Chapter 43

"This little one is an example. She was in pain and I felt it. I thought of myself as the one that fell and wanted to be rescued. It may not be a completely sane attitude from your point of view but humans are odd."

"Tell me about humans."

"That is a long and complicated subject. Do you wish to take all that time?"

"I believe it is important."

"Are you one of the leaders I asked to talk to?"

"How did you know?"

"You talked about yourself in the first person. What is your name?"

The Wikki gave a name but only part of it was verbal. Part of the name referred to a grotto. I said, "Your name is long. Do you have a much shorter version that is only verbal?"

"No. We do not do that."

"I am not a Wikki. I will always get your name wrong no matter how long I try. May I call you Grotto. This means a small cave that can be in a park."

"I will accept this from you."

"Then call me Wally. All my friends do."

"Not Wallykiefer?"

"My name is in two parts. Wally and then Kiefer. Wally is the short form."

I started to talk about humans. I gave the good points then the bad. I talked how they were good individually but crazy in groups. I talked about intelligence of an individual and how easy a group was fooled by a politician. This opened the can of worms about elections and the so-called democratic process.

We broke for lunch and I said, "Grotto, can an Aristis eat your food without problems?"

"We have had prisoners that have eaten our food until their own machinery was repaired or they died."

"Humans should digest the same food. Will you invite me to eat in your cafeteria?"

"We can do this but it will upset the crew."

"Can we be brought food?"

"That is easily done but why eat our food?"

"To learn. I can get the data from our food replicators sent to you. One of the emergency foods I already offered you. Was it dangerous for a Wikki to eat this?"

"No, but it did not taste good."

"It tasted good to me the first time I tried it but the Aristis are close to being like humans. We drink coffee and beer and both take a bit of getting used to before they are enjoyed."

We talked about food. The Wikki were omnivorous but they never had real flesh. It always came out of a replicator. I talked about drugs and this was because of the caffeine in coffee and the alcohol in beer.

The food came in and I used something like a spoon to eat my puree of something green. It tasted like spinach but I still ate it all. The Wikki seemed to enjoy their meal.

After the meal, Grotto asked, "How is it that you could get the information sent from your food replicators? Your king would not allow that."

"King Rontem was vicious when he was in a biological body. The transference into a computer was not complete, causing more of an unstable personality. When you came he wanted to attack right away even if it meant all of our deaths. We are not defenceless as we may seem but we would lose.

"I was summoned to the Fonduush for a consultation. He was prepared to sacrifice some of the original Aristis crew. He was going to harm our community.

"Long ago I knew that the intelligence in the computer was going to endanger all of us so I made plans to remove it. I do not take killing easily. When your people came, I knew it was necessary to destroy Rontem. Explosives were planted near the computer room and I destroyed Rontem before coming here. A new identity had been waiting all along and this was placed in charge."

"You left your ship defenceless?"

"I did not destroy the computer but just the main processor. Please wait here a moment." I got up slowly and retrieved a sack and put it near Grotto. "That is what became of King Rontem."

"How can we be sure of this?"

"Get your computer to talk to the Fonduush. The former computer was a 72. I improved it with Rontem in it. You will find that it is now a 62."

"That much processing power in one ship?"

"Sure, that means that more people can use the computer at one time without overloading it."

"Having a more powerful computer does not mean that Rontem is dead."

"That is true. Rontem would not be able to act sane for long and I doubt if he would allow another computer entity to take over to trick you. The best answer again is to talk to the computer. Another is to ask the computer who I am now."

"What do you mean?"

"Rontem would never allow anybody else to be called king while he was still around to prevent it."

"You are the new king?"

"Yes."

"You put yourself into our custody?"

"I have some data crystals. Read them and you will see what I mean. I would not have done what I did if I did not see something good in the Wikki."

I brought out the information. It talked about everything I knew since meeting Nadac. My abilities were downgraded or portions not mentioned. My intrigues were mentioned only if they furthered my cause but I tried to appear clean. Everything up to a few days ago was put in the file except the location of earth but that they may simply find.

Grotto and one other left but two came in to take their place while we went about the communication lessons trying to talk telepathically.

When it came near time for sleep, Grotto had not returned. I could see a lot of Wikki standing in a trance as if they were soldiers getting orders. They must all be doing some heavy duty thinking. That made me think of computers and I looked in the Wikki bodies in front of me to see what they used. I found their brain and saw that it was too small to contain all the intelligence I had seen. These Wikki were not that bright but Grotto was. This reminded me of how I used Gorbo, Walt, Wayne or Wesley except that I had a communicator and it did not look like the Wikki had one.

