Ilika didn’t want to start ordering supplies for the ship without his steward, so he had a leisurely mid-day meal with Boro and Sata, and showed them some new parts of the star station. They were just stepping out of the museum, after looking at the last crystal cluster Sarto found twenty thousand years before, when Kibi skidded to a stop in front of them. “Sorry I’m late.”
“We didn’t set an exact time,” Ilika reassured. “If I need you on-duty, your bracelet will scream at you.”
Kibi grinned as they headed for dock D-Eleven hand in hand.
On the last ramp down to the docking area, Sata noticed Kibi touching and working sore muscles. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“No, just wrestling.”
“With what?” Boro asked. “A mountain lion?”
A shadow passed over Kibi’s face and she was silent for a long moment.
Eventually she cracked a little smile. “Just a very strong reptile.”
Ilika sensed that this was the area of Kibi’s life to avoid asking about.
As soon as they stepped onto the ship, Boro grabbed a knowledge pad. “I know what I want!”
“Let me guess . . .” Kibi began with a smile. “Pinkfruit juice.”
Boro grinned. “Pinkfruit juice for Manessa. In other words, liquid number five, space thruster fuel!”
“You could fill that little tank on supply line fifteen,” Ilika suggested.
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Boro nodded. “Manessa’s secret fuel stash! Would you like that, Manessa?”
“It’s not very useful empty.”
The four humans laughed.
“Want to help me, Sata?” Kibi asked. “We need everything.”
“Sure. I just need a roll of paper for the chart printer, and it’s already on my list.”
The two girls took knowledge pads into the galley, and Ilika went down the lift with Boro. The captain wanted to make sure his excited engineer didn’t start stashing fuel canisters under the beds.
An hour later, with Ilika’s help, Boro had a shopping list of fuel, a few other chemicals, and some power cells for the portable instruments.
When Ilika sat down with Kibi’s shopping list, he immediately spotted a problem. “What are you going to feed avians, reptiles, and insects?”
Kibi grinned sheepishly. “Forgot about them.”
Sata raised her hand. “I think I can make a list for the birds!”
“Go for it,” the steward said, handing her a knowledge pad.
Ilika worked with Kibi, and they soon added preserved grubs and other things that Kibi had mistaken for cleaning supplies. The captain looked over the finished lists, marked them low-priority, and transmitted it all to the supply room. “It will be here in an hour or two. We can get stuff quicker in an emergency.”
“That’s all we have to do?” Sata asked with wide eyes. “All that stuff will just appear?”
“On a cargo pallet, in the waiting room. Then we have to put it away.”
Just then Kibi’s bracelet chimed. “Uh oh, class.” She looked at Ilika with a guilty expression.
“Go. Sata and I can handle the food, and I’m sure Boro wants to personally stow each canister of fuel.”
The engineer grinned and nodded.
Kibi slid her arms around Ilika’s neck and kissed him tenderly. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Yep,” Ilika said. “You’re in command of the next mission.”
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After a moment of thought, she licked him on the neck and dashed through the hatch.
Ilika, Sata, and Boro got a light meal at a quiet little place that served fruits and vegetables, then returned to the waiting room of dock D-Eleven. For some reason, the supplies were late, not arriving until just after Kibi returned from her class.
“That’s weird,” Boro mumbled. “It’s like someone’s watching us.”
Ilika smiled. “Things like that happen all the time in Nebador.”
The two girls looked at the huge stack of supplies. Not even Sata had ever seen so much food in one place. She and Kibi danced around the pallet, grinning from ear to ear, as Boro clapped for them and tapped one foot.
Ilika stood watching and smiling. The small ursine who had delivered the pallet just shook his head.
Deep Learning Notes
You probably know enough about Nebador now to guess why the pallet of supplies didn’t arrive until Kibi got out of her class. If you were in that situation, would it be comforting, or would it be frightening, to know that events surrounding you were being manipulated for some purpose that you might not even understand?
