Brightness Reef

by David Brin

  "Is this he? The star-demon?"

  The spaceman smiled back, as if not even bloody murder could break his good humor. This, in turn, seemed to set the painted urs back momentarily.

  Is this the (selected, sought-after) one?" UrKachu went on. "Sky-cousin to those two-legged devils we have lived among for (long-suffering) generations?"

  As if trying to perceive a new form of life, the crippled star-alien flipped the veil of his new rewq over his eyes, then off again, comparing perspectives on the urrish marauder. Perhaps, with meaning robbed from words, he found some in the riot of emotion-laden colors.

  A new voice spoke up, as smooth and coolly magnetic as the warrior chief was fiery-fierce, answering from behind the mass of huddled pilgrims.

  "This is the one," Ulgor assured, emerging from the tight-packed, sweaty crowd, stepping toward UrKachu. Like the Stranger, she showed no trace of fear.

  "It is the (promised) prize, recovered from far-off Dolo Town. Recently confirmed by a human sage to be one of the star-demons, not Jijo born."

  While the pilgrims muttered dismay at Ulgor's betrayal, UrKachu's hooves clattered joy. "Those from space will pay (dearly) for his return. For this they may offer one thing valuable above all else--survival for some (though not all) urs on Jijo."

  Many things suddenly made sense. The motive for this raid, as well as Ulgor's spellbinding performance on the storytelling platform, designed to keep the caravan crew inside while the Urunthai moved stealthily into position.

  A slim shadow fell between the two urrish leaders. A new voice cut in, speaking Anglic.

  "Don't forget friends, we'll be demandin' a bit more'n just that."

  A human form stood in the torn entry. Moving away from the late-afternoon glare, it resolved as/op, the Dolo Village tree farmer. "There's a whole list o' things we'll be needin' if they're to get their boy back, hale and whole"--Jop glanced at the Stranger's scarred scalp-- "or as whole as the poor veg will ever be."

  Sara realized. He went outside to signal the raiders while Vigor kept us distracted.

  A strange alliance. A human purist helping urrish fanatics who named their group after the ancient Earthling-hating Urunthai Society.

  A frail alliance, if Sara overheard rightly when UrKachu muttered sideways to Ulgor--

  "Would things not prove simpler without this one?"

  Tellingly, the painted warrior winced and shut up when Ulgor gave her leg a sharp kick, out of view of the other urs.

  Sara detached Jomah and Prity, sheltering them in the crowd before taking a step forward.

  "You can't do this," she said.

  Jop's smile was grim. "And why not, little bookworm?"

  It was a victory to keep a tremor out of her voice.

  "Because he may not be one of the gene-thieves at all! I have reason to believe he may actually be an enemy of theirs."

  Ulgor looked the Stranger up and down, nodding. "A fossivility that natters not at all. What counts is--we have goods to sell and can set a frice."

  That price Sara could envision. For UrKachu, a return to glory days of wild warriors roaming free--not incompatible with Jop's goal to have all the dams, machines, and books cast down, speeding humanity along the Path of Redemption.

  Neither seemed to fear the chance of renewed war, so clear was the contempt each held for the other. At the moment, it hardly mattered.

  We are in the hands of maniacs, Sara thought. Fools who will ruin us all.

  Asx

  AND NOW RETURNS THE ROTHEN SHIP. BACK from its cryptic mission probing nearby space for some unknown god-purpose.

  Back to collect the station it left behind, and its crew of biological prospectors.

  Back to gather up a treasure-hold of purloined genes.

  Back to cover up their crime.

  Only now, that erstwhile-buried station gapes before us, a twisted ruin. One Rothen and a sky-human lie on makeshift biers, robbed of life, while the surviving visitor-invaders rage choleric, vowing retribution. If any doubted their intent before, my rings, can it be ambiguous anymore? We are bound to be punished. Only means and extent remain in doubt.

  This is what the rebel zealots desired. No more confusion. An end to hints and sweet, lying promises. Only the cleanliness of righteous opposition, however uneven our powers against those we must resist. Let us be judged, the zealots demand, by our courage and faith, not our hesitation.

