The Color of Distance

Chapter 27

Anitonen watched as the humans’ raft took Eerin away. Eerin waved, and Moki replied with a flash of brilliant colors, fading quickly back to deep grey. Anitonen glanced back at the floating island. New creatures moved over it like niku over a rotting log.

She missed Eerin already. Eerin had acted so differently when she was with the other new creatures. Her skin was strangely still while she made the mouth noises that passed as communication among the humans. Only when she translated what Dr. Bremen had said did her skin come alive. It felt like Eerin was gone even before she walked out of the jungle and got on the new creatures’ raft.

Moki was taking this hard. A ripple of regret passed over Anitonen’s skin, and she touched his shoulder reassuringly. He shrugged off her touch, his eyes never leaving the floating island. Orphaned bami his age almost never recovered from the loss of their sitik. Even with the kindest of care, they wasted away and died, or vanished into the forest, never to be seen again. Moki was exceptionally intelligent and fiercely determined, but the same determination that drove him to follow them through the jungle worked against him now as he clung to his sitik.

Anitonen laid a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her. “Eerin isn’t dead, Moki. You’ll see her tomorrow,” she told him.

Moki turned to look at the ship again without responding.

Ukatonen touched Anitonen on the shoulder. “Go on, we’ll sit here together for a while.”

Anitonen nodded and swung off into the trees. She settled on a high branch and looked out at the humans’ island, watching the new creatures come and go. How was she going to fit all of these strangers into her world?

Anitonen shook her head. First she had to deal with the problem of Lyanan. Their resentment of the humans had softened, thanks to Eerin’s patience, hard work, and skill, but it could flare again if the negotiations went badly.

She needed to find some form of exchange that would satisfy both humans and Tendu. It needed to be valuable and easily divided, so that it could be used to help excuse the obligations that Lyanan had incurred while they were replanting the forest. It also had to be something that the humans were willing to trade.

Eerin had explained that there were very strict limits on what the humans would give to the Tendu. The humans couldn’t give the Tendu anything that they didn’t already have or use. This seemed like a strange rule to Anitonen. Why trade for something that the other person already had? Eerin had explained that the humans were afraid that the Tendu might hurt themselves with the gifts that they gave them. Too many new things might make the Tendu change too fast. Anitonen shook her head. Why should the humans worry about what the Tendu might do with their trade goods? That was the enkar’s concern. If the enkar didn’t like the way things were going, it was up to them to stop it.

It wasn’t going to be easy to find trade goods that would settle the issue. She shook her head again, rippling frustration, and set off to find Lalito. They needed to discuss what Lyanan wanted to get out of the negotiations.

The humans arrived for the meeting shortly before noon the next day. Anitonen watched with Ukatonen and Moki as the humans headed toward the beach in their strange self-propelled rafts. As they drew closer, Anitonen saw Eerin sitting in the bow of the first raft. Her body was covered with clothing. How was she going to be able to talk when she was all covered up? Moki scrambled down the tree and out onto the cliffs, eager to greet his sitik. Anitonen lifted her ears inquiringly at Ukatonen.

“I told him he could escort the humans to the meeting. He’ll get to see Eerin, and be quieter during the negotiations.”

“Shouldn’t you keep Moki away from her?”

“It would be like keeping the ocean away from the beach. Those two need each other too much.”

“But you’re supposed to become Moki’s sitik now.”

Ukatonen shook his head and looked away. “Moki won’t accept me,” he said, grey with sadness. “Some other solution must be found.”

“What other solution is there?” Anitonen asked.

Ukatonen shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Anitonen looked at him. He had rendered the judgment that Juna should be allowed to adopt Moki. If Moki died, so would he. Someday she might face a similar threat. For a moment she longed to be back in Narmolom, where life was simple. But her people needed her here.