Telepathy grew in importance now and I studied their minds trying to see what I could not in an Aristis, Tomma or human. I looked at the inertial compensator of the ship from this position and could not see enough of the details. From here it looked the same as ours.

I slept that night with the small ship's computer making sure that my little friend did not escape her cave. Her bite was still deadly and I did not want to get nipped by accident.

My hosts were ready for me once more when I awoke. My own guest was still sleeping. I looked at all three adults carefully and said, "Good morning. I hope I did not deprive you of your sleep?"

There was no reply so I asked, "Will one of you ask, the one I call Grotto, when he will return?"

Again there was no answer but in half of a minute I heard, "I will be free in half of a unit of time Wally."

"I will await anxiously for your return. I would like to talk about Wikki physiology when we return. Most of it is for my own guest but the topic is interesting. I will allow you access to the humans body functions."

There was a pause and he said, "That may be interesting for me too."

An hour later I had a sip of bosta and checked on my mini Wikki. She was not awake and now I was worried. She slept very little at a time and napped when she needed it.

I called out, "Walt, please send a file describing human physiology to my position. Request the comparable Wikki file. I have a small Wikki in my care that does not seem to be doing so good. She had one of her legs nipped off in a fight and two of her legs were broken and now splinted.

"State that the human file is not large because we were not discovered until recently and little effort was put into research up to this time."

"I will do as ordered, my King."

There was a reason for this type of reply but most of me did not like the way it would distance me from those I knew.

When I put my finger down to touch the small body it twitched. The body shifted toward my hand. It took a second to find that she was following one of my fingers. I pulled the hand back and smelt my own fingers. My smelling was good but probably not as good as the tiny hunter. I went back over my actions recently and deduced that it must be a small amount of bosta on my fingers.

"Walt, did you get the file I requested from the Wikki?"

"It is being transmitted, my king."

"Search through it to find the possible effects of bosta on an immature Wikki. She finds the smell interesting."

"I will call one way or another, my King."

One of the Wikki raised an appendage and said, "Why do you worry about one so young?"

"I see potential in the young. One day this young one may be important. Perhaps I will learn to communicate with her. This would mean that I may be able to communicate with the rest of the Wikki or that you could communicate with my tiny friend. This brings about an understanding between different people."

"Do you see us as people?"

This had to be the group mind speaking through this individual. "You are a different shape but our goals and methods of reaching them are not that dissimilar. I think you must find my body form repulsive. I felt that way about your form too when I first came here but I know that the Wikki are just people like me and wearing a different body."

There was no answer so I just waited. Eventually Walt said, "My lord, the bosta should not harm the young Wikki. There is no direct evidence but nothing in it is detrimental to the being. I suggest giving it only a little to see how it reacts."

"Thanks Walt. I'll try it your way."

I poured a drop into my palm. I wanted my scent to be mixed with that of the food and this may prevent this simple creature from poisoning me later. The Wikki got up and crawled into my hand and squatted down with difficulty due to its splints and lapped up the liquid with its tongue.

I asked the group in front of me, "Do the young Wikki drink water or other liquids?"

The reply came, "The young are provided with water but usually they get their moisture from the leaves they consume."

The Wikki was looking for more to drink. I worked hard and I felt what I thought was thirst. Water may be good but bosta had many good ingredients in it. I went with more bosta and poured more into my palm. The little one drank it all and then settled down to rest in my palm.

I moved my palm over to where she was resting and the little creature became frightened. I knew it was going to bite and I yelled, "No!" She stopped as if stunned and I was able to get her off of my hand without me being bitten.

"Walt, how much poison will a young Wikki with a three centimetre body expel during a bite? How would that effect me?"

"The bite is estimated to be 80 to a 130 microlitres. Multiple bites are usually the case with volumes up to 460 microlitres. A single bite you may survive but you would suffer from considerable pain and necrosis. I am currently working on preparing an antidote."

"Thanks Walt."

I looked at the tiny life near me. She had been frightened by my outburst but had now gotten over it. I gave her more of the leaves and in a moment she started to eat them. This one needed a name. I liked Silver but that was used as a horse already. The Aristis word 'Vos' meant the same thing.

