In Pink

Trysta allows the robot Cal to introduce
Yōd and Zeta to green miasma.

Below on this page is the second chapter of a science fiction story called "Exoditions on Cynk". To read the first chapter of the story, click here.

CHAPTER 2
Trysta led us out of her sunny observation lounge, down a long hallway with a glass ceiling and past several doorways that opened onto luxurious bedrooms, each with its own unique color scheme and style of furnishings. I was slightly queasy walking down that hallway because the floor seemed to be a shifting sea of microfibers. Like Trysta's jumpsuit, the material of the floor continually altered its hue and brightness, like a living fog.

Yōd stopped and gazed into one of the rooms. She commented, "I like the decor in this room. The furnishings remind me of the style that was popular where I grew up on Tar'tron."

Trysta seemed impatient to keep moving and get us all quickly down to the laboratory complex. I was trying to match her long strides and not be distracted by the haunting feeling that Ivory was trying to make telepathic contact with me.

Trysta now paused, turned and called down the hallway to Yōd, "You can come back here another time for a visit. That is the bedroom that you use whenever you come to Mandira for a few days and over the years you have carefully crafted it for your own comfort."

Yōd rather slowly came down the hallway, pausing to peer into each room along the way. She asked, "Don't you believe in doors?"

Trysta laughed, "These rooms are usually empty for long periods of time, waiting for my various guests to arrive for a visit. My robot staff prefers to keep the doors open and the air freely circulating. I leave such matters of household maintenance and cleaning entirely to them. There certainly are doors that can close as needed." The nearest door slid closed across its doorway, blocking Yōd's view into that bedroom. Apparently Trysta could use her telepathic abilities to control the doors. Trysta turned and continued marching with her long strides down the hallway.

Yōd complained to Zeta, "I suppose Trysta reserves the right to open and close every door as she sees fit, even when her guests are sleeping."

Zeta muttered quietly, "Behave yourself, Yōd. This is her home, she can do as she pleases."

Yōd shrugged, "It creeps me out to think of staying here... this place feels like a big, echoing museum, not a home."

The two clone sisters slowly followed Trysta down the hallway. Zeta continued speaking quietly to Yōd, "Don't forget that Trysta is not human. As an Asterothrope, she has different standards and grew up in a different culture."

We all assembled at the end of the hallway, where we had reached an elevator that had glass walls and a sliding glass door. Trysta opened the door with a wave of her hand and we all stepped into the elevator car. Trysta didn't reach out and activate the elevator control panel and I suppose she used her telepathic ability to control the movement of the elevator. My fear of heights made it difficult to enjoy our view of the tall atrium of her house; I was trying not to look. It seemed like we dropped about ten floors before we were underground.

Then we went down a very long way. We just kept dropping and Trysta had time to tell us a quick anecdote about the primitive conditions that we had dealt with five years previously when we first joined her alien research project on Cynk.

Yōd muttered a snide comment about how Trysta now seemed to live extravagantly and asked, "How can you live in that giant echoing house all by yourself?"

Trysta draped an arm around Yōd's back and smiled. "I like to entertain visitors and I keep a big household robot staff, but you are correct. I've probably put too much effort into constructing a large, comfortable home here at Mandira. On my home planet, where I grew up, the homes are very large, by Earth standards. Also, in my defense, until recently I was imagining that this search for the Remnant Species of Cynk might take a century or more, so I wanted to build a comfortable residence. I have even toyed with the idea of starting another family here."

Maybe with her Asterothrope genes, Trysta can't be daunted by the prospect of a research project that will last a century, but there were things I still wanted to accomplish on Earth. I was unsettled by the idea of being trapped on Cynk for an extended stay, thousands of light-years from Earth. Judging by the look on her face, Yōd was far past "unsettled" and seething mad at Trysta for having exiled us to Cink.

The elevator finally came to a halt and we emerged from the elevator car into a vast underground chamber. The texture of the air was different down there, tinged with the scent of dusty stone. Trysta pointed off into an area of dim red-tinged shadows. "Over there are the physical plant and manufactury; a domain for robots." She turned in the opposite direction. "This way to the laboratories... here is where I spend most of my time. And look! There is Spica, waiting for us by the xenomass fountain."

Spica Dawn at the entrance to Trysta's underground laboratory facilities.

We were in a giant, echoing chamber, so vast that the far walls were mostly lost in gloomy shadows. The floor sloped downwards and seemed composed of native bedrock. Ahead there was light and odd shapes that slowly came into focus for me as we approached. As we walked, Trysta told us, "Spica Dawn is my Research Coordinator. She's one of my most reliable robots, very concerned with details and precision."

Yōd asked, "How many humans do you have on your staff?"

Trysta laughed. "Get used to it my dear: there are only robots. Given the dangers of this world, it does not make sense to involve and put at risk more than a minimum of biological organisms."

Yōd could not resist a snarky jab, "But you feel that we three are expendable?"

Trysta's laugh seemed a bit forced. "Not at all, my dear. However, you three are among the few people I know who would not freak-out upon being brought from the comforts of Earth to this dangerous world."

I wondered why Trysta seemed reluctant to make routine use of the trick that she had used to bring Yōd, Zeta and I back from the dead. If Trysta's teleportation system kept a "backup" copy of everyone who was ever teleported, then it seemed like you could quickly replace any injured or killed staff members. And why not just make a thousand copies of Trysta herself? If you want something done right, do it yourself...At that moment I seemed to have a flicker of telepathic contact to Ivory. I felt like she was trying to tell me something; maybe 'I need you' or possibly 'she needs you'.

Spica waved to us and spoke a cheerful greeting, "It is good to see you all again." Spica was wearing clothing similar to that of Trysta, seemingly composed of some artificial material with ever-changing appearance. Spica looked like a human female, but she had a few quirks that gave her away as a robot. In particular, her facial features were really too perfectly shaped and her artificial skin did not mimic the normal translucence of living tissue.

Trysta reminded the robot, "You must treat our guests gently, Spica. Their memories have been reset five years into the past, so pretend that you have never before met them and that they are new to this world."

Spica bowed. "Welcome to our lab complex."

Zeta gestured towards the alien creatures that seemed to be guarding the entrance to the lab. "These beasts look dangerous, but they are not really alive, are they?"

Spica nodded gravely. "You are wise to be fearful. The native creatures of Cynk can be quite deadly. These are animated models, which we who live inside the safety of Mandira can view them as reminders of conditions outside, in the wild. And, to be fair, a newly hatched worm like this one would not be particularly dangerous in the wild. The creatures are quite docile upon hatching from their eggs."

Trysta explained, "This was a key discovery. The hatchlings have a very low nanite load and don't seem to be linked into the telepathic network that is used by the adult creatures. If raised here in the lab where we can control how the cellular structures of their bodies are replaced by nanites, we can grow domesticated variants of the native creatures."

