The Colony Ship Warren #1-7, page 123
part #0 of Colony Ship Warren #1-7 Series
A sharp whistle cut through the forest serenade.
The birds, animals, and insects all became instantly quiet.
That was disturbingly ominous.
There was no hum of a kongamato.
No bugling of a grootslang.
No bubbling in the waters indicating a bunyip was submerged.
And yet, with that one high-pitched whistle, the whole of the forest was still and silent.
At almost the same moment as the silence descended, both Beth and Allen drew out their pistols, crouched down, and looked cautiously about.
The whistle sounded again.
Then a man’s voice came from the forest, “They are not halflings! They are full people. No signs of the nasnas.”
A different voice, female, called back, “They came from the desert. Are they jinn?”
“Friends,” a third voice interjected, “they will think us hatif, unless we speak to them. The elementals have allowed them to come to us, we should speak to them in person.”
The first voice was positive, “I agree.”
The second voice was negative, “Nothing but trouble comes from the desert. I say we disappear. Or are you curious?”
A jumbled of emotional responses came calling out.
“Not I!”
“No.”
“I never!”
“Nope. Not in the least.”
That choir of voices—men, women, and children, called from various places where they were hidden in the forest. Their denials were adamant.
After that hubbub died down, the first voice called out again, “I tell you, everyone, they are not halflings. No signs of the nasnas at all. I am going to talk to them.”
A man in fancy clothing—white helmet with goggles strapped across the front, white shirt, khaki vest and pants, with dark knee-high boots and matching gloves—stepped out from behind some trees. He was solidly built, approximately ten years older than Beth or Allen, with especially pale skin and orangish-red hair which poked out from beneath the sides of the helmet.
“I am Kairo,” he declared with an unassuming air about him. His countenance was peaceful with a lean face, a large nose above an impressive handlebar mustache which was so full it almost obscured his mouth. His brown eyes stared first at Allen then at Beth and did not look away when they returned that eye contact. His angular eyebrows were rather odd, yet he showed a sort of confidence which surprised them.
He went on, “This is our home, Zotenberg. If you be pursued by halflings, please declare that now and we will make atonement with the elementals.”
Beth and Allen exchanged looks. They holstered their weapons and stood up. They had no idea what a halfling was, but they did wonder if they were being surveilled, if not outrightly pursued by Monitor or Varley or both. The habitat had to have some kind of enforcers, and they did not know what those were.
Kairo pressed the issue, “Are you being hunted?”
“I did not see anyone following us,” Allen offered, but he felt uneasy at the deception. “Can you tell me what a halfling is?”
Kairo rubbed his moustache and tapped his foot. “Perhaps a riddle instead? Once upon a time a person came to the river, which was flooding. That person was taking a goat, a lion, and a cabbage home. To do that she knew that she had to cross that flooded river.”
He gestured in the direction of the river, and went on, “She found a boat tied at the river bank. The boat could only hold two things—herself and one other item—but she knew that if she left the lion alone with the goat, the lion would eat the goat. If she left the goat alone with the cabbage, the goat would eat the cabbage. She could cross the river in the boat, but only carry herself and a one other thing. What should she do?”
Allen smiled, “I know the solution!” He recognized the riddle. It was something his favorite author had written about many times.
“You do?” Kairo seemed amazed.
“Yes,” Allen beamed. “She should get in the boat with the goat and sail across the river. Drop the goat on the far side and head back. Put the cabbage in the boat and sail back across, leaving the lion alone on the first side. Then she drops the cabbage off on the far side, and loads the goat back into the boat and sails back to the first side again. Then she puts the goat on that shore, puts the lion in the boat, and sails back to the far side where she drops off the lion with the cabbage. Going back, she gets the goat and completes the crossing.”
