“That looks good,” the spider declared, dangling from his own thread.
“Let’s go lower,” he directed as he played out more silk.
Kibi glanced down at the floor of Blue Hall, twenty meters or more below, then closed her eyes to steady her stomach and nerves. Soon she heard and felt wing beats very close.
“You okay, Kibi?” the large bird asked, hovering nearby.
She forced her eyes open. “Yeah. As good as a monkey mammal can ever be, high in a tree.”
“Your ancestors lived in trees, swinging from branch to branch.”
“That was when we had tails! You want this basket of trimmings?”
“Yes, please, unless you want to eat it for lunch. They’re very tasty.”
“No thanks,” she replied, pressing the release symbol as soon as the bird had his beak on the handle. “Already tried them, at Drrrim-na’s suggestion, don’t know why you like them.”
The bird made a laughing sound in his throat as he backed away, then tucked his wings to dive toward the floor far below.
Kibi looked down, saw the spider waiting for her four meters lower, and wrapped her fingers around the rope controls. As she slid down to the next tangle of leaves and vines that needed trimming, she noticed unusual activity below.
An orange reptile dashed on all fours across the hall, looked around, and quickly disappeared behind a trunk of the station tree.
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Three small bears ran into the hall and turned circles, clearly looking for something.
Kibi looked at the spider. “Should we help them? It looked like one of the homeless reptiles, and I saw where it went.”
The spider looked back with hundreds of eyes. “Do you know the reptile is dangerous, and the ursines are doing the right thing?”
“Um . . . no . . . I just thought . . . I don’t know . . .”
“Because it was one reptile and three ursines?” the spider asked pointedly.
“Majority rules?”
Kibi looked embarrassed. “Is that . . . one of those monkey-mammal bad habits?”
The spider nodded. “However, you’re probably right, in this case.” He scanned the room again. Two young monkeys had joined the small bears, and four little birds landed soon after and began talking with the other five. “It looks like the children are taking care of it. If we’re needed, we’ll be called.
Let’s trim this tree.”
A bird arrived with a basket, Kibi clipped it to her line, and pulled a pruning tool from her vest.
Rini was spraying dirty dishes when a reptilian claw suddenly reached into the dishwashing room and grabbed a piece of food someone had left on a plate. Rini blinked in surprise, but his jaw dropped when a half-dozen young birds swooped into the room and swarmed around the fleeing reptile, who dove under a bench.
Still in his apron, Rini dashed out of the dishwashing room, ran to the bench, and jumped on top. “Stop it! He’s alone and afraid!”
The birds settled onto the floor and ducked their heads in shame.
At that moment, a deep-green glow began to form nearby, took on more substance as seconds passed, and quickly became a green reptile with leaves twined around his head and neck.
Rini had never seen this exact shape before, but somehow knew who it was, and had a good idea why he was taking the form of a reptile. “Kerloran
. . .” he whispered.
Thank you, Rini, the master of Satamia Star Station said directly to Rini’s
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mind. They are young, lacking in wisdom, and hopefully will remember what you just taught them. I will take this poor fellow back to a place he understands.
Even before he finished communicating with Rini, the majestic green reptile gathered the trembling run-away into his arms and floated toward the simulated desert environment.
Boro and three fanators, with lots of help from others with time to spare, were coming to the end of scrubbing the blue-green floor of Cyan Hall, when a gray reptile burst from a corridor with three young ursines right on its tail.
Boro stood up to take in the situation, just as the bears succeeded in cornering the frightened lizard. He immediately saw the danger. “No! Be careful!”
Before anyone could heed his warning, a spiked tail flashed out, the bear children went flying, and blood splattered everywhere. Boro wasted no more time, ran and dove, and a second later had his strong arms and legs wrapped around the cornered creature. He felt his own skin pierced in several places by scales and horns, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
Boro could hear the fanators helping the injured ursines, but could see nothing, and didn’t dare allow the reptile to gain any distance and use its claws or tail.
The reptile tried to wiggle free, but had no success. After a long minute of effort, it began to relax.
Several minutes later, as Boro continued to hold the lizard tightly, he heard a voice in his mind. You’re very lucky that’s a female. The males are much stronger. Thank you, Boro, I’m ready to take her back now.
A green mist formed around them, and the reptile went completely limp.
Boro, with some hesitation, released his grip. The mist-enshrouded lizard floated away, and Boro found himself sitting on the floor in a small pool of something red. A moment later, a large spider arrived and opened a medical kit.
Sata and Mati sat nervously in the waiting room of the medical center, wondering why they had both been called in. They soon discovered why no
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one had time to talk to them.
A stream of injured creatures, of all kinds, began arriving — ursines and felines, avians and reptiles, monkeys and spiders. Both girls quickly noticed that most of the injured were children, but had no idea why.
A little later, four more stretchers came in the door. The first two held small bears with minor injuries. Both looked sad, but occasionally exchanged words with their attendants.
The third stretcher brought Mati and Sata to their feet. It came slowly, without urgency, a cloth covering the victim. From the shape, and an uncovered paw, they knew an ursine child was beyond help.
The next stretcher kept them on their feet.
Boro looked out from under a blanket, and when he saw them, quickly said, “I’m okay, just some little cuts and scrapes.”
When all four stretchers had passed into the medical center, Mati and Sata tried to relax, but had no hope that anyone would have time to see them, or even tell them why they were there.
Even before the stream of injured creatures were all treated, Ilika and Kibi received a call to a special meeting.
Melorania glowed a bright blue. I hope you are comfortable enough with Nebador now, Kibi, that I don’t need to bother with a material form.
Kibi swallowed, then nodded.
Many people were tested by the situation that arose today. Of the young ones that Kerloran asked to help, most of them learned some valuable lessons, and they all dealt with the death of one of their fellows.
Feelings twisted Kibi’s face for a long moment, but she eventually took several deep breaths. Ilika held her hand.
Rini and Boro helped, and even though they both responded well, they have much to learn about dealing with frightened, confused mortal creatures.
Ilika
nodded.
After a few days of healing, we must take your pilot and your navigator from you for a time. I have high hopes that both will survive the project, and return to you stronger and wiser.
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“I . . . hope so too,” Ilika whispered.
Melorania faded and disappeared.
Kibi squeezed Ilika’s hand. “What kind of . . . project . . . was she talking about?”
Ilika took a slow breath. “I’m . . . not sure.”
Deep Learning Notes
Some, but not all, of our possible ancestors were tree-dwellers. Others lived in the forest, but primarily on the forest floor or in low branches. Still others roamed the grasslands where few large trees grew, but even a stout bush could be a life-saver when a meat-eating predator came by. Even those of us who are least comfortable in trees, and struggle to pull ourselves onto the first branches, can make some use of our primate ancestry, whereas to hoofed animals like deer and goats, trees are completely useless.
Why would a human have a greater tendency to consider numbers (as in
“majority rules”), when evaluating a situation, than a spider?
What obvious information did Rini choose to NOT take into account when he protected the frightened reptile from the pursuing birds?
What could have happened if Boro had tried to hold the reptile at arm’s length, instead of in a “bear hug”?
Why were Mati and Sata called to the medical center?
What do we learn about Melorania’s nature when she doesn’t “bother” to take on a material form when talking to Ilika and Kibi?
What kind of civilization would ask children to help with a dangerous situation that got one of them killed? Before you answer with a late-20th/early-21st century American/European value, it may be useful to
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stop and remember that in our human world, for most of our history, in most places, children were afforded no special protection, and the loss of a few here and there was of no concern to anyone but their parents.