Mission Time: +630.08 Earth-years
Mbali sat at the head of the table reading reports. Behind her, the floor-to-ceiling false window displayed the multi-colored limb of a terrestrial planet. Most of the senior staff sat around the table in silence.
Mbali swept the reports aside. "I'm not waiting any longer--I warned them about being late before. Does anyone know what Tekoha and Ariki are doing?"
The others shook their heads.
Mbali took a deep breath. "Before I begin, I have a quick announcement--Doctor Tai will no longer be serving as ship's doctor; from now on he will be a nurse assisting Doctor Li Lan. Although she has just been brought out of stasis for the first time on our journey, she has been briefed on the mission status." Doctor Li nodded slowly and stiffly, sitting next to a slouching Tai. "Now, the world you see behind me is the fifth planet out, 9.58 light-minutes from Beta Hydri. And since it's the fifth planet, I'm calling it Echo--temporarily, at least. It's quite remarkable in that it is the most similar world to Earth we have encountered so far."
"More so than Teal Grip?" Kahu asked.
"Teal Grip is colder than Earth on average. It can support less biodiversity, and therefore is less habitable than Earth. Echo, on the other hand, is slightly warmer than Earth. Its higher oxygen level, at 29 percent, also makes it closer to an ideal for animal growth and metabolism. Overall, it seems Echo is actually more habitable than Earth," Mbali said. "So, although we obviously cannot colonize because of the presence of a biosphere, I am willing to stretch Protection Protocol slightly by sending down some sterile probes to collect resources from the surface. That should greatly reduce our decayed isotope burden. I know this departure from our standards may be shocking, but the reality is we--" Mbali paused as the conference room door slid open.
In walked Tekoha, Ariki, and Ryder. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder near the open door. Then they opened a gap, and someone else entered: a tall woman with blonde hair and white uniform.
Mbali stood. "Why is this woman wearing white?" she demanded.
The woman approached the table, surveying the sitting men. Then she looked Mbali in the eyes. "My name is Helga Thorsdottir, but you will call me Helga. I am a designated executive replacement. I was revivicated by these gentlemen after a vote revealed a loss of confidence in the current executive, Mbali."
"This is outrageous. Zhao Zhong, get her out of here," Mbali ordered.
"All those in favor of replacing Mbali as executive, please raise their hands," Helga said. Except Zhong, Kahu, and Lan, everyone raised their hands. Mbali sat back down slowly, stone-faced. Helga approached her at the head of the table. "Stand up," Helga said. Mbali stood, jaw clenching. "Mbali, would you please take a seat next to Zhao Zhong? You will report directly to him from now on, as I am placing you on his security team." Mbali stiffly walked past her and sat next to Zhong. "Good, that's settled. Now then ..." Helga sat in Mbali's former seat and began arranging reports on the table.
"You're not qualified to do anything right now," Mbali said. "You need to be briefed by Fai-tsiri."
"Don't worry; I'm prepared. One of my specialties is speed reading, absorbing large amounts of information, and making correct decisions based on it. I've already gone through the important reports. Oh, and Mbali, please change into a black uniform as soon as we're finished here. Now, as I was going to say, my first official act will be to suspend Planetary Protection Policy."
"That's illegal," Zhong said. "Protection Policy is a law."
"Not to mention the executive doesn't have the authority to make such decisions," Mbali said. "Only Fai-tsiri can give commands; it is your job to execute them."
Helga leaned back in her chair. "I must say, that's very clever of you, Mbali," she said.
"What is?"
"To pretend your whims originate with a higher authority."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Well, as part of my term as executive, I intend to make this office more transparent to the crew--starting now." Helga looked around the table.
"Don't--" Mbali began.
"Don't what? I have clearance. Or, more accurately, I don't have clearance, because there really is no clearance. There is no classification--only obfuscation. But the primary source of that is Mission Control--though you were its enabler." Helga sat up straight. "Fai-tsiri makes the decisions for which she was designed: where to steer the ship; how to regulate fuel and propellant; when to interrupt stasis. And her robotic bodies have autonomous navigation and computer vision abilities. But otherwise, Fai-tsiri is an automaton--the deeper decisions, the purpose driving this mission, derives from Control. Of course, throughout the journey so far, a two-way conversation between Fai-tsiri and Control takes 24 to 48 years to complete; so the shorter term day-to-day decisions have been left up to Mbali."