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Chapter 15: Evening on Satamia Star Station A couple of hours later, every fuel rack on the Manessa Kwi was loaded to capacity, and the galley, storage closet, and utility room were bulging with food and other supplies. Boro and Kibi both looked very proud.
Ilika’s bracelet chimed.
“Want to have dinner with us?” Rini’s voice inquired. “We have wonderful news!”
Ilika looked at the others, and they all nodded.
The four wandered through the vast main hall of the star station, with its many levels of balconies, thick tree trunks, ramps, stairs, and pools. But they noticed a dramatic change. The light in the huge room was dim — the Satamia sun had recently slipped below floor level as the station slowly turned. Shafts of colored light occasionally flashed from devices on balcony rails, as if being tested. Some of the lights changed color, while others moved or flashed.
Most normal activity in the main hall seemed to have stopped, and those people who remained were busy cleaning or putting up decorations. Pallets of supplies floated out of tunnels and made their ways into the many kitchens on the edges of the big space. Cooks within were busy preparing food and drink, but didn’t yet have any customers. A many-legged insect on a balcony tested
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his musical instrument, filling the hall with a flurry of pure tones for a moment.
Kibi stopped in her tracks, looked around, and grinned.
“What’s . . . going on?” Sata asked.
“Evening. Party time. Don’t worry, it won’t get started for an hour or so, plenty of time for us to eat with Mati and Rini.”
“But . . .” Boro began with a frown, “we came through at about the same time yesterday, and nothing like this was going on . . .”
“That was yesterday based on Manessa’s clock, set to your planet’s rotation and occasionally modified by Kibi. A day on the star station is about five times as long.”
Kibi seemed lost in wonder, but somehow found her words. “Can we . . .
go to it?”
“Of course, as long as we remember that this is Nebador, and the Mission Assignment Room, or your teachers, Kibi, can call at any time.”
Kibi nodded, but her mind was elsewhere, up in the balconies with the colored lights, glittery streamers, and musical instruments.
Sata grabbed her hand and pulled her along to catch up with Ilika and Boro.
Rini and Mati knew nothing of the preparations in the main hall, and listened eagerly. The dinner cart arrived, and Mati proudly explained which dipping sauce was best with the steamed frogs. Bowls of vegetables and fruits rounded out the meal, and Rini even had a small cup of grubs. After eating a few, he passed the cup around, but it returned to him with the same number of grubs. He laughed.
“This is my last meal before . . . you know what,” Mati announced, pulling a frog apart on her plate. “I don’t get any breakfast, and K’stimla says the surgery will take most of the day.”
“But she’ll get nutrition right into her blood,” Rini explained as he took some vegetables, “and I’ll be with her the whole time. We already met the glowing purple guy . . . person . . . being . . . who will link our minds, and he
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said . . .”
“I thought it was a she,” Mati asserted.
“Yeah, could be. She said part of the link would remain for the rest of our lives.”
Mati smiled with pride. “He also mentioned that the link would be strong for several days, and that would help with my recovery.”
“Are you each doing this of your own free will?” Ilika inquired.
The couple looked at each other and nodded.
Rini turned back to Ilika. “A really serious-looking spider came by to make sure we knew all the risks, and recorded our answers with his knowledge pad.”
Everyone enjoyed their food in silence for a minute.
“You know,” Mati began without quite looking at Rini, “you could go out and enjoy the party. I’m the one getting ready for surgery . . .”
Rini scraped the meat off a frog’s leg with his teeth. “Nope. I go through that door when you do . . . on two feet, both of us. Wanna watch a video?”
Mati rolled her eyes, but was smiling with happiness.
When the four active members of Manessa’s crew returned to the main hall, preparations for the party were just about complete. A group of reptiles played bits of music to test their instruments, and trays of drinks and snacks lined many tables.
