The Far Shore of Time

I could see the dagger of India stabbing down into the Indian Ocean, with the little island of Sri Lanka dripping off its tip. As the planet slowly spun I could see Africa emerge, and the beginnings of Europe. There was something strange about the image, though. Tiny dots of reddish light that I had never seen before were sprinkled around the globe. But there was no doubt what I was looking at. I swallowed. “That’s the Earth,” I said, suddenly homesick.

Kofeeshtetch was not sentimental. “Not the planet!” he snapped at the robot. “Isn’t there a survey vessel of the Others nearby?”

“We have identified one, yes. Here is a plot of its transit machines-“

Three or four of those reddish lights appeared, close together, against a background of stars. It was the stars, more than those little lights, that made me catch my breath. This was none of that awful intergalactic black, nor all those multicolored headlights of the globular cluster. These were my own stars, the very constellations you can see from Earth. I recognized at least one of them, the seven stars in a cup-and-handle pattern that every child knows as the Big Dipper.

Kofeeshtetch wasn’t interested in stargazing. “So many transit machines,” he muttered. “Can we see the ship itself?”

At once stars and ruddy lights vanished and we were looking at another set of children’s Tinkertoys. “We have no view of the specific craft, but it is probable that it is this model,” the robot said.

It looked to be smaller than the nexus itself, or at least a little less complicated, but it impressed Kofeeshtetch. “But this is no mere robot scout! It must be in fact a major vessel of the Others.” He swung his head to face mine. “You could not possibly succeed in attacking it single-handed! It will be staffed with many, many warriors of the Others, all better armed than you. Such a venture would require a full-scale assault, almost as large as the one with which our nest stormed this place.”

That was not at all what I wanted to hear. I think I’m more or less brave, but I’m not stupid. A one-man suicide venture against impossible odds didn’t sound attractive-at least, unless there was nothing better on offer. I took a chance. “I don’t suppose you could interest your Greatmother in, well, in launching such an attack?”

Kofeeshtetch laughed in my face, little raucous puffs of bad breath. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His laughter made it quite clear that the Horch were not going to launch a major battle to please a lower organism like me, especially over a pissant little planet like Earth.

What he did say was, “Your plan is not worth pursuing. Perhaps you should return to the Eight Plus Threes. I will leave you now to prepare for the feast the Greatmother is providing for Djabeertapritch.”

He looked like he was getting ready to do it, too. I could feel my dreams collapsing around me, but one faint hope of an idea was percolating through my mind.

“Wait a minute,” I begged. “Can I see the planet Earth again?”

I had nearly lost him. He was just a child, after all. If I wasn’t about to pursue the feats of derring-do that fired up his kid imagination, he had no further use for me. He hung indecisively from his cable for a moment, then said petulantly, “Oh, very well, but do it quickly.”

Quickly was how the robot did it. The planet had revolved a little more. Now we were looking at the Atlantic Ocean, South America bulging out into it and the East Coast of the United States just visible on the periphery. I peered at that unfamiliar scattering of red spots, clustered mostly along the shorelines. I pointed. “What are those?”

Kofeeshtetch gestured, and then the robot answered me. “We have no definite identification. They appear to be satellite installations, but we do not know their purpose.”

“But they’re smaller, and they’re right on the surface of the Earth.”

“That is not precisely accurate,” the machine corrected me. “If you will observe, they are all in the water regions of the planet, close to the land masses but not on them.”

“But still-“ I began to argue.

I didn’t finish. Kofeeshtetch waved me to silence. He was beginning to catch the spirit. “That might be a workable plan,” he said thoughtfully. “A smaller installation. Only one transit machine each. Perhaps only operated by machines, certainly with a much smaller complement than the ship in space-yes! This may be worth considering. I will think on this, and perhaps seek advice from the Greatmother.”

When I got back to my room, as jubilant as I dared be, Pirraghiz was waiting for me. She listened, but didn’t comment, as I told her what had happened. “Where’s Beert?” I asked. “I must tell him!”

“Djabeertapritch is sleeping, Dannerman. This has been exhausting for him.”

She didn’t sound excited at all, and she was bringing me down with her. “But he will want to hear all this!” I insisted.