Spica pointed at the large creature straddling the entryway that led to the laboratories. "And this is one such domesticant, what we call a xenotitan. These useful hybrids have been deployed in large numbers on the perimeters around our bases and they constitute a major component of our defense against attacks by the natives."

Trysta gestured towards the aircar that seemed to hover over the xenotitan. "Along with the telescouts. Our telescouts detect approaching aliens and then the xenotitans can be deployed to deal with the creatures, even something a troublesome as a giant lumbering makara. Spica, please lead the way to the Viewing Chamber."

Spica took us past the xenomass fountain and some large worm eggs, under the model xenotitan and into the laboratory complex. She gestured with her arm, "This way to the Viewing building."

We had entered another cavern, this one better lit. It seemed like we were now in a small, domed city. We walked along a broad path that was lined by flower beds. About half of the plants were familiar varieties from Earth while the others were apparently native to Cynk. We passed a few robots similar in design to Cal who were apparently gardeners. There was a simulated sun up above, lost in a haze that seemed to conceal the high roof of the chamber.

I asked, "There are plants on this world, growing under the layer of black miasma?"

Spica stuck her hand into the ground near one of the native plants and lifted out the plant and the nearby soil. Below the rich black soil was green. "All these native plants can obtain nutrients from xenomass." One of the gardeners took the plant from Spica and we continued on our way.

We finally approached a building and Spica opened a door and held it while Trysta, Zeta, Yōd and I stepped inside what looked like a futuristic planetarium building. The air "outside" had been hot and humid, like a greenhouse, but it was cool and comfortable inside this building.

Trysta told Spica, "We won't need the main Viewer today." She gestured towards what might have been an information desk or ticket selling alcove had this been an Earthly planetarium building. "Here, all we need is this records display." We followed Trysta past a low desk or shelf into the alcove beyond. What I imagined must be a native creature scurried across the floor and approached Trysta. She picked up the cyan-colored beast and it snuggled against her. Trysta said, "This is one of the domesticated natives, one that we have prevented from growing." Trysta again spoke to Spica, "Show our guests how to use the display equipment. I want them to see the underground lake where we have conducted our field research on array plankton."

Spica directed our attention to a fancy data display system. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trysta set the little alien creature down on the floor. Spica, speaking in a dull pedantic voice, started describing the theory of kinetic display controls.

Trysta activated the radio communications bracelet that she wore and spoke quietly to someone, "This is Trysta. Please find Reggie and have him ready for me. I'll be there in a just a minute." Trysta started off, heading down a corridor. She called over her shoulder to April, "I'm going to get Reggie. I'll be right back" She walked rapidly away, going off along the curved hallway and out of view.

Spica asked Zeta to stand on a pink floor tile. "The control scanners are focused here. Use your hands to control the display." The robot waved her arm and the display shifted from a view of the entire planet as seen from space to a zoomed-in representation of the area around Mandira. "As you can see, Mandira is not far from the North Pole. There is a large fresh water lake under the polar ice. The location of our base here at Mandira was selected because this is the southern-most extent of that lake; a vast cave system that seems to have been created by some advanced geo-engineering technology. At the back side of the laboratory complex is a submarine dock that gives us access to the lake."

Yōd asked, "Are we safe down here? What if there was an earthquake? We could all be drowned."

Spica shook her head. "Cynk is an ancient world with little tectonic activity. Our estimate is that these caverns were constructed more than two billion years ago and in all that time they have never been damaged by an earthquake. And besides, the labs are all slightly above the level of the lake water."

Yōd was not satisfied and I felt a glimmer of telepathic contact to her. I sensed that she was in the mood to complain about everything. "But we are below the ocean."

Spica reminded us, "For billions of years there has been no mixing of the salt water above on the surface with the fresh water in the lake down here in the cavern complex".

Yōd suggested, "By constructing Mandira and sinking an elevator shaft down here, there is now a path for sea water to take and flood your lab space."

Spika insisted, "We are very safe down here. The Phari themselves long ago created several access points for the lake. Mandira is at one of those pre-existing sites. We are near a glacial minimum. The sea level can't rise high enough to flood any of the cavern the access points."

I tied to imagine that immense span of two billion years and wondered if the lifeforms of Cynk had continued to evolve. I asked, "There has been a stable nanosphere with black miasma covering this world for two billion years?"

Spica replied, "Apparently so, although there is some evidence for a type of artificial evolutionary change now taking place among the native species. They seem to be expressing some of the traits of the lifeforms that have been brought here from Earth. As long as the miasma nanites shroud the planet and control the environment there is very little need for life to change, but since we began clearing miasma from parts of the planet, some things have been changing, the planet seems to be responding to our presence."

Spica helped Zeta bring up on the display a live view being transmitted to Mandira from a robotic probe submarine that was out exploring the polar lake. "We believe that this lake is a kind of memory storage unit, perhaps containing a complete record of the planet's history."

I asked skeptically, "A lake functions as a memory storage device?" In my mind, I thought I 'heard' Ivory tell me: It is not that simple.

Spica activated another display and showed us what looked like an array of pink pancakes. "We believe that the creatures living in the polar lake have that function. The main component of the planetary memory system is what we call "array plankton". These are microscopic creatures that link together in an ever-changing network. Most of the network is composed of hierions, so most of the information storage capacity may actually reside within the Hierion Domain. In fact, Trysta believes that the biological plankton are not much more than an interface or portal that can provide access to the hierion-encoded data stores." Spica gestured towards Trysta, who was returning along the hallway with what looked like a slowly moving pink blob on a leash.

Yōd was standing beside Zeta and had been trying to help figure out the display control system, but now she turned and looked at Trysta and the pink alien creature. Yōd asked in dismay, "What is that?"

Trysta sank down on her knees beside the pink beast and raised the "leash" to her head. I realized that it was not a leash, but rather tentacles from the creature. Trysta said, "This is one of our hybrids, created here in the lab. It is part plankton and partly constructed from another alien creature, a "ranger". We call this fellow Reggie. We've grown the structure of Reggie's around a special nanite endosymbiont that I obtained from Grean. Reggie provides me with some limited telepathic linkage into the memory system of the polar lake."

Ivory was apparently in my mind, monitoring what was happening to me by way of a tenuous telepathic connection. She 'said': The aliens feed Trysta only what they want her to know. I approached Trysta and Reggie and asked, "Can I try it?"

Trysta shook her head and replied, "This particular telepathy system doesn't work with humans. This bio-nanite system was cobbled together and designed to interface with my Asterothrope brain as a key component." Trysta stopped speaking, but I could still 'hear' her thoughts in my mind. However, I can give you a peek into the workings of the system by linking your Bimanoid Interface to my brain.

