religious groups also saw symbolic meaning in that exact same symbol. Those groups can…..”

  “Sandie, thanks for the history lesson,” Jerome replied. “You know I love ancient writings and literature. Is there…”

  “How do we interpret these symbols in the context of being marooned on the Conestoga?” Cammarry asked. “I want to know what they mean here, today, in this context, not in some millennia-old dead society.”

  “Yes Cammarry, that is prudent and well-reasoned, but is a much more difficult task,” Sandie replied. “However, there is hope! Plug the cable into the access port and I will assess the nonphysicality from this location. This is some of the most functional equipment we have encountered and I am expectant that we will learn more soon.”

  Cammarry pulled the cable from the com-link and plugged it into the access port. Just then the lift stopped its descent and the elevator doors opened.

  “Come along,” Khin said to the nanny goat which was eager to leave the elevator. The twin kids frolicked after them.

  Jerome and Cammarry looked out over a large area. It was lit by the dim, but common, illumination. The room was at least one hundred meters wide, over twenty meters tall, and they could not see how far back it went. It was the largest room they had yet seen on the Conestoga, surpassing even the Graveyard of Dead Minds. Unrecognized noises, exotic smells, and odd sights assaulted Jerome and Cammarry as they looked out from the elevator.

  “A settlement?” Jerome asked in awe as his eyes scanned over the room. “There are people all around.”

  “But listen,” Cammarry said. “Really listen.”

  There was an order, or pattern, to some of the noise. The sounds were coming from the far end of the room, and they rang, or peeled, or resounded over the general noise of the area. The sound was bright, twinkling, and melodious. Neither Jerome nor Cammarry could immediately identify the source of the sounds, but it sounded like many individual strikes of somethings against cords or bells or strings.

  “Music!? I think that is music,” Cammarry said in delight. “As in the old style, mechanical music.”

  Jerome added, “Yes, that is what I was thinking. A piano I believe.”

  “I have made my assessment of the nonphysicality at this location,” Sandie stated form the com-link. “There are fascinating findings, but I see we have more pressing matters right now. You are both correct about the sound y
ou are hearing. My analysis is that it is coming from a mechanical musical instrument called a piano. The melody is a variation on a work by Johann Pachelbel, circa 1700 which was commonly called the Pachelbel Canon in D Major. The instrument is a vertical piano of the style known as a studio model. From the sound produced, the piano is 123.76 centimeters tall and 148.11 centimeters wide, with a Bavarian spruce soundboard accented from a permalloy alloy. The assembly was well crafted with very high-quality, premium-grade materials. The pin-blocks along with the nose bolts and perimeter bolts are vibrating effectively secured….”

  “It is so pretty,” Jerome said. “Is it a recording?”

  “Can it be a human playing something like that?” Cammarry said. “A person from the Conestoga.” She was thinking about Khin, and could not imagine him playing an instrument.

  Sandie the AI replied, “It is live music, done by a human player, as the performance is not 100% accurate, but is very exceptionally well done. I agree, it is beautiful. The 220 strings are being used in such as way as to suggest a master pianist. Considering the fact that there are numerous other people you have now located, I suggest you step from the elevator. I have made a complete survey of the available nonphysicality here, and can report on it after you deal with these people. Interacting with them is a more urgent concern. I remember how Khin first thought of me and still calls me a spirit-ghost. I will remain quiet, but will monitor what happens.”

  Jerome and Cammarry continued to look over the scene before them. They could not see the piano, but its music floated over the area. Tents were standing in orderly fashion, tied together by leather straps. None were the same size, but all looked to be of similar construction. Most were a deep mottled blue color, but some were lighter and a few nearly black. There were all kinds of boxes, shipping crates, storage bins, and other things stacked near to the tents. There were also large vats of liquid, some with items floating on the tops, and others with sticks protruding up from the strange brew. To one side there were animal skins hanging from a line. Some of the skins still had fur, or hair on them, while others had been scraped clean.

  “We found his people!” Jerome exclaimed. “These are the Goat People.”

  “Music, and dead animals? What kind of people are they?” Cammarry asked herself.

  The people heard Jerome’s and Cammarry’s words, so they turned and paid attention to the elevator. They had ignored Khin when he and the three goats emerged, but now they looked more closely, squinting because of the bright light. The people were looking out from their tents, or gazing up from the pots and vats they were working with to see who had spoken from the elevator which had just opened.

  Several small children, dressed in garments just like Khin’s ran up and then stopped about five meters away. As they looked toward the elevator, they shielded their eyes with their hands against the bright light. Soon everyone nearby was staring at Jerome and Cammarry as they stood in the elevator.

  Khin was walking away to the left quickly, calling out, “Mother! Mother I have brought you some gifts! I also was on a quest!”

  Cammarry unjacked the cable and it retracted back into the com-link. She and Jerome stepped from the elevator. As the doors slid shut, the brighter light from inside the elevator was extinguished. The children put their hands down, and a few murmured, “Wizards” and “Why have they come?” and “That was so intense!”

