recovered enough breath to enable her to talk clearly.
“Look there, you can make it out from up here, on the peninsula, the green patch.”
From this height the long narrow neck of land in the bend of the river, that was to be their city, could be clearly seen. All of the vegetation was yellow and dead — except for a green line in the distance.
“The wall of thorns,” Ambalasi said with satisfaction, the first sign of pleasure she had displayed this day. “The fungus infection has killed off the rest of the plant life — it goes without my saying that the thorns are immune — and the animals have fled or died for lack of nourishment. It is almost time for our ecology to replace the native one.”
“You will plant the seed of the city and it will grow high and strong.” Enge signed great pleasure — which vanished before the angry burst of Ambalasi’s anger.
“End-of-intelligence, closure-of-mind. I make some attempt to study your absurd philosophy — is it asking too much for you to pay attention and understand the most basic facts of the biological sciences? Why are we living in discomfort on this swampy island? We are doing that because it is surrounded by water — as are all islands. The swift-moving stream protects us from being consumed by the carnivores of the mainland. It also means we sleep under rough covering and eat only the few tasteless fish that your sisters so reluctantly catch. We do this while we wait for the wall of thorns to grow that will protect our city. And while we do this we admire and feed the young hesotsan so they will mature quickly and supply us with weapons to defend ourselves. We do this while we wait for the boats in the pond to mature so we can use them instead of the uruketo which is not suited for inshore work. What we do not do is plant the highly-precious city seed!”
“Interrogative expressed with humble desire for knowledge. Why not?”
“Why not? Why not?” Ambalasi’s ragged crest flared red, as did the palms of her outstretched hands. “Because if we planted it at this time it would be eaten by worms, consumed by beetles, destroyed by fungus, crushed under foot by one of your clumsy Daughters!”
“Now I understand,” Enge said calmly. “Apologies extended for ignorance.”
Ambalasi turned to look across the river, muttering to herself with sharp growls and twitches of her limbs. When she had composed herself she picked up the lecture again.
“I think that the thorn wall is high enough for protection now. I want a large force, at least half your number, to cross with me in the morning. If our flank is secured we will begin the much-needed labors of clearing the land, spreading the carefully nurtured larvae to purify the soil. Then we will add the nitrogen-fixing bacteria, followed by the shrubs of rapid-growth, rapid-decay for fertilizer. Then, if all goes well, and I say that the time is ripe, then we plant the city seed. Is it remotely possible that now my meaning is clear?”
“Admirably so,” Enge said, majestically immune to sarcasm. “And I thank you for the detailed explanation. I now await your orders.”
“I wish that the others did. That is the next problem. We need some leadership here, someone to tell these worthless creatures what to do.”
“Indeed that is our problem,” Enge agreed enthusiastically, “for that is what brings us here. My Sisters, who are willing to die for their beliefs, do so by first understanding the inability of an eistaa to destroy them, then relish the joy of that newfound freedom. They will work together, they will not be ordered to.”
“If they won’t be led — how may they be induced to follow?”
“A very serious question — and one I have pondered over deeply.”
“You had better ponder a little more deeply and a little more quickly,” Ambalasi said testily. “Or we may all be dead before you have found a solution. All social creatures have a leader, a decision-maker — look there.” She indicated a school of bright, tiny fish in the water alongside. Something disturbed them and they turned instantly, heading off in a new direction.
“One of them is always first,” Ambalasi said. “When bees swarm they follow the new queen. Ants have a queen from whose fruitful loins all the others spring. As ants, so Sisters. They must be led.”
“I understand the problem…”
“You do not. If you did you would give it the highest priority, the first attention. Your play-groups and discussions would stop and you would address yourself to this problem, the only problem, until a solution was reached. There must be leadership, delegation of authority, cooperation.”
“You have just described an eistaa and her joined descent of command,” Enge said calmly. “That is what we have rejected.”
“Then find something to put in its place before we all die of starvation or are eaten by the creatures of the night.” She was aware of a motion for attention and turned to Elem who had joined them on the fin. “Speak.”
“Apologies for interruption: matter of great importance. The uruketo has been too long on the shore. We must go to sea, beyond the river mouth.”
“Impossible!” Ambalasi qualified this with dismissal-from-presence which Elem steadfastly ignored.
“I beg permission to amplify reasons. They were explained to me by the commander of the uruketo, a long time ago, when I served as a crewmember. Memory returns as I observe the uruketo now. And the enteesenat who plunge in the water and utter shrill cries. It is time to go to sea, away from these muddy waters, for this creature must feed.”
“Tomorrow. After we have crossed to the city site.”
“No. Too late. We swim now with the tide. We must be one or two days at sea. That is most important.”
Enge tensed her muscles and waited for Ambalasi to turn and maim this upstart who went against her will. But she had forgotten that Ambalasi was a scientist first and always.
“You are right, of course. Make sure that it is well fed before your return for it is needed. And in the future give me advance warning before any of these feeding trips.”
“As you order, so shall I obey.”
“Our expedition will wait. Perhaps this delay is fortuitous. You have two days to solve your problem. Let us go ashore.”
“I despair of an answer in that time. This is not an easy problem because it strikes close to the very heart of our beliefs.”
Ambalasi stopped when they reached the ground and settled back onto her tail, suddenly very tired. There was far too much physical work to do and she was not used to it. Enge waited patiently as the scientist, deep in thought watched the river, only half-aware, as the uruketo moved out. There was much splashing and thrashing before it worked itself clear of the bank, then turned and followed the excited enteesenat downriver toward the sea. Ambalasi closed her eyes for a long time, then opened them and turned one toward Enge’s silently expectant form.
“Desire to make suggestion.”
“Respectful of great wisdom, keenly attentive.”
“Reverse the decision-making, look at the question from the other side, if I may quote your Ugunenapsa. Let decisions come from the bottom, not the top. You are Daughters of Life, so the basic needs of life must be your basic tenets. We will begin with one of them. Food. Do you follow this line of