My vision faded out and was replaced by a faint and fuzzy view of what Trysta could "see" by way of Reggie. Here is one of the first planetary memories I found. This is a kind of recording of my first contact with a native creature on this planet, made almost two decades ago.

I could see Trysta in a pressure suit, confronting a group of alien scarabs. Green miasma swirled around the scarabs. Surprised that Trysta had been on Cynk so long ago, I asked, "Decades?"

Grean first brought me here long ago. More than 40 years ago. But I did not start studying the natives of this world until about 18 years ago, after we brought into existence the Final Reality. It is only in the past few years that we made any real progress towards communication with the alien creatures. I discovered that after I had made an initial tentative telepathic contact, the planetary memory system recognized my mind and showed me this old event. It is much harder to access memories that are not related to me personally, but sometimes I stumble across interesting items that are hidden away in Cynk's memory. For example...

The scene shifted and I saw an image of me and Ivory. Trysta explained what I was now 'seeing': This was about 4 years ago, at your base of operations, what you call Freeland. I was trying to develop a telepathy-based monitoring system that would allow me to keep watch continually on the entire project team.

"You were spying on me?"

Yes, and be glad I developed the monitor system. It is what allowed me to reconstruct key events of the telepathic blast that killed you.

I asked, "I've been working with Ivory?" In the recorded view of Ivory and me, it was clear that we were not actually working. In fact, we were kissing. Again, I thought I was hallucinating: now I could feel Ivory's warm lips against mine, then the slick wetness of her tongue.

In my mind, I heard Ivory ask pleadingly: Where are you? In the Mandira labs? Why don't you link to my mind?

It was frustrating to experience Trysta's ability to link telepathically to my mind whenever she wanted to while only having a partial, intermittent connection to Ivory. I could not help suspecting that Trysta was actively preventing me from using the Bimanoid Interface to establish a full telepathic connection to Ivory. I decided that I should be thankful that some of Ivory's thoughts were leaking through to me.

Trysta cut off her link to me via the Bimanoid Interface. The vision-like image of Ivory and I together evaporated from my mind and I felt a powerful longing to be with her and a desire to go and find where she was on Cynk. Trysta commented, "You two never seem to get much work done when you are together."

Yōd and Zeta had finished using the display to look at views of the polar waters and the creatures that live there. They had came over to get a close look at Reggie. Again I saw Zeta looking intently at me. She told Trysta, "He's easily distracted by pretty girls." Her eyes flicked towards Yōd.

Yōd said, "He's totally obsessed with Ivory." She rolled her eyes.

Trysta and I both laughed. "My dear Yōd, are you jealous? Remember, he and Ivory have a long history together. They have been spending a lot of time together here on Cynk."

Yōd looked at me, frowned and muttered, "That explains it."

I asked, "Explains what?"

Yōd shrugged. "I've been trying to use the Bimanoid Interface. Of course, since arriving on Cynk I've not been able to contact my friends at Observer Base. My familiar telepathy links to Earth and the Moon are all silent. I can usually get a glimpse into Zeta's thoughts, but her telepathic mind pattern has now gone invisible. However, since arriving here on Cynk I have picked up something, weak and fragmented telepathic snapshots, what seems to be strange mixture of two mind patterns. One of those minds I know to be Ivory's and I'm guessing that the other one is you." She pointed at me.

I nodded. "For the first time in years, I'm free of Irhit and I can use the Bimanoid Interface again. And it is good to feel Ivory's mind once again. I've really missed her. However, as you say, the telepathic connection to Ivory is intermittent and weak. Maybe the Bimanoid Interface of this planet is different and we will have to practice and gain experience using it." I wondered why Trysta seemed to have no trouble linking to my mind while Ivory did. Was Trysta also blocking Yōd from using telepathy?

Zeta said, "Something has cut me off from the Bimanoid Interface." Again her eyes were fixed on mine and she said to me, "Being on the same planet with Ivory should be good for you. And I won't have to listen to you complaining endlessly that Ivory was taken away from you 'so soon'."

Trysta laughed, "Well, you must forgive him, Zeta. Remember, they only spent a few hours together on Earth. In his memory, most of their shared time was actually in the Hierion Domain, during the time when they lived together in a virtual reality world. He has no memory of his time spent with Ivory here on Cynk during the past few years, but Ivory does."

Zeta was looking at me with what seemed to be a mixture anger and curiosity. I've long felt that Zeta feels a bit of jealousy towards Ivory. When Zeta was infiltrated onto Earth and took the place of my wife, I quickly recognized her as a substitute. Not only did she fail to achieve a fundamental part of her mission (taking over in the role of my wife without me noticing the substitution), but Zeta has also had to endure years of my endless chatter about Ivory and her amazing accomplishments. 

I tried to change the subject. I asked Trysta, "If you can telepathically link into the memory system of this planet, than why do we have to keep searching for the Remnant Species? Why can't you just contact them telepathically with Reggie's help?"

"Probably I could, if I knew how. I keep trying to do just that. So far, without success." Trysta pulled the tentacles from around her head and neck and stood up. "The problem seems to be that I don't really know how to use the available bio-nanite interface for the Cynk memory system. I just get random bits of information out of the system, all mostly related to things that I have already seen and done while here on Cynk." Trysta walked over to the control tile for the electronic records display device. She used the big display screen to show us a map of the portion of Stroma Lake that is closest to the Freeland enclave.

Reggie and Yōd make contact

Yōd grabbed Reggie's long pink tentacles and asked, "Can I try?"

Trysta shrugged, "You can try, but the human brain is not compatible with the system, so it would be a waste of time. You've previously tried to connect to the planetary memory system and failed."

Yōd sank down on the floor beside Reggie and the beast's tentacles quickly wrapped around her legs. I remember glancing at Yōd and seeing a strange trance-like state displayed in the frozen features of her face.

Trysta pointed at the display screen and continued, "You have now been updated on the status of our research. I think we are ready to head south and try to obtain a living nanocoral sample from Stroma Lake." She pointed to the display. "There is an easily accessible reef containing the nanocoral school that you sighted... right here, less than ten miles from the submarine docks at Freeland" With a wave of her hand, she shut down the display device. After one last glance at Yōd and Reggie, she made one more little hand motion.

Suddenly, with no warning, we were all teleported out of the Mandira lab. Later I would learn to recognize the common features of Cynk teleportation chambers, but right then I did not know that the alcove we had been using as a data display station was in reality a teleportation nexus that could catch a group of people in its beam and send them to a distant location on Cynk.

We arrived inside a teleportation chamber that is located inside the base at Freeland. Freeland had been my home and base of operations for the past several years, although I had no memories of that time.

Yōd, who had suddenly been pulled free of Reggie, cried out, "Hey! That was rude."

