NINE
We stood there, the mortar drying upon our hands. and Shizumaat pointed at the column of rocks we had built.
"You shall wait for me here. Namndas; at this mark. If I am correct, I shall see you again, and at this place."
I looked from the Akkujah out over the Madah, then back at Shizumaat. "And if you do not return? What then, Shizumaat?"
"Then either I am wrong about the shape of this world, or I did not have the strength to prove myself right."
"If you fail… If you fail. Shizumaat, what should I do?"
Shizumaat placed a hand upon my arm. "Poor Namndas. As always. it is your choice. You can forget me; you can forget the things we have learned; or you can attempt to prove that which I am attempting to prove."
Joanne Nicole’s first shower. The water pierced her skin, making her feel as though she were in a high-velocity stream of needles. It hurt, but felt. so good. Vunseleh, operating the controls, cut off the water. Slightly warm air, smelling of flowers, shot up from the floor.
"Turn in the air column, Joanne Nicole, and it will dry you."
She turned in the rush of sweet-smelling air, running her fingers through her hair to fan it. "Vunseleh, what is that smell?"
"Smell? Oh, there is a fine spray of oil in the air column. It is for aesthetic purposes, and it softens the skin."
"Is it safe… for me? I remember what happened with the burn ointment."
"It is safe. It has been used on humans many times with no ill effects."
The blower stopped and her hair was still wet. She felt her skin. It was not wet, but it felt slightly moist-pleasant. She could feel no scarring from the burns. "Do you have a towel?"
"A towel?"
"Something-a cloth-to dry my hair."
A hand touched her hair, then withdrew. "Emmmm. It is not good to keep you in the dry cycle until that mess is finished." Vunseleh’s footsteps left the shower room then returned. Nicole felt a robe thrust into her hands. "Use this. I have another robe for you to wear." She threw the robe over her head and began drying her hair. "Joanne Nicole?"
"Yes, Vunseleh?"
"Is hair functional?"
Nicole paused for a moment, then continued rubbing the, robe against her hair. "I suppose not. Why?"
"We could have it removed. It would make your cleansings more efficient; and less time consuming."
She held the wet robe out until the Drac took it, then used her fingers to again fan her hair. "Thank you, Vunseleh, but I think I’ll keep it. Sentimental reasons."
It handed her another robe, and she began putting it on. "I have seen female humans with such hair before. Usually it is more… even."
Once her robe was on, Nicole felt her hair. On the right side of her head, the hair was short and ragged. "The fire, Vunseleh. My hair was burned in the fire. I could use a… I can’t think of the word. My hair should be cut to make it even."
"Emmmm." Vunseleh took her hand and led her from the shower stall. "We should be able to do that. Is anesthetic required?"
"No. It is a routine cosmetic task."
"Emmmm. I will see what can be done."
Nicole felt Vunseleh’s hands open the front of her robe, then one of its hands cupped her left breast and squeezed it. She pulled back and tightened the robe around her. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Those things-you must look your best before being presented to the Ovjetah. Those things ruin the drape of the robe."
Joanne Nicole chuckled a bit nervously. "I don’t know what you have in mind, Vunseleh, but these things stay put. Hands off, understand?"
"Perhaps they could be strapped down. They seem sufficiently malleable -"
"Forget it!"
There were many English words Joanne Nicole wished had equivalents in Dracon. "Just forget it, Vunseleh, understand?"
"If you wish."
"I wish."
Vunseleh led her back to her bed. She climbed upon it and turned to Vunseleh as she wound and draped the robe about herself.
"Is there anything else you need, Joanne Nicole?"
She thought for a moment. "Yes. Just who is Tora Soam? What is the Ovjetah of the Talman Kovah?"
There was a very long silence. Then Vunseleh spoke. "Considering your content of knowledge, I am not certain how I should answer." The Drac paused again. "How much of The Talman do you know?"
"I have listened to The Myth of Aakva, The Story of Uhe, and parts of The Story of Shizumaat."
"Emmmm. If I should tell you that Tora Soam is the most important being among the seventy-two planets of the Dracon Chamber, would you understand?"
"Tora Soam is your political or military leader?"
"No. Nothing of the sort."
"A kovah; I know what a school is. Is Tora Soam a teacher?"
"Of a sort-but more than that. Much more." Vunseleh was silent for a long time. "Joanne Nicole?"
"Yes?"
"Would you object to listening to the entire document of The Talman?"
"Why should I?"
"Your answers are there, if you have the wit to comprehend them. I shall send Vencha Eban to you with a pair of cutters. Tell Vencha what you want done with your hair."
Vunseleh’s footsteps left the room. Nicole groped around upon her bed until she found the player. She indexed to the Koda Nuvida, "The Story of Shizumaat," and stretched out to listen.
Rhada said that God is;
Uhe said that God is wrong;
Shizumaat said that god is irrelevant…
In the days that followed Joanne Nicole listened to The Talman several times. It was more than the history of a race. It was the story of the evolution and use of method: talma.
The word talma had no equivalent in English. The word seemed to apply to anything composed of system: direction, ordered events, life, equation, methods, law, procedure, path, road, science, sanity.
In the period containing late human prehistory, Shizumaat intuitively came up with what is essentially the scientific method. Through its method, the young student derived its theory of worlds: the rotation and configuration of Sindie; that Aakva and its children were fires at varying distances; that the other stars could have about them bodies such as Sindie; and the concept of Universe.
To gather evidence in support of its theory, Shizumaat traveled the equator of the planet, leaving the faithful Namndas to wait at the monument the two of them had built. Many years later, after discovering many new oceans, lands, and peoples, Shizumaat appeared in the east and came to the monument.
At the return of Shizumaat, Namndas was ecstatic; but Shizumaat’s mind was occupied with a new problem: understanding the method-talma-it had used to see what others could not.
Before Shizumaat’s execution at the hands of the Servants of Aakva, it had communicated its conclusions to Namndas, who in turn taught these things to Vehya.
Vencha Eban was snipping away at her hair. "Joanne Nicole, did you not find Shizumaat’s adventures exciting?"
Nicole thought for a moment. "Yes, but… do you see the greatness of the thing it did?"