In Arcadia (Touchstone Book 5)

by Andrea K Höst

  "You were very subdued. What happened to your scheme for testing Tsur Selkie's credulity?"

  "I know! I couldn't do it! Whenever I thought about being silly I got all tongue-tied. Tongue-tied, Laura. Me! And I was looking forward to this all week, thinking of all the things I could try to get him to include in his official reports. I was going to tell him that Maze is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too precious for this world, too pure. Just to see how he'd react."

  "He'd probably agree with you. If you explained what that meant."

  "But would he put it in his reports? In Cass' diaries, they're always putting everything in reports. I was hoping to introduce all the KOTIS stuffed-shirts to Tumblr-speak, and convince them that's how Earth people usually talk."

  "At least until they work out you're really introducing them to trolling? I'd start with someone other than a Sight Sight talent, if you really want to make the attempt."

  "The main thing I want to do right now is force Cass to watch Clint Eastwood movies until she can point out what part of any of them reminds her of Tsur Selkie. He is very much not Clint Eastwood."

  "I suspect that he's being rather less commanding with us than he would be with KOTIS personnel on duty. But yes, I don't see it, other than a bit of a 'man with no name' vibe, which does fit Selkie's watchfulness, and the unchanging expression. I don't think Cass can have seen many Clint Eastwood movies, though. I wonder what she'd make of Every Which Way But Loose?"

  "Most of Eastwood's roles are all about being the lone wolf, and this Tsur Selkie is...would you say 'authority'? A sense of being in total control, the one who gets to make the decisions, with acres of hidden depths. Perhaps a Napoleon?"

  "You say that because he's short. Short-ish."

  "Caesar, then—of the Julian variety."

  "And that's the haircut."

  "Machiavelli?"

  Laura thought about it. "I don't actually know what Machiavelli was supposed to be like. As for Machiavellian...well, he was involved in a program that conscripted children. And got some of them killed."

  "He'd make a terrific cult leader. The voice. The focused attention. That sense of looking right into you."

  "I suppose all Sight Sight talents are a bit like that. I didn't get very far in my attempts at pushing trade with Earth."

  "I wonder how much influence he has over the decision? Could you catch any impression of what he thought of the idea?"

  "No. He's opaque and I expect we're open books to him." Laura sighed. "Is it possible to talk about Earth's history without making any sane civilisation want to avoid us like the plague? We stagger from atrocity to indecency, between bouts of hypocrisy. But where would trying to shade the truth get us with a Sight talent?"

  "Pointless to fret about it yet. Have you decided what you're getting Ys for her birthday? Seems to me interplanetary trade negotiations aren't half as difficult as finding a present for a girl who just wants you to leave her alone so she can read. Especially when she has all the books already, and I can't find anyone to sell me a time-turner."

  Laura laughed, and nodded, and turned her thoughts to more pleasant considerations. She had a month to decide how to be both honest and positive with Tsur Selkie.

  Chapter Three

  Tyrian was the infant equivalent of a mood ring. Much of the time he would make an excellent stand in for a Midwich cuckoo: solemn and staring and grave. But if you picked him up when you were annoyed or angry he would react to that immediately, no matter how gentle your touch or voice, for he had inherited both Sight Sight and Place Sight from Kaoren. These were Sights that developed early, and so anyone holding Tyrian required a lot of personal discipline in order to avoid transforming quiet baby into squalling baby.

  On the up side, he responded very well to positive emotions and one of Laura's new favourite things was to try to make him laugh. Lying on her back out by the pool, she hoisted Tyrian up above her, blew out her cheeks, and goggled her eyes. He let out a delighted squeal and waved his arms. Dropping him down on her lap, she tickled him, and then hoisted him up again and puckered her mouth like a fish.

  Tyrian giggled, all happy smiles, burped, and vomited milk over Laura's face and neck.

