Chapter 12: Kinship

Despite being an honorary Nalu and a House Leader, I had classes to teach and programs to write. While preparing for the final exams, I managed to write modifications to my programs for all three of my corporate clients. Universal Systems Security was happy and made their next, smaller, payment.

SecureDesign started testing my design using a programmable chip. So far it looked good, but no sales and thus no license fees for me. On the other hand, they paid me a small commission for getting Genefice, my third client, to order from them.

I thought Genefice was actually my most interesting client. I'd had time to read up on their approach. They had made great progress in determining how and what genes to modify to treat specific disorders. With my plasm constructs I could possibly modify some molecules directly. I could create higher-level constructs to replicate the effect for some industrial-scale production. But even if I could get it to work, how could I explain it? Or get any kind of certification or licensing for the technique?

I put it aside to deal with the final homework of the semester. I was glad that my enhancements reduced my need for sleep. I could never satisfy my commitments with eight hours of sleep per night. As it was, I had to cut down on swimming; luckily my muscle enhancements kept them strong even without exercise.

I taught the students during the day; but became a student at night. Poli finally showed me how she paid taxes and renewed her driver's license.

I got used to showing up in her entrance hall in the evening. One night, in answer to my "hello", a short brown-haired young woman came from the kitchen, looking startled.

"Uh, I am sorry, Miss, I didn't know you were here; I was looking for my friend ... wait a minute!"

It took a few seconds to pay attention to the plasm pattern instead of my eyes. It was Poli!

"Ha-ha! Got you! You humans have such a poor sense of smell. Even without looking at my plasm you should have recognized me. You should do your olfactory enhancement."

"Yes, I will, but how did you disguise yourself?"

"Properly phased, plasm can reflect and absorb light. All this is a tuned shield. Simple!"

It was not simple at all. The modified body-shield was right on her skin on her cheekbones, but extended past her nose. It was actually a finely crafted work of art that moved with her body, and had the flexibility and a slight give of the body to which it was anchored. The friction of Poli's fake fingers was slightly off, but noticeable only because I knew of the layer of plasm there.

Poli didn't expect me to create something that sophisticated quite yet. She started me on trying to create a red-colored square; a flat piece of plasm that absorbed blue and green light, and reflected the rest. I failed, tried again, and failed again. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear the frequency and phase of the plasm when Poli did it, but I could not sustain it myself. In the end I was able to make a tiny red dot on my palm. While I muttered to myself, Poli chuckled. I looked askance at her.

"At last, something you cannot do. Mitch, you don't realize how scary you are."

Me, scary?

"I know you pretty well by now, and I like you. So I don't expect you to turn all violent and dangerous like most of my friends expect. But you've taught yourself our language and plasm-shaping without a teacher. With no practice, you are able to speak and understand Nalu. After a few months, you create some of the most complex plasm constructs I've ever seen, and able to combine them in memory. You stand off eleven Nalu with centuries of experience, and squash Kimmoret like a bug."

"I know you are frustrated right now, but allow me a little relief. I've been working with plasm for 35 years. You have lived what, 30?"

"Twenty-six," I muttered.

She laughed again. "You must have been a prodigy. How old were you when you got your doctorate? Twenty? You must have intimidated your teachers. Surely some of them felt like me."

"Twenty-one. And I suspect you are right. Okay, oh wise teacher, I will try to be patient."

She chuckled again. "I hope you don't talk to my teachers about patience. They'll tell you I wouldn't know what it was if I stepped in it!"

I had to smile, it was difficult to be annoyed at Poli.

I suspect I was nearly as glad of the end of the semester as my students. Most of the grades were good. I was happy to post them, noting that Jenny got an A.

I was able to finish and send off two more articles, as well as complete another revision of hardware-based pattern detection for SecureDesign, by the beginning of June. So it was with a sense of satisfaction and hope that I drove to North Haddon, the place where my Nalu adventure really started.

As I drove through one traffic jam after another, I kept thinking of travel by plasm stream. Not only was it much faster, it was cheaper and better for the environment. Or was it? I wondered if using the plasm somehow depleted the world's reserves. Or was it always renewed by living organisms? I probably needed to ask Poli about that. Maybe there was a limit on plasm use to avoid running out.

I felt tired and cranky when I finally reached my bed and breakfast. My mood improved after dinner, but it took a dive when I realized I left my cellular modem card at home. Luckily, I remembered that I was an honorary Nalu before getting really irritated. Now that I arrived here by car, there was no reason I couldn't make a few discreet trips by plasm. Nobody needed to know what arrived with me in my bags, and what came afterwards.

I locked my room, and for safety also locked myself in the bathroom. There were several streams underground that I could reach, and seconds later I was in my apartment digging through my desk for the modem.

