Nemesis

36. Meeting

Eugenia Insigna said in a tone that seemed to place her halfway between puzzlement and discontent, ‘Marlene was singing this morning. Some song about: “Home, home in the stars, where the worlds are all swinging and free.” ’

‘I know the song,’ said Siever Genarr, nodding. ‘I'd sing it for you, but I can't carry a tune.’

They had just finished lunch. They had lunch together every day now, something Genarr looked forward to with quiet satisfaction, even though the subject of conversation was invariably Marlene and although Genarr felt that Insigna might be turning to him only out of desperation, since to whom else could she talk freely on the subject?

He didn't care. Whatever the excuse-

‘I never heard her sing before,’ said Insigna. ‘I always thought she couldn't. Actually, she has a pleasant contralto.’

‘It must be a sign that she's happy now - or excited - or contented - or something good, Eugenia. My own feeling is that she's found her place in the Universe, found her unique reason for living. It's not given to all of us to find that. Most of us, Eugenia, drag onward, searching for life's personal meaning, not finding it, and ending with anything from roaring desperation to quiet resignation. I'm the quietly resigned type myself.’

Insigna managed to smile. ‘I suspect you don't think that of me.’

‘You're not roaringly desperate, Eugenia, but you do tend to continue to fight lost battles.’

Her eyes dropped. ‘Do you mean Crile?’

Genarr said, ‘If you think I do, then I do. But actually, I was thinking of Marlene. She's been out a dozen times. She loves it. It makes her happy, and yet you sit here fighting off terror. What is it, Eugenia, that bothers you about it?’

Insigna ruminated, pushing her fork around on her plate. Then she said, ‘It's the sense of loss. The unfairness of it. Crile made a choice and I lost him. Marlene has made a choice and I'm losing her - if not to the Plague, then to Erythro.’

‘I know.’ He reached for her hand, and she placed it, rather absently, in his.

She said, ‘Marlene is more and more eager to be out there in that absolute wilderness and less and less interested in being with us. Eventually, she will find a way of living out there and return at lengthening intervals - then be gone.’

‘You're probably right, but all of life is a symphony of successive losses. You lose your youth, your parents, your loves, your friends, your comforts, your health, and finally your life. To deny loss is to lose it all anyway and to lose, in addition, your self-possession and your peace of mind.’

‘She was never a happy child, Siever.’

‘Do you blame yourself for that?’

‘I might have been more understanding.’

‘It's never too late to start. Marlene wanted a whole world and she has it. She wanted to convert what has always been a burdensome ability of hers into a method for communicating directly with another mind, and she has it. Would you force her to give that up? Would you avoid your own loss of her more or less continuous presence by inflicting on her a greater loss than you or I can conceive - the true use of her unusual brain?’

Insigna actually laughed a little, though her eyes were swimming with tears. ‘You could talk a rabbit out of its hole, Siever.’

‘Could I? My speech was never as effective as Crile's silences.’

Insigna said, ‘There were other influences.’ She frowned. ‘It doesn't matter. You're here now, Siever, and you're a great comfort to me.’

Genarr said ruefully, ‘It's the surest sign that I have reached my present age, that I am actually comforted at being a comfort to you. The fires burn low when we ask not for this or that, but for comfort.’

‘There's nothing wrong with that, surely.’

‘Nothing wrong in the world. I suspect there are many couples who have gone through the wilds of passion and the rites of ecstasy without ever finding comfort in each other and, in the end, they might have been willing to exchange it all for comfort. I don't know. The quiet victories are so quiet. Essential, but overlooked.’

‘Like you, my poor Siever?’

‘Now, Eugenia, I've spent all my life trying to avoid the trap of self-pity and you mustn't tempt me into it just to watch me writhe.’

‘Oh, Siever, I don't want to watch you writhe.’

‘There, I just wanted to hear you say that. See how clever I am. But, you know, if you want a substitute for Marlene's presence, I am willing to hang around when you need comfort. Even a whole world to myself wouldn't tempt me from your side - if you didn't want me to go.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘I don't deserve you, Siever.’

‘Don't use that as an excuse not to have me, Eugenia. I'm willing to waste myself on you, and you shouldn't stop me from making a supreme sacrifice.’

‘Have you found no-one worthier?’

‘I haven't looked. Nor have I sensed among the women of Rotor any great demand for me. Besides, what would I do with a worthier object? How dull it would be to offer myself as a duly deserved gift. How much more romantic to be an undeserved gift, to be bounty from the skies.’

‘To be godlike in your condescension to the unworthy.’

Genarr nodded vigorously. ‘I like that. Yes. Yes. That's exactly the picture that appeals to me.’

Insigna laughed again, and more freely. ‘You're crazy, too. You know, I never noticed that somehow.’

‘I have hidden depths. As you get to know me still better - taking your time, of course-’

He was interrupted by the sharp buzz of the message-receiver.

He frowned. ‘There you are, Eugenia. I get you to the point - I don't even remember how I did it - where you are ready to melt into my arms, and we're interrupted. Uh oh!’ His voice suddenly changed completely. ‘It's from Saltade Leverett.’

‘Who's he?’

‘You don't know him. Hardly anyone does. He's the nearest thing to a hermit I've ever met. He works in the asteroid belt because he likes it there, I haven't seen the old bum in years. I don't know why I say “old”, though, because he's my age.

‘It's sealed, too. Sealed to my thumbprints, I see. That makes it secret enough for me to ask you to leave before I open it.’

Insigna rose at once, but Genarr motioned her down. ‘Don't be silly, Eugenia. Secrecy is just the disease of officialdom. I pay no attention to it.’

He pressed his thumb down on the sheet, then the other thumb in its appropriate place, and letters began to appear. Genarr said, ‘I often thought that if a person lacked thumbs-’ And then he fell silent.

Still silent, he passed her the message.

‘Am I allowed to read this?’

Genarr shook his head, ‘Of course not, but who cares? Read it.’

She did so, almost at a glance, then looked up. ‘An alien ship? About to land here?’

Genarr nodded. ‘At least that's what it says.’

Insigna said wildly, ‘But what about Marlene? She's out there.’

‘Erythro will protect her.’

