The Eyes of Tandor, page 17
“But what if we fail, Richard? What if we fail because I screw things up somehow?” she wailed.
“Then we fail,” Stonger replied with absolute surety. “But we fail working for something we all believe is worth the risk and in the company of people who live what they believe. The minute we launched those CubeSats, we all signed up to go the distance, Tess, and we signed up to go there together. From now on, whatever happens, happens. Yeah, we may get our brains beat out—or other parts of our anatomy zapped out like Prasad is always saying—but at least we’ll know our time on Earth was worth something.”
Tess smiled, feeling the warmth of her friend’s support and approval. “Are you saying we’ve discovered the meaning of life, Richard?” she asked with a tired grin.
“No,” Stonger replied in all seriousness. “I’m saying we’ve discovered the meaning one life can have. And in this case, it’s yours.”
23
Change
Tandor was changing. Not so that anyone living in respectable family pods would notice, but changing nonetheless. Slowly, quietly, Tandorans living on the fringes of society began to seek each other out to exchange thoughts and feelings about the state of their world and their place within it. Often led by those who called themselves the Awakened, these small gatherings took place in secret. Usually, one or two Drifters, or sometimes young members of a low-ranked pod would encounter each other working a haj field, exchange knowing glances, and describe a secluded area within a day’s journey where a small communing could take place out of sight of elders or Keepers.
There, things would be spoken of that hadn’t been openly discussed in living memory. Forbidden topics such as non-preselected reproduction, free choice of function within society, the value of supporting a Community of Keepers that contributed no labor to life on Tandor other than ensuring their own place remained above all others, and the rightness or wrongness of the Plan were all explored.
Of course, all Tandorans knew that discussing such topics could bring an immediate sentence of nonexistence from the Community, but those who gathered had been told by the rest of society that their existences were of small value in the first place, so they felt there was little to lose if they were discovered. And the excitement they felt at the thought that they might someday be able to break out of their bleak life paths was nothing like they had ever experienced before.
After such gatherings, these typically subservient outliers held themselves a bit more erect, took orders from higher-ups with a new sense of resentment while observing in stark detail the differences between their lives and the lives enjoyed by respectable Tandorans who never seemed to question why things were the way they were.
As a growing number of Awakened Tandorans dreamt of a time when no citizen would suffer want or abuse or hardship, a kinship bond was formed that embraced each other’s needs and pledged what support they could offer even as they thirsted for a way to bring their dreams into the light of the Tandoran sun.
In X’s Domain, although shielded by rank upon rank of Bodywatchers and elder Keepers, the distant rumblings of this change could be felt. At first, X noticed what seemed to be a subsonic humming underlying the measured mental music coming from the Tandoran population. As the most powerful mind on the planet, X used its skills to reach out beyond the walls of the Domain to seek the source of the low-toned noise that was at first annoying but that was rapidly becoming a discordant distraction. When no single source could be identified, X pulled its mental probes back behind the safety of its insulated walls, hoping that the phenomenon was a temporary one, like a weather event that would eventually pass.
X was soon to discover, however, that its hopes for a return to the metered tranquility of a unified Tandor were not to be realized.
In an ironic twist of fate, it was Sern who announced the arrival of Delft and Mernd into the presence of X during the leader’s semicyclical audience with well-respected pod leaders to consider supplications for more status for themselves or their families. Sern maintained the impassive stature required of a Bodywatcher while listening intently to the matter the two elders of its former pod brought before the assembled Keepers. Receiving no deference or acknowledgment from their former podmate, Delft turned away from Sern to address the massive form of the Tandoran leader.
“WHAT BRINGS YOU BEFORE US?” X bellowed with ritual intensity.
“Mighty and most respected X,” Delft began, cringing and bowing. “Our family pod has suffered great loss and is no longer able serve the Plan as it once did.”
“EXPLAIN.”
“Since the time, many cycles past, when the Keepers brought one of our younger podmates into their Community, our family has known disappointment and discord. When we received the call, Mernd and I had great misgivings about Sern being allowed to join in the sacred merges used to spread the Plan throughout the universe, but of course we knew that your own wisdom and insight far exceeded our poor understanding, so we remained silent.”