  The hot, unwinking star moves across our pre-dawn sky, orbiting slowly closer, an angel-or demon-of vengeance. Do those aboard already know what has happened? Are they even now plotting the storm to come?

  The zealots argue we must seize the survivors--Ro-kenn, Ling, and Rann--as hostages for the protection of every member of the Commons. And the remaining star-man, Kunn, when his aircraft returns to its shattered base.

  Horrified, our qheuenish High Sage, Knife-Bright Insight, skewers the zealot logic.

  "You would pile one crime on another? Did they harm us, these aliens? Did they strike the first blow, with their clinics and high-paying jobs? You have slain two of them based on mere speculation of ill intent! Now you would kidnap the rest? Let us imagine that those on the ship agree to your demands, promising not to attack the Six. What is to stop them changing their minds, once the hostages go free?"

  The zealot chief replies--

  "Who says they will go free? Let them dwell among us for the rest of their natural spans, living as deterrents to alien vileness."

  "And after that? How foolish to think in terms of mere lifespans! Star-gods ponder long thoughts. They plan long plans. To slay us now or in fifty years, what difference will that make, in the grand scheme of things?"

  Some onlookers murmur agreement. To others, however, it is as if the sage has made a fine joke. They laugh in various ways and shout, "It makes a big difference to those now alive!"

  "Anyway," the urrish leader of the zealots adds-- "You are wrong to say they had not yet attacked us, or attempted (villainous) harm. To the contrary, our (justified) explosive feat stopped their (vile) scheme just in time!"

  Soot-stained and fatigued, Lester Cambel sits on a nearby boulder. Now he lifts his head from his hands, and asks--

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "I mean their (foul) intent was to begin a program of

  annihilation by igniting (fratricidal) war among the Six!"

  The gathered onlookers absorb this silently.

  Knife-Bright Insight demands--"Can you prove this?"

  "Solid (irrefutable) evidence is on the way. But first, should you not hear (supportive) testimony from your own (highly revered) fellow sage?"

  Confusion reigns, until Phwhoon-dau steps forward to speak. Our hoonish colleague has been strangely silent, taking little part in events, save to carry Vubben downhill from the ill-starred pilgrimage. Now his long, scaly spine unbends, as if glad to pass a heavy burden.

  "It is too short a time that I have had to ruminate upon these matters," he demurs.

  "You would ruminate a geologic age, dear friend," Lester Cambel jests in a gentle way. "Even your most tentative wisdom is greater than any other, except the Egg's. Please share it with us."

  A deep, rolling sound emanates from Phwhoon-dau's pendulous, vibrating sac.

  "Hr-r-rm. . . . For almost two jaduras, I have kept careful records of statements made by our guests from space, especially those spoken formally, as if written by someone else for the sky-humans to say aloud. I had several linguistic reference works from Biblos, which I sometimes consult when judging disputes between individuals of different races, speaking different tongues. Despite our local dialect devolution, these works contain useful charts regarding syntax and variable meaning. I do not claim great expertise--just a backwoods practicality--in scrutinizing the aliens' statements."

  "But you reached conclusions?"

  "Hr-r. Not conclusions. Correlations perhaps. Indicating a possible pattern of intent."

  "Intent?"

  "Intent . . . r-r-rm ...
to incite divisiveness."

  Ur-Jah comments from the wallow where she curls in exhaustion from the futile rescue effort, scratching for survivors amid the smoky ruin of the aliens' station.

  "This is not the first tine such a susficion has veen raised. We all have anecdotes to tell, of innocent-sounding renarks which sting gently at first, like a shaedo-fly, laying eggs that fester a wound that never heals. Now you say there is a consistent fattern? That this was vart of a deliverate flan? Why did you not sfeak of this vefore?"

  Phwhoon-dau sighs. "A good scholar does not publish provisional data. Also, the aliens seemed unaware that we have retained this skill, charting the meaning in phrases. Or rather, that we recovered it with the Great Printing. I saw no reason to leak the fact too soon."

  He shrugs like a traeki, with a left-right twist. "I finally became convinced when Ro-kenn spoke to us all, during the pilgrimage. Surely it occurred to some of you that his aim was to strike sparks of dissension •with his words?"

