Dirge

  "We don't consider the undertaking amusing. Despite what you may think, this is not farce. We see a need that is not being fulfilled."

  For a horrible moment he feared he had gone too far, that he had abused this powerful woman's hospitality to the point where she would withdraw her offer. Then she laughed for a second time, and he relaxed.

  "If you're not in the business of amusing, then why am I enjoying this so much? Why do I find the whole endeavor so comical?"

  "Perhaps," ventured Shanvordesep quietly, "because it has satisfied a need."

  She turned on him. "A need? I don't have any 'need.' What need?"

  "One that you have yet to identify, obviously." The thranx bowed slightly and began to back away from the desk. "You are a fascinating species. I never cease to be amazed at your ability to pretend things that exist do not, and to ignore logic and reason in favor of what you would like to believe."

  Lorengau shrugged slightly. "So our nature is more whimsical than that of the thranx. Whose wouldn't be?" Activating a screen set into her desk that was shielded from their view, she manipulated controls with the fingers of one hand. "I'll want my husband and daughter's names prominently displayed on the list of contributors, of course, as well as on the front of your first tabernacle, or whatever you end up calling your places of gathering."

  Pyreau glanced at his eight-limbed colleague. "We don't plan to do that sort of thing. This is to be a refuge from the realities of the world, not a reminder of them. I have always found that the prominent placement of contributors' names on the outside of structures intended for religious purposes only reminds those who are unable to do likewise of their comparative insignificance, if only in a temporal, nonspiritual way. We are trying to get away from such things."

  "But we will find a way to acknowledge your gift," Shanvordesep put in quickly. "One that I believe will more than satisfy your wishes."

  Shaking her head slowly, Lorengau's speculative gaze passed from human to thranx. "I can't make up my mind if you two are truly dedicated or just arrogant." She sighed softly. "People are going to find out about this, you know."

  "We intend that they should," Shanvordesep declared.

  "There's going to be a lot more amusement, much of it directed my way. Not to my face, of course. But people will laugh at me."

  "Someday they will bless you." Pyreau made the assurance with as much feeling as he could muster.

  "Oh, I'm sure," she muttered sardonically. "What name have you picked for this creed of yours, anyway?"

  That much, at least, he and Shanvordesep had worked out beforehand, Pyreau thought with relief. "Nothing complex. Nothing overbearing or intimidating. We were thinking of calling it the United Church."

  "How original. And yourselves?" She eyed him with some interest. "Will you still be a priest, Father Pyreau?"

  "I think so, though that is still to be worked out."

  "And your many-legged, golden-eyed friend?" Pyreau turned to the thranx, and this time it was the solemn-visaged pastor who smiled. "In a difficult moment early in our encounter Shanvordesep once referred to himself as the 'last resort' of his... flock is not quite the right word, but it will do. And that is what he will be once we begin: the last resort."

  Chapter 5

  As it had for thousands of years, Mount Agung was steaming softly. The thranx who were strolling along the beach hardly glanced in its direction. They had never questioned why humankind had chosen to situate one of the two original sites for greeting and processing visitors to their world in the midst of a necklace of islands noted for their exceptional volcanic activity. Perhaps this question had occurred to their hosts, who had on more than one occasion alluded to the possibility of moving the facility to the large land mass that lay to the south.

  There were three thranx: Nilwengerex, a specialist in human culture; Joshumabad, recently arrived from Hivehom; and Yeicurpilal, the second-highest-ranking representative of her species on Earth. In the company of the two younger males she made her way along the shore, careful to keep well away from the water. The protection from large, potentially deadly waves afforded by the offshore reef was not adequate to completely reassure any thranx.

  Joshumabad would not, and perhaps could not, let go of the theme that prevented him as well as his companions from enjoying their morning stroll beneath the warm equatorial sun. It was understandable. The concern he continued to express was the reason for his being there.

  "Those on the Grand Council feel like they are caught at the terminus of a dead-end tunnel with a starving memn!!toct at the open end. They do not know whether to run, estivate, or start digging."

  Yeicurpilal's six unshod feet left multiple impressions in 59

  gesture indicative of internal confusion. "They are manifestly intelligent, fast learners, enthusiastic explorers. Yet in the presence of these Pitar they slough off several hundred years of social maturity. If we were to encounter a sapient species that resembled the thranx ideal we would be welcoming, but not..."

  "Sappy." Nilwengerex picked up a shell and began to examine the intricate, brightly tinted calcareous whorls. "As usual, the humans have a word for it, even if that is one they themselves would not apply to their present condition. However, nothing prevents me from using it." He handed the shell to Joshumabad, who extended a truhand to accept it reluctantly. To have refused would have constituted a small but inescapable insult.

  "Interestingly," the culture specialist continued, "they are very much aware of their own insupportable reaction. At least, the more intelligent among them are. The great fevered mass of humankind seems largely oblivious. They wish only to expand and enhance contact with their new friends. Deeper consequences do not concern them."

  "What about the reception accorded our delegation by these Pitar?" The representative of the Grand Council was not at all comfortable with the information he was receiving.