‘How do you know? This may be a ship of aliens. Real aliens. Nonhumans. The thing on Erythro may have no power over them.’

‘We're aliens to Erythro, yet it can easily control us.’

‘I must go out there.’

‘What good-’

‘I must be with her, Come with me. Help me. We'll bring her back into the Dome.’

‘If these are all-powerful and malevolent invaders, we won't be safe inside-’

‘Oh, Siever, is this a time for logic? Please. I must be with my daughter!’

They had taken photographs and now they were studying them. Tessa Wendel shook her head. ‘Unbelievable. The whole world is absolutely desolate. Except this.’

‘Intelligence everywhere,’ said Merry Blankowitz, her brow furrowed. ‘No question about it now when we've been so close. Desolate or not, intelligence is there.’

‘But most intensely at that dome? Right?’

‘Most intensely, Captain. Most easily noticeable. And most familiar. Outside the dome, there are slight differences, and I'm not sure what it signifies.’

Wu said, ‘We've never tested any high intelligence other than human, so, of course-’

Wendel turned to him. ‘Is it your opinion the intelligence outside the dome isn't human?’

‘Since we agree that human beings couldn't have burrowed everywhere underground in thirteen years, what other conclusion is it possible to come to?’

‘And the dome? Is that human?’ Wu said, ‘That's a different thing entirely, and doesn't depend on Blankowitz's plexons. There are astronomical instruments to be seen. The dome - or part of it - is an astronomical observatory.’

‘Couldn't alien intelligences be astronomers as well?’ asked Jarlow, a bit sardonically.

‘Of course,’ said Wu, ‘but with instruments of their own. When I see what looks to me like an infrared computerized scanner of exactly the type I would see on Earth- Well, let's put it this way. Forget the nature of the intelligence. I see instruments that were either manufactured in the Solar System, or built from designs prepared in the Solar System. There is no question about that. I cannot conceive that alien intelligences, without contact with human beings, could have built such instruments.’

‘Very well,’ said Wendel. ‘I agree with you, Wu. Whatever there is on this world, there are, or were, human beings under that dome.’

Crile Fisher said sharply, ‘Don't just say “human beings”, Captain. There are Rotorians. There can be no other human beings on this world, excluding ourselves.’

Wu said, ‘And that's unanswerable, too.’

Blankowitz said, ‘It's such a small dome. Rotor must have had tens of thousands of people on it.’

‘Sixty thousand,’ murmured Fisher. ‘They can't all fit into that dome.’

‘For one thing,’ said Fisher, ‘there may be other domes. We could sweep around the world a thousand times and yet miss objects of all sorts.’

‘There's only this one place where there seemed to be a change in the plexon type. If there were other domes like that, I would have spotted a few more of them, I'm sure,’ Blankowitz said.

‘Or,’ said Fisher, ‘another possibility is that what we see is a tiny bit of an entire structure which, for all we know, may spread out for miles below the surface.’

Wu said, ‘The Rotorians came in a Settlement. The Settlement may still exist. There may be many. This dome may be a mere outpost.’

‘We haven't seen a Settlement,’ said Jarlow.

‘We haven't looked,’ said Wu. ‘We've concentrated entirely on this world.’

‘I haven't spotted intelligence anywhere but on this world,’ said Blankowitz.

‘You haven't looked, either,’ said Wu. ‘We'd really have to scan the heavens to spot a Settlement or two, but once you detected plexons from this world, you looked nowhere else.’

‘I will if you think it's necessary.’

Wendel held up her hand. ‘If there are Settlements, why haven't they spotted us? We've made no attempt to shield our energy emissions. After all, we were pretty confident that this star system was empty.’

Wu said, ‘They may have had the same overconfidence, Captain. They haven't been looking for us, either, and so we've slipped past them. Or, if they have detected us, they may be uncertain as to who - or what - we are, and they're hesitating as to what action to take, just as we are. What I say, though, is that we do know one spot on the surface of this large satellite where there must be human beings, and I think we must go down and make contact with them.’

‘Do you think it would be safe to do so?’ asked Blankowitz.

‘My guess,’ said Wu firmly, ‘is that it would be. They can't shoot us out of hand. After all, they'd want to know more about us before they do so. Besides, if all we dare do is stay here in uncertainty, then we will accomplish absolutely nothing and we ought to go back home and tell them what we have discovered. Earth will send out a whole fleet of superluminal vessels, but they won't be thankful to us if we come back with only minimal information. We'll go down in history as the expedition that flinched.’ He smiled blandly. ‘You see, Captain, I've learned a few lessons from Fisher.’

Wendel said, ‘Then you think we should now go down and make contact.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Wu.

‘And you, Blankowitz?’

‘I'm curious. Not about the dome, but about the possible alien life. I'd want to find out about them, too.’

‘Jarlow?’

‘I wish we had adequate weapons, or hypercommunication. If we're wiped out, Earth will have found out nothing - absolutely nothing - as the result of our trip. Then it might be that someone else will come here as unprepared as we and just as unsure. Still, if we survive the contact, we'll be going back with important knowledge. I suppose we should chance it.’

Fisher said quietly, ‘Are you going to ask me for my opinion, Captain?’

‘I assume that you wish to land to see the Rotorians.’

‘Exactly, so may I suggest- Let's land as quietly as we can, and as unobtrusively, and I'll leave the ship to reconnoiter. If anything goes wrong, then take off and return to Earth, leaving me behind. I am dispensable, but the ship must return.’

Wendel said at once, her face seeming to tighten, ‘Why you?’

Fisher said, ‘Because I know the Rotorians, at least, and because I - wish to go.’

‘I, too,’ said Wu. ‘I must be with you.’

‘Why risk two?’ asked Fisher.

‘Because two are safer than one. Because, in case of trouble, one might escape while the other holds off the threat. And most of all, because, as you say, you know the Rotorians. Your judgement may be warped.’

Wendel said, ‘We will land, then. Fisher and Wu will leave the ship. If, at any time, Fisher and Wu disagree on procedure, Wu will be the decision-maker.’

‘Why?’ demanded Fisher indignantly.

‘Wu has said you know the Rotorians and your decisions may be warped,’ said Wendel, looking at Fisher firmly, ‘and I agree with him.’