  "Urk!" Laura had only barely managed to turn her head in time to spare her mouth and eyes. She sat up hastily, then tweaked her grandson's chin as he briefly wavered on the edge of shock, and fortunately he laughed merrily in response. "I'm glad you find it funny, kiddo." She wiped her face with the back of one hand, and smiled down at him. "You look like your Mum when you laugh, you know."

  "He does," a voice agreed, and she turned, steadying Tyrian, to find that Tsur Selkie had once again arrived early for his appointment. "I will watch him if you wish to clean up," he added.

  Laura hesitated, then thanked him and climbed to her feet. "I won't be long," she said, handing Tyrian over and relaxing fractionally when the KOTIS officer demonstrated that he at least knew how to hold a baby.

  Even so, she showered and changed quickly, reflecting that he'd understood what she'd said to Tyrian, even though she'd spoken in English. Cass' translation app worked both ways, but Laura hadn't realised Tsur Selkie was using it. At least she'd grown better at speaking Muinan, though her pronunciation remained far from perfect.

  Still a little damp, Laura returned to find him sitting sideways on the broad rim of the pool with Tyrian on his lap, propped against partially raised knees. Playing pat-a-cake. Tyrian had returned to solemnity, but was managing to bat at Tsur Selkie's hands with reasonable accuracy, and appeared pleased each time he managed it.

  "You have children, Tsur Selkie?" Laura asked.

  "Two daughters," he said. "Allidi and Haelin. This is a game they enjoyed at this age."

  "He almost looks like he's moving before you do."

  "He is reacting to my decision on which hand to move."

  Fascinated, Laura sat down cross-legged beside him, watching as Tyrian continued to almost appear to anticipate which hand Tsur Selkie held up for him to pat. "So guessing games are good for Sight Sight talents?"

  "At this age, very simple ones only, preferably those where the correct choice is known to you. Two to three choices, and never continued if his Sights don't trigger and he fails. Until Muinan age three or four he will switch between a state of strong certainty about his immediate environment, and occasions when Sight Sight isn't triggering, when the world will feel threatening, and unknowns or new developments will upset him." He raised his right hand, and Tyrian again batted at it.

  "As he grows older, more capable of abstract concepts, Sight Sight will trigger less and less, unless he is trained to focus it. That will be a difficult time for him, especially in combination with Place Sight. At the moment, Sight Sight's certainty mitigates the distress that Place Sight often brings."

  He paused and dropped his hand when Tyrian yawned mightily. "Games that trigger Sights are also tiring, so this is best played before a scheduled nap."

  "When do the other Sights usually manifest?"

  A discussion that expanded to the wide array of known psychic talents nicely filled the time until Kaoren returned Sue from an expedition to the northern shore of the lake. While Tsur Selkie managed to maintain an air of formality even with a baby falling asleep in his lap—and still threatened to steal the air from the room through sheer intensity—he was also a superlative listener, and Laura found talking to him paradoxically relaxing.

  "Do Sight Sight talents tend toward careers like psychiatry?" she asked, as he handed the snoozing Tyrian up to her.

  "It's been known," he said, standing. "But it is rarely successful. The talent might offer extra insight, but insight also tends to bring a self-belief that mixes poorly with the delicate negotiation of someone else's psyche." His flicker of a smile surfaced. "We are, as a group, too arrogant."

  Laura glanced down at Tyrian, imagining him growing up too insightful to be wise.

  "What does it involve, exactly, being a Sight Sight advisor?" she asked,
moving inside as she heard Kaoren and Sue's voices.

  "During this settlement phase, it has primarily meant construction projects."

  "Construction?"

  Kaoren, hearing this, grimaced. "That is something I avoid as much as I can: assignments to look over large buildings, power generators, ships, checking for hidden flaws. Physical faults like that do tend to trigger Sight Sight, but we cannot guarantee safety—and it is exceptionally dull work."

  "I thought Sight Sight talents went around solving mysteries," Sue said, clearing a bottle from Tyrian's carry cot so Laura could put him down.

  "Occasionally. It's rare that there is criminal investigative work that cannot be better addressed by science," Tsur Selkie said. "Assignments like this are more common—gathering information toward large decisions."

