Creative Commons – The Plainsrunner – Chapter Fifty-Two

Continuing the serial release of The Plainsrunner under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license – (CC-BY-SA).

We’re down to the last few chapters. Thank you for coming along and I hope to see you joining in future projects. In this chapter we find out more about the Prime and the people living in it.

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rjb

Chapter Fifty-Two – Hints

Pilgrim One took a moment to find his voice. He looked at Archie with a vaguely surprised expression on his face. Had he been expecting something more impressive? Something bigger than this little furry biped with wings? Something that merited the tough talk with Supervisor Steel. Finally he said, a little louder than necessary, “Yes they are weapons, and we’re going to keep them.”

“That’s fine,” said Archie. “Wear them if they make you feel comfortable, but please don’t …”

“Don’t use them. We know. The Prime doesn’t like them.” Pilgrim One scowled at Blunt, who was protectively cradling his injured arm. “Why do you blame your ship for your actions? Why don’t you take responsibility yourselves?”

“The Prime is not our ship,” said Archie. “We normally travel in much smaller vessels. You might have seen one attached to the rear of the Prime.”

After a brief silence, Tallgrass said, “The sphere? The two hundred meter hollow ice sphere we saw during our circumnavigation?”

“Yes,” said Archie. “Normally we travel in one of those with a light sail, but since we were coming with the Prime, we decided to live inside it.” He spread his arms. “As you can see, we’ve made ourselves at home.”

Still suspicious, Pilgrim One said, “So you do control it. Why pretend you don’t?”

“‘Control’ might be a bit strong,” said Archie. “It’s more like we get along with it. Like it tolerates us. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Now that you’re all here I can tell you the whole story. You have made it all the way out here, and you’ve shown that you’re ready to learn the truth.”

“The truth?” snorted Pilgrim One. “How are we supposed to know it’s the truth? You could be the same people who destroyed us before, and now you’re hiding behind your vessel, blaming it for everything. You hide up here, disguising your ship with rocks and rubble, and wait for us to lift ourselves out of the destruction you rained down upon us. What now? Do you plan to taunt us for a while, and then destroy us again? Or maybe this time you plan to enslave us.” He crossed his arms, breathing hard.

Archie spoke softly. “That is a very elaborate conjecture,” he said. “Not surprising, given what has happened to you, and how little you really know.” He turned to lead them out of the airlock. “All we can do,” he said, “is give you the facts as we know them, and trust your good sense.” He moved out into the hallway. “Come,” he said. “There are some people I want you to meet. They can help me tell the story.” He chuckled. “You’re right,” he said. “Even though there weren’t nearly enough rocks to hide the Prime, we were trying to disguise its outline. We wanted you to discover us out here, but we didn’t want it to be too easy.”

The Grasswindians followed him out and, with the alternative being left behind, the Sunwardians followed suit. “Why?” called Pilgrim One, hustling to catch up. “Why all the subterfuge? If you have nothing to hide, why not just show yourselves?”

“We considered that,” said Archie, flying backward so he could talk to them, “but we decided against it. We thought that it would be better if you discovered us for yourselves.”

“But think of the time we could have saved. If what you say is true, then we have spent valuable time in unnecessary ignorance. You could have avoided that by simply revealing yourselves.”

“Yes. We did think of that. Ultimately, we decided not to risk it before you were ready. We decided to let you demonstrate your readiness by finding us yourselves.”

“You decided. You sat up here on your high throne and decided what was best for us. Or maybe best for you.”

“That’s right,” said Archie. “We decided. Either way it would have been our decision, and this is the one we chose. Was it the right one?” He shrugged. “We might never know.”

Pilgrim One took a deep breath to reply, but Supervisor Steel said, “Let’s leave that for the philosophers. There would have been questions no matter which one they chose.”

Archie was noticing again how laborious it was for his guests to walk all that way with their unaccustomed stick and peel gait, and no help from gravity. Last time he was able to tow them, but there had only been three of them then. Now there were seven, and even without the distrust and discomfort among them, it would have been unwieldy. He was trying to figure out what to do when Scarface came along.

He stopped the little eight-limbed robot and explained his plan to the group. Minutes later Scarface was walking back toward the Square towing a large entourage. Archie had put Pilgrim One at the front of the line to assuage any feelings that might be wounded otherwise. Then it was hand on hoof all the way back. Supervisor Steel was the first Grasswindian in the line for diplomatic reasons, and Tallgrass brought up the rear so Blunt would have less reason to complain.

They streamed into the Square that way, to the delight and amusement of the people there. Archie asked Steel to lead the newcomers over to the window, while he went to talk to someone. Then he joined the group, finding Steel introducing the Sunwardians to the people he’d met earlier.

Fran, with the golden eyes and golden-brown fur, said, “Hello, Archie. We’ve met your new friends. I’m glad to see the rescue was successful. It has been an interesting couple of days for you.”

Archie laughed. “It certainly has,” he said. “But more importantly, the time has finally come. The whole reason we came here so long ago. At last we can do what we came to do.”

All seven of his guests were intensely interested, the Grasswindians with curiosity, and the Sunwardians with suspicion. Archie wanted to savor the moment, but he knew he didn’t have the time. The apparently endemic paranoia of the three Pilgrims wouldn’t allow it. He decided to start right away.

“It’s story time,” he said. “This is the whole reason we came to your star. To your planets,” he told the seven. “It’s why we brought the Prime here, and why we gave you hints of our presence.”

“Hints?” said Tallgrass. Then, “The gliders! You dropped the gliders to stimulate our curiosity.”

“That’s right,” said Archie. “The data gathering was secondary. It was still important, but presenting you with a nice mystery was our main goal.”

“Well, it certainly worked,” said Tallgrass.

“That’s all it was?” said Pilgrim One in a small voice.

“Yes,” said Archie apologetically. “We know they have become an important part of your theology, and we’re sorry. That was not our intention.”

“Does that make it all a lie?”

“No,” said Archie. “Not necessarily. The rest of your beliefs might be perfectly reasonable.”

“But the Heavenly Messengers are the foundation of our doctrine. Their appearance and their perfection are signs of their divinity.”

“Well, they are made of quite an advanced alloy. They have to be, given what they have to go through.” Archie paused, face worried. “I do hope you’ll be able to incorporate this new information into your worldview.”

Pilgrim One’s face showed despair and fear. It was plain to the Grasswindians, and even Archie could see it. The other two Sunwardians took the cue from their leader and soon their faces were full of fear, too. Pilgrim One said, “I have to tell them. My superiors. The Most High Servant.” He stared off at some private ordeal. “If we go back, we have to tell them.”

“Can it really be that bad?” asked Archie. “Surely the truth …”

“The truth.” Pilgrim One snorted. “The truth is what the holy books say it is. What the holy men have revealed.” He looked at them all. At his crew. The Grasswindians. The people in the magical window. And finally at Archie. “You’re right. We will be able to incorporate this into our worldview. But I don’t think you will recognize it when we do.”