"It likes us," Vila said.
"Confirmation." But Gale didn't quite trust this. The plant had signaled her and her daughter, and it was different from all others. She needed to consult with Havoc, privately. But Havoc was occupied elsewhere, with the special girl.
She hesitated.
"Take us to Figment," Vila suggested.
Gale had forgotten to shield her thoughts, and the girl had read them. She was telepathic, and they had trained her in thought shielding from the outset. But there was seldom occasion for secrets between them. "Acquiescence."
She conjured them to Figment. This was a huge old strangler fig tree, a deadly menace to most living creatures, but the perfect hideout for the precocious child. The tree's flowers emitted intoxicating fumes that caused passing animals to lose caution and stray too close. Then special branches descended to haul the creatures into the foliage, where they were slowly consumed. People normally remained well clear. But Havoc, the Glamor of Trees, had befriended the fig, and arranged for it to shelter Vila. It was about as safe a place as she could be, apart from Triumph City itself.
"Hi Figment!" Vila called gladly. "I love you!"
She surely did. The central bower was always warm and comfortable, and the figs were delicious. The spreading branches offered numerous foliage-shielded vantages from which the child could peek out without being seen from outside. There was a comfortable natural mat to sleep on, and she could tune in on nearby minds. This afforded her a considerable education, especially when unsuspecting local residents had quarrels or romances.
"I will return soon, or send Aura," Gale said. "I must take the plant with me. Regret."
"Regret," Vila echoed. But she understood that her mother would not let her be alone with anything she did not properly understand. "Send Aura."
Gale smiled, kissed her, then took the plant and conjured herself to her suite at Triumph City. Aura, she called mentally as she set down the pot.
Hastening, the woman responded in kind. Aura was Vila's regular baby sitter, a fully competent and responsible Blue Chroma woman they had known for decades. Her specialty was animals, and she always had interesting animal stories.
"Vila's in Figment," Gale said as the woman appeared. She was of course completely blue from hair to feet. "I must consult with Havoc about this plant. It should not take long, once I catch him. He's traveling with a teen village girl."
"Comprehension," Aura said with half a smile. Havoc's way with village girls was notorious.
Gale took her hand and conjured them both to Figment. She let go and returned to Triumph, knowing that Aura would handle Vila as long as necessary. Aura was one of the few the tree had been taught to tolerate.
Now Gale reached out with her mind to intercept Havoc's mind. Curiosity. Plant. Advice.
Busy, his returning thought came.
She looked into his mind. You made an Oath of Brotherhood to a teen village girl? You'll never get into her pants that way.
Not this trip, he agreed ruefully.
Arrange a five minute break so you can use my senses.
Your pants are too far away to get into at the moment.
Havoc, she thought warningly.
Five minute break it is, he agreed quickly. They teased each other endlessly about his sexual appetite and her supposed lack of it; it helped keep the fires of their passion strong. But at the moment she needed something other than his sexual input.
Soon he had it arranged, and came to occupy her mind. He absorbed what she knew about this new little plant. Then he took over her eyes and fingers, examining on it. He was the Glamor of Trees and plants; there was little he would be unable to fathom about this one.
He looked intensely at it, then touched the fringe of its little cup. The plant's cusp oriented on him, following his movements. It knew he was a different person.
She felt his surprise. It's an alien ikon!
It's a plant, she reminded him.
Sent by an alien culture to contact us. Soon it will give you its home address. You must go there and ascertain the nature of its culture and its business with us.
Then he was gone from her mind, leaving her amazed. This little plant was an ikon from a distant planet? They had never before encountered such a thing. All Planet Charm ikons were inanimate, though they had special effects on those who carried them. Yet Havoc was in a position to know.
Now she did what she had not thought to do before: she studied the near-future paths of the plant. And was amazed again. A normal plant remained where it grew, affecting things in its immediate vicinity, so its paths were limited and self-similar. This one was a complex network of paths that interlocked in a bewildering pattern. She was unable to fathom its complete destiny.
Which of course was part of the nature of an ikon. It gathered magic power and transmitted it to its Glamor. It could not be touched by any Glamor. That was why ikons were either hidden away carefully, or carried by trusted mortal people. Their influence was normally subtle but potent.
This was a living ikon, but surely did have a connection to its Glamor. It probably would affect those it was physically close to. It could be touched physically, but perhaps not magically, and its true future was obscure. So it manifested its properties in different ways. Because it was alien. Just as Earth ikons were people, who could be touched by Glamors, this alien culture's ikons were plants.
Indeed, she would have to visit its source culture. Soon. She oriented again on the plant.
Where?
The plant indicated a location: the spot where its Glamor existed. It was in a distant star system, one with which they had had no prior contact. With that address, Gale could travel there by wormhole, needing only the route that was the connection between the ikon and its Glamor.
But should she? Such a trip would be complicated. For one thing, she would have to take Vila along, to bring her ikon there, and that would put her daughter at serious risk. Gale herself could handle almost anything, being an experienced Glamor, but Vila was not a Glamor, and of course lacked experience. It would also take her away from Charm at a time when they were trying to prepare for the looming siege of the machine culture. Such a diversion was not wise.
Yet she was tempted. This appeared to be a genuine alien contact, their first beyond their own stellar system. At any other time it would be welcome. They knew that other stellar cultures existed, because Mino had records indicating that the machines were systematically conquering and abolishing them. Idyll Ifrit also had records of alien cultures.
They just hadn't made direct contact.
"I need advice," she said aloud. Then she snapped her fingers. "Voila."
Her first natural daughter appeared, a moderately pretty brown-haired woman of 21, instantly grasping the situation. "Safe. Relevant," she said. "But verify with Idyll." She left.
"Appreciation," Gale said belatedly. Voila was busy, of course; she didn't mean to be abrupt. Few would know by looking at Voila that she was essentially running the human culture's effort to repel the machine invasion, and that was the way she preferred it. Gale could see a bit of the near future paths, but Voila could see them much farther and clearer. The official ranges were that the near future was one second to one hour, the intermediate future one hour to one month, and the far future one month through the end of time. Gale could see as far as five minutes, while Voila could see through the hour. So though they were both near-future seers, there was a significant difference in their abilities. That was why Gale and the other Glamors deferred to Voila in matters of strategy and safety.