Below on this page is Part 2 of the science fiction story "Earth: Day1" Return to
Part 1.
Betty stood stiffly within the circle of George's
arms. She waited patiently for him to relax his hold and look at her
face again. While waiting for the bear-hug to end, Betty felt a wave of
new infites
slip inside her and start adjusting her mind for a new mission. Betty
quickly adjusted her facial pattern nanites so as to shift her
appearance slightly... away from the facial structure pattern that was
favored by Syon. Her new infites informed Betty that this newly-arrived
agent used the code name "Parthney": "Parthey" with an "
n" added in.
Betty
learned from the new infites that Parthney had lived for just a short time on the planet Oib. While there, he received special training provided by the artificial life
copy of Trysta who during her second life used the name 'Syon'. None of that was according the
the usual protocol for training new Interventionist agents and now it
had led to Parthney mis-identifying Betty as Syon. Had Betty been
warned, she would have altered her appearance before the teleportation
beam activated and thus avoided the confusion that Parthney had
experienced upon his arrival.
I'm always the last to know.
A message encoded in her new infites whispered to Betty and struck fear into her:
Parthney is no ordinary agent. Betty told Parthney, "I am not Syon."
Releasing
his hold on her, Parthney now could see small, yet clear, differences
between Betty and Syon. During his training on Oib, Parthney had been
told that he would work with a robotic assistant while on Earth, but he
had not imagined the possibility of a close physical resemblance between
this robot and his beloved Syon.
 |
| LaCy |
In a sense, Betty and Syon were sisters, their artificial bodies having been built around the same basic
replicoid core that had first, long ago, known "life" within
Genesaunt culture as
LaCy. In another age, an artificial life form like Betty might have been called a
Grendel, but the best Earthly name was the inadequate term 'robot'.
Gazing
intently upon Betty's lovely face, Parthney nodded slowly. "Right. Of
course. Silly of me to think that I'd find Syon on Earth." He thought:
Still, this robot had felt exactly like the magical Syon, soft and warm in his arms.
Betty
watched as Parthney's eyes shifted to her chest and lingered upon the
bulges where her breasts pushed forward against her thin frock. Betty
looked down and regretted not having shut off her automated program for
making her nipples become erect when she was embraced by George. Betty
had used many different body patterns while on Earth, each one selected as was appropriate for
the demands of every new mission. Betty tried to recall why she had
adopted the Syon body pattern back twenty five years ago when she made the transition from
being Marie to being Betty, but that memory seemed
to have been taken from her. Betty wondered:
Might Syon herself soon arrive from Oib and begin living on Earth, using my body?
Parthney
finally pulled his eyes away from the pretty sight of the two bumps
caused by Betty's erect nipples and looked around the small
teleportation chamber. He felt a sense of claustrophobia. With
uncertainty in his voice, he asked Betty, "We are on Earth? Where
exactly are we?" He had been told that he would materialize inside a
large house on Earth, so he was surprised to find himself in a tiny
box-like room.
Betty found in her new infites a message
from Syon explaining why Parthney had not been well-prepared for his
mission on Earth. Syon had taken pains to explicitly warn Betty:
Don't expect very much from Parthney... his mission is simple and he did not need much training.
Looking upon the fresh and smiling face of this
version of George, Betty felt a sense of doom. She noticed that the
teleporter had slightly adjusted George's apparent age, giving him a
more youthful appearance than had been in use by the recently
departed Parthemy. A message leaked into Betty's consciousness from her
new infites:
For this mission, George must match the physical appearance of Thomas.
This sudden shift in George's appearance worried Betty and smacked of
hurried and clumsy improvisation. Occasionally a new agent was sent to
Earth so poorly trained that he did not fit naturally into the flow of life on
Earth. Too often, such agents were soon captured by Overseers and
imprisoned at
Observer Base on the Moon.
Betty said, "Yes, you are on Earth." She asked, "Why did you arrive here from Klyz?"
Parthney
explained, "I just spent a month on Klyz learning about Fru'wu advanced
technologies. I was equipped with some special Fru'wu nanites and then
sent on here."
Betty did not care to take the risk
that Parthney might not fully understand basic facts about the situation
on Earth and the dangers that all Interventionists faced. She carefully
explained to Parthney the concept that any teleportation equipment on
Earth had to be well-hidden from the natives. Only after providing him
with that mini-lecture did Betty send the "door open" signal, take hold
of Parthney's hand and lead him out of the teleportation chamber. Then,
while she carefully sealed up the chamber once again, she explained,
"The Earthlings must never enter this hidden room. If one does, the
teleportation equipment will self-destruct and we will be trapped here
on this world, unable to return to the Core."
Parthney
was surprised that such an irreversible reaction might be triggered so
easily. He asked, "Would an Earthling even be able to activate the
teleportation equipment?"
Betty answered his question
with a question, "Who knows?" Betty knew that while it was her job to
control the teleportation equipment, it was possible to provide a human
with a set of the control nanites that could activate the teleportation
sequence. Feeling a wave of sickly horror at the idea of someone as
ignorant as Parthney having the power to run a teleporter, she muttered
quietly, "Strange things can happen when nanites are involved."
Together,
they slowly strolled a distance down the Grand Hallway, the walls of
which were covered by dozens of paintings and photographs of the Parthey
clan, including the many Interventionists who had lived in the Mansion.
Parthney stopped in front of a picture of George Parthey that had been
taken by Betty twenty years previously. Betty gestured towards the image,
"There you are George, as you looked when you were a young man. Of
course, that was when your predecessor was stationed here... the
previous agent who worked here with me."
Betty shifted her gaze to
another nearby photograph, this one showing a young woman who George had
once courted and even brought into the Mansion to live for several
years. Betty said, "Sometimes, what appears to be an innocent Earthling
turns out to be a meddling Overseer in disguise." Betty tipped her head
in the direction of the woman's photograph on the wall and asked, "Do
you think you could recognize an Overseer if you encountered one?"
Parthney
pulled his eyes away from the photographic image of George Parthney and
he glanced at Betty and shrugged. He could see that she was staring
intently at one of the pictures on the wall.
 |
| on Klyz |
Parthney followed Betty's gaze to a
picture on the wall and looked with interest at that image of the young
woman and felt a tingling sensation, a partial recognition. He thought of Hai'zek, the Fru'wu. Parthney had
just spent a month on Klyz, interacting with the alien Fru'wu who lived on that planet of the Galactic Core. Strangely,
Hai'zek, who Parthney had worked closely with while he was learning
about nanotechnology, was somehow now brought to his mind. Parthney
wondered:
How could a pretty Earth girl remind me of the hideous Fru'wu? Parthney thought about the wings and snake-like orange skin of Hai'zek...
thons spidery fingers... He told himself:
Actually, Hai'zek spent more time arguing about the correct way to pronounce English words than teaching me about nanites. Hai'zek had been the one Fru'wu on Klyz who could speak English at all well.
Parthney
pushed away the disturbing memories of Hai'zek's alien body, turned his
head and gazed upon the refreshingly human face of Betty, so like that
of his beloved Syon. He replied to her question, "During my training I
was equipped with special nanites that scan the environment and that can
detect Overseers and automatically inactivate their movements."
Betty
was amused by Parthney's confidence and naiveté. She laughed at him and
then said, "And after thousands of years battling us, don't you imagine
that the Overseers have learned to evade our detector probes and
protect themselves from our paralysis-inducing femtobots?"
Hearing
Betty's laughter ring out, sounding so similar to Syon's own musical
laugh, Parthney started to wonder if he could fully trust everything he
had learned from Syon. Having served for so long on Earth, Betty was the
true expert on Earthly affairs. While at the
Lendhalen
training center on Oib, he'd developed a high level of confidence that
his mission to Earth would be quickly and easily accomplished, but what
if conditions had changed on this world in ways that Syon could not even
imagine? Nervously he asked Betty, "Do you mean we could be captured by
Overseers at any time, unable to defend ourselves?" He pointed at the
photograph that Betty had indicated and asked, "She was an Overseer who
infiltrated this base of operations?"
 |
| Leymaygn and Vozgrow at the Lendhalen training center on Oib. |
Betty felt silly having to explain
fundamental concepts to a fellow Interventionist Agent. Parthney had a
confused look on his face. She took a deep breath and produced a another
long, loud sigh. Betty pointed to the image of the woman and replied,
"No, she was an ordinary Earthling, but how can you recognize an
Overseer? Overseers can morph their bodies into human form. Of course,
we do all we can to protect ourselves. We
hope that we can defend
ourselves against Overseers, but it is not uncommon for Interventionist
agents to be captured and imprisoned by the Overseers... held in
captivity at Observer Base." Betty felt a wave of terror sweep through
her as she thought about the possibility of being captured and
imprisoned. "Our defenses have never been perfect. The destruct protocol
built into this house exists just in case an Overseer becomes aware of
the teleporter's existence. An Overseer could use our own teleporter
system to trace back to Lendhalen and compromise our entire operation on
Oib. Now that you beamed in from Klyz, our own teleportation records
could link us to the Fru'wu. Of course, an additional goal of the
self-destruct sequence, beyond destroying the teleporter itself, would
be an attempt to also destroy the Overseer."
Parthney
shook his head. "I hope you need not be so worried about the Overseers.
Syon told me that she had arranged to get help from the Fru'wu: advanced
nanite technology that will help us deal with the dangers posed by
Earth's Overseers."
Betty searched through her new
batch of infites, but found no message from Syon with information about
the Fru'wu. She asked Parthney, "Exactly what kind of help?"
He replied, "I gladly accepted Syon's statement that I would be safe on Earth. I did not ask for details."
