A Simple Truth (35 page)

"What the...
How...
What is it
?"
spluttered Knight.

"I thought you would find it interesting
,"
said the Guardian, "it's what you might call a dispersed creature.  An animal that normally exists as separate independent cells, but cells that can quickly organise into the shape of anything that might serve as a meal.  This is how it catches its prey and also how it escapes
predators
, by becoming one of them."

By this time four pseudo
-
humans had materialised and even more were thickening up.  Knight shuddered.  He made up his mind that for all their fascination he did not care for these creatures, they were decidedly weird.

"Are they intelligent
?"
asked another of the group.

"Not in their present form
,"
answered the Guardian, "but they have potential.  You see, as well as grouping together physically they are also capable of grouping mentally in an as yet primitive fashion.  Even though each cell is insignificant, as more and more cells coalesce physically and mentally, in principle there is the potential for unlimited intelligence.  We are working to that end."

"Where are they from
?"
asked another.

"From your point of view their planet orbits a star about three thousand light years away in the constellation of Orion.
"

"How do you feed them
?
"
asked yet another.

"Their food is synthesised in one of the outer spheres along with all the other specialised foods.  In their case we make several kinds of their usual prey and feed them in via the tunnel network."

"The bison we saw in the human sphere
,"
said Knight, "were they synthesised too or do they breed there?"

"They were synthesised
,"
answered the Guardian, "all food is synthesised.  There isn't enough room to allow breeding space for foodstuffs, all the space is used for breeding
the developing life forms
."

"But they seemed to be alive and quite normal in appearance
,"
he persisted.

"Yes, they a
re alive and normal
,"
continued the Guardian, "we can synthesise living creatures."

"Course they can
,"
added one of the group, "the Scouts themselves are synthesised."

"That's true
in principle
, but there's a
big
difference in their case
,"
pointed out the Guardian.  "The Scouts reproduce themselves and rear their own young.  They are fully functioning intelligent beings and so learn a great deal from their seniors and also retain mental flexibility so as to be capable of dealing with as many situations as possible on their own initiative.  It wouldn't be efficient to try to incorporate that level of ability by synthesis alone.  The food animals on the other hand do not need
mental flexibility
, just natural instincts, so synthesis is more efficient in their case."

"Incidentally
,"
he continued
,
addressing Knight, "you mentioned 'the human sphere'.  The humans in fact occupy twenty spheres.  We always maintain the same apparent conditions as prevailed on the home planet and to provide a sufficient area for the humans we needed twenty spheres."

"Are you saying that when we looked in a straight line across the valley we were actually looking across twenty spheres
?"
asked Knight incredulously.

"The twenty spheres provide
a much larger area than you saw
and we are able to re-use the same space several times over except
where matter is very dense,
but basically yes, you were certainly looking across more than one sphere, and you could also have walked in an apparently straight line across more than one sphere.  What appeared to you as straight was in fact very convoluted indeed."

***************

Over an hour had gone by and
Lincoln
's l
ittle group w
as
still waiting.

"Give your lads a call Jack
," he suggested,
"
g
et them to ask the aliens if their target has been changed."

Ten minutes later Arnold reported the aliens' reply.  "The co-ordinates are
unchanged;
the Scout is on station and will contact us shortly."  He was met by looks of disbelief from his colleagues.

"There's been a mistake somewhere
,"
said Lincoln flatly, "we've come to the wrong spot."

"If there's been a mistake it's not mine
,"
retorted the pilot, "we're exactly where you requested."

Jack Arnold began to feel under attack and was about to defend his co-ordinates when Lincoln broke in again.

"I don't know what the mistake is, it could easily be an error in the printout or maybe the aliens have sent a wrong figure, we'll wait another ten minutes and then go home."

The ruffled feathers began to settle once more and the pilot started to walk back to the aircar to prepare it for the return journey.  He had gone only about three metres when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the...
?
"
he began, and the others looked up in surprise.

About five metres away from the aircar there was an area of peculiar haziness.  It was as if the air was being heated by an intense but invisible fire.  The turbulent air caused the background to move about and dance in an animated illusion.  As they watched the distortion became more intense and violent while at the same time a specific outline began to take shape.  In less than half a minute the transition was complete and before their astonished eyes stood one of the Scouts, surrounded by a large translucent bubble.

He waited a few seconds while one of the familiar yellow speaking discs gradually materialised inside the bubble.  When it was fitted he stepped through the side and addressed them politely.

"Forgive me, I didn't realise anyone would be waiting to meet me."

It was some seconds before anyone regained sufficient composure to respond.

"Where did you come from
?
"
asked Lincoln eventually.

