Outward Borne (20 page)

Chapter 13 Becoming The
People

The ObLaDas kept themselves hidden
for all the years that we had been aboard the Outward Voyager. They
never entered our habitat and never showed themselves in any
pictures. They had not spoken to us directly, explained why we had
been captured, or what was to happen to us. This was hard to bear
as we ached to return home. Not knowing kept this pain alive, but
it was less so for our children, and now that they are older,
almost adults, they have become vocal in their frustrations. They
wanted to rebuild some of our habitat, to make investments in the
future, and to stop looking to the past with futile
hopes.

Dagobert called an assembly to
discuss a proposal to expand our community into new living spaces
within the habitat. Dagobert became a bitter man in the years since
Alric died. He took on the leadership of our community, but it had
never gone well with him. Much of his early energy and curiosity
turned to worry, his hair had been cut very short, but not well, it
stuck up out from his head and had started to turn gray. He fought
to maintain our village traditions and to keep our plans to return
to Earth alive. I tried to support him, but could not see how the
expansion of our habitat would be very harmful, there were too many
people now, and it had become quite inconvenient to share the
kitchen and other facilities with so many.

We brought up the younger
generation, those born on the Outward Voyager, to respect the
traditions of our home village, but they did not have the same
connections that we had. The old stories about frozen rivers,
winter blizzards, struggling through droughts and bad harvests, and
long ago battles, so heroic to us, were considered hardships, best
not to be borne. I knew this most decidedly, as my oldest son,
Childeric, had often spoken about their outstanding grievances. I
heard many times about the need to expand into the upper levels of
the habitat, only a few minutes away after all, and why not use the
unfinished open space to build and running track. “It would be good
for the dogs,” and how we could train them and hold races,
festivals, have fun.

Childeric’s proposition was brief,
but fateful. I cannot remember it exactly, but he said something
about it being thirty-five years since the abduction occurred.
“During all of the time the Outward has been traveling away from
Earth at some great speed. Even if we were to turn around today,
and there is not the slightest chance, it would take us as much
time or more to return. My children’s children would be here to see
that happen,” he said, looking from one villager to another. “What
we have is a past that occurred on Earth and a future that will
take place here. We must make the best of what we have. We must
accept that our lives will be spent aboard the Outward Voyager.”
Childric stopped speaking and walked to the center of the room.
“There are seventy-four people now living on the Outward.
Forty-eight of us were born on this ship. We have grown to adults
in this place and now wish to be heard. We, the new generation,
have united behind our hopes and desires, and I am speaking their
voice. We wish to take our place among the leaders of this
community, to look to the future, and to build our lives as best we
may. The ObLaDas have decided to make things better for us. We are
convinced that this is so, and we need to take advantage of our
chance.”

There were many uncomfortable
people in the room that day. It meant that we had come accept that
the rest of our lives will be spent here, that we have given up
hope of a return to Earth. Many did not take that well.

Childric argued that we should
trust the ObLaDas. It was not easy to do. “They will work with us
to build our habitat,” he said, “give us tools, better materials. I
know they are slow, a year, five years, are nothing to them, but it
will happen. It will be a change, but for once we will have a
future.”

He came over to see me after the
meeting, to gain my approval no doubt, but he said something
surprising that day that changed my attitude toward our
captors.

“
Do you know how long they have
been traveling through the galaxy, Mama? Over twenty-five hundred
years! Can you imagine so long a time?

“
Where do you learn that?” I asked
my son, but Childeric did not answer. His path would mean more
change, yet another lurch onto an unbidden path of life for me, but
one that would be for my son. My concern was correct, change was to
happen, but the direction it took was wholly unexpected.

Gwynyth, known to all future
generations as Old Lady Gwyn, had lived most of her life aboard the
Outward Voyager. A sixteen-year-old girl when captured, Gwynyth had
been a clever, quick-witted sprite with thick red-brown hair and
clear brown eyes. She trended to being pretty at that time, but it
was not such an overwhelming tide to prevent a slow slide into
plainness. She was somewhat too proud of herself, given her modest
accomplishments, a bit vain, eager to create a good or even
superior impression, she was too quick to speak her mind and state
opinions not invited from so young a girl. Though it must be said,
her giving of frank opinions did not spring from a mean spirit, but
from an impatience with the village way of speaking, which
meandered around, sometimes getting lost and never arriving at its
intended meaning. She had been a farmer’s daughter, could hardly
read, but she did know her numbers, not much else.

During her years on the Outward,
Gwyn expanded on these limited capabilities and learned of things
beyond even her own imagining. She became the mother of three
children, Childeric the oldest, through ObLaDa manipulation of the
reproductive process rather than invasive involvement with any man.
As the ObLaDas had dissociated intercourse from reproduction, the
institution of marriage came to have little meaning, though
intercourse itself remained popular. Children were raised in
common, children whose parentage, including even that of the
biological mother, was unknowable. Gwynyth did not particularly
favor the raising of children and spent much of her time pursuing
the many educational opportunities made available by the ObLaDas.
In time, all the people learned to speak the Ship’s Language and
picked up some good reading and writing skills along with a touch
of mathematics. Gwynyth, along with a few others, progressed beyond
the common disciplines into chemistry, physics, engineering,
biology, and astronomy during her many years on the ship. While
this was admirable and filled her mind with thoughts no Earth-bound
human would have for centuries, it was not what we should consider
a well-rounded education. The people knew almost nothing of their
own bodies. The ObLaDas handled all of the humans’ medical issues
without comment or explanation. Everyone underwent a physical
examination every forty-eight days. Things were done to you there.
Alric came back with a large cut on his head shortly before he
died. Four times Gwynyth emerged pregnant. One baby was taken from
her. She never saw it.

