“No! I will not be silent! They say they are here to investigate, as if they are the police and we are criminals. I say they have no authority here and no crime has been committed.”
“Simeon!” said Dr. Sen, tugging the bigger man’s arm. He bent close to Fouchard and spoke quietly, but Rob could hear what he said. “I do not like this situation any more than you do, but getting angry and starting confrontations like this will not make things any better.”
“Pah! You are too accomodating, Vikram. Remember what planet you come from.” He stomped away, muttering in French. Sen turned back to the aliens. “I do hope you will pardon Dr. Fouchard’s outburst just now. He is understandably upset about what is going on.”
“I do not understand what angers him,” said Gishora. “Well, I think it is simply that he objects to being investigated. I am preparing a report on Dr. Kerlerec’s death and the events leading up to it, and let me assure you that it will be entirely truthful and accurate. This desire of yours to conduct your own inquiry implies that you don’t believe we will tell the truth. Among humans that is an insult.”
“I understand,” said Gishora. “And I apologize if we give offense. But I fear I must continue with my assignment. I must speak privately with Tizhos now, and then we would like to question the witness of the event.”
Four
Broadtail wakes in a hallway of Longpincer’s house. He recalls dragging himself inside and dozing off from the effort. There is a good flavor in the water, and he follows it to the dining room, where Longpincer and the work crew are having a whole young towfin.
“I am pleased that you can join us,” says Longpincer. “I remember finding you passed out in the hall and thinking perhaps to have some apprentices carry you to a room.”
“I’m sorry,” says Broadtail. “It is a long swim here from Continuous Abundance.”
“Well, tear off some,” says Longpincer. “There’s plenty for all. I may work my people like a coldwater schoolmaster, but nobody leaves Bitterwater hungry.”
“May I ask the purpose of that curious machine I remember you installing at my arrival? Is it some kind of circulator?”
“The principles are similar, but this device measures flow. I remember discovering the idea in a piece by Longlegs, quoting some ancient writings of the Cold Rift ruins. The flow through the pipe turns in the circulator blades, but the axle is attached to a bundle of ropevine secured to a block. So the turning circulator winds up the ropevine until the force of the flow cannot overcome the resis tance of the bundled cords. A rod inserted into the bundle near the block shows how much the bundle is twisted, and thus how strong the flow is.”
“Remarkable!”
“I plan to install them in all my pipes, and then adjust the pipe size accordingly. My hope is to reduce leakage and overflow. Already it reveals inefficiencies.”
“I remember a landowner back in Continuous Abundance who wishes to apportion flow rights more accurately. This is exactly what she would need!” Then Broadtail remembers that he can’t go back to Continuous Abundance and falls silent.
Longpincer tactfully changes the subject. “Do you remember the four-limbed creature? The one full of hot bubbles?”
“Of course. I can’t recall finding anything stranger in my life.”
“My studies of it reveal many curious features. I suspect the outer hide may actually be an artificial covering. Parts of it come apart into distinct fibers like woven cloth.”
“Artificial? But who could make such a thing, and why put it on a weird creature like that?”
“I remember wondering the same things. And now I have an idea: you can go and find their origin.”
“Me?”
“It all fits together perfectly. In your—situation—you must avoid towns and settled places, but in the cold waters you are the equal of anyone.”
“Where there is no law, it doesn’t matter that I am an outlaw?”
“Exactly! There are other reasons, as well. You know as much about these strange creatures as anyone else in the Bitterwater Company. Unlike some of the other scientists, you are strong and fit.”
“And I have nothing else to do. I hear you, Longpincer, and I think it is a splendid idea. If you are willing to supply an expedition, I am willing to lead it.”
“Excellent! I propose meeting to make plans after we finish eating and sleep.”
The humans assigned them two rooms, putting each Sholen in a separate container in their orderly way. Tizhos and Gishora didn’t even have to discuss changing their living arrangements. One chamber became a workroom, where they could gather information and look at rec ords. The other became their bedroom, where the two of them could curl up sociably to rest and bond with each other.
The two Sholen could easily see that the humans wanted them to finish quickly and leave, so Tizhos didn’t have a lot of time to study their findings about Ilmatar. She skimmed through all their data to see if there was any evidence of contact.
What Tizhos saw seemed tantalizingly incomplete. There were sound recordings of the Ilmatarans, made using drones, and a few blurry long-range video images. The humans did have a large selection of Ilmataran artifacts recovered from abandoned settlements. But Tizhos could only look over the catalog of items and glance at images. She could only hope to find an opportunity to actually see and touch some of the artifacts herself.
They interviewed the only survivor of the Kerlerec incident a day after arriving at Hitode. The others called him Rob Freeman, and he narrated the whole event, from the time the dead human recruited him to the journey back from the vent.
Tizhos found the story fascinating, and pressed the human for details about the Ilmatarans and what they had done to the dead human. “Tell me what purpose you think they intended to accomplish,” she asked him.
“Purpose? They were killing him.”
“The method seems overly elaborate. Explain why they would carry him to a shelter, hold him captive for nearly an hour, and then kill him before a large gathering. Tell me if you recognize a ritual purpose, perhaps.”
“Uh, I’m not really much of a xenologist.”
“Tell me if you have observed this kind of behavior before.” Gishora let her question him about the Ilmatarans for a time before interrupting. “Tizhos, I fear this adds nothing to what we wish to learn. Save your questions for one more knowledgeable.” He switched back to the human language. “Explain again why you and Henri Kerlerec wished to approach the native beings.”
The human expelled air loudly before speaking. “Henri wanted to get some cool video of the Ilmatarans to show the folks back home. That’s what he does. Used to do.”
“We would like you to tell us who would have access to this information on Earth.”
“Geez, pretty much everybody. I mean, I guess some obscure tribe in the Amazon without net access might have to wait for print media, but everyone else could see it. That’s how Henri made his living, you know. Go to strange places, film strange stuff, go home and talk about it.”
“Tell me what persons other than Henri Kerlerec would gain benefit from the data you and he collected,” asked Gishora.
The human touched his fingers as he spoke. “Whoever his publishers are back on Earth, and the net services, and the science journals, and everyone interested in Ilmatar, and the guys who make alien action figures, and all the comparative biochemists, and I guess the space agencies and their contractors. And probably a couple of million other people I’m forgetting.”
“I want to know if this means there was a large economic interest in Henri Kerlerec’s activities.”