Kibi turned circles in wonder, remembering the simple pipes and drums that played under torchlight back in her kingdom.
“Ilika!” a deep human voice called from somewhere above them.
Ilika looked up. “Sorrano!”
The others could see a man with long brown hair, wearing a shimmering orange robe, leaning over the railing of the first balcony level.
“Can you help? Some wonderful avians are trying, but making monkey-mammal food really does need hands.”
“We’ll be right up!”
As the others followed Ilika to the nearest ramp, Sata explained that this
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was how things were done in Nebador. She strode into the kitchen, found it similar to the one she already knew, and pointed to the hand-washing sink.
The birds were relieved and gladly made way for the crew of monkey mammals. A tall yellow-haired lady, in a shimmering blue robe and apron, bowed and thanked them.
“I’m Rossilia,” she said, greeting the crew with a friendly smile and gesturing for them to gather around the assembly table. “I was hoping to make these little treats, until I learned there were hardly any humans on the station. Ilika, you’ve made these before.”
“Years
ago.”
“A sheet of dried seaweed, a layer of sticky rice, then strips of veggies and fish. Roll them up and slice into single bites. Easy . . . if you have hands.”
The crew went to work while Rossilia attempted to fix the ones made by the birds. “Each roll can be a little different.”
While they worked, Sorrano sliced fish and chatted with Ilika. The three had worked on a ship together when Ilika was quite young. “I had a hunch you’d become a captain someday,” Sorrano said. “You always liked seeing the bigger picture. I never got over being space-sick half the time, so I decided to stick to star and planet stations.”
“He likes flying,” Rossilia revealed, “but only by shuttle or fanator so he can see the ground.”
“I’ve flown on a fanator!” Sata boasted. “I only screamed a little . . .” she continued more humbly.
Ilika looked at Kibi, busy holding in a smile.
“It’s required for my training,” she revealed, “and anything else I’m uncomfortable with.”
“Oh!” Sorrano began, “you must be in the Psychic Development program!”
Kibi nodded. “What do you know about it?”
“Not much. I flunked out after a week. It’s not required for citizenship, only if you want to walk and talk with Kerloran and such during the toughest missions.”
Kibi
swallowed.
“I’m just a supply clerk, power cell technician, and occasional cook,”
Sorrano continued. “I helped make up your pallet today. Your cupboards
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must have been bare — I thought I was stocking a transport ship!”
Kibi grinned and nodded as she took the last piece of fish.
“And he’s a very good singer!” Rossilia added. “He’s on the schedule tonight.”
Ilika smiled as he sliced his last fish and vegetable roll. “That’ll be a treat!
I’ve always envied your rich, deep voice.”
Sorrano brushed off the compliment with a jerk of his head as he cleaned up the pile of fish bones. “The party’s about to begin. Let’s get these goodies out there!”
As Kibi helped carry trays of food and drink to the serving tables, she fell in beside Ilika. “Have you done the Psychic Development training?”
He nodded. “It’s required to be a captain.”
In that moment, while carrying a tray of party food, Kibi became absolutely sure that she was going to go all the way through the program, and someday be Toran Takil’s equal on all the hardest missions . . . and Ilika’s faithful lover.
The music had just begun when Ilika and his partial crew descended to the main floor. On a landing above the largest pool, a spider worked a keyboard with most of his legs, while a lizard held an instrument that produced tonal sweeps. On another landing, a monkey with a long tail perched before a console that controlled a hundred dancing, flashing, changing lights, all coordinated to the music.
Several birds were already on the dance floor, hopping from foot to foot, or spreading wings upward and turning circles.
Kibi looked at Ilika. “I can just . . . go out there and dance?”
“That’s the idea. Just don’t step on anyone!”
As eager as she was, Kibi started slowly, watching those around her to see what they were doing, and being very careful where she put her feet. Deep down inside, she knew she was born to dance, but her only opportunity so far had been on the Manessa Kwi when off-duty. She was just figuring out how to move to the piece played by the spider and reptile when her bracelet chimed.