They weren’t so silent to me, Sern thought. All I heard from them was resentment and distrust.
“After Sern was inducted into the Community, the time of Questioner arrived, followed by your cleansing Examinations. To our surprise, Sern was not only allowed to remain in the Community— something I admit we hoped would not happen—but was taken from us altogether to become a Bodywatcher.”
“ALL BODYWATCHERS AND KEEPERS HAVE COME FROM SOME FAMILY POD TO SERVE THE GREATER GOOD OF BRINGING ABOUT THE TANDORAN PLAN FOR ORDER IN ALL THINGS—A SACRED DUTY AS YOU SHOULD WELL KNOW. YOUR POD GAINED STATUS WHEN ONE OF YOUR OWN ASCENDED TO SUCH A HIGH POSITION. THIS WAS NOT A LOSS; IT WAS A NOBLE SACRIFICE IN WHICH YOU AND YOUR PODMATES SHOULD TAKE PRIDE!”
But Delft was not to be dismissed. It had come too far to back down now, especially in the presence of Sern, who it believed was the source of all their troubles. “For a time, Great One, we did take pride in Sern’s new position, as unexpected as it was. But then things began to change. While still with us to serve the needs of our family, Sern had gone out among the Drifters to provide them with surplus hajra we had stored, declaring that some forgotten, ancient texts made it our obligation to share with those in need. I have led my pod for many cycles, Lord, and have no knowledge of such texts,” Delft declared with a self-righteous air. “Then, just as these questionable journeys became too frequent for Mernd and I to tolerate, Sern was called for Examination and never returned to answer for the damage it had caused.”
“WHAT DAMAGE DID THIS CAUSE?”
“It broke our pod apart,” Mernd wailed, no longer content to be a silent observer of the drama taking place. “Because of Sern, our young ones are gone, with none to take their place!”
“GONE WHERE?”
Delft moved forward to retake control of the exchange, giving Mernd a hard look. “When Sern left and was granted its newly exalted position, its agemates—Pert and Lelt—followed the example it had set, going out among the despised ones to offer help and comfort. It was disgraceful! When these journeys became more frequent, lasting longer and longer, Mernd and I had to put a stop to it altogether!”
“AS YOU SHOULD. AS POD ELDERS, IT IS YOUR DUTY TO MAINTAIN THE SAME TANDORAN ORDER AT HOME AS WE IN THE COMMUNITY STRIVE TO MAINTAIN ON OTHER WORLDS.”
“But, Lord,” Delft pressed, “that was when our pod broke apart. After we had forbidden the young ones to go out among the outcasts, they disappeared, taking all that they had and most of our stored hajra with them. We believe they actually chose to live among the rabble, but we do not understand why or how they could make such a choice, since choice was not something they were allowed in our pod. Both young ones were created for the roles they were to fill in our pod. Each was to be capable only of that intended role. That is how it has always been in family pods. For all the cycles Mernd and I can recall, no podmate has ever chosen to abandon its place in a family. Of course, some have been banished for sinful behavior or unlawful thinking, but no healthy, sane Tandoran that was supported in a family pod has ever simply left, abandoning everyone and everything for an unknowable existence among the rejected. This has broken our hearts as well as our pod and we are here today, Lord, to beg your help in retrieving our young ones and in finding out how this could have happened.”
When Delft had finished, X beckoned to Sern to approach its platform. “WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THESE EVENTS, SERN?”
“Master, I know nothing of what happened to my agemates as I have not returned to my family pod during all the cycles in which you have allowed me to serve your needs in the Domain.”
“BUT YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN AMONG THE OUTCASTS, HAVE YOU NOT?”
“I have, my Lord, at your direction, to identify and return any who would oppose the Plan. This I have done, and more. I have brought failed Keepers back into the Community to be healed that they may serve the Plan with increased strength and dedication.”
“WHEN YOU WERE AMONG THE RABBLE, DID YOU ENCOUNTER ANY WHO JOINED THEM BY CHOICE, ANY WHO WERE NOT FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR NATURAL HOMES?”