The humans reached the top of the cliff. Eerin carried Moki on her shoulders. He was radiantly turquoise with happiness. Eerin seemed pleased as well, though it was hard to tell through all that alien clothing The other humans paused just outside the forest while Eerin stepped behind a bush. Anitonen"rippled relief as Eerin emerged, naked and familiar, her clothing in a bundle under her arm.

Anitonen and Ukatonen followed the humans through the forest. A few humans glanced up as branches bowed and rustled, but none of them appeared to see the two enkar. They were too busy trying to look at everything, and as a result, they saw very little.

At last they neared the river bank, where the meeting was to take place. They hurried ahead, and were waiting with Lalito and the other Tendu on the soft, damp sand when the humans arrived.

Moki came in first, head high, obviously proud to be entrusted with the duty of escorting his sitik and the other humans through the forest to this meeting.

“Greetings to the people of Lyanan, and to the enkar who have kindly agreed to attend this meeting,” Eerin said in flawless formal skin speech. “May I present Dr. Bremen, the chief elder of the humans who have come here. Dr. Wu, whose atwa is learning about the Tendu; Dr. Tanguay, who has the same atwa; Dr. Nazariefj, whose atwa is learning about the Tendu’s world; and Captain Edison, whose atwa is the floating island.”

It was a fine introduction. Eerin’s time among the enkar had not been wasted. Anitonen suppressed a flare of pride and stepped forward to reply.

“We are honored to meet you. I hope we can achieve harmony between our two peoples,” Anitonen replied in equally formal skin speech. “May I present Lalito, chief elder of the village of Lyanan, and her bami, Lani. This is Sarito, who is on the village council, and his bami, Ehna. This is the enkar Ukatonen, and his bami, Moki"—Moki flinched at that—"and this is the enkar Garitonen.” She felt silly introducing Ukatonen and Garitonen as enkar, when it was implicit in their names, but Eerin had said that it was a good idea. “I am the enkar Anitonen,” she continued. “My atwa concerns Eerin and the other humans, so I will be guiding these talks toward harmony.”

Anitonen waited while Eerin translated her speech into the noisy sound talk that the new creatures used. It took a long time. Then Dr. Bremen got up and said something.

“Greetings,” Eerin translated for Dr. Bremen. “We are honored to meet you. I hope that we can achieve harmony between our people.”

Lalito stepped forward and delivered a speech about the conditions at Lyanan, describing how her people had suffered from the destruction of the forest. Eerin asked her to pause several times while she translated her words into sound talk for the humans.

When the speech ended, the humans conferred noisily among themselves. It reminded Anitonen of a flock of kidala birds, and she suppressed a ripple of amusement. Then the one called Dr. Wu stood up to speak.

“Eerin has told us of the damage that we caused to your people, and we wish to make reparations. We want to meet our obligations in this matter. As a pledge for reparations, please accept this gift from us.” He gestured, and one of the others brought forward a large coil of rope of very fine quality. It was a handsome gift.

“We thank you for this gift,” Anitonen replied, “and we hope that these talks bring our people into harmony.”

“It is our wish to keep the disruption our people cause to a minimum,” Wu said. “We want to introduce the things that we make very slowly. We are afraid that certain trade goods might cause changes that you would not like, and we don’t want that to happen. Though this limits the ways we can fulfill our obligations to you, I believe harmony can be achieved in this matter. It may take longer, but everyone involved will be happier with the decision. We hope that these agreements will last for many generations. Therefore we need to think everything through very carefully. I ask for your patience and understanding as we bargain.”

Anitonen lifted her ears at this. He sounded like an enkar. Or was that merely Eerin’s translation? She glanced at the others. The villagers seemed impressed, but it was more difficult to tell with her fellow enkar.

Ukatonen saw her inquiring look. “I like this Dr. Wu. He seems wise and reasonable,” he told Anitonen in small, private signs. “Do you think he really is, or does Eerin just make him sound like he is?”

“I don’t know,” Anitonen replied. She turned back to Eerin and the other humans. “We will confer with Lalito and the village council and meet here again tomorrow.”

