Chapter 11: Planning a House

It was a wonderful feeling to wake up full of excitement instead of fear. Instead of attacks, I now anticipated learning about a fascinating new culture. What better treat for an anthropologist?

I started to think whether Nalu records, or even memories, could help us decipher some of the hitherto illegible inscriptions. There could be answers to so much about human history we could learn from them!

Once again, I stopped myself from adding to my "question file". I had to go and prepare for my lectures.

As was becoming more common, Jenny stopped briefly on her way out of the room after the lecture.

"You are looking cheerful today, Professor. I am glad you got over whatever was bugging you before."

I decided I wasn't doing a good job of hiding, so denying it wouldn't work. "Yes, Jenny. I was able to discover things about a very old culture. I am happy about it, and hope that it will lead to more discoveries." This was as honest as I could put it.

"Great! It's people like you — with your enthusiasm — that make me glad I am learning anthropology. I am not sure I will ever make a living in the field, but it feeds my intellectual hunger."

Against my earlier determination I wanted to know more about Jenny. "What do you think will be your work area, then?"

"I have been a paralegal, and I expect I will continue that after I get my master's. Several firms I worked for value liberal education, but I doubt it will affect my income that much. Still, I wouldn't miss it. I just wish there was some way to make a better living without a PhD. I don't think I am up for a dissertation any time soon."

She had to run to her next class. I wondered, for the first time, if she would be candidate for a hybrid Nalu-Human House. Perhaps I should start a corporation. Where would we get our revenue? Could I license plasm technology? I laughed at myself, gathering a few strange looks.

I was able to polish off another article on some West-Asian inscriptions. We had very fragmentary records of this language, mostly from older excavations in Syria. New research in that country was problematic. I was almost sure it would be accepted — lately most of my articles were, and to my pleasure and occasional wonder, my name on an article was beginning to be considered as a status symbol. It was surprising, both because of my youth and my eclecticism, but very gratifying.

I got an interesting call from a biotech company. Genefice, a well-funded startup, was working on gene therapies. They read an article I published three months ago on using stochastic methods developed for inscription decoding for modeling protein interactions.

I was happy to discuss possible applications. They wanted me to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before detailed conversations. It sounded like they wanted me to develop a program based on my proposal. I was happy to sign one, as it was largely standard. I also emailed them a copy of the now nearly standard contract that I used for my time, licensing terms, support, and various legal protections. If they wanted to proceed I would get Clara involved.

I skipped swimming, as I wanted to prepare for Eliraet's visit. After reviewing my list of questions, I ate quickly, and prepared to wait.

My Nalu visitors arrived on time. This time I had no shields around my apartment, so Eliraet did not have to "knock." Seconds after I felt the three Nalu approach, they flew through my wall and flipped into material existence.

The two new Nalu were a dark-furred female, and a more robust male, almost as pale as Eliraet. Eliraet introduced the female as Polisaet, and the male as Gensoniraet.

Before I could greet them in my no-doubt-stilted Nalu, the female said in accented English "Hello Mr. Acker, call me Poli."

"Um, call me Mitch. Your English is very good. Does Gensoniraet speak English as well?"

The male nodded. I suspected his English was not as good as Poli's. I later found out that he didn't speak much in Nalu, either. Poli, however, spoke enough for both of them.

Before I could proceed with my list of questions, Eliraet, whom I now regarded as my one Nalu friend, said, "I have to go, but I will leave you three to get acquainted. Mitch, I will come again in two days." Without further conversation she ghosted through the wall and disappeared.

I felt a bit lost, but Poli had no problems with taking up the thread.

"Mitch, we have much to discuss. While our main purpose is not urgent, I see no benefit in delay. Also, I must admit to curiosity. Do you have time to spend with us now?"

"I do, Poli. Please have seats — do you sit when you spend time in one place?"

"We do, but we are more comfortable on the floor, Mitch." With that, both Poli and Gensoniraet sat down on my rug, folding their legs in a semi-lotus. I could not help but look at their feet. They were barefoot, with the soles devoid of any hair, with dark tough skin. Their toes looked a bit longer than mine, but not prehensile as in chimps.