“No, Lord, I did not. But several cycles have passed since you sent me out,” Sern replied with the innocent demeanor it had crafted to present to X during such interrogations. “Things may have changed.”
“CHANGE IS A SIN ON TANDOR. IF THERE HAS BEEN CHANGE, THERE MUST BE SINNERS BRINGING IT ABOUT, SINNERS THAT MUST BE ELIMINATED!”
Turning its gaze on the two cringing elders awaiting a decision, X made its pronouncement.
“I WILL TAKE UP THIS PROBLEM OF YOUR FAMILY POD AND SEND YOU WORD WHEN IT IS RESOLVED. UNTIL THEN, RETURN TO YOUR HOME.”
“But Great One,” Delft protested. “We have no home to return to. Our pod is broken with no young ones to labor for our hajra. How will we exist until your word is received?”
“THAT IS NOT MY CONCERN. BE GRATEFUL YOUR PROBLEM WILL RECEIVE MY ATTENTION! NOW GO!” X boomed with absolute dismissal of the two elders who now rushed to take their leave of the assembled throng, but not before sending searing gazes at their former podmate who they still believed had been the cause of their distress.
“ONCE AGAIN, SERN, YOU WILL GO OUT AMONG THE DRIFTER ENCAMPMENTS TO BRING BACK WORD OF ANY DISHARMONY YOU FIND THERE. BUT THIS TIME, YOU WILL TAKE MY BODYWATCHERS AND THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY OF KEEPERS WITH YOU TO ENSURE THAT ANY SINNERS FORMENTING DISHARMONY ARE ELIMINATED FROM EXISTENCE!”
“Master, it is the nature of Drifters to be in disharmony. If it were not, would they not reunite with their family pods in the settled communities of Tandor?” asked Sern, secretly rejoicing for the chance to reunite with its Awakened podmates but fearful of what may befall them should the forces of X come upon them unaware.
“NOT IF RESPECTABLE CITIZENS ARE CHOOSING THE SIN OF CHANGE AND DISHARMONY OVER LOYALTY TO THEIR PODS. IF THIS IS HAPPENING AS DELFT ATTESTS, IT IS A THREAT TO THE ORDER THAT DEFINES TANDORAN LIFE. A THREAT MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE QUESTIONER. A THREAT THAT MUST BE WIPED FROM THE PLANET WITH ALL SPEED,” X declared, gathering its bulk to present its most imposing stature to the assembled Keepers. “HEAR ME! DISHARMONY AND CHANGE ARE THE ENEMIES OF ALL TANDORANS. WE SING TOGEGTHER WITH ONE MIND, ONE SONG, ONE PURPOSE, OR WE DO NOT SING AT ALL. THESE SINS MUST BE STAMPED OUT WHEREVER THEY ARE FOUND. PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THAT ACT SHOULD IT BE REQUIRED OF YOU! THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE TANDORAN PLAN FOR ORDER IN ALL THINGS HANGS IN THE BALANCE!
Pert and Lelt had grown since leaving the patterned life of their family pod. Facing hunger for the first time, they had learned to forage. Facing danger from life forms living in the wild, they had learned when to defend themselves and when to flee. Facing citizens from all levels of society, they had learned who to trust and who to shun. Facing the life questions discussed among the Awakened and the growing number of young Drifters-By-Choice, they had learned of their capacity for seeing beyond the Plan to envision the possibilities that lay ahead for their world if others could also find the courage to question.
Now and again, Pert and Lelt would hear about the exploits of their famous podmate as they were being shared among the encampments, of its wisdom in forestalling movement against the Keepers until the Awakened had gathered enough strength to become a viable force, of its sacrifice and cunning in allying itself with the dreaded X so it could warn the Awakened of any danger headed their way. Although they were proud of Sern, Pert, and especially Lelt, missed their podmate terribly, had missed it since the awful time it left to be Examined. Fearing for Sern’s life, they had pleaded with Delft for permission to accompany Sern to the Domain to offer what love and support they could. When Delft refused their entreaties, they realized that order was more important to their pod leader than the welfare of its family. When Sern was spared and then promoted to Bodywatcher, Delft’s fury at Sern’s good fortune helped them see that it was not just order, but personal power within that order, that was most important to their elder. It was then that the two young Tandorans began their own quest for truth within a world that forbade them to question the meaning of their lives.