  Reminded that Tsur Selkie had not visited just to teach her about psychic infants, Laura gathered the inevitable scatter of baby toys and clothing, and saw Kaoren on his way. Sue, in the meantime, set out snacks and drinks on the northern patio, where they could fully appreciate the first few motes of gold, red and orange. Autumn in the Pandora region looked likely to be spectacular.

  Tsur Selkie sat exactly as he had before: very upright, hands on knees, formal but without the curt, no-time-to-waste attitude Cass' diaries had suggested. Laura had not seen him as Cass originally had—in a command environment during a crisis—and she could not decide if this innately formal but relaxed version of a KOTIS officer marked the change from a period of extreme danger to the current peace, or if he was attempting to put her and Sue at ease.

  "In this session, I would like to cover probable reactions on your world, should a delegation be sent—or a ship locate your world. I understand there is no designated 'leader' of Earth. And the gate is located in a non-central part of the world?"

  Laura produced a map of Earth from among her mass of scans, and gave him a short history of Earth's major political divisions, and Australia's current position.

  "So at first you'd be dealing with the Australian authorities. Who will be bemused, but then..." Laura grimaced. "Well, they're politicians. They will insist on many photo opportunities, but they're likely to be extremely enthusiastic about any kind of trade negotiations."

  "No, don't forget you'd be dealing with whoever is waiting on the street, first," Sue put in.

  "I suppose so," Laura said. "Our family and the Caldwells and Doctor Jamandre. But if word of the gate has spread to enough people, there might be press waiting."

  "A circus," Sue said in English, then added: "Chaos and excited shouting. Which would continue without end, really. A bit like how Cass is treated here—so many people painfully eager to meet her—but rather worse because on Earth the Muinan delegation would represent two of the seven great villain motivations."

  Sue was obviously feeling less tongue-tied today. Laura, who rarely failed to be entertained by her sister, had to admit she also wanted to know how this man would react to some high grade nonsense.

  But Tsur Selkie took the opening volley without blinking. "Which are?"

  "Money and living longer." Sue took a long drink of juice, watching him with immense interest. "The other five are revenge, saving or bringing back a dead loved one, world domination, good intentions, and 'just because'."

  "Would Muinan technology not also represent the potential for world domination?" Tsur Selkie asked, taking 'villain motivations' entirely seriously. "It is an important consideration for us—that we might destabilise your planet's political balance. Would other nations, for instance, make war upon your Australia to gain control of the gate to Muina?"

  The question was a reminder that this was a conversation of consequence. Not that Sue would be easily quashed: she firmly believed that humour opened the mind to unexpected viewpoints.

  "An attack on Australia isn't likely," Laura said. "Too many allies with big guns. But control of any delegation is a different matter. The knowledge, the power they would represent is immense. And..." She hesitated, but there was no point hedging around something so obvious. "There might be attempts to kidnap them, to force them to share everything they know."

  "Lots of aging billionaires out there," Sue muttered.

  "Lots of aging government officials, too." Laura stared down at her hands, and then out at a lake framed in gold-specked green, before meeting the eyes of the patiently waiting KOTIS officer. "While I'm still very keen to have Muina open relations using the gate, I could not say that a delegation could visit in complete safety."

  He nodded, as if this was only what he expected her to say. "The same problem occurs for the Caldwell children. They have the interface installation, which represents a large advance for your people. Could we allow them to return, and not be concerned with their safety?"

  That was a depressing consideration, but neither Laura nor Sue could deny that anyone returning would likely be intensely studied.

  "The possibility that we will locate your world through the deep space of the Ena has increased, however," he continued. "I would not care to predict an imminent discovery, but I now consider contact to be an eventual probability."

  "What's changed?" Laura asked, surprised and pleased.

  "Exploration in the Ena's deep space has long involved expensive drone losses, but we have recently been trialling sending out large groups of much smaller and simpler units. Their instruments do not have the same range as our original explorer units, but we are gaining data far more quickly than ever before."

