?Otherwise, they could not survive inside their Human mothers. And since they must be so Human and still male, and eventually fertile, they must come dangerously close to fully Human males in some ways. They bear more of the Human Contradiction than any other people.?
The Human Contradiction again. The Contradiction, it was more often called among Oankali. Intelligence and hierarchical behavior. It was fascinating, seductive, and lethal. It had brought Humans to their final war.
?I don?t feel any of that in me,? Akin said.
?You?re not mature yet,? Dichaan said. ?Nikanj believes you are exactly what it intended you to be. But the people must see the full expression of its work before they are ready to shift their attention to construct ooloi and maturity for the new species.?
?Then it will be an Oankali species,? Akin said softly. ?It will grow and divide as Oankali always have, and it will call itself Oankali.?
?It will be Oankali. Look within the cells of your own body. You are Oankali.?
?And the Humans will be extinct, just as they believe.?
?Look within your cells for them, too. Your cells in particular.?
?But we will be Oankali. They will only be
something we consumed.?
Dichaan lay back, relaxing his body and welcoming Tiikuchahk, who immediately lay beside him, some of its head tentacles writhing into his.
?You and Nikanj,? he said to Akin. ?Nikanj tells the Humans we are symbionts, and you believe we are predators. What have you consumed, Eka??
?I?m what Nikanj made me.?
?What has it consumed??
Akin stared at the two of them, wondering what communion they shared that he took no part in. But he did not want another painful, dissonant blending with Tiikuchahk. Not yet. That would happen soon enough by accident. He sat watching them, trying to see them both as a resister might. They slowly became alien to him, became ugly, became almost frightening.
He shook his head suddenly, rejecting the illusion. He had created it before, but never so deliberately or so perfectly.
?They are consumed,? he said quietly. ?And it was wrong and unnecessary.?
?They live, Eka. In you.?
?Let them live in themselves!?
Silence.
?What are we that we can do this to whole peoples? Not predators? Not symbionts? What then??
?A people, growing, changing. You?re an important part of that change. You?re a danger we might not survive.?
?I?m not going to hurt anyone.?
?Do you think the Humans deliberately destroyed their civilization??
?What do you think I will destroy??
?Nothing. Not you personally, but human-born males in general. Yet we must have you. You?re part of the trade. No trade has ever been without danger.?
?Do you mean,? Akin said, frowning, ?that this new branch of the Oankali that we?re intended to become could wind up fighting a war and destroying itself??
?We don?t think so. The ooloi have been very careful, checking themselves, checking each other. But if they?re wrong, if they?ve made mistakes and missed them, Dinso will eventually be destroyed. Toaht will probably be destroyed. Only Akjai will survive. It doesn?t have to be war that destroys us. War was only the quickest of the many destructions that faced Humanity before it met us.?
?It should have another chance.?
?It has. With us.? Dichaan turned his attention to Tiikuchahk. ?I haven?t let you taste the ship?s perceptions. Shall I??
Tiikuchahk hesitated, opening its mouth so that they would know it meant to speak aloud. ?I don?t know,? it said finally. ?Shall I taste it, Akin??
Akin was surprised to be asked. This was the first time Tiikuchahk had spoken directly to him since they had entered the ship. Now he examined his own feelings, searching for an answer. Dichaan had upset him, and he resented being pulled to another subject so abruptly. Yet Tiikuchahk had not asked a frivolous question. He should answer.
?Yes,? he said. ?Do it. It hurts, and you won?t like it, but there?s something more in it than pain, something you won?t feel until afterward. I think maybe
maybe it?s a shadow of the way it will be for us when we?re adult and able to perceive directly. It?s worth what it costs, worth reaching for.?
5
Akin and Tiikuchahk were asleep when the shuttle reached Chkahichdahk. Dichaan awoke them with a touch and led them out into a pseudocorridor that was exactly the same color as the inside of the shuttle. The pseudocorridor was low and narrow?just large enough for the three of them to walk through, single file. It closed behind them. Akin, following last, could see the walls sphinctering together just a few steps behind him. The