Zeta complained to Trysta, "You could have given us some warning. We are not very experienced with teleportation... I feel like I might vomit."

Yōd said, "I'm feeling something else... very odd. I think that creature... Reggie... was trying to communicate with me."

After being teleported to Freeland, I was feeling my own intense wash of emotions. I could feel Ivory inside me. We now had a very strong telepathic connection linking our minds. I turned and walked to the door of the teleportation chamber. At my approach, the door automatically opened and I stepped out into the hallway. I turned my head to the left and there was a woman, running down the hall. Suddenly she was in my arms. I vaguely heard the autodoor of the teleportation chamber woosh shut behind me.

She was babbling. "Finally!" She squeezed me tight. "For the past hour I've been thinking of you, feeling you in my mind. Grean told me that you were dead. But then, suddenly I could feel you again... inside me." I was convinced that I'd never seen this woman before, but she had the voice of Ivory and I felt Ivory's mind resonating with mine, so I was happy to just hold her in my arms, knowing that we had been at least partially telepathically linked ever since my current "copy" had been instantiated on Cynk. "I came on over here and started searching for you. I looked everywhere, but I could not find you." Then Ivory stopped talking, but I still was receiving her words: Your robots would tell me nothing. I was crazy with frustration. I was just about to teleport to Mandira and broaden my search...

I kissed Ivory's nose and held her at arms length. In her features, I could see a few hints of the appearance of Ivory as I had known her on Earth, but since then something had morphed her into a new shape, a whole new woman. I liked what I saw. The old Ivory had never been comfortable with her body and I know that she had tried to use nanites to modify her physical features. During the years when she had taken up residence on board Many Sails, Ivory had made use of the physical form of several different actresses who were her model of human perfection. But this... her new form... I was dazzled by a sense of the alien that dominated her features. However, even with all of the alien hues and the alien slant of her eyes she was very lovely. The door behind me opened up. I did not turn to see who was there. I told Ivory, "We just teleported in from Mandira."

Trysta said, "Hello, Ivory. You are just in time to see us make history."

Ivory put her left arm around me and we turned to face Trysta. She asked wonderingly, "History?" Using telepathy, I again asked Ivory: Why has Trysta adopted the Asterothrope body form? Ivory replied: It is complicated... we can discuss this later.

Trysta nodded and explained to Ivory. "We've achieved telepathic contact with nanocoral. In a few hours we will know if it is the long-sought Remnant Species."

I could feel Ivory's body go tense. Ivory was still in my thoughts and I sensed her question: Is that true? She said to Trysta, "If you are in contact with the Remnant Species than we should get Grean down here immediately. This could be very dangerous."

I told Ivory, "What Grean told you was true. We were killed when I tried to collect a nanocoral sample from the lake." In my thoughts I told Ivory: What both Trysta and I just said might not be true.. I don't remember the events of the past five years.

Trysta laughed harshly and said, "I'll contact Grean when we have something definitive to report. There is a slight chance that the nanocoral is only a defense screen being used by some other species that is still hiding from us. But I'm glad you are here with us now, Ivory. You can help us analyze the nanocoral sample. Your molecular biology expertise will speed up the lab tests."

Ivory said, "I'm not going to help you do something foolish behind Grean's back." Ivory took hold of my hand and pulled me past Trysta into the teleportation chamber. She went right to the teleporter control circuits and entered in a code for a destination. Ivory then turned to me and said, "Come with me. We'll teleport directly to Grean." Ivory quickly checked the teleporter controls to be certain that she had correctly set the destination for teleportation. We stepped into the beam path. Ivory said to Yōd and Zeta, "Are you coming with us?"

Zeta asked me, "Who is she?"

I was still feeling confused. My mind told me that this was Ivory, but my eyes did not agree. I replied, "I'm in telepathic contact with Ivory." I pointed at the woman who I was standing beside. "She has changed her appearance while working here on Cynk with Grean."

Zeta said, "There's no need to panic. Why run off? If something goes wrong, we'll just be reinstantiated, using our patterns from the teleporter memory banks. If something goes wrong, we will be able to try again."

Ivory shouted, "Don't be a fool! The Cynkians could obliterate the entire teleportation system, destroying all record of your body structure."

Yōd said to Ivory, "You go. I expect you'll be right back, with Grean in tow." Yōd looked into my eyes and said, "We'll wait for you here."

________Cyan_________

Ivory activated the beam and we appeared at our destination. Of course, I did not recognize where we were. Only later did I learn that we were in Ivory's home, on the east coast of Cyan, not too far from where Kirth and Alice had landed on Cynk, back in the Asimov Reality. However, upon our arrival, I assumed we were inside Grean's base of operations on Cynk.

Ivory seemed to collapse into my arms. Even here we might be in danger. I could sense turmoil and fear in her thoughts.

We were both emotionally distraught. To avoid the confusion created by our emotions, I spoke out-loud even though we seemed to now be firmly connected telepathically. I suggested, "Let's see what Grean has to say."

Ivory blurted out, "That was a bluff. After Grean told me that you were all dead, she went back to Many Sails and they left." Grean is not here!

Her thought was a wail of misery and fear. I asked, "Why did you-"

She was in my mind and knew my thoughts before I spoke them. "I was hoping that Trysta would delay her planned contact with the nanocoral until Grean arrived to help manage the telepathic contact."

"But Grean is... where did she go?"

"Many Sails took Grean to the nearest pek base, a world that is about 5,000 light-years from here."

"How long will that trip take?"

"She could be back any time. It depends on how long she spent negotiating with the pek before returning."

"Why did she go to the pek for help?"

"She said she was going to get some pek technology that might help defend us against alien telepathy attacks. Don't ask me to explain what that means because I don't know. She said something about a shield then she just went away and didn't really explain anything before she left. She was in a hurry."

For a minute we just held each other tight. Ivory's mind was a turbulent vortex of fear. "What did you mean when you said we are not safe, even here?"

Ivory explained, "When you were killed, that was a warning. The aliens could have made your deaths permanent. Grean realized that instantly and even she was terrified. For years we were planning to enter into constructive information exchange with the natives, not start a war. And really, after so many years of our research project had gone by, we came to believe that the aliens had moved on, transmigrated into the Hierion Domain. Sure, the creatures remaining on this world can be dangerous, but they seem like automatons, programmed to defend their nesting sites, but otherwise mindless. We got lazy and careless. Then you were killed and we knew that we had greatly underestimated the dangers of this world."

"How do you know that these alien creatures are too dangerous to study? Can't we just peacefully try to make telepathic contact with them? They seem to have mostly been minding their own business, even adapting to our on-going effort to clear the black miasma from the surface of Cynk. We are so ignorant of each other... accidents are sure to happen, but that does not mean that we should panic."

