Quozl

  XVI.

  THE FIRST MEETING the following summer was comedy instead of drama. The Quozl instinctively danced all around the subject uppermost in everyone’s mind while the two humans had no idea that knowledge of Mindy’s betrayal was thoroughly documented in alien archives. There was no hiding the fact that something was wrong, however.

  For one thing, Chad did all the talking while his sister hung uncertainly in the background, saying nothing and glancing furtively at her brother and the members of the study team. Runs-red-Talking had become adept at interpreting the extraordinary range of human facial expressions. He knew things were not as before but was too Quozl to come out and ask why things had changed.

  As for Chad, he saw that the amount of ear-twisting and dipping was unprecedented. With the directness of his kind he inquired as to the reason. There followed a fair amount of verbal sparring until it was discovered that each side was proceeding to the same destination.

  Chad was stunned and Mindy delighted to learn that not only weren’t the Quozl mad, but they had decided to help with her stories. Their emotions underwent a sharp reversal when Runs explained that this had been decided not by choice but by a feeling of necessity and that the elders were anything but pleased. They were going to assist her because they felt it was the only option left to them. It was a stern lecture and Runs was as upset as Chad had ever seen him. Mindy appeared properly abashed but her brother could tell it was all for the Quozl’s benefit, all for show. He knew she wasn’t upset. Embarrassed perhaps, but not upset.

  Now that all the little secrets were out in the open the atmosphere at the riverside camp lightened considerably. The study team went about its recording and gathering while Mindy sketched and observed and pressed them for information. Chad and Runs were left largely to themselves, which pleased them greatly.

  They sat on the big rock that stuck like a finger into the current. Water churned around its upper edge, flowed swift and gentle around its base. Runs dangled his long feet in the cool water while Chad squatted nearby, engaged in the peculiar human game of throwing pebbles into the depths of the stream.

  “They must have been furious.”

  “Oh, they were extremely distressed. Extremely.” Runs spread his toes, let the water flow between them. “You can imagine the shock when in the course of examining routine human transmissions one of our people found that we were the subject of regular broadcasts to millions of your homes.”

  “I was just as shocked and surprised. As soon as I found out I laid into Mindy but good! Didn’t matter. She’d thought it through long ago and she was ready for any argument I could muster. That’s the trouble with a secret. Once it’s out, it’s out.”

  Runs’s left ear dipped in agreement. “Our Elders were driven to the same conclusion. There is only one tunnel for them to travel.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if I could make Mindy stop. The show would continue with another writer at the helm. She doesn’t own the property. That’s how she put it, anyway. It’s controlled by the company she works for.”

  “She explained it all,” Runs said. “There are many strange economic concepts new to us. What matters is that it cannot be stopped unless your offspring choose to view these transmissions no longer. Tell me, honored friend, what do you think of the Elders’ opinion? Might the presence of this transmission in so many human households someday help to ease the strain of contact between our species?”

  “How should I know? Most of the time I live in a half-centimeter-diameter lens. I have trouble understanding the actions and reactions of my own kind. It’s a big jump from laughing at cartoons to learning that the characters they portray happen to be real aliens living right next door. I can’t imagine what will happen.” He tossed a big rock into the water, watched the current swallow the resultant ripples. “They didn’t punish you for what you’ve been doing all these years?”

  “There would be no point. The secret was out, the damage done. The Quozl are a practical race. So long as I am of more use to the colony alive, everyone will work to ensure my health. I have knowledge and experience to offer. Behind my ears I am cursed and damned, but none would be so impolite as to make such feelings known to my face.”

  “We’re more direct.” Chad glanced over his shoulder to where Mindy and two Quozl botanists were engaged in examining the plant specimens they’d gathered. “Look at her. From the way she acts you’d think she’d never done anything wrong. Pure as the driven snow. I think it has something to do with working in Hollywood. From what I’ve heard, the moral guidelines there are made out of rubber instead of metal. Everybody has words to live by. I think the one uppermost there is expediency, followed close behind by rationalization.”

  “It strikes me as a most peculiar subtribe,” Runs admitted. “Mindy speaks of creativity but lets many others alter what she creates. I do not understand the paradox. It would be like praising sculpture while hacking it to bits. Why praise it in the first place, and if it is so praiseworthy, why take it apart?”

  “You’d have to ask my sister. Look at your friends, talking freely with her.”

  “Not so freely. They will help without revealing anything vital.” Runs pulled his feet from the water, let them dry in the sun. “Despite all that has occurred or perhaps because of it I cannot help but feel that eventually we will have to pay for what has happened. Myself, you, your sibling. There is ample fault to be distributed here and not many to bear its weight.”

  Chad looked into large Quozl eyes. “Whatever happens, it need not affect us.”

  “No. Our friendship cannot be broken. It may be that this transmission’s popularity will soon wane and our concern will lessen with its passing.”

  “Unfortunately fictional Quozl are very popular with human children. I saw some of the spin-offs, as they’re called. Apparently anything with a Quozl on it these days sells.”

  “Yes, both you and Mindy have spoken of this phenomenon. It would be very interesting to have samples of these products.”