  "It sure did!" Lester Cambel growls. Assent echoes loudly from many humans present, as if to convince others of their sincerity. Hoofed urs stamp uncertainly, their hot tempers clearly frayed from the long enervating night. Only hard-won habits of the recent Peace have kept things calm till now.

  Phwhoon-dau continues. "The formal dialect of Galactic Six used by the Rothen star-god allows little room for ambiguity. Ro-kenn's disconcerting words can have but two possible interpretations. Either he is tactless to a degree beyond all stupidity, or else the objective was to incite a campaign of genocide against human-sept."

  "Against their own veloved clients?" Ur-Jah asks, incredulous.

  "That is irrelevant. Even if the Rothen claim of patronhood is true, why should they care about one small, isolated band of feral humans, long cut off from the race as a whole, genetically inbred and several hundred years out of date, perchance even defective, psychologically backward, polluted by--"

  "You've made your point," Lester interrupts testily. "But in that case, why pick on us?"

  Phwhoon-dau turns to our human peer, umbling apologetically. "Because among the Six, man-sept is greatest in its technic lore, in its imperfect-but-useful recollection of Galactic ways, and in its well-remembered skill at the art of war."

  There rises a muttering from some qheuenish and urrish listeners, yet no actual disagreement. Not from anyone who knows the tale of Battle Canyon, or Townsend's Ambush, or the siege of Tarek Town.

  "All of these factors make your kind the obvious first target. Moreover, there is another reason. The effect your race has had upon the rest of us. As newcomers, when your rank was lowest, still you opened your sole treasure, your library, to all. After your great victories, when your status towered highest, you refused many privileges of dominance, instead bowing to the sages, accepting limits called for by the Great Peace.

  "It is this record of restraint that makes you dangerous to Rothen plans. For what good is it to incite war, if your intended victims choose not to fight?"

  Yes, my rings, we observe/note the crowd's reaction. A hush as Phwhoon-dau evokes images of reconciliation, gently dousing still-simmering sparks of resentment. It is a masterwork of mediation.

  "Once men-sept is gone," Phwhoon-dau goes on, "it would prove simple to goad disaffection among the rest, pretending secret friendships, offering assistance. Handing over tailored plagues, for instance, letting each race come up with clever ways to deliver death bugs to their foes. Within less than a generation the job would be complete. The sparse record left in Jijo's soil would show only that six sooner races once sank low here, never reaching redemption."

  Uneasy silence, greets this scenario painted by our hoonish sage.

  "Of course, none of this is proven," Phwhoon-dau concludes, rounding to stab a finger toward the zealot chieftain. "Nor does it justify the horrors we have seen this night, perpetrated rashly, without consulting the sages or the Commons."

  The urrish rebel lifts her head high, in order to peer over the crowd toward the east. With a glad snort, she turns back to Phwhoon-dau.

  "Now arrives your proof!" She whistles jubilantly, helping shove an opening through the ranks of spectators, as dawn reveals dusty figures galloping down the trail from the Holy Glade.

  "Here, also, is your justification."

  Lark

  HARULLEN CALLED DOWN FROM THE CRATER'S edge. "You two had better come up now!" the heretic shouted. "Someone's going to catch you and it'll mean trouble. Besides-I think something's happening!"

  Physical and emotional exhaustion had taken their toll of the gray aristocrat's polished accent. He sounded frantic, as if serving as reluctant lookout were as risky as poking through perilous wreckage.

  "What's happening?" Uthen shouted back. Though a cousin to the qheuen above, Lark's fellow biologist looked like a different species, with his scarred carapace streaked by gummy ash. "Are they sending a robot this way?"

  Harullen's leg-vents fluted overtones of worry. "No, the machines still hover protectively over Ro-kenn, and the two servant-humans, and the cadavers, all surrounded by a crowd of local sycophants. I refer to a commotion over where the sages have been holding court. More zealots have arrived, it seems. There is ferment. I'm certain we are missing important news!"

  Harullen may be right, Lark thought. Yet he was reluctant to leave. Despite the stench, heat, and jagged stubs of metal--all made more dangerous by his own fatigue--dawn was making it easier to prowl the ruins of the buried station in search of anything to help make sense of it all.