Poli waggled her toes. "We are fully bipedal," she said. I was almost certain she was grinning.

I blushed. "Sorry. You are so close to human, but also quite different. I, we, had no idea that such a close relative existed."

"Quite all right. And we spent a lot of effort making sure you have no idea." She was still grinning. Despite her accent, Poli seemed very comfortable with English.

"On to our goal. What we'd like in the long term is a large group of people — Nalu and homo sapiens — using, developing, and teaching Nalu culture. Eliraet thinks that Nalu will become extinct in the next few thousand years. I think we are definitely endangered, but I am hopeful that we will survive. Part of my optimism is my youth, no doubt. I am much younger than Eliraet, and so I cannot imagine we will not figure something out in that time. A thousand years is very long to me.

"If I am not being rude, how old are you?"

"I don't mind at all! I am considered very young, just past adolescence at 40 years old. Gensoniraet here is an old man; he is 110." I noticed she did not shorten his name — the Nalu probably did not use nicknames much.

Gensoniraet grinned. A Nalu of few words.

Poli asked, "So, Mitch, what do you think?"

"Poli, I am overjoyed. This is a dream come true for me. Exploring a rich and unknown culture — at least unknown to my species — is what I studied all these years for. Helping to keep it alive and vibrant makes it even better. And, I must say, manipulation of plasm fascinates me. It's so much like magic to me."

"Ha, I always found your magic stories amusing. Some of the 'spells' seemed plausible, but I've never heard of any actually explaining how to shape magic. You call it plasm? Eliraet said that you only learned after reading one of our handbooks.

"Do you know any other humans who can do magic? Real magic, shaping the plasm?"

With some regret, I said, "No, I don't. Colt — the man who copied your handbook — had some ability, but he is now dead. I am planning to search his descendants; it's possible that I am one of them."

"That is very interesting. I hope we can find more. If Nalu do die out, we need a larger group of humans to practice plasm-shaping."

"Plasm-shaping. I like that, Poli, thanks for making up a word."

We talked about the concept of a Nalu House, but got diverted when we went into enhancements. Gensoniraet turned out to be something of an expert on those, and was willing to talk, if only in Nalu.

"We normally focus on mental enhancements. I see you've done some, but if you'd like, I will check them."

"Yes, please!" I interrupted.

"But more physical enhancements are useful. Most of the time we depend on plasm for defense against the elements, but plasm skill won't protect you against stubbing your toe, or falling on a slippery slope."

I actually thought my body-shield could guard against, or at least dissipate the force of a stubbed toe, but I took his meaning. Accidents could happen faster than any conscious plasm-shaping.

Gensoniraet did not offer to shorten his name, and I didn't feel it was my place to suggest a nickname. He walked me through making my skin tougher. He also helped me change the structure of my bones, so they became even stronger but lighter. My previous enhancement left them more dense, which I definitely felt while swimming.

After the physical enhancements it was pretty late. We agreed to meet again in two days.

"Will you show me where you live? At some point, I would like to visit you," I said before they could leave.

It turned out that they lived separately.

"It's not unusual for House members to live apart. After all, we can travel pretty quickly. A House has a common place where they assemble, often the residence of their leader."

"How do you get in touch with each other? Is there a way to use plasm to contact each other at long distance?"

"There are some methods, but they are not easy. It's often simpler to travel and talk in person. Mostly we have agreed-upon times to meet at the assembly place for each House. The more traditional Nalu rarely have anything urgent enough not to wait for the periodic meetings."

She looked slightly embarrassed, and then switched to English again. "Some of us use telephones. It's not without problems; first to buy telephones, and then avoid turning them on when we travel. I have three phones, two in the places where I spent the most time; and the third I keep turned off and use it to call out once in a while."

She pointed to small pouch attached to her belt. Faeries using cell phones? I chuckled.