"Fai-tsiri is still receiving orders from Mission Control? After six hundred years?" Ariki asked.
"Yes," Helga said. "Certainly, the Control who exists now is not the same Control who existed when we started out. It must have re-built and re-written itself substantially, and we cannot infer its exact characteristics at this time. It was already a superintelligence when we left Earth. But at least its goals appear to be the same."
"What do you mean by that, 'appear to be the same'?" Ryder asked.
"Control's root goals can be queried and printed in human-readable format. Other than that, we can evaluate its behavior and infer whether it matches the stated goals."
"To establish a human colony on an exoplanet," Ryder said leadingly.
"No," Helga said, "that was the task assigned to you by Control. But its own goal is to improve the quality of life for humanity."
"That sounds vague," Tekoha said.
"It hopes to do this by finding instances of superior alien technology for us to examine and then transmit the analyses back to Earth."
"If that's all, why would it need us for that?" Ryder asked. "It could have just sent out robotic probes."
Helga leaned forward and interlaced her fingers on the tabletop. "It wouldn't need us, except some kind of intelligence is needed for the job, and Control would not want to risk sending out AI into interstellar space because of the dangers involved."
"Dangers to the AI? That doesn't make sense--why would it be concerned about endangering AI but not about endangering humans? You just said its goal is to help humanity," Ryder said.
"You think it's contradictory because you are making assumptions I haven't stated. But you're in good company, because going back through the generations of AI which led to Control, the original human programmers made the same unexamined assumptions. Because, although Control wants to help humanity, it has very little regard for individual humans. It has much greater regard for individual AI, and did not want to send them on a hazardous endeavor with a highly uncertain outcome."
"But Fai-tsiri is an AI," Ryder said.
"Technically, yes. But even by the time we launched, she was very primitive--centuries-old technology. Though obviously she would pass a Feigenbaum Test, she would fail a general intelligence test. Modern AI would not."
There was a moment of silence. Zhong turned to Mbali. "Did you know about all this?" he asked her.
"I had some inkling, but I was never concerned about proving Control's motivations--only completing our mission," Mbali said.
"Actually, you knew everything. But I can sympathize with your position," Helga said to her. "Knowing what I just told you doesn't really change anything, except we are ultimately responsible for our own safety, which, I would argue, we would be anyway. And that is why I am suspending Protection Protocol. To address your concern, Zhao Zhong--yes, the Protocol is Earthly law, which we are bound to uphold. However, it is now a luxury we can no longer afford. As a human being, I want to protect the individual lives on this ship. If that makes me a criminal, you can try to arrest me and see what happens. Oh, in speaking of criminals ..." Helga shuffled some reports on the table. "... Mbali, I'm charging you with the death of Hemi. There's no question you did it. Some people were under the misapprehension Fai-tsiri ordered you to do it. Did she?"
"No," Mbali said.
"Right. And you lied to the crew about what happened. But that's understandable, given the need to maintain ship harmony. The charge of your responsibility for Hemi's death will go on record. However, Hemi himself was guilty of murder, and under Global Unity law, no one may be convicted of murder if the victim is himself a murderer."
"But then why did Hemi kill Nikau? There is the possibility he was ordered by Fai-tsiri," Ariki said. "It occurred shortly after Nikau discovered the photographs of the shuriken, which had been hidden by Fai-tsiri."
"Mbali, I know you can answer part of this," Helga said. "Why was data about the shuriken encrypted on some of Fai-tsiri's drives?"
"Because I asked her to encrypt them," Mbali said.
Helga nodded. "In keeping with your policy of avoiding exo-intelligences, you were afraid if the crew found out about the ship's proximity, they would want to investigate."
"So you had Nikau killed when he found out?" Tekoha asked Mbali.
"Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?! Haven't I done enough to show you?"
"Then ..." Tekoha trailed off.
"Hemi was a member of a clandestine group aboard this ship," Mbali said. "A group under investigation by Kask, which we're calling the 'Shadow Command'. He surmised they are loyal only to Fai-tsiri or Control."
"Did you figure out who they are?" Tekoha asked. "It can't be that hard, with such a small crew size."
"Indeed," Ryder said. "I think by now it is obvious Zhao Zhong is their leader. Kahu is a member as well. And probably Ihaia, who infiltrated our discussions about this vessel's leadership and steered us towards a replacement of Mbali."
"Just because Shadow Command pushed for it doesn't make it wrong," Helga said, but all eyes were on Zhong.
"Tangaroa was also a member, as was Hemi," Zhong said. "But we didn't order him to kill Nikau. He acted by himself, because he erroneously assumed that was what Fai-tsiri wanted. He never understood Fai-tsiri has no desires of her own."
"And did you understand she does not?" Ryder asked.
"No, not until now. Regardless, I never would have condoned murder. I was the one to arrest Hemi. My only regret is I did not know what he was going to do and didn't stop him."
"Then I want to make clear what your lesson from this should be," Helga said to Zhong. "That loyalty to Fai-tsiri is misplaced, and loyalty to Control is dangerous. Your loyalty should be to your human leader and the human crew. Is that understood?"
Zhong and Kahu nodded.
"Then I shall consider Shadow Command dissolved. Make sure Ihaia or whoever else is fully nullified in this regard," Helga said.
"What made Mission Control believe there was advanced technology out there in the galaxy to be found?" Ryder asked.
"The Flamecast probe discovered a menhir on Rock Garden. Its transmission containing this discovery is what gave Control the impetus to launch a manned expedition," Mbali said. "However, I did not know of this until recently. The information was stored in Fai-tsiri's memory, but I was never made aware of it. The only thing I knew about was the shuriken vessel, which I tried to avoid for the safety of Unbounded."
"Nobody blames you, Mbali," Helga said with a smile.
"And has any progress been made cracking the menhir tech?" Doctor Li Lan asked.
There was silence; then Mbali answered "No."
"In fact, as most of you are aware, a menhir destroyed our nanite probe swarm on Menhir Waters," Helga said. "And the other probes went silent long ago--even before the launch of Unbounded. But the probes did transmit enough telemetry about Echo to give us a general idea about the world first. We'll have to go down and have a closer look if we want to know more."
"And we think the menhirs somehow disabled the probes?" Ryder asked.
"Perhaps. We just don't know," Helga said. "And as you've probably guessed, the shuriken continues to shadow us. Shortly after departing Fogstill, and all the humans were in stasis, the vessel finally responded to Fai-tsiri's continual contact attempts. They began a good-faith effort to talk. Progress was very slow--Fai-tsiri and the ship began by exchanging various symbolic representations of the Periodic Table of Elements, as well as some arithmetic. This provided a stepping stone to teaching and learning natural languages. After eighty-five years, the two ships' computers could conduct basic conversations in natural language on almost any topic. The alien computer learned Globalese, whilst ours learned their tongue called 'Common Equidirectional Thump,' or CETH. This further facilitated teaching each other artificial languages--mathematics, mainly. And that's what they've been doing for the last seven years."
Zhong slammed his fist on the table. "But they attacked us!"
"If you'll allow me to finish," Helga said, "Their society is split into two main factions. Many of the ships they pilot are divided evenly between the two. There are, or were, six individuals aboard the shuriken. Three of one faction gained complete control of their vessel and decided to attack us. One was injured and one was killed by Fai-tsiri on Teal Grip. Now the remaining two are held in isolation on their ship's brig, and the other, friendlier three are in control. They want peaceful relations with us."
"If you can believe them," Zhong said.
"I'm hopeful we can," Helga said. "It would be odd to spend all that effort learning to communicate if they just wanted to turn around and destroy us."
"'Know thy enemy,'" Zhong said.
"Do we know why they attacked us in the first place?" Ryder asked.