  "Finding Earth is still in the possibly never category, though?" Sue asked.

  "It remains a matter of chance, but the use of drone shoals greatly increases the odds. To that point, we are beginning long-range planning for ship-based contact. Cassandra previously stated that if there is a rift opening from Ena's deep space anywhere on Earth, it will be located in something known as the 'Bermuda Triangle'. Would you agree with that?"

  "The Triangle's a story, nothing more," Sue said, firmly. "Earth is a heavily-travelled planet, and I think we'd have seen a whole lot more disappearances in recent years if there was an enormous invisible gash in the sky so close to a major continent. Unless not all rifts to deep space are so large as Muina's?"

  "Those we have observed all have similar proportions."

  "Then, if there's a rift into Ena deep space at all, it's got to be somewhere completely outside the travel routes. Somewhere completely away from people, where even light aircraft don't fly."

  "Antarctica?" Laura guessed.

  "Best option. Otherwise, I don't know, northern Russia?"

  They went through the likely locations, and the closest nations to them, and then moved on to the probable world reaction to a spaceship turning up and asking to chat.

  "There's plenty of precedent for that sort of thing in our fictions," Laura said.

  "Oh, boy, is there," Sue said.

  "Extra-terrestrial contact stories fall into a few distinct groups," Laura went on. "Aliens show up, and the people of Earth are brutal and cruel to them. Aliens show up and try to annihilate us. Aliens show up and make peaceful overtures, and..."

  "And it's all fun and games until the plasti-flesh masks come off." Sue grinned and mimed lifting away her face.

  "Plasti-flesh?" Tsur Selkie repeated, sounding out the English carefully.

  "I suppose Cass would know by now if Muinans were really lizard people in disguise," Sue added.

  Tsur Selkie's flicker of a smile made an appearance, but he only said: "We must account for a precedent for deception?"

  "Trojan horse aliens," Sue said, and then explained Trojan horses.

  For the remainder of the session, they told him alien contact stories. ET, War of the Worlds, Independence Day, The Thing, Space Battleship Yamato. Aliens drawing the people of Earth into intergalactic wars, aliens testing the 'worthiness' of humans, or simply being mystic and vague and incomprehensible. It was an involved conversation, because Tsur Selkie would always ask for explanations when they fell back
on English terms and phrases.

  "Does all this fiction really help you, Tsur Selkie?" Laura asked, after they had explored a dozen different flavours of First Contact disaster.

  "It gives me a frame for the psychology of your world. It appears that, while there are smaller groups that would react negatively, those who have weaponry that could reach us at a considerable distance are not likely to use it immediately, unless some major misstep occurs?"

  They agreed that the chances of missiles being launched were low, with some caveats depending on exactly where the Muinan ship revealed itself.

  "So then you'd need to decide which country to land in..." Sue said. "How complicated this all is."

  "The language barrier is another factor. You speak one of the most widely-spread languages, but not the most spoken?"

  "English is, ah, second or third," Sue said. "Mandarin is the most-spoken, but we don't speak it. Laura could teach you Japanese, thanks to far too many years of anime, but I only have bits of French and German."

  "I brought along a few English-other language dictionary apps," Laura said. "They're very basic things compared to the one Cass has been working on, though."

  She stopped as Mimmit, the cat she'd brought with her from Earth, leapt onto the table. Tsur Selkie, like more than half of Muina's population, was originally from Tare. Taren visitors, raised on an island world of densely populated, hive-like cities with little open land and few animals, often flinched from sudden contact with small creatures, so Laura shifted in readiness for whisking Mimmit away. But Tsur Selkie merely looked down at the striking tortoiseshell, with her harlequin mask of black and orange, then lifted his partially gloved hand from his knee and rested it on the table.

  "Perhaps you can set out for me the divisions of Earth by primary language," he said, as Mimmit briefly scented his fingers, then strolled down the table to Laura.

  That task more than filled the remainder of their session, with Tsur Selkie concluding the discussion by setting their third appointment for a mere week away.