Page 22 of The Howling Stones

  "What choices?" she muttered. "All we can do is wait for them to use some of the stones, try to wangle an invi­tation to the relevant ceremony, and make what record­ings we can."

  "There has to be another way. Somehow we have to convince, bribe, or frighten a stone master into letting us borrow a stone. Surely there's one who's willing to bend kusum just a little. A young one, perhaps, not yet as steeped in tradition as senior big persons like Jorana and Ascela. What if we offered to let them participate in the process of analysis, brought them right into the station? That way their stone would never be out of their sight."

  Fawn looked doubtful. "Won't work. Remember, stone utilization is a tandem process. No stone master does anything with a stone without consulting at least one col­league. Sure, we might tempt a young stone master. But they won't do anything without first seeking advice from another."

  He pushed leaves aside. "How can you be so sure, if it's never been tried?"

  She looked back at him. "You never give up on a line of reasoning, do you? When you find one you like, you worry it like a dog. Not only do you still think you can borrow a stone, now you want to borrow a stone master, too."

  "I'm always glad when my aims are perceived so readily." He grinned up at her.

  "You know this trail as well as I do by now. How come you always let me lead?"

  "Because you're bigger, are more familiar with the po­tentially dangerous flora here than I am, and can push all the vegetation out of the way for me."

  "Ah." She frowned uncertainly, then set the matter aside. He was being truthful, of course. She just wasn't sure he was enumerating all the truths.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Essasu RRGVB looked around the meeting room. Piarai was present, along with the two ranking survivors of the ill‑fated expedition to Torrelau. The memory of that fail­ure still burned in his mind, as he knew it must in theirs.

  Since returning, he'd immersed himself in everything the staff xenologists had been able to find about the sacred stones of the Parramati. Taken together, this con­stituted a singularly uninformative and inadequate body of work.

  "You've all seen the latest report from our native con­tacts on Torrelau. What do you make of this talk of the male human using stones to take a journey to far‑off places?"

  The assembled underlings exchanged glances and ges­tures. It was Yaarinda who spoke. "We now know that certain so‑called sacred stones, when manipulated by those Parramati trained in their use, can displace indi­viduals in space. What the extent of this displacement may be we still do not know, but it is real." Her hands gestured second‑degree importance colored with danger. "Several of us saw this happen."

  Piarai continued. "It appears that at some unknown time in the past, historic Parramati acquired the use of advanced technology whose origins remain for us to dis­cover. I admit that these stones do not look like much, but in this instance it clearly is dangerous to confuse ap­pearance with function. Through the use of these `stones,' two companions were significantly displaced. If this new information is true, then it appears that the human was similarly transported but was able to return."

  "There is a greatness to be learned here," Essasu pro­claimed. "We must find the truth of it. All our other work now becomes secondary. Energies must be redirected." He turned his gaze on each of them in turn. " Our first pri­ority must be to acquire as many of these stones as pos­sible for detailed study."

  "According to our, information from Torrelau, there are dangers involved in such acquisition." Requesting permission with a gesture, Vuikak settled into a resting lounge.

  Essasu glanced at him. "According.to the same infor­mation, only if certain stones are allowed to come in con­tact with one another. Apparently the human was careless. We are not careless. We will not repeat his mistake."

  "The natives who have charge of the stones, these so­ called stone masters, will not surrender their possessions freely," Piarai pointed out.

  Essasu executed a curt gesture of indifference. "Then we will shoot a few. That should persuade the others. If we keep our distance from the stones that cause spatial displacement, they cannot harm us."

  "What kind of stones do you wish us to obtain first?" Yaarinda leaned back in her lounge, her long tail tracing abstract patterns on the sand‑carpeted floor.

  "Anything that hints of real power. After these trans­portation stones, weather stones would be an excellent next choice. Now that we are aware of the stones' true nature, I would be interested to discover if there is any connection between the native weather stones and these fascinating and damnable mastorms."