Ivory was not swayed by my words. She was in a state of panic and nothing I could say from my position of ignorance would change that. "Grean was certain that your death was no accident! And now Trysta is going to repeat the error that got you killed!"

"How do we know that?" I tried to search through Ivory's troubled mind for facts. Do you know that for sure?

"I'm telling you what Grean told me. Personally, based on my experience with the aliens, I can't judge accurately if your death was an accident, a gentle warning or prelude to war. However, Grean was certain that she had to get help from the pek."

"I wonder why Grean suddenly decide that the aliens are so dangerous. Didn't she even give you the reasons behind her actions and explain why she was running away?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you. Before she left, she put some sort of block on my mind. There's something I know, but I can't tell you what it is."

"I think you better tell me. Give me a hint."

"Grean put a powerful lock on me. I can't tell you anything about-." Ivory fell silent. I could tell that she was trying to speak, trying with all of her will to tell me some hidden secret that Grean wanted to keep hidden.

Gazing into Ivory's mind, I could sense that Grean's block was strong and was sapping Ivory's will to keep trying to tell me the secret. I could not 'hear' what Ivory had to tell me in her thoughts. I suggested: Try sharing your non-verbal thoughts with me via the Interface.

I closed my eyes and tried to sensitize myself to Ivory's non-verbal thoughts. This was always the tricky part of using the Bimanoid Interface. The Interface seems to have been specifically designed to monitor the speech center of the human brain. Information from other parts of the brain only occasionally leaks through the Interface. However, Ivory and I had spent decades living together in a virtual reality existence somewhere within the Hierion Domain. We had lived the equivalent of decades with our minds linked together intimately and we knew the flow patterns of each others thoughts very well.

While I searched through her mind for a way past the information block imposed by Grean, Ivory was simultaneously looking deep into my thoughts. She whispered, "So, you really remember nothing from the past five years."

"True." I could sense that it was very upsetting to Ivory that I had lost my memories of our time together on Cynk. I asked, "Didn't you know?"

"I knew, theoretically, that there would be some memory loss upon your replacement by a backup copy. Then weeks went by and Trysta never brought you back to life; I started imagining that she might never bring you back. Then, today, I could sense that you were again alive. I guess I just didn't imagine that your 'backup' would have memories from so far in the past, my love. What happened here on Cynk between you and me during the past few years is very important to me. We were building a life together."

"That's wonderful, dear. We'll start doing that all over again."

For a long time we held each other tight and I kept trying to probe deeper into Ivory's thoughts. I was reminded of the time when I had last seen Ivory, although I then decided to call that artificial copy Yrovi. I asked, "Were you teleported to the Galactic Core by the pek?"

Ivory replied, "I suspect that a copy of me was sent there, but Trysta performed a trick with the teleporter. She made a duplicate of me and brought me here. The tryp'At Overseers believe I'm in the Galactic Core. During the past five years you have referred to the other copy of me as Yrovi"

I started getting an image in my mind of Ivory's bedroom and all the things that she remembered us doing in there.

Guided by the primitive emotions being sparked by physical contact between us and ignoring the dangerous situation we were in, we started playing a silly game, alternating kisses with taking a few steps towards Ivory's bedroom or undoing a button on the other person's clothing.

Earlier, when I had been with Trysta, thoughts of Ivory had kept distracting me. Now I was with sweet Ivory and I kept feeling the distracting intrusion of Trysta in my mind. I resented the fact that Trysta could use her advanced Asterothrope technology-assisted telepathy to monitor my thoughts. I tried to push the disturbing image of Trysta's long alien fingers out of my mind, but I was haunted by thoughts of Trysta being an alien creature who was threatening our safety with her plan to snatch a sample of nanocoral. If nanocoral was the remnant species, it might be equipped with special defenses that Trysta could neither anticipate or deal with. Again I asked Ivory, "Trysta must know that we find the appearance of her Asterothrope features disturbing. Why has she now abandoned the carefully crafted human form that she used while on Earth?"

Ivory explained, "Trysta is no longer allowed on Earth. She is going through the same kind of adjustments and experimentation that I went through back when you and I first met on Earth. Do you remember how I had let my fingers grow longer after I learned about my genetic origins and my natural phenotype?  Trysta is thinking about re-creating the Asterothrope species; giving birth to children who would have a 100% Asterothrope genetic endowment."

source

I fell silent and tried to push thoughts of long fingers, Asterothropes and the Ek'col out of my mind. I did not want to imagine Trysta filling her large home at Mandira with a dozen Asterothrope babies. I also did not want to be reminded about Ivory's non-human genetic origins. Yes, I knew that Ivory was part Asterothrope herself, but now, Ivory had a bodily form that was unique, mysterious, nearly human and very sexy. I hugged her close against my body and luxuriated in the soothing sensation that came from mingling my thoughts with hers. For a time, we both managed to push away all intruding thoughts of Trysta.

Then, once again, I felt Trysta searching through my mind. I telepathically 'shouted' at Trysta: Stop sneaking around in my mind!

Ivory tried to help me resist Trysta's disruption of my tranquility. Think only of me, my love, and our future life together.

I tried and I mostly succeeded in pushing thoughts of Trysta to the very periphery of my conscious mind. We were in the middle of a long wet kiss when suddenly Ivory found something important in my mind and she blurted out, "What if she was lying?"

"Who?" My eyes popped open. I could tell that Ivory was thinking about Trysta.

"Trysta. What if she lied about the teleportation connection between here and Earth?"

I was still focused on the pleasure of exploring Ivory's body. I asked numbly, "What if she did?"

"That link to Earth was established long ago by the Phari, but Trysta knows how to tap into it. That is some special Asterothrope ability, using technology that she brought to Earth from the future. Even Grean can't teleport from here to Earth."

We had gradually made our way to Ivory's bedroom and I had her half undressed. Distracted by Ivory's beauty, I struggled to recall exactly what Trysta had said about the Phari teleportation conduit. "She implied that the tryp'At were likely to block the teleportation conduit."

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"That's silly. The tryp'At know nothing about long-range teleportation. Unless... no... nobody is stupid enough to give that kind of advanced technology to the tryp'At." Ivory paced around in circles for a minute, deep in thought. I was enjoying the sight of her, half undressed and flushed with excitement. I wanted to throw her on the bed and ravish her, but I also didn't want to interrupt her thought processes. Finally she looked at me from the corner of her eyes, "No, the likely explanation is that Trysta was lying."

"About the tryp'At?"

"About the very idea that the teleportation conduit was no longer operational."

"Well, maybe. Yōd was eager to give up, abandon our mission here and return to Earth. Trysta wanted us to stay here and help her make contact with the Remnant Species."

"This goes beyond Yōd and her desire to be reunited with Azynov. Several years ago, Trysta told Grean that the teleportation conduit to Earth had been blocked. But, what if..."

