"Our burrow is by a tree,” Gopher thought. “Our bearer lives in the tree. That is all."
"That is not all. You juveniles are not good at masking your thoughts.” The tortoise gazed sternly at Peba. “What were you thinking?"
"Nothing,” Peba thought, frightened; he did not have to pretend about that. “It is just a tree."
But at this point Cottontail, quite nervous about the nearness of so many formidable predators, was unable to suppress a thought. “It's a ghost tree."
"Ghosts,” the tortoise thought. “Things that appear but do not exist."
"No, the tree is solid,” Gopher thought quickly.
"I would not credit this notion,” the tortoise thought. “But we did see ghosts, and they were in the vicinity of this tree. But how can a tree make such images?"
"It can't,” Gopher thought. “It is just an ordinary tree."
But Owl, nervous under the steady gaze of the hawk, could not quite suppress a thought. “It's a most unusual tree. We were amazed."
"All of the ghosts were near this tree,” the tortoise repeated. “Several came from behind the tree, yet there is nothing there. It could be the tree."
Peba kept his real thought thoroughly hidden. The predators were doing it—fooling themselves. Just as Rowan had thought they would. Her experience in deception was proving out. It was amazing.
Suddenly the coyote, wildcat, and rattlesnake focused their thoughts on Indigo, who was relaxed, not guarding his mind tightly. It was obviously a rehearsed mental pounce, with considerable power, and it worked. Indigo's topmost thoughts were abruptly laid bare. “The tree likes us. It protects us. It scares intruders away.” Then, appalled, Indigo closed his mind.
"Yet a tree can have no mind of its own,” the tortoise thought. “A tree is not sapient. Who directs it to do this?"
"No one,” Gopher thought. But his thought lacked force.
"Let us make this straightforward,” the tortoise thought. Peba noticed that none of the predators had their minds open; they were leaving it all to their landlord. That was impressive discipline. “We have seen the ghosts. How much can this tree do?"
Gopher's resistance collapsed. His burrow was defeated, and he obviously knew it. “Anything we can imagine. We have gotten good at imagination."
"Make a fire."
Gopher sent a hopeless thought to the others, ignoring Rowan. “Join with me. Signal the tree. Make a fire."
And it was Rowan who unleashed her imagination, masked by the efforts of the burrow mates surrounding her. A ball of fire appeared before the tree. It dropped to the ground, igniting the dry leaves and grass. It spread rapidly, a line of it sweeping toward the predators.
But this time the predators were not spooked. They held their places as the fire approached, and as it passed through them without burning. It was seeming fire, without heat. It moved on, making the trees flare up, sending clouds of smoke into the sky.
The tortoise sent a thought to the predators. “Douse the fire."
They tried, but their massed thoughts had no effect. The fire spread through the forest, making torches of the trees. It was unstoppable.
The tortoise addressed Gopher. “Douse the fire."
"Douse the fire,” Gopher repeated to the burrow mates. They focused their thoughts—and the fire faded away.
"Make a flood,” the tortoise thought.
Gopher directed the burrow mates, and they imagined a flood. Water surged out of the burrow, washing across the ground, inundating the animals of both groups. All of them stayed put; the water had no substance. But it seemed real.
"Dry the flood,” the female tortoise thought to the predators. They tried, but again their thoughts had no effect.
"The tree obeys only us,” Gopher explained. “Because it knows us and likes us."
"In time it would come to know us."
"It remains attuned to us. We will not let you rest, if you take our burrow and territory."
Then a swarm of biting flies appeared. They zoomed in on the predators, stinging them. The stings were not real, but several predators flinched, not liking this.
"We will make your lives miserable,” Gopher thought. “You may displace us from our territory, but we can reach this tree mentally from far away."
The dragon appeared. It shot a jet of fire at the predators. They flinched again; the fire seemed too real.
"We will keep doing this,” Gopher thought. “Because we hate losing our burrow."
The tortoise considered. Then its bearer stood and walked away from the tree. The predators accompanied it.
The other burrow had given up. Thanks to Rowan's deceptive strategy.
Chapter 12
Burrow
Indigo had caught a fine rat, and was ready to settle for a week in the burrow to digest it, when a howdah approached. It was mounted on a grown human female, and carried an Elder Tortoise. This was unusual, for elders seldom traveled.
The other burrow mates were out foraging; Indigo was the only one near the burrow, guarding it until someone else came back. They always kept at least one mate near the burrow, because that established their occupancy. So Indigo remained by the entrance, awaiting the tortoise. This was obviously important business.
The human stopped. The tortoise gazed down from the platform. “Identity?” His mind was peremptory and powerful; he was definitely a creature of authority. Certainly in matters relating to tortoises, and to burrows, and thus Indigo himself, because he was a burrow mate. The Council of Tortoises was supreme in burrow matters.
"Indigo Snake, of this burrow.” He did not volunteer further thought; Elders of any species preferred to control dialogue.
"There has been a complaint made against this group."
Indigo could not restrain himself. “A complaint! How can that be? We have done nothing evil."
"The complaint is that a rogue band of squatters are occupying this territory, and using an alien animal to repel a legitimate burrow that wishes to take possession."
