Ascending - James Alan Gardner [85]
“It was pitch black everywhere,” Nimbus said. “I couldn’t tell where I was till I heard you hollering.”
“I was not hollering!” I cried. “I never ever—”
Festina stopped me by laying her fingers lightly on my arm. “Hush. He’s fine. I was worried too.”
The Howls Of Infants
“Now, Nimbus,” Festina said, turning to the cloud man, “we’ve been sabotaged. Disabled. And we don’t have the right equipment for sending a Mayday. We were wondering if the little girl…” She took a moment to smile fondly at the baby snuggled inside Nimbus’s body; then her smile faltered. “I was going to ask if Starbiter could send out a Mayday for us. But now that I look at her, she’s so small…is she old enough to broadcast FTL messages?”
Nimbus did not answer immediately. The mist of his body rolled like steam from a fiercely boiling pot. Finally he said, “The ability to broadcast is present from birth; but she’s far too young to control it. The situation is similar to newborn children of your own species—they have well-developed vocal cords, but they certainly can’t talk intelligibly.”
“Starbiter does not need to talk intelligibly,” I said. “All she must do is cry. If we cause her to weep in a plaintive manner, will it not catch the attention of ships traveling nearby? And do not pretend she cannot wail, for it is the nature of babies to make such noises.”
Behind me, someone made precisely the type of noise I had just described. The sound did not come from little Star-biter; it came from Lajoolie, who was looking most alarmed. “You don’t mean…” she said. “But you don’t want to hurt her…you wouldn’t…”
“I do not know so much about babies,” I told her, “for I have only learned about them from the teaching machines in my village. However, it should not be necessary to cause the child pain—just to frighten her to the point where she cries out.”
“Oar,” Festina said, “can we think about this a minute?”
“Of course,” I replied. “We must think very hard how to produce an appropriate amount of terror. My own suggestion would be to create a large fire and drop the child into the middle…for it turns out Zaretts fear blazing infernos but are not at all harmed by the heat. If we are lucky, the flames will actually bestow Starbiter with excellent invigorating energies, so her cries will carry farther. Is that not a clever scheme?”
I looked around proudly, believing I would receive heart-felt congratulations from those assembled…but I did not see the expected expressions of approval. Indeed, the Vac-head crew members appeared horrorstruck. Meanwhile, Lajoolie had covered her face with her hands and Uclod wore a scowl so fierce, one might think he wished to punch somebody.
“What is it?” I asked. “What?”
Festina took me by the arm and led me from the room.
I Am Ignominiously Berated
It seems humans have a foolish taboo against setting infants on fire. Festina took me down the hall and explained this to me in low but intense tones. It does not even matter whether the flames actually hurt the child; this is simply a thing which must not be done.
I tried to tell her the situation was different on Melaquin. Immersing oneself in fire is actually a pleasant experience: it causes no harm or pain, and surrounds one with tasty toasty light. Moreover, it burns off the dirt and stains one inevitably acquires from daily activities. One can have too much of a good thing—flames tend to dry out the skin—but to anyone of my species, a session of self-immolation combines the virtues of a hot bath with a good meal.
Was it not the same for Starbiter? Who was also a Shad-dill creation, and who was also nourished by flame? Though she might initially fear to be immersed in fire, was that not just the fussiness of a baby who did not like to try new foods?
Festina said this might all be true, but there were Lines One Does Not Cross. Therefore I must not suggest my plan again, for fear that persons who did not know me would think me a horrible monster.
I almost said, I do not care what others think. But that would not be true. I did not want Festina to consider me a bad person,