  How many times had he seen Ling vanish down a ramp into these secret precincts, wondering what lay inside? Now it was a blackened hell.

  I aided the zealots, he recalled. I gave them copies of my reports. I knew they were going to do something.

  But I never figured anything as brutal as this.

  Neither had the star-gods, who clearly never guessed that angry primitives might still know how to make things go boom.

  They never asked the right questions.

  "I tell you something's happening!" Harullen shouted again, making no effort at originality. "The sages are in motion--toward the aliens!"

  Lark glanced over at Uthen and sighed. "I guess he means it, this time."

  His friend had been silent for some time, standing over the same spot. When Uthen replied, it was in a low voice that barely disturbed the ash beneath his feet.

  "Lark, would you please come look at this?"

  Lark knew that tone from past field trips, exploring for evidence of Jijo's complex living past. He picked his way toward the qheuen, slipping gingerly between torn metal braces and seared, buckled plating, lifting his feet to kick up as little of the nasty dust-ash as possible.

  "What is it? Did you find something?"

  "I-am not sure." Uthen lapsed into GalSix. "It seems I have seen this before. This symbol. This representation. Perhaps you can confirm?"

  Lark bent alongside his friend, peering into a recess where the rising sun had yet to shine. There he saw a jumble of rectangular lozenges, each thick as his hand and twice as long. Uthen had scraped aside some half-melted machinery in order to reveal the pile. One slab lay near enough to make out a symbol, etched across its dark brown surface.

  A double spiral with a bar through it. Now where have I seen--

  Lark's hand reached where Uthen could not, stroked the rectangle, then picked it up. It felt incredibly light, though now it dawned on him that it could be the weightiest thing he had ever touched.

  "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked, turning it in the light.

  Uthen plucked the slab from his hand, holding it in a trembling claw.

  "How can I not be?" the qheuenish scholar replied. "Even half-animal, reverted primitives should recognize the glyph of the Great Galactic Library."

  The "evidence" lay strewn across the trampled grass. Ro-kenn's piercing eyes surveyed a tangle of wires and glossy spheroids that the zealots had recently brought down from the Valley of the E
gg. Clogs of dirt still clung to a necklace of strange objects, from where it had till lately been buried, next to the holiest site on Jijo.

  Two clusters of onlookers formed semicircles, one backing the assembled sages, the other reverently standing behind the star-god. Many in the second group had been patients at the forayers' clinic or believed their claims of righteousness above all law. Among the humans on that side, faith in their rediscovered patrons seemed to glow, depicted by Lark's new rewq as intense red fire, surrounding their faces.

  Gone was the Rothen's prior mien of furious wrath. Ro-kenn's humanoid features once more conveyed charismatic poise, even serene indulgence. He spent another dura looking over the jumble of parts, then spoke in prim Galactic Seven.

  "I see nothing here of interest. Why do you show me these things?"

  Lark expected the young urrish radical--leader of the rebel zealots--to answer, as both plaintiff and defendant, justifying her group's violence by diverting blame to the aliens. But the young dissenter kept well back, huddling with a crowd of humans and urs, consulting texts.

  The hoonish sage, Phwhoon-dau, stepped forward to confront the Rothen emissary.

  "We seek to ascertain whether these tools of high acumen are yours. Tools which some of our children found, within the last turning of Jijo's axis. Tools which someone buried surreptitiously, in close contact with our beloved Egg."

  Lark watched Ling's reaction. Since he already knew her pretty well, no rewq was needed to translate her shock of recognition. Nor the embarrassment that followed as she worked things out in her own head. That's all I needed to know, Lark thought.

  Ro-kenn seemed nonchalant. "I can only guess that some among you natives placed it there--as your foolish rebels placed explosives under our station."

  Now Ling's reaction was to blink in surprise. She didn't expect to hear him lie. At least not so baldly, with no time to prepare a smooth performance.

  Glancing to one side, the star-woman noticed Lark's scrutiny and quickly looked away. Lark wasn't proud of the satisfaction he felt, over the reversal of their moral positions. Now it was her turn to feel ashamed.