Kairo shook his head, “Interesting attempt, but not correct. Her problem was not so much the flooded river, but her heart and her agenda. She should immediately eat the cabbage, for she needs energy to row the boat. Then she should release the lion back into desert. Lions serve a natural role as predators, but not as pets. Bringing a lion home with her endangers her entire family and is just a sign of her heart’s selfishness. Finally, she can cross the river in the boat with the goat and safely bring back an animal useful for herself and for others. That is the proper solution to the riddle. That way she has performed a service for herself, defended her community, and provided for the future food, the goat’s milk, for her family.”
Crestfallen, Allen shrugged.
“Be not alarmed, wisdom comes to those who are teachable,” Kairo explained. “We have no pastor nearby, but I hear there is one in Burzoe. But here, we will do what we can to appease the salamanders, gnomes, sylphs, and undines. We do beg all the elementals to grant forgiveness if some one of our clan has erred by being curious. I have seen no violence in the people here, but I am not all knowing. Violence might have happened with someone as well.”
“I am Beth,” she introduced herself and gestured. “This is Allen, and our friend is Elsa in the automacube.”
“I see two people and the wheeled box. Only two people. You are welcome here at Zotenberg, but while I am not curious, I ask again, be ye pursued by the halflings or nasnas?”
“Be ye? Huh? We are just people,” Beth answered. “We are looking for somewhere to build some technological… some machines. Would you direct us to where that can happen?”
“Engines?” Kairo asked and before they could answer he turned about and called out. “Aisha, these people need an engine.”
“I am here,” Aisha said and appeared from out of the forest. She wore similar clothing to that of Kairo, sans the helmet, and fitted for a female form. She too had red hair, pale skin, and a somewhat gaunt look. Her age was indeterminate.
“We need some place where we can implement designs for specific…” Beth halted in her description. Instead, she asked, “What kinds of engines can you make? I am not… certainly, not, being curious, but just seeking to understand. Do you have tools or power or technology?”
Aisha nodded, “I make engines which help pluck fruit from the trees, or catch fish in the river. I can weave sails to push our boats, or engines which snare game in the jungle. I can make an engine which takes down a tapir instantly by snaring just one foot. I also mend tents and carve needles from bones. With a gourd, I can remove the inside and then fill it with water and that can serve as a weight for timing and food turning over the cooking fires. It all depends on how big a drainage hole you bore in the side of the gourd. A water wheel can turn a shaft to give us power. Engines serve us well. How can I be of service to you?”
As she spoke, it became clear she was discussing primitive mechanical devices which she called engines, and not anything advanced enough to help them in their mission.
“Um… Most impressive,” Beth nodded politely to Aisha.
Allen interrupted and pointed to the automacube, “Where can we find more machines, wheeled boxes, like this?”
“You are definitely not pursued by halflings, nor are you fevered with the sickness. You were able to think through the riddle, even if your solution was impractical.” Kairo had stepped somewhat closer. He looked at Zero and answered, “Those things are servants of the elementals. Gnomes, mostly, but the salamanders give them power to move. They are not jungle things. You will find them in the caves. Yes, that is where. Jungle? No. Nope. Never. Not in the jungle. In the caves, yes. Greens and browns, mostly, is what people say. Some say blacks are in there, and legends speak of phantoms, the color of a fish’s belly—found deep in the caves. Phantoms are said to be those who can heal, but at a cost. Blue is new, to me. Are you not afraid of nasnas?”
Allen looked at the automacube and expected Elsa to say something, but then he considered that perhaps Elsa was being prudent and careful. The people appeared to have only a limited understanding of technology, so Elsa might be silent, so as to not startle the local people.
He glanced at Beth and she nodded to Allen slightly, she too understood why Elsa was not speaking.
Beth asked Kairo, “You have spoken of halflings and maybe someone named Nasnas? Please help me understand.”
“A pastor could better tell you of reality than I can. No pastor has visited Zotenberg for a while. Not since Pastor Beryllus came through, just before the sickness stopped. She is in Burzoe, at the end of the world,” Kairo responded. “You are welcome to visit with us, if you wish.”
