“Not exactly,” Dr. Blue replied. “There are just many more of the smaller block robots in that part of the starfish.”
They stepped off the tram together after traveling halfway around the starfish. When they reached the entrance to the human ray, Dr. Blue held the monitoring device in front of Nicole and read the output colors on the screen. Based on the initial data that she saw, the octospider used the cilia underneath one of her tentacles to request more information.
“Is something wrong?” Nicole asked.
“Your heart has undergone a few palpitations in the last hour,” Dr. Blue said. “I just wanted to check the amplitude and frequency of the irregularities.”
“I’m very excited,” Nicole said. “It’s normal in humans for excitement to cause—”
“I know,” Dr. Blue said, “but the Eagle instructed me to be very careful.” There were no colors on the octospider’s head for several seconds while Dr. Blue studied the data on her screen. “I guess it’s all right,” she said finally, “but if you experience the slightest chest pain or surprising shortness of breath, do not hesitate to push the emergency button in your room.”
Nicole gave Dr. Blue a hug. “Thank you very much,” she said. “You have been wonderful.”
“It has been my pleasure,” Dr. Blue said. “I hope everything goes all right. Your room is number forty-one, down that hallway, about the twentieth door on the left. The tram stops every five rooms.”
Nicole took a deep breath and turned around. The smaller tram was waiting for her. She shuffled toward it, sliding her feet on the floor, and boarded after a farewell wave to Dr. Blue. A minute or two later Nicole was standing in front of an ordinary door with the number forty-one painted on it.
She knocked. The door opened immediately and five smiling faces greeted her. “Welcome to the Grand Hotel,” said Max, with a wide grin and his arms open wide. “Come in and give an Arkansas farm boy a hug.”
Nicole felt a hand on hers as soon as she stepped into the room. “Hello, Mother,” Ellie said. Nicole turned and looked at her youngest daughter. Ellie was graying at the temples, but her eyes were as clear and sparkling as ever.
“Hello, Ellie,” Nicole said, breaking into tears. They would not be the last tears she would shed during the several hours of the reunion.
3
Their room was a square, approximately seven meters on a side. Along the back wall was an enclosed bathroom, with a washbasin, a shower, and a toilet. Next to the bathroom was a large open closet that contained all their clothes and other belongings. At bedtime the sleeping mats, which were rolled up each day, were removed from the closet and placed upon the floor.
The first night Nicole slept between Ellie and Nikki, with Max, Eponine, and Marius on the other side of the room beside the table and six chairs that were the only furniture in their living quarters. Nicole had been so exhausted that she had fallen asleep even before the lights had been switched off and everyone else had finished preparing for bed. After sleeping for about five hours, Nicole had awakened abruptly, temporarily uncertain where she was.
As she lay in the dark and the silence, Nicole thought about the events of the previous evening. During the reunion she had been so overwhelmed by her emotions that she had not really had time to sort out her reactions to what she was seeing and hearing. Immediately after Nicole had entered the room, Nikki had gone next door for the others. For the next two hours there had been eleven people in the crowded room, at least three or four of them talking all the time. Nicole had had brief conversations with each person individually during those two hours, but it had been impossible for her to discuss anything in depth.
The four young people — Kepler, Marius, Nikki, and Maria — had all been very shy. Maria, whose stunning blue eyes stood out in contrast to her copper skin and long black hair, had dutifully thanked Nicole for rescuing her. She had also politely acknowledged that she had no memories of any kind from the time period before she went to sleep. Nikki had been nervous and diffident in her brief t?te-?-t?te with her grandmother. Nicole thought she had detected some fear in Nikki’s eyes; however, Ellie told Nicole later that what she had seen had probably been awe, that so many stories had been told about Nicole that Nikki felt she was meeting a legend.
The two young men had been polite, but not forthcoming. Once during the evening Nicole had seen Kepler staring at her from across the room with great intensity. Nicole reminded herself that she was the first really old human the boys had ever seen. Young men in particular, Nicole thought, have difficulty with women who are old and phthisic. It shatters their fantasies about members of the opposite sex.
Benjy had welcomed Nicole with an uninhibited embrace. He had lifted her off the floor with his strong arms and yelled with joy. “Mama, Mama,” he had said, turning around in circles with Nicole’s head above his. Benjy had seemed quite well. Nicole had been startled to discover that his hairline had receded and that he now looked decidedly avuncular. Later she had told herself that Benjy’s appearance was really not that surprising, since he was about forty years old.
Her greetings from Patrick and Ellie had been very
warm. Ellie had looked tired, but she had said it was because she had had a full day. Ellie had explained to Nicole that she had taken it upon herself to stimulate interspecies social activity at the Grand Hotel. “It’s the least I can do,” Ellie had said, “since I speak the octospider language. I’m hoping that you’ll give me a hand as soon as you have your strength.”
Patrick had spoken quietly to Nicole about his concern for Nai. ‘This Galileo situation is tearing her apart, Mother,” her son had said. “She is furious because the blockheads, as we call them, removed Galileo from the normal living areas without much explanation and without anything that we would call ‘due process.’ She is also angry because she is not allowed to spend more than two hours a day with him. I’m certain she is going to ask you for assistance.”
Nai had changed. The spark and softness were gone from her eyes and she was uncharacteristically negative, even in her first remarks. “We are living in the worst kind of police state here, Nicole,” Nai had said. “Far worse than under Nakamura. After you are settled, I have many things to tell you.”
Max Puckett and his adorable French wife, Eponine, had both aged, like everyone else, but it was clear that their love for each other and for their son, Marius, sustained them on a day-to-day basis. Eponine had shrugged when Nicole asked her if the crowded living conditions bothered her. “Not really,” she had replied. “Remember, I lived in the orphanage in Limoges as a child. Besides, I’m just delighted to be alive and have Max and Marius. For years I never thought I would live long enough to have any gray hair.”
As for Max, he had remained his ornery, irrepressible self. His hair too was mostly gray, and he had just a little of the bounce in his step. But Nicole could tell from his eyes that he was enjoying his life. ‘There’s this fellow I see regularly in the smoking lounge,” Max had told Nicole during the evening, “who is a big admirer of yours. He somehow escaped the plague, although his wife didn’t. Anyway”- Max had then grinned—”I thought I’d fix you two up as soon as you have some free time. He’s a little younger than you are, but I doubt if that will be a problem.”
Nicole had asked Max about the problems between the humans and the octospiders. “You know,” Max had said, “the war may have taken place fifteen or sixteen years ago, but none of the humans has any intervening memories to soften his anger. Everyone here lost somebody, a friend or a relative or a neighbor, in that horrible plague. And they can’t quickly forget that it was the octospiders who caused it.”
“In response to the aggression of the human armies,” Nicole had said.
“But most of the humans don’t see it that way. Maybe they believe the propaganda Nakamura told them and not the ‘official’ war history, presented by your friend the Eagle soon after we were moved here. The truth is that most of the humans hate and fear the octospiders. Only about twenty percent of the people have made any attempt to mix socially, despite Ellie’s courageous efforts, or to learn anything about the octos. Most of the humans stay in our ray. Unfortunately, the cramped living quarters do not help to alleviate the problem.”
Nicole now rolled over on her side. Her daughter Ellie was sleeping facing her. Ellie’s eyes were twitching. She’s dreaming, Nicole thought. I hope not about Robert. She thought again about her reunion with her family and friends. I guess the Eagle knew what he was doing in keeping me alive. Even if he doesn’t have anything specific