  Piarai blinked both eyelids. "You think the aboriginals may use the stones to control the weather?"

  Essasu showed many teeth. "If certain stones can dis­place individuals in space, it is not so great a reach to imagine that others may displace clouds and rain. After what we witnessed on Torrelau, I believe nothing can be ruled out."

  Yaarinda looked thoughtful. "I wonder where the hu­man was displaced to. The report does not specify. It says only that he was unconscious when he was found."

  "Even if it was from one side of a room to another, that is enough," Essasu observed impatiently. "It is the fact of the displacement that is important. The technology to ac­complish such a feat has been a dream of imperial scien­tists since the dawn of modern physics."

  Piarai rose. "With your consent then, Commander, I will organize a group to obtain several stones. With the natives' consent if possible, by other means if they prove recalcitrant. How many do you wish us to acquire?"

  "As many as possible, obviously. Half a dozen would make a nice beginning. We don't wish to leave the Mallatyahans stone‑poor. Employ everyone who can be spared. This supersedes all other research, and a show of strength may make it easier to deal peacefully with the locals."

  "We could request reinforcements from Chraara," Vuikak suggested.

  "No. The humanx monitor all comings and goings from headquarters, just as we record their activities around Ophhlia. We do not want to give the impression that any unusual or extraordinary activity is taking place here. We will do this as quietly and quickly as possible."

  Yaarinda contemplated the ceiling. "Perhaps the na­tives can be persuaded to cooperate and the need to em­ploy less flexible means of persuasion will be obviated."

  "It is to be hoped." Essasu added a gesture indicative of third‑degree amusement. "We have one advantage al­ready. We have not tried to `borrow' any of the sacred stones, so the Mallatyahans do not regard us as potential thieves. For this moral preeminence, however temporary, we have the male human to thank."

  "Assuming we are successful in obtaining several of the stones," Vuikak commented, "what do we do when the Mallatyahans come seeking their return?"

  Essasu displayed indifference. "They cannot penetrate compound security. We will tell them that the stones are not being harmed and will be returned to them when we have concluded our tests. If they are unhappy with those conditions, that is unfortunate. What can they do? If they come bearing the stones that cause displacement, we will keep them at a distance with weapons. If they send bad weather against us, assuming they are capable of such a feat, this installation has survived the worst of many mastorms. Along with imperial power, we will teach them that futility leads to patience.

  "When we have finished with the stones, they will be returned undamaged."

  "Can we guarantee that?" Yaarinda wanted to know.

  The station commander eyed her evenly. "I am Essasu RRGVB. I do not give guarantees to aboriginals." His at­tention returned to his second‑in‑command.

  "Now then. What do we know of stone types, of their locations, and of the potential malleability of their masters?"

  Piarai looked to Yaarinda, who responded. "We have some information, though evidently not as much as the humans. This can be increased."

  "We do not need to know the location of every sacred stone on Mallatyah," Essasu declared. "Only sufficien
t for our purposes."

  "We could make a few stone masters our 'guests,"' Vuikak suggested, "until they have told us all that they know about the workings of their stones."

  "Only if necessary. I have more confidence in our own specialists." Essasu turned to gaze out a narrow ground­level window. "Besides, I grow tired of sly natives and their devious mannerisms. They delight in utilizing their kusum for obfuscation. I prefer the language and re­sponse of advanced instrumentation." He turned back to his subordinates.

  "We will proceed with or without their cooperation, and expend no special efforts to secure the latter. I will brook no delay in revelation." His eyes flashed. "My fel­low nye, I feel that we are on the brink of discoveries that could alter the balance of power between the Empire and the Commonwealth." Seeing the looks in their eyes, he realized that his explication was teetering on the grandiose, and moderated his ensuing rhetoric accordingly.

  "Stones first, then speculation."

  "Yes," Yaarinda agreed. "Let us embark with modest expectations."