Betty
complained, "Well, that does me no good. How can I take care of you if
I'm not kept informed?" Betty started wondering if Parthney carried a
new kind of nanite prosthetic in his body... a new defense system that
could efficiently shield him from Overseers. Betty asked herself:
Would Syon have sent such a poorly trained and incompetent agent as this to Earth without some kind of special protection?
Parthney shrugged and spoke with
confidence, "Listen, Betty, I don't expect to be here long enough to
meet any Overseers. All I need to do is locate one girl,
Hana, then she and I can both return to Oib."
Betty
quickly found the dossier on Hana that was contained within her new set
of infites. She saw that Parthney's mission was to teleport Hana off of
Earth. Poor Hana, an innocent Earthling, had become entangled in a
bizarre genetic experiment and her knowledge of the alien presence on Earth
represented a new threat to Lili's plans for Earth's future.
Betty
and Parthney had reached the Central Rotunda at the heart of the
Mansion. Betty asked, "Would you like a tour of the house?"
Parthney
nodded. "Yes, but let's start with the kitchen. Things have been so
hectic today that I have not yet really had a chance to sit down and
eat. Before leaving Klyz, I was too nervous and excited to eat much." He
patted his abdomen. "I feel like my new body has also not eaten today."
Betty
led Parthney to the kitchen and he commented on the furnishings of the
house, "So these are the Earthly 'antiques' that I have heard so much
about." His finger tips rested upon the smooth and glossy surface of an
antique porcelain pitcher that sat on a little side table, but his eyes
were fixed upon Betty's body.
Betty rapped her knuckles
on the big kitchen table. "Real wood, hand-carved. This table has been
here in this room for over a hundred and fifty years." She gestured
towards the modern kitchen appliances that were set into the wall within
brick-framed nooks. "The original kitchen had giant brick
ovens, so not everything has survived the renovations." She pulled open
the door to the large walk-in pantry. Betty glanced at Parthney and feeling his eyes following her movements, she said, "I, myself have served here at
this station for over a century, so yes, you can call me an antique,
too, if you are rude." Parthney smiled and turned to look at the big kitchen sink.
Betty entered the pantry and took a bottle of
cooking oil off of a shelf and called to Parthney, "What would you like
for breakfast, George?"
Parthney was looking around the
kitchen and was distracted by the many new sights and smells. He failed to
respond to Betty's question. He reached into a bowl of fruit on the counter and picked
up a large blackberry. Never having seen a blackberry before, he sniffed
it and then popped it into his mouth. The flavors of the berry exploded on his tongue.
Betty said, "If you are hungry, George, I'll be
happy to prepare a meal, but I don't care to guess what you want to
eat." Trying to attract his attention, she repeated his name, "George?"
Parthney
knew that he was now playing the role of George Parthey, but it would
take some time for him to grow accustomed to being addressed by his new
name. Parthney was reaching out to grab another blackberry, but he
turned to look into the pantry. Betty tossed the little bottle of oil to
him. He caught the plastic bottle and shrugged. Parthney said, "I can
eat anything. Do you have a favorite meal that you like to prepare?" He
patted the firm and flat surface of his abdomen and wondered how long it
would take to put on some pounds and modify this new body towards the
more rotund shape that he was used to. He set the oil on the counter and grabbed a handful of the
berries.
 |
| Viewing the future: Parthney meets Thomas. |
Betty saw in her new collection of infites that Parthney had grown fat and lazy during his early life on
Hemmal
before being sent to Oib for training in advance of an emergency
mission to Earth. In essence, Betty had been warned by her new mission
infites that it was Parthney's natural tendency to over-eat and put on
weight. Betty could easily set some nanites to the task of loading up
his meals with indigestible molecules.
Betty had lived for decades with
the previous version of George, a man who took pride in keeping his
borrowed body in good shape.
Well, so be it. Not every Interventionist can be a responsible individual.
She told Parthney, "Since you are now in Vermont, I think you should
have a hearty breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup." She carried a big
jar of flour out of the pantry.
While Betty cooked,
she explained to Parthney about maple trees and how to process tree sap
into syrup. "There is an old fashioned sugarhouse nearby, on the Bragg
farm. We can head over there today... a visit to the farm would be a
great way to introduce you to Earth and to Earthlings and start getting
you familiar with the area."
Betty and Parthney sat
across from each other at the big kitchen table. Betty sipped a cup of
tea while Parthney worked his way towards the bottom of a stack of
pancakes, smothering them in an ocean of syrup which he poured from an
antique pitcher. Betty had cooked some berries into the pancakes and
Parthney enjoyed his meal. Responding to a question from Parthney, Betty
described the origins of the fine silver and hand-painted dishware that
they were using. She mentioned the names of several now dead members of the Parthey clan, but Parthney apparently did not recognize their names. In Betty's experience, new agents were trained to be able to discuss their ancestors... but Parthney seemed to be an emergency patch being put on an unforeseen problem.
Parthney was not close to emptying his
plate, but he found himself feeling overly full. He set down his fork,
having eaten only about half of the giant stack of pancakes that Betty
had set before him. He drained his glass of milk and said, "I'm ready to
head out, if you are. I'm eager to explore Earth!"
Betty
put the pitcher of milk back into the cold box and loaded his dishes
into the dishwasher. Turning away from the dish-washing machine and back
towards Parthney, she said, "The only other thing on your calendar for
today is your job." For a moment, Betty enjoyed the look of dismay on
Parthney's face.
In a hollow voice Parthney asked, "Job?"
Betty explained, "Your predecessor has worked for many years as a volunteer at a local science education facility."
Parthney tried to imagine how such volunteer work fit into an Interventionist mission. He asked, "Whatever for?"
Betty
took hold of Parthney's hand and led him upstairs to the room that
would now be his bedroom. Betty had her own bedroom down the hall, but
she had not used it for more than a decade, not since the Master had
invited her to live with him like an honored concubine, sleeping each
night in the Master's bed. It had taken them almost fifteen years to
slowly mature their working relationship into a passionate and loving
relationship. When they finally reached that point, it was a mutual
decision that they both wanted to live together more like a married
couple than Master and assistant. Betty looked upon the big old bed,
stacked high with feather-stuffed layers of mattress.
Comfortable thoughts of the past bubbled up in Betty's mind. She
pushed away the sweet memories of the many years spent in this bed with
George and she finally replied to Parthney's question, "The volunteer
work of your predecessor was a good opportunity for him to have a place
within the local community. Your predecessor worked hard to monitor the changing
attitudes of Earthlings. Much has changed, in a few short years, ever
since the gift of advanced Fru'wu technology arrived on Earth." By such
monitoring, George had become aware of unanticipated changes in human
attitudes following the recent revolution in artificial intelligence technology
on Earth. So alarming were these changes that he had teleported back to
the Galactic Core to give a complete report on the problem to Lili.
Even
if his time on Oib had been brief, Parthney had been warned by Syon to
avoid attracting Overseer attention. Parthney told Betty, "It seems like
the safest strategy for an Interventionist agent is to avoid
unnecessary contact with Earthlings whenever possible." Parthney picked
up a small framed picture from the little table beside the bed.
Betty
watched as Parthney looked intently at the photograph. It was the same
girl he had seen in the picture below, in the photo-gallery of the
downstairs hallway: the girl who had become George's first Earthling
lover, so many years ago. Betty had never been able to convince George
to discard that photo or at least move it out of their shared bedroom.
Betty
told Parthney, "In times past, this was a very busy house, full of children, with
many visits from cousins, aunts and uncles... Then the decision was made
to phase out Interventionist operations on Earth. In recent decades, this house has been almost empty. Your predecessor invited a couple of
outsiders to live here for short periods."
Parthney
suggested, "With the arrival of the Fru'wu, Earthlings are now free to
learn about aliens and they will eventually understand how beings from other worlds have long shaped the
history of Earth. According to Syon, the old struggle between Interventionists and
Overseers is gradually coming to an end, or shifting into some new system of cooperative checks and balances. Maybe we really don't need to worry about
Overseers anymore. Maybe my predecessor knew this, so he began mingling
more freely with Earthlings."
Judging from Parthney's words and
the content of her new infites, Betty suspected that Parthney had
never been told about one of the usual functions of Interventionist
agents: inserting useful gene combinations into Earth's gene pool.
However, there was this interesting warning from Syon to Betty in the
new infites:
My prediction is that within 24 hours Parthney will try
to drag you into his bed. He has three interests in life... music,
eating, and screwing, not necessarily in that order of priority.
Parthney
set down the first photograph and picked up the second one from the
table. This was a picture of Betty. Parthney asked slyly, "Does this
mean that George enjoys threesomes?"
 |
| George and Keziah at Parthey Mansion |
Betty shrugged and pointed towards the picture of the
other woman. "That is Keziah. She lived here for a few years, then went
off to Reahand, the Klyz home-world. George never stopped loving her, even decades after her departure from Earth. I
believe that George never stopped hoping that Keziah would return to
Earth, even after she had been away for many years." A new idea occurred
to Betty:
Maybe Keziah was pregnant when she went off to Reahand.
Might her child some day come to Earth?
Parthney grinned. "You did not answer my question."
Betty
sighed. "Parthney, please don't concern yourself with the sexual
activities and preferences of your predecessor. If you want to engage in
sexplay with multiple partners, that is your choice. The people of
Earth enjoy a wide range of sexual practices and they like to experiment
with the joys of love. In the long run, most people eventually learn
that monogamy has some clear advantages."
Betty pulled a
set of clothing out of the closet and said, "You better wear these
warmer clothes to the farm. It is a bit chilly outside today. This is
good weather for getting the sap flowing, so it should be the perfect
day for us to visit the sugarhouse." Parthney began pulling off the
light-weight garments he had worn while on Klyz and Betty hurried out
the door. She went downstairs and used the comunit to send a signal to
the garage, ordering out the car.
