by S. H. Jucha
Alex sent. The traveler’s passengers had been woken by Julien, when the SADE saw the Ollassa enter the meadow.
“Scarlet Mandator is leader?” Julien asked. The SADEs had discovered the particular frequency shift that the Ollassa used to indicate a question versus a declarative statement.
“Ship leader,” Mandator replied, a bloom tilting up.
“Ollassa leader?” Julien asked.
Julien hoisted his holo-vid, which displayed the tree, and rephrased his question.
It dawned on Scarlet Mandator that the progenitors must have some other method of creation and couldn’t understand the life cycle of the Ollassa. Picking up a small stone, the mandator spoke the word for life and, with a stalk, offered the pebble to the alien.
“Life giver,” Julien said to the mandator.
“Scarlet Life Giver,” Mandator agreed, turning a bloom to regard the Ollassa’s creator.
It clicked for humans and SADEs alike.
Alex waited for a clever idea to be proposed, but none was offered.
Julien retorted.
Alex debated his options. It was an easy choice to abandon the attempt to communicate with the Ollassa, pack up, and return to Omnia. Except, the purpose of everything he’d done at Omnia was to nurture the quest for the Nua’ll home world and stop the creation of the spheres at their source. Having discovered traces of the Nua’ll metals in the Vinian system, Alex was loath to leave without any information of the sphere, which had visited these worlds. He felt obligated to push the situation with the Ollassa.
When Julien turned away from the path, Scarlet Mandator hoped they would resume their communication. Instead the alien, Julien, walked past and boarded his seedling ship, which had descended to hover above the grasses.
Julien quickly turned off his projection and slipped on his clothes behind Z and Miranda.
Z replied privately, which garnered him a host of wonderful images and sentiments from Miranda.
Scarlet Mandator watched small pedestals extend from the bottom of the seedling ship. Then, it touched down softly on the grass. To Scarlet Mandator’s shock, aliens of all shapes sprang forth from the vessel and arranged themselves in a half circle behind one of them, who strode forward. The alien held Julien’s device.
Julien held up his holo-vid to Scarlet Mandator, announced his name, and ran the synth-skin application to project the face and antlers he had displayed before he switched it off.
“Animals,” Citron Mandator said, and Scarlet Mandator twisted a bloom, to observe the others, who had crowded close. Fronds were closed and quivering.
“Some of us are fauna; some of us are not, Scarlet Mandator,” Julien replied. “We seek our enemy. This predator,” he added, displaying the Nua’ll sphere once again.
“Ollassa are forbidden to speak of the orb, without permission,” Scarlet Mandator replied, belatedly realizing the mistake.
“We know an orb has been here. Our data tells us this,” Julien retorted.
“But how?” Citron Mandator asked. “It was many revolutions in the past.”
Alex stepped forward, and the mandators shrank away, frightened by his monstrous size.
“This is our leader, Alex Racine,” Julien said, by way of introduction. “He’s been known by many titles, but I prefer to think of him as companion.” Julien had used a word that Scarlet Mandator had offered to describe the other Ollassa, who came with him to the meadow.
“Our data says the debris was minimal,” Alex said to Julien, who relayed the message. “That means you probably didn’t destroy the orb, which we know to be a Nua’ll sphere.”
“You know who inhabits the orb?” Citron Mandator asked, forgetting the prohibition to discuss the event.
“We do,” Alex replied through Julien. “More important, we can tell you that this is not the only sphere. My people destroyed a different sphere.”
Alex mentally asked for forgiveness from the Swei Swee, who were the responsible party for the sphere’s destruction, but it wouldn’t have served his purpose to explain that, at this time.
Citron Mandator would have asked another question, but Scarlet Mandator spun around to face the other mandators. A discussion ensued, and the Omnians watched blooms swing to and fro, as the mandators addressed one another.
“Julien, we must ask the Life Giver for permission to speak further of the orb,” Scarlet Mandator said, when the discussion with the other mandators ended, gesturing toward the great tree in the center of the meadow.