Marlene was happy. She felt as if she were wrapped in gentle arms, protected, shielded. She could see the reddish light of Nemesis and feel the wind against her cheeks. She could watch the clouds obscure part or all of Nemesis' large globe, now and then, so that the light would dim and turn grayish.

But she could see as easily in the gray as in the red, and she could see in shades and tints that made fascinating patterns. And though the wind grew cooler when Nemesis' light was hidden, it never chilled her. It was as though Erythro were somehow enhancing her sight, somehow warming the air around her body when necessary, somehow caring for her in every way.

And she could talk to Erythro. She had made up her mind to think of the cells that made up the life on Erythro as Erythro. As the planet. Why not? What else? Individually, the cells were only cells, as primitive - much more primitive, in fact - than the individual cells of her own body. It was only all of the prokaryote cells together that made up an organism that encircled the planet in a billion trillion tiny interconnected pieces, that so filled and permeated and grasped the planet, that it might as well be thought of as the planet.

How odd, thought Marlene. This giant life-form must never, before the coming of Rotor, have known that anything live existed other than itself.

Her questions and sensations did not have to exist entirely in her mind. Erythro would rise before her sometimes, like thin gray smoke, consolidating into a wraithlike human figure wavering at the edges. There was always, about it, a flowing feeling. She could not actually see that, but she sensed, beyond doubt, that millions of invisible cells were leaving each second and immediately being replaced by others. No one prokaryote cell could exist for long out of its water film, so that each was only evanescently part of the figure, but the figure itself was as permanent as it wished to be, and never lost its identity.

Erythro did not take Aurinel's form again. It had gathered, without being told, that that was disturbing. Its appearance was neutral now, changing slightly with the vagaries of Marlene's own thought. Erythro could follow the delicate changes of her mind pattern far better, she decided, than she herself could, and the figure adjusted to that, looking more like some figure in her mind's eye at one moment, and then as she tried to focus on it and identify it, it would shift gently into something else. Occasionally, she could catch glimpses: the curve of her mother's cheek, Uncle Siever's strong nose, bits of the girls and boys she had met at school.

It was an interactive symphony. It was not so much a conversation between them as a mental ballet she could not describe, something that was infinitely soothing, infinite in variety - partly changing appearance - partly changing voice - partly changing thought.

It was a conversation in so many dimensions that the possibility of going back to communication that consisted only of speech left her feeling flat, lifeless. Her gift of sensing by body language flowered into something she had never imagined earlier. Thoughts could be exchanged far more swiftly - and deeply - than by the coarse crudeness of speech.

Erythro explained - filled her, rather - with the shock of encountering other minds. Minds. Plural. One more might have been grasped easily. Another world. Another mind. But to encounter many minds, crowding on each other, each different, overlapping in small space. Unthinkable.

The thoughts that permeated Marlene's mind as Erythro expressed itself could be expressed only distantly and unsatisfactorily in words. Behind those words, overflowing and drowning them, were the emotions, the feelings, the neuronic vibrations that shattered Erythro into a rearrangement of concepts.

It had experimented with the minds - felt them. Not felt as human beings would mean ‘felt’, but something else entirely that could be approached very distantly by that human word and concept. And some of the minds crumpled, decayed, became unpleasant. Erythro ceased to feel minds at random, but sought out minds that would withstand the contact.

‘And you found me?’ said Marlene.

‘I found you.’

‘But why? Why did you look for me?’ she asked eagerly. The figure wavered and turned smokier. ‘Just to find you.’

It was no answer. ‘Why do you want me to be with you?’

The figure started to fade and the thought was a fugitive one. ‘Just to be with me.’

And it was gone.

Only its image was gone. Marlene felt its protection still, its warm enclosure. But why had it disappeared? Had she displeased it with her questions?

She heard a sound.

On an empty world it is possible to catalogue the sounds briefly, for there aren't many. There is the noise of flowing water, and the more delicate moan of blowing air. There are the predictable noises you make yourself, whether the falling of a footstep, the rustle of clothing, or the whistle of breath.

Marlene heard something that was none of these, and turned in the direction of it. Over the rocky outcropping on her left, there appeared the head of a man.

Her first thought, of course, was that it was someone from the Dome who had come to get her, and she felt a surge of anger. Why would they still be searching for her? She would refuse to wear a wave-emitter from now on, and they would then have no way of locating her except by blind search.

But she did not recognize the face and surely she had met everyone in the Dome by now. She might not know the individual names or anything about them, but she would know, when she saw anyone from the Dome, that she had seen that face before.

She had not seen this new face anywhere in the Dome. Those eyes were staring at her. The mouth was a little open, as if the person were panting. And then whoever it was was topping the rise and running to her.

She faced him. The protection she felt around her was strong. She was not afraid.

He stopped ten feet away, staring, leaning forward as though he had reached a barrier he could not penetrate, one that deprived him of the ability to advance farther. Finally, he said in a strangled voice, ‘Roseanne!’

Marlene stared at him, observing carefully. His micro-movements were eager and radiated a sense of ownership: possession, closeness, mine, mine, mine.

She took a step backward. How was that possible?

Why should he-

A dim memory of a holoimage she had once seen when she was a little girl-

And finally, she could deny it no more. However impossible it sounded, however unimaginable-

She huddled within the protective blanket and said,

‘Father?’

He rushed at her as though he wanted to seize her in his arms and she stepped away again. He paused, swaying, then put one hand to his forehead as though fighting dizziness.

He said, ‘Marlene. I meant to say Marlene.’

He pronounced it incorrectly, Marlene noticed. Two syllables. But that was right for him. How would he know?

A second man came up and stood next to him. He had straight black hair, a wide face, narrow eyes, a sallow complexion. Marlene had never seen a man who quite looked like him. She gaped a little and had to make an effort to close her mouth.

The second man said to the first in a soft incredulous voice. ‘Is this your daughter, Fisher?’

Marlene's eyes widened. Fisher! It was her father.

Her father didn't look at the other man. Only at her. ‘Yes.’

The other said, even more softly, ‘First deal of the cards, Fisher? You come here and the first person you meet is your daughter?’