Parthney came down
the stairs, almost dressed and complaining to Betty. "How do Earthlings
get through life wearing such scratchy and binding clothing?"
Betty
showed him how to use the belt and the zipper of his pants. "You'll get
used to it. Your predecessor even learned how to shave." Betty had to quickly unbutton Parthney's shirt and re-button it in order to get the buttons correctly aligned with their holes.
Parthney asked, "Shave what?"
Betty
handed Parthney a jacket and led him by the hand out the front door.
"Most Earth men shave their facial hair. If you don't want to be
bothered shaving, this house is equipped with nanites that will
automatically cut your hair, just like you are used to."
Parthney
was vaguely aware of the fact that Earthlings did not have access to
basic technologies such as personal care nanites. He knew several songs
from Earth that mentioned shaving, but he'd never really thought about
the implications of using metal blades to cut hair. It was true: on
every world where Parthney had lived before coming to Earth (Hemmal, Oib
and Klyz) there had been automated nanites that had removed the hair
from his face.
 |
| West side entrance for Parthey Mansion. |
Stepping outside, he found that the cool Spring air
was refreshing and it reminded Parthney of Hemmal, but Betty seemed to
be in a hurry. She tugged on his hand and they went quickly down the
walkway and into the heated car before he had a chance to pull on the jacket.
As they settled into their seats, Betty asked, "How do you plan to approach Hana?"
The
car automatically started moving and Parthney looked out the window and
watched the gray forested hills for a minute, noting the presence of
some remaining patches of snow. When they reached high speed on a steep
hill, Parthney reflexively grabbed for support and found himself holding
onto Betty's arm. Betty asked, "Have you ever ridden in a car before?"
"No."
Betty
patted his hand. After a moment, Parthney relaxed his grip and Betty
repeated the question that she had asked before, "What is your plan for
making contact with Hana and getting her off this planet?"
Parthney
had assume that his assistant would take care of all the pesky little
details during his mission on Earth. He suggested to Betty, "Maybe we do
not have to go visit Hana. Can't you just program the teleporter to
pull Hana out of her house, bring her directly here?"
Betty
was disappointed, but not surprised, that Parthney had apparently given
no serious thought to the problem of how to accomplish his mission. She
replied, "Due to the unusual nature of her child, it seems likely that Hana has already come to the attention of
the Overseers. It is now a race: will the Overseers take her off of
Earth before we do? Apparently the Overseers are still trying to account
for Hilde and her alien genes, so they have not acted yet. Depending on
Overseer plans, we may or may not need to hurry, but we are certainly
going to be careful. At a minimum we need to devise and implement a
believable cause of death for Hana and also have a plan in place to deal
with her orphaned daughter, Hilde."
Parthney thought
briefly about his own newborn child back on Oib. He said, "Yes, her
daughter... Hilde. The obvious solution to that problem is for you to
adopt Hilde."
Betty gasped. "What?"
Parthney
explained, "You are going to have to take care of the little girl after
I take Hana back to Oib. Syon suggested that you move to Alaska and
take on a new identity as Hilde's adoptive mother."
Betty
repeated, "Suggested." That simply was not how to run an
Interventionist mission. She quickly scanned deeper down into the new infites
that outlined Parthney's mission. She reviewed the details that were
provided concerning Hilde, discovering that she was a clone, the result
of an experiment carried out by one of Lili's descendants on Earth,
Peter.
For an Earthling, Hilde had an unusual brain and she had been diagnosed
as being severely delayed in her cognitive development. However, that
was a misdiagnosis. With her high concentration of Asterothrope and
Kac'hin genes, Hilde simply would not progress through the usual human
childhood stages of cognitive development. Betty noticed that Parthney
was pale and was sweating. She adjusted the heating system and asked Parthney, "On what pretext could I
arrange to adopt Hilde?"
Parthney suggested, "Well, I'm thinking more in terms of a kidnapping. Why should we involve the authorities?"
Betty thought about it:
Why not make it appear that both Hana and Hilde died in some horrible accident? And why Alaska? Might it be possible to raise Hilde at the Parthey Mansion without attracting attention? Betty wondered:
Why was it so important to keep this child on Earth? Why not send her to the galactic core where she could be properly raised and avoid endless harassment by Overseers? Her infites told her nothing about Hilde's future on Earth.
Betty
said, "We don't want to attract Overseer attention. Using
point-to-point teleportation with a free end here on Earth takes much
energy, is tricky to control and it is easy for Overseers to detect such
high energy teleportation events. It is only really safe for us to use
the teleportation equipment in Parthey Mansion for low energy
transmissions of hierions from one teleportation pad to another pad. Rather than try
to use free-end teleportation, we'll need to travel down to Quaben by
conventional means and bring Hana back here so that she can be
teleported to the Galactic Core using the fixed-end teleportation
equipment at the house. Sending a hadronic biobody through to Oib will
be a relatively high energy transmission, but we can risk it, particularly if the conditions are right." During solar storms, it became impossible for the Overseers to trace teleportation signals to their source. Betty began to imagine that it would become necessary to hold Hana as a prisoner at Parthey Mansion until there was a solar storm strong enough to hide her teleportation to the Core.
 |
| map shown on Betty's D-ket display |
As they wound their way through the hills,
Parthney began asking questions about the layout of the local towns and
the highways. Betty tried to explain to him the meaning of Earthly
concepts like "city road" and "state highway". "According to the infites
that you passed on to me, Hana lives in Quaben, in a suburb of New
Amsterdam. We'll drive
down the Interstate... it will not take long to go that far." Betty
activated her D-ket display and showed Parthney a map of Vermont and
Quaben.
Parthney glanced at the map and said, "I see... we take highway 123 south."
Betty corrected him, "That's Interstate Highway 23, I23."
Parthney
closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window for a minute.
Without bothering to open his eyes, in a pained voice he complained, "I
thought a state was a nation. Are you saying that New England is several
states?"
Betty was still trying to provide Parthney
with an understanding of the word "state" when the self-driving car
parked them in the visitors lot at Bragg farm. Betty was concerned by Parthney's
odd appearance and his sweating. She turned off the heating system in the car
and sent medical nanite probes into Parthney. Betty pointed to the smoke
rising from the sugarhouse, "See the smoke? They have the evaporation
trays running." The medical probes returned a diagnosis to Betty
indicating that he was suffering from motion sickness.
They
got out of the car and Parthney promptly vomited up his pancakes,
splattering some on the side of the car. Betty assigned some of her
nanites to the task of quickly cleaning up the mess. She grabbed his arm
and asked him, "Do you need to sit down?"
Parthney pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his mouth. He smiled and shook his head. "I feel much better now."
Betty
explained, "You are very susceptible to motion sickness. Now that I
know that, I can have my medical nanites blunt that response of your
nervous system." The medical nanites gave Betty another report: the
indigestible molecules that she had put in Parthney's food had also
aggravated the problem by disrupting his digestive system.
Parthney said brightly, "Now, show me these marvelous maple trees that produce the syrup."
Out
of the car and on his feet, Parthney had no further trouble with his
motion sickness. Together they spent a couple of hours hiking the hills
of the farm where the maple trees were now gushing out enough sap to
keep the sugarhouse running at peak production. The tree sap ran through
plastic tubes downhill to the sugarhouse which was strategically
located in a valley.
Betty and Parthney wandered
together through the maple forest. When they reached the highest hilltop
of the farm, they could see Lake Champlain glistening in the distance,
off to the north. They were standing together on top of a granite
boulder when Parthney pointed and asked, "Syon, is that the ocean?"
The
wind was gusting and when he swayed, his foot dislodged a clump of moss
from the top of the boulder. He almost tumbled off the boulder and
would have fallen down the steep slope below, but Betty instantly put an
arm around Parthney's waist to steady him and said, "That's a lake. We
can't see the ocean from here."
He squeezed her tight with his own arm and gazed into her face, smiling.
Betty added, "And remember, I'm Betty."
Parthney chuckled. "Sorry. When I look at you, when I hear your voice, I think 'Syon'."
Betty said, "I know Parthney... and I'm still getting used to it being
you
inside George Parthey's body." Seeing nobody nearby, she used some of
her nanites to make a small telescope and handed it to Parthney. "Look far to the north: that's
Lake Champlain. With the telescope you should be able to see the
skyscrapers of Burlington."
While looking through the telescope, Parthney asked, "Champlain is a French name, isn't it?"
Betty
nodded. "When this part of the continent was settled by Europeans,
nobody much cared about the border. French and English settlers alike
mostly adopted the ways of the natives and the land was treated like a
community resource. Everything changed during the
Civil War.
France sided with the Southern States, so the North declared war on New
France. Lake Champlain was captured from New France, expanding the size
of Vermont. After the war, there was an effort to change the name of the lake to
'Tekonta', but I suppose it will always be Lake Champlain. After that
horrible war ended, things began to return to normal. The border with
New France is now an almost meaningless line on maps; there are no
boarder crossing checkpoints anymore. These days, the people of Earth
have more important things to do than bicker over borders."
When
he was done using the telescope, Parthney handed it to Betty. The
nanite components of the telescope dissolved and merged back into
Betty's body. They climbed off the boulder and made their way back down
the hill.
Parthney said, "I was told that Interventionists are forbidden to use nanites on Earth."
Betty
laughed. "We Interventionists are in the business of breaking laws. My
body is composed of nanites, and I've managed to live on Earth and avoid
the Overseers for thousands of years. The trick is not doing anything
silly with nanites... nothing that would attract the attention of
Overseers."
After
a tour through the Bragg sugarhouse, Betty stepped into the little
Bragg farm shop in the corner of the sugarhouse and bought a supply of
syrup. The woman who had given them their tour, wore a name tag that
said "Wyonna". She was still chatting with George while Betty dealt with
the automated cashier in the shop. Parthney asked, "So, your name is
Wyonna Bragg? You grew up here on this farm?"