  “Hello,” Cammarry said and raised her hand in greeting.

  “Wizards? They are really wizards!”

  The children scurried away, partly giggling and partly in astonishment. The youngest of the children were unsure what to do, but then ran off, copying the expression of their older comrades.

  “And who might you be?” A woman said as she waddled over toward Cammarry and Jerome.

  “Are you…. Pregnant with a child?” Jerome asked as he stared at her large abdomen which hung in front of her as she walked. Her clothing barely covered over the expanse of her girth.

  “I am not pregnant with goats!” the woman laughed. “Of course I am pregnant with a child.” She patted her belly. “This one will be along in about ten days or so, unless he comes like my first one and is late. But who are you?”

  “You have borne children? Physically gave them birth?” Cammarry asked as she too was very surprised to see the pregnant woman.

  “Now you see here,” the woman snapped. “I am Elsa, and yes, I have children. I have borne two boys and three girls but only one of the girls and one of the boys is here right now. This one inside is probably another boy. Did one of them cause some mischief? Who are you and why are you here?”

  “I am Cammarry, and this is Jerome. We came here with Khin. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Greetings. So did you come from trading? Khin was off on one of his wanderings. He is my cousin. I know his parents. His mother is named Majka, his father is Otau. I do not know you. Are you from the Fruit People? Your speech and clothing are odd,” Elsa replied.

  “We met Khin…” Jerome began but was interrupted as Khin came sprinting up to them.

  “Cousin Elsa! It is good to see you! I made it back before your baby was born. I see you met the wizards! I was on a quest with them. I brought a nanny goat and twin kids back, they are with my mother now.”

  Elsa hugged Khin from the side, as her abdomen did not allow her much other way to connect. “Wizards? I thought that wizards were just folklore and legends.”

  “No, Elsa, these are real wizards. I saw them shake the whole world!” Khin’ eyes were huge as he explained about what he had seen.

  “Well, that is quite a tale you have now. I was sitting down on my bed when the world shook. I thought the baby was coming early, that can be a bad thing. Too many little ones come too early and when that happens, baby dies and the mother may very well die too. I am fortunate to have living children. Some of my cousins have lost all their babies.”

  “How terrible,” Jerome said. “How very softly a baby can tiptoe into the world. Almost silently, and they will sometimes stay but only a moment. However, the baby’s life will leave a permanent impression on the heart.”

  Elsa looked intently at Jerome. “Have you lost a daughter or a son?”

  Jerome glanced at Cammarry. He was completely unsure how to respond or to even attempt to explain the vast number of ways things were different in Dome 17 regarding child conception, gestation, and incubation. It was nothing like the primitive way these people procreated. Instead he just stated, “I read about a mother named Wendy and her baby Nora, they lived long ago. The baby died during childbirth. The grief was immense and I never forgot about it.”

  Elsa nodded. “Learning from others is important. So you two do not have any children?”

  “No, we have no children. So Elsa, where do you go to expel the baby?” Cammarry asked. “Will it require many doctors and other specialists?”

  Elsa looked at Khin and said to him, “These must be wizards. They are bizarre and speak in strange tongues. Why did you bring them here?”

  Khin laughed and laughed. “They took me on a quest. They act in certain ways to test us. They pretend to be like toddlers lost in the corridors, yet they also know many wizard things. Could I just leave them alone?”

  Elsa then began to laugh, but after a few hearty chuckles she grasped her abdomen and then suppressed her humor. “If I get to laughing too much I will wet myself. Khin, you should take these wizards to the Old One. Perhaps he will be able to relate more to their concerns and needs.”

  A small child ran up and placed his arms around Elsa’s legs. “Mother, come and help us play.” The child was dirty, like every one of the Goat People they had seen. Her hair was some shade of brown, but it was hard to tell in the dim light and with the grime that covered her. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her mother.

  “Yes, my dear beloved, Sassa. I will come and help you, but you know I cannot run like I used to,” Elsa replied as she bent down and kissed the top of the child’s head,
unmindful of the state of her hair. As she waddled away, she called back, “Thank you wizards for helping my cousin. If you wish to place a blessing on my children, I would appreciate it.”

  Cammarry pulled the medical kit from her backpack and trotted over to Elsa. “This may be able to help.”

  The pregnant woman looked with apprehension at the medical kit in Cammarry’s hands. Khin saw that look and nodded his own approval.

  “Well, what does that do?” Elsa asked.

  “It is a medical kit that can treat diseases, injuries, and other conditions,” Cammarry stated. She was unsure if Doctor Carolyn had designed the medical kit for primitive biological pregnancies, yet she felt the need to offer whatever help she could. “All I will need to do is connect the two wires here to your skin.”

  The little girl, Sassa, watched with wide eyes, but said nothing more.