The Garments of Caean

‘Well, there it is. Everything we find bizarre and exaggerated in Caeanic mentality can be traced back to the time when their Sovyan forebears, the prototype Caeanics, buried themselves in their space canisters. The correspondence really is quite remarkable in all details. The Sovyans replaced the natural body form with an artificial exterior – ergo the Caeanics are obsessed with bodily covering. To the Sovyans the natural body is physically repulsive – as repulsive, in fact, as we find our own intestines – ergo the Caeanics have a horror of nudity.’

She paused. ‘Another aspect of this business is also quite interesting. Although the Sovyans have conditioned themselves to see their machine-nature as beautiful, and have arrogated to the human body the distaste we would feel for our internal organs, it’s doubtful if the brain’s instinctive levels can ever really forget what a human being should look like. It’s worth nothing that, for the sake of his sanity, a suit-man must avoid looking at his organic body. The danger is probably that he will subconsciously recognize the body as his real body, repulsive as it is. Along with this would come the repressed knowledge of what was done to that body in the collective past. So we have self-disgust, and for another reason, racial guilt all in the same emotional charge. I needn’t enlarge on the implications of that.’

‘A version of original sin, as it were?’ Captain Wilce said.

She nodded to him, politely amused.

‘Is that why the suit-people hate the cyborgs so much?’ someone else asked. ‘Because the cyborg body stimulates this subconscious memory?’

‘They have good practical reasons for hating them, also. But it explains the totally irrational element in that hatred, yes.’

‘Do you think the Caeanics themselves know how they originated?’

‘I’m quite confident that they don’t know, which already gives us an advantage over them – an advantage we must learn to exploit. So unless there are further questions we can now discuss our future programme. First we must investigate Sovyan society as thoroughly as we can, then we must travel farther along the Tzist Arm and try to trace out the pattern of the early settlements. I have no doubt that as we research the worlds stretched out between here and central Caean we shall unearth the cultural bones and fossils – the customs, mores and mythologies – that will show us how the mentality of the suit-people evolved into the Art of Attire.’

She frowned. ‘But first we have a little problem. We have to gain the co-operation of the suit-people in Domashnabaza – that’s what they call the ring system encircling Sovya. It’s proving a difficult enough job to win the trust of Verednyev, though I’m slowly bringing him round. In view of our closer resemblance to the cyborgs, our reception there is likely to be anything but friendly.’

There was silence for a while. Suddenly Estru’s lined face puckered with amusement. ‘There isn’t any problem, Armara. We’ll go out to meet them in spacesuits – those big jobs, self-propelled with plenty of armour and opaque face-plates. Provided we don’t let them see the interior of the Callan, the Sovyans will take us for a species cognate to themselves, not to the cyborgs.’

‘Yes, of course,’ Amara replied slowly. ‘All we have to do is keep them out of the Callan and represent ourselves as “metalloids” like them. But it means we won’t be able to use Verednyev as a liaison, as I had intended. We’ll have to keep him under wraps or he’ll blow the gaff on us.’

‘So we are to keep him prisoner,’ Captain Wilce said gravely.

‘It’s better we retain control of him for a while. I’ve put in a lot of work on him.’

‘Presumably we are going to let him go eventually,’ Navigator Hewerl added uneasily.

‘Any more questions?’ Amara snapped.

But Hewerl would not let go. ‘What do we say to his people about him? They must know we have him – there was a witness to his capture. They’ll want to know where he is.’

‘The cyborgs …’ Amara began, then checked herself. She disliked this kind of interrogation. ‘I’ll handle that point when we come to it. Doubtless Verednyev will still be able to play some sort of role in our dealings. Right, then, everything’s settled. If Captain Wilce is agreeable we can make the move at the beginning of the next shift.’ She raised her eyebrows to Wilce, obtaining his nod. ‘So get a good night’s sleep, everyone. We have a busy day tomorrow.’

Abruptly she turned and departed through a door to her left. The briefing was over.

You had to hand it to Amara, Estru thought. She was overbearing, but she brought results.

There had been a time when he had privately scorned the whole idea of searching for pre-Caeanic origins. Yet here they were, right on target, suited up and smack in the middle of the Caeanic prototype – a prototype that was as unsuspected as it was incredible.