The Radiant War

Chapter 33b

     “Welcome,” the man said as they reached him. He had the glowing skin of an adoptee, but his hair was greying and he stood with a slight stoop as if he had a pain in his lower back. “Brigadier. It's good to see you again.”

     “Daniel,” replied the Brigadier. “They've still got you doing the reception duty, then?”

     “It's been my duty for the past hundred years, and probably for the next hundred as well. One of the benefits of being an adoptee is that the ageing process slows considerably. If my adoption were to be cancelled, it would be at least that long before I went back into the ground.”

     “You know this man, Brigadier?” asked Pettiwell.

     “It's all in my report, which I presume you've read,” replied the Brigadier. “This is where I first learned the truth about the Radiants.” He turned back to Daniel. “Are you going to be our interpreter?”

     “I would be happy to perform the role, if I'm acceptable to you.”

     “One person is as good as another. I assume that that creature is the one we will actually be conversing with.” He looked up, at where a Radiant had left the city and was approaching them, low enough that the tips of its tentacles were almost touching the ground.

     “That is correct.”

     “I assume he has a position of authority in Radiant society?”

     “They don't have leaders the way humans do. Among Radiants, tasks are allotted to the individual best able to perform them. That Radiant has taken an interest in human culture and history, and so was judged by the others to be best suited to deal with you.”

     “And will the others abide by whatever agreement he reaches with us?”

     “They will. Every Radiant in the city will be listening in, by means of their telepathy. In a sense, you will be negotiating with the entire city.”

     “And what about the other cities? Do they have a single government, or does every city rule itself?”

     Daniel had to think for a moment before answering. “They're not like humans,” he said at last. “They don't compete against each other. All Radiants do what is best for the entire Radiant race, even if it means sacrificing their own lives. If one city thinks it’s in their best interests to come to an agreement with you, then all the others will as well.”

     “Then I suppose that will have to do,” said the Brigadier. “Where would you like the meeting to take place?”

     “There is only one place where humans and Radiants can meet ‘face to face’, as it were. The Museum of the Hetin Folk.”

     The Brigadier nodded. He'd been about to suggest that very place. He looked around and saw the building about half a mile away, across the cultivated farmland that surrounded the city. “Lead on,” he said, therefore, and Daniel nodded, turning to lead the way.

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     Shanks stared around the interior of the building; a nobleman’s mansion raised a hundred feet above the ground with open ceilings and floors to allow Radiants to float within it with their eyes level with the exhibits.

     “My people created all this?” he asked with something like religious awe. He picked up a piece of equipment whose back had been removed to reveal a dusty clutter of tiny components linked with rubber-coated wires. He had no idea what it was, but it was clearly the product of a manufacturing process far more advanced than anything possessed by humans today. The surfaces and shelves were crowded with similar artefacts, many of them bizarre beyond comprehension but all indicative of a culture and civilisation that had risen to heights that nobody today could even imagine.