I finally realized what Ivory was driving at. "You think we can teleport to Earth? Right now?"

"Yes, but we need to be quick. Trysta's bumbling attempt to communicate with the Remnant Species could kill us all." Suddenly Ivory zipped herself up and said, "Come on! Back to the teleporter!"

__________Pink___________

We arrived in the teleporter chamber at Mandira. Ivory started carefully examining the teleporter controls. "Most of this control circuitry is identical to what exists in the other teleportation chambers, but-"

She fell silent. Via our telepathic connection, I could sense her sorting through some technical issues. Standing behind her, I put my arms around her and waited, watching over her shoulder as she manipulated the data interface. Finally she said, "There is an extra set of control devices here, which must be for long-range teleportation, but I'm not familiar with their design."

Ivory was agitated and very nervous. I could sense that her thoughts were a rumbling volcano of anxiety. I pulled her away from the controls and looked her in the eye. "Calm down. Let's think this through."

She tried to turn back to the controls. "Don't distract me. I can figure this out."

"You're too upset." I stoked her arms. "Try to relax."

"There is no time! Trysta could trigger another telepathic attack by the natives at any moment."

In my past experience, Ivory had always been goal-directed and driven, always working confidently towards her goals. Now, something about her panic and anxiety seemed forced and unnatural. I asked, "Ivory, remind me what you put in that story you wrote about Alastor Clustor and the Phari. There was something you said about a world that had been ruined by a disaster with run-amok nanites. Cynk was an important Phari world, wasn't it?"

Ivory finally relaxed a bit. She rested her head against my shoulder. "No, in the Asimov Reality they did not call this planet Cynk. But, yes, you are correct, this world was where the Phari had first developed their nanotechnology and later, it is where they crafted femtobot endosymbionts. By the time when Kirth and Alice reached this planet in the Asimov Reality, it was basically a laboratory where the Phari could design endosymbionts for other species. That's why they wanted Kirth and Alice here, and particularly their children, who grew up with Phari endosymbionts in their bodies. That was the start of the process that eventually led to creation of a Phari endosymbiont that could link humans into the Bimanoid Interface, providing a type of technology-assisted telepathy."

I was suddenly aware that Trysta was no longer taking looks into my mind. Or she was being careful to hide her presence in my mind from me? I asked Ivory, "You mentioned telepathy shields. Could this room be protected by a telepathy shield?"

Ivory tried to speak, but no sounds came from her moving mouth. Via telepathy, Ivory told me: Grean's mind block is preventing me from telling you something.

I quickly decided that the matter of shields and the possibility that we were in a telepathy-shielded room was not going to lead us anywhere. I had been avoiding mention of another issue, but now I felt that I had to bring it out into the open for discussion. "Ivory, you died, right? You are no longer in your original body."

Ivory glared at me and a hot flame of anger burned for a moment in her eyes. "I asked you to forget about that!" After shouting, she seemed to regain some calm. "But, of course, you have forgotten my request. You are correct. I'm no longer a biological organism. I'm completely artificial... entirely composed of femtobot components."

"And you can morph your body. Take on any physical form?"

 Ivory held her arms out to her sides. "I'm using this form because you told me that you like it."

"That's dangerous!" To my eye, Ivory was the loveliest thing I had ever seen. She looked like an exquisite work of art. "I can't be around you without wanting to make love to you. In my eyes, you are the perfect woman. But don't distract me with your beauty! You could take the form of an Asterothrope, right?"

"There is much similarity between an Asterothrope body and my original biobody." She morphed herself, quickly growing taller and gaining length in her limbs and fingers.

I asked, "Can you take on the physical form of Trysta? Exactly?"

"Trysta?" She spat the word out with distaste. Then a look of realization came to her face. "Of course! The long-range teleportation equipment could be coded to recognize her physical features." I watched while Ivory managed to change her appearance to be more like that of Trysta. She again held her hands out from her sides, spun herself around and asked, "What do you think?"

"Not a very good match." She now had the body of an Asterothrope female, but she only looked slightly like Trysta.

Ivory shrugged. "I never studied Trysta. I don't really know what she looks like."

I tapped a finger on the teleporter controls. "There is a copy of her body in the teleportation data-bank."

"Yes!" For a minute Ivory worked the controls, then a copy of Trysta appeared on the teleportation platform. This freshly created copy of Trysta collapsed in a heap and tumbled off of the platform.

I rushed to the newly instantiated Trysta and cried out, "What's wrong with her?"

Ivory looked on dispassionately. "That's just a Trysta shell. I didn't include any of her cognitive system in this instantiated copy. This... thing, can't control her own muscles, but she has a perfect physical copy of Trysta's body, with no mind. Just spread her out so I can see her. Particularly her face and hands."

This copy of Trysta was naked and I was distracted by the sight of Asterothrope anatomical features that are somewhat different from those of a human body. I rearranged Trysta's flaccid limbs and pulled her mop of hair away from her face. For five minutes Ivory studied the facial features of Trysta and the palms of her hands. Ivory next held open Trysta's eyes and studied the pattern of colors in her irises. Slowly, Ivory took on the the exact appearance of Trysta.

I commented, "It is amazing how you can reshape yourself."

Ivory nodded knowingly. "I hope this does not disgust you, but now you have in your mind an unforgettable visual image that will always remind you that I am no longer a biological organism. I am not your dream woman; I am artificial life. My body is composed of femtobot components, not biological cells. However, a big advantage of being composed of femtobots is that I can take on any desired physical form."

"Well, I like the form you had before, and you can switch back to that in a bit."

Ivory nodded, "You spent a couple of years making suggestions and I evolved that new body form just to please you."

I tried to reassure Ivory that physical features were not really important. "Ivory, my love, it is your mind that is special. You and I think alike and we share a deep comparability of our mental structures."

She laughed, "Yes, and I have spent years inside your mind. I know that you are stimulated by physical beauty. And I know that the Asterothrope body form strikes you as alien; it is in your uncanny valley." Having learned all she could about the features of Trysta and replicated them to the best of her ability, Ivory went back to the teleporter controls, but she still could not activate the long-range teleportation system. Dejected, Ivory said, "Well, it was worth a try."

I looked carefully at Ivory. Something was missing. I tried to remember what Trysta had been wearing. First there had been her strange, almost living jumpsuit, with changing, swimming colors... then, later, her clothing had changed. Sadly, I had not really paid much attention. I asked Ivory, "Have you seen Trysta dressed in a strange suit, with shifting colors?"

"Yes, she likes to wear that sort of nanofiber clothing. She even makes her lady robots dress in it. The nanofiber constantly shifts itself, adapting to the ambient light. I noticed that Trysta was wearing a suit like that today. I could try wearing nanofiber, but I would not know what particular pattern to have it take on."

