Kibi sat on the soft floor of the dimly-lit room, toweling her hair dry.
“That was fun! Exhausting, but fun.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Memsala said from nearby. “What did you learn?”
“Um . . . lots of things. That swimming in warm water is really . . . more than fun . . . deeply satisfying. Where I come from, all the water is bitter cold, except little hot springs.”
Memsala nodded her head, a barely-seen silhouette.
“And . . . I was amazed how little I needed to breathe. For a while I thought I was going to die, then the buzzing in my head went away, and eight seconds at each air pocket was plenty.”
“What did you sense around you?”
“Fish!” Kibi chuckled. “Mostly avoiding me, of course. Some of the underwater plants tickled. I saw four or five dolphin types, two beavers, and one ursine. Oh, yeah, two monkey mammals. They’re on my crew.”
“You missed the most important thing . . . or didn’t recognize it.”
Kibi let the towel drape over her slender shoulders and searched her mind.
“I . . . can’t think of anything else.”
“Did you taste the water?”
Kibi laughed. “More than I wanted to!”
Memsala made a deep sound that might have been a chuckle. “Did it all taste the same?”
Kibi concentrated on the question. “I think . . . wait. There was one place
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 109
. . . near that jumble of rocks that aren’t really rocks . . . I have a vague memory that the water seemed a little . . . off.”
“Off?”
Kibi scrunched her face to try to remember. “Almost like . . . the smell of fear. Can you taste fear underwater?”
Memsala’s shadow nodded. “A small marine mammal, newly arrived on the station, was lost and afraid, hiding in the rocks.”
Kibi frowned with guilt. “I’m sorry! Is it okay now?”
“Yes. I sent a message, and a member of its crew came. How is it that you sensed the fear, in a place where there is rarely any fear, and didn’t respond?”
Kibi hugged her knees and buried her face for a long moment. “I . . . I guess I was thinking about Mati. She was in surgery all day.”
“How much of the time were you thinking about Mati?”
“I don’t know, maybe . . . half the time.”
“So, dwelling upon someone who was surrounded by all the care she needed, caused you to miss someone alone and in distress.”
Kibi started crying silently.
“I know this moment is painful, my dear Kibi. To learn humility, we must be humiliated, over and over again. There’s no shortcut.”
Kibi tried to speak, but her throat had trouble forming the words. “. . .
better . . . next time.”
“Breathe and center.”
Kibi tried to collect herself by sitting up straight and steadying her breath.
“Let me ask you a question. While you’re on duty as steward, do you spend half your time and attention checking the levels in your water tanks?”
Kibi tried to laugh, but only a cough came out. “Impossible! I have about a hundred things I have to keep my eyes on.”
“By choosing Psychic Development, you have set foot on the path to becoming, in a sense, a steward of Nebador. Now you have a million things to keep your eyes on, not to mention your ears, nose, tongue, and intuition.”
Kibi wiped the tears from her face with the towel. “I . . . don’t suppose . . .
I get a checklist . . .”
Memsala made her deep laughing sound again. “No. You have left that level of simplicity behind. However, your mind is quite capable of scanning
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 110
the universe around you for those things that need your attention. Ilika Imni does it. Toran Takil leads some of the most challenging missions that flesh and blood creatures can handle.”
Kibi breathed slowly, holding back a nearly-dizzy feeling as she pondered the huge responsibilities she had taken on by stepping onto Ilika’s ship, and then into the Psychic Development program at Satamia Star Station.
Memsala pulled her head back into her shell and slipped into the shallow pool beside her.
Deep Learning Notes
“To learn humility, we must be humiliated, over and over again. There’s no shortcut.” This is almost a direct quote from Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Normally, we tend to think “humility” is good, but “humiliation” is bad.
Mother Teresa reminded us that you can’t achieve the goal without going through the learning process. She began her religious life at age twelve.
Pilots learn to “scan” the airspace around them, their instruments, and the condition of their aircraft, constantly looking for anything that needs their attention. The earlier they notice, the more time they have to fix it. Most of you will not become pilots, but you will become drivers, which is the same thing. You will have the choice of learning to scan, with eyes, ears, nose, and mind, or becoming the kind of driver the rest of us hope will hurry along to your next accident, far away from us!
Checklists are nice when you have lots of time, and pilots use them for pre-flight inspections and start-up procedures. But once you are flying (or driving), checklists get in the way, and you just have to memorize and internalize the many thing you must watch for to arrive safely at your destination.
NEBADOR Book Six: Star Station 111