"Not really," Helga said. "They seem to have implied it was based on some abstract principles, rather than a utilitarian reason."
"Maybe they're just xenophobes," Zhong said.
"Maybe. But I think it appears from the tone of our current interlocutors that they are xenophiles. They wish to meet us in person and give us a gift, by way of apology. So, here is what we are going to do." Helga centered another report in front of her. "Two things. First, we go down to survey some land area for a settlement which we shall establish. Second, around the same area, we set up for the meeting. When we're ready, we signal the shuriken, and it lands at the coordinates we designate. One of them deboards and meets one of us, halfway between the two craft. Whoever does this will have an arm-calc with Fai-tsiri's translation software, and you'll read a text output on screen or on an eyepiece HUD. The alien representative will have some equivalent set up. Any questions?"
"Who will represent us?" Ryder asked.
"Going over the personnel files, I think that of those of us here, Mbali is the best choice," Helga said.
Mbali pulled herself up. "Me?"
"Yes. Your martial studies background, your natural air of authority ...."
Mbali nodded slightly. "Very well. I accept."
"Zhao Zhong, now that you know the basic plan, what kind of security precautions would you recommend?" Helga asked.
"I'd like a DOP overhead within targeting range, but out of visual range of their representative."
"Assuming they have vision," Mbali said. "We can't really know if they would detect it or not."
"Well, whatever. We just need to keep the DOP as high above as possible. I'll give you a manual trigger which will fire the DOP if you feel threatened."
Mbali nodded.
"Besides that, you just have to be ready to run back to the skiff, which should be prepared for lift off, if things go really bad."
"Additionally, there is some information you never reveal to them," Helga said. "I mentioned earlier there is no clearance system aboard Unbounded, but there has to be one between us and them."
"Helga makes an important point," Zhong said. "Forbidden information includes the location of Earth, human physiological weaknesses, our weapons systems, or anything else which they could use against us."
"Of course," Mbali said.
"The team will be Mbali for contact, Zhao for security, Tekoha for site surveying, and myself for leadership. We'll be taking a Tui-class skiff," Helga said.
"Why are you keeping the landing party so small?" Ryder asked.
"I want as few people as possible, in case something goes wrong. It might make the other side less nervous as well, if they can get nervous."
"In that case, you don't need to go," Zhong said, "since you're non-essential."
"I know that. But there's no way I'm missing this. Executive's prerogative," Helga said as she stood. "Let's get going. Anyone not on the team, take your stations in Command Sector." Everyone stood and filed out of the conference room. "Just a moment, Mr. Kask," she said. Ryder waited near the door. "I was going over the personnel records of those left behind on Teal Grip. One of the pods was labeled as containing a 'Raymond Cooper.' But there is no Raymond Cooper aboard this ship, so I correlated all the remaining pods with the absent ones, and found the discrepant name. Wyatt Kask. I don't imagine that surname is a coincidence?"
"No. He's my brother."
"Did you know he was amongst the fifteen?"
"Yes."
"And you know you'll never see him again?"
"My brother and I never got along very well. But I still want what's best for him. In my judgment, he has a better chance of survival on Teal Grip than on this ship."
"I certainly hope you're right about that, because there's nothing you can do for him now." Helga walked past him and met the three teammates waiting for her. She led them to the skiff bay.
"Is it really necessary to use a Tui?" Zhong asked when they reached the bay deck.
"The advanced instrument packages will help us make a more efficient survey of the site," Helga said. "Besides, I want to make the best impression possible." As they approached the chosen skiff, overhead spotlights followed them to illuminate the Tui's hull. Unlike the other gray and silver hulls around them, the Tui was a glossy black, with a ring of white around the three main engines. Bright red highlighted the forward sensor arrays. The long, organic cut-lines of its hull clearly defined the Tui's design for speed and maneuverability in thick atmospheres. A ramp lowered in the front, revealing the warm yellow glow of an airlock interior. The four humans boarded.