Fisher seemed to make an effort to turn his eyes from his daughter, but he failed. ‘I think that's it, Wu. Marlene, your last name is Fisher, isn't it? Your mother is Eugenia Insigna. Am I right? My name is Crile Fisher and I'm your father.’

He held out his arms to her.

Marlene was well aware that the look of yearning on her father's face was completely real, but she stepped back yet again and said coldly, ‘How is it you're here?’

‘I came from Earth to find you. To find you. After all these years.’

‘Why did you want to find me? You left me when I was a baby.’

‘I had to then, but it was always with the intention of coming back for you.’

And another voice - harsh, steely - broke in, and said, ‘So you came back for Marlene? For nothing else?’

Eugenia Insigna was standing there, face pale, lips almost colorless, hands trembling. Behind her was Siever Genarr, looking astonished, but remaining in the background. Neither one was wearing protective clothing.

Insigna said, voice hurried, semihysterical, ‘I thought there would be people from some Settlement, people from the Solar System. I thought there might be some alien life-form. I went through every possibility I could think of, and in all the thoughts that crowded in on me after I was told a strange ship was landing, I never once thought it might be Crile Fisher coming back. And for Marlene!’

‘I came with others on an important mission. This is Chao-Li Wu, a shipmate. And - and-’

‘And we meet. Did it ever occur to you that you might encounter me? Or were your thoughts entirely on Marlene? What was your important mission? To find Marlene?’

‘No. That was not the mission. Just my desire.’

‘And I?’

Fisher's eyes fell. ‘I came for Marlene.’

‘You came for her? To take her away?’

‘I thought-’ began Fisher, and his words stuck.

Wu watched him wonderingly. Genarr frowned in thoughtful anger.

Insigna whirled toward her daughter. ‘Marlene, would you go anywhere with this man?’

‘I'm not going anywhere with anyone, Mother,’ said Marlene quietly.

Insigna said, ‘There's your answer, Crile. You can't leave me with my child for a year, and come back fifteen years later with a “By the way, I'll take her over now.” And not a thought of me. She's your daughter biologically, but nothing more. She's mine by the right of fifteen years of loving and caring.’

Marlene said, ‘There is no point in quarreling over me, Mother.’

Chao-Li Wu stepped forward. ‘Pardon me. I have been introduced, but no-one has been introduced to me. You are, madam?’

‘Eugenia Insigna Fisher.’ She pointed at Fisher. ‘His wife - once.’

‘And this is your daughter, madam?’

‘Yes. This is Marlene Fisher.’

Wu bowed slightly. ‘And this other gentleman?’

Genarr said, ‘I'm Siever Genarr, Commander of the Dome that you see behind me on the horizon.’

‘Ah good. Commander, I would like to speak to you. I regret that there seems to be a family argument here, but it has nothing to do with our mission.’

‘And just what is your mission?’ growled another new voice. Coming toward them was a white-haired figure, his mouth turned down, with something that looked very much like a weapon in his hand.

‘Hello, Siever,’ he said as he passed Genarr.

Genarr looked startled. ‘Saltade. Why are you here?’

‘I am representing Commissioner Janus Pitt of Rotor. I repeat my question to you, sir. What is your mission? And what is your name?’

‘My name, at least,’ said Wu, ‘is easily given. It is Dr Chao-Li Wu. And you, sir?’

‘Saltade Levsrett.’

‘Greetings. We come in peace,’ said Wu, eyeing the weapon.

‘I hope so,’ said Leverett grimly. ‘I have six ships with me and they've got your ship in their sights.’

‘Indeed?’ said Wu. ‘This small dome? With a fleet?’

‘This small dome is only a tiny outpost,’ said Leverett. ‘I have the fleet. Do not count on a bluff.’

‘I will take your word for it,’ said Wu. ‘But our one small ship comes from Earth. It got here because it has the capacity for superluminal flight. Do you know what I mean? Faster-than-light travel.’

‘I know what you mean.’

Genarr said suddenly, ‘Is Dr Wu telling the truth, Marlene?’

‘Yes, he is, Uncle Siever,’ said Marlene.

‘Interesting,’ murmured Genarr.

Wu said calmly, ‘I am delighted to have my word confirmed by this young lady. Am I to suppose she is Rotor's expert on superluminal flight?’

‘You need not suppose anything,’ said Leverett impatiently. ‘Why are you here? You have not been invited.’

‘No, we haven't. We didn't know that anyone was here to object to us. But I urge you not to give in, unnecessarily, to any bad temper. At any false move from you, our ship will just disappear into hyperspace.’

Marlene said quickly, ‘He's not certain about that.’

Wu frowned. ‘I'm certain enough. And even if you manage to destroy the ship, our home base on Earth knows where we are and is getting constant reports. If anything happens to us, the next expedition will be one of fifty superluminal battle cruisers. Don't risk it, sir.’

Marlene said, ‘That is not so.’

Genarr said, ‘What is not so, Marlene?’

‘When he said that the home base on Earth knows where he is, that was not so, and he knew that was not so.’

Genarr said, ‘That's good enough for me. Saltade, these people do not have hypercommunication.’

Wu's expression did not change. ‘Are you relying on the speculation of a teenage girl?’

‘It's not speculation. It's a certainty. Saltade, I'll explain later. Take my word for it.’

Marlene said suddenly, ‘Ask my father. He'll tell you.’ She didn't quite understand how her father would know about her gift - she had surely not had it, or at least had not displayed it, when she was one year old, but his understanding was clear. It shouted itself at her, for all that others could not see it.

Fisher said, ‘It's no use, Wu. Marlene can see right through us.’

For the first time, Wu's coolness seemed to desert him. He frowned, and said tartly, ‘How would you know anything at all about this girl, even if she's your daughter? You haven't seen her since she was an infant.’

‘I had a younger sister once,’ said Fisher in a low voice.

Genarr said with sudden enlightenment, ‘It runs in the family, then. Interesting. Well, Dr Wu, you see we have a tool here that allows no bluffing. Let us, then, be open with each other. Why have you come to this world?’

‘To save the Solar System. Ask the young lady - since she is your absolute authority - if I am telling the truth this time.’