  "Formal and polite," Yeicurpilal told him. "Insofar as we have been able to determine by cross-referencing with our human friends, these new aliens are treating us no differently than they are their human hosts. In that respect they are displaying more diplomatic maturity than the humans themselves."

  "What is the opinion of our perceivers?" Joshumabad matched her stride for stride while Nilwengerex wandered off to inspect the gelatinous mass of some tentacled creature that the sea had regurgitated onto the shore.

  "Inconclusive. Contact is too recent and infrequent to reach any formal conclusions." She glanced sideways at him. "The council has been kept fully informed by space-minus communications. They know all this. Why are you asking questions to which answers have already been given?"

  Feeling a chill, Joshumabad found himself longing for the low-lying clouds of Hivehom. "I wanted to hear it directly from you. Oftentimes official reports inadvertently leave out the most significant particulars. Even visual transcripts can neglect information that is inherent in person-to-person gestures and glances." He turned his attention back to the cultural specialist, who had concluded his examination of the dying jellyfish and hurried to rejoin them.

  "I am interested in your informal opinion, Nilwengerex. What do you, personally, think of these Pitar? Beyond what you have contributed to the official reports."

  Nilwengerex pondered a reply. The sky was very blue, and beyond it, Hivehom very far away. Yet he did not feel as estranged on this world as he had on Trix, for example, or even at his first posting, on the benign globe known as Willow-Wane.

  "I haven't made up my mind. Nor have any of my colleagues. We felt that we were just beginning to comprehend these humans, to come to some understanding of how their very different minds work, when one of their deep-space exploration teams returned with these Pitar in tow. Their unannounced appearance was as much of a shock to us as it was to the rest of humankind. So we have been forced to adjust our work and reallocate our resources to study not one but two new alien, mammalian species. It has been something of a strain. Under such circumstances, you and the
council will have to learn to be patient. We are learning as much as we can as fast as we can.

  "Unfortunately, access to the Pitar is restricted. More than restricted: It is virtually unattainable. Constantly attended and surrounded as they are by ardent humans, it is almost impossible to procure unescorted contact with them."

  "They are willing enough to talk to us," Yeicurpilal put in, "but reluctant to insist lest they irritate the humans. After all, it is their world on which we all are visitors. A polite guest does not make demands that might displease their hosts."

  "I know that the Pitar claim to occupy only two worlds, in conjoining orbits in the same system. Though they possess vessels capable of journeying in space-plus they are not eager colonizers. By way of contrast, we have to date settled five worlds and the humans seven. Population disparities aside, do you think they are dangerous, these Pitar?" It was a question Joshumabad had put off asking until he felt more comfortable in the cultural specialist's presence.

  A sharp, high whistle sounded from Nilwengerex. Startled by the unnatural alien sound, several small, rainbow-colored lorikeets burst from the cover of nearby brush and took wing. When the whistling laughter finally died down, the smallest of the three strolling thranx readily replied.

  "We do not know enough about them to say, but one thing I do know: They can't be any more dangerous than these humans."

  It was not the kind of response Joshumabad had expected, and his responsive gestures showed clearly that he was taken aback. "How can you avow such a thing? We have not only many representatives on this world, but an expanding, functioning colony. If what you say now is true, then there are lives at risk."

  "I do not deny it." The dour attache appeared engrossed in the pale blue sea, as though he had a death wish of his own. Joshumabad did not like him very much, but he respected the other male's knowledge. "Yet each day I spend on this world I find myself liking these humans more and more."

  Joshumabad halted abruptly, the sand warm beneath his feet. "Now I am thoroughly confused. Which is it? Which observation do I convey to my superiors when I return to Hivehom to make my report in person? Are these bipeds dangerous or not?"

  He might have expected clarification from the senior diplomat among them. Instead, Yeicurpilal only succeeded in muddying the waters further. "That's it exactly."

  Joshumabad held firm. "That cannot be it exactly. Either these humans are a threat to us or they are not."

  Yeicurpilal was not swayed by the visiting representative's determination to secure a straight answer. "They are warlike and peaceful, brutal and sensitive, ignorant and understanding. This planet is a big ball of raging contradictions. And the worst of it is, while they recognize these inconsistencies within themselves, they seem powerless to do anything about them."

  "You have to give me something more," Joshumabad pleaded. "I can't present myself to the Grand Council with conclusions like that!"

  "First of all," Nilwengerex assured him, "they are only observations, not conclusions. I can tell you that my colleagues and I who have been studying these people do not believe they pose any direct threat to the thranx."

  "Crri!kk, that's something, anyway." Joshumabad was visibly relieved.

  "I said no'direct' threat," the attache reminded him. "Their racial volatility makes their future actions unpredictable. We have been making progress in many areas of cooperation, most notably in the matter of commercial and scientific exchanges. The greatest difficulty we are being forced to try to overcome is the fact that in shape we so nearly resemble the small arthropods that are, numerically at least, the dominant life-form on this world, and with whom humans have been engaged in a battle for survival since the dawn of their own evolution. As you must know by now, they attach an enormous and irrational importance to physical appearance." His tone had turned even drier than usual. "Witness their immediate and unwarranted attraction to these Pitar. Through no fault of their own, these newly contacted bipeds are inadvertently responsible for the marked setback in our developing relations with the humans."