As her learning increased, Gwynyth
took on an ordinary, but open appearance, her thick hair turned
gray, and her girlish faults matured into a practical
plainspokeness that was widely respected within the community.
Gwynyth became ‘she–who-must-be-heard’, which was why certain
things were about to happen as they did.

It was only a few days later when
I was approached by a small robot. They had come to be our devoted
little helpers. It led me to one of the common white rooms, one
with a chair and a small table, nothing else. I sat down as the bot
turned, left the room, and slid the door closed.

After a short time sitting there
in the ever-bright light, wondering what this was about; I heard a
voice from the wall. “Good day, Gwynyth. Thank you for coming. My
name is RaLak5 and I am the captain of the Outward
Voyager.”

This was a surprise and I did not
believe it. The ObLaDas had never revealed themselves or even
spoken to us directly. “Are you real or some manifestation of a
machine?” I asked.

“
I am real enough, although my
voice is translated into the Ship Language by the computer. This is
the first time I have spoken directly to any of you.”

“
So you are one of them, one of
the things that captured us.”

“
Indeed.”

“
Why did you do it? What are you
going to do with us?”

“
It is our mission, Gwynyth, we
are here to investigate the intelligent life within our galaxy, and
you are one of the most intelligent species we have thus far
discovered.”

“
I have heard that before and
Childeric says you have been at it for more than two thousand
years, which I do not believe, but that is no reason to take people
away from their homes and manipulate them for your own
purposes.”

“
I understand that you may not
agree or approve. I promise to tell you why it was necessary and
what will be, but not just now. Now I am asking for your
assistance. We have changed our leadership, you see, and our
approach to our alien guests as well. We have come to realize the
need to provide a tolerable life for the beings that we have living
here. My becoming Captain was part of the change, as is the
treatment you have received in recent years. You may have
complaints about your condition, but you should know that it is
much better than you would have received. A long period of alien
neglect had occurred on this ship, and while we are now doing
better, our unfortunate past has caused us problems with a species.
A problem that I am asking you to help resolve.”

“
I don’t understand, are you
saying that there are other people on this ship. Why haven’t we
seen them?”

“
They are not people like you. I
am not a person like you. There are many worlds in our galaxy. Some
of those worlds have creatures on them, intelligent creatures that
speak, make things, love, hate, but they are all very different one
from another. I am going to ask you to meet one of these beings, it
is a female that can bear offspring, but whose population is in
decline. It is from a planet different from yours, and so it may
appear strange to you. You will be able to see it, but know that
you would become ill if you had contact with it. They have been
here for a great many generations, but have grown listless, without
the will to continue. It is affecting their wellbeing, their
survival. We have not been able to identify the cause of their
distress; in fact, they have refused to communicate with us in any
way. You, a different maintained being, may be able to learn what
can be done to help improve their status. Will you do
this?”

I was stunned and confused by this
confrontation. The idea of talking with one of the ObLaDas, even if
it was just a voice speaking the Ship’s Language, was disturbing to
me. I never thought such a thing would happen after all this time.
In the early days, I used to lie awake at night thinking of just
what I would say to them, tell them off, make then bring us back
home, but when it happened, I was such an idiot. I acted as if it
was some privilege to speak to such a one. I agreed to help, I do
not know why. I never intended to help any of those heartless
kidnappers.

The ObLaDas had long ago developed
a language for use on the Outward Voyager, the Ship’s Language. The
ObLaDas and all alien species had their version of the Language
that suited their natural communication abilities. No matter how
the word was expressed in one alien’s version, it could be directly
related to a word or gesture having the same meaning in any other
language. The Ship’s language allowed ideas and meaning to be
transmitted accurately with the computer or between species so that
conversations could be held almost in real time. Our version of the
Language used both volume and pitch, HI, Me, lo, in order to
communicate the greatest content in the fewest number of syllables.
It was very melodic. When someone spoke, it was as if they were
playing a musical instrument or singing. We had come to speak
Ship’s Language exclusively; our home tongue was rapidly being
forgotten.

Two days after I spoke with
RaLac5, I received a message saying that arrangements were
complete. I was to go to the same room. I would be able to see and
speak to an alien being. Something called a Nivinwa.

There was a bright screen on the
wall. I could see a small dim room with walls that appeared to be
streaked with dirt. After a short while, the creature came in. I
had been warned not to react to its appearance, no matter how
strange or repulsive I might find it. The thing was strange to be
sure, but amazing as well. It had a long sinuous body with eight
legs and a small head, two prominent eyes and a beak-like mouth, no
apparent nose or ears, no hair. It was purple and red with skin
like wet mud, clay, but its movements were incredibly fluid and
graceful as it looked about the room. After a short time it seemed
to lose interest and lay down in a corner. It stayed there without
moving. I thought it might have fallen asleep.

“
Greetings,” I said somewhat
louder than I intended. I found myself wanting to make contact with
this being. “I am Gwynyth, a woman from the planet Earth. The
ObLaDas have asked me to speak with you.” I could see the creature
on the wall screen, but it did not seem to hear me, perhaps it was
asleep, or maybe the system was not working. “I am a captive on
this ship as you are. It would give me great pleasure if you would
speak with me.”