A Simple Truth (28 page)

Sharma endorsed the suggestion in spite of Knight's dissent.  He was curious also, but had more patience than his young colleague.  He agreed that a substantial break would be beneficial.

"An hour for questions and discussion
,
"
said Lincoln, "and then six hours to yourselves to rest
and
sleep."

Questions came thick and fast.  The public also had questions and the WSA
communication
centre was inundated with demands.  At the end of the allotted hour all the main details were well established.  Repetition and speculation had begun to set in so Lincoln called a halt.  Sharma and Knight were quite exhausted by this time and settled down for a well earned rest.  The ferry's cameras continuously scanned the spheres below for any sign of activity, and its computer was told to report immediately any change from normal.

There then followed an internal discussion in the control room.  Lincoln took charge of the proceedings.  Naganda was happy to let him, he made only one suggestion and that was for representatives of the other
governments
that wished to be involved
to
share in the talks.  He felt that to hog the reins for too long was dangerous, so the sooner others were in
cluded
the better.  Even if they did not get their way at least they would not feel left out, and in any political situation that factor is often critical.

A teleconferencing system was soon set up and representatives of fifteen nations joined in under Lincoln's chairmanship.

"Ladies and gentlemen
,"
he began, in his most diplomatic voice.  "You have all heard what has transpired and we need to agree on the next phase.  Sharma and Knight will be allowed to sleep for several hours so there is no great urgency.  We should try to establish first a broad course of action, and then fill in the finer details later."

Both Lincoln and Naganda knew that this discussion was largely for show.  Some good ideas might come out of it but the main procedure would be planned by the highly trained team who were now systematically scrutinising all the known facts and setting up an optimised plan of action.  The WSA Tactics Division had never worked so hard.  Communication links were set up secretly to Lincoln and other local members so that their proposal
s
could be fed in surreptitiously so as to appear the work of the assembled group.

Lincoln was thoroughly enjoying himself.  Everything was under control once more and optimism was the overriding emotion.  Details of the cautionary boarding party launch were divulged quite matter-of-factly, and no-one raised any adverse criticism.

Six hours later Knight and Sharma were awake, refreshed, and ready for action.  The boarding party craft was on station next to their ferry and its occupants had been briefed on plans for the next phase of events.  Lincoln discussed the proposals with Knight and Sharma who added little touches here and there in the light of their previous experience.

One more hour and they were ready to proceed.

17
   
G
uardians

The descent proved awkward with the mass of additional equipment that had to be carried.

"Thank God for that
,"
muttered Sharma as they reached the gravitational field of the sphere.  They were then able to sort things out without continually having to correct for drift.  For several minutes they helped each other disentangle themselves from their gear.  There were cameras, special instruments of all kinds, tools, communication systems, various recorders, and a host of sterile containers for samples of solids, liquids and gases.

"Ready to descend
,"
announced Sharma at long last.

The ferry's computer was instructed to release the cable and Sharma entered the silver liquid.  No chances were being taken this time
.  E
ach cable was firmly locked onto each suit and could only be detached by deliberate cutting or with a special magnetic key.  Thirty seconds later Sharma broke through the inner surface and was immediately met by a Red.  A brief attempt to unclip the cable convinced him that it was not possible.  Below waited another, watching progress intently and waiting to welcome his guests.

When down he greeted the alien with a cheery
,
"Hello again
.
"  "Welcome back
,"
replied the alien in the same animated manner.  It was impossible to tell if it was the same one as before, but he sounded the same, and was fitted with a similar yellow disc.

"Where is your friend
?"
he asked.

"He's waiting for my signal to join us.  Come on Damian, it's safe to enter."

Knight entered.  He stopped at the inside of the skin and proceeded to connect a spare cable to a wide plastic cylinder.

"We have devised a method of communicating with our people
,"
explained Sharma.  "We are carrying equipment that can convert ordinary light and sound into high frequency sound waves that we hope will transmit throughout the structure of your vessel.  The unit up there can receive and convert them into electrical signals which are then relayed to our vessel and to our people on earth.  The resolution will be very coarse but we did not want to rely on radio as your vessel would probably absorb the signals.  I hope you have no objection to our using this method of communication?" 

"If the frequency and amplitude are safe for you then they will be acceptable to us
,"
answered the alien.

Knight released a cord and a large foil trumpet gently unfolded from the cylinder.  He inspected the instrument briefly and then continued his descent to join the others.

When they were all down and the formalities over the system was tested and worked perfectly.

"Shall we talk here
,"
asked Sharma as he released their restraining cables
,
"or do you wish us to go elsewhere?"

"We have much to discuss so I suggest we make ourselves comfortable
," replied the alien,
"
a
room has been prepared for our use, please follow me."

Now that his anxiety had almost completely subsided Knight's thoughts turned to the rest of the world which he knew would be avidly watching every move and listening to every word
.  He began to feel acutely self-
conscious.  Never in his life had he contemplated attracting so much
attention
and he was not at all sure that he could handle it.