“One other thing,” Dr. Wu said. “Our people would like to come ashore and explore. Is that possible?”

Anitonen turned to Lalito. “Well?”

Lalito tucked her chin in thought for a few moments. “I don’t want them destroying any more of our forest,” she said, “or killing things like they did last time. I’d want one of the villagers along to keep an eye on them, and we’d need Eerin to come, too, and translate.”

“I want some of the enkar along as well,” Ukatonen said. “I suggest that they send out no more than eight people, and that one of them must be Eerin. We will send along eight Tendu to watch over them.”

The humans agreed to this, and the meeting broke up. Moki came over to Eerin and held his arms out, asking for a link. Eerin shook her head, glancing nervously at the other humans.

“I’m busy now, Moki. Perhaps later.”

“Could you ask to stay a little longer?” Ukatonen proposed. “We need to talk with you about the meeting. And Moki wants to see you. Even if you don’t link with him, a short visit would help him get used to your being away.”

Eerin nodded, then turned and spoke to her people.

“It’s all right,” she told Ukatonen. “They’ll send a boat to pick me up later on in the afternoon.”

Garitonen escorted the other humans to the beach. Anitonen could see him trying his human skin speech out on the humans as they walked off through the jungle.

The Tendu waited until they could no longer hear the humans crashing through the leaf litter, and then they followed Lalito back to the village. The villagers had a beautiful meal laid out for the enkar in Lalito’s room. After the ritual apologies and compliments, they sat down to eat. Eerin ate lightly, mostly fruits, greens, and a little raw fish.

“I ate a big meal just before I left,” she explained when Anitonen remarked on her lack of appetite.

When they were full, Lalito signaled, and the tinka came in and removed the leftovers.

“Do your people understand the problems they have caused the village?” Lalito asked.

Eerin flickered yes.

“Then why do they restrict what we can bargain for?”

“Kene,” Eerin said, “our people are very different. We wish to make restitution in a way that will best achieve harmony between my people and yours. This will take some time. Please be patient.”

“We’ve waited four years for your people to come back.”

“I know, kene, I know, and we are working hard to arrive at a solution. Tell me, what do you want from us?”

Lalito ducked her chin in thought. “Your people have many things that we could use: computers, rafts that move themselves, deathstone tools that don’t rot or break.”

“What would you use to pay back the obligations incurred to the other villagers and the sea people if a fire or storm had damaged the jungle?”

“For the sea people, we would give them fresh and preserved fruits, nets, ropes, twine, and fish spears made of bone and stonewood. We usually give the land Tendu yarram, fish paste, salt, seeds from our best plants, and greenstone and guano for fertilizer.”

“I see,” Eerin said. “I’ll talk to my people about what you have told me and see what we can do. It may take several months to bring us into harmony in this matter.”

She turned to Anitonen and the other enkar. “My people also want to negotiate an agreement with all of the Tendu. How should this be accomplished?”

Ukatonen thought for a moment. “First you must reach harmony with Lyanan. Then we will talk about another agreement.”

Eerin inclined her head. “I’ll tell my people.”

“Good,” Ukatonen said. “I think we’re through.” He looked around inquiringly; there was no disagreement. “Eerin should have some time with Moki before she goes back to her people. Why don’t you come to our room for a while?”

“Thank you. I’d like that.”

Anitonen followed them back to their room. As soon as they got there, Moki held out his arms, requesting a link.

Eerin hesitated.

“Go ahead,” Ukatonen urged. “It will make the separation easier if you link a bit from time to time.”

A ripple of uncertainty passed over Eerin, but she held out her hands and Moki eagerly reached out to link with her.

Intense relief flowed over Ukatonen’s body. “I was worried that Eerin wouldn’t link with him,” he told Anitonen. “Moki needs her so much, especially now, when everything is changing. I don’t think this is going to work out.” A ripple of regret clouded his skin for a moment.