When the Omnians took a step in the tree’s direction, front stalks were raised in protest.
“Not all the creatures,” Citron Mandator said.
“How many?” Julien asked.
“One,” Citron Mandator replied.
“No,” Julien retorted, which resulted in another discussion among the mandators.
“My colleagues say those four resemble predators,” Scarlet Mandator said, pointing to Z, Miranda, and the twins, “and the size of your leader is intimidating. The mandators have agreed to allow two of you to approach the Life Giver. You and the small one.” A stalk was pointing toward Renée.
Julien was relaying the translations of the mandator’s words
on the fly, and the comms erupted with objections before Alex silenced the lot.
“Two,” Julien agreed, holding up the same number of fingers to Scarlet Mandator, who tipped a bloom in acceptance.
“Ser?” Julien asked, proffering his arm.
“Such a gentleman,” Renée replied, smiling and slipping her hand into the crook of Julien’s arm. She knew it was more than politeness that had prompted Julien’s offer. The SADE wanted her close. A slight shiver ran up her spine, as she left her friends behind.
Rarely, throughout her entire life, had Renée been without the protection of her people, escorts, or Alex. She had no doubt Julien would do everything possible to keep her safe, but the SADE was unarmed, except for his avatar’s exceptional strength and speed.
Julien and Renée followed Scarlet Mandator up the path toward the Life Giver. The other mandators stayed behind.
Alex kept a link open with Julien and Renée. His implant, employing an application via his eyes, calculated the distance to the Life Giver. His implant would remain within range. Otherwise, he was prepared to bounce his implant signal through Z or Miranda.
“Umber Interpreter, this is Julien, who seeks permission from the Life Giver for the Ollassa to discuss the orb,” Scarlet Mandator said.
“Creatures do not talk to the Life Giver,” Umber Interpreter replied.
“I’m not flora or fauna,” Julien said. “We believe the Ollassa drove an orb away, but we’re here to tell you that there is more than one. We seek to stop these dangerous predators.”
“All living entities are either animal or plant. You don’t speak the truth,” the interpreter replied.
“Umber Interpreter, Julien’s request is most important for the well-being of the Ollassa,” Scarlet Mandator said. “If you don’t speak to the Scarlet Life Giver for him, I’ll travel to every other Life Giver, until an interpreter heeds my plea. If you force me to do that, I promise you that I will inform all Scarlets that their interpreter is not worthy of consideration. When that happens, you’ll receive no visitors. You will sit alone, attached to the Life Giver until you pass.”
Renée, who received Julien’s transmission of the conversation, as did the other Omnians, watched the faded scarlet bloom of the interpreter swing first toward Julien and then her way.
“I will ask,” Umber Interpreter said, relenting.
The Omnians watched the shivers of the Life Giver, when the request was put to it. Unfortunately, whatever the interpreter asked, it wasn’t an answer about the orb. Instead, the Life Giver was curious as to what classification Julien considered himself if he wasn’t flora or fauna.
Julien fielded the questions from the Life Giver, thinking it important to satisfy the entity’s curiosity. Eventually, the interpreter’s bloom tilted down in the middle of one of Julien’s replies.
“Umber Interpreter rests,” Scarlet Mandator said, enigmatically.
“For how long?” Julien asked.
“Until Umber Interpreter wakes,” the mandator replied.
Renée grumped over the comm.
Julien locked his avatar. The mandator stiffened stalks, and Renée sat on the short grass that circled the base of the Life Giver and leaned against the back of Julien’s legs.
Meanwhile, Alex took up a perch on the traveler’s steps so that he could keep an eye on Renée, while Z, Miranda, and the twins kept a vigil over the surroundings.
Hours later, Julien sent a quick message to the Omnians, when he saw the interpreter stir, saying,
Renée struggled upright.
