The Devil's Eye (37 page)

There probably weren't more than two dozen human beings in that entire world. Alex said he'd seen two, a young couple, during his first day at the Museum. They'd been delighted to introduce themselves and spend a few minutes with him. Three others showed up at different times on the omicron. They all tried to defend the Confederacy's action, arguing that surely anyone could understand their caution. They expressed their dismay that hostilities continued between the two species, but they were all certain that a peaceful future lay just over the horizon. They themselves of course found individual Ashiyyureans to be unfailingly polite and, as one said, "good people." We just have to give it time.

While a tsunami of gamma rays raced toward Salud Afar at light speed.

Giambrey also showed up on the omicron, doing an interview. The one dicey moment came when he was asked to comment on the decision by Whiteside to send only a handful of naval ships to Salud Afar.
"I understand why he did it,"
said Giambrey, seeing no advantage in criticizing the Confederate leader.
"I'm sure it doesn't reflect a lack of trust in the Ashiyyurean leadership, but is simply an act of caution. I would have preferred he send more assistance, but I think we have to admit at least that it's a start in the right direction."

I couldn't help wondering how the fractals were playing for the Mutes. It's a lot harder to deal in nonsense when you're sitting on a nudist beach. Alex grinned at me. "Dead on, Chase," he said. I hadn't realized I'd said it aloud, and thought for a moment that Alex too had been poking around in my mind. "The nudist beach?" I said. "No. Not nudist. They got you off that raft. When the, what was it, the
vacabubu
, was there. Right?"
"Vooparoo,"
I said. "My point is, they came to your rescue." "Of course they did. What would you expect, Alex?" Alex looked at Kassel. "When you guys are on the omicron, your thoughts are picked up and broadcast, right?" "That's correct," said Kassel. "How about Giambrey? Did the system pick up
his
thoughts as well? Or did he have to be translated in some way?" "The interviewer reads Giambrey. It's the interviewer's reading that gets broadcast rather than Giambrey directly." "Why?" Kassel hesitated. "Because," he said, and trailed off. "Because the system simply doesn't work with human brains." "We're too dumb?" suggested Alex. "I wouldn't put it that way." Selotta broke in: "Human brains operate at a different energy level. I don't know the details, have never been good at fractals, but that's the reality." "Tell me," said Alex, "do you read humans as easily as you do each other?" "No." She shifted her position on the chair. Tried to get comfortable. "No. Humans are more difficult." "How about human nonverbals? Are you able to interpret them?" Her eyes grew luminous. "You mean like how the pitch in your voice changed when you asked whether we think you're not too bright?" "That's what I thought." He turned back to Kassel. "Why has no one been here to interview
us
?" Kassel took that one: "They have Giambrey. When they found out a delegation was here, they'd naturally want to talk primarily to the ambassador." Giambrey was still talking. Selotta had lowered the volume, but I caught part of it.
"I'm sure,"
he said,
"we can find common ground to get over this difficulty. We simply need to dialogue more often."
"
Dialogue
's the wrong verb," I growled. "We need to
talk
."

Alex looked far away for a moment. "Kassel," he said finally, "could an interview be arranged for us?" "Sure. You're thinking about Chase on the beach?" "Yes" "Ah," he said. "It might work." "Me on the beach? What are we talking about?" Alex got that look in his eye that I associated with a request to run off to Backwater IV to secure an ancient cooling system. "Chase," he said, "would you be willing to do an interview?" "Me? Not on your life, sweetheart. I'll take on sea monsters, if you want, and ride taxis into the upper altitudes, and I can even deal with ghosts in the woods. But I don't do interviews." "All you have to do is say what you think." "Alex, why?" "Trust me." "Why don't
you
do it? You do this kind of thing all the time." "That's the problem. I might be a bit jaded.
You
are the one who was out on the raft. Nobody else
can
do it. Anyhow, you're a much more sympathetic person than I am." Selotta squeezed my shoulder. "Chase," she said, "he knows what he's talking about."