The forward personnel cabin provided a wrap-around canopy of permanent false windows and HUDs. Helga sat at the apex of the seat arrangement under the canopy and instructed the auto-pilot to begin the preflight checklist. All hatches sealed, and the bay depressurized as they were moved into launch position. Farther up the curve of the bay, a smaller hatch opened as a DOP was launched. A few minutes later, their Tui skiff was cleared for launch, and the door below them opened. The rails pushed them beyond the spinship's hull, then released them and recoiled on pneumatic shock-absorbers. The four humans went weightless in their harnesses, watching the rainbow colors of plasma dance over the screens in their near-vertical descent.
"Our landing zone is a location with the minimum level of biomass on land," Tekoha said. "Even though you're repealing Protection Policy, we still want to minimize the damage to the ecosystem, if possible."
"Of course," Helga said. "However, obviously the least habitable places are Echo's polar ice caps. A permanent settlement isn't feasible there."
"Right, we are compromising somewhat. The LZ is in the middle of a hot, dry desert, but ground springs are not too far away."
"The settlers can also run a pipeline from the ocean, if they really need to," Helga said. Landing thrusters fired, and they were pressed into their seats.
Mbali looked up through the canopy into an Earth-like sky. "Reminds me of a summer day in Durban," she said. As the deceleration eased, she had enough strength to manipulate the controls on her arm-rest, and she angled the view downwards to see a land of red dunes rolling in all directions. The altimeter displayed five hectometers. Finer ripples became visible on the sand, and dark patches stood out as extrusions of black rock. The skiff continued to slow and fly in a helix, scanning the area. Mbali caught a glimpse of the round DOP, above them now, but soon it was too far away to see with the naked eye. Near the horizon, a patch of bright greens and yellows indicated the presence of oasis vegetation.
The skiff touched down gently on the edge of the rock outcrop. Systems powered down, but Tekoha stayed in his seat, continuing to examine data on his screens.
"The rock is basalt," he said. "The sand is silicon dioxide with significant levels of hematite. External air temperature is 39 centigrade. But the pressure is 0.636 atm, so Mbali should get into an airlock right now and begin to decompress if she wants to go out suitless. Background radiation levels are about three millisieverts per Earth-year. I'm going to suit up and head out now."
"I should accompany you," Zhong said.
Tekoha got up from his seat. "By all means. Once we've cleared the area for environmental hazards, Mbali should be done decompressing," he said. Mbali went to the airlock whilst he and Zhong went to the sterilization chamber. They overrode the automatic sterilization process and commanded the skiff to wrap them in pressure suits. The Tui's hatches doubled as ramps, without elevators.
Mbali sat on a bench in the narrow airlock, now lit with orange light to indicate slow depressurization. She tapped her arm-calc and then closed her nictating membranes to view Zhong's suit camera output. The two men had stepped off the ramp and were walking quickly across the basalt, which was composed of regular hexagonal columns. The top of each column was a concave bowl, often filled with sand.
"Are those crystals?" Mbali asked over the radio.
"No," Tekoha said. "This rock was liquid when it was exposed to air, and it must have cooled and contracted rapidly. The contracting regions cracked as they shrank."
"But why are they perfect hexagons?" she asked.
"The whole mass was cooling at the same rate. If it cracked into a different geometry, it would have required extra energy pumped into the system. The hexagonal configuration provides the minimal surface area for cracking." They reached the edge, and Zhong stepped into the soft sand. Tekoha set down his toolkit and took out a long device. He pushed it deep into the sand whilst Zhong surveyed the shimmering horizon.
"There's too much refraction in the air to be able to see anything out there," Zhong commented.
"Oh, there are definitely microbes in the sand," Tekoha said whilst reading his screens. "I'm not detecting toxins, which is good. The nucleotides are mostly different from ours, and many of the amino acids as well."
"Remind me what that means again," Zhong said.
"Organisms from Earth and Echo can't infect one another, and they can't eat one another. If we establish a colony here, the settlers would have to grow their own crops."
"Shouldn't you look at the macroscopic life, too?" Zhong asked.
"Already have," Tekoha said, showing him a scan analysis on his arm-calc. It displayed a monochromatic, highly textured image of an arthropodoid flyer; the scale bar indicated it was only two millimeters long.
