Shmi squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m with you!”
“What’s happening?”
“Nothing dangerous; I’ve things to do, that’s all.”
“Where are we?”
“Anywhere I need to be.”
Alex was incredulous. “Are you and Warblegrub…
gods?”
“I suppose you might call us that – many used to – but I’ve never liked the term; makes you humans think we’re responsible for you!”
Alex looked terrified.
“Just relax dear,” Shmi advised her, “you’re perfectly safe. Whatever I am or am not, the Universe places a great deal of trust in me.”
Reassured by Shmi’s gentle hand on her arm, Alex began to breathe more easily. She was starting to relax when Shmi turned her round. An enormous planet was spinning towards them at colossal speed and before she could cry out, they plunged into its atmosphere. When she stopped gasping and spluttering, she found herself flying through a purple sky streaked with clouds of blue and turquoise.
“How come I’m breathing here –
and
in space too?”
“I’m not as tightly bound by the physical laws that govern the Universe as you are,” Shmi explained. “I go where I’m needed and at the moment you’re under my protection.”
Alex realised this was the closest she was likely to get to a satisfactory explanation and was soon revelling in the experience of flying without an aircraft. She let go of Shmi’s hand and soared like a bird over the turquoise clouds, climbing ever higher until she saw a rash of stars across a deep purple sky.
“We’re here to find some friends,” said Shmi, shepherding her down to the glassy surface of a bright green ocean.
They flew back and forth until Shmi saw a little cluster of bubbles rising nearby. As they circled the disturbance, the bubbles came in a rush, a rainbow erupted and a jellysquid leapt shimmering into the air. It wrapped its tentacles around Shmi, blazed with colour and emitted a strange humming noise, musical and enchanting.
All around them the surface of the ocean began to bubble and boil, and, to Alex’s astonishment, dozens upon dozens of jellysquids launched themselves into the sky. The first broke contact with Shmi and followed the others, and they soared away into the clouds. As Shmi and Alex left the planet behind, they saw the beautiful orb of swirling purple, green and blue go spinning on into space, propelling jellysquids on their own interstellar journey.
“We encountered one of them guarding the planet….” Alex began then remembered its destruction with embarrassment. “What are they?”
“Forgive me,” Shmi apologized, “but the need to name everything is a very human habit. Call them whatever you like. They’re particularly useful when cleaning up after you humans, absorbing much of the negativity you create.”
“Negativity?”
“Physical pollution isn’t our only problem; there’s also the pain and suffering you inflicted.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your wretched species’ history has been very violent, and all that cruelty left its own mark on your planet and its other inhabitants.” Shmi could see that Alex was struggling with the idea. “Just enjoy the sights dear,” she advised, patting her on the head.
Travelling faster than any spacecraft, they passed countless stars, roaming comets, a nebula where stars were born and a kaleidoscope of extraordinary galaxies. Overwhelmed by the beauty of an immense spiral system sailing past, its hub blazing with a million suns, Alex burst into tears.
Shmi was delighted and turned aside. “If you think that’s amazing you
must
see this!”
“Have we got time for a detour?”
“Just a quick one,” Shmi replied, and made for a large belt of asteroids orbiting a lone star.
As they drew near, Alex could see many of the asteroids were connected by a web of thick white strands and searched anxiously for the spider.
“There isn’t one,” Shmi laughed. “You’re quite safe,” she assured her and they dived down through the ring of rock and dust.
As they passed close to one of the strands Alex saw faint pulses of light travelling along it.
“Who made the cables?” she asked.
“They’re not cables; it’s a living organism – a single entity – that grows here.”
“Among the asteroids!
In space!
”
“You humans used to believe life existed only on your world,” Shmi reminded her, “and how wrong you were!”
A series of very bright lights pulsed along the nearest strand and Alex was transfixed as they spread throughout the web. “What are the lights?”
“Thoughts, ideas, images; they’re communicating with each other.”
Alex looked confused. “You just said it’s 'a single entity’!”
Shmi nodded.
“Then you said '
they are'!
”
Shmi remembered how difficult it was to explain things to humans. Most other species avoided contact with them, so they had had very little experience of the wider Universe and thought in very simplistic terms – what was singular or plural, what was real or unreal, what was possible or impossible. “It’s both one and many,” Shmi replied, “which is a lesson your species must learn before it’s too late.”
Before Alex could ask another question she put a finger to her lips and silenced her. “This one’s still very young,” she told her in a hushed voice, “barely a million years old.”
A sudden flurry of pulses illuminated the whole web at once and Shmi’s smile was radiant. “To ears that can hear, that’s the most beautiful song in the Universe!”
It took Alex a moment to process this information. “It sings!”
“The frequency’s too high for your ears.”
“But it
sings?
!”
“Of course, singing and dancing are what life’s about – a song and dance of life and death!”
“And this creature survives in an asteroid field?”
“Life takes root in any nook and cranny it can find!”
Leaving the asteroid belt and its fantastic denizen, they came to a system dense with planets, bathed in the light of a gigantic red sun.
“The star is becoming a supernova,” said Shmi. “This and all the other planets orbiting it are doomed.”
They entered the atmosphere of one of the smaller planets and found it thick with smoke, dust and choking vapours, but Shmi seemed to know where she was going. They flew down into the fumes and Alex glimpsed something ahead of them – a bird, a very big, brightly coloured bird. They followed it deeper into the atmosphere until they saw a strange craft ahead. As they drew near, they saw it was in fact a floating disc on which grew a small copse of trees with huge shady leaves. Several trees had been bent over to form shelters, and red sunlight glinted on the domed force field protecting the settlement from the fierce heat. Glancing round in wonder, Alex saw more such settlements floating among the clouds.