Wyonna
said, "Yes, and I suppose I'll stay here and keep the farm under
family ownership. I'm the only child and I'll inherit... if I can convince daddy
that I'm worthy. Otherwise, me old mucker will sell out to one of the bouncy
cooperatives."
Betty completed her payment and started
putting her purchased items into two bags so that the bottles of syrup
would be easier to carry.
As he had during the entire
tour of the sugarhouse, Parthney was still raking Wyonna's curvy body up
and down with his eyes and he said, "So, you are a farmer's daughter."
Wyonna laughed, "I hope you are not going to tell me one of those silly old jokes!"
Parthney innocently asked, "What jokes?"
Wyonna replied with a giggle, "Racy farmer's daughter jokes."
Parthney said, "Have you heard the one about the whiskey salesman who stopped by a farmhouse on a hot summer day?"
Before
Wyonna could reply, Betty brought her bags over and handed one to
George. She said, "Hold on, George, I've got a better joke..." Betty
asked Wyonna, "Why couldn't the sugar farmer go to church with his two
daughters?"
Wyonna smiled at Betty. She had heard the joke before. She replied, "Because they were always raising cane."
Betty
took hold of George's arm and quickly guided him out of the sugarhouse
before he could tell his joke. Passing through the front door, Parthney
glanced over his shoulder and said to Wyonna, "Thank you for the tour."
They
crossed the little gravel parking lot and returned to their car.
Parthney asked, "Can you explain that joke? I don't get it."
Betty shrugged and loaded the bags into
the car. "There was a minor Persian cult figure named 'Cain', a kind of
devil figure. That Cain is spelled 'c', 'a', 'i', 'n'. If a youngster
gets into mischief, people say that is 'raising Cain'. In the joke, cane
sugar and 'Cain' are mixed up."
Parthney said, "I've
never understood what a church is. On Hemmal, I grew up singing several
classic songs about churches, but I don't understand what they are."
Betty sighed. "That's okay. A church is a kind of temple that is found in western Persia."
Parthney said, "That joke of yours is not the kind of farmer's daughter joke that I heard from Syon." They got into the car.
Betty
nodded. "I met Syon before I came to Earth... back then she was quite a
hell raiser... not afraid to raise Cain or get up the hackles of the
Overseers." The car began navigating itself out of the parking lot.
Glancing back at the sugarhouse, Parthney
said, "Quaint, but the whole operation seems very inefficient." His feet
were hurting, so he took off his shoes. "And these shoes don't fit my
feet!"
Betty explained, "Some things on Earth exist
only by momentum and tradition. These days, there are a few Earthlings
who are not happy with the effects of rapid technology changes... they
cling to the old ways of doing things." She pulled off Parthney's socks,
which he had not put on correctly. Now he had a blister on each foot.
She sent some medical nanites into the blisters and then pulled his
socks back onto his feet. "Look, George. Do you see how to correctly
orient them? They are knitted with a heel." Betty then had to explain to
Parthney what "knitting" was.
Parthney said, "I've sung songs that mention knitting, but I never knew what they were talking about." He sang:
Sweet harmony I sought
and attained it with his key.
We knit our truelove knot
then named her Abbilee.
He put his shoes back on and complained, "I suppose these are made of leather. Dead animal skin!"
Betty shook her head, "These shoes are part plastic and the soles are some sort of composite material."
Parthney
lamented the loss of his easy way of life in the Galactic Core, "Less
than one day, and already I miss clothing nanites." He had lived his
entire life in the presence of special nanites with the ability to
automatically produced clothing that grew around its wearer as needed.
Betty expressed no sympathy. "You have been spoiled by nanites. You are going to have to learn to live like an Earthling."
Parthney looked out the window at the passing forest and muttered, "I won't be around here long enough for that."
For
a time they rode in silence, then Parthney picked up one of the jugs of
syrup and began looking at the printed label. He started to chuckle.
Betty asked, "What's so funny?"
Parthney
glanced at Betty then looked back at the label. He replied quietly, "I
was just thinking about a joke that Syon told me." He remained silent,
with a grin on his face.
Betty asked, "The whiskey
salesman joke? So, tell it to me. I've not heard it. Syon must have learned
it in..." Betty did not finish her sentence. She was about to say 'in
some past Reality', but she decided not to speak about time travel.
Parthney remained silent. She jabbed an elbow into his side. "Tell me
the joke. It can't be that bad."
Parthney shook his
head. "It took Syon ten minutes to explain it to me and I'm not sure I
can really remember it now. It was about a farmer's daughter who worked
as a potter. It involved a tired salesman who came to the farm and asked
to stay the night, but I still don't really understand money and the
idea of selling things. And who knows what 'whiskey' is?"
Betty
gave a small groan. "Okay, I get the idea. Parthney, here are some
words of free advice: if you are chatting with a cute woman and your
mind goes blank, don't start telling her the first crude joke that pops
into your head."
"I won't."
Betty said,
"You will. You are like a small boy who can't control his impulses.
Look, George, I like stupid jokes, but some people are quick to take
offense, so until you better understand Earth and people's
sensitivities, just let your attempts at humor go unspoken."
Parthney shrugged. "Okay, I'll try not to embarrass you in public."
Betty shook her head in dismay. "Don't
embarrass yourself. You were going to tell Wyonna your stupid jug joke while ogling her breasts. Not cool."
Parthney
chuckled. "I suspect she would have been amused, but you cut in with
your joke." He changed the subject. "Anyhow, I had some difficulty understanding Wyonna. She does not speak like you."
Betty explained, "Wyonna speaks with a very exaggerated Green Mountain accent."
Parthney asked, "What did she mean by 'mucker' and 'bouncy' cooperative?"
"In mountain speak, 'old mucker' means her father, Mr. Bragg. A 'bouncy' person is obsessed with money and profit... someone like Wyonna uses the term in a derogatory way to refer to a 'city slicker'." Betty had to explain the meaning of 'city slicker' to Parthney.
"People travel to Vermont from big cities like New Amsterdam and they want to be entertained. Wyonna's accent is part of the show that she puts on for the tourists, just like her fake breasts." Betty then had to tell Parthney about breast implants.
Still reading the fine print in the maple syrup label, Parthney started asking
questions such as "What is GMO?" Finally, when all his questions had
been answered, he set down the jug and looked out the window of the car.
Parthney's stomach let out a serious growl and he asked, "So, what is
the plan? More pancakes for lunch?"
Betty
had been expecting Parthney to get hungry again. They had walked five
or six miles over the hills and through the forest, enjoying glimpses of
dear, turkeys and an occasional lady slipper. In addition to that
exertion, Parthney had not been able to keep his breakfast down. She had
already ordered the car to take them to a nearby restaurant. She warned
Parthney, "You will be recognized at the restaurant I'm taking you to.
Remember, you are now George Parthey, long-time resident of Vermont."
Parthney
said, "Right. You better do most of the talking. I'm not sure that my
nanite voice prosthetic is actually creating a convincing New England
accent. When I was on Klyz, Hai'zek did nothing but criticize my English
skills."
Betty asked, "Hayzeck?"
"A Fru'wu named Hai'zek. My alien trainer for this mission."
Betty suggested, "I think your voice is fine... you sound just like George. However, speak with a gruff voice. I'll tell people that you have a sore throat."
Parthney knew nothing about diseases. He asked Betty, "Sore throat?"
Betty unsuccessfully tried to explain the idea of a virus to Parthney. She wondered:
why
wasn't he properly trained? At the very least he should have been
warned about the danger of viral diseases. It makes no sense to send
someone this ignorant to Earth.
The car turned off the highway and into a parking lot next to a building. Parthney saw a sign on the building that said:
Jeena's Etruscan Reconceptualizations. Betty took Parthney by the hand, led him inside and to a dimly lit booth in a corner of the diner, but they were not ignored.
Things
went as expected inside the restaurant. They had to speak to half a
dozen people who recognized Betty and George by sight. Betty did most of
the talking and they were greeted by Jeena as soon as they sat down.
After an exchange of greetings, Jeena asked Betty, "Is your Book Club
meeting this afternoon?"
Betty explained, "No, the club meeting is scheduled for next week."
"That's right!" Jeena gave Parthney long puzzled stare. "Good to see you, George."
Parthney spoke in a gravely voice, "I'm glad to be here."
Betty explained to Jeena, "George has been under the weather."
Jenna
placed her hand on Parthney's forehead then ran her fingers through his
hair. "You sound terrible, but you look nice, George, as usual." She leaned
over and kissed Betty on the cheek. "You always smell so wonderful, Betty! Today you seem smokey and mysterious." Jenna turned then walked away,
but then turned her head to take another look back at Parthney. She said, "Enjoy your meal!" and went back to her work in the kitchen.
Betty
muttered to Parthney, "She noticed your altered appearance. The
teleporter routine modified the program of your facial nanites, making
you appear younger. Jeena could see that your appearance as George is
altered. I suppose she will assume that you got a facelift."
Parthney commented, "She
was acting strangely."
"Jeena
has long suspected that we are living together as man and wife." Betty
gave one of her deep sighs. "She can't restrain herself from poking
around in everyone's private affairs. When she first came to town, I
suspected that Jeena might be an Observer, stationed here to spy on
George."
Several patrons of the restaurant came over to say hello and speak with Betty and George.
Mostly there was small talk and brief greetings, but George was asked, "I thought you were leaving town... going on vacation?"
Betty replied for Parthney, "When he came down with this nasty cold, George delayed the trip."
"Well, if you are so sick, you should be at home!"