Getting back was a little trickier, as I didn't yet know North Haddon "from below." Still, in less than five minutes total I had my modem plugged in and I was browsing the Internet.

North Haddon in late spring was charming. This was off-season and I noticed several restaurants were closed; but the old-fashioned general store was still operating. I drove to Third Hand Bookshop, hoping Martin would be there: his hours were erratic, and I had forgotten to arrange a specific time for him.

I was in luck. Martin was actually there and talking to a customer. He gave me a wave, and turned back to the tall, gray-haired woman who was clutching a handful of old atlases.

I could not resist browsing the shelves with old textbooks, hoping for another journal like Colt's.

"Hey, Mitch! Good to see you." Martin finished with the woman and came over to me.

"Hi, Martin. Do you have anything else from F. Pitt Colt? Journals, notes, family bible?"

"No, I am afraid not. As I mentioned, just about everything burned up except for the journal you bought. You could ask the Caffreys or the Burrows, his descendants; but I suspect I would have heard if they had anything like that."

"Oh well. Talking of Colt's descendants, could you contact them to see if they are available in the next couple of days?"

"They are. Here is James Caffrey's cell number, he is expecting your call. I think they are curious about you."

"Thanks!"

I ended up buying two more books from Mitch: seventies-era science fiction.

I left a message for James Caffrey, and he called me back half an hour later.

"So, you think you are a cousin of sorts? Good, good. I just talked to Mary, my wife, and we are all set for a dinner at seven tonight. Can you make it?"

"Yes, thank you very much. What can I bring?"

"Mary said just bring your appetite, but if you insist, a bottle of red wine would be good. You are not a vegetarian, are you?"

"No, not at all. I like meat."

"Excellent. The Burrows – they are the other cousins — are coming too. We are not that closely related, but we all know each other, and everybody is curious about a possible relation. You'd better bring your notebook: there will be four of us, and about ten Burrows. More relatives than you wanted!"

That was great news, and now I didn't have to seek the other cousins. My only concern was whether I could actually talk to all fourteen cousins to check their plasm sensitivity. Still, it was better to be introduced to all of them; I could follow up later.

I was able to grab a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of white from the general store. I figured there was always somebody who preferred white, and with fifteen people including myself, an extra bottle wouldn't hurt.

The Caffrey house was already crowded when I got there. Mary, a pleasant woman in her fifties, took my bottles, and waved away my offer to help. "There are more than enough hands to help, go sit down in the parlor and start getting to know your cousins."

I followed her instructions. I was glad I had brought my notebook — actually a laptop — because the names and relations were quickly overwhelming. The Caffreys were basically one family: James, Mary, their grown son visiting without his wife, and their daughter Alice who would come later. The Burrows were the families of two first cousins and one second cousin.

I had three objectives. One I wanted to hear about any stories or records of Pitt Colt. Second, I wanted to find out if there were any family stories of witches or visionaries. And third, find out if anybody else could see plasm. For the last, and my most ambitious goal, I fixed a bright plasm disk on my chest, one invisible to normal vision. It was much like the signature in Colt's journal — a signpost for anybody who had the right talent.

The noise room quieted down a bit when Mary brought out snacks — soft cheese and several types of crackers. As people munched and drank, James asked me to describe how I was related.

"Now that I see how you all descend from Pitt Colt, I can figure out the connections. I believe my great-grandfather Isaac was Colt's biological son. Isaac's mother, Jessica, worked as a maid for the Colts. She lost her job when she became pregnant, and went south."

"Oh-ho, Colt was from the old school!" said James, and got promptly elbowed in the side by his wife.

"Let's go eat, Alice will join us later," said Mary. At that point, a brown girl ran into the house. Her hair was brown, her skin was light brown, and her big, liquid eyes were brown. I thought she was very cute, and looked about sixteen. "I am coming, Mom!" she yelled as she ran through the house towards the bedrooms in the back.

As we sat down around the table, Mary sighed. "Alice is a mechanic. I wanted her to go to a four-year college; she had really good grades, but she is stubborn. She makes good money, but she works really hard. She still takes classes for some certifications, and works forty hours a week."

She must be older than she looks, I thought, but I couldn't believe she was as old as most of my students.

The talk continued as we started eating. Most of the stories of Colt were about his digs in Europe and eccentricities of later years. As Martin suspected, nobody had any books or notes from his time.

Alice showed up before we got to the main course. For a while she was loading her plate, but then she looked at me and stopped. Yes! She was looking at my chest.