"I was making some observations in the ground about t
hree
metres below this spot."

"You were 'in' the ground
?"
exclaimed Lincoln.

"That's right.  The observations are necessary to discover the reasons behind the transition from our modified people to the present human population
,"
he replied quite matter-of-factly.

"But how is it possible get into the ground
?"
asked Khan, pursuing Lincoln's enquiry.

"I'm not sure I can explain that within the limitations of your language but I'll do my best.  You are probably not aware that different forms of matter can occupy the same volume of space at the same time, but they can by a change of particle excitation, or what might be described as the nuclear temperature of the matter.  In this case the matter is this Scout's body and the accompanying equipment.  It is transformed into a state where it doesn't interfere with ordinary matter.  Then it can pass into and out of solid objects like water passes through a sponge."

"And can you 'see' things in the ground when you're in this excited state
?"
persisted Lincoln.

"No, not directly, b
ut this equipment
,"
indicating the bubble he had just left, "records the disposition of all matter through which it passes and transmits its findings to our vessel for preliminary analysis.  Then further instructions are fed back so that if other types of observation are needed the necessary instruments are created and in that way all relevant data from the site are collected."

"I see
,"
said Khan, perplexed, "but what is
it
down there that you are observing and how did you know it was there at all?"

"
T
h
e remains of a human settlement
.  I
t's possible to detect such things from aerial surveys, much as you might detect a hidden heat source with infrared detectors.  We can specify a particular type of matter and detect it, in this case human remains of a particular type."

"You mean that all matter emits characteristic and detectable radiation?"

"No, not radiation as you understand the term, but all things continue outside their visible boundaries in the form of a 'presence', which decays away rapidly outside the object but never ceases completely, and with sensitive instruments we can detect it, provided the source is concentrated enough."

"Sensitive instruments
,"
breathed Lincoln, "that sort of sensitivity is unimaginable."

Until now the pilot had remained silent.  He had witnessed the impossible and had listened to an unbelievable conversation, and his imagination was working overtime.

"You mean
,"
he began, "that you can detect anything in the ground?"

"That's right
,"
responded the Scout, "providing it is concentrated enough and within range."

"Could you find things like diamonds and gold?"

Lincoln groaned inwardly.  He had begun to think that the pilot was sharing their sense of awe, but knew better now.  He turned on the unsuspecting man.

"Diamonds and gold
,"
he snarled, with a degree of venom that shocked his colleagues.  "My God, is that the best use you could make of such an instrument, as a means to get rich quick?" 

The pilot lapsed into silence and the air hung heavy for a few moments.  Lincoln's anger quickly subsided and left him feeling a little embarrassed at his outburst.

"How will you use the data that you collect
?"
asked Arnold quickly, getting the subject back on the right track and hoping that the tension would soon dissipate.

"To answer your question first
,"
said the Scout to the pilot, "the particular instruments in use now are specially prepared to detect once
-
living forms of matter, but there are other detectors that can locate any type of mineral."

"Oh, thank you
,"
replied the pilot sheepishly, his enthusiasm having completely evaporated.

"And about the data, the cell structure in any dead tissue retains a form of ancestral memory of that
life form
.  The early human bones will enable us to extract the common memories of the race and thereby piece together the events of the past.  Other settlements are being observed in the same way. 

"How long will it take to process the data
?"
asked Lincoln uneasily.  He had a premonition of the aliens gathering their data, making their analyses and then moving on before he could find out a fraction of the things he was aching to know.  They had said that they would stay until their research was done and a corrective programme established, but Lincoln and everyone else had assumed that that would probably take months to complete.

"It is done instantly.  I have some further observations to make but we should have sufficient data in an hour or so, then we hope to know in some detail the whole of human history."

"Will you inform us of your findings
?"
asked Khan.

"I can't say.  It depends on what we find out, but unless there is some reason why the knowledge might be harmful to you then you will be told."

"Will that be the end of your research here
?"
asked Lincoln, his tone clearly betraying the reply he wanted.

"Again it depends, we expect to know the events of history, but the reasons for those events might still be unclear.  We need to know wher
e our previous work went astray;
something very odd has happened and it may take a great deal of investigation to unravel the full story."

"Well I hope it does
,"
said Lincoln.  "There's also a lot we need to learn about you and your technology.  It would be tragic if you left before we could properly benefit from this opportunity to acquire new knowledge." 

"I'm sure you will achieve your objectives.  You wish for knowledge, your friend wishes for diamonds and gold.  The wishes are not very different.  Both represent the satisfaction of personal desire.  But if you will excuse me, I must now resume my task."

And so saying he stepped back into his bubble and in seconds was lost to view in the same way that he had appeared.