Part 15 (2/2)
”Look at you. Just look at you.” The mage pointed at his crystal ball. Visions flittered across it of major buildings burning in Refuge, houses burning in towns. ”Bad enough that you tore up my eyes, ears, and fingers to cover the land with worthless stuff. Now you destroy that, too. What can be learned from such actions? I ask you. I ask you!”
”Matters have gotten very confusing. I'm not sure just what is happening,” Ray said, fumbling for the central purpose of this conversation and not sure there was one.
”That shows what happens. It really does. You do not listen to me. None of you. You ignore me. Totally ignore.”
”I'm listening.”
”Not really. You're not hearing a half, a quarter of what I'm saying to you.”
”I'm listening to everything I can hear,” Ray a.s.sured him. ”Can you ask for more than that?”
”Not really, no, not really. But why can't you hear all of me? The Gardener was here. Giving you ears was not beyond his limited skills. Where is the Gardener? I ask you. Where is he?”
Given two questions, Ray chose the easier. ”I don't believe the Gardener was able to give ears to all of us. We are not of the Three. We need different ears.”
”You are not of the Three, that is sure. That is very sure,” the mage said, squinting at Ray. ”Don't look at all like any of the Three None. Who are you? Yes, who are you?”
”I am a human being. Ray Longknife at your service,” he said, ”Amba.s.sador from the Society of Humanity, and Minister of Science and Technology for the sovereign planet of Wardhaven.”
”Lots of names for such a small fellow who can't even hear me clearly. Can't hardly hear at all.”
”Yes,” Ray agreed. ”But I can hear better than most. Better than those”-he swept a hand toward the crystal ball. ”Are you trying to talk to them as well?”
”Talk to them. I'm shouting. Shouting at them. Can't you hear me shouting?” The purple-clad figure s.h.i.+fted in his chair, scowled at the crystal ball. ”Shouting.”
And is the shouting what's causing them to go berserk? Good question, but not one he wanted this fellow to tackle. ”They can't hear you. They have only the beginning of the ear they need for you. Why do you shout at those who cannot hear?”
”Because they should. They should,” he snorted. ”The Gardener said he was working on their hearing. He said that years ago. Surely he could solve a simple problem as an ear. Three hundred orbits of the sun is enough time to resolve any difficulty,” the mage ended, half-muttering to himself.
”We are different from the Three. Maybe more complex. The Gardener did not resolve the problem. You have only to look at what you see to know that.”
”And where is the Gardener?” The mage looked up, fixing Ray with an unblinking eye. ”He should be here to tell us what he tried. How he did it. What we should do differently. I ask you again: Where is the Gardener? What have you done with him?”
That was the first time the question had gotten personal. Ray considered ignoring it again, but he was getting tired of this thing's unwillingness to face up to reality. Humanity is different. We are not ready to be plugged into whatever idea it has for educating us. The sooner the Teacher realized the world was more complex than it expected, the sooner humanity and it could get down to serious business.
”The Gardener is no longer here.” Ray answered slowly. ”There may have been an accident. Our communications were rudimentary. In the process of searching for resources to use, we may have removed minerals critical for the Gardener. Had we but known it, we would not have done it. However, in our ignorance and because of the Gardener's own lack of success in communicating with us, we may have contributed to the conditions that ended the continued existence of the Gardener.” Ray was glad for his practice as a politician, tap-dancing around ugly truths.
The mage leaned back on its stool, looking long and hard at Ray. ”The Gardener is...dead?”
”Yes.”
”You killed it.”
Ray didn't want to put it quite that bluntly. As he struggled for an alternate answer, the mage answered himself.
”That's impossible. These primitives couldn't hurt the likes of us.” This came from a second mage, identical to the first, only standing on his right.
”Well, the Gardener is gone,” said a third mage, this one on the first's left.
”Many things could have happened here. We have only begun our own examination.” The mage was proliferating at a blinding speed, thousands appearing, stretching out at the right and left of the first, all talking, all arguing. ”They may be primitive, but killing is a primitive reaction.” ”How could something so small destroy the Gardener?” ”The Gardener was old. It had long been out of touch with us. Anything could have happened.” ”We are old and not what we once were. Could they terminate us?” ”That is not possible.” ”Neither could the Gardener vanish.” ”You go too far.” ”You do not go far enough.”
Ray stepped back from the growing crowd of arguing mages. He spotted one that was missing an arm. Somehow the Teacher had changed modes from singular to plural. From the sound of the arguments, it or they didn't have a whole lot of experience at consensus-building.
”Now you have done it.”
Ray found the bewigged lackey at his elbow. ”Done what?”
”Got them fighting among themselves. They can keep this up until dark and sunrise again.” The servant cast him a dour, sidelong glance. ”You should not have done it.”
”Why?”
”They will carry on like this and forget to take care of themselves. And when they do remember, my job will be all the harder. You should not have done that.”
”I see your point, but maybe now, while they're busy, I can get some sleep myself.”
With the attendant still glowering at Ray, he vanished quietly away.
Ray came awake slowly, his usual discomfort only pressing, not demanding. ”Doc,” he called. When he got no answer, he raised the volume. ”Doc, I need to take a leak, and if you don't unplug me from all your test gear, I'm gonna do it right here.”
”Just a second, Ray, I'm coming.” In a moment, the curtains were jerked aside and Ray found himself facing a very excited Jerry and Kat.
”What's got into you two?”
”You've got to come look at our monitors,” Kat demanded.
”You have a good rest?” Doc asked.
Ray stretched. ”Yeah. Best in a week or so. No headache, either. Got any opinions why?”
”Some. You dropped off to sleep like normal, then your readings took off on a wild ride. Lasted six minutes, thirty-four seconds,” Doc said, glancing, at his board. ”Then you dropped down into the sleep of the innocent.”
”Nice,” Ray yawned.
”And Kat here came galloping in, telling me I had to wake you up to see what she was seeing.”
”I'm glad you didn't,” Ray said, sliding off the table and looking around for the nearest rest room.
”Off to your left,” Doc said, reading his mind.
”Our sky eyes are showing a total change,” Kat enthused. ”People have quit fighting, no more fires. Colonel, everything changed just like that.”
”I'll be with you in a moment,” Ray said, slipping into the rest room and closing the door behind him. Kat, still excitedly following him, almost had her nose flattened in the process. Relieved of annoying bladder pressure, Ray rejoined them. ”So my little talk with the Teacher had immediate results.”
”Looks like it,” Jerry said. ”What'd you tell it?”
”I'm not sure it was what I said. I think it might be where I left it.”
<script>