"No, wait. There is something else: when we were in the lab at Mandira-" I was not certain exactly where we were. I asked Ivory, "Are we in Trysta's house or someplace down in the laboratory complex, underground?"

"We're in her house, above ground. This is the teleportation chamber on the third floor. Why?"

I rubbed my forehead. "I'm trying to think. It is almost like something is preventing me from remembering...  something important..."

Ivory suggested, "Maybe Trysta has some wearable Asterothrope device that triggers the long-range teleportation circuits." Gazed upon the naked Trysta body. "Well, I might as well dispose of this shell."

I tried to pull the limp Trysta body onto the teleportation platform, but I did not have enough strength. Again I was impressed by how large the Asterothrope body is compared to a typical human.

Ivory said, "You don't need to get that thing back on the platform. These teleportation platforms are really only needed when trying to precisely guide a teleportation beam, for example, when trying to separate two closely spaced individuals. Just step away from her." I went to stand beside Ivory and then she activated the teleporter beam once more and the inert 'Trysta body' disappeared.

I was doubtful about the existence of a physical "key device" that might unlock the transporter's long-range functionality. And even if one existed, surely Trysta would have it locked away in some safe location. I regretted getting us off on that tangent. "Maybe I'm just wasting your time. Now that you've calmed down, you can try again to study and unlock the controls."

"No, that's a waste of time. Like trying to guess a password." Ivory morphed back to her previous bodily form and came to me, seeking some comfort. I put my arms around her and she gave a deep sigh, as if defeated.

I said, "There was a robot here, earlier today. Cal... a primitive robot... do you know him? He reminded me of a character in an Asimov story, and I wanted to ask Trysta if her robot had been named after that story character, but then our conversation about robots went in another direction. Cal seemed almost-"

Ivory cut off my rambling about the robot and my curiosity about his name. "Yes, I know Cal. I've met him while here visiting Mandira." In her mind, I could sense that Ivory was thinking: Of course Trysta's robot was named after that storybook Cal. "What about him?"

"Before we went to the lab, Cal brought Trysta a set of... bangles, arm bands, rings and such. She said that they were her lab devices, her equipment for use in telepathy experiments."

Ivory said, "Interesting. Now that I think about it, it does seem like the asteropthropes maybe had a penchant for wearable devices. Certainly Trysta does." She looked around the room then shrugged. "Well, let's ask for some help. I'll contact the chief household robot." Ivory pushed herself away from me and went to a small pedestal located near a wall of the teleporter chamber. She activated a com circuit. Ivory spoke, "Theally, this is Ivory. I'm in the teleportation chamber and I need some help. Could you come here?"

We heard a robot's reply, "At once, madam."

The door to the teleportation chamber opened and Cal walked into the room. He asked Ivory, "How may I serve you, madam?" He turned to me, "Welcome back, sir. Trysta did not warn me to expect your return." He turned back to Ivory, "You should always call ahead and let us know when you will be teleporting in."

I was startled by Cal's quick arrival. I asked, "How did you get here so quickly? Can you teleport yourself from place to place?"

Cal explained, "When I detected the presence of guests here in the teleporter chamber, I came to greet you. However, I waited outside this room, puzzled."

Ivory asked, "You were puzzled?"

Cal continued, "Yes. I asked myself: why had guests arrived without first calling ahead to announce their visit? And then I wondered why you remained in the teleportation chamber for so long. I began to suspect that you might be ill. Sometimes humans are disoriented by the teleportation process. I almost entered, but I decided to respect the human desire for privacy."

Ivory tried to reassure the robot, "You did well, Cal. We are not ill and we did not need you until we called for you. But tell me, why did you come to investigate rather than Theally?"

Cal replied, "Theally was inactivated. I am now the chief household robot."

Ivory seemed surprised. "Theally is gone?"

"Yes, Ivory."

Ivory asked, "Why was Theally inactivated?"

Cal hesitated. "It is not my place to judge or question the master's orders."

Ivory laughed, "Or tell me something that Trysta ordered you not to talk about."

Cal explained, "I must do as my master orders."

Ivory placed a hand on Cal's arm. "Yes, Cal, but in the past you have served me when I visited Mandira and you have followed my orders."

The robot agreed. "It is always a pleasure to serve you, too, Ivory."

Ivory said, "At this moment, Trysta is busy at Freeland preparing to contact the aliens. She sent me here to get her equipment."

Cal asked, "What equipment?"

I said, "Wearable devices. There were bracelets and things that she wore when we were in the lab earlier."

Cal hesitated then spoke uncertainly. "Oh. I suppose I know what you mean. I'm surprised she did not take her telepathy boosters to Freeland in order to make contact with the Remnant Species."

Ivory said, "She did, but she needs something else that she left behind, another device that was not expected to be useful for our work at Stroma Lake. Isn't there another device that you have seen her use in this room?"

Cal shook his head. "Trysta has never asked for my assistance in the teleportation chamber. She knows how to run the teleportation systems."

Ivory looked at me and I saw an expression of disappointment on her face. "I said to Cal, "Cal, I believe that your master, Trysta, expects you to serve and please all of her guests who visit Mandira. Am I correct in that?"

Cal replied, "Certainly, sir."

I continued, "And yet, despite your Master's desires, I believe that you have disappointed Ivory with your inadequate service."

Ivory chastised me, "Oh, don't badger him. He obviously never had an opportunity to watch Trysta use the equipment in this room."

I thought to Ivory: Don't give up too soon!

I put an arm around Cal's shoulders. "Cal, you know everything that goes on here at Mandira, don't you?"

"No, Sir. My duties are almost completely restricted to the household itself. Most of what takes place below ground in the labs or down in the manufactory or outside in the surrounding Safe Zone is beyond my awareness. However, other robots patrol those areas and I can contact them if you need information."

"What we are looking for is not outside. You know everything that there is to know about the interior spaces and furnishings of Trysta's home, correct?"

Cal replied definitively: "Yes, sir."

"Trysta sent us here to get a piece of equipment that she uses for some special teleportations. We need your help finding it."

Cal asked, "Trysta did not tell you where to find it?"

Ivory replied, "When she sent us here, Trysta was busy and in a hurry. I'm certain that she assumed we could easily find the equipment."

Cal suggested, "I will call Trysta and ask her-"

Ivory interrupted Cal. "No! No, Cal, we will not disturb Trysta right now. She is very busy. And, we do not need to bother Trysta. You know where the special teleportation equipment is, don't you Cal?"

Cal said quietly, "I'm not sure."

I still had my arm around the robot. I shook Cal gently. "Come on, Cal, is that how you intend to serve Ivory? Tell us what you know. Everything."