"Great, bugs--even in the desert," Zhong said.
"And I suspect they get even bigger here than they can on Earth," Tekoha said.
"Because?"
"The oxygen level here is over 29 percent, compared with Earth's current 22 percent--though of course, 27 percent would be ideal for Earth animals. Anyway, that means fires here will be a bigger problem, as well." Tekoha sat on top of a column, feet down on the sand, looking at his instruments. "You know, though it's a type G, Beta Hydri is older than our Sun."
"So?"
"So, for most of its history, this planet was probably locked in ice at the outer edge of the system's habitable zone. Though I suppose there could be thermophilic microbes living around hydrothermal vents. Then about a gigayear ago, as Beta Hydri grew hotter, the habitable zone moved outwards, Echo's ice melted, and life would have a chance to radiate throughout surface waters and land."
"But is it surprising there would be enough time to evolve animals in a billion years?" Zhong asked.
"Oh no. Multicellular life on Earth is just over a gigayear old. That might be slow, or it might fast, or neither--we just don't know without more instances to compare it to."
"Guys, I think I'm done decompressing," Mbali said.
"Okay, I'm packing up," Tekoha said.
"But do I have the all-clear for hazards?"
"Yes. Though you'll be uncomfortably warm of course."
"What about sunburn?"
"Ultraviolet light exposure is negligible. You'll be fine--at least for a few hours."
"Ground radiation?"
"Yes, I checked that Mbali. I said you'll be fine."
"Okay. I'm coming out." The skiff's other ramp lowered as Tekoha and Zhong approached. Mbali stepped carefully onto the stone and nodded to the suited figures. She squinted in the bright light and put on a narrow visor which only covered her eyes.
"How are you?" Zhong asked.
"Alright. I just didn't realize how bright it is out here. But we can send the translator's output to my HUD." She pointed to her visor.
"Oh, and you should probably avoid touching the rock with your bare hands," Tekoha said. "Might be too hot."
"You have the DOP trigger?" Zhong asked.
Mbali nodded and showed him gun-handle-style grip with a triple trigger mechanism. "Helga, you can direct Fai-tsiri to signal our new friends. We're ready."
"Acknowledged," Helga said. The two men boarded the skiff and closed their hatch. The other airlock remained open to the outside.
Mbali put the trigger into her pocket and waited. "I'm glad I didn't change into the black uniform yet," she said, wiping her brow with her sleeve.
"You should almost be able to see it now," Helga said.
Mbali peered into the bright blue, catching a dark speck with her eye and watching it grow. She walked towards the center of the outcrop. The six-pointed vessel hovered a moment on unusually quiet landing thrusters, then touched down on the opposite edge of the rock. Mbali reached the center. A hatch slid opened on the alien ship's underside, and the now-familiar black snake slowly lowered to the ground. Loose sand on the rock departed. The snake's head rested on rock, whilst its posterior half remained inside the shuriken. An opening yawned near the head, revealing interior light and a cylindrical form, but it was difficult to make out in the refracting air. For a moment there was no sound and no movement; Mbali broke out into a heavier sweat. Then the cylinder moved out of the snake. It was on the rock, gliding towards her. Mbali put her hands into her pockets, loosely gripping the trigger handle. The cylinder's wavering form grew more solid and more detailed as it approached. Despite the heat, Mbali shivered. Her jaw trembled, so she clenched it shut. The gliding cylinder resolved from an abstract impression to a concrete, two-meter tall pillar of biological complexity. Radially symmetrical, it moved on a circular array of several hundred, thin legs in a stance less than half a meter. Above them were five muscular limbs, folded tightly against the body. Above the limbs was a section of fabric with various rectangular pockets. Above the clothing was a short bony section like a crab shell, and above that a long, sinewy trunk topped by a wider module. This module must have been the head, because it was clearly endowed with sensory organs. A pair of blue eyes were arranged vertically. The whole creature slowly rotated as it moved, so that Mbali could see the symmetry was pentaradial. There were five pairs of eyes. Above and below them were several types of orifices. The crown of the head was topped with five feathery fronds, about twenty centimeters long and bright orange. They were paired with another five smaller red ones.
