Precursors were already spacefarers when we octospiders were still totally insentient. At that epoch we were not even capable of conceiving of the idea of a planet, much less of the space surrounding it. Our fate was decided by the advanced beings with whom we shared our world. The Precursors recognized the potential in our genetic structure. Using their engineering skills, they improved us, gave us minds, shared their information with us, and created an advanced culture where none would probably have ever existed.”.
A deep bonding developed between Richard and Archie as a result of the regular early morning conversations. Unencumbered by any distractions, the two were able to share their fundamental love for knowledge. Each expanded the understanding of the other, thereby enriching their mutual appreciation for the wonders of the universe.
Nikki almost always woke up before Ellie. Soon after the girl had finished her breakfast, the group entered the second segment of their daily schedule. Although Nikki occasionally played games with Archie, she spent most of what might be called her morning in informal classes. She had three teachers. With Ellie, Nikki read a little, and did elementary addition and subtraction. She talked to her grandfather about science and nature, and had lessons with Archie on morals and ethics. She also learned the octospider alphabet and a few simple phrases. Nikki was very quick with the language of color, a fact that the others attributed both to her altered genes and to her natural intelligence.
“Our juveniles spend a significant amount of their schooling time discussing and interpreting case studies that raise critical moral problems,” Archie told Richard and Ellie one morning during a discussion of education. “Real-life situations are chosen as examples-although the actual facts may be slightly altered to sharpen the issues-and the young octospiders are asked to assess the acceptability of various possible responses. They do this in open discussion.”
“Is this to expose the juveniles at an early age to the concept of optimization?” Richard asked.
“Not really,” Archie replied. “What we are trying to do is to prepare the young for the real task of living, which involves regular interaction with others, with many behavioral choices. Each juvenile is strongly encouraged to use the case studies to develop his or her own value system. Our species believes that knowledge does not exist in a vacuum. Only when knowledge is an integral part of a way of living does it achieve any real significance.”
Archie’s case studies presented Nikki with simple but elegant ethical problems. The basic issues of lying, fairness, prejudice, and selfishness were all covered in the first eight lessons. The girl’s responses to the situations often drew upon examples from her own life.
“Galileo will always say or do whatever he thinks will allow him to have his own way,” Nikki remarked during one lesson. “To him, what he wants is more important than anything else. Kepler is different. He never makes me cry.”
Nikki napped in the afternoon. While she was sleeping, Richard, Ellie, and Archie often exchanged comments and insights that highlighted the similarities and differences between the two species. “If I have understood correctly,” Ellie said one day after a lively conversation about how intelligent, sensitive beings should handle members of their community who exhibit antisocial behavior, “your society is much less tolerant than ours. There is clearly a ‘preferred way of living’ that is advanced by your communities. Those octospiders who do not embrace that preferred model are not only ostracized early, but also denied participation in many of life’s more rewarding activities and ‘terminated’ after a shorter than normal life span.”
“In our society,” Archie said in reply, “what is acceptable is always clear-there is no confusion, as there is in yours. Thus our individuals make their choices with full knowledge of the consequences. Incidentally, the Alternate Domain is not like one of your prisons. It is a place where octospiders, and other species as well, can live without the regimentation and optimization necessary for the continued development and survival of the colony. Some of the alternates live to be very old and are quite happy.
“Your society, at least what I have observed of it, seems not to understand the fundamental inconsistency between individual freedom and the common welfare. The two must be carefully balanced. No group can survive, let alone thrive, unless what is good for the overall community is more important than individual freedom. Take, for example, resource allocation. How can anyone with any intelligence possibly justify, in terms of the overall community, the accumulation and hoarding of enormous material assets by a few individuals when others do not even have food, clothing, and other essentials?”
In the basement Archie was not as reticent and evasive as he had sometimes been in the Emerald City. He spoke openly about all aspects of his civilization, as if the common mission he was undertaking with his human colleagues had somehow freed him from all constraints. Was Archie consciously sending a message to the other humans who were almost certainly monitoring the conversation? Perhaps. But how much of the conversation could Nakamura’s men have understood, since they knew nothing of the language of color? No, it was more likely that Archie, better than any of the humans, realized that his death was imminent and wanted his final days to be as meaningful and stimulating as possible.
One night before Richard and Ellie went to sleep, Archie said that he had something “personal” to tell them. “I do not want to alarm you,” the octospider said, “but I have consumed almost all of the supply of barrican that is in my intake buffer. If we stay here much longer and my barrican runs out, as you know I will begin to undergo sexual maturity. According to our files, I will become more aggressive and possessive at that time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Richard said with a laugh. “I have dealt with teenagers before. Certainly I can handle an octospider who no longer has a perfect temperament.”
One morning the guard bringing their food and water told Ellie to prepare herself and the girl to leave. “When?” Ellie said.
“Ten minutes,” the guard replied.
“Where are we going?” Ellie inquired.
The guard said nothing and disappeared up the stairway.
While Ellie was doing her best to freshen herself and Nikki, she reviewed with Richard and Archie what she would say if she was able to meet with Nakamura or any of the other colony leaders.
“Don’t forget,” her father stressed in a rapid whisper over in one corner of the room, “although it is all right to say that the octospiders are a peace-loving species, we will not be able to stop any war unless we convince Nakamura that he cannot possibly win an armed conflict. The point must be made that their technology has advanced far beyond ours.”
“But what if they ask for specifics?”
“You wouldn’t be expected to know any details. Tell them that I can supply all the specifics.”
Ellie and Nikki were taken by electric car to the colony hospital in Central City. They were whisked through the emergency entrance and into a small, sterile office with two chairs, a couch or bed used for examinations, and some complex electronic equipment. Ellie and Nikki sat alone for ten minutes before Dr. Robert Turner walked into the room.
He looked very old. “Hi, Nikki,” he said, smiling and squatting down with his arms outstretched. “Come give your daddy a hug.”
The girl hesitated for a moment and then ran across the room to her father. Robert picked her up and swung her around in his arms. “It’s so good to see you, Nikki,” he said.
Ellie stood up and waited. After several seconds Robert put his daughter back down on the floor and looked at his wife. “How are you, Ellie?” he asked.
“Fine,” Ellie replied, suddenly feeling awkward. “How are you, Robert?”
“About the same,” he said.
They met in the middle of the room and embraced. Ellie tried to kiss him tenderly, but their lips merely brushed before Robert turned away. She could sense the tension in his body.
“What is it, Robert?” Ellie said softly. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve just been working too hard, as usual,” he replied. He moved over beside the examination bed. “Would you take off your clothes and lie down here, please, Ellie? I want to make certain you’re all right.”
“Right this minute?” an incredulous Ellie asked. “Before we even talk about what has happened to us during the months that we’ve been apart?”
“I’m sorry, Ellie,” Robert said with a trace of a smile. “I’m very busy tonight. The hospital is terribly understaffed. I talked them into releasing you by promising—”
Ellie had walked around the bed and was standing very close to her husband. She reached down and took his hand. “Robert,” she said gently, “I am your wife. I love you. We have not seen each other for over a year.