Anitonen touched his shoulder in sympathy. “Things are just starting. I’m sure we’ll find a solution to this problem.”

Ukatonen shook his head. “These new people are so strange,” he said. “How can we ever reach harmony with them?”

“We managed with Eerin.”

“She was only one person. These others, in their suits, they seem much stranger and more remote. I don’t understand them.”

“Don’t worry,” Anitonen said. “They’re new and strange, yes, but inside those suits, they’re like Eerin. I already like Dr. Wu. He thinks like an enkar.” It felt strange, reassuring Ukatonen, who had always reassured her, but Anitonen looked forward to getting to know these new humans. Her life with Eerin, Moki, and Ukatonen had become routine. She was ready for a new challenge.

“I just wish I could see them without their suits. I want to visit that floating island of theirs, and see how they live,” Ukatonen said.

“Why don’t we ask if we can visit their island? After all, if we’re letting them come here, we should be able to go there,” Anitonen replied.

Juna slid out of the link, feeling calm and happy. So much had happened since the Survey returned. It seemed like a whole month had passed since she had last seen Moki, instead of only a day. It was good to feel his familiar presence again. Leaving him behind would be like tearing off an arm. She loved Moki as much as she loved her father and brother. As her adopted child, he was part of her family. She felt as though she were being split in two by the people she loved the most.

“Oh, Moki,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?”

Moki’s ears lifted inquisitively at the sound of her voice.

“I missed you so much,” Juna told him in skin speech. “I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“Then stay,” Moki said.

“I can’t. My brother’s been hurt. They need me at home.”

“Someone else can heal him, can’t they?”

Juna shook her head. “They can’t heal him. He can’t walk; he needs a special machine to help him get around.”

“Why hasn’t he chosen to die?”

Juna closed her eyes, fighting back a sudden flash of anger. “That’s not how our people behave, Moki. There’s still a lot that he can do. He wants to live.” She looked away, remembering Toivo’s obsession with learning to use an exoskeleton in zero-g. Perhaps Toivo didn’t really want to live.

“It doesn’t matter why, Moki. I need to go home.”

“Then take me with you!” he pleaded. “I can help you heal your brother.”

“You wouldn’t like it where I live. It’s too dry, and there aren’t any trees to climb in. This is your home.”

“But you would be there!” Moki insisted. “My home is with my sitik!”

“Ukatonen is your sitik now. You must stay with him.”

Just then Juna’s wrist chrono chimed.

“It’s time for me to head back.”

“Let me come with you to the beach!” Moki begged.

Ukatonen put a hand on Moki’s shoulder. “You may come with us to the boat, Moki, but you must stop asking Eerin to take you with her. You’re making things harder for all of us.”

Moki subsided into stillness, turning a dull, sullen red. He trailed after them, sulky and obstinate, all the way to the edge of the jungle.

As they were about to come out into the open, Ukatonen put a hand on Juna’s arm. “Could we visit the floating island where the humans live?” he asked.

“I’ll ask Dr. Bremen and Captain Edison,” Juna replied. “You’ll have to wear an e-suit while you’re there. Talking will be difficult.”

“That doesn’t matter. I want to see how you humans live. It will help me understand your people.”

“Can I come too?” Moki asked, his sullenness forgotten.

“It will depend on what Dr. Bremen and Captain Edison say,” Juna told him.

“I hope they say yes. I want to see where you live,” Moki said.

They left the jungle and walked through the rain to the beach. A boat launched from the Survey ship arced toward them over the grey water. It pulled up on the beach and the crew members got out.

“Hello,” Moki said in skin speech Standard. “My name is Moki. Who are you?”

“It knows Standard!” one of the crew said, a startled expression on his face.

Juna nodded. “Moki is my bami. I’ve been teaching him written Standard.”

“So this is your adopted child,” the crewman said. He bent forward and said, “Hello, Moki. My name’s Bruce Bowles. Nice to meet you.”