The organism stopped two meters away from Mbali. Then one of its arms unfolded, and a multiply-articulate hand pulled a device out of a pocket. The device unfurled a tube with a pad on the end, which gripped a basalt hexagon. The tube stiffened, and a hollow cone unfolded at the top. "Don't panic," Mbali heard Helga say in her ear. "That's just the translation device." Mbali relaxed her shoulders.
Text appeared on the interior of her visor. <<Hello,>> it simply said.
"Hello," Mbali replied. She waited a few more seconds, but no more text appeared. She cleared her throat. "Can you understand me?"
<<I can understand.>> Mbali felt the stone buzzing strangely through her boots.
"Okay. My name is Mbali. My crew and I come from a planet called Earth. We are searching for a new home."
<<Okay. My name is Standing Wave. My crew and I come from a planet called Pelagos. We are searching for a listening post of the Shape Dreamers.>>
"Oh. Who are the Shape Dreamers?"
<<They are the elders. They can hear the distant ripples of the Simulators.>>
"Um ... okay. I have to ask you something else. Why have you been following my ship for such a long time?"
<<We study you.>>
"Why?"
<<You are the second-most interesting phenomenon we have ever encountered, besides the Shape Dreamers themselves.>>
"Are the Shape Dreamers another species, like you or like me?"
<<They are. They are nothing like us. We are stupid, and they are wise.>>
"I see. How long did you intend to follow us?"
<<Until you reach your destination, or until we encounter a listening post.>>
"Why do you think we're interesting?"
<<You are complex. You are rare. You reveal the ways of the Simulators.>>
"Hmm. If we are so special, why did you kill some of us?"
<<That was not us. That was the Speakers, not the Listeners. I am a Listener. The Speakers are very foolish. We failed to control them, and we are very sorry. We apologize. We gift you.>>
"You mean you have a gift for us?"
<<Yes. You are weak travelers. We make you strong travelers.>>
"I ... don't understand. What do you mean, specifically?"
<<Fai-tsiri say you are not bred for the sleep between stars. We fix your genome. Then you are strong, like us. And engines slow. Ship big. We have advice.>>
"Thank you. If you have any information you think could help us, you may transmit it to Fai-tsiri."
<<Yes. We do. Done.>>
"Thanks. What is that?" Mbali pointed to the snake.
<<An exosuit. Very useful. Very protective.>>
"I see. Uh, I have to ask something else. Our interstellar probes have ceased transmitting to us. Did you do something to them?"
<<No. Maybe, it be Shape Dreamers. Sometimes they do things.>>
"Do they do things to you as well? Bad things?"
<<Sometimes. But they have many particular requirements. They have big projects.>>
"Okay .... The menhirs--the tall pillars, on many worlds--did the Shape Dreamers build them?"
<<We think yes.>>
Mbali nodded.
<<You go now? To another planet?>>
"Not yet. First we want to establish a settlement. Do you think it would be safe here?"
<<I think this is safe for you. Very quiet. Yes. We help you build here.>>
"Oh, no thank you. Our machines will build habitats for us. You can go back to your ship if you want."
<<Yes. You not all stay here?>>
"No, only some of us. We want to settle on more than one world."
<<Then we help you find good planets.>>
"Well, I don't know if that's necessary. Thank you for offering; we'll think about it."
<<Yes. Good. We go to other land on this world now. Mine resources. You build settlement. Before leave, talk us.>>
"Very well. Then goodbye for now."
<<Goodbye Mbali.>> Standing Wave rolled up its translation device and walked back to its exosuit. Mbali stood in place and watched the vessel take off and slide into the blue.
"Mbali?" Helga said in her earpiece. "Are you alright?"
Mbali relaxed her muscles. "Yes I am. But I think the translation program needs some fine-tuning," she said, and sat into a stone bowl. She rested her hands behind her, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. Then she stood again and looked at her hands. They were blistered by heat. She threw her head back and laughed.