I went back to my efforts to communicate with the Wikki. We had more breaks for food and even some exercise. Vos was a lot more mobile now and I gave her more of the bosta to drink but also offered water. She preferred the former. Her broken bones were inspected. They were healing well. The appendage that was chewed off was starting to regrow so she would be as good as new eventually.

I asked, "Can any of you communicate with this young one I call Vos?"

The reply was, "This creature is too young to communicate."

"I think you may be mistaken. When she was frightened she was going to bite me. I commanded her not to and she complied. That means she understood. What do you make of this?"

"The creature was just stunned by the strength of the communication. It would be the same if you had used your voice."

"You may be right but I felt her pain, fear, hunger and thirst. I think the communication is more than one way."

Much later Grotto came back. We talked of inconsequentials for a few moments then he said, "We have studied the data you gave us. Your home planet is not shown in a good light. It is very backwards."

"You received the truth. Understanding cannot be based on lies."

"The data shows that you are restricting all the technology from your planet. That seems to be a good idea until they mature. Your academy and Star Fleet intrigue us. Where do you see this going?"

"Star Fleet has to have more than the three basic Tomma races. At some future date I would like to have members of the Wikki and other races join us. We learn from each other. With members in our organisation, you will not have reason to fear us. I fear that humans will not fare well for a long time and I do not want any one race to dominate the system.

"Over time our code of conduct will be understood. You may not agree with it all but you will know where we stand. I want competition the way you do with your young but like little Vos, I do not want the competition to always be to the death. At some time that failed competitor may provide an insight to a problem we cannot envision now."

Grotto said, "The Wikki may not do well in small units."

"I already figured that out. You are a group consciousness with some of you more intelligent on your own. We have not talked about the Tomma yet and I believe they too have this facility but theirs is not linked to their conscious minds."

I could detect some excitement now. "They have a queen?"

"Not that I know of. They have their All Mother and her sisters. They are the focus of their religious ideas. The Tomma have a lot of competition bred into their race. They fight all the time but try not to kill. They treat their planet with respect. The Tomma communicate better than you and I do now but in their own band of telepathic thought. The males soon die if they leave the planet's vicinity. The females can go for a longer time but they suffer too.

"I feel that the Wikki communicate the same way and it is the group consciousness that dictates what direction your race will take. The Tomma do not have aspirations for regaining space. My mates follow me though and so do many more Tomma. The All Mother is weak and gives little direction other than to be good to their planet."

Grotto asked, "Can we speak to this All Mother?"

"I have no idea. I have never tried nor have I heard of anybody else that has done so. We can give it a try. The trouble is that we may have to trust me now. I want to go back to Cralto to do it and you will have to trust me even though I look hideous to you."

"Why do we have to go to the planet?"

"I'm human. At best I know only a little about telepathy. I am learning but not very fast. It is the Tomma and the Wikki that know a lot more. I introduce a few of you to a few of my family. The Tomma will do a much better job than me and we both will learn.

"If there is deceit on my part, then there are only a few Wikki involved. You do not have to go because I know that you all work as a unit."

Grotto said, "The Tomma could come here?"

"Yes, but I showed good faith by coming here. Now it is only three low ranking Wikki that can show that your race is not that full of fear. The rest of the planet meets you and they are less fearful. I am not after war and I do not think the Wikki wish that either."

There was a pause that lasted five minutes then Grotto said, "We will do this but the Fonduush must get close to our ships."

"Grotto, you are showing unreasonable fear. We both stand at a threshold. I am important to my family and to the planet yet I came here. I do not think that three Wikki need that kind of insurance. If it were your queen I would not only do as you wish but also allow you to place an equal number of Wikki on the Fonduush. Your queen is not visiting, is she?"

Grotto just looked at me then said, "Our queen is not here."

"Then why must you demand so much security? I displayed trust and now it is the time for the Wikki to do the same thing."

There was a shorter pause then he said, "Three of our number will go to your planet."

I waited for more details and when none came I said, "Then we have both taken a step together."

We made details and then involved both Walt and Garbo in the discussion. I then called in my family and told them what was happening. They already knew from their link to Walt but now they knew officially. We did not leave for another day. The mates wanted to clean up and I was sure that the Wikki had probes on the planet checking to see exactly what the preparations were about.