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Sit, until I release you. Memsala.
Kibi’s face fell and she stood motionless on the dance floor, fighting with her feelings. Ilika noticed, stopped dancing, and stood near. After more than a minute, she sighed and dragged herself to a couch in a dimly-lit area off to one side.
To her surprise, Ilika plopped down beside her.
“You don’t have to stop dancing,” she said with a hurt tone, wearing a pout. “Your bracelet didn’t chime.”
Ilika smiled. “I bet the message didn’t say anything about eating, drinking, snuggling, or kissing!”
Kibi struggled with herself for a long moment. “Thanks.”
“What are lovers for?”
They shared a long kiss while a quartet of furry apes began a new song with smooth horns and deep-toned strings.
“You . . . um . . . deserve to know about something,” Kibi began with obvious difficulty once their lips parted.
Ilika nodded slightly and took her hands in his.
“I . . . almost made a huge mistake recently with . . . another male . . .”
“Oh, Toran Takil?”
Kibi’s mouth opened in surprise, but she managed to nod slightly. “How did you know?”
“When you licked me on the neck, I guessed. That’s sort of his trademark.
And if you’d met him, but hadn’t felt his magnetic qualities, you’d be about the only female, of any species, who could make that claim. Even some of the males . . .”
Kibi burst out snickering, and Ilika joined her. With that load of guilt off her chest, she felt much better. Still, she really wanted to dance, and kept twisting this way and that to see what the other dancers were doing.
Eventually she swiveled around to see what was behind her. She hadn’t realized it until then, but the couch was not far from the medical center.
Silhouetted behind the glass doors, she could see two small human figures holding hands, one leaning on a crutch.
Somehow, that helped her to relax.
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Sata felt for Kibi, but knew it was Ilika’s place to comfort her. She continued to hold hands with Boro, and even though she had never danced in her life, she felt drawn to the dance floor. As she watched the other dancers, she realized that few of them had any dancing skill. They were just prancing, hopping, or swaying to the music, each type of creature in a different way.
Occasionally someone with real skill would take to the floor, and others would give them room and watch. Most often it was a large bird with vivid green and blue feathers, or one of the reptiles that walked on two legs. The monkeys with tails could prance up a storm, but not very gracefully.
Sata tried to nudge Boro toward the dance floor, but became aware that he was trying to nudge her toward the food and drink. They both stopped and looked at each other with embarrassed smiles.
“How about . . .”
“Yeah, maybe . . .”
“Uh
huh.”
“You
first?”
“No,
you.”
“Um,
okay.”
Sata guided Boro onto the edge of the dance floor, in a little-used area, far from any of the fancy dancers. She started moving her feet to the music. The only other dancers nearby, a pair of clumsy birds, continued hopping from one foot to the other while nuzzling each other with their beaks, and paid no attention to the new arrivals.
Boro tried shuffling his feet, but quickly became embarrassed. “I’m terrible . . .”
“Me too,” Sata assured him. “Remember, we always have to keep learning.”
Suddenly Boro remembered something Glorm said. To be a docking controller, you had to juggle and dance. Boro started moving his feet again, and thought he might have almost found the rhythm of the song just before it ended.
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Sata offered her hand, and together they headed for the snack tables.
Boro realized with surprise that he was looking forward to the next song, and hoped he could get his feet moving to its beat.
With the help of a neck massage from Ilika, Kibi began to relax on the couch and accept the situation. “I guess . . . I was sort of all full of myself when I started dancing, thinking I was going to go out there and impress everyone. Now . . . watching the brightly-colored birds, and those fast-footed lizards . . . how do they always know our weaknesses?”
“Who?”
“You know, the people in charge, and my new teachers.”
Ilika chuckled. “They can see right through us, my friend. It used to bug me too. Where I grew up, just like on your planet, no one knew or cared what anyone else was thinking or feeling.”