She was too far away for me to talk to her without shouting, but I kept glancing at her, and could see her stare at my chest frequently. My talk of visions and witches didn't invoke any family legends other than the ones about Pitt Colt himself. I could see Alice's reaction when she started paying attention to the conversation, and realized that the strange visions could apply to her. She forgot to hide her glance and stared straight at me. I smiled back at her, which caused the girl to blush and turn her face down to the plate.

Although I enjoyed the company at the table, I was really impatient to talk to Alice. When Mary shooed us off to clean the table with her helpers, I lingered around to see if Alice would be one of them.

Perhaps due to her long hours she was apparently exempt from clean-up duty. Alice drifted towards the living room. She glanced at me again, and I followed her. The living room was full of people, all talking, taking refills of alcohol, or waiting for coffee. I moved towards the unlit fireplace, where it was quieter. Now I glanced at Alice, wondering if she would approach or try to avoid me.

For a second it looked like Alice herself wasn't sure. Then her chin firmed up and she advanced toward me. I could see the stubbornness that her mother mentioned.

She glanced one more time at my chest, quite deliberately. "Are you wearing a medallion of some sort, Professor Acker?"

"Mitch, please. I am wearing something, but it's not a medallion. It's a disk made of plasm, and it's transparent to the visible light."

She frowned. "Is it radioactive? What kind of light makes it visible?"

"It's not radioactive, and it's not light that you are seeing." She stiffened slightly at my assertion, but didn't deny it.

"Some people can see plasm because their brains have developed the right sensory organs. Just as dolphins and bats can locate, in essence 'see', objects using ultrasound not audible by humans, some people can see plasm using these unusual sensors. People like Pitt Colt, and you, and me."

Alice was quiet for a few seconds. "Did you come here to meet me? Because I can see this, this plasm?"

"That was one of my reasons. Not you by name, but I hoped that some descendants of Colt could see what I saw." I hoped making it more personal would facilitate acceptance.

She lowered her voice, but I had no problems even in the loud room. "For a while I thought I was insane. I've been ignoring it for years. And now you are telling me it's real?!"

I laughed, causing a frown. "Sorry, Alice, I am not laughing at you but at the situation. You see, I've been ignoring these, I called them tints, for years. I didn't think I was insane, but I did think I was hallucinating. Then I came to North Haddon and discovered, in an old journal left from Colt, that they were all real."

Alice smiled, seeing the irony. "So, you are my cousin, and Colt's descendants, or some of them, can see these colors? Is that why you asked about witches and seers?"

"Yep. And the tints can be quite useful."

"I know. Sometimes I found out when somebody was sick, and once I told mom that she had a fever before she knew. I told her she looked hot — which she did, but not to my eyes. I cannot see myself in the mirror with these tints, but I sometimes can see sort of through my own body to see these colors."

I smiled, "Exactly. But there is more, and I can teach you some of it."

"Yeah, like how did you make that disk that hangs on your chest. That'd be pretty cool, except the only ones to see it would be you and me. And maybe Clarice."

"Clarice? Is she a relative? Can I meet her?"

"Oh, now I know where I stand. Another girl, and you forget all about me!" she was smiling, though. "Clarice is my niece. She is one, and I sometimes see her follow things with her eyes that look interesting, but only if you can see the tints, as you say. But I can't be sure until she is a bit older."

"Oh well, I guess I will have to make do with Alice until Clarice grows up." I teased her back.

"Seriously, I would like to teach you, and to show what can be done with plasm. And not just for decoration. Although I have a friend who does an excellent, truly outstanding job, using it as make-up."

"Really? There is another woman who can see and shape this plasm?" I smiled, thinking of Alice using exactly the same word as Poli. "Is she another cousin?"

"She is not a descendant of Colt. She is a very, very distant relation to us, but then everybody on Earth is a distant cousin."

"Alice, I'd like to talk more, but maybe not tonight. I don't want to huddle with you all evening. Could we meet somewhere tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I see you don't have a wedding band; do you have a girlfriend or a fiancée?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because I bet you Mom will ask me what we talked about for the last fifteen minutes, and why I kept glancing at you all through the dinner. If I meet with you tomorrow evening, it had better be a date. And I don't want to lie any more than I have to; and it would be very awkward if you turn out to be married or attached later."

I didn't need special vision to see her blushing, but she kept her eyes on me.

"Alice, I don't have a girlfriend, or a significant other, or whatever the terms are. I apologize for a possibly rude question, but are you over eighteen?"

"Of course I am! I am almost twenty."

"Forgive me, you look young,"

"I know," she muttered.

" ... and I wanted to avoid making any problems. Dear Alice, would you be so kind to your lonely cousin as to grace him with your company for tomorrow's dinner? I am here alone, and I hate to eat by myself."

"Nicely done, Cousin Mitch. I accept. I will be free at 7:30, if that works?"