Marlene said, ‘Of course you're telling the truth, Dr Wu. We know about the danger. My mother discovered it.’

Wu said, ‘And we discovered it, too, little lady, without any help from your mother.’

Saltade Leverett looked from one to another and said, ‘May I ask what you're all talking about?’

Genarr said, ‘Believe me, Saltade, Janus Pitt knows all about it. I'm sorry he hasn't told you, but if you get in touch with him now, he will. Tell him we are dealing with people who know how to travel faster than light and that we might be able to make a deal.’

The four of them sat in Siever Genarr's private quarters in the Dome, and Genarr tried to keep his sense of history from overwhelming him. This was the first example in human history of an interstellar negotiation. If each of the four were famous for nothing else, their names would ring down the corridors of Galactic history for this alone.

Two and two.

There, on the side of the Solar System (Earth, really, and who would have thought that decadent Earth would be representing the Solar System, that they should have developed superluminal flight rather than one of the up-to-date, live-wire Settlements) were Chao-Li Wu and Crile Fisher.

Wu was talkative and insinuating; a mathematician, but one who was clearly possessed of practical acumen. Fisher, on the other hand (and Genarr still could not accustom himself to the notion that he was actually seeing him again), sat there quietly, lost in thought and contributing little.

On his own side was Saltade Leverett, suspicious and uneasy at being in such close contact with three at once, but firm - lacking the wordy flow of Wu, yet having no trouble in making himself clear.

As for Genarr, he was as quiet as Fisher, but he was waiting for them to settle the matter - since he knew something the other three did not.

Night had fallen by now, and hours had passed. First lunch, then dinner had been served. There had been breaks to snap the tension and during one of them, Genarr had gone out to see Eugenia Insigna and Marlene.

‘It's not going badly,’ said Genarr. ‘Both sides have a great deal to gain.’

‘What about Crile?’ asked Insigna nervously. ‘Has he brought up the matter of Marlene?’

‘Honestly, Eugenia, that is not the subject of discussion and he has not brought her up. I do think he is very unhappy about it.’

‘He should be,’ said Insigna bitterly.

Genarr hesitated. ‘What do you think, Marlene?’

Marlene looked at him with her dark unfathomable eyes. ‘I've gotten beyond that, Uncle Siever.’

‘A little hard-hearted,’ muttered Genarr. But Insigna snapped at him. ‘Why shouldn't she be? Deserted in infancy.’

‘I'm not hard-hearted,’ said Marlene thoughtfully. ‘If I can arrange to have his mind eased, I will. But I don't belong with him, you see. Or with you, either, Mother. I'm sorry, but I belong with Erythro. Uncle Siever, you will tell me what's decided, won't you?’

‘I promised I would.’

‘It's important.’

‘I know.’

‘I should be there to represent Erythro.’

‘I imagine that Erythro is there, but you will be part of it before it's over. Even if I didn't assure you of that, Marlene, which I do, I think that Erythro would see to it.’

And then he returned to continue the discussion.

Chao-Li Wu was leaning back in his seat now, his astute face showing no signs of weariness.

‘Let me summarize,’ he said. ‘In the absence of superluminal flight, this Neighbor Star - I shall call it Nemesis, as you do - is the nearest star to the Solar System, so that any ship making its way to the stars would be bound to stop here first. Once all humanity has true superluminal flight, however, distance is no longer a factor and human beings will not search out the nearest star, but the most comfortable star. The search will be on for Sun-like stars that happen to be circled by at least one Earth-like planet. Nemesis will be put to one side.

‘Rotor, which has, till now, apparently made a fetish of secrecy, to keep others away and to reserve this stellar system for itself, need do so no more. Not only will this system be unwanted by other Settlements, but Rotor itself may no longer want it. It may choose, if it so desires, to search out Sun-like stars for itself. There are billions of such stars in the spiral arms of the Galaxy.

‘In order for Rotor to have superluminal flight, it might occur to you that you could point a weapon at me and demand all I know. I am a mathematician, a highly theoretical one, and my information is limited. Even if you were to capture our ship itself, you would learn very little from it. What you must do is to send a deputation of scientists and engineers to Earth, where we could train you adequately.

‘In return, we ask for this world, which you call Erythro. It is my understanding that you do not occupy it in any way except for the presence of this Dome, which is used for astronomical and other kinds of research. You are living in Settlements.

‘Whereas the Settlements of the Solar System can wander off in search of Sun-like planets, the people of Earth cannot. There are eight billion of us who must be evacuated in a few thousand years and, as Nemesis approaches more and more closely to the Solar System, Erythro will more and more easily serve as a way station on which to place Earthpeople until such time as we can find Earth-like worlds to transfer them to.

‘We will return to Earth with a Rotorian of your choosing as proof that we were really here. More ships will be built and they will return - you can be sure we will return, for we must have Erythro. We will then take back your scientists, who will learn the technique of superluminal flight, a technique we will also grant to the other Settlements. Does all this adequately summarize what we have decided?’

Leverett said, ‘It's not all quite that easy. Erythro will have to be terraformed if it is to support any sizable number of Earthpeople.’

‘Yes, I have left out details,’ said Wu. ‘These will have to be dealt with, too, but not by us.’

‘True, Commissioner Pitt and the Council will have to decide on Rotor's behalf.’

‘And the Global Congress on Earth's behalf, but with so much at stake, I don't foresee failure.’

‘There will have to be safeguards. How far can we trust Earth?’

‘About as far as Earth can trust Rotor, I imagine. It may take a year to work out safeguards. Or five years. Or ten years. It will take years, in any case, to build an adequate supply of ships with which to begin, but we have a program that should last several thousand years, one that will end with the necessary abandonment of Earth and the beginning of the colonization of the Galaxy.’

‘Assuming there are no competing intelligences to be taken into account,’ growled Leverett.

‘An assumption we can make until we are forced to abandon it. That is for the future. Will you consult your Commissioner now? Will you choose your Rotorian to accompany us and allow us to leave for Earth as soon as possible?’

Now Fisher leaned forward. ‘May I suggest that my daughter, Marlene, be the one-’

But Genarr did not allow the sentence to be completed. ‘I'm sorry, Crile. I've consulted her. She will not leave this world.’