  The council representative was silent for a while as the three resumed their stroll. Much more at home on the alien beach, Yeicurpilal and Nilwengerex reviewed every plant and animal they encountered, striving to identify them according to the taxonomy that had been supplied by human scientists.

  "Then I am to inform the council that relations continue to advance successfully, but at a slower pace than previously?"

  Yeicurpilal gestured concurrence. "That is what I would report."

  "And when might they be expected to accelerate again?"

  Yeicurpilal looked to Nilwengerex for a considered response. The attache was reluctant to commit himself. "It is difficult to say. My own personal opinion, based on observation and the small knowledge I have gained of these people, is that it will not happen until the novelty of the Pitars' appearance has run its course. Unfortunately, it shows no signs of relenting. The humans are as entranced by their newfound near-duplicates today as they were when first they were brought here."

  "Is there nothing we can do to regain appropriate attention?" The unexpected situation was new and confusing, as unprecedented in Joshumabad's experience as it was in everyone else's. They had not had such trouble relating to the Quillp, or even to the AAnn.

  "If we are too forceful in our demands," Yeicurpilal informed him, "I fear that the humans will take umbrage at our attempts, thus rendering the situation even more awkward than it is now. It is my recommendation - and Eint Gowendormet, who is chief of our mission here, concurs - that we proceed according to our standard plan of contact while waiting for the ferment surrounding the discovery of the Pitar to run its course."

  Joshumabad brooded on this. "The council will not be pleased. The desire to fully engage a strong species such as this as a counterweight to the endless adventurism of the AAnn is resolute."

  Yeicurpilal gestured powerlessness. "It cannot be helped. During my sojourn on this world I have learned a number of things about our hosts. One is that they cannot be pushed, shoved, forced, or cajoled into doing something that does not originate with them, even if it is manifestly to their benefit. It is better to hint and suggest and let them believe that the idea originates with them. When dealing with humans, patience is not merely to be advocated, it is imperative. There is no other way to work with them."

  "I am sorry," Nilwengerex added, "but that is the way of things here. If these Pitar had not revealed themselves to a human exploration team, maturation of our mutual relations would be on schedule. You cannot imagine the exceptional forbearance we are required to show in our daily dealings with them. Whatever its wishes and needs, the Grand Council must learn to do the same."

  A visibly unhappy Joshumabad indicated understanding. "And our tentative connection with the Pitar? We of course must seek to establish formal relations with them as well. Though it does not fall within your purview, I presume your staff has taken the necessary preliminary steps forced upon them by circumstance?"

  Yeicurpilal replied thoughtfully. "We have made the appropriate overtures. It is not so much that they have been rebuffed as that the Pitar have no time for us. They seem to be as ensnared by the humans as the humans are by them, though for the Pitar this fascination is reflected in a more intense and subdued attitude. Unable to study them firsthand, our specialists are reduced to speculating on their motivations. It cannot be determined if they are reclusive, wary, secretive, guarded, paranoid, fearful, all of the aforementioned, or simply shy. Without more intimate contact their racial psychology cannot be resolved. It is hoped time will provide us with access."

  Joshumabad considered. "What is your personal opinion of them? Aside from the knowledge that has been compiled by such as this one." He indicated Nilwengerex, who took no offense at being referred to obliquely.

  Antennae twitched meaningfully. "I don't like them."

  The representative of the council gestured tersely. "Crri!!kk, that is concise, anyway. Why not?"


  Yeicurpilal looked away. "You asked for an opinion not based on known fact. That is my opinion."

  "Foolish," Nilwengerex proclaimed. "Xenologically impertinent. Even an opinion must be founded on a base of knowledge." He inclined both antennae in Joshumabad's direction. "I have no fear of these Pitar, nor love of them. I feel the same about the humans. My reactions and published convictions are based on factual material."

  "There is room here for maneuver." In his mind Joshumabad was already compiling the report he would make to the

  Grand Council. "We will continue on course with the humans without forcing the issue of closer relations. These must develop as a consequence of natural processes. As for the Pitar, you will maintain contact with their representatives here on Earth until we can make arrangements to have a separate delegation received on Hivehom. Separated from humans, relations between us will advance at an acceptable pace." A seagull defecated nearby, and he observed the process with interest.

  "Meanwhile, the current pace of diplomacy is not acceptable."

  Yeicurpilal looked at him sharply. "But we have just told you that -"

  "It does not matter." Joshumabad's interruption conveyed the importance of what he was saying far more than mere words and gestures could have. "The council is not satisfied." He used all four hands for emphasis. "If you cannot accelerate the signing of agreements with humankind, the council is perfectly willing to appoint others to your present positions in the hopes they may do better. This is not a threat, but merely a communication to be taken under advisement."

  "I'm so glad it's not a threat." Even when he appeared to be ignoring his companions, Nilwengerex heard everything. "It does not matter. According to what you have been telling us, the council wants us to stay the course, not force matters but speed things up. I am sorry that does not strike you as a contradiction."