It was on day three of their journey that the miracle happened. At first, Moss had noticed the waves getting higher, and then there was a slight change in the taste of the air. Salt had been mixed with soil and sand again, just like back at Sprayhaven! Moss and Rane exchanged excitement, each extending their senses as far as they could. Land couldn’t be far away! Rane just hoped that they wouldn’t miss it entirely and keep on splitting their way out into another open sea, but Moss assured him that if they did, they could always turn around and follow the scent of sand.
It was a strange taste, as well. Not like Sprayhaven exactly. There were animals that Rane could pick up on, but none he knew of. He’d heard of shelled creatures back home, which scurried along the shore or buried themselves in the sand. Was he about to experience those creatures for himself?
For the next few moments, everything happened very suddenly! Through Moss’ senses, Rane detected another shoreline ahead of them. He was about to mention it, when Moss sped them up! The Splitter accelerated hard, and the next moment both of them were on the shore! The cart rocked back and forth a bit, as Moss was a little lighter than Rane, before it came to a stop. Rane still didn’t know how high the tides got here, or really what tides were, despite Kolser’s attempted explanation, but they weren’t getting the Splitter out of the sand anytime soon. “What in the Void was that all about?” He demanded harshly.
“Sorry, Rane. Had to do that,” Moss managed, as his articulator ring spun around. The limb attached to it extended down towards the sand, and then pushed into it. “We had to draw a line in the sand, so that we can get back home someday. And I wanted it to be deep, so that the water couldn’t wash it away. So I made the line with our sea-cart.”
“A bit extreme, don’t you think? Why not wait until we could come ashore gently? Why not make the line with your land-cart instead?”
“I knew the Splitter could handle it. The sandkin know how to put things together, and she’s a tough nut to crack.”
Rane couldn’t hide his amusement. “She? The Splitter is female now?”
“If you insist,” Moss joked back at him. “I might be channeling Char’s spirit out here, but it just feels right that the Splitter should have a personality as well as a name. She’s almost as tough as Char, I’d say.”
Soldiers. Holding back his confusion at Moss’ weird ways, Rane tried to take in their surroundings. “So this is Trejuna?”
“I doubt it,” Moss responded after a moment. “From what the sandkin told me, Trejuna is at least two weeks away, even if we knew exactly which direction to go. Still, we can’t be too careful.” His articulator swung back around and picked up the radio from the bed of the cart. “Kolser, are you there?”
There was a long stretch without any enzyme response, and Rane was just starting to fear that maybe they’d gone too far, when a familiar sense responded. “I’m here. Did you make it?”
“We made it to a shore, but I can’t say for sure if it’s Trejuna. Since we’re still within radio range, I’ll set up a relay here, a little bit away from the shore. Rane, are you comfortable enough with a cart to take a trip inland while I do that?”
Fear of the unknown stabbed at his heartwood again, but Rane just let out an affirmative. He hadn’t come this far to be a coward, anyway.
“Good,” Moss encouraged him. “I’ll get you off the sand, and then you can look around. Radio me if you hear any juns, or get close to any trejuns.”
The wide base of the Splitter had actually been big enough to fit two land-carts inside, along with their other equipment. Carefully moving his own ring-limb around, Rane touched the controls to roll his own cart out of the Splitter, but nothing happened. Moss paused from his own task for a moment. “You have to-”
“Turn it on, yeah, I know,” Rane said with embarrassment. He was glad they weren’t connected anymore, so he wouldn’t have to keep his emotions in check. “Still getting used to these things.” He swiveled his limb around and made another few adjustments, and the fuel inside his cart ignited. It rumbled, and then rolled forward off the now-open side of the Splitter. The sand parted beneath his cart’s wheels, and Rane luxuriated in his now expanded senses. Now that he was off the water, he could finally be aware of his full environment again!
The sand didn’t extend inland for more than three spans or so, and beyond that was what felt like clay and dirt. Strange dirt from the smell of it. Equally strange trees were lining the edge of the shore. They were tall, and thin, with inelegant wide leaves splayed all over the place. Rane hadn’t thought much of how the non-sentient trees back home were put together, but these ones were ugly. Their seeds were huge, too. Enormous spherical pods, probably that big so that the new plant would have a lot of nutrients. Enough to survive growing up on the edge of an enormous ocean.
At least the ground wasn’t too rough. Rane turned the wheels as needed to go between the nearest trees, and started exploring. That word itself wasn’t new, as qars has been sent on exploratory missions for centuries now. But the idea of doing it for himself was truly wonderful!
There were scores of animals within his range. Mammals for the most part, as best he could tell. Flying ones up above, with very long feathers, and climbing ones nearby. As he approached, they all stopped moving and stared at him. He supposed he would have done the same. It was doubtful any of these creatures had even conceived of a cart, much less seen one. It was a pity they were all too primitive to bother talking to.
