"… Please-"
"How long?" She released Vidak’s arm. "Does six years sound about right? Six years, minimum?"
Tora Kia made a clucking sound, and Nicole heard Sin Vidak walk down the corridor. "Joanne Nicole, you were badly injured-"
"Six years, Kia? Six years! Are you going to try and make me believe that it has been six. years since I regained consciousness? Time flies when you’re having fun?"
"I do not understand-"
"I want some answers. And I want them now."
Tora Kia shouted. "Gedji! Gedji!"
Nicole heard footsteps running in the distance. The sound stopped. "Yes, Tora Kia?"
"Ask my parent to come to the green chamber."
"Tora Soam is meeting with First Deputy Zigh."
Kia chuckled. "Tell my parent that Joanne Nicole and Sin Vidak have met, and that Vidak is a little older than the human remembers."
"Ai!… at once, Tora Kia." The footsteps of the one called Gedji hit top speed and moved from the corridor.
Kia took Nicole’s arm and led her into the chamber. "Do not blame Vidak for any of this. It was not part of the game." She was led to a couch and she sat down. Nicole heard Kia take its place upon another couch. "You are angry, Joanne Nicole; but it will pass."
"I spent my tears on a child called Sin Vidak."
"I know."
Again her mind sought paths as another piece of puzzle presented itself. Nicole leaned back in the couch. "Kia, it is unfortunate that Dracs are hermaphrodites."
"Why?"
"There are some names that I would like to call you that you cannot properly appreciate with your current arrangement of organs."
"Emmmm."
There were hushed voices and rapid footsteps in the corridor outside the chamber. Then Tora Soam and Zigh Caida shouting in relays at Sin Vidak. Kia issued a sad chuckle. "Poor Vidak. This is a sorry homecoming for a hero of the Tsien Denvedah."
FOURTEEN
The unintentional chain of events we call an accident describes paths as real as any path planned, diagrammed, and executed in principle with talma. And if the accident alters the present to the more desirable future. this special kind of path has the advantage of having already been proven valid.
The green chamber was silent for a long time. It was so quiet Nicole could almost hear Tora Soam’s eyeballs click as they moved from Tora Kia, to her, to Zigh Caida, and then back to Kia. Tora Soam eventually broke the silence. "Joanne Nicole, what do you know?"
"As someone once told me, that is a question that would take many hours to answer. It would be more efficient if you told me what I should know."
There was a silence, then a sigh. "This is a disaster." Tora Soam’s voice changed direction. "Zigh Caida. I am at a loss as to what to tell you."
"Soam, do I detect panic in your manner? This is not disaster, but accident." Zigh actually sounded unconcerned.
Kia laughed. "My parent, is this how the Ovjetah of the Talman Kovah approaches its problems? Was last night’s attack instructive? Has the war suddenly become more to you than an amuzing puzzle?" Such disrespect, such sarcasm even from Kia, was abnormal.
Tora Soam answered, its words dripping acid. "Kia. your mouth follows unproductive paths."
"My many, many apologies, my parent. And, now, to Joanne Nicole’s request?"
"Why did no one tell me Vidak was coming home?"
"Vidak wanted to surprise us." Again Kia laughed.
"Your amusement is out of place, Kia."
Nicole leaned forward on the couch, her elbows resting upon her knees. "I want some answers. Your family squabbles can wait. Tora Soam? Was there an attack last night; or was that a Special effects demonstration put on for my benefit?"
"That attack was… real. Too real."
"Talk to her, my parent. Talk to her."
"Yes… it is a time for answers. You are correct. Zigh Caida, it is an accident. Whether the paths its events describe are valid has yet to be proven, however."
Nicole heard one of the Dracs stand. Then Zigh Caida spoke. "Kia, I think Soam would rather perform this task alone with the human."
"But, First Deputy, I really do want to watch."
Tora Sam spoke: "I agree with the First Deputy, Kia. Joanne Nicole’s need tor answers outweighs your desire to see your parent squirm. In answer to your question, Kia; this puzzle never was amusing, as I am certain someone important to you will eventually point out."
There was a brief silence, and then she heard Kia stand. Both Kia and the First Deputy walked from the chamber. Nicole leaned back in the couch. "Well?"
"It is long in the telling, Joanne Nicole."
"Time is all I have."
"It is difficult to know where to begin. Do you have any specific questions?"
"I can think of one: how many of you motherless kizlodes participated in this charade?"
"Emmmm. I do not have an exact number. Hundreds. You are not the only human involved. Chance just happened to favor you."
"Chance?"
"Your blindness."
"My-is my blindness part of this charade? Am I blind?"
"… Yes. You have no reason to believe me; but it is the truth. "
"Have I been… did you people blind me?"
"No. No." There were sounds of movement; then footsteps crossing the floor to her right. "Joanne Nicole, explain to me the basic purpose and structure of talma."
"Kiss my sitting-end, Drac! I am not one of your students. I-"
"Joanne Nicole, you will do as I say! Otherwise, I cannot meet your request. The work of years is at stake. Now tell me the basic purpose and structure of talma."
Nicole spent a few seconds nibbling on the skin of her lower lip. "Very well. The purpose is the achievement of goals. The general structure is to know the present, to know the alterations of the present needed to make the achievement of the goal a future reality, and to discover, assess, and choose the paths that lead from the present to the desired future."
"Adequate."
"I had nothing else with which to occupy my time in the Chirn Kovah. It is no great accomplishment."
Tora Soam snorted out a laugh. "There have been students who have learned less with eyes and more time."
"So what is the point?"
"That is the point."
The footsteps moved from her right to her left. "Joanne Nicole, let me tell you something about the war that you do not know. Although it is comprised of a vast multiplicity of presents and goals, the war is still an event that should fit within the basic structure of talma. We are in a present; there is a more desirable future; all that is left is to discover and execute the paths from the first to the second."
"And?"
More footsteps, then a pause. "We appear to be out of paths. Do you recall and understand the object lesson of the night repast? The discussion between Tora Kia and Amos Benbo?"
"The object lesson was simple enough, Tora Soam. All parties involved cannot have everything that they want. The goals of the Mavedah and those of the Front are mutually exclusive."
"Emmmm. Tell me the difference between an apparent and a real goal."
"The apparent goal is the one perceived and stated; the real goal is the one that will satisfy the difference between the present and the desired future."