“Yes, Xiang Bin. We can assume-for now-that our worldstone is speaking of the Havana Artifact-or things like it-when it warns against enemies and liars. The question is-what should we do about this?”
“Warn everyone!” suggested Yang Shenxiu. “You’ve seen how the other worldstone has thrown the entire planet into a tizzy, with that story told by the emissary creatures who reside within. Although it remains frustratingly unspecific, their tale is one of profound and disarmingly blithe optimism, confidently assuring us that humanity is welcome to join a benign interstellar community. In this era of nihilism and despair, people across every continent are rushing to believe and put their trust in the aliens!”
“And is that necessarily such a bad thing?” asked Anna.
“It could be, if it is based upon some kind of lie!” Paul interjected. He and Anna faced each other, with intensity filling their expressions, till an outside voice broke into their confrontation.
“What about others?”
Menelaua glared at Bin for interrupting, his look so fierce that Bin shrank back and had to be coaxed into resuming. “Please continue, son,” Dr. Nguyen urged. “What others are you talking about?”
Bin swallowed.
“Other… stones.”
Nguyen regarded him with a blank, cautious stare.
“Pray explain, Xiang Bin. What other stones do you mean?”
“Well, honored sir…” He gathered his courage, speaking slowly, carefully. “When I first arrived here, you… graciously let me view that report… the private report describing legends about sacred gem-globes or rocks that… were said to show fantastic things. Some of the stories are well known-crystal balls and dragon stones. Other tales were passed down for generations within families or secret societies. You yourself said that there is one such secret fable that’s supposed to go back nine thousand years, right? It’s… it is interesting to compare those sagas to the truth we see before us… and yet…”
He paused, uncertain he should continue.
“Go on,” urged the rich man-representing an association of many other rich men and women, across Asia.
“Yet… what I don’t understand is why that report, all by itself, would have made people so eager… spending so much money and effort… to actually look for such a thing! I mean, why would any modern people-sophisticated men like you, Dr. Nguyen-believe such stories, any more than yarns about demons?” Bin shook his head, repressing the fact that he had always believed in spirits, at least a little. So did lots of people.
“I figure the former owner of our worldstone-”
“Lee Fang Lu.” Yang Shenxiu interjected a name that Bin had never known, till now. The fellow who used to own that pre-deluge mansion, with a clandestine basement chamber where Bin found a treasure trove of odd specimens. He nodded gratefully.
“Lee Fang Lu might have been arrested, tortured, and killed over rumors-”
“That he possessed something like this.” Dr. Nguyen nodded and his beads clattered softly. “Pray continue.”
“Then there’s the way you and your… competitors… pounced on me, after I put out just a hint about offering to sell a glowing white egg. Clearly, when the Havana Artifact was announced, there were already powerful groups out there, who knew the… the…”
He groped for the right words. And abruptly a new, unfamiliar Chinese language character appeared in the ai-patch that had been inserted within his lower right field of vision. Plus a row of tone-accented Pinyin Roman letters, for pronunciation. The ai-patch had been doing that more often as it grew more familiar with Bin-anticipating and assisting what he was trying to say.
“… the range-of-plausible-potentialities…,” he carefully enunciated, while moving his finger over his palm to mimic-draw the complex characters-a common thing to do, when a word was obscure. He saw the others smile a little. They were used to this sort of thing.
“I just find it hard to believe that powerful people would go to so much trouble… to search frantically for such a thing, even after learning about the Havana Artifact… unless they thought there was a real possibility of success. Unless they had strong reason to believe those legends were more than just legends.”
He looked at Dr. Nguyen, surprised by his own boldness.
“I bet there was a lot left out of that report, sir. Is it possible that some groups already have worldstones? Now, in the modern era?”
Menelaua shook his head and snarled. “Ridiculous.”
“And why is that, Paul?” Anna Arroyo answered. “It’d take care of that temporal coincidence, at least a bit. Maybe these things have been crisscrossing our region of space for a long time, like messages in bottles. While most settled into far orbits, waiting for Earth to produce space-faring folk, others might have landed-accidentally, like this one. Or on purpose in some way. Most would shatter or get buried at sea. But just like a plant that sends out thousands of seeds, you need only one to take root…”
Yang Shenxiu protested. “If there were so many, would not geologists or gem-seekers or collectors or plowing farmers have seen, by now, some of the fallen ones? Even if they were split or burned, they would stand out!”
Anna shrugged. “We have no idea how these things decay, if broken. Maybe they decompose quickly into a form that resembles typical rock crystal. Or they might dissolve into sand or dust, or even vapor.
“Anyway, suppose a few were found, from time to time, and recognized as something special. We all know how rare and precious things used to be treated, in almost every past culture. They were presented, as gifts, to kings and priests, who then hoarded them in dark places! Maybe bringing them out from time to time, for use in mystery rites, to impress the rubes. But then always tucking them away again… till the city was sacked and the hiding place lost forever. Or the items were buried with the king, which amounts to the same thing. Either way, the truth would dissolve into legends-of which there are plenty!”
She turned to Bin. “Isn’t that exactly what happened when Lee Fang Lu got his hands on the worldstone? Caught up in that old way of thinking, he clutched the secret-the most special thing in his life-and took it with him to the grave.”
The scholar, Yang Shenxiu mused. “In fact, this could explain Hindu legends of Siva Linga stones. Moreover, it is said that both the First Emperor Chin and Genghis Khan were laid to rest with treasures that included-”
Dr. Nguyen lifted his hand for attention, cutting the discussion short. He had been standing quite still, apparently staring into space-or else, at scenes that only he could see, conveyed on the inner surface of his specs. Now, the black-haired mogul spoke in a low voice that Bin took to contain equal parts surprise and resignation.
“It seems that events have caught up with our ruminations. My sources tell me that reports are trickling in…”
He took off his specs and looked at Bin, directly.
“It appears, my young comrade Xiang Bin, that you may have been right, after all.”
Call me Hagar.
I communicate to you all today via encrypted channels for my own protection, although this (*) pseudonymous reputation code should attest that I am a reliable person and fair witness, having taken courses in Visual Skepticism and Objective Veracity at the Women’s University of Abu Dhabi. Of course, I see no conflict between that and being a good Muslim.
Which brings me to my account. For, early this very morning, I stood at the holy place in Mecca, filled with gratitude for the dispensation of the Second Caliph, who has wisely, generously and against some entrenched resistance, granted women pilgrims greater equality in seeking to fulfill our obligation of Haj.