As the entire main hall had become quiet, both Ilika and Kibi fell silent and looked around. All the dancers were finding places to sit, perch, or hang.
The previous musicians put away their instruments, and a group of six rather large reptiles were setting up big drums on part of the dance floor.
“Oh, I know!” Ilika let slip.
“What?”
“You’ll see. If he’s gonna sing what I think he is, you’ll see more than a thousand Nebador citizens nearly moved to tears. There are few songs that deeply touch all the different sapient species. If my hunch is right, this is one of them.”
“Who!” Kibi demanded.
“Sorrano.”
At that moment, the first drummer, the smallest of the six reptiles, began to beat a simple rhythm. Half a minute later, he was joined by another drummer, creating a richer sound, and soon a third added emphasis every fourth beat.
Birds and reptiles all around the dance floor sighed with anticipation.
The next drummer began a complex rhythm on several smaller drums, and
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the fifth drummer added a similar, but slightly different, rhythm that seemed to balance the first.
“There he is,” Ilika whispered as a spotlight lit up a small landing about halfway between the main floor and the clear crystal ceiling. Sorrano stepped into the light, breathing slowly and deeply.
The last drummer finally added the deepest and loudest sound of all on a drum more than a meter across. The leaves of the great star station tree began to quiver, and the floor seemed alive with vibrations.
Suddenly the deepest drum stopped, its player silencing it instantly with his claws. At the same moment, Sorrano sang out in a deep, clear voice, creating an image of fire and flames in every listener’s mind.
Five of the drums continued their simple or complex rhythms, and the largest resumed when Sorrano ended a verse. Kibi felt her heart beating in time to the drums, and wondered if everyone experienced the same thing.
A few of the most nimble dancers took to the floor, flailing wings or arms in wild expression to match the fury of the music.
The deep drum again ceased and Sorrano began a new verse, bending the theme into the fire of passion and love. Howls rose up. Arms, tails, and wings reached for companions, and the dances became slower and more sensuous.
The deep drum took over again, letting Sorrano breathe and recover. The other drums held their steady rhythm. The six drums were as masters, and every creature’s heart was enslaved.
With a slightly softer voice, Sorrano altered the theme once more, pulling it to the fire of the mind, the search for truth and meaning, and the love of justice and wisdom. The dancers and listeners responded, the lighting changed colors, and the entire mood of the star station shifted.
Kibi’s eyes sparkled and she grinned, letting the music take her emotions along on the journey.
Again the largest drum returned, and the deepest passions of the dancers resumed.
Suddenly all the drums but one fell silent, the dancers froze, and Sorrano sang of the subtle fire of the spirit. The entire room of more than a thousand sapient creatures was so enthralled, and so quiet, that Sorrano’s voice filled the room, perhaps the entire station, with ease.
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When he completed the last verse, he bowed, all the drums resumed, and nearly everyone jumped onto the dance floor.
Ilika felt Kibi start to spring, then catch herself. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, the only thing she could do to express the deep emotions created inside her by the beautiful music of another of her kind, a simple monkey mammal.
Boro had no trouble finding the rhythm of the six drums as soon as Sorrano’s song ended and Sata pulled him onto the dance floor. Once his feet were loosened up and moving on their own, he had time to look around at the other dancers. A green reptile caught his eye, moving slowly to the drumbeats, its strong and supple back curving this way and that like a snake.
Boro began to experiment with his own back, and found it not nearly as flexible and expressive as the reptile’s long spine. But a thought came to him, and he added his arms, sometimes over his head, sometimes out in front, and discovered they gave him the extra length he needed to fully move to the music.
The only thing he still might wish for was a tail. No, he decided, he could do without that.