‘If her mother goes with her, then-’

‘No, Crile. Her mother has nothing to do with it. Even if you wanted Eugenia back, and Eugenia were to decide to go with you, Marlene would still remain on Erythro. And if you decided to stay here to be with her, that would do you no good either. She is lost to you, and to her mother as well.’

Fisher said angrily, ‘She's only a child. She can't make these decisions.’

‘Unfortunately for you, and for Eugenia, and for all of us here, and perhaps for all of humanity, she can make these decisions. In fact, I have promised that when we are through here, as I think we now are, that we will acquaint her with our decisions.’

Wu said, ‘Surely that is not necessary.’

Leverett said, ‘Come, Siever, we don't have to go to a little girl for permission.’

Genarr said, ‘Please listen to me. It is necessary, and we do have to go to her. Allow me to try an experiment. I am suggesting that Marlene be brought in here so that we can tell her what we have decided. If one of you thinks that is not desirable, let him leave. Let him stand up and leave.’

Leverett said, ‘I think you've taken leave of your senses, Siever. I have no intention of playing games with a teenager. I'm going to speak to Pitt. Where do you keep your transmitter?’

He stood up and, almost at once, staggered and fell.

Wu half-rose in alarm, ‘Mr Leverett-’

Leverett rolled over and held up his arm. ‘Help me up, somebody.’

Genarr helped him to his feet and back into the chair. ‘What happened?’ he asked.

‘I'm not sure,’ said Leverett. ‘I had this blinding headache for just a moment.’

‘So you were not able to leave the room.’ Genarr turned to Wu. ‘Since you don't think seeing Marlene is necessary, would you care to leave the room?’

Very carefully, eyes fixed on Genarr, Wu rose slowly from his chair, winced, and sat down again.

He said politely, ‘Perhaps we had better see the young woman.’

Genarr said, ‘We must. On this world, at least, what that young woman wishes is the law.’

‘No!’ said Marlene so forcibly that it amounted almost to a shriek. ‘You can't do it!’

‘Can't do what?’ said Leverett, his white eyebrows drawing close to the furrowed line between.

‘Use Erythro for a way station - or for anything.’

Leverett stared at her angrily, and his lips drew back as if to speak, but Wu intervened. ‘Why not, young woman? It is an empty, unused world.’

‘It is not empty. It is not unused. Uncle Siever, tell them.’

Genarr said, ‘What Marlene wants to say is that Erythro is occupied by innumerable prokaryote cells capable of photosynthesis. That is why there is oxygen in Erythro's atmosphere.’

‘Very well,’ said Wu. ‘What difference does that make?’

Genarr cleared his throat. ‘Individually, the cells are as primitive as life can be above the virus level, but, apparently, they cannot be treated individually. Taken all together, they form an organism of enormous complexity. It is world-girdling.’

‘An organism?’ Wu remained polite.

‘A single organism, and Marlene calls it by the name of the planet, since they are so intimately related.’

Wu said, ‘Are you serious? How do you know about this organism?’

‘Chiefly through Marlene.’

‘Through the young woman,’ said Wu, ‘who may be - a hysteric?’

Genarr lifted a finger. ‘Do not say anything seriously against her. I'm not sure that Erythro - the organism - has a sense of humor. We know chiefly through Marlene - not entirely. When Saltade Leverett stood up to leave, he was knocked down. When you half-rose a while ago, perhaps also to leave, you were clearly uncomfortable. Those are the reactions of Erythro. It protects Marlene by acting directly on our minds. In the early days of our existence on this world, it inadvertently caused a small epidemic of mental disease that we called the Erythro Plague. I'm afraid that, if it wishes, it can produce irrecoverable mental damage; and, if it wishes, it can kill. Please do not test this.’

Fisher said, ‘You mean it is not Marlene who-’

‘No, Crile. Marlene has certain abilities, but they don't extend to the point of doing harm. It is Erythro that is dangerous.’

‘How do we stop it from being dangerous?’ asked Fisher.

‘By listening politely to Marlene, to begin with. Then, too, let me be the one to talk with her. Erythro, at least, knows me. And believe me when I say that I want to save Earth. I have no desire to bring about the death of billions.’

He turned to Marlene. ‘You understand, Marlene, don't you, that Earth is in danger? Your mother showed you that the close approach of Nemesis might destroy Earth.’

‘I know that, Uncle Siever,’ said Marlene in an agonized voice, ‘but Erythro belongs to itself.’

‘It might want to share, Marlene. It allows the Dome to remain here on the planet. We don't seem to disturb it.’

‘But there are less than a thousand people in the Dome and they stay in the Dome. Erythro doesn't mind the Dome because that means it can study human minds.’

‘It can study human minds all the more when Earth-men come here.’

‘Eight billion of them?’

‘No, not all eight billion. They'll come here to settle down temporarily and then go off somewhere. At any one time, there'll only be a fraction of the population here.’

‘It will be millions. I'm sure it will be. You can't squeeze them all into a dome and supply them with food and water and all they'll need. You'll have to spread them out on Erythro and terraform it. Erythro couldn't survive it. It would have to protect itself.’

‘Are you sure of that?’

‘It would have to. Wouldn't you?’

‘It would mean the death of billions.’

‘I can't help that.’ She pressed her lips together, then said, ‘There's a different way.’

Leverett said gruffly, ‘What's the girl talking about? What different way?’

Marlene glanced briefly in Leverett's direction, then turned to Genarr. ‘I don't know. Erythro knows. At least - at least it says that the knowledge is here, but it can't explain.’

Genarr held up both arms to stop what might have been a flurry of questions. ‘Let me talk.’

Then he said very quietly, ‘Marlene, be calm. If you're worried about Erythro, that is useless. You know it can protect itself against anything. Tell me what you mean when you say Erythro can't explain.’

Marlene was breathless and gasping. ‘Erythro knows the knowledge is here, but it doesn't have human experience, human science, human ways of thinking. It doesn't understand.’

‘The knowledge is in the minds present here?’

‘Yes, Uncle Siever.’

‘Can't it probe the minds?’

‘It would hurt them. It can probe my mind without hurting it.’