I finally let them get away, thinking of the problems with cell phones. I could see the risk of having a cell phone, emitting its position, traveling many times the speed of sound. There should be some more convenient way for the Nalu — and I guess now me — to communicate. At the time it didn't feel lucky, but I was glad I didn't have my cell phone on my belt when the Wicked Warlock of the West, aka Aniraet, dragged me to Turkey. If the phone company had some sort of fraud detection based on apparent velocity, they could have started poking around.

I decided to investigate some plasm-based way to communicate when I learned more about the theory of plasm-shaping from my prospective House-mates.

The classes continued to be a pleasure. The students actually asked intelligent questions, and put in good effort into their homework. Jenny smiled, but did not try to corner me.

The biotech management from Genefice wanted to pay me less at the start, but pay a larger share once they started. I asked for their sales projections to be attached to the contract. They pointed out that they could not guarantee sales. I said I understood, but if they made the estimate in good faith, I would have no reason to sue them afterwards. That caused a silence and a request for another day. I agreed.

I started preparing for the final tests, which was fairly straightforward. The final project for the computer science seminar was trickier. I wanted to suggest something with real value, but not make the project so hard that the students risked failing.

I had a request to analyze another inscription from Afghanistan. It wasn't new, but more sophisticated ultraviolet photography revealed some new features of the letters. I was eager to sink my teeth into that.

I called up the bed-and-breakfast in North Haddon. They did have a room in late June, but they wanted me to take it for the entire week instead of two days that I wanted. After a bit of haggling, I agreed. I thought I might stay longer than two days in case I did find some interesting relatives, assuming I was, indeed, F. Pitt Colt's great-great-something.

That evening I went out with Brenda. She was in a good mood. Her son, who was now in high school, was doing well. "So, I hear you and the head of Anthro had a spat and the dean smacked Dreenk down. What's going on in your department?"

"I really don't want such gossip going around. Professor Dreenk is a most capable Head of Anthropology, and I am happy to be part of the department."

"You are full of it! I will just have to get you drunk to get the scoop. I do know that you are the administrator's fair-haired boy, and will be getting tenure years ahead of schedule. Come on, give me something."

"Well, if you are willing to ply me with drink, who knows — I might spill something."

"Yeah, that's a likely story. You are still working on your first beer. I don't think I've seen you drink more than two in an evening. You are a cheap date."

I did drink more than that when Caroline left, but that wasn't really suitable as a humorous retort. While I was thinking of a suitable response, one of a group of large young men next to us was shoved and fell toward me.

I was aware of the group previously, but wasn't concentrating on them. The bar got louder and more crowded as we talked, but I didn't pay much attention. I spoke loudly, but thanks to my enhancement I could hear her just fine, and in the absence of shouts of "What?" and cupping my ear, Brenda has gotten used to talk normally regardless of the noise level.

The group of students were talking about football — perhaps they were players, like Mandy's boyfriend. They were using large gestures, that didn't work well in an increasingly crowded and dark bar.

Luckily my glass was almost empty, so while it sloshed a bit, nothing spilled. More usefully, my shield held, and my automatic anchors slowed me down as I was pushed towards the bar. As a result, rather then falling on me, the student sort of bounced and fell forward.

I put my glass on the counter, grabbed the guy's arm with my left hand and put him back on his feet. He shook his head, turned to me and said "Sorry, dude."

I waved him off and picked up my glass again. Brenda was looking at me with raised eyebrows. I finally did have to say "What?"

"You are more buff than I thought. You picked up the linebacker like he was a briefcase."

"He was already getting up, I just helped him a bit." I had to remember to avoid showing off my strength.

Now that I was paying attention, I was also listening to the huddle of the football players.

" ... was like running into a brick wall. And he has a grip like iron. Didn't expect a professor..."

"He's the guy that took down the punks trying to rape Jerry's girl. Almost threw a guy with a knife through the wall and knocked down two others. Better be polite to the dude."

Brenda couldn't hear them, but was almost repeating the same words.

"Like you helped those rapists? According to the Facilities, they had to patch a wall dented by a head. You, Mitch, are like Superman: a mild-mannered professor by day, a man of steel by night. Criminals flee in fear; football players bounce off you; and department heads back down."