Finally
they were left alone and they had time to order lunch. The table top
functioned as a menu. Parthney looked at the images of the various foods
that were available and did not recognize most of them. He asked Betty,
"What do you usually eat here?"
 |
| Jeena's Etruscan Reconceptualizations |
Betty shrugged, "I'm here once a month with
the Book Club. Most of the club members order the house specialty: what
Jeena calls and 'etrurioid', a kind of sandwich... one of the
Etruscan-American hybrid foods that she invented."
Parthney said, "Very well, I'd like to try the etrurioid."
"There
are many sub-types of etrurioid, with different breads, sauces,
fillings and so on... and they come in different sizes. Most of my Book
Club friends order a six inch etrurioid, but if you are willing to allow
me to order for you then we can do what George and I have done in the
past when we are here together: get a foot-long etrurioid and share it." Betty placed their order
and knowing that Parthney was hungry, she ordered a standard and popular
type of etrurioid that would quickly reach their table.
Parthney was vaguely aware of the meaning of 'vacation', but he asked Betty, "Are we going on vacation?"
Betty
chuckled. "Of course not. We have work to do. The Overseers might be
getting ready to take Hana to Observer Base, so we can't delay our trip
to Quaben for too long. When we are out of town, what harm would be done
if your friends think that you are on vacation?"
"I
see." Betty had seated herself next to Parthney on one of the bench seats
of their booth. Under the table, Parthney took hold of Betty's hand and
asked, "Is this a date?"
Betty laughed. "The locals
have long been puzzled by my relationship with George. We've always
refrained from public displays of affection."
Parthney
squeezed her hand affectionately, "I see. We need to get to know each
other. So far, you seem like Syon's sister, her twin. It is easy for me to like you, but it seems like you are constantly annoyed with me."
"I'm not comfortable working with a poorly trained agent. It seems like you were rushed to Earth without good preparation and now we are going to be forced to improvise." Betty added, "That talk about going on vacation was just something George made
up... trying to prepare the locals for his planned exit from Earth. We
had no idea that you would arrive until shortly before you teleported
in. I was preparing to terminate all Interventionist operations at Parthney Mansion."
Their
giant etrurioid arrived at the table, brought by one of the serving
boys. Betty used a knife to cut the long sandwich and she set half on a
plate in front of Parthney. He hungrily began to eat, but Betty simply
watched him and talked about Earthly foods. "Jeena borrows food from
cultures that are scattered all over the planet and pretends that she is
giving them an Etruscan interpretation. Really, I think that just means
that she adapts them into a form that she enjoys and hopes that her
customers approve. This place is always busy, so she is doing something
right."
Eventually, Parthney ate the entire sandwich, after which he said, "I hope you don't think I'm rude. I was very hungry."
Betty
signaled a serving boy to clear away their plates. "This worked out
perfectly. I figured you would be extra hungry and expected you to eat
more than half the sandwich. You're a big man with a big appetite."
They
left the restaurant and returned to the car. Betty pressed a button on
the control panel that was pre-set for their next destination.
Now
out of the restaurant, and out of possible hearing range of Earthlings,
Parthney was eager to talk some more about their Interventionist
mission. He asked, "So, you got no warning that I was coming? When I was
training on Oib, as soon as the decision was made to send me here, they
should have warned you that I was on my way to Earth. Syon told me that everything would be ready for me here when I arrived."
What could she say? Betty wondered:
Could this all have been foreseen? She was vaguely aware that a technology existed for
Viewing the future. She'd learned
that
from stray comments made by several of the Interventionist agents that
she had assisted. But who had access to the technology for Viewing
future events? Apparently Syon and the other Interventionists at Oib
were not among those who could look into the future. It seemed like they
had been caught by surprise and were now scrambling to make corrections
to the timeline, using Parthney as their tool. Betty lamely said, "There always seems to be a reason
for the way missions are conducted. I usually don't ask questions... I just do
my job."
Parthney laughed loudly. "But you are annoyed: you don't understand how you can do your job under current conditions."
Betty was glad that he recognized the source of her annoyance. She shrugged. "I know that sometimes an agent like me must be kept ignorant. If I knew too much, I might create a problem and cause the mission to fail."
"I understand your predicament. How can you do your job when you are stumbling around in the dark?"
She smiled and took hold of his hand, "Well, wait and see, George. I do some of my best work in the dark."
Parthney smiled back at Betty and squeezed her hand, "I hope I don't have to wait too long for a hands-on demonstration."
Betty
wondered what she should say to Parthney. Almost a year earlier she had
received a Priority Message from the Core saying that the
Interventionist agents such the Thomas clones who had long been deployed
were going to be phased out. Under the terms of the Trysta-Grean Pact,
secret alien-derived technologies like Betty herself were no longer
going to be tolerated on Earth. She had been expecting orders to depart
from Earth, and hoping to get the chance to meet Thomas before she had
to return to the Core. But now, unexpectedly, here was Parthney, the
poorest trained agent that Betty had ever known. Was he even aware of
the existence of time travel technology and
Reality Changes?
Betty was still searching through the set of infites that Syon had sent
to her with information about Parthney and their shared mission. What Betty feared most was the possibility that she was being kept ignorant because she would soon be imprisoned at Observer Base and interrogated by Overseers. Before
she could figure out what to say to him, Parthney asked, "Where are we
going now... back to our base?"
Betty advised him, "Don't let anyone hear you talking about our base of operations. We
all call it Parthey Mansion." She let go of his hand and used her
nanites to again assemble a D-ket display. "I'm taking you to the
Scientarium campus. We'll get there a little early. Maybe we can get you
a few minutes to prepare for your job before the swarm of children
descends upon you." Betty handed him the D-ket display and let him read
about the Scientarium.
Parthney read from the little
flexible display device for a while. He muttered, "I was not told
anything about this aspect of our mission." He read about the science
enrichment program for children at the Scientarium then he asked Betty,
"What am I expected to do?"
Betty replied, "You escort
children back home at the end of their school day. You drive a bus." She
wondered where to begin her explanation. Had Syon even intended
Parthney to visit the Scientarium? She shook her head. "It seems strange
that you were not trained by Syon to become George Parthey." Betty asked
herself:
Why had Syon bothered sending Parthney to Earth? And why put him into the body of George Parthey if he had not been trained to play that role? Betty
suspected that, acting by herself, she could efficiently locate Hana and
subtract her from Earth. The easiest method would be a simple
assassination. The infites that Parthney had delivered to Betty provided
her with background information on Hana, including her precise location. Betty
speculated:
Maybe delivering these new infites to me was the only reason that Parthney has been sent to Earth.
Maybe he will have no other role in this mission.
Parthney shrugged. "Well, look now... I'm not going to be here very long. Do I actually have to
become George? What does driving a bus have to do with Hana and my mission?"
Betty rather impatiently snapped, "You
are George Parthey!" She asked herself:
Why am I getting upset with this dufus?
Betty squeezed Parthney's hand and in a more gentle voice she
continued, "It is not very complicated. George has become locally famous
by writing some popular science articles about new Fru'wu technologies
and how they have impacted human culture. The local school children who
are interested in science appreciate his -your- enthusiasm for new
technology."
"I see. Well, you can't expect
me
to be explaining Fru'wu technology to the people of Earth, even
children. I never studied science... I take nanotechnology for granted, like
air to breath."
Betty had never previously worked with an agent who seemed to wallow in ignorance. She snapped, "I don't expect
you to explain anything!"
Parthney
said, "I'm sorry that I don't meet your expectations, Betty. I suppose my
predecessor was a scientific wizard. Well, that is not who I am. You can't expect me to be the old George."
Betty
patted his hand. "Just be nice to the kids and everything will go fine
this afternoon. I'm feeling a bit irked because with your sudden arrival on
Earth, I was not able to be adequately prepared. I could have easily avoided wasting your time at the Scientarium." Betty regretted
having agreed to help at the Scientarium and now it might amplify her error if she allowed Parthney to interact with dozens of Earthlings who he was not prepared to be with. Was it a mistake to think that
Parthney could do this simple job? Something in the misty recesses of
her mind whispered:
Maybe there is a perfectly good reason for Parthney to take this bus ride today.
Betty tapped the side of his head, "I'll be linked to you through our
comsystem, so listen to the advice I give you." She tested her ability
to send messages directly into Parthney's mind by technology-assisted
telepathy.
Do you hear me now?
Parthney had been
trained in the use of technology-assisted telepathic links. He replied,
"Yes, we are connected... I hear you just fine." He squeezed Betty's
hand and glanced at her speculatively from the corner of his eyes.
Betty tapped the side of his head with her finger tip. "Send me a message. No speaking!"
Parthney sent her:
You are cute when you nag me.
Betty
grinned. She recognized that there was a kind of raw sensuality that hung about
Parthney like a cloud. He reminded her of a clumsy puppy. She pulled her
hand back, away from Parthney. Betty said rather nervously, "I should
warn you about something, Parthney. Some of the kids who will soon be getting on
the bus with you are rather infatuated with George."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not human, so don't ask me to explain
the psychology of it. However, I see in the infites that I received from Syon... well,
apparently as a musician on Hemmal you have experience dealing with
groupies."
Parthney's grin widened. "That is one of the perks of being in a band."
Betty
warned him, "Well, you are no longer in a band. Your job is to drive a
bus and escort school children back to their homes from the Scientarium.
George has a rule: no personal relationships with the locals until
after they go off to college, but some of the local school girls don't
like to be told to wait."
Parthney asked, "College?"
Betty
spent some time explaining the education system of Earth, but with no
formal schooling past the age of seven, Parthney got confused over all
the various levels of education and school types on Earth. Finally Betty
said, "Just get the kids safely home to their parents. I'll be
monitoring remotely and following behind your bus in the car, just in
case you get into any trouble. You are supposed to be a comforting adult
presence for the children... entertain the kids during their boring bus
ride then we'll go back home. Tell them about clothing nanites if you
like... pretend they are a new Fru'wu technology that will soon be available on Earth."