Grotto transmitted the usual protocols that the Wikki used when meeting other races as well as other data that would allow us to understand each other. Garbo transmitted how our people may act and what was the suitable reply. Fear I knew was going to be on both sides.

As I prepared to leave, I said to Grotto, "Vos has healed surprisingly fast. I think part of the reason is the bosta that she drinks. It is supposed to promote our healing and replenish our energy. I think your people should study this. It may be good for your people that cannot make it to a med unit."

"We have noticed that too. We were as surprised as you were at this discovery."

I said, "Vos belongs with her people. She would be lonely by herself on Cralto. Could she be readmitted to the nursery?"

"That is impossible. The young form linkages at this stage and she has not done so because she has been here. If she went back now, she would be attacked by all of the young and killed."

I had to digest this then said, "Are there other Wikki young that would be allowed to accompany Vos? I am not looking at breeding but at companionship. The young are seen by me as innocent. Their presence on Cralto would show that you trust your young into our keeping even though they do not mean that much to you at this age. The result may mean that we all come to a better understanding of each other."

He paused then said, "I will bring six of the young. We value their lives a great deal even though we do not show it. They will be raised in poor surroundings but we wish to see how well they relate to your people."

The crew was assembled and I was introduced to the three that would go with me. They all had long names but I took portions of them and gave them the names Stream, Tree and Stone. They were all identical and I saw that their brains were not large like Grotto's. They would make an adequate means of communications though.

We flew in a much smaller ship to Cralto. We went around the planet a few times before landing in Toxlo. The Wikki released a lot of drones but ours would be there first to find anybody that had some violence aimed at the Wikki. There were none but I was cautious.

When the ship settled, I walked down the small ramp. There may have been cheering now but the noise would upset the Wikki. I felt good to be home and I could feel the love of my family much stronger now. There was an undercurrent of pleasure from the Tomma and I had to hope it was because I was now the king. To do what I needed to do, required a lot of authority. My mission now may get the Tomma to focus past me and my elevation to king. Rontem was very important to them.

The Aristis were used to jockeying for position and I already knew that they were not opposed to me being king. There still was an undercurrent of distrust because I was not a full blood Aristis.

There were a few thousand individuals about. Those with any form of arachnophobia were asked to stay away. Betts was actually the one who disliked spiders the most but also the one that tried the hardest to overcome her fears. She knew the Wikki were not spiders but their shape was very similar.

Our people came forward in groups of three and then left. It was not just our people that were frightened. As soon as possible, we entered the administrative building and out of sight.

I could feel the lessening of fear immediately from both groups. There was just too much propaganda spread out about the Wikki from the Aristis point of view. The Wikki knew what the Aristis troops had done and were justified in their fear too.

The three Wikki were given one large room. The infants were put aside where they could exercise but not escape. If they managed to breed freely then they would become the dominant life form on the planet. Some of my mates took the small cages to get acquainted with our younger guests while I got down to business and talked to my mates.

Betts was incredulous and said, "You want to talk to the subconscious of all the Tomma?"

The Wikki had translators but I said through my connection, "The All Mother has to be that subconscious. There is also the matter of learning to speak telepathically with the Wikki. I have made some gains but the Tomma will do much better I think."

"How are we going to do this?"

"I am not sure but it will have to be with the cooperation of the Tomma."

The Tomma did not have priests but they did have the occasional wise man. There was one in the city and I asked that he attend. In the meantime I talked to the Wikki and the Tomma more about my objectives.

I said bluntly in point form, "I feel that the Wikki no longer mean us harm. They will not try to destroy a people that are so close to the way they are. We are now trying to come to a better understanding of each other through telepathy. Our translators miss far too much information. The All Mother is much like their own method of communication. They feel cared for and individually important to the group. This happened to me when the All Mother was called. The understanding we could gather of this network would allow a far greater understanding for both of us."

My assertion that the Wikki would not attack felt right but I had no guarantee. Everybody in the room seemed to relax and this is what I was after.

I added, "Stream, Tree and Stone are representatives of the Wikki mentality. When they speak they may voice their own opinions but they are more likely to be a conduit to their race, much like our All Mother."

We heard, "We would like to meet your All Mother as soon as possible." There was no arm raised but in this case there was no need.

Zelenka was the one who spoke at my urging, "We will try after Coota arrives. The men of our race do this much easier than the women."