  “I’m sure we can get all you want,” Chad told him sourly. “No doubt my sister gets a discount. You know,” he said thoughtfully, “she’s making a lot of money off you. So’s the production company. It’s not fair. She’s profiting off your stories.”

  “We feel no deprivation.”

  “I know, I know, but it still bothers me.”

  “Because of the rewards she is reaping or because you do not share in them?”

  Chad eyed his friend sharply, thinking of the car and the stereo and the other benefits of his sister’s largess. “I’ve shared in some. I needed certain things Mindy was able to provide, so I took them. If I hadn’t, she would have used the money.” Not that I protested too hard, he reminded himself uneasily. “If I could undo what’s been done, I’d give everything back.”

  “A secret is like an egg,” Runs mused philosophically. “Once broken, it cannot be made new again, but if properly handled, the contents can nourish.”

  “Like a tiger by the tail. Once you grab hold, you can’t let go.”

  “Yes. We cannot undo what these transmissions have done, so rather than stop them, which would do no good, we supply your sister with information on which to base her stories so that we can control their content to some degree. I wonder where it will all lead? I have mediated on it, to no avail.”

  “Me, too,” said Chad feelingly.

  “Do not sound so regretful. It is not all give and no take. We learn from visiting with you, from your replies to our questions. Some wonder openly if it would be possible to converse with your parents.”

  “I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” Chad replied slowly. “I know my mother wouldn’t react quietly. Dad I’m not so sure about. He’s used to talking with foreigners. But it would double the number of humans who know of your existence.”

  “Which is why it was decided against. The Council anticipates wider contact yet are simultaneously terrified of it. They are constantly considering and disc
arding proposals. You must understand that they have no precedent from which to proceed, and the Quozl have always relied on precedent. Humans are much more versatile when it comes to dealing with the unknown or the unexpected.” He extended a delicate, seven-fingered hand. “Regardless of what is decided, it cannot damage our friendship.”

  As always, Chad marveled at the slim but strong grip. “No. Nothing can harm that.”

  The new arrangement made things much easier. Chad and Runs-red-Talking were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased while the rotating study teams gained access to two intelligent young humans. Meanwhile Mindy helped team members with their gathering and recording while they provided her with material for new shows.

  The ratings for Quozltime remained number one in their time slot while Quozl toys and related products continued to sell well. Other companies tried to hire the genius behind the Quozl away, which resulted in regular unrequested bonuses and perks from her employers, who would do whatever was necessary to keep their star writer happy.

  Mindy Collins was one very content young lady.

  She shared her good fortune with friends and family. As for Chad, he had little time to watch the program. His Ph.D. continued to elude him and he had trouble finding jobs which would let him spend three months in the mountains. His sister had no such problem. Her producers were delighted to let her join the family at their summer retreat since she invariably returned with a stack of fresh new story ideas.

  So Chad was more than a little surprised when Mindy announced one year that she would not be accompanying her parents and brother to the cabin by the lake. When he pressed her for an explanation she informed him that this spring there was simply too much work requiring her personal attention, ideas for new shows including Quozl Babies, revisions to existing material which hadn’t been properly developed by the staff. With luck she would be able to clear it up in a few weeks. Then she would join them.

  He was reading in the cabin’s den, contemplating the next meeting with Runs-red-Talking and a new brace of researchers, when his mother announced that his sister had finally arrived and that his father was on the way to Boise to bring them back.

  Chad finished the paragraph he was on, then frowned and looked toward the kitchen where his mother was working. She moved slower now than when he’d been a child but if anything her cooking had improved.

  “Them?”

  “Mindy and her fiancé, of course. You mean you don’t know? No, of course you don’t know. You bury yourself so deep in your work it’s hard to find you, and you’re so forgetful.”

  “How long has this been going on?” He put the book aside and sat up, gazing out the window at the smooth surface of the lake.

  “Going on? Oh, you mean how long has she been engaged? A little over three months, I think. His name is Arlo.”

  “Arlo.” What could Mindy be thinking, bringing a total stranger here? Not that there was any intrinsic harm in that. Unless …

  “What does he do?”

  “He’s in the entertainment business, like your sister. I think he’s an agent of some kind. I don’t know what he agents, but he seems prosperous enough, and your sister certainly loves him.”

  Chad didn’t reply. As his mother said, he was forgetful. But right now his mind was very busy, and very full.

  Though he tried to reserve judgment he disliked Arlo at first sight. It might have had something to do with the designer outfit he was wearing when he stepped out of the floatplane. Though the jeans were denim and the shirt cotton, they seemed better suited to a Beverly Hills party than a week or two in the woods.

  It’s your problem, not his, Chad was forced to admit to himself. Why shouldn’t the guy dress stylishly? Just because Chad’s own clothes were six or seven years out of date was no reason to condemn somebody else’s attire. Mindy’s fiancé probably had to dress that way to impress clients, or producers, or whoever the hell it was he was required to impress. Chad realized it wasn’t the man’s appearance that disturbed him.

  It was the way he was looking around, craning his neck to scan the forest, as if he was searching for something specific instead of just taking in the scenery. Chad asked his sister about it the first time they were alone together, hauling the garbage to the trash bin and compost heap in the clearing behind the cabin. That had been their joint task since they were children.