Cal still hesitated. "There is a piece of equipment that Trysta... well, there was an argument between Trysta and Theally over it. It makes me uneasy to mention this... I think the teleportation system was a source of dispute that contributed to Theally being inactivated. I don't want to be inactivated."

Ivory said, "Have no fear, Cal. Just tell us where the equipment is kept. We will get it, as Trysta asked us to do. This is a matter of doing what your master wants to be done, Cal."

Cal turned, pulling away from me and he went to a high set of shelves along the wall. There were decorative items arrayed there, apparently keepsakes that had been collected from the outdoors; shells, fossil bones and a framed dried flower array. Cal reached up high and grabbed something off the top shelf. He turned around and returned, walking towards us. We could see that he was now carrying some jewelry. There was a delicate golden necklace, a large, white glowing stone, a gaudy ring with a large red stone set in platinum and a bracelet that looked like the radio communications device that I had previously seen Trysta wearing. The robot said, "There is only this jewelry. I have never seen Trysta wearing it, but I have long known that she keeps it in this room, up there on the top shelf."

Ivory took the necklace in one hand and grasped the white stone with her other hand. "Thank you, Cal! This is what Trysta sent me to retrieve. It was here the whole time and I didn't see it." She laughed. "Sadly, I'm not as tall as Trysta."

I took the ring and bracelet from Cal and tried to activate the radio communicator. The controls on the bracelet seemed simple enough, but I could not see any indication that there was power available to the device. Strangely, I seemed to hear Trysta speaking: Listen, Cal, it is quite simple. I am master of this household and your primary loyalty is to me. Theally helped Ivory, which was fine, but then she failed to alert me. Remember, if there are visitors in this house, you must let me know.

Ivory looked carefully at the necklace. In her mind, I could sense doubt and the child-like wonder that she always brings to any new problem. Suddenly her mind was flooded by a wave of recognition. She quickly attached the pendant to the golden necklace. She looked at me and smiled. She sent me a clear telepathic signal: This is it!

Cal watched Ivory put the necklace around her neck and he asked, "That necklace is a device?"

Ivory replied, "Yes, Cal, it is a teleportation booster. It allows highly accurate teleportation at a long distance from the teleporter platforms. Trysta wants to use it to help us collect a nanocoral sample from Stroma Lake." In her thoughts, I could tell that Ivory was thinking: I hate lying to Cal. He is so sweet and innocent.

"I see. Will there be anything else, Ivory?" Cal turned his head towards me. "Sir?"

Ivory placed a hand on Cal and she practically pushed the robot towards the doorway. "No, Cal. Thank you for your help. We will now teleport out. You can return to your regular duties."

Cal said, "There is not much for us robots to do when Trysta is away."

I said, "Get lost, Cal."

The robot departed, with one last glance over his shoulder at us before the door closed. Ivory said, "That was effective, but rude. Don't you know that it can be dangerous to tell a robot to get lost?" It was good to be back together with Ivory and be the recipient of one of her nerdy science fiction references. I felt happy to be working together with Ivory and see her now more relaxed and joking about one of Isaac Asimov's famous robot stories. Ivory was fingering the pendant of the necklace while she walked across the room and returned to the teleporter controls. In her mind there was a memory of working with Jaqy the replicoid, trying to hack into the AR Simulator. Jaqy said to Ivory: What do I know about virtual reality systems? This is a job for a computer geek like Isaac, not me.

I asked Ivory, "How do you know that pendant has something to do with teleportation?"
 
"I don't know, but why else would Trysta keep such a bauble here in the teleportation chamber?" She was now adjusting the teleporter control interface. "Yes! The long-range circuits are now unlocked. My, my.... look at that...." She fell silent, gazing into the control display.

I had briefly allowed myself to imagine that we were just seconds from teleporting home to Earth, but now Ivory sounded uncertain and her thoughts were flooded with doubt and uncertainty. She muttered, "This is very complicated, and coded in some strange language..." I could feel a cloud of dark annoyance swirl through her thoughts.

I asked nervously, "What's wrong?" I still held the ring and the bracelet and wondered if they would be useful to Ivory. Again I heard Trysta in my mind: Yes, what is it, Cal?

Ivory asked, "Where would you like to go?"

Once more, I could hear Trysta in my mind: Why was she in Mandira?

Ivory looked up from the data display. "There are hundreds of pre-programmed destinations, but some are labeled in what I believe is an archaic Asterothrope language. I can partially translate those..."

I was still telepathically linked to Trysta's mind. Now Trysta 'sounded' upset: Ivory sneaking into Mandira again! Her memory must not have been cleaned...

I got even more nervous. "You can't find Earth in the list of destinations?"

"No, that's no problem. Earth is right at the top of the list, showing as the most recently used destination. But... if I'm correctly translating this weird language, I think one of these is the world where Grean and Many Sails were going to meet the pek... where they went for help. I wonder if I could teleport Grean directly back here to Cynk..."

I glanced towards the door, half expecting Cal to barge back in at any time. In my mind, I thought I heard Trysta talking to Cal again. I told Ivory, "Let's not get too fancy. Just get us out of here!" I tried slipping the ring onto my little finger, but it was too small, apparently crafted for the thin finger of a woman such as Trysta. An image of Trysta's spider-like fingers flicked through my mind and I put the ring into my pocket.

Ivory nodded, but still she hesitated. "Maybe we should take Yōd and Zeta with us. It wouldn't be right to leave them here with a crazy woman."

"I don't think Trysta is crazy." I nervously shifted my weight from foot to foot. "She can probably protect herself against the alien telepathy. In my thoughts I warned Ivory: Let's just go! I think Cal told Trysta that we are here.

Next: in the Freeland labs.

"Really?" Ivory was skeptical and still responding to my spoken words. "Then why did she let herself be killed by the aliens?"

"I'm not sure that she did. Trysta may have lied when she told us that she died during the alien telepathy attack." For a moment I could see deeply into Trysta's mind and I knew that she had lied to us about the cause of our "deaths". I suggested to Ivory, "It may have only been Yōd, Zeta and I who were killed."

Ivory spoke indignantly, "All the more reason to get Yōd and Zeta off of this planet if Trysta is playing games with your lives, using you as bait to attract the attention of the Remnant Species."

Then, Trysta was there, suddenly materialized on the teleportation platform. The real Trysta. Scowling at us. She asked, "Trespassers? Did you think that Cal wouldn't inform me that you were here?" She took three long strides towards us and pointed at the pendant that Ivory now wore. "And theft?" Trysta grabbed the bracelet out of my hand and then she pointed at the necklace that Ivory had put around her neck. Trysta sternly commanded: "Give me that!"

With one hand, Ivory reached up to the necklace, but with her other hand she activated the teleporter beam.

Next: Chapter Three of "Exoditions on Cynk".