Other birds emerged from the shelters and greeted their returning friend with shrill whistles, clicks and phrases of warbling song. Golden feathered, they had green crests that rose when they bobbed their heads but Alex shuddered at their fearsome, hooked beaks. Then she noticed with amazement that they had human arms and legs.
“What on Earth are they?”
“We’re not on Earth,” Shmi reminded her, “but they’re a gentle, enlightened species; content to fish, sing and soar on the wind.”
Flying on, they came upon a very large disc, still mostly hidden in the clouds. Only when they were circling over the settlement, did Alex realise it was the size of a small city. Most of the trees were bent into shelters but here and there copses had been allowed to grow to their full height and their branches provided perches for many birdpeople.
“Why are they watching the sun?” asked Alex, shading her eyes.
Shmi pointed to a small dot in front of the swollen star. “You see that little planet?”
No sooner had Alex located it than it began to disappear. Vanishing momentarily, it reappeared briefly as a yellow dot before it was swallowed by the expanding star.
“In just a short time, that will happen here. This once beautiful planet will….” Shmi mimed the explosion with her hands.
“How sad!”
“The Universe is a dangerous place; you humans would do well to remember how fragile life is!”
“But why are they watching? Shouldn’t they…I mean shouldn’t we help them?”
“That’s why we’re here,” replied Shmi, a little tersely, “but it’s we who need their help.”
As they passed through the force field, Alex felt only the slightest tingling sensation. They landed beside an enormous thatched dome, encircled by dozens of trees that had grown taller than any others. Inside the dome, they were greeted by a company of birdpeople who, at a minimum of two meters tall, towered over them. They were gathered round a birdwoman with a crest of long feathers, each painted a different colour. She was seated on an elegant wooden throne and Shmi bowed low before her. Alex quickly copied her. The Birdqueen rose and greeted Shmi with a short, sad warbling song and Shmi replied in kind.
“Our beautiful world is dying, old friend!” said the Birdqueen forlornly, and began to weep, tears rolling down her feathery cheeks.
Shmi wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged her, and all the birdpeople wept. Alex stood there, feeling awkward, as their grief poured out, then Shmi let go and the Birdqueen dried her eyes with her wings.
“We’ve no time to lose, dear,” said Shmi, “my husband needs us!”
She looked round at the sad faces of her people, sniffed back a tear and nodded.
Chapter Thirteen
The sea was astir in the submarine’s wake and Fardelbear passed bewildered dolphins and turtles, stunned by the humans’ return. Sensing intelligence ahead, he wondered whether it was them – though he found it almost impossible to reconcile
human and intelligence
. He heard a whale crying and caught up with the unfortunate creature a few kilometres further on.
“Thought I’d never hear the sound of an engine again!” the whale sobbed.
“Must’ve been awful,” Fardelbear sympathised as best he could.
“If it isn’t howling engines drowning out our voices then it’s a bloody great oil slick poisoning everything! I thought you’d dealt with those damn pests once and for all!”
“If I’d had my way….” Fardelbear began.
“Millions of years of peace and quiet,” the whale continued, increasingly hysterical, “then humans come along! First it’s harpoons, whaling ships and genocide, then – as if that weren’t enough – it’s the constant drone of engines and the taste of petrol in everything! I suffered P.T.S.D. for years because of them!”
“P-T-S-D?”
“Post-traumatic stress disorder – lost it with a pod of seals who were laughing too loud and tried to beach myself! Bloody humans pushed me back in! Lord knows what this’ll do to me? Probably need years more therapy!”
“I’d better be getting after them before they do any more harm,” said Fardelbear.
“You’re going to sort them out this time, aren’t you?”
“As long as certain interfering busy-bodies don’t get in my way,” he growled and swam on, leaving the whale to ponder his meaning.
Fardelbear followed the submarine far into the ocean depths. The vessel was as swift as a dolphin and it had been ages since he had been swimming, so he was relieved when, after only a few more kilometres, it slowed down and began to rise.
*
High up on the roof of Warblegrub’s apartment, Alex stood on the edge of the parapet. The clouds were drifting away, out over the ocean; every shard of glass and pool of rainwater shone in the moonlight, and the river was a great silver serpent winding through the heart of the city.
One after another, the birdpeople jumped from the roof, sailed out over the city and soared into the night sky. As she waited her turn, Alex counted about fifty of them, carrying bows and quivers of arrows under their wings.
“There were more than these on the planet,” she observed.
“These are just their most skilled aeronauts,” Shmi explained. “The rest will follow soon.”
Alex looked round again, taking in the moonlit city, the shimmering ocean and the flock of birdpeople gathering overhead and frowned.
“What’s wrong dear?” asked Shmi.
“Everything!” she whimpered.
Shmi smiled sympathetically. “You just need a little faith.”
“I lost mine a long time ago.”
“Never mind. I can lend you some if you like.”
“Lend?”
“Just look into my eyes.”
With a shrug, Alex did as instructed. Shmi smiled and her beautiful face grew even more radiant. A light shone in her eyes and Alex felt hope swell in her heart. She was convinced that all would be well in the Universe.
“It won’t last long,” Shmi warned her, “but it should see you through the next few hours.”
They climbed onto the last two birdpeople and sailed out over the dark canyons.