They
had reached the Scientarium and the car parked itself in front of the
administration and support staff wing of the main building. Betty led
Parthney to the office of Dr. Semina.
 |
| Dr. Semina |
As
soon as Dr. Semina saw George she sprang forward and threw her arms
around his shoulders. She kissed him and said, "Thank goodness."
Betty
explained to the chief administrator, "George had a sudden cancellation
in his schedule, so he is available this afternoon."
Mika
gushed, "Wonderful! We really missed having you with us yesterday,
George. It is crazy how hard it has become for us to attract employees
and volunteers. We are terribly under-staffed... as are most schools
these days." Batting her long eye lashes at George, she added, "Of
course, we would never really be able to replace
you." Mika finally let
go of Parthney and nodded to Betty.
He said, "I'm happy to serve in any way I can... as long as I have time."
Through the years that Dr. Semina had worked with George, he'd grown increasingly gloomy about the course of technological change, but now he seemed brighter and was smiling happily for a change. Mika
reached out and laid a hand on George's cheek. "My, you look well rested
and..." She shifted her hand and touched her own face, "Men are so
lucky... growing more handsome with age. All I get with the passage of
years are more students to educate and deepening crows feet."
Mika
was the first actual Earth woman who had touched Parthney and he was
intrigued by her stately beauty. He was tempted to quote an ancient poem
about the Etruscan goddess of beauty, but Parthney simply laughed and
gave a half bow towards Mika. "Like Turan, you are the embodiment of
womanly beauty, Dr. Semina."
Charmed by being compared
to the love goddess, Mika began flirting with Parthney and Betty was
forced to rudely clear her throat. "Dr. Semina, we do have a busy
schedule. Perhaps....
Mika gave Betty a scathing glance
to express her pique, but she turned away from George and picked an
object up off of her desk. The administrator handed Parthney an
electronic key fob. "Your route is now up to 26 students, so I've got
you using the old 650XK."
Betty and Parthney went out to the parking lot that was behind the Scientarium. Betty told
Parthney, "Really, you don't have to start making goo-goo eyes at every
woman you meet."
"Sorry, but I was caught off guard. She looked familiar somehow."
Betty
explained, "In a way, she's related to you, as are several people who live
in this part of Vermont. You were probably feeling a subconscious
telepathic linkage to Dr. Semina. Don't let such distractions make you
look silly. Both of you should be mindful of maintaining a professional
working relationship, particularly with young children nearby."
Parthney
laughed and was about to suggest to Betty that she seemed jealous, but
instead he said, "Maybe I don't understand the standards of professionalism that exist on Earth. It seemed to me that Dr. Semina was dressed to draw
attention to her body, particularly her breasts."
Betty explained, "In this
culture, women in positions of authority are expected to publicly
celebrate their womanhood. Did you notice the picture of her boss there
in Mika's office?"
Parthney grinned broadly, "Yes, the
lady with her nipples showing. Even the abstract painting on the wall
was constructed around a big breast."
"That woman in
the picture is the president of the Scientarium Cooperative, a
world-wide operation with thousands of branches. There is a saying: the
higher the salary the lower the neckline. A CEO is expected to be
something of an exhibitionist in this culture."
They
had reached the 650XK bus and Betty activated the door. Parthney got in
and started up the artificial intelligence control system by placing his
hands on the dataspaq. Betty said, "Remember, I'll be nearby." She
returned to the car. The self-driving bus went around to the front of
the building and joined the line of waiting buses and vans.
Waiting
inside the bus, Parthney was startled when music started to play
through the speaker system. It was an abstract jangling type of music
that had become popular with kids since the arrival of alien Fru'wu on
Earth. Betty could sense Parthney's confusion. She sent him a message
via their technology assisted telepathy link:
If you don't like the music, just try to ignore it. You can order the bus to turn down the volume.
Parthney
tried to make sense of the complex and seemingly random patterns in the
music. Using the display screen of the bus, he reviewed the route that would be taken to deliver the 26 students to their homes. Ten minutes later the children started streaming out of the
Scientarium and getting into the assembled cars, vans and buses. Some
parents were there with family cars to collect their own children and a few
kids walked to their nearby homes. A few of they oldest children got
into cars and drove themselves home.
Parthney found
that the children of the Scientarium ranged in age from age 8 to 18 and those who got into
the old 650XK were happy to see that George was back with them as their
"driver". Cries of "We missed you!" and "Don't leave us!" and "Tell us a
story!" rang out. Several of the students threw their arms around
Parthney's neck and kissed his cheek before going to sit down.
When all were aboard, the robotic bus closed its door and set off down the road. The children started singing a song:
Power up the Fru'wu drive,
see the red sun set.
Leaving Earth's fair shore,
let me go home!
Let me go home!
I want to go home.
Why don't you let me go home?
I feel so Fru'wu
I call Reahand my home.
The two stanzas were repeated again and then one of the older students shouted out, "Tell us a Fru'wu story, George."
Parthney told the children a story about clothing nanites and how they would soon
revolutionize the wearing of clothes. He made up some nonsense about
Fru'wu nanite technology, Parthney himself being totally ignorant of how
the Fru'wu actually programmed nanites and turned them into useful
forms of nanotechnology. At the end of the story he was asked several
questions by the curious students. Again, Parthney creatively answered
with whatever popped into his head, which was a garbled account of what
he had managed to learn about nanites while in training on Oib and Klyz.
When Parthney accidentally mentioned the name of his home world, Hemmal, Betty sent him a warning:
Don't
mention the names of planets where we have Interventionist bases.
Remember, Earth is constantly under Observation. You don't want to
attract an Overseer. Parthney decided he had better stop talking to the children.
After
that, the kids quieted down and the music coming from the speakers was
the loudest thing on the bus. One of the older students had seated
herself right behind Parthney and now she said, "I can't believe you are
abandoning us." There was only a low guard rail separating her seat
from the driver's compartment at the front of the bus. She asked, "Where
are you moving to?"
Parthney turned in his seat and
looked at the girl. As "driver" there was really nothing for him to do;
the bus drove itself quite well. He asked, "Moving?"
With its heating system now running, the
bus was warming up and the girl slowly unzipped her jacket, glancing up
quickly to see if Parthney was looking at her chest. "That's what Dr.
Semina told us... that you are going out of town."
"Well,
yes, I may go away some day, but 'going' does not always mean 'moving
away for ever'. The girl stretched out one of her long graceful legs and
rubbed the toe of her shoe against the back of Parthney's right calf.
He explained, "Right now I'm just trying to get out of town for a little
vacation."
The girl said, "Fun!" She'd kicked off her shoe and was now wiggling her big toe up Parthney's pant leg from the cuff.
Looking
at the girl's short pointy nose and her large sparkling eyes, Parthney
was reminded of the hermaphroditic Buld who he had grown up among on
Hemmal. He wondered:
Could there be Buld gene combinations here on Earth?
She asked, "Where to?"
Parthney
was intrigued and distracted by the way that the girl was pushing her
toe into his pants and he found it a bit of a challenge to pay attention
to her words. After his many years of fantasizing about Earth women, he
discovered that he was quite sensitive to being touched by them. He could not stop himself from thinking about the anatomical differences that made human women distinct from Buld hermaphrodites.
A
vacation? He knew quite a few Earthly place names from old songs, but he
had lived for so long in Hemmal's replica of the Sierras that he
automatically replied, "Kings Canyon."
The girl said,
"California? How nice! I'll be there next fall... at Berkley studying
particle physics and hierions." She sat up straight, opened her backpack
and pulled out the printed letter of acceptance she had recently
received from Berkley. She handed Parthney the letter. "I've been
awarded a full scholarship!"
Parthney glanced at the
letter. He had no idea what the girl meant by 'full scholarship'. He
muttered in a rather bland voice, "That's wonderful." Parthney rubbed
his sweaty forehead: he was again starting to feel some motion sickness. Or
was physical contact with this cute Earth girl making him feel warm?
Ignoring
his seeming lack of interest in the news of her scholarship award, she
gushed, "Are you planning to move to California, George? You can tell
me. I won't tell anyone else!"
The bus slowed to a stop
and let off a passenger; a blonde girl who hugged Parthney on her way
off. She told him, "Good night, George!" She turned back to blow him a
kiss off of her hand as she stepped out of the bus.
After
the blonde turned and waved to Parthney, the other girl who had been
playing footsies with Parthney complained, "Ignore Mary. She's such an
immature freshman."
Parthney had no idea what a
'freshman' was. He replied to the older girl's question, "I like the mountains
of California, but I would not be happy living in a large city...,
ah..."
Betty told Parthney the girl's name:
Her name is Tatum.
Parthney said, "Tatum."
Tatum said, "George, you know I like it when you call me Tay."
Parthney grinned and said, "Oh-Tay."
Tatum
giggled, "I never hear you pun before, George." She took back her
letter and tucked it away. She undid the top two buttons of her blouse
and said, "It really got warm today. I love heat. I can't wait for summer. And I
can't wait until those clothing nanites become available. Just think,
they could be programmed to just fade away whenever you start getting
too warm." She fluttered her hand in front of her chest, pretending to
fan herself, but actually she was trying to make Parthney look at her
body.
Betty told Parthney:
Stop undressing her with you eyes. She's just a little girl.
Parthney objected:
Little? Her breasts are just as cute as yours, Betty.
Parthney
told Tatum a funny story about some malfunctioning clothing nanites he
had seen on Hemmal (he didn't make the mistake of mentioning the name
'Hemmal' again). Part way through the story he began to describe the
unique anatomy of the Buld, but Betty sent him another warning:
Don't go there. Earthlings don't know anything about the Buld. Parthney cut the story short.