‘I should hope so,’ said Genarr, ‘but do you have the knowledge?’

‘No, of course not. But it can use my mind as a probe for the others here. Yours. My father's. All.’

‘Is that safe?’

‘Erythro thinks it is, but - oh, Uncle Siever, I'm afraid.’

‘Surely this is madness,’ whispered Wu, and Genarr quickly put a finger to his lips.

Fisher was on his feet. ‘Marlene, you mustn't-’

Genarr waved him back furiously. ‘There's nothing you can do, Crile. There are billions of human beings at risk - we keep on saying it over and over again - and the organism must be allowed to do what it can. Marlene.’

Marlene's eyes had turned upward. She seemed to be in a trance. ‘Uncle Siever,’ she whispered. ‘Hold me.’

Half-stumbling, half-falling, she moved toward Genarr, who seized her and held her tightly. ‘Marlene- Relax- It will be all right-’ He sat down carefully in his chair, still holding her rigid body.

It was like a silent explosion of light that obliterated the world. Nothing existed beyond itself.

Genarr was not even conscious of being Genarr. The self did not exist either. Only a luminous interconnecting fog of great complexity existed, one that was expanding and separating into threads that took on the same great complexity even as they separated.

A whirling and a receding and then an expansion as it approached again. On and on, hypnotically, like something that had always existed and would always exist, without end.

Falling endlessly into an opening that widened as it approached without ever getting wider. Continuing change without alteration. Little puffs unfolding into new complexity.

On and on. No sound. No sensation. Not even vision. A consciousness of something that had the properties of light without being light. It was the mind becoming aware of itself.

And then, painfully - if there had been such a thing as pain in the Universe - and with a sob - if there had been such a thing as a sound in the Universe - it began to dim and turn and spin, faster and faster, into a point of light that flashed and was gone.

The Universe was obtrusive in its existence.

Wu stretched and said, ‘Did anyone else experience that?’

Fisher nodded.

Leverett said, ‘Well, I'm a believer. If it's madness, we're all mad together.’

But Genarr was still holding Marlene, bending over her painfully. She was breathing raggedly.

‘Marlene. Marlene.’

Fisher had struggled to his feet. ‘Is she all right?’

‘I can't say,’ muttered Genarr. ‘She's alive, but that's not enough.’

Her eyes opened. She was staring at Genarr, her eyes empty, unfocused.

‘Marlene,’ whispered Genarr in despair.

‘Uncle Siever,’ whispered Marlene in return.

Genarr let himself breathe. At least she had recognized him.

‘Don't move,’ he said. ‘Wait till it's over.’

‘It is over. I'm so glad it's over.’

‘But are you all right?’

She paused, then said, ‘Yes, I feel all right, Erythro says I'm all right.’

Wu said, ‘Did you find this hidden knowledge we're supposed to have?’

‘Yes, Dr Wu. I did.’ She passed a hand over her damp brow. ‘It was you, actually, who had it.’

‘I?’ said Wu vehemently. ‘What was it?’

‘I don't understand it,’ said Marlene. ‘You will, maybe, if I describe it.’

‘Describe what?’

‘Something that's gravity pushing things away instead of pulling them toward.’

‘Gravitational repulsion, yes,’ said Wu. ‘It's part of superluminal flight.’ He drew a deep breath and his body straightened. ‘It's a discovery I made.’

‘Well then,’ said Marlene, ‘if you pass close by Nemesis in superluminal flight, there's gravitational repulsion. The faster you move, the more the repulsion.’

‘Yes, the ship would be pushed away.’

‘Wouldn't Nemesis be pushed in the opposite direction?’

‘Yes, in inverse ratio of mass, but Nemesis' move would be immeasurably small.’

‘But what if it were repeated over and over for hundreds of years?’

‘Nemesis' movement would still be very small.’

‘But its path would be slightly changed and over the light-years the distance would mount up and Nemesis mightpass Earth just far enough away so that Earth would be spared.’

Wu said, ‘Well-’

Leverett said, ‘Could something of the sort be worked out?’

‘We could try. An asteroid, passing by at ordinary speeds, shifting into hyperspace for a trillionth of a second and back at ordinary speed a million miles out. Asteroids in orbit around Nemesis always moving into hyperspace on thesameside.’ For a moment, he was lost in thought. Then, defensively, ‘I would surely have thought of this on my own, given a little time.’

Genarr said, ‘You may still have the credit. Marlene took it from your mind, after all.’

He looked about at the other three and said, ‘Well, gentlemen, unless something goes terribly wrong, let's forget about using Erythro as a way station, which it wouldn't allow anyway. We needn't concern ourselves with evacuating Earth - if we can learn to make full and proper use of gravitational repulsion. I think the situation has been much improved because we brought in Marlene.’

‘Uncle Siever,’ said Marlene. ‘Yes, dear.’

‘I'm so sleepy.’

Tessa Wendel looked at Crile Fisher gravely. ‘I keep saying to myself: “You're back.” Somehow I didn't think you'd be back, once it was clear you had found the Rotorians.’

‘Marlene was the first person - the very first person I found.’

He was staring at nothingness, and Wendel let him. He would have to think it through. They had enough to think about in other directions.

They were taking a Rotorian back with them: Ranay D'Aubisson, a neurophysicist. Twenty years before, she had worked in a hospital on Earth. There would be bound to be those who would remember and recognize her. There would be records that would serve to identify her. And she would be the living proof of what they had done.

Wu was a changed person, too. He was full of plans for making use of gravitational repulsion to nudge the movement of the Neighbor Star. (He called it Nemesis now, but if he could formulate a plan to move it ever so slightly, it might not be Earth's nemesis at all.)

And Wu had grown modest. He didn't want the credit for the discovery, which to Wendel seemed completely unbelievable. He said the project had been worked out in conference and he would say no more.

What's more, he was definitely planning to return to the Nemesian System - and not just to run the project. He wanted to be there. ‘If I have to walk,’ he said.

Wendel became aware that Fisher was looking at her, frowning slightly. ‘Why didn't you think I'd be back, Tessa?’