"I will pick you up. Thank you, Cousin Alice."

I definitely gathered some looks from Mary. While we drank coffee in the dining room, I saw her glance at Alice and go into the kitchen. Alice followed shortly afterwards, and no doubt had been questioned by her mother.

As I was leaving, James asked me a few questions, indicating that he was in the concerned parent mode.

"Mitch, I hope I don't intrude, but could you tell me how old you are?"

"I don't mind, James. I am twenty six. I assume this is about Alice?"

"Well, yes." James stopped, looking awkward. "Alice is a pretty independent girl, and would gripe at me for interference. But I worry."

"I understand. I like Alice, but I only met her tonight and had a few minutes to talk to her. I don't know what will come of our dinner tomorrow, but my goal is to get to know her better. I am single, and if all goes well, I can easily see wanting to spend more time in Alice's company. But it's far too early for me to assume anything, and most of all, I'd like to find out what Alice thinks."

"Well ... I am feeling a bit better about it. Alice is not a flighty girl. I don't recall her so taken with a man after only one meeting." He stopped, probably thinking he said too much.

"For what it's worth, James, I think Alice is a pretty young woman. I really look forward to our date tomorrow. Good night."

I felt pretty excited about Alice. I told Poli about her, probably in more detail than was strictly necessary.

"Well, I understand female humans are in estrus all the time. You might get lucky!"

I blushed.

"So, you think she might be another member of our House? If so, she needs to be vetted by your older sister!"

"I already told her you are a distant, distant cousin. I don't think I can transform you into a sister."

"You told her about me already? It must be serious."

"Don't worry, Poli, I only told her the good things."

"All right, enough about mating rituals!" Poli was smiling. "Back to lessons. Show me how to change reflected spectrum..."

I came for Alice a few minutes early.

Mary waved me in. "Hello, Mitch. Good to see you. Alice will be out in a minute."

Mary proved unexpectedly accurate, as Alice almost ran out of the back of the house a few seconds later. Mary looked rueful momentarily.

"Bye, Mom. I'll be back by 11. Let's go, Mitch."

As we got into my car, I said "You look spectacular, Alice. I am extremely pleased to see you." And I was. She was very cute last night, now she looked beautiful. Her brown hair shone as it was brushed back and fixed with a ribbon. She wore a dress tonight, and sparkly earrings. Her face yesterday was clean-scrubbed, which I thought was adorable; tonight she wore some subtle makeup that sharpened her lines and made her glamorous.

"Ooh, I like how you look at me, Mitch. I was a bit a afraid that you were taking me out solely because I could see your tints. I am afraid I pushed you too much yesterday; but it was a long time since I had a chance to go on a date, and I didn't want to miss this chance. I rushed to home to primp; I was afraid I would be late."

"You were in fact early, as I arrived a few minutes before 7:30. And no fear on forcing the date; I was attracted to you last night, and today I can hardly keep from drooling. As you noted."

She grinned and nodded.

"I think your mother expected you to take your time, so she could grill me some more. Your promptness spoiled that."

"Yep! I'd rather spend time with you by myself tonight."

I felt a silly grin spread across my face when I heard that.

The Three Ducks was a local high-end restaurant. North Haddon had enough tourist trade to support some expensive and fancy cooking, so I wasn't surprised at the numbers on the menu. Alice's eyes widened, though, and she looked unsure.

"No worries, Cousin. I looked at the menu beforehand — order without fear."

"I can't drink, yet, so I am not going to guzzle expensive wine. This is only the third time I've been to this place, and the first that I looked at the prices. I hope you are not making a bigger deal out of this than it has to be?"

"If you think I want to impress the panties off you, Cousin Alice, you are correct."

She was surprised enough to bark a laugh, immediately looking embarrassed and surreptitiously looking around. After satisfying herself that she wasn't the center of attention, she glared at me, as though blaming me for her outburst. I could see from her plasm, though, that she wasn't upset.

I continued, "But I don't expect this restaurant to do it. I hope you and I will enjoy this date enough to want to spend more time together. Eventually, I hope to achieve my goal."

I stopped talking and sat back trying to look experienced and confident.

She looked at me skeptically for a moment, lightly said "Good luck", and went back to reading the menu.

The dinner was good. The food was tasty but not spectacular. The company was superb. By the time we finished dessert and agreed to walk around the town center, I felt more comfortable with her than with Caroline after many months.

It seemed natural to stroll with her hand tucked in my elbow. We touched upon life histories during the dinner, now we switched to the original purpose of the date.

" ... basically, I came upon an old book of instructions on shaping plasm. It wasn't written in English, but my specialty is decoding ancient and obscure inscriptions, so I eventually decoded it and followed the instructions to learn the basics.