Julien tried to do that, but the interpreter’s translation of the Life Giver produced short statements about the superiority of flora over fauna, and Renée lost her patience.
“Life Giver, you do know there is a fallacy in your argument,” she declared, her hands balled on her hips.
Julien translated for the mandator and the interpreter, as, “Renée de Guirnon, partner to our leader, dismisses the Life Giver’s statements.”
Umber Interpreter was aghast at the creature’s presumption. Flummoxed, the interpreter repeated the words and inadvertently transmitted them to the Life Giver.
“Enlighten us,” the interpreter said, repeating the Life Giver’s response, after the tree shook.
“I’m human,” Renée declared, and Julien translated. “You classify me as animal. But before you, and by our ship, stand SADEs, who are neither plant nor animal. They possess great honor and loyalty to their kind, humans, and all manner of life. You stand rooted in your soil, requiring the light of your star to survive, but these SADEs draw energy from stars, planets, and dead moons, where no life is found.”
“Inconceivable,” was the Life Giver’s reply.
“And that demonstrates the fallacy of your limited knowledge. Humans and SADEs travel to the stars, building worlds where intelligent species live in peace, respecting one another. Life is not perfect, but they persevere. Can you claim as much, when the Ollassa have never left the Worlds of Light?”
“You spoke of a fallacy,” the Life Giver said through the interpreter.
“Yes, it’s this. You argue for the superiority of plants over animals. That you believe in superiority demonstrates an inferior view of intelligent life. Inherent in those who believe they are superior is a will to dominate. The orb that you chased away is just such a species that believes they are superior to all forms of life, and they destroy other living things with impunity. You would argue for which form of life deserves the loftier role in the universe. Therefore, I ask you, whose view of life has the greater truth … yours, which argues for tiers, requiring intelligent species to accept their roles … or ours, which says that there are no tiers, only those who will live in peace and those who won’t?”
The interpreter completed the lengthy translation from Julien to the Life Giver. However, unlike previous exchanges, the great tree didn’t respond immediately, and the Omnians were forced to wait.
The soft rustle of leaves had Renée glancing upward, but it was only the freshening of a breeze.
The interpreter stirred, as the Life Giver shook briefly. “Ask, creature,” the interpreter said, and Julien politely edited the message for the Omnians.
It was Scarlet Mandator, who had doubts about the translation. He had visited the Life Giver many times and was attuned to the length of quivering compared to the delivered reply. In the mandator’s mind, the Life Giver had communicated one word. He was suspicious of Umber Interpreter, who must have supplied the second. The ramifications of that thought shocked Scarlet Mandator.
“We request that you give permission to your Ollassa to share what they know of the orb,” Renée said.
After the translation reached the Life Giver, the branches shook ever so briefly.
“Given, animal,” the interpreter said.
Scarlet Mandator tilted the bloom to study Umber Interpreter. However, the gaze was lost on the Ollassa, who had entered, once again, into a torpid state.
The mandator indicated the path to Julien and Renée, with a single stalk. As the threesome proceeded down the meadow, the waiting mandators were surprised to see Scarlet Mandator striding beside the small alien creature, the bloom held high.
-6-
The Orb
When Renée stepped off the path, she abandoned decorum and ran for the traveler, and Alex hoisted her neatly through the hatch.
Scarlet Mandator stopped to share the Life Giver’s words with the other mandators. There was no argument. The Life Giver had spoken. The group of Ollassa approached Julien, who stood beside Alex.
“Please explain to your leader, Julien, the records that you seek are kept at Mesa Control. We have a rocky outcrop that manages our shuttle base,” Scarlet Mandator said.
“We’re aware of your shuttle site,” Julien replied.
“I had assumed you were but believed it polite to explain,” the mandator said, tipping a bloom. “The control center is buried beneath the mesa top. Access is by an elevator either from the top of the mesa or from deep below where our trams enter and leave. The only means of transport we might offer you is by way of our trams, and we must wait until a larger tram arrives to carry you and your people.”