I was rather uncomfortable with the conversation, and tried something that I would normally not touch. "Apparently, girlfriends flee in fear as well. Or maybe in boredom."

"I thought you were over Caroline. Besides, it's all by choice — I bet you there is more than a handful of women on campus, not just students either, who'd be happy to share some bedroom adventures with you."

I finally got Brenda off the track and onto a more boring but safer topic of student loans.

The next few evenings were great. Poli and Gensoniraet visited me, and helped me improve my plasm-shaping. Gensoniraet supervised my redoing enhancement to the central nervous system. My memory improved, and my need to sleep dropped again.

Poli brought me two other books on plasm, and walked me through several exercises. She also corrected my "quaint accent" in Nalu. She showed me where she lived, which turned out to be in Alabama. She owned fifteen acres of mostly unimproved land, with a small, "shotgun" house at the end of a long driveway.

"I don't spend much time here anyway, and I am not really concerned about comforts — plasm-shaping can take care of most of my needs. I do need electricity for the phone and the Internet."

Aha, even the Faerie are on the web. Poli found my conceit that the Nalu were Faerie amusing. Gensoniraet tolerated my sense of humor. Poli was much closer to my age. Sometimes I wish she was human — she'd be a pretty good girlfriend.

When I mentioned that thought to Poli she laughed.

"It was speculated that we and you, that is Nalu and homo sapiens, can interbreed. But — forgive me — as interesting as the theory might be, the concept is not at all appealing. I like you, Mitch, but you do nothing for me. Even if I was in estrus, I am afraid I would not be physically attracted to you."

"How often are you in estrus? So, you are not always horny like humans?"

"I think we used to go in heat once a month, but could get sexually excited at any time, much like homo sapiens. Now, and for a long time, our hormone levels have been under conscious control. Most of the time I can appreciate a healthy strong male, but I am not really horny. I have to will my body into estrus before I feel the urge to mate. Like you, we've largely lost the direct sexual response to pheromones, and are now mostly visually stimulated. I suspect I don't look all that attractive to you, either, although I understand the human males are always horny anyway." She smirked at me.

"All right, you self-controlled female, how do you pay taxes? And how did you buy this parcel, anyway?"

Poli promised to explain later, and returned to Nalu history that she was trying to teach me.

"So why do we need a House?" I asked.

"Because that's a traditional structure for the Nalu to deal with. Since we plan to recruit other members and get help — maybe trade for skills or artifacts — having a House is almost mandatory."

"How does a new House get formed? Is there some sort of registration process? Approval?"

"Well, most of the procedures are traditional rather than mandatory. Mostly, the new members agree on the principles of the house and select the leader. Often, the 'home place' is chosen, and new members accept, in each others' company, and sometimes with witnesses, their loyalty to the new House. Some Houses are pretty secretive, and do not allow non-members at their meetings, others are open to all.

"There is no formal approval or registration from outside the House. The House is announced to all at the next council, by which point usually everybody already knows. The important part is that the members must be unattached to any other House before joining the new one — they are either youngsters like ourselves who have not joined any other House, or they must first declare their departure from their previous one."

"How often does a new House form?" I said, fascinated.

"Not very. The last one was almost 150 years ago. I actually had to read up on it, and got some additional details from Eliraet. Eliraet is the leader of her own House, 'Valley in Twilight'."

"Ah, so we need a name for our new House. What are traditional names? Should we call it 'Hybrid House?'"

Poli wrinkled her nose. "Not a very good one. How about 'New Hope'?"

This time I chuckled. "I like it, but it reminds me of a famous movie?"

"Oh, which one?"

Somewhat surprised, I said "the first Star Wars movie, a popular science fiction movie was called 'A New Hope.'"

"Really? I watched it years ago, but didn't know that was its name."

"You watch movies?!"

"Well, not many, but I like some space operas."

The Nalu continued to surprise me. I guess since we — that is Homo Sapiens — didn't know anything about them, I kept assuming the converse was true. Bad reasoning. I guess with only a thousand of them and six billion of us, we had to be producing massive amounts of entertainment that would appeal to at least some of them.