Kassel made a call. It, too, like so much else on this world, was silent. He simply looked at his link for a minute or two, did no physical reaction of any kind, and closed the device. "We are all set," he said. "And we have exactly the right person to conduct the interview." "Who?" Kassel stood silently for a moment. Then: "He says we will use the name 'Ordahl.' And I should tell you he's the local equivalent of Walker Ankavo," said Kassel. They claim they can only read conscious thoughts, but I don't believe it. Walter Ankavo was probably the most celebrated journalist on Rimway. But he hadn't crossed my mind in months. Alex claimed she didn't get it from him either. Well, whatever. In any case, he would arrive the next day. "They're going to record it in the morning and broadcast it tomorrow night," Kassel said. "I don't think this is a good idea," I said. "Chase, you'll be fine. We need to get the general population past the notion we're savages. Who better to do that than you?" "I agree," said Kassel. "Lord," I said. "When it blows up, I want everybody to remember it wasn't my idea." "It won't blow up." I climbed onto a chair. Wished my feet could touch the floor. "Will we be going into a studio somewhere?" "No. They're going to do it here. They figure you'll be more comfortable that way." "They got that from you." "Possibly." He tilted his head, which was meant to indicate I shouldn't worry. "You'll be fine," he said. "What am I supposed to tell them? What's the point of all this?" "All you have to do is talk to Ordahl," said Alex. He gave me an encouraging smile. "One of Selotta's neighbors made the comment that things would be better if they and we could socialize a bit. That we've never really had a chance to get to know one another. That's what we want to do here. We want the public to see the very best we have to offer." "So you're hanging
me
out there? My God, Alex-" "Just go along with it," he said. "Be yourself. And run with your instincts. You'll be fine." "Right." "You
will
," said Selotta. "If the thought passes through your mind that Mutes are incredibly sexy creatures and much to be sought after"-she glanced at Kassel, who let his head drift onto the back of his chair-"there's no need to be defensive. Everybody will understand. "Keep in mind that language is a code. Ordahl, and his audience, won't be able to read the words you form in your head. Only the images. And the emotions. And whatever other drives you have going on."

They arrived in a blue-and-gold skimmer and hovered over the villa. "They're taking pictures," said Kassel. After a while they landed and brought equipment inside. Directed by a female, a team of three moved the furniture around, set up the recording gear, explained to Selotta and Kassel how, once they got started, everybody other than the principals would have to leave the building. When they'd finished, they climbed back into the skimmer, promising to return shortly, and vanished into the late-morning sky. "How big an audience does this guy get?" I asked. Kassel thought about it. "The latest surveys show forty million or so. It's
big
. The critical thing, though, is its composition. It includes the"-he paused, searching for a phrase-"the movers and shakers. You want to make a splash, this is the way you do it." He paused and looked in the direction the skimmer had taken. "I wish I could get them to pay this much attention to
me
." Make a splash. That called the vooparoo to mind again. It might not have been so bad had Alex not kept telling me I'd do fine. You won't screw up. After all, what could go wrong? Don't worry, Chase, you're a natural. After a while he stopped. Maybe he figured out he wasn't helping, or maybe our hosts read my state of mind and advised him to knock it off. Whatever, Selotta tried to change the subject to what a good dinner we were going to have. Kassel started talking about the Mute philosopher Tulisofala and the Kaiman Cliffs, and Alex pretended to read. Two hours later, the skimmer came back. The female climbed out and came inside. She made some adjustments with the omicron. She was still not wearing a voice box. I think she regarded Alex and me as pet chimps. She stiffened, so I knew she had picked that up. I pictured a banana. Really like them. Yum-yum. She kept working while I munched the banana. Selotta suggested that was not the way to win them over. Meanwhile, a second skimmer arrived, and a guy who was obviously Ordahl stepped out and looked around. He wore a bright gold robe. I watched him take a chain out of a small black package. It was his voice box, which he studied for a moment before looping it around his neck. He strode imposingly up the walkway. Kassel met him at the door and showed him inside. He was your standard Mute, almost two heads taller than I was. His skin was not gray, like all the others I'd seen in my limited travels, but almost gold. There was, of course, no expression to read, just the long jaws and the diamond eyes. He did an exchange with Selotta and Kassel. Then, after a few seconds, they all turned to Alex and me. Kassel did the introductions, and Ordahl responded by saying he was pleased to meet us. One of the many problems inherent in communicating with the Ashiyyur is that whoever manufactures the voice boxes apparently makes only two types: one for each gender. Otherwise, the voices are identical. So at first, while we tried to get set up, I was seldom sure whether Kassel or Ordahl was talking. It would have been okay had either moved his lips. Kassel grasped the situation and moved well away from Ordahl so it became easier to know where the voice was coming from. Finally, everybody filed outside. They took seats in the skimmers, or on the deck. The female closed the doors, and I was alone with Ordahl. He asked if I was ready to begin. That was purely a formality because he had to know I wasn't ready, and never would be. "Yes," I said, trying to
be
casual. "Relax." He let me see his fangs and pointed at the chairs. A smile or a promise of extermination? "Why don't we sit, Chase?" The chairs had been placed facing each other in front of a lavender curtain mounted by the crew specifically as a backdrop. "Sure," I said. "I'm ready when you are." "Good. We won't start recording for a few minutes. If that's okay with you." "That's fine." "May I make a comment?" "Sure," I said. "You look very good." "I beg your pardon?" "Don't misunderstand me. You are everything I'd hoped. You're quite
alien
. And you're unsettling. Not

