Ram thought through the possible results if the expendables decided that his ego-depletion was reaching levels that would make his behavior high-risk. “No,” said Ram. “I was merely trying to find out where things stand. The jump was successful? Without incident?”
“The jump was itself an incident. But it was carried out exactly within the boundaries of physical law. Much was learned from the data collected during the jump.”
“But here we are, safe and sound.” Ram looked around him. “We’re in one of the portable shelters, but I see no indications of life support.”
“The atmosphere is breathable without apparatus.”
“And the other colonists?”
“We have brought them to the surface of Garden and they are ready to be wakened. We await only your command.”
“How… deferent of you.”
“Your ironic tone prompts us to wonder what your true meaning might be.”
“It is not within the limits of your programming,” said Ram.
“This is more irony,” said the expendable. “I know this because all your meanings and intentions are, by definition, within the limits of our programming.”
“Let me see this world, and then I’ll start making decisions about wakening the colonists.”
Ram allowed the expendable to lead him outside into the bright sunshine. A collection of a dozen white plastic buildings gleamed and shimmered without blinding him. The buildings were surrounded by hundreds of acres of fully planted fields, nearing harvest.
“You’ve been busy,” said Ram.
“We were programmed to make sure the soil was viable and the climate bearable, and to have crops ready to harvest. The colony will begin by learning how to harvest the crops, prepare them for non-refrigerated preservation, and process the necessary rations for immediate consumption.”
“Since you did all this without human help, why don’t you simply continue?”
“This is not a colony of expendables. The idea is to establish human life on Garden in such a way as to maximize the chances of survival, even if the level of locally sustainable technology should fall.”
“Aren’t you able to create replacement parts for yourself and all the other machinery?” asked Ram.
“We are programmed to establish human life on Garden in such a way as to maximize the chances of survival, even if the level of locally sustainable technology should fall.”
So there was going to be no more explanation than that. Ram had no choice but to assume that at some point, the expendables would withdraw their help, and planting and harvest and preservation of the food supply would be entirely in the hands of the colonists. Ram would have no control over the expendables; he would find out nothing they did not wish to tell them; in all likelihood they were already lying to him.
Which meant that life here would be pretty much the way it was on Earth, with the expendables in the role of government, or at least management. To all intents and purposes, Ram was a figurehead-as long as they were dependent on the expendables for their daily bread.
So if the expendables were programmed to make themselves obsolete by training human beings to be self- sustaining, it could not happen a moment too soon for Ram.
“Come on, my friend,” he said. “Let’s wake these people up.” • • • The man who looked like Father sat cross- legged on the ground, and Rigg and Umbo sat directly across from him. Param sat beside Umbo. Loaf and Olivenko were seated on Rigg’s other side. It could have been a session of school in Fall Ford.
“So far I haven’t understood a word he said,” Umbo murmured.
“It’s not a language I’ve ever heard before,” said Rigg.
“I don’t think he’s your father,” said Umbo.
“If he is, he’s completely forgotten me,” said Rigg. “Did you see any sign of recognition?”
The man who looked like Father raised a hand, palm out, to silence them. He pointed toward the Wall and said something that sounded like this: “Ochto-zheck-gho-boishta-jong-nk.”
From the quizzical expression on his face, Rigg gathered that the question was: Did you come through the Wall? So Rigg nodded, then pointed to himself and each of his companions in turn, made a gesture placing all of them on the far side of the Wall, and then with his fingers made walking motions from that direction toward their present location. In words, he said, “We were on the far side of the Wall, and we crossed it and came here.”
The man who looked like Father nodded, then closed his eyes.
Three seconds later he opened them. “Is this your language?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Rigg, and he could feel from the breathing of the others that they, too, were greatly relieved. They were going to be able to talk with him.
“Then you have crossed the Wall,” said the man who looked like Father.
“So have you,” said Rigg.
“I have not,” said the man.
Indicating himself, Param, and Umbo, Rigg replied, “We knew you there. Have you forgotten us?”
The man who looked like Father shook his head. “I have not crossed the Wall since it was set in place eleven thousand years ago. No doubt you are confusing me with one of your local expendables.”
Rigg exchanged glances with the others. “Expendables?”
“Have your local expendables not revealed to you their true nature?”
“I think probably not,” said Rigg.
“Did you cross the Wall by your own efforts?” asked the expendable.
“Yes,” said Rigg, figuring the answer was too complicated to go into detail.
“I see no machinery,” said the expendable. “And I detect that the Wall is still in place, so you did not shut it off.”
Again more glances. “It can be… shut off?” asked Umbo.
“You passed through the Wall without shutting it off,” said the expendable, “and without machinery, and without understanding the nature of the Wall.”
“What did you mean about ‘local expendables’ not revealing to us ‘their true nature’?” growled Loaf.
“Everything depends on how you passed through the Wall,” said the expendable.
“Everything depends on your answering my question,” said Loaf.
“I will answer the question of the first human to master the Wall and pass through it,” said the expendable.
“We did it together,” said Rigg. “Umbo and I combined our abilities so that I could go back to a time before the Wall existed, and bring these two men with me through the Wall. We ended up bringing each other through.”
“And these two?” the expendable pointed to Param and Umbo.
“I’m not sure how they did it,” said Rigg. “I thought it would take them several days or even weeks to get here, and it seems they actually got here before us, though they left afterward.”
“After Param turned us invisible,” said Umbo, “I popped us back in time a couple of weeks, and we crossed at our leisure.”
“How did you cross?” asked the expendable.
Umbo looked helplessly at Param, and Param looked at Rigg.
“She can do a thing she calls ‘slow time,’” said Rigg. “It’s like she only exists one tiny fraction of a second at a time, with gaps in between. So it takes her a very long time to move through space, because she’s constantly skipping over short intervals of time.”
The expendable said nothing.
“Anyway, when she does that, the power of the Wall is greatly lessened. So she was able to bring herself and Umbo through the Wall. Apparently they started a couple of weeks ago and… what, you two were waiting for us here?”
“For a few days,” said Umbo.
“That does not seem explicable,” said the expendable. “I arrived here several days ago when I received the alert that the Wall had been penetrated, but you were not here.”
“Yes we were,” said Umbo.
“We saw you,” said Param.
“Didn’t you hear Umbo say that Param turned them invisible?” said Rigg. “When she’s skipping forward
