Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [376]
‘Closely, in many respects. Well, my friend, you pass for learned. What do you make of that resemblance?’ She was testing him, as her pleasantly teasing manner indicated. By common consent, they sat down side by side on his bunk.
‘The Madis resemble us. So do Nondads and Others, though more remotely. There seems to be no family connection between humans and Madis, though Madi-human matings are sometimes fertile of offspring. Princess Simoda Tal is one such sport. I never heard that phagors mate with flambreg.’ He gave a dry laugh at his uncertainty.
‘Supposing that the genethlic divinities who shape us have made a family connection, as you call it, between humankind and Madikind? Would you then accept that there was a connection between flambreg and phagors?’
‘That would have to be determined by experiment.’ He was on the brink of explaining his breeding experiments in Matrassyl, then decided to reserve that topic for another time. ‘A genetic relationship implies outward similarities. Phagors and flambreg have golden blood as a protection against cold …’
‘There is proof without experiment. I do not believe as most people do that every species is created separately by God the Azoiaxic.’ She lowered her voice as she said this. ‘I believe the boundaries blur with time, as the boundary between human and Madi will blur again when your JandolAnganol weds Simoda Tal. You see where I lead?’
Was she secretly an atheist, as he was? To SartoriIrvrash’s amazement, the thought gave him an erection. ‘Tell me.’
‘I have not heard of phagors and flambreg mating, that’s true. However, I have good reason to believe that once this world held nothing but flambreg and flies – both in countless and mindless millions. Through genetic change, ancipitals developed from flambreg. They’re a refined version. What do you think? Is it possible?’
He tried to match her manner of argument.
‘The similarities may be several, but they are mainly surface ones, apart from blood colour. You might as well say men and phagors are alike because both species talk. Phagors stand erect like us. They have their own cast of intelligence. Flambreg have nothing of the kind – unless galloping madly back and forth across a continent is intelligent.’
‘The phagorian ability to walk upright and use language came after the two bloodlines divided. Imagine that phagors developed from a group of flambreg which … which found an alternative to ceaseless flight as a way of dealing with the fly problem.’
They were gazing at each other with excitement. He longed to tell Odi of his discovery regarding hoxneys.
‘What alternative?’
‘Hiding in caves, for instance. Going underground. Free of the fly torment, they developed intelligence. Stood upright to see further and then had forefeet free to use tools. In the dark, language developed as a substitute for sight. I’ll show you my essay on the subject one day. Nobody else has seen it.’
He laughed to think of flambreg performing such tricks.
‘Not over one generation, dear friend. Over many. Endless generations. The cleverer ones would win. Don’t laugh.’ She tapped his hand. ‘If this did not happen in past time, then let me ask you this. How is it that the gestation period for gillots is one Batalix-year – while the gestation period for a flambreg cow is exactly the same length of time? Doesn’t that prove a genetic relationship?’
Sailing on, the two ships passed the lowly ports of the southernmost coast of Loraj, which lay inside the tropics. From the port of Ijivibir, a caravel of 600 tons named the Good Hope sailed out to join the Golden Friendship and the Union. It made a brave sight, with its sails painted in vertical stripes. Cannon were fired from the flagship in greeting, and the sailors gave a cheer. On an empty ocean, three vessels were many more than two.
Another occasion was marked when they had reached the most westerly point of their course at a longitude of 29° East. The time was ten to twenty-five. Freyr was below the horizon, trawling an apricot