"A rogue band! We are a forming burrow, lacking only our sixth burrow mate before we petition for recognition."
"Precisely. You are not a formal burrow, so have no rights to this territory. You must give way to any recognized burrow that wishes to establish itself here. Such a burrow has petitioned the Council for justice, and custom requires that this be granted in three days if there is no refutation of the case."
Three days! This felt like doom. “And what is this about an alien animal?” But beneath his thought, Indigo had a sick suspicion what was meant.
"A juvenile human female with a frighteningly unstable mind. Any human who thinks aggressively at sapients is dangerous, and must be abolished. Its very presence would suffice to make your petition ineligible, even if you had a sixth mate."
This was disaster! Obviously the enemy burrow had caught on to Rowan's role, and was now striking against her. If she had to go, their burrow would have no defense against the predator burrow, and would lose its territory.
Indigo feared they were lost, just when they thought they had won. Evidently the others had not been fooled by the story of the tree, and had fathomed the true source of the illusions. Unable to get rid of Rowan directly, they were doing it legally. They would win, unless the home burrow came up with something outstanding.
What could they do? Indigo wished the others were here, to enhance their thinking together. But he was alone, with only his limited mind. How could he slither into a winning strategy?
He did something desperate: he groveled. “We mean no harm, Elder. We did not know we were in violation of a rule. We are just trying to become a burrow, and are almost there. The human girl was in trouble in her own realm, so we took her in as our bearer; she is no monster. She was just trying to help us. Please, Elder Tortoise: tell us our best course."
The tortoise considered, and for a moment Indigo thought he would not deign to answer. But then he did. “We are aware of your innocence in this matter, and un
derstand that the human is not a real threat to the existing order. We are obliged to follow established custom. A recognized burrow has precedence over an incomplete one, but normally does not seek to displace those who have developed a territory. Your best course is to send the alien human away, get a legitimate sixth mate, and petition for recognition as an established burrow. If you can accomplish this within three days, you will have tenure, and that will enable you to prevail."
"Thank you, Elder! We will try."
But the bearer was already walking away in response to the elder's directive. Indigo had the impression that the tortoise had given more advice than was necessary, but did not want this known. Maybe it would damage the impartiality for which the Council of Tortoises was known.
That evening they held a burrow meeting. Indigo shared the news of the legal challenge to their burrow, and the advice the elder had given. “So he has shown us a way, if we can manage it,” he concluded. “But it is not a way I like."
"So they weren't fooled,” Rowan thought, dejected. “You know, I thought I smelled skunk, but of course that was possible, since the skunk was there. But she never thought anything; she was silent. Now I think she was into my mind, while I was distracted making the illusions. We thought we were fooling them, but they were fooling us, distracting us while the skunk quietly read my mind."
"It did seem rather easy,” Gopher agreed. “They challenged us, and then went away."
"So we were suckered,” Rowan thought. “And instead of helping you, I hurt you, because my presence makes you ineligible to be a burrow. I'm really sorry about that. But I can fix it; I'll go back to my realm, so you can get your sixth burrow mate and hold your territory."
But Indigo felt her grief; she did not want to go. And they did not want her to go; they all liked her. “We must find another way,” he thought, and felt the general agreement.
"Yet the Elder told us to send her away,” Gopher thought. “And to get a sixth burrow mate. In only three days."
"If we can get a sixth mate,” Peba thought. “How can we do in three days what we haven't done in six months?"
"Even then, it isn't certain,” Owl thought glumly. “Why let her go, when we might lose the territory anyway? I'd rather keep her and look for new territory."
"No, I have to go,” Rowan thought. “I never meant to interfere with your burrow. You've done so much for me, it just isn't fair to cost you everything."
A strange idea was wriggling through Indigo's mind. Finally he caught it. “We have two problems. First, to keep Rowan. Second to get a sixth burrow mate. Can we combine them?"
"What are you thinking!” Rowan thought, astonished.
"They are mutually exclusive, unfortunately,” Cottontail thought. “Either the presence of the girl, or the lack of a mate, is enough to make us ineligible."
"But are they?” Indigo asked. “If we can qualify her as sapient and not dangerous, she might be acceptable. We know we want her; this would enable us to keep her. We must address this question: can she be made acceptable?"
They considered that. “I'll stay out of this,” Rowan thought tearfully. “But I thank you for even considering it."
"No human has ever been a burrow mate, anywhere,” Gopher thought.
"No human has ever been sapient, in this realm,” Indigo replied. “Now one is."
"But the Council of Tortoises would not accept a human,” Owl thought.
"They might reconsider, if they encountered a sapient one,” Indigo replied.
Gopher remained dubious. “We have very little time. We might qualify, if we follow the Elder's advice. We probably won't, if we don't."
"It is a gamble,” Peba agreed, drawing on one of the new concepts they had acquired from Rowan.
It was Cottontail who leaped to the conclusion they liked. “If we send her away, and get another mate, and are approved, we will never be really satisfied, for we'll never forget her. If we try to qualify Rowan, and fail, we won't be a recognized burrow, and we'll lose our territory, but we will still be together. I would rather lose that way than win the other way."