A short journey by tunnel car brought them to an area covered in bluish hemispherical mounds like igloos but all joined together.  Some were large and some small, and here and there were very large mounds surrounded by smaller ones.  The whole effect was as if a slate blue liquid had been whisked and the bubbles frozen before they could burst.  The next higher sphere was visible about twenty metres overhead and that too was covered in the same way.  Aliens of all sizes and shades from pale yellow to clay red were going about their business above and below.  They would emerge from an opening in one mound, leap from one to another across a dozen or so and then disappear into another.  Some were alone, some in twos and threes, and some were carrying articles of various kinds.  Some were equipped with mysterious apparatus attached to their bodies and yet other
s
were empty handed.

"Are we still in the same sphere
?"
asked Knight.

"No
,"
answered the alien, "this is one of the third layer spheres occupied by what we shall call Scouts, these people you see here."

"I hope the sonic link is adequate
,"
said Sharma doubtfully.  Knight perversely hoped that it would not be adequate.  But his hopes were soon dashed by the ever helpful
Scout
who assured them that s
ignificant
attenuation would be compensated for.  They walked out on
to
the neares
t bubble then through an opening
and onto
a
ramp
that
led down at rather too steep an angle for comfort.  At the bottom it
was darker than outside, but Knight
could see that some of the bubbles continued to the ground while others merely covered the passageways between the completed bubbles.  They walked for about a hundred metres.  It was im
possible to remember their path;
similar passages, some wide, some narrow, led away in all directions, and none was straight as they meandered between the irregular hemispheres.  Eventually they stopped at one of the larger ones and as they watched an opening formed to allow their entry.

It was arranged like a small circus.  Circular steps about half a metre wide and twenty centimetres deep led down to a
central
circular arena of about
four
metres in diameter
.  A
bove
the arena
was a large inverted dome without any visible means of support.  The group went down about ten steps to the one immediately facing the central area.

"Please be seated
,"
said their guide, taking up a position in front of them.  "You may remove your
helmets;
this level has been filled with a suitable atmosphere."

They were happy to accept the invitation.

"You have much to ask us I know
,"
he continued, "but it will help us if you would first answer a few questions that we have prepared.  Then I will try to tell you all you wish to know."

"We shall be happy to answer any questions you have
,"
replied Sharma agreeably, "and if we cannot answer them directly a reply can be transmitted from earth via the sonic link."

"Very well then, w
hat is the present human population?"

"About eight billions
,"
answered Sharma.

"And what sort of variation is there in human physical characteristics?"

"There are several distinct types
,
each with characteristic features, different skin pigmentation, variations in body size and structure and so on, though we are all variations within a single species."

"I see
,"
said their questioner, and turning to face Knight added
,
"I am particularly interested in your pale eyes and skin.  I wonder, may I take a closer look at your eyes, they have a fascinating structure." 

The request was reasonable enough, Knight's fair skin and pale blue eyes would certainly seem odd to a
being
familiar only with black-skinned humans.  Knight smiled, "yes of course
,"
he agreed.

The
Scout
stepped forward and put his great eyes right up close to him.  At first
Knight
felt embarrassed, but soon became fascinated with a faint pattern he could see in the
Scout's
own eyes, or rather in one of his eyes, since they were too big to look into both at once.  He hadn't noticed it before but there was definitely a pattern of luminescence, a sparkling central area, moving, turning back on itself, always symmetrical and yet continually changing and expanding.  Soon it had grown so large that the whole eye was filled.  Then a strange thing happened.  The pattern continued to grow, it became larger than the
Scout
's eye,
it became
so large in fact that it was soon the only thing that Knight could see.

He was suddenly gripped by an acute need to back off, the closeness and persistence of the pattern became unbearably oppressive, and he shut his eyes to block it out.  But the pattern was still the same, and still growing.  He realised too late that it had not been growing at all, it had been advancing, and now it was inside his head.  As this realisation dawned he experienced a strange lethargy, an overwhelming need to let go, to surrender without resistance.  The pattern of light stay
ed with him, exploring, testing;
feeling
every cell of his brain.  The experience was unusual but not painful.  He felt as though he was being taken apart atom by atom, his mind laid bare, every thought, emotion
and desire that he had ever had;
every shred of knowledge that his mind had ever held, carefully scrutinised and stored away.  He felt naked, his very being completely transparent, and yet he did not object, it seemed strangely unimportant.

After a while the probing ceased, the invasion was over.  He knew that he had suffered a traumatic experience but already the memory of it was becoming hazy.  The memory receded further until it became just a vague sense of unease, so remote that he wondered whether it had been real at all or just imagined.  He began to feel restless.  He opened his eyes to find the
Scout
looking deeply into them.  At first he felt embarrassed, but soon became fascinated with a bright pattern he could see in the
Scout
's
e
ye. 
It
was a pattern of luminescence, a sparkling central area, moving, turning back on itself, always symmetrical and yet continually changing and shrinking.  Soon it had contracted to no more than a tiny point of light, and then that too vanished, taking with it the last vestiges of the knowledge of his violation.