“Is a halfling some kind of animal that is half something and half something else?” Beth pressed for more information. She also quickly added what they—Beth and Allen—were now perceiving was the requisite societal denial of being curious. “Not that we are curious, but maybe we know of the halflings by a different name? We have been chased by weird and wild creatures. Or can we speak to Nasnas?”
“No. Nope. Never. Talk to a nasnas? Ridiculous,” Kairo rolled his eyes, “No one wants to speak to a halfling. You should thank the elementals if you never speak to a nasnas.”
“Apologies, I thought that word might be a personal name. Maybe the name of someone else,” Beth offered. “So, is it an animal?”
“No. Nope. Never. An animal is an animal, like the rhino who swam near you. Oh, you did not think anyone saw? We are always watching. A halfling is not an animal. It is a horror, not a person. Not like us. Not like you. Not like that blue one which rolls about. No. Nope. Never. Not like that. Not a wheeled box. That is not a nasnas.”
“I am confused,” Allen interjected. “What is a halfling, if it is not half one thing and half another thing?”
“A tapir is an animal, which is colored in unusual ways. It is about half black and half white,” Aisha added quietly in a thoughtful and considerate voice. “It looks half one way and half another, I suppose. But it is no halfling.”
“Are halflings the enforcers? Do they come to take people? Or punish people?” Allen asked carefully. He knew he was treading a sensitive area. He found it frustratingly annoying, yet he was trying hard to not make the conversation into an interrogation, or seeming overly curious, or giving offense. Yet, he felt those people had information which he needed to know.
Kairo leaned in close to Allen, and waved Beth to come closer as well. Then, whispering in a conspiratorial voice, he said, “Beware. Oh, the horror. A halfling is… a nasnas.”
His eyes darted from side to side as if he had just revealed the most profound thing in the universe and was fearful someone else had heard.
Kairo met Aisha’s eyes and she nodded subtly.
He then looked back at Beth and Allen and continued, “Everyone knows that, but discussing is not done. Not much. Nope. Call them not at all, if possible. No. Nope. Never. Use not one name for long. They are listening. Listening, they are. A horror I tell you! The bastard offspring of a demon and an evil person. Not person… not demon… a halfling. The nasnas has the power to kill someone—just a mere touch—and they come for those who are violent or curious. When they come, they steal the flesh, they do. Yes. All gone! Just a touch. Only bones left. A horror! You find a skeleton in the desert, you know a halfling was there. Find bones in the jungle, you know a nasnas came. Bones. That is all the halfling leaves behind. Beware the nasnas!”
Allen and Beth stepped back, repelled not only by the man’s bad breath and the other odd odors which surrounded him, but also by the intensity of the words he was saying.
“Kairo, I will show them to the nearest cave,” Aisha offered. “We can talk about engines on the way. You stay and keep watch on the desert and river. Thank you for your service.”
He nodded his head in a routinely submissive manner and then walked away, disappearing into the jungle forest again.
Allen and Beth realized that Aisha was the town’s leader, while Kairo was a sort of spokesperson or front-man.
“I have something for you. It was found in one of the caves, and I think you are its intended recipient,” Aisha stated. “There are several entrances to the cave. I will take you to the nearest one. But first, I want you to have something. Stay here a moment.”
Aisha stepped between the tents and Beth and Allen wondered if they had been abandoned.
Squatting down, Allen spoke softly to Elsa, “What do you make of this place? Any signs of technology?”
There was no response, and Aisha appeared a moment later. In her hands was a folded paper flyer.
“We will head to the cave now. Please follow me,” Aisha gestured.
“Will we be able to build machines in those caves you speak about?” Beth asked as they left the tent city behind them and followed a serpentine dirt trail through the jungle forest. “Not that I am curious.”
The sounds of animals, birds, and insects were all back, and perhaps even louder than before. Overhead, the canopy of green was so dense that the light from the sky tube only glowed beyond their leaves, which left the jungle floor bathed in a green tinted hue.