someone with whom I'd want to be alone. That's precisely what we want. I'd been concerned that you would simply look like a different life-form. But you really do have a quality that is"-he stopped, trying to think what he wanted to say-"disquieting." "Okay. I'm glad I didn't disappoint you." I let him see my incisors, but he didn't seem to notice. "Good." We talked for a few minutes, about my impressions of Borkarat, and how difficult it was to communicate using grunts, snarls, and aspirates. Then he asked again whether I was ready. "Yes." Let's get it over with. A green lamp blinked on. "Chase Kolpath, I'd like to welcome you to
Newsmaker
. The show has been running for thirty-two years, and you're the first human who's been our guest." "It's a pleasure to be here, Ordahl." "May I ask how long you've been on Borkarat, Chase?" "Just a couple of weeks." We went back and forth for several minutes. What was my connection with the mission from Salud Afar? How had I come to be on that world? Was it really true that the Administrator's staff knew of the Callistra event before we reported it to him? Uh-oh. "I really have no way of knowing the answer to that, Ordahl. But I'd be shocked to learn that the Administrator had been aware of the problem in advance." We went through a series of preliminaries. Would I explain what I did for a living and why I'd come to Borkarat? What did it feel like to be isolated inside my mind? What was my reaction to living among a race that communicated so differently? Did I feel a sense of release to know that I was now open to others, and that everything I knew could be made available to them with no effort on my part? "No," I admitted. "It scares the daylights out of me." "Why? Why are humans so frightened of truth? So literally terrified that others will find out what they think? What they feel? Are they really that deceptive?" "Nobody's frightened of the truth, Ordahl. But we think privacy counts for something, too." "Yes. Thus you value your ability to conceal the truth from one another." "Sometimes truth is painful. For example, revealing some parts of daily life is tasteless. There are details of physical reality that we all know about, but we don't want them pushed into our consciousness on a regular basis." "Such as?" "Such as whether my notable interviewer feels a need to go to the bathroom." I wondered how a comedian got by on a world in which nobody ever laughed? "What," he asked, "is a comedian?" His tone suggested an adult trying to talk sense to a child. I resisted the impulse to fall back on my charm. My soft gray eyes and long black hair. I had good features and a killer smile. Ordinarily, they were more than enough to cow male opposition. But I had no way to charm that hulk. Whatever allure I possessed was missing in action. "Surely," he said, "you must understand that many of the problems between your species and the Ashiyyur spring from the willingness of humans to engage in deceit." "Some of the problems are a result of Ashiyyurean hubris." "Ah. Could you explain, please?" "Ashiyyureans think they are superior. I'm not sure why they would believe that, other than that they share a common consciousness. Are you more intelligent than we are? If you were, surely you'd have found a way to make peace with us. I know we can be noisy neighbors, but we don't want to be fighting incessant border wars. And neither do you. Neither side profits from them. Why are you unable to persuade us to do what is in our own self-interest?" Eventually we got to the point. "You came hoping to enlist a promise from us that we would call a halt to hostilities so that your combat fleets could go to the rescue at Salud Afar." "Yes. That's correct." "And you got that promise. We have agreed to stand down during the emergency."