It would probably take Moss the better part of a day to set up the radio booster from his position just above the shore. It would serve as a relay, for when they were further along, and it had an accumulator that should last for a season or so before running out of power. By then, from what Rane could surmise, other sea-carts from Sprayhaven would have arrived, and the sandkin would have started mapping this entire area.
Rane wasn’t about to waste that day, though. He circled the entire island several times, and determined that there were probably a few more nearby, from the motion of the waves. The animals didn’t harass him during the journey, and they were even starting to ignore him, as he was far too noisy to be any kind of predator, and far too slow to catch them even if he had been.
During his first trip to the interior of the island though, Rane noticed something unusual. There was a second species of tree here, much larger than the twig-thin ones near the shore. It took him a moment to realize what they were, and then he was rolling back to Moss, as quickly as he could go. He didn’t want to use the radio, in case others were listening, so he sped right up to his friend and used his grasper to connect a synthetic root.
Still leaking out surprise, Moss’ presence sprung up in their little network again. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re not alone. There are people on the interior of the island! I sensed at least a dozen!”
Moss seemed to take the news well, or at least he was good at hiding it. “Are they trejuns?”
Rane sent out a negative. “I don’t think so. I didn’t hear any juns, or sense any movement. But they’re definitely just like us. Same size as an adult treqar, and they’ve got half a dozen saplings, too. Maybe it’s a new grove?”
“Or it could be a trejun settlement that doesn’t have any animal support yet. Or a spy outpost. Or a military training site. It could be anything,” Moss speculated darkly.
Rane felt his sap slow down. “They’re definitely aware of me by now. I stumbled right into them! But if they don’t have any juns, I doubt they could have warned anyone. I doubt even trejuns could grow roots under the water all the way back to the others.”
“Well, I’m done underestimating them,” Moss responded with finality. “Come on. Let’s go introduce ourselves. I’ll be able to tell if they’re trejuns or not the moment I connect to their network. They should feel like Prajanko did, back in Grove Praska.”
Glumly, Rane followed Moss inland. He hoped that Moss knew what he was doing. After all, Prajanko had fooled them all, before sabotaging Praska and escaping into the sky.
Now that he wasn’t panicked anymore, Rane was able to lead Moss back to the grove. He was careful to pay attention for any signs of movement, or unusual noises. Even the slightest wingbeat of a jun would have been enough, but there was nothing but the usual noises from the furry or feathery animals around them. Rane stopped them at the edge. It had made the journey a bit awkward, but they’d been using a synthetic connection as they travelled, so that they could communicate without radios. “I think they’ve got a root outcropping here. You should be able to connect to their network.”
“You mean we should,” Moss said, moving his articulation grasper to his own roots. “I’ll need your insight as much as my own.”
Rane knew that there was no point arguing. Besides, he was curious, too. If they weren’t trejuns, then what exactly were they? The moment they connected though, that question was driven from his mind.
This network was unlike anything he’d ever seen before! Back in the Union, even when Prajanko or Char was connected, there were discrete points of light which represented each person in the network. They came closer or moved further depending on how much intimacy or privacy they wanted during their conversations, but they were always distinct from each other. Here, in this island network, it was like he and Moss were staring into a storm of light! He couldn’t tell where one person ended and another began, and it was always shifting in and out! It was like they were looking at hundreds one moment, and then just one person the next!
Even Moss seemed stunned by what he was experiencing, but it was nothing compared to the locals. Shock radiated out from that… thing, and nearly overwhelmed Rane’s senses. Fear followed it, but in lesser amounts, and curiosity was underpinning both.
“Hello?” Moss asked tentatively, as if not sure where to direct his greetings. Rane could sympathize.
Again, shock and surprise blasted over both of them, and the roiling mass of lights shifted its attention to Moss. They tried to get closer, but Moss was connected to them only very faintly, through just the tip of one of his roots. It limited their communications, but it was a lot safer than a more intense connection. Rane was only connected to them through Moss.
“My name is belhiera’torkalm’oss,” he continued slowly, “of the Continental Union. Who are you, if I may ask?”
For a second time, the mass tried to reach them, and was foiled. If they understood him, Rane couldn’t see any sign of it. Despite the hypnotic shifting of lights in the network, he could also sense movement in the real world.
“Core!” Moss exclaimed suddenly. “They’re bonded! All of them, don’t you see? Even the saplings are connected to the group!”
“Bonded?” Rane echoed him. “In the sandkin way?”
“Exactly! They’re sharing minds, and from the looks of it, they do that all the time. Core preserve me, I was only bonded to Char for a few moments, and it nearly drove me mad! How do they do it? I mean, the noise alone…”
“Uh, Moss?” Rane put in, nervously.