Tatum
laughed at the story and said, "I suppose all new technologies have
bugs, but I bet you could trick people by creatively programming the
nanites to do weird things."
The bus slowed again and a
group of three students came forward. One said to Parthney, "Good to
have you back with us, Mr. Parthey."
The bus stopped and two students jumped off. The third said to Parthney, "Good night. See you tomorrow!"
Parthney said, "Don't count on me being here. I'm trying to get out of town for a vacation."
Tatum said, "Move along, Pamela, you are holding things up."
Pamela told Tatum, "Yes, Mrs. Kidwell." She waved to Parthney, turned and with a provocative swing of her hips slowly stepped off the bus.
The bus again moved off down the street. Parthney asked, "Did she just call you 'Mrs.'?
Tatum
shrugged, "Yesterday, with you gone, I was in charge. When I start
bossing the kids around they tease me by calling me Mrs. Kidwell. I
don't mind. I'd love to become as accomplished and respected as mom."
Tatum
prattled for the rest of the bus ride, talking about her plans for the
future and the science courses she planed to enroll in when at Berkley. The very
last stop on the bus route was at Tatum's house, a big colonial style
house at the end of a long driveway. The bus slowed, turned off the
street and passed a large mailbox with "Kidwell" painted on its side.
When the bus stopped in front of her house, Tay undid her shoulder
restraint, got up from her seat and threw Parthney's jacket over the
camera lens that recorded events inside of the bus. She plopped down in
Parthney's lap, put her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. When
Parthney just sat there rather woodenly, Tatum pulled back, looked into
his eyes and asked, "What's wrong, dear?"
Betty told Parthney:
Send her in the house to her parents.
Parthney asked Tay, "You aren't worried that your mother will see you kissing me?"
Tatum
giggled and replied, "Don't worry; Mom's a fan of yours, too. In fact, I
think she really likes you. But my parents are out of town... at a
conference in New Amsterdam. And I'm excited about getting a full
scholarship. You and I should do something special to celebrate! I only applied to Berkley because you suggested that I do so. Now I'm very grateful for your good advice. Without it, I'd probably be freezing in Montreal for the next four years."
Parthney suggested, "Best you go, now." Tatum seemed not to hear his words and began nibbling on his ear lobe. Parthney said, "Tell me, Tay, did your parents ask you to behave like a responsible adult while they were away?"
Tatum
rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in Parthney's ear, "When
I'm with you I feel very adult. We have a special connection, George. I
know you feel it too!"
Parthney took hold of her
delicate waist with both of his large hands, lifted her off his lap and
stood her on her feet. "I do feel attracted to you, Tay, but I drove you home
and now you need to go... maybe you should celebrate by taking a cold
shower."
Tatum pouted her lips and asked, "Why are you suddenly being mean? I thought you liked me! Have you forgotten your promise?"
Parthney sent a telepathic request for information to Betty:
What promise?
Betty sent another message to Parthney:
Get rid of her now or I'll come throw her off the bus. She's being silly.
Parthney
replied to Tatum's question indirectly, "Please don't forget, Tay, I'm
old enough to be your father. You really should be chasing boys who are
your age." He got up out of his seat, grabbed her jacket and bag off her
seat then pulled her by the hand off of the bus. Parthney led Tatum along the
walkway towards the front door of her house. "I do like you, Tay, but I
have important travel commitments in the near future and as much as we
might like to, I really can't be exploring a relationship with you. If
you are really going to grow up, then you have to finish high school and
get yourself off to college, not be fooling around with an old man like
me."
Tatum signaled her front door open and pulled
Parthney inside. She put her arms around him and said, "Kings Canyon!
That sounds wonderful! I could meet you there and we can share a
vacation together." She locked her lips onto his once again.
They
heard someone coming up the front steps to the door. It was Betty.
Parthney pulled himself away from Tatum, caught his breath and said, "I have to go, Tay. Good night." Parthney nodded to
Betty, stepped through the doorway and walked back to the bus.
Now
close to Tatum, Betty looked at the girl's pretty and somewhat flushed
face and was reminded of another Earthling named Abigail and events from
the past when Betty had worked out of Parthey Mansion as the assistant
of a past Interventionist agent known locally as William Parthey. Back
then, Betty had a different identity and physical appearance and called
herself Marie. In her various guises, Betty had known Tatum's family for
almost a hundred years. Tatum was the grand-daughter of William Parthey
and Betty knew that Tatum carried a large dose of alien genes inherited
from William. Of course, at that time when William impregnated Tatum's
grandmother (Abigail), the Thomas clone who had been code named
'Partheky' was on Earth, using the body of William. Partheky's infites
had used their sophisticated genecrafting capabilities to make sure that
Abigail's daughter, Lori, had a genome packed with some special
Asterothrope genes.
Betty pushed away her old memories, put an arm around the girl's shoulders and asked, "Tell me Tay-tay,
exactly what was it that George promised you... about the future?"
Tatum
asked, "Did he tell you about that?" A dozen emotions flickered across Tatum's face and illuminated her sparkling eyes. Betty waited patiently and Tatum
replied sheepishly, "He said that he'll try to find time to visit me
after I get to Berkley."
Betty nodded. "I'm glad you remember that. All he said was that he would
try.
I'm sure you are clever enough to realize that he was just being polite
in returning your affection. Really girl, you might be happiest if you
just forget about George. Think about all the interesting people you
will meet when you start college... and I mean
young exciting people, not old geezers like George." Betty patted Tatum's shoulder, turned away and stepped outside.
Tatum
said, "There was something different about George today... he looked
more alive and he looked more at me. I got excited when mention his trip
to California... I imagined that he might be making plans... giving me
an invitation."
Betty turned back towards the girl and
said, "Listen, Tay, George sometimes does not think, particularly when a
pretty girl is smiling at him. You put him on the spot with your
question about his vacation destination and he gave you an answer. Then
it blew up in his face!" Betty reached out and took hold of Tatum's
hand. "In my experience, love is like science: we all must try not to
jump to unwarranted conclusions... the one you love might not be able to
return your love... for all sorts of reasons. Okay? Now, here is the
situation... George and I will be going out of town soon, on business.
George's business... which you need not stick your pretty little nose
into." Betty gently kissed the tip of Tatum's nose.
Tatum
said, "You're spooky, Betty." She now looked at Betty with curiosity,
wondering how she knew what had happened on the bus and why Betty had
followed the bus to her house. Tatum asked, "What's up... do you spy on
George all the time?"
Tatum nodded. "I'm his assistant
and I watch out for George's interests. Let this be a lesson to you.
Even Dr. Semina could have been listening in on your conversation with
George. You were sitting right in front of the surveillance camera
inside the bus while you flirted with him.
Think, and take care."
Tatum
hugged Betty. "Thanks for the advice." She waved to Parthney who was
waiting near the bus. "Anyhow, I don't think I miss-read George when we
were on the bus. He was sweating and undressing me with his eyes. I'd
never seen him like that before."
Betty didn't have to
patience to tell Tatum about Parthney's motion sickness. Betty looked into the house and wondered if one of Tatum's parents was nearby. She buttoned up
the top two buttons of Tatum's shirt and said, "You have a beautiful
body, Tay-tay, and you were doing your best to get George to look at
you. If you are going to play with fire, be prepared to see a few men go
up in flames."
Tatum giggled, "I was feeling rather proud of myself for getting him all hot and bothered."
Betty
shook her head and said, "Say hello to your parents for me. Oh, and
tell your mom that I might miss the next meeting of the Book Club.
George and I may be out of town then."
Tatum said,
"Okay, I'll let her know, but she won't be back in town for another
couple of days," and added, "Sorry I made you jealous," and she closed
the front door of her house.
Betty stared briefly at the closed door:
Jealous? I'm not jealous! She turned and walked slowly down the walkway towards the bus. She asked herself:
So what if Parthney is sweet like a puppy? That does not mean I'd fall in love with him his first day on Earth!
She reached the bus and told Parthney, "We can let it return by itself
to the Scientarium. We'll take the car home." She pulled her jacket off
of the hood of the bus where she had placed it, covering the lens of the
external television camera that was aimed towards Tatum's house.
Parthney stepped into the bus and grabbed his jacket then he went to the
car and climbed in. Betty sent the bus away and joined Parthney inside
the car.
As the car drove them up the driveway and back
to the street, Betty spoke quietly to Parthney, "Sorry I freaked out." A
moment later she asked, "What did you think you were doing, going
inside with her?"
Parthney shrugged, "Sorry I got
carried away, but I thought you wanted me to explain things to the
girl's parents." He chuckled and added, "Anyhow, I felt certain that she
wanted me inside."
Betty gave a loud sigh. "Think,
Parthney, think. This is Earth. You are here for a reason; you are on a
mission. Don't mess things up by rushing inside the first woman who
smiles at you."
"She did more than smile... Tay was
aggressively flirting with me during the whole bus ride. And somehow, I
felt like there was an instant connection between Tatum and I."
Betty
nodded. "That is something you have to expect on Earth. Tatum has a big
load of alien genes and almost certainly you two share a strong
telepathic link via subconscious twitino-mediated telepathy. That
could give the two of you an almost instantaneous rapport. That kind of
connection is probably why Tatum became infatuated with George in the
first place. With her genome, she'd feel an attraction to any Thomas
clone."
Parthney reflected on his training at Oib with
Syon. He ran a finger over his lips. "I was startled by her kisses...
that was the first time I had a woman's tongue in my mouth. Now I
understand why Syon warned me about the Earthly obsession with kissing.
And now that I think about it, Syon did mention that human tongues are
larger than Buld tongues."