Blinded by its corrosive resentment of Sern’s success, Delft took little notice of how Pert and Lelt were managing the loss of Sern’s presence in their family. When the young ones decided to follow Sern’s lead and venture out among the Drifters to distribute hajra, Delft was annoyed, but not overly concerned as there was always a surplus in their storage rooms. By the time Delft and Mernd decided to ban them from further exposure to the unruly elements that drifted in and out of the haj fields, Pert and Lelt had succeeded in making contact with members of Sern’s Awakened pod and had pledged to support whatever moves were made to oppose the Plan and the power of X’s Domain. Their decision to leave behind their oppressive existence and enter a life of their own choosing, even if that life was to be hard and brief, was easy to have foreseen had Delft and Mernd ever looked beyond their rage at Sern to see the discord that was spreading all around them.
Then, while enjoying the refreshment of communing with the dispersed network of Awakened Tandorans, Lelt and Pert were jarred by the scream of a familiar mental voice. “Arise! Alert! They come to seek our annihilation!” screeched Sern inside the minds of all the Awakened who were listening.
“Sern?” Lelt sent back along the merge connection. “Is that you?”
“Lelt? Pert? Beware! Delft has sent the forces of X to hunt you down and all others who defy the Plan. It is a killing force meant to wipe us from existence!”
“What should we do?” asked Pert, echoing the question in the minds of all the Awakened.
“Fight,” declared the disembodied voice of their leader. “The time has come to take our world back from X and its Plan.”
Butlr, who had been leading the gentle communing before Sern’s warning broke into their merge, sent the next questions that needed to be asked.
“Do we fight with our bodies or our minds, Sern?”
“Both,” came the hardened response. “Make no mistake, this force is committed to taking our existences from us in any way that it can. To go on, we must oppose it with all the strength we can bring to bear.”
Butlr then addressed the larger community listening to the fateful exchange.
“Gather at the base of the high country to prepare for the coming battle. Reach out to any you think might be willing to join us. Help them understand that we must prevail against the Keepers if our belief in a free Tandor is to survive. Tell them to come with the courage that Sern and those who sacrificed themselves on our behalf have shown. But above all, tell them to come!”
24
Discovery
When the waiting was finally over and they were summoned by Eric and Zach to assemble at their genetics lab, the Spacers were immediately assaulted by acrid smells coming from the rodent cages stacked against the walls and the open beakers of mysterious chemicals arrayed on every surface.
“Geez, Louise,” protested Chuck Maddock. “If I’d wanted to breathe in a stench like this, I’d have offered to clean out my neighbor’s cat box!”
When several others began sniffling and coughing, Zach flipped a wall switch to turn on a ventilation fan.
“Sorry about that, guys,” said Rojas, edging his way between bodies to the center of the small room. “I guess Eric and I are so used to the smell, we don’t notice it anymore.”
“Well we notice it, Rojas. So before I have to go out and lose my lunch, what’s going on? What have you found out about the gene in the message?” demanded Maddock, still suffering from the effects of the chemical-laced atmosphere.
“It’s right here! Look for yourselves!” Zach responded, gesturing to the mouse-filled containers lining the walls of the lab with obvious pride.
“Look at what?” asked Tess, trying to be patient with the maverick scientist. “Please, Zach. I know it must be obvious to you and Eric, but the rest of us are in the dark here. What are your little pets trying to show us?”
“They’re not pets, Bailey,” said Zach, offended by the notion that he was engaged in anything but scientific research. “They’re subjects in a groundbreaking genetics study, a study that will knock the socks off the entire bioengineering community!”
“Fine, Zach. So what do your study subjects tell us?” asked Tess, attempting to keep her exasperation at Zach’s unwillingness to communicate out of her voice. After all, she’d known many smart people with the same problem over the course of her career.