  “How much does he know?”

  “Arlo?” It was dark and she held the flashlight. The cabin was an island of light behind them. “What do you mean, ‘what does he know’?”

  “Don’t hedge with me,” said Chad irritably. “You haven’t told him anything, have you?”

  She didn’t reply. They dumped their loads in silence. On the way back to the cabin she murmured, “He’s my fiancé, Chad. We’re going to be married.”

  “Then you did tell him.” Somewhat to his surprise he felt more tired than angry. “He didn’t believe you, of course.”

  “Not at first. I’m not sure he believes me now. But he will after he’s met Runs-red-Talking and some of the others.”

  Chad halted. So did his sister, because he grabbed her by the arm and swung her around to face him in the dark. “You’re not serious. You aren’t actually thinking of bringing him to one of the meetings?”

  “I have to, little brother.”

  “Don’t call me that. I haven’t hit you in fifteen years, Mindy, but you’re convincing me that maybe I should start making up for lost time.”

  She shook free of his grasp. “Look, I’m going to marry the man, Chad. I can’t keep something like this from him. It’s too much a part of my life. What do you expect me to do? Tell him to keep the home fires burning every summer while I vacation fifteen hundred miles away with my family? What kind of relationship is that?”

  “It’s our relationship that concerns me now. You and I, Mindy. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you take him to a meeting.”

  “How is Runs, by the way? I presume you’ve met with him at least once already this month.”

  “He’s just fine,” Chad snapped back at her, “and so are the rest of the Quozl, and they’ll stay that way as long as their secret is kept. That’s why you can’t bring your pet fashion plate along. Their secret is safe as long as he doesn’t believe in them, and he won’t believe in them no matter what you tell him unless he sees a Quozl for himself. I won’t permit that.”

  “You can’t stop us.”

  “Try me. Maybe I can’t stop you physically but I can move faster than either of you through the woods. I’ll warn Runs and his party, tell them what’s going on. They’ll flee back to the colony, which you’ll never find, and we’ll pick another place to rendezvous. You know what that would mean, Mindy. No more story ideas. No more free ride.”

  She replied quietly, calmly. “If you do that I’ll come up here with other people, not just with Arlo. Reporters, maybe. They’ll come because I’ll pay them to come. We’ll find the colony, wherever it is.”

  He eyed her aghast. “You wouldn’t do that.”

  “Is that a risk you’re willing to take? How much of a gambler are you, little brother?”

  She knew him much too well, he reflected. How could his sister consider betrayal on such a scale? She’d made friends among the Quozl, had spent long pleasant days with them. But she was right about one thing: he couldn’t take the chance that she was bluffing.

  She stood silently, playing the light over the surrounding brush, until he was ready to reply. He had no choice, and she knew it.

  “You’re sure he’s trustworthy? That he’ll keep the secret?”

  “I trust him, if that’s what you’re asking. Chad, I’m trusting this guy with my whole life, with my future.”

  It was a feeble guarantee. “I wonder how the Quozl will react? First there was just me. Then you came along, and now there’s to be three of us who know. What happens if the Council decides three is too many?”

  “You think they might do something violen
t?” Mindy considered the possibility. “I doubt it. They’ve continued with the meetings because they believe them to be in their eventual best interest. They haven’t threatened or harmed us for the same reason. They’ll leave Arlo alone because to do anything else might expose them to danger. Besides, physical violence is anathema to the Quozl philosophy. It says so in the Samizene.”

  “Don’t count on that too much,” he warned her.

  She was staring past him, thinking aloud. “I wonder if they could even defend themselves. I’m not sure they know themselves.” She looked back at her brother. “Relax, Chad. You worry too much. They’ll like Arlo. He’s a good person. A little Hollywood, but that’s not his fault.”

  “How very reassuring.”

  “I’ll handle him.”

  And she did, of course.

  Runs-red-Talking was as taken aback as Chad had been. But there was nothing anyone could do about it once Mindy’s fiancé actually saw the Quozl. Contact transformed previous doubt into ready acceptance.

  Arlo did a lot of staring and listening but said little. He and Mindy must have talked at night, but she’d brought her own tent and despite his concerns Chad had the grace to avoid eavesdropping.

  As for the Quozl, their initial agitation faded as Chad and Mindy reassured them that this new human was trustworthy. The fact that he and Mindy were to be mated had more of a positive effect on the Quozl than Chad would have imagined. It troubled him that they were more understanding of his sister’s situation than he’d been. Gradually he found he was able to relax and accept what had happened.

  Until the end of the summer, when the evenings had turned cold. A noise made him glance out the bedroom window. He saw the floatplane leave the dock, taxi to the east, and then rotate, its engine revving as his father sent it careening across the smooth surface of the lake.

  Supply trip, he told himself as he looked back at the book he’d been studying. Probably the last one his father would make before they winterized the cabin and left for another year. He didn’t give it a second thought until his sister burst into the room. She gave him an anguished look, then rushed to the window to catch a final glimpse of the departing plane.