“Fifth, this planet itself, while supporting life, is an unsuitable long-term base for operations. Its principal defects are as follows …”
As Friday spoke, Liddy was watching him closely. Finally she leaned close to Bony and breathed in his ear, “He’s changed. He speaks differently, and there’s something peculiar about him.”
“There sure as hell is,” Bony hissed back. “He’s a t-traitor to his own species. He s-sold us out — to a bunch of smart lobsters!”
“I don’t mean that. I mean the way he looks.”
“He looks like shit!”
“I don’t mean that, either. I mean the way he looks at me. When we hadn’t been around each other for a couple of days, he always had that — well, you know, that leer , like he’d bought me and he owned me. But now he looks—”
“Don’t tell me how he looks! He’s a lecherous bastard. If he touches you—”
“Bony! Not now.” Others in the room were looking their way. Only Friday Indigo, smiling serenely, seemed not to notice.
“So there is ample basis for cooperation,” he was saying. “If you do as The One suggests, and guide the People — safely — through the Link to your own universe, you will be granted your lives and your freedom. Those of your party who are now held captive will be released and returned to you. However, if you refuse to cooperate, The One will be forced to regard you as an enemy of the People. Your survival, on this world or elsewhere, will then be highly improbable. The technology of the People is far in advance of anything known to humans, or to any others of the Stellar Group. For example, the People possess full control of gravity. That permits their Links to be placed on the surface of planets, and their interstellar ships to land on or leave from there. They also possess weapons far beyond any that you have ever seen. The device which annihilated your orbiters could with equal ease destroy this ship. It is impossible not to admire and bow down to the superior powers of the People.”
He stood up, apparently unaware of the expressions of disbelief and disgust on the faces of his audience, and continued, “Even when you agree to become allies of the People, many details will still remain to be worked out. It was my task tonight only to come here and propose a way in which you might serve the People to your and their advantage. I will leave now.”
“Now wait a minute.” Chan had been watching Dag Korin. The General was red in the face and seemed beyond speech. Chan went on, “You can’t just say your piece and run away. We have to talk more about this. I have questions — we all have questions.”
“There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions through your chosen representative. But not now. I have been here for too long, and The One awaits my return. I must go.”
“It’s night on the surface. An hour or two more won’t make any difference.”
“I must go.” Friday limped toward the door. “Have your talks. I can find my own way to the airlock and back to the shore without assistance. Tomorrow, you will send two people with your answer. One will be your representative, who will be privileged to meet with The One. The Malacostracans would prefer that you, General Korin, as group leader, be that representative, but they do not insist on it since you must enforce discipline here.” He pointed to Deb Bisson. “She will be the other, to serve only as guide. She will lead you to the place on the shore where we left, and we will meet at midday exactly. Now I must go.”
“This is ridiculous,” Chan said. “At the very least—”
His words were drowned out by the powerful voice of the Angel’s synthesizer. “Let Friday Indigo go. Do not seek to delay his departure.”
“That is right. I must go ,” said Friday, and left the chamber.
“Do not try to accompany him.” Gressel was at maximum extension, fronds unfolded and wildly waving. Chan, all set to chase after Friday Indigo, jerked to a halt.
“Why not? What’s going on?”
“We just had a meeting with a low-down, treacherous swine,” Dag Korin said. “That’s what’s going on. He sold out the whole human race.” Korin stood up and walked across to bang his fist on the wall. “The bag of slime, in my day he’d have been put up against a wall and shot.”
He glared at the Angel. “Yes, he damned well would, and should, and good riddance to him, and I don’t care what you and the rest of the Stellar Group think. There’s nothing worse than somebody who betrays his own people. Surely even you can see that.”
“We can.” Gressel spoke at normal volume. “Angels and humans may be very different, but we are alike in this: We find it difficult to abide one who turns loyalty away from its own kind, and offers that loyalty toward another.”
“Well, that’s exactly what Friday Indigo is doing.”
“No. Friday Indigo did not betray humans—”
“Of course he did!”
“ — because the being who came here tonight was not human.”
“Of course he’s human! He wasn’t on an official human expedition, but he came here from Earth with Bony Rombelle and Liddy Morse, on the Mood Indigo. Ask them.”
“We see no reason to doubt that. But Friday Indigo is not human. He is alien.”
“You’re mistaken. He’s as human as I am.”
“No. We are completely sure. It takes one to know one. The being who spoke to us tonight is as different from humankind as any Angel. We say again, Friday Indigo has become alien.”
Liddy gasped and said, “I told you so!” Dag Korin stood frozen against the wall. Elke Siry clutched convulsively at Tully O’Toole, her fingernails cutting into his arm. The rest of the room sat like statues.
“How is that possible?” Korin said at last.
“We are less sure of this. However, we suspect that a scan of Friday Indigo’s brain would reveal the presence of something which is found in no other human. A type of Malacostracan, perhaps an embryonic form, resides there.” The Angel turned slowly and clumsily on its base, so that the speech unit faced the wall where Bony Rombelle and Liddy Morse were sitting. “You spent many Earth weeks with Friday Indigo. Did he display any special talent for alien languages?”
“None at all,” Bony said. Liddy added, “He despises aliens. To him, aliens are bugs or vegetables — I’m sorry, but that’s what he said. I can’t imagine him learning any alien language.”
“And yet, the being who spoke to us understands the needs and desires of the Malacostracans, well enough to be trusted to negotiate on their behalf. In evaluating what was said tonight, do not think of the Malacostracan proposal as presented by a human. Call him Friday Indigo if you wish, but recognize that he is now no more than a communications device. We believe that literal truth was spoken, with the words, I must go. The creature in this room was obeying an overriding imperative which could not be denied.”
“Orders from The One — whatever that is.” Chan had learned something long ago in his dealings with the Angels. When an Angel said it was sure of something, that implied a level of certainty beyond anything offered by a human. “And The One wants our answer tomorrow. By that time, we’d better have a plan of our own.”
30: IN THE DARK
“Not very smart.” Tarbush Hanson squatted on the floor, holding his head. “Deb tells us not to go near the camp, so what do we do?”