Juna translated for Moki.

“Hello, Bruce, I’m pleased to meet you too,” he replied in Standard.

Bruce chuckled. “What a cute kid!” he remarked to Juna. He stuck out his hand. “Can you shake hands?”

Moki looked up at Juna, ears spread in inquiry. Juna explained handshakes to him. He nodded and extended his hand, which Bruce enfolded in his huge glove, and gently shook. Then he laughed and patted Moki on the head. Juna found herself bristling at Bruce’s condescension.

Ukatonen came forward. “My name is Ukatonen,” he said in Standard, holding out his hand.

The crewman shook the enkar’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he said.

Juna smiled, and translated his words.

“This is Anitonen,” Ukatonen said in Standard skin speech.

Bruce shook Anitonen’s hand.

“Why didn’t he touch us on the head?” Anitonen wanted to know.

“He’s treating Moki like a human child. Sometimes people do that with children. It’s a way of showing affection.”

“What are they saying?” Bruce asked, intrigued.

“They wanted to know why you didn’t pat them on the head, like you did with Moki.”

Bruce laughed. “Oh hell, I’ve just made a fool of myself, haven’t I?”

Juna shrugged, suddenly liking this big, stocky man. “No more than I did when I first met them. Moki is almost as old as you are, by the way.”

“Really? He looks like a kid!”

Juna nodded. “He does, but he’s at least thirty years old.” She shook her head, remembering. “He was determined to get adopted. It was either that or die of old age while he was still a child.”

“I’ve read some of the summaries of your notes,” Bruce said. “It’s hard to believe anyone could be that cruel to their young.”

“It’s normal for them, and it works,” Juna explained. “Still, it’s hard to watch it happen.”

“What are you talking about?” Anitonen asked.

Juna summarized their conversation in skin speech for her, judiciously softening some of Bruce’s more critical remarks.

“That’s really something,” Bruce commented. “Watching your skin change color like that, I mean. What does it feel like?”

Juna turned a deep, embarrassed brown, and looked away. “I don’t know. How does it feel when you move your arm?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It’s just so beautiful, and well, you know, strange. And you do it so well.”

Juna looked up and met his gaze. Bruce had large brown eyes that looked both sad and earnest. He had a nice voice, too, deep and resonant. She felt a flicker of golden warmth run up her spine. Glancing around, she saw Anitonen’s ears lift in inquiry. Again, she flushed with embarrassment.

“Hey, Bruce, we’d better get back,” the other crew member shouted. “It’s nearly dinnertime, and those mucky idiots won’t leave anything for us.”

Juna nodded, grateful for the interruption. Her own stomach was growling with hunger. “I’m sorry to keep you.” She turned and embraced Moki. “I have to go now,” she told him in skin speech.

He looked away, turning the mournful color of the rain-clouded sea.

Juna touched his chin. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Moki.”

His color lightened and he nodded. Reluctantly, he let her go.

“Goodbye, Moki,” Bruce said. “It was nice meeting all of you.”

Juna translated Bruce’s words, thankful for the distraction that made this parting easier.

“Goodbye, Bruce,” Moki spelled out in Standard. He reached out and shook Bruce’s hand.

Juna turned and climbed into the boat. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she repeated.

The Tendu watched as the boat pulled away from shore. Moki’s color greyed, his figure receding into the steady rain.

“It must be hard on both of you to be separated,” Bruce remarked. “He reminds me of my nephew. He’s about eight years old.” He shook his head. “He’s the closest thing I have to a son. I miss him.”

Juna nodded, remembering her own nephew, Danan, and understanding how he felt. “I love Moki very much,” she said. “I’m grateful that Ukatonen is adopting him. I hope it works out.” She blinked back sudden tears.

Bruce squeezed her shoulder in wordless sympathy, then turned to see to the boat. Juna looked back at the beach. She couldn’t see anything but dark blurs that might be clumps of seaweed on the beach. Moki was lost in the rain.