“This is fascinating, though,” his friend went on. “If they grew up with this connection, maybe they’re more inured to it! Maybe they can handle it more easily if they’ve had time to adapt over the years!”
“Moss!” Rane interjected. “We’ve got company in the real world!”
By now it was clear, even to his mesmerized friend. Over two dozen mammals had climbed down from various trees and people, and were encircling the two of them and their carts! They weren’t that large, but in those numbers, the pack could swarm all over them in an instant. One of them was letting out a low rumble, which Rane could only interpret as a warning. He couldn’t really tell, but if he had to guess, its eyes were focused on them. Did… these creatures eat wood? Was he about to become food?
Even before he thought of fleeing, Moss was sending out a warning. “Don’t move, Rane. Not even your articulator. They can catch us easily if we try to get away, and if any of them grab the controls, we might be stuck here. Or just killed.”
Despite his terror, Rane’s mind was analyzing the problem. “It’s no coincidence these creatures showed up moments after we connected to this network,” he thought aloud. “They have to be responding to this grove here. But how?”
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Moss responded. “They’re guarding us, but they haven’t attacked yet. We need to talk to the grove. Maybe they can call off their mammal guards.”
“How? We don’t even speak the same language.”
“But we can understand their emotions.” Moss’ sense went completely blank for a moment, and then he issued a steady stream of peace and comfort. The roiling mass in front of them seemed to back away from it for a moment, and then surged forward again. Their fear faded a little, but anger was starting to show up in its place. “You have to do it too, Rane. We have to show them they don’t need to fear either of us.”
Trying to present an image of harmlessness, Rane suppressed his fear. He tried to send out peace as well, and cowered a bit under the sudden attention of the group.
For a long few moments, the mass didn’t respond. Then, amazingly, one of the points of light within seemed to move away from the rest. An enzyme message came forth from it. “Hello?”
“We’re here,” Moss responded encouragingly.
“My name is belhiera’torkalm’oss,” the pinpoint of light went on, “of the Continental Union. Who are you, if I may ask?”
“What?” Moss asked. “That’s my name.”
“It’s just repeating your original message, Moss,” Rane said, realizing a bit too late. “It doesn’t understand what you said, or are saying now.”
“Core!” The pinpoint spoke up. “They’re bonded! All of them, don’t you see?”
Rane let out some amusement, despite the danger of their situation. “He does a pretty good impression of you, I’d say.”
“He sounds nothing like me,” Moss grumbled. “We have to teach him our language. It could take days or seasons even, but it’s not like we have much choice.”
Rane was about to offer a suggestion, when the pinpoint suddenly retreated, and joined back up with the others. They both watched as the whole mess of lights rearranged itself again. Then, another point of light, bigger than the first, detached itself. It exuded curiosity at them.
“Let me try something,” Rane said quickly, and moved forward. “Rane,” he sent out clearly, just waiting there for a moment. Then he moved closer to Moss. “Union,” he went on, hoping that the difference was getting through to them. Moving back away from Moss, he sent out a prod to his friend. “Now you do it.”
After a moment, Moss said his name, though this time the shortened version. He moved closer to Rane and said the word Union, and then backed away again.
This shouldn’t be as hard as it was! Translation between the Union and Trejuna hadn’t taken nearly this long, from what he’d read. Most enzyme concepts were universally understood, no matter where you grew up. But then, most people weren’t jumbled together in some kind of freaky mind-cocoon like these natives were. Even the very idea of individuality might be something they just couldn’t understand.
The larger point of light let out a phrase that Rane couldn’t interpret. It was short, like his and Moss’ names. Then the point of light moved closer to the others, and let out another word, “people,” before moving back to its solitary position.
“Did you hear that?” Rane asked excitedly. “He said People! He understands that much at least! The first one must have been his name. If they even have names.” Belatedly, Rane realized he’d been leaking joy and relief, there.
Moss did the same for a few moments. “That’s right,” he said encouragingly. “That’s your name, and when you’re with the others, you’re ‘people’. Just like when the two of us are together, we’re ‘union’. I mean not exactly, but it’s close enough.”
The point of light let out amusement and relief as well, and then darted back to join the others. Immediately afterwards, the whole thing let out a quick burst of incomprehensible noise. An image popped up in front of the roiling chaos of light; of the carts that Rane and Moss were using. The image was laced with curiosity and fear.
“It’s all right,” Moss explained quickly. “They’re just devices. You don’t need to fear them.” He sent out reassurance as best he could.
Rane tried to hold back his agitation. This would probably take a while, and mammals weren’t known for their patience. He hoped that if they ate bark, and started to get hungry, these ‘people’ would be able to control them.
