Chapter 57

Her first impression was of being suspended in a sea of light. The floor of the cavern lay perhaps half a meter below her; the sloping walls and domed ceiling stretched to what seemed impossibly great distances; and all were aglow with the same phosphorescence that had lighted their way for the last half of their traverse of the passage, but now in waves and ripples of intensity that overwhelmed the senses.

And ahead of her were four of the most remarkable creatures she had ever seen. Physically they were cast in the same mold as the males she had met, but were easily twice the size and more than that in girth. The greater dimensions served to soften their features, making the eyes more pronounced and diminishing the prominence of the muzzle below. They all appeared to be in semi-reclining positions, revealing legs that were little larger than the males'; clearly walking would be difficult for them. But their upper limbs were much more appropriately sized to their bulk, and seemed to be in continued sinuous motion.

What was most striking was their ... skin? hides? She had never seen a male without its dreary black attire; these four were completely unclothed. And they reflected the rippling light of the cavern—no, they exuded that same light, in ripples that seemed to complement those of their surroundings. It was like living marble, constant and ever-changing at the same time.

She felt Igwanda gently grasp her and help her out of the tunnel entranceway. As she stepped down to the floor she caught sight of yet another wonder—a neatly arrayed cluster of perhaps five dozen cantaloupe-size globes at the far end of the cavern, likewise emitting the same soft pulsating light in an almost throbbing rhythm. Their eggs, she thought reflexively. They're oviparous. Nearby a hundred or more of the aliens, ranging in size between a few centimeters and nearly as large as full-grown males, moved back and forth in carefully orchestrated coordination in a variety of activities she couldn't readily comprehend. The nursery.

Even standing the lighted surroundings made it difficult for her to orient herself fully; and the size of the cavern made it seem even grander than her first impression. "My God, Car­los," she said, clinging to him. "'In Xanadu did Kublai Khan—'"

"'—a stately pleasure-dome decree, '" he finished the quotation. "Spectacular indeed, is it not?"

"You are Amanda," came the harsh voice she had heard from the passageway. The sound, so at odds with the soft rippling glow all around her, startled her out of the awestruck trance into which she had briefly fallen. She turned to face the four mothers squarely.

"Yes, I'm Amanda," she said. "We thank you for your welcome here."

There was a long silence. Meantime, the other scientists were slipping one by one into the cavern behind Meiersdottir and Igwanda, each in turn agape at the breathtaking surroundings in which they suddenly found themselves. Finally the same voice came again; Meiersdottir could see that the speaker was the mother furthest to her right.

"We do not welcome you," she said. "We cannot welcome you, we are not all of us. We are not together."

"We thank you anyway," said Meiersdottir.

Again the extended pause.

"You may be here to be safe," the mother said at last. "But do not move further, do not come closer. The ... noise will end. You will leave then."

"Yes," Meiersdottir said. Igwanda shook his head slightly but said nothing. She looked at him in surprise, but then continued. "You know my name, and Carlos' and the others. May we know yours, if you have a name?"

"We do not have names," said the mother after yet another pause. "You may call me Gagugakhing if you wish. It means oldest mother. But we will not speak more. It is very hard. Talk among yourselves, quietly. Stay there. Wait. The one you call Joe will come, or another if that one is dead."

"No, he will not," murmured Igwanda. "Not past Montieri and Zo, unless I tell them. I need to go back. You all will be safe here. Wait until I return or call." He lifted himself easily back into the passage to begin the return trek.

As soon as he was in the main passage he used his communicator to contact his troopers. "What has been happening, Montieri?" he asked.

"Nothing at all, sir," replied the trooper. "Dr. Toshimura is hurting pretty bad, and we're trying to make him as comfortable as we can. And Zo has contacted the Gardener and given them an update." The storm had little effect on the humans' much more sophisticated communications equipment. "They say we should be out of this weather in another few minutes."

"All right," the colonel said. "First, we'll need the lander as soon as we can get it, and as close to the building as they can manage. Just Shaw, we are taking everyone back; we will leave the gear where it is for now. Then, as soon as the lightning ends they will be back to being rational and talking to you and probably trying to get in. Do not let them in, repeat, do not let them in, not until I reach you. I am on my way."

It took him nearly ten minutes to make his way up the passage. Up to that point he had simply willed away the effects of the bruising he had taken, but with the crisis over he was beginning to hurt quite severely, and it took an effort to put one foot in front of the other as he dragged himself up the incline. By then Montieri had contacted him to say that Joe was calling down insistently.

As he approached the entry he could hear the alien's voice. "Igwanda. You must come now. It is safe, you must come out now."

"I am here now, Joe," he called as he crossed the final steps. "But we will not come out yet. You must de-activate that program now. Cancel the order to attack us if you cannot think togeth­er. Do you understand?"

"It is done, Igwanda, before you spoke. You must come out now."

"Not quite yet," the colonel muttered. He raised his voice. "I am coming out part of the way, Joe. Then we will use our machine that will not let you think together again. We will use it only for a very short time, much less than the storm. If you have done what you said, you will not attack me. Do you understand?"

"You test," Joe said. "You do not trust us."

"I trust you, but I test, too," Igwanda said flatly. "That is the way of singles." He turned his communicator to the mothership frequency. "Gardener, this is Igwanda. On my command, a ten-second burst of the interference signal at the same magnitude as before. Do you copy?"

"Yes, Colonel," came Ziang's voice. "We're dispatching the lander now, the weather has cleared sufficiently. Mr. Shaw says he can set down directly in front of the building you're in."

"Excellent," Igwanda replied. He crouched and frog-walked through the access tunnel, reached the entranceway and scaled about halfway up, with his head and shoulders protruding into the building. His laser was drawn and ready. "All right, activate the signal, ten seconds, now."