She decided to be matter-of-fact. ‘Your wife is younger than I am, Crile, and she would hold on to your daughter. I was sure of that. And, desperate as you were to have your daughter, I thought-’

‘That I would stay with Eugenia because that was the only way?’

‘Something like that.’

Fisher shook his head. ‘It wouldn't have worked out that way, no matter what. I thought she was Roseanne at first - my sister. The eyes, mostly, but there was a Roseanne look about her in other ways, too. But she was far more than Roseanne. Tessa, she wasn't human, isn't human, I'll explain later. I-’ He shook his head.

‘Never mind, Crile,’ said Wendel. ‘Explain whenever you please.’

‘It hasn't been a total loss. I've seen her. She's alive. She's well. And in the end I guess I didn't want more. Somehow, after my - experience, Marlene became - just Marlene. For the rest of my life, Tessa, you are all I want.’

‘Making the best of it, Crile?’

‘A very good best it is, Tessa. I'll be formally divorced. We'll be formally married. I will leave Rotor and Nemesis to Wu, and you and I can stay on Earth, or on any Settlement you wish. We'll each have good pensions, and we can leave the Galaxy and its problems to others. We've done enough, Tessa. That is, if that's what you wish, too.’

‘I can hardly wait, Crile.’

An hour later, they were still holding each other.

Eugenia Insigna said, ‘I'm so glad I wasn't there. I keep thinking about it. Poor Marlene. She must have been so afraid.’

‘Yes, she was. But she did it, made it possible to save Earth. Even Pitt can do nothing about it now. In a sense, his whole life work has been made useless. Not only is there no purpose to his whole project of secretly building up a new civilization, but he has to help supervise the project for the salvation of the Earth. He has to. Rotor is no longer hidden. It can be reached at any time, and every bit of humanity, on and off Earth, will turn against us if we don't rejoin the human race. It couldn't have happened without Marlene.’

Insigna wasn't thinking of the greater significances.

She said, ‘But when she was frightened, really frightened, it was to you she turned, not to Crile.’

‘Yes.’

‘And you held her, not Crile.’

‘Yes, but Eugenia, don't make anything mystical out of it. She knew me, but she didn't know Crile.’

‘You're bound to explain it very sensibly, Siever. That's you. But I'm glad it was you she turned to. He didn't deserve her.’

‘Fair enough. He didn't deserve her. But, now - please, Eugenia, let go. Crile is leaving. He'll never be back. He's seen his daughter. He's watched her provide a way to save Earth. I don't begrudge him that, and you shouldn't either. So, if you don't mind, I am changing the subject. Do you know that Ranay D'Aubisson is leaving with them?’

‘Yes. Everyone is talking about it. I won't miss her somehow. I never thought she was very sympathetic to Marlene.’

‘Neither were you at times, Eugenia. It's a great thing for Ranay. Once she realized the so-called Erythro Plague was not a useful field of study, her work here was shattered, but on Earth, she can introduce modern brain scanning and have a great professional life.’

‘All right. Good for her.’

‘But Wu will be back. Very bright man. It was his brain that yielded the proper finding. You know, I'm sure that when he comes back to work on the Repulsion Effect, his real desire will be to remain on Erythro. The Erythro organism has picked him as it had picked Marlene. And what's funnier still, I think it's picked Leverett, as well.’

‘What system do you suppose it uses, Siever?’

‘Do you mean why does it take Wu and not Crile? Why does it take Leverett and not me?’

‘Well, I can see that Wu must be a far more brilliant man than Crile, but, Siever, you are much better than Leverett. Not that I would have wanted to lose you.’

‘Thank you. I presume the Erythro organism has a criterion of its own. I even think I have a dim idea of what it might be.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. When my mind was being probed, it meant that through Marlene, the Erythro organism itself was entering us. I caught a glimpse of its thoughts, I imagine. Not consciously, of course, but when it was over I seemed to know things I didn't know before. Marlene has the strange talent that makes it possible for her to communicate with the organism and makes it also possible for it to use her brain as a probe for other brains, but I think that's just a practical advantage. It chose her for something far more unusual.’

‘What would that be?’

‘Imagine you're a piece of string, Eugenia. How would you feel if you suddenly and unexpectedly became aware of a piece of lace? Imagine you're a circle. How would you feel if you came across a patterned sphere? Erythro had knowledge of only one kind of mind - its own. Its mind is immensely huge, but so pedestrian. It is what it is only because it is made up of trillions of trillions of cellular units, all very loosely connected.

‘Then it came across human minds, in which the cellular units were comparatively few, but in which there were incredible numbers of interconnections - incredible complexity. Lace instead of string. It must have been overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of it. It must have found Marlene's mind to be the most beautiful of all. That was why it seized upon her. Wouldn't you - if you had a chance to acquire a real Rembrandt or a Van Gogh? That was why it protected her so avidly. Wouldn't you protect a great work of art? Yet it risked her for the sake of humanity. It was rough on Marlene, but rather noble of the organism.

‘Anyway, that is what I consider the Erythro organism to be. I consider it an art connoisseur, a collector of beautiful minds.’

Insigna laughed. ‘By that token, Wu and Leverett must have very beautiful minds.’

‘They probably do to Erythro. And it will continue collecting when scientists from Earth arrive. You know it will end by collecting a group of human beings different from the common run. The Erythro group. It may help them find new homes in space and, in the end, perhaps the Galaxy will have two kinds of worlds, worlds of Earthmen and worlds of more efficient pioneers, the true Spacers. I wonder how that would work out. Surely it would mean the future would lie with them. I regret that somehow.’

‘Don't think of that,’ said Insigna urgently. ‘Let people of the future deal with the future as it comes. Right now, you and I are human beings judging each other by human standards.’

Genarr smiled joyously, his pleasantly homely face lighting up. ‘I'm glad of that, because I find your mind beautiful, and perhaps you find mine equally beautiful.’

‘Oh, Siever, I always did. Always.’

Genarr's smile faded somewhat. ‘But there are other kinds of beauty, I know.’

‘Not for me any longer. You have all the kinds of beauty. Siever, we lost the morning, you and I. But there's still the afternoon.’

‘In that case, what more can I possibly want, Eugenia? The morning is well lost - if we can share the afternoon.’

Their hands touched.