  The AAnn force was prepared to kill to acquire the requisite stones, but this proved unnecessary. Advanced search‑and‑detection technology allowed them to bypass occupied buildings and concentrate on those whose in­habitants were elsewhere.

  From a nondescript house in a temporarily deserted village situated high up on the north flank of Mallatyah's tallest peak, they plucked a fine big weather stone. No one leaped out of the forest to challenge the camouflaged tech‑soldiers. A storage but on the edge of terraced fields lying fallow yielded a nice growing stone. Again they were not confronted.

  By the time Essasu was satisfied, the sun had long since set. In addition to the weather and growing stone, they had accumulated a pair of healing stones, a fishing stone, and three transportation or traveling stones. Or so their information insisted. All were carefully packed in thickly padded individual containers and distributed among the members of the group. Essasu was taking no chances on having two stones come together accidentally.

  "It was almost too easy." Vuikak shouldered his own pack effortlessly. "I think we could have seized half the stones on the island."

  Essasu's mood was decidedly upbeat, all the more so because everything had gone so well compared to the earlier disaster at Torrelau. "Yes. I suspect that word of the human male's transgression has yet to reach here. Consequently, the locals cannot conceive of someone ignorant of the relevant roads helping themselves to a sacred stone. So they remain unguarded."

  Yaarinda had three stones in her pack, a carefully cho­sen mix. In a further effort to avoid incidents of the kind that supposedly had befallen the human, no member of the group carried two stones of any one type. Her camou­flage suit kept the pack from chafing against her scales. The stones were sizable and heavy, but she strode along uncomplainingly under the burden. Working in the field, she and her colleagues frequently returned to the station carrying prodigious loads of specimens.

  "We must take care not to repeat the human's mis­take," Piarai was reminding everyone for the tenth time.

  "If what was told to us is true, he was clumsy‑as is the nature of humans." Essasu was unconcerned. "Proper care will be used. If these primitives can make them work, surely their operation cannot be so difficult to divine."

  "That is so," the base's second‑in‑command conceded.

  "I think there may actually be less here than meets the eye," Essasu continued. "Operation may be no more than a matter of shoving two stones together and giving them room. Certainly they exhibit nothing in the way of visible switches, controls, or touch‑sensitive contact points."

  Near the rear of the column, Vuikak was considering many of the very same points. Once back at the station, the stones would be turned over to the base specialists for detailed study. As an administrator, he would be left out of the excitement. The stones must be simple to use. Why not try two of them out and be the one to receive the credit for discovering their function?

  He would avoid the potentially dangerous transport stones in favor of something simple, domestic. Already he felt he'd been passed over twice for promotion. At his present rate of advancement, with eleven clan‑family designates following his given name, he would die of old age long before achieving a five‑designate level like Commander Essasu.

  Unless he did something dramatic to merit exceptional notice.

  He broached the idea to Prenkip, the lowest‑ranking member of the expedition. The technician was hesitant.

  "I do not know, Vuikak. The stones are dangerous. Better they be examined under controlled conditions."

  "What controlled conditions?" Vuikak was not to be denied. "The natives make use of them openly, with nothing in the way of visible safeguards."

  "What about what is said to have happened to the human?"

  Vuikak performed a gesture of first‑degree dismissal coupled with overtones of disgust. "The human was stu­pid. We are not. Surely we can abort any reaction if it ap­pears to be getting out of hand."

  Prenkip's resistance weakened. Like Vuikak, he would not be counted among those charged with learning the stones' secrets, and he badly wanted to see a demonstra­tion of these rumored powers.

  His fellow tech pressed him. "What if the stones do nothing? What if they are no more than what they appear to be‑the inert talismans of a primitive alien species? Suppose the tale of the transported human is only a fic­tion, designed to confuse and trouble us?"

  "Two members of the commanders' expedition to Tor­relau did not return," Prenkip mumbled. "Talk is that they were killed by stones."

