She followed him to the shelter, which was a crude framework made from fallen branches and overlapping leaves. Hot air gusted from a crevice in the ground, drying them. This was evidently a volcanic vent adapted to this purpose.
"The tourists must love this," Gale remarked.
"It is a honeymoon site," the Bee agreed. "They indulge in powdering, then indulge together, and finally clean off here. The flowers are glad to cooperate."
"You're a machine, yet you react to the powder?"
"I am a machine evolved to react to pollen," he agreed. "In the normal course we go constantly among the flowers, spreading and receiving joy."
"Curiosity: how would you and I be able to mate, being of entirely different species?"
"I would roll in your hair, spreading powder, achieving joy therefrom. You would feel the powder also."
Gale nodded. That powder spread across her head would affect her thoughts. Then she remembered that her hair was not limited to her head. The powder would affect more than her mind.
She was dry. "Time to resume the search," she said briskly.
The Bee formed another portal, and they stopped through. They were back in the central flower chamber.
This time she paused before visiting another world. Where would Vila be most likely to go? The steep flowery mountain slope? The sea with floating flowers? The giant flowering trees with the activity way up in the tops? The carnivorous plants?
There it was. The girl was fascinated with plants that ate animals. She would orient on them, not realizing that this time it would be more than just a picture.
Gale focused on the carnivore panel. It expanded, and she and the Bee went through.
She stood before a giant maw with tooth-like petals. Digestive saliva dripped slowly from the upper to the lower spikes. A tongue-like petal writhed restlessly within.
Gale spread her awareness—and found Vila. She was indeed in this framework. But the paths were vague, and her mind was dull. Vila!
There was no answer.
"We seek a tourist child," the Bee said to the plant. "Did she pass this way?"
The plant vibrated musically. "Affirmation. Young female of this species."
"Where is she?" Gale asked tightly.
"She played with Vinos, and he hurled her into the deeper forest."
"He what?" Gale asked sharply.
"Vinos is a traveler vine," the Bee explained quickly. "He conveys tourists to the deeper forest for better viewing of the predators. He throws them from loop to loop."
"Then I must follow that route. Where is he?"
A thick vine swung down from a high branch. It vibrated. "I am Vinos," the Bee translated.
"Take me where you took my child."
"Enter the basket." A woven green network of branches slid down along the vine.
Gale sat in the basket. It lifted, swung back and forth, then launched her through the air. Right to a similar basket that neatly caught her, then swung similarly to hurl her another stage. It was similar to the mode of conveyance in the Green Chroma, where big tentacles swung gondolas through the forest. Vila would have considered this familiar, and fun.
After a dizzying traverse the motion stopped. "This is the region," the Bee said.
"Vila!" Gale called. Still no response.
"Where is the tourist child?" the Bee asked the nearest flower. This was one of the giant ones, capable of taking in a person Vila's size.
The plant vibrated. "She was tired. Dolly took her in."
"Show me," Gale said.
The Bee flew to a nearby flower that resembled a giant clown-face with huge iridescent eyes.
"Open," the Bee said.
The painted mouth cranked open. There inside was a tongue that looked like a friendly six legged dog. It was a lure to attract children. And there behind it lay Vila, naked, unconscious in a pool of saliva. Her mind showed she was alive, but without volition.
Gale kept a tight rein on her reactions. "Is that thing eating her?"
"Negation. It sedated her so she would sleep. She is safe."
"Safe? In the maw of a carnivorous plant?" Yet as she spoke she realized it was true. The plant was not digesting Vila, it was letting her lie in a place where nothing else would molest her.
"Appreciation, Dolly," the Bee said. "Now wake the child."
The color of the saliva shifted. Vila stirred. Consciousness was returning. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
Then she saw Gale. "Mommy!"
"Vila!" Gale replied, hugely relieved.
The girl scrambled to her feet. "I got lost and so tired, but I saw this doll, and knew it was all right. I guess I fell asleep." She ran to hug her mother, getting sticky saliva smeared on them both.
"This is near the edge of the tourist zone," the Bee explained. "Dolly knew it wasn't safe for her to wander farther. So she put her down for a nap."
Now that the tension was off, Gale saw that it was so. Dolly was a carnivorous plant, but honored the rule: no eating of tourists. Further, she had safeguarded the child from possible harm beyond. It had been a judicious decision, done the only way she could, since she could neither move nor speak to Vila, lacking translation.
"Appreciation," Gale said. "How may I thank her?"
"The tourist thanks you for your service," the Bee said to Dolly. "Queen Fiolora will send you a fat vole to eat."
The mouth slowly closed. So did the painted eyes.
The Bee opened the portal and they returned to the central chamber. They went again to the shower realm, where they washed off the saliva. Gale realized how readily it could have contained digestive enzymes instead of merely sleep-inducing ones.
"Now do you know better than to fiddle with settings you do not understand?" Gale asked Vila severely.
"I already knew better, mommy. I just couldn't resist."
And she was only five years old. Gale sighed, and hugged her again.
In due course they were back in the main chamber, clothed; Vila had somehow picked up on the nudity policy and left her clothing neatly stored there. They returned to the queen.
"Apology for the interruption," Gale said.
"Understanding. You are a mother."
"Agreement," Gale said, smiling. She turned to Fiolora. "Where were we?"
"You were questioning the Bee-chine about his sentience and feeling."
Gale nodded. "I think I am now satisfied that he has these qualities. But I fear there will be considerable resistance in other cultures to the idea of machines joining our war against machines."
"They will accept your judgment," Fiolora said.
"I am not yet sure of my judgment. It just seems to me that the affinity of a machine should be with another machine."
"Understanding," the Bee said. "But our affinity is with our plant associates. We exist to service them, and can't feature doing otherwise."
"Perhaps you should visit a home hive, so see how the Bees operate in their own environment," Fiolora said.
Gale nodded. "This may be worthwhile. I do need to understand them well."
"Follow me." The Bee flew to the side and out of the flower.
Gale picked Vila up and flew after him. Soon they were cruising across the landscape, weaving around the thickly nested flowers. They reached a field of flowers.
The bee hovered here. "Admittance" he said, translating his signal for their benefit.
In a moment a portion of the flower bed lifted, revealing a ramp leading down into the ground. Gale set Vila back on her feet, and they walked down, following the Bee.
"Regret we can't show you every detail," the Bee said at he flew. "But we are small and you are large. This is our public display access, for tourists."
"Understanding," Gale said.
The passage led to a large cavern-like enclosure well below the surface. Thousands of Bees buzzed through it, going to and from small cells lining the dome-shaped wall. Others walked along the surface. Gale noticed that as each met another, their antennae touched, in the manner of Earth ants. That was evidently how they communicated with each other, lacking telepathy.