The Wikki were adamant but could do nothing. They were like humans in a way. In large groups they were as smart as the most vocal members regardless of their intelligence. The remainder of the mob chose to let the loud ones do the thinking for them. Here it was slightly different. There was an urge to learn from the race but the individuals here were not able to focus this demand to any degree. A person like Grotto could do that and I wished he were with us.

Coota arrived and the old man was ushered into our group. He was a simple man and felt out of his depth. The girls got him to sit with them as they took over the direction. It was a Tomma ritual.

Coota did not need to stand but he did become the focus of the minds. I saw the trend and tried to help with my own mind but I was also afraid that I would ruin it. At the funeral it happened almost spontaneously but we had to work at it here.

The effect grew and grew as more power came to us. I felt humbled now and not just warm and fuzzy. It was as if the All Mother before was busy and just gave us a passing glance at the funeral. Now she was taking a very active interest in this meeting.

I felt as if I were in the presence of a giant mind of unimaginable power. The mind though tried to protect us but also wanted to learn. The touch may have been delicate but there was too much power behind the manoeuvring. My mind was brushed as if demanding an upload of data which I freely gave.

The Wikki collapsed and now looked like spiders at rest. They actually twitched. They were communicating so quickly that it was just a blur. The Tomma were holding each other as I was doing. All of a sudden the All Mother disappeared as if the effort had strained her.

It took a few minutes before we could move. I was tired as if we had provided the power for this manifestation. The Wikki were still squatting as if in sleep. I cast my mind out and felt fatigue throughout the city.

It did not feel right to use the communicator now so I said telepathically, "Coota, tell me what has happened."

Coota had to gather his thoughts then said, "The All Mother came and looked into the minds of our guests. I do not know for sure but she is working on how she has to... negotiate with these beings. They are much different than the way she and her sisters are. Strangers such as the Wikki mean a major change and the All mother may not wish to alter her ways."

He seemed to be finished so I said, "Does anybody else have an opinion?"

I looked at Betts and she said, "I did not grasp much of that and can't really help."

We all waited on the Wikki but they did not stir. I used my communicator and called Grotto, "Grotto, what have you found? Your people here appear to be sleeping."

It took a few minutes and I was worried if Grotto had been knocked insensible too. He finally said, "We are working on the data. The All Mother is powerful but different from the way the Wikki are. We could not give her all the information she wanted because we are not in contact with the rest of our race. She did not seem to be antagonistic and we both were interested in learning more about the other."

I said, "I felt the need to learn more. One of our wise men said that the All Mother may have to make some changes now that she has met the Wikki. I am afraid that this may mean the same for the Wikki." There was no answer as if I was talking to a computer now.

The Wikki recovered a few hours later. I was worried that I would have to place them on their ship and take them back for medical attention. I did not get much from them other than they would like to rest.

I checked the rest of the family and found them only tired. Wesley said from earth that some of my children felt oddly when the All Mother came. He too was very interested and through him the rest of the computer family.

The little Wikki were just the same as they had been before but now they hunted insects. They were in a much less sterile environment and seemed to enjoy it. This was a departure from the way the Wikki traditionally ate synthetic food.

That night I got over my long abstinence and the girls enjoyed it. They were all heavy with child and I was careful. The younger girls wanted to join me. I left it up to my mates to find ways for this to not happen. None of the other Tomma males had as many mates nor as much responsibility.

The next morning I called Grotto. He said, "Hello friend Wally. What can I do for you?"

"Hello friend Grotto. I called to ask your intentions. I do not believe that you intend to war upon us. I would like to go back to regular patrols. Most of my warriors are children."

"We no longer wish to harm any of your people."

"Thank you, Grotto. Would it be possible for some of our people to visit your ship and do as I had done? More of your people are welcome to come here and do the same. We usually have a chance to go ashore and visit. We are offering the Wikki the same privilege."

"That has to be thought on. The Wikki are usually peaceful but we also keep to ourselves. We do not mix with other races well."

"The All Mother felt that she may have to change. I do not know but this wish for isolation may have to change. I doubt if it would hurt your race. Some of you are very outgoing and I enjoy your company."

"Thank you for the compliment and I think you are a very interesting person too. We will think on this proposal. We have all felt the All Mother and we are less fearful now."

I sent out the orders to patrol again and stand down from a war footing. Walt sent out his orders to our small fleet in the clear and asked the Wikki to patrol their area so we would not have to. They were already doing it but now it looked like we were cooperating.