  Vuikak snorted in disgust. "No one believes that. The commander committed fatal errors. Blaming two deaths on the natives is a way of deflecting responsibility from himself. No doubt the missing ones drowned during the storm, or were struck by one of the many poisonous crea­tures that inhabit these islands.

  "Consider! If this is all a clever ploy by the humans, they will even as we speak be readying themselves to benefit from our theft of these stones. If we can prove that they are incapable of anything save the reflection of green light, we will have performed a valuable service. If not, we will be the first nye to descry one of their true functions."

  Prenkip pondered the possibilities. "You really think all this stone business may be nothing more than a human ruse to discredit us with the Mallatyahans?"

  "It makes more sense to me than tales of green rocks disappearing troopers and humans," Vuikak replied with fervor. "Why should we not find out for ourselves?"

  "Why not, indeed?"

  Vuikak pushed the argument home. "What is the harm in placing, say, two of the designated `growing' stones together? That if this is not all fiction we will be over­whelmed by a surfeit of fresh vegetables?"

  Finally persuaded, Prenkip gestured consent. "We should do this here, away from the base." Already bring­ing up the rear of the column, they purposely let them­selves fall farther behind. In the fading light of evening, no one took notice.

  To further ensure that they would be able to carry out their experiment unimpeded, Vuikak unwrapped the first stone from Prenkip's pack as they walked. Falling behind his companion, the technician returned the favor. Shield­ing the stones from sight of their comrades with their bodies, the two AAnn examined the specimens.

  "See? Lumps of green glass is all they are," Vuikak in­sisted. "Volcanic slag, static and harmless."

  Prenkip had noted the labels on the respective wrap­pings. "You were right. These are growing stones. It will be fascinating to observe if they do anything and com­paratively harmless if they do."

  "The procedure is to bring them together carefully to see if they merge. At least, that is what is supposed to happen."

  Prenkip turned the uneven olivine mass over in his scaly fingers. "None of the exposed faces appears shaped to fit into any other. I suppose we just push them against each other?"

  "That is the rumor." Vuikak made eye contact with the technician. "If any kind of reaction ensue
s, we pull them apart. Agreed?" Prenkip gestured understanding and assent.

  Out of sight of the rest of the group, they brought both masses together. A soft click ensued. That was all. No blinding flash of light, no aural implosion, no surreal dis­tortion of reality just an ordinary‑sounding click. It was exactly what one would expect to hear from knocking two rocks together.

  Vuikak was at once disappointed, angry, and relieved. "See?" he told his partner in experimentation. "I was right. This whole business of the sacred stones having mysterious powers is nonsense, a product of the perverse human imagination. They have deceived us." He lifted his gaze to the rest of the troop, marching stolidly along just ahead. "We must inform the commander."

  "Perhaps we performed the procedure incorrectly." Having taken so long to be persuaded, Prenkip wasn't quite ready to give up. "Let us try once more."

  A disgruntled Vuikak reluctantly agreed. "Very well. But it is evident that we have been wasting our time."

  Turning the stones so that different sides faced each other, they brought them into contact a second time. The result was‑another click.

  "Rocks." A thoroughly disgusted Vuikak eyed the speci­men he was holding. "Utilizing native mythology and a little imagination, the humans have fooled us badly. But you and I have discovered the subterfuge in time. We will tell the commander, and the stones can be returned to their holding places before any serious harm is done to our diplomatic efforts among the Parramati." He extended a hand to the technician. "Here‑give me that useless thing!"

  So saying, and before Prenkip thought to object, Vuikak took the second stone and whacked it angrily against the one he already held. The resulting noise sounded exactly like two lumps of volcanic glass striking one another: a click magnified. Disdainfully he dumped both of them by the side of the narrow trail, onto a patch of short grassy growth.

  "I still think we may be doing something wrong." Hav­ing had promotion and glory waved wildly in front of him, Prenkip was now reluctant to surrender the vision.