Betty tried to explain,
"Like the Prelands, the Buld were designed as a human subspecies that
does not eat solid food, so the size of their tongue is reduced, making
it almost impossible for a Buld to insert its tongue into someone else's
mouth. Parthney, you'll learn that in this culture there are many
reasons for people to kiss each other. Unlike on Hemmal, on Earth many
kisses are innocent social gestures, not an invitation to slip into bed
and start rubbing genitalia together."
Parthney shrugged, "Well, maybe I miss-read the signals from Tatum."
Betty suggested, "Don't take anything that Tatum does too seriously. For her it is a game."
Parthney asked quietly, "Game?"
Betty nodded. "The alpha female game."
Parthney had never heard the term "alpha female". He asked, "What is that?"
Betty
explained more, "Tatum was the oldest girl on the bus and the one
assigned by Dr. Semina to be the bus monitor. So she sat in the front
passenger seat, right behind you, and played the game."
"I still don't know what you mean by 'game'."
"As
the oldest girl there, Tatum was trying to make sure that you talked to
her and that she monopolized your time and attentions. She has played
this game with George for the past six months. She would have lost face
if you had paid attention to one of the younger girls."
Parthney observed, "That's a silly game."
"Yes, it is, but it is deeply ingrained into Western civilization. It goes back at least to the
Etruscans,
thousands of years ago. Society here in Vermont, and New England as a
whole, is particularly matriarchal and little girls like Tatum are
supposed to show off their skill for captivating men and getting them to
do anything that she asks them to do."
Parthney asked,
"She was just acting? Playing a role in a game?" He thought back to his
own acting roles on Hemmal, playing parts in the classical epics.
Parthney said, "I'm sure things are different on Earth than they are on
Hemmal, but it sure seemed like she was ready to-"
Betty
interrupted him. "Even if she was, that does not mean that you..."
Betty paused and tried to think of something she could say that would be
meaningful to Parthney. "I know you grew up on a world where the Buld
freely share their bodies and live to have fun, but you are not here on
Earth to have fun and boink every hot little tater tot who rubs tongues
with you. Little girls think they are being adult and sophisticated when
they sneak their tongue into someone's mouth. Usually they are content
to practice that on each-other, but Tatum is technically an adult within
this society and she's in a hurry to grow up even more. She's caught in
the awkward period of transitioning out of her parent's home into her
adult life living on her own. It does not help that she's had a crush on
George for years."
Parthney asked, "Boink?"
Betty made a fist and hit Parthney on the head. "Boink. You don't need to hit on every girl who flirts with you."
Parthney grinned. "Syon told me many stories about Earth. She warned me that Earth women get jealous. Don't be jealous, Betty."
Betty crossed her arms and laughed. She said, "First of all, Parthney, I'm not an Earthling. Second, I'm not a woman."
Parthney said, "I understand that you are not a biological creature... you're artificial, just like Syon."
"I'm not exactly like Syon. Remember, she was
born...
she lived for hundreds of years as a woman before her mind was shifted
into an artificial body. I was manufactured; I'm a device, a machine... I only pretend to be human."
"I
call 'em the way I see 'em." Parthney offered his considered opinion,
"Your body may be artificial, but I still think you got jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I don't care if you and Tatum were..." She paused. "Look, Parthney, I suppose I
have
long been jealous of the fact that George took seriously his duty to
spread useful new gene combinations into the gene pool of this world.
Anyhow, that wasn't unique to George. All of your clone brothers have
seemed to delight in screwing Earth women during their time on this
world."
"Well, then what's the problem?" Parthney
wondered what it was like for Betty to be equipped with a telepathic
link into the minds of all the agents that she worked with, allowing her
-no, forcing her- to watch every time that they flirted with an Earth
woman. But wasn't she programmed to do that? Hadn't Betty been living
through that sort of thing for thousands of years? Parthney remembered the infites
that Betty was to have received from Syon. He asked, "Did Syon send you a
personal message, did she promise you that you'd be the first Earthling
who I boink?"
Betty giggled. "Don't be ridiculous,
Parthney. I'm sure you long ago taught Syon that she can't control where
you stick your penis.
That's what she tried to warn me about:
that you enjoy sex and don't restrain yourself from playing love games
with any woman who smiles at you."
Parthney nodded,
"Well, I grew up on Hemmal, where erotic play is even taught to kids in
school. Here, on Earth, the school kids learn math and science and it is
not surprising that they boil over with sexual desires." He thought for
a moment about Tatum's aggressiveness. He looked into Betty's eyes and
speculated about the size of her tongue. "So, Betty... I suppose you've
been boinking George Parthey for years. Does that make you too good for
Parthney?"
"You're being silly. This has nothing to do
with who boinks who or in what order. If this is confusing you then get
it over with and boink me right now."
Parthney laughed.
"I'd be happy to!" He reached out and started unbuttoning her blouse.
Then he stopped. "But don't you think we'd be more comfortable back at
Parthey Mansion, in that big soft bed?" He looked out the window into
the gathering darkness of evening. "Let's eat first. I'm ready for
dinner."
Betty laughed. "Syon warned me that all you care about is food, sex and music."
Parthney
observed, "As far as I can tell, many Earthlings are not any different.
Several of the kids on the bus were flirting with me, not just Tatum.
It seemed like there was a party atmosphere on the bus. Although, I
can't begin to understand the music here, I think it even effected my
mood. Somehow, the kids on the bus seemed to enjoy the music... maybe a
little too much."
Betty explained, "Literature,
painting, music... many aspects of Western culture have been
systematically sexualized for centuries. Girls on Earth, well, at least
in Western society, are taught to be assertive. If they like a guy, they
tell him. If the guy smiles back, then the flirting begins. That can go
on for years before things get very serious and they become lovers. As I
told you, it is a social game. Don't interpret an Earth-girl's
flirtation as an invitation to sex."
For a minute
Parthney watched the colored sky of his first Earthly sunset, comparing
it to sunsets on his home world of Hemmal. He asked Betty, "Why can't I
talk about worlds like Hemmal? It is my understanding that some writers
on Earth have started publishing books about how aliens have guided
human evolution and the development of human society."
Betty
giggled. "Sadly, most of those books about aliens have been laughed at
and treated as if they were science fiction stories. Almost all Earthlings only
care about the Fru'wu, for the very good reason that it is the Fru'wu who are
openly here on Earth. Most Earthlings have never heard of Hemmal and
other aliens such as the pek and Nereids. If you tell people here in
Vermont about Hemmal then it is likely that only listening Observers and
the Overseers would be interested and take you seriously. Believe me, you don't want to put
yourself in the position of explaining to an Overseer why you know so
much about Hemmal."
Parthney asked, "Did you hear that song the kids were singing? About the Fru'wu?"
Betty
nodded, "There is now a special program for taking Earthlings to
Reahand, the Fru'wu home planet. Millions of kids have applied for the
program. Only a few are selected to go; there just is not much room for
passengers an the Fru'wu spaceships."
Parthney
recalled his own unease at the prospect of leaving Hemmal. "It seems odd
that so many would want to go. To leave their homes on Earth. Are they
not happy at home?"
Betty replied. "It is the happy,
well educated and confident kids who want to visit Reahand. The science
fiction genre has done a great job of depicting space travel as an
exciting adventure." Betty buttoned up her shirt. "That girl Keziah, the
pretty one that lived with George in the Mansion for a time... she was
selected to go to Reahand. She was an extremely talented science
student, intrigued by alien technology. She wanted nothing more than to
see the Fru'wu home world."
For the rest of the car
ride home, they had enchanting glimpses of the red sunset through the
trees. A half-moon was already in the sky. Betty activated the car's sound system and played some music by Nadine Young.
There's a full moon rising
Hear the star music playing
I've watched you from afar
I love you with all my heart
Betty said, "This is the good music, from two decades ago."
Parthney commented, "Yes, before the Fru'wu arrived. I like this music better than the new stuff."
While they rode home through the gathering darkness, Betty described one of the most popular science fiction movies
and its fictionalized depictions of other worlds like Reahand.
Parthney asked, "Are Tatum's parents scientists? She mentioned that they are at a conference."
Betty
replied, "They are neuroscientists." She performed a quick internet
search and told Parthney, "The world Congress of Clinical Neuroscience
is meeting in New Amsterdam this week." She searched through the list of
speakers. "Tatum's mom is giving a talk tomorrow, the title is
'Cognitive Delay Syndrome: an Extreme Case'. She handed Parthney her
D-ket display. "George, look at the listed authors on the abstract!"
 |
| Tatum and Dr. Semina. |
Parthney
saw that Dr. Lori Kidwell (apparently Tatum's mom) had been designated as
the speaker who would present the team's data to an audience at the
meeting and one of the listed co-authors was Thomas Iwedon. Parthney quickly
read the abstract for 'Cognitive Delay Syndrome: an Extreme Case'.
Parthney told Betty, "This is it! That case... it is a description of
Hilde and her unusual brain and her delayed behavior developmental sequence. I bet
both Hana and Thomas will be there at the conference to hear this talk
tomorrow."
Betty added, "And we'll be there, too. We
can drive to New Amsterdam in the morning." She said softly, "I've
always wanted to meet Thomas." Betty realized that there
had been a
reason for Parthney to drive the bus. Betty sometimes wondered if she
was a puppet, her nanite-powered mind linked into the
sedronic domain
and her behavior guided and controlled by unseen puppeteers. At many
times during her artificial life, everything at the end of a complex
sequence of seemingly random events seemed to suddenly fall into place,
meshing together with perfection. Now, even Tatum's silly flirtation
with Parthney seemed to have a purpose and appeared to be part of a
plan.
Continue to
Part 3 of "Earth: Day 1"