“The engines I spoke of before are not what you desire,” Aisha stated.
As they walked onward—the three humans with the automacube rolling along behind them—Aisha seemed to grow more confident and assured, even though her words readily admitted she was not familiar with all the concepts.
“I can tell from your faces,” Aisha stated. “To you, an engine is not a contrivance of green sticks, twine, and hooks. Nor is it paddles, water wheels, or fabrics. My guess is that an engine for you is rather one of metals, circuits, and energies. Like the wheeled box. Things I have heard of, but know not. You are looking for somewhere to build some complicated contraption designed to do more than pluck fruit or push a boat upstream. That is why I got this flyer.”
Aisha tapped the flyer, but did not hand it over.
“We need a power source, so that what we do can run things like this automacube,” Beth stated as she thought about what basics Aisha might know about. “Does your town have anything mechanically powered?”
“Not in the way you mean. We use the wind, or the river’s current, or the spring in a branch, or the power from people’s muscles. I have heard of other people who harness an animal to pull a plow or wagon, but you mean power coming from inside, like what the salamanders provide. Yes, it is as I thought. You need an engine for converting the salamander’s energy into mechanical force, motion, or maybe even things which some would call magic,” Aisha handed the flyer to Beth.
“Thank you,” Beth accepted it, but looked steadily at Aisha. “You do not think of it as magic?”
“Magic? I am just a woman here in this jungle. Others say I read too much. I tell them a day without reading is like a day without… alas, I cannot tell them what a day without reading is like. Oh, another riddle. There is a house. One enters it blind and comes out seeing. What is it?”
Allen was about to answer, but hesitated. He had been wrong about the previous riddle and he looked to Beth.
“A schoolhouse?” Beth offered.
“Yes. The secret is reading, but sadly, not all like to read. I read whatever is brought to me. But as to magic?” Aisha tapped her head with a finger, “That blue wheeled box is somehow powered. I know not how, but I know it is real. Therefore, it is not magic, even though it is foreign to me. Consider the books people find and bring to me. They cannot be made by me or anyone I know, yet they exist. Their creation is a mystery, for I know not how it is done, but that is not magic. It means somewhere there are people who make these things. Somewhere…” her words trailed off as she dreamily contemplated.
Allen considered how many books they had left behind at the library, and then he remembered how in Dome 17 he always had access to books through his personal AI. Reading was something he had taken for granted, and it had deeply influenced his entire life. Would I be me, if not for the stories of Alice?
Aisha snapped out of her reverie, saying, “Not that I am curious, for I am not. Finding a book means there was a bookmaker, but I am not curious about how it came to be or who made the book. Many will just credit the elementals. But I have loved reading as long as I can remember. Not all feel as I do.”
“Reading is fundamental,” Allen remarked. “Nothing else is quite like it.”
Aisha answered, “If reading sparks curiosity, it is bad. For me, reading and learning shrinks my curiosity as they give me answers. Only in the caves will you possibly find what you desire. Or, well, perhaps, another place might be in the ghost cities, but they are more dangerous. Few travel to the ghost cities. I do not recommend it. I have often wondered, but not shared this with anyone, but I wonder if the caves connect to the ghost cities. Is it all one interconnected cave? Or multiple separate caves? I am not curious, but I do have thoughts. The river comes from a wall and goes into a different wall. Where does the water go? Into caves? Who made the books? What powers your rolling machine and others like it? I am not curious, but I do think and consider.”
“You are a wise person. I too like to wonder and imagine,” Allen affirmed. He turned to Beth, “What is on the flyer?”
Beth opened the folded paper and saw that images of men and women were playing a sport, much like what she had seen on the other page they had discovered.
“Soccer gamers,” Beth said and studied the flyer. “But there are more than just these sporty gamers. It says that you can order equipment from Reproduction and Fabrication.”