There was a pause. Then their minds coalesced. “Losing is winning,” Indigo thought. “We want Rowan more than we want our territory."
"And we just might win,” Owl thought.
"We will do it,” Gopher thought, for all of them.
"Oh thank you!” Rowan thought. “I could just hug and kiss you all!"
"Do not do that,” Owl thought hastily.
Rowan laughed, and they shared her mirth. It was another of her concepts they were learning and liking.
"Now we must be practical,” Peba thought. “Rowan will not qualify if she is seen as stupid. Neither will she succeed if she is seen as smarter than normal sapient animals. Or if she seems dangerously imaginative. The Council will be wary of her because of the predator burrow's complaint. We must show them that she is sapient and safe."
"This is difficult,” Rowan thought. “Because I'm not safe. It would be really bad if any more like me got into this realm."
"It would,” Gopher agreed.
"But I'm not sure your plan will work,” Rowan thought. “Because you want to satisfy the tortoises that I'm not smarter than other sapient animals. But I am smarter. I don't want to lie about it, not to the Council, and I don't think I could fool them anyway. They should accept or reject me as I am."
They considered that. None of them had been good at deception, and they now knew that their efforts had not worked before.
"But if you show your true mind to the Council, they will know, and the other animals will not like it,” Peba thought.
"Well, the raccoons know, and they aren't wary,” Rowan thought. “Maybe the Elder Tortoises will be satisfied to keep the secret too."
"I think they would,” Gopher agreed. “They don't specialize in secrets, but they need to know things in order to treat burrow matters fairly."
"They said they knew we were innocent, and that Rowan was not a threat,” Indigo reminded them. “So they may know more than they indicated."
"And they would not like it if we tried to deceive them,” Cottontail thought, leaping to another conclusion. “They may judge our case by the honesty with which we present it."
The others considered that, and agreed.
"We shall prepare our case for the first human burrow mate,” Gopher thought.
"And present it in two days,” Indigo thought. “So that if it is accepted, we are there first, and we have tenure, and can keep our territory."
After that, they scattered for the early evening hunting and foraging, all of them thinking about the matter. Rowan was pondering it too, as she harvested more vegetables from the fox's garden. They all knew that they had no certainty of success. The Council could decide either way, and probably against them. They had to make the best possible case, and hope that it was accepted.
Indigo, curling in his chamber to digest his meal, was uneasy. The predator burrow had shown itself to be smart and determined. It might not leave the matter up to the Council of Tortoises. It would of course argue against allowing a human to become a burrow mate. But would it leave it at that? What ugly surprise could it have, to make its victory certain? Indigo didn't know, but he planned to be alert.
In the morning they organized and set off. Rowan wore the bearer garb, and the howdah. Gopher and Cottontail rode the platform, not too big a weight for the girl to handle. Indigo and Owl traveled on their own. Peba remained at the burrow, to maintain possession, just in case a member of the predator burrow tried to move in during their absence.
They were traveling to the nearest Council station, one day's journey away. The Council of Tortoises governed burrow matters across the continent, but did not meet physically. Instead they met mentally, knowing each other well enough to establish a long distance network. So there would be only one Elder Tortoise there, but the full Council would decide.
Indigo was most familiar with the region near the council station,
so led the way. He knew where the dangers were, and routed around them, while Owl flew in great circles above, checking for anything that might be a problem.
"Beware,” Owl thought. “There's a panther in the area."
Indigo looped back and relayed the news to the howdah party. A panther was too big a predator to ignore; they would need to be ready to mind-stun it if it got an idea about going after the human girl. Normally the big cats left humans alone, because they worked for sapient animals, but this wasn't always the case.
"What is it hunting?” Rowan asked.
Owl checked. “A bear cub. It has the cub treed, and is making sure the mother bear isn't near before it climbs the tree to get the cub."
"A bear cub,” Rowan thought. “I know two cubs, from when I stayed in the bears’ cave. Could this be one of them?"
"It is the bears’ territory,” Owl thought. “It could be. Other bears would be unlikely to intrude."
"Then we'd better check, because those cubs are my friends and I don't want them killed."
Indigo suppressed his annoyance at this delay. The girl was loyal to the cubs, as she was to the burrow. He couldn't fault her for loyalty. They detoured to locate the cub.
Meanwhile Owl flew down to perch on a branch of the cub's tree. “Who are you?” he thought.
The cub was terrified. It was soon clear that he was one of the ones Rowan knew. He had gone exploring on his own while his mother and sister slept, and the panther had winded him and realized he was alone. He had made it up the tree, but now could not get home, and knew that the panther would soon come up after him.
Owl relayed the information to the others. Soon the howdah party would arrive. “Depart,” Indigo thought to the panther. “This prey is not for you."
"This is none of your business, snake,” the panther thought.
"We made an alliance with the bears,” Indigo thought. “We choose to protect this cub."
"I will bite you in half!” It was no bluff; the panther pounced on Indigo.
But of course Indigo slithered out of the way too fast to be caught. Then he linked minds with the burrow mates, and sent a mind hammer strike back at the cat.