understand our standard language of color, they’re all down on the lower deck, where there is no special translation equipment.
“Let me show you what I’m talking about. Look over there.” Archie extended a tentacle. “Do you see that group of striped crabs? See the two large vertical wires on that table at the front of their section? When the Chief Optimizer starts to speak, those wires will activate and present what is being said in their antenna language.”
Far below them, over the top of what would have been a sunken field in an Earth stadium, a vast cover with colored stripes was suspended from stanchions attached to the bottom sections of the lower deck.
“Can you read what it says?” Ellie asked her. father.
“What?” said Richard, still stunned by the magnitude of the spectacle.
“There’s a message on the cover,” Ellie said, pointing downward. “Read the colors.”
“So there is.” Richard read very slowly. “Bounty means food, water, energy, information, balance, and… What’s the last word?”
“I would translate it as ‘diversity,’“ Ellie said.
“What does the message mean?” Eponine asked.
“I guess we’re going to find out.”
A few minutes later, after Archie had told the humans that another reason for the species segregation was to confirm the octospiders’ census statistics, the field cover was rolled up on two long, thick poles by two pairs of giant black animals. The pairs started on opposite sides of the middle of the arena and then moved toward the ends of the stadium, wrapping the cover around their poles to unveil the entire field.
Simultaneously, an additional cluster of fireflies descended from far above the stadium so that all the spectators could clearly see not only the abundance of fruits, vegetables, and grains stacked in hundreds of piles on both ends of the field, but also the two collections of diverse beings that were in separate regions on the floor of the arena, on either side of its middle. The first group of aliens was walking around in a large circle on a normal dirt surface. They were attached to each other by some kind of rope. Next to them was a large pool of water, in which another thirty or forty species, also connected to each other, were swimming in a second large circle.
In the absolute center of the field was a raised platform, empty except for some scattered black boxes, with ramps descending in the direction of me two adjacent regions. As everyone watched, four octospiders broke from the circle in the swimming pool and climbed the ramp onto the platform. Another four octospiders left the group walking on the dirt surface and joined their colleagues. One of these eight octos then stood up on a box in the middle of the platform and began to speak in color.
“We have gathered here today…” The voice from the speaker startled the humans. Little Nikki began to cry. At first it was extremely difficult for them to understand what they were hearing, for each syllable was stressed exactly the same and, although carefully pronounced, the sounds were not quite right, as if they were made by someone who had never heard a human speak. Richard was flabbergasted. He immediately abandoned his attempt to use his own real-time translator and bent down to study the octospider device.
Ellie borrowed Richard’s binoculars so that she could follow the colors more readily. Even though she had to guess at some of the words because of the strip pieces outside her visible range, it was easier for her to watch than to concentrate fully on what was coming out of the octospider audio equipment.
Eventually the adults tuned their ears somewhat to the cadence and pronunciation of the alien voice and caught most of what was being said. The octospider Chief Optimizer indicated that all was well in their bountiful realm and that the continued success of their complex and diverse society was reflected in the variety of foods found on the field. “None of this bounty,” the speaker said, “could have been produced without strong interspecies cooperation.”
Later in his brief message the Chief Optimizer handed out kudos for exceptional performance. Several specific species were singled out-for example, production of the honeylike substance had apparently been outstanding, for a dozen hovering fireflies spotlighted the snout-nosed beetle section for a few moments. About three fengs into the speech, the humans grew tired of the strain of listening to the strange voice and stopped following the speech altogether. The group was therefore surprised when the fireflies appeared over their heads and they were introduced to the alien multitudes. Thousands of strange eyes were aimed in their direction for half a nillet.
“What did he say about us?” Max asked Ellie, who had continued to translate the colors. Max had been talking to Eponine during the most recent part of the Chief Optimizer’s speech.
“Just that we were new in the domain and that they were still learning about our capabilities. Then there were some numbers that must have been some way of describing us. I didn’t understand that part.”
After another two species were briefly introduced, the Chief Optimizer started summarizing the main points of his speech. “Mommy, Mommy.” Nikki’s terrified scream suddenly overpowered the alien voice. Somehow, while the adult humans were absorbed with the speech and the spectacle surrounding them, Nikki had climbed over the lower barrier around their section and entered the open space separating them from the iguana creatures. The octospider Hercules, who had been patrolling that area, had apparently not noticed her either, for he was unaware that one of the iguanas had stuck its head in the gap between the two metal ropes around its section and grabbed Nikki’s dress with its sharp teeth.
The terror in the child’s voice momentarily paralyzed everyone but Benjy. He acted instantly, leaping over the barrier, rushing to Nikki’s aid, and smashing the iguana creature in the head with all his strength. The startled alien let go of Nikki’s dress. Pandemonium ensued. Nikki raced back to her mother’s arms, but before Hercules and Archie could reach Benjy, the enraged alien had forced itself through the gap and jumped upon Benjy’s back. He screamed from the intense pain of the iguana’s teeth in his shoulder and began to flail about, trying to shake the creature off. A few seconds later the creature dropped to the ground, completely unconscious. Two green spots were clearly visible where the creature’s tail joined the rest of its body.
The entire incident had occurred in less than a minute. The speech had not been interrupted. Except in the immediate surrounding sections, there had been no notice of the event. But Nikki was hopelessly frightened, Benjy was seriously injured, and Eponine had started having a contraction. Below them, the angry iguanas were straining against their metal ropes, disregarding the threats of the ten octospiders who had now moved into the space between the two species.
Archie told the humans that it was time for them to leave. There was no argument. Archie escorted them out of the stadium in a hurry, with Ellie carrying her sobbing daughter and Nicole frantically rubbing antiseptic taken from her medical bag into Benjy’s wound.
Richard rose up on his elbows when Nicole came into the bedroom. “Is he all right?” Richard asked.
“I believe so,” Nicole said with a heavy sigh. “I’m still worried that there may be poisonous chemicals in that creature’s saliva. Dr. Blue has been very helpful. He has explained to me that the iguanas have no toxic venom, but he agrees we must watch out for some kind of allergic reaction in Benjy. The next day or two will tell us whether or not we have a problem.”
“And the pain? Has it subsided?”
“Benjy refuses to complain. I think that he is actually quite proud of himself-as well he should be-and doesn’t want to say anything that would detract from his moment as the hero of the family.”
“What about Eponine?” Richard said after a brief silence. “Is she still having contractions?”
“No, they’ve stopped temporarily. But if she delivers in the next day or so, Marius will not be the first baby whose birth was induced by adrenaline.”
Nicole started to undress. “Ellie’s taking it the hardest. She says that she is a terrible mother and that she will never forgive herself for not keeping a closer eye on Nikki. A few minutes ago she even sounded like Max and Patrick. She was wondering aloud if maybe we should all go back to New Eden and take our chances with Nakamura. ‘For the children’s sake,’ she said.”
Nicole finished undressing and climbed into bed. She kissed Richard lightly and put her hands behind her head. “Richard,” she said, “there is a very serious issue here. Do you think the octospiders would even permit us to return to New Eden?”
“No,” he said after a pause. “At least not all of us.”
“I’m afraid I agree with you,” Nicole said. “But I don’t want to say so to the others. Maybe I should bring the question up with Archie again.”
“He’ll try to evade it, as he did the first time.”
They lay together holding hands for several minutes. “What are you thinking about, darling?” Nicole asked