Sata didn’t find much inspiration in the lizards dancing nearby, but could glimpse a trio of shimmering blue avians whose motions would have been beautiful even if their feathers were not. Her arms also began to move over her head, out to one side or the other, or in front as she ducked her head to mimic the graceful motions of the birds. She was not extending her spine, as Boro, but creating wings that reached for the crystal ceiling, or spread out as if to take flight.
Suddenly both Boro and Sata became embarrassed at the same moment.
About a dozen other creatures had gathered around to watch the two graceful monkey mammals dance.
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The reptilian drummers bowed and carried away their drums. The changing lights revealed a quartet — an ursine playing small drums, a green mantis with a complex stringed instrument, and two avians with keyboards.
They began a slow, sensuous song that had most of the dancers swaying in twos or threes.
Kibi sat on her couch, swaying while holding hands with Ilika, completely lost in the flowing music as if carried along by warm water.
The song ended and dancers entered or left the floor. A lively tune began, carried by the keyboards and supported by the quick paws of the bear at his drums.
Kibi was completely happy, still sitting on the couch but moving her body to the rhythm and melody. Her bracelet chimed.
Last song. Dance with all your heart! Memsala.
Kibi looked at Ilika.
He grinned at her, hopped up, and motioned toward the dance floor.
She was quickly on her feet, pranced in place for a moment to loosen her muscles, then followed Ilika to a clear space.
As Kibi found the rhythm with her feet, and began to express the feelings of the music with her arms and hands, she realized something. At the beginning of the dance, she didn’t know what it meant to dance with other Nebador people on a star station. Now she was beginning to understand.
She wondered how Memsala knew.
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Deep Learning Notes
The usual human method of being in charge of a large organization is to attempt to mold it, using political, economic, or brute-force power, into the form we want it to take. Beings of greater wisdom would, the author believes, be more accepting of the natures of those who worked for them. The need for play seems to be greater the closer a creature is to sapience. The original artwork on the cover is a glimpse of the evening party on Satamia Star Station.
The dipping sauce for the frogs’ legs is symbolic once again (see chapter 10).
At this point in Mati’s journey, what does it represent?
Rini’s and Mati’s different opinions on the gender of the glowing purple being could have been a point of friction in their relationship. What did they do with the issue instead?
Why was Mati happy that Rini refused to go to the party?
A sheet of dried seaweed, a layer of sticky rice, then strips of veggies and fish
— what are they making?
If you had two people telling you about an educational program, one who had complete it and one who had dropped out, would it affect your decision that only one of them was your “kind”?
How was Kibi’s “load of guilt” about Toran Takil changed when she learned that nearly every female, and some males, responded to him the same way?
Although it’s a taboo subject in many cultures, sexual relationships across species have always existed, both with humans, and among many non-human animals. These relationships are non-fertile, by definition, because “species”
are defined as those creatures who are similar enough to engage in successful reproduction together. The wolf and the dog, for example, can reproduce together. The cat and the dog cannot. Some creatures blur the species-line,
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such as the horse and the donkey, who can mate and give birth to a healthy animal, the mule, that is not, itself, capable of reproduction.
All humans currently alive on Earth are the same species, Homo sapiens, and are capable of reproduction together. Also, we know from the fossil records that human varieties who have died out as a distinct group, such as Neanderthal Man, were also the same species, did at least occasionally mate with other human varieties, and their traits are now part of our genetic heritage.
Why did it help Kibi to relax when she saw Rini and Mati in the medical center?
How did Glorm, the docking controller, help Boro learn to dance?
In your experience, is a teacher better or worse when they can “see right through you”? Are other qualities about the teacher important in how you might experience this?
Many of our musical and literary themes would probably not be moving to people of another species. What quality did the themes of Sorrano’s song have that allowed them to touch everyone in the room?
Our arms are probably the most expressive parts of our bodies when dancing, and therefore much effort goes into learning to use them in most dance traditions. Anyone who has taken ballet lessons has spent long hours practicing “port du bras.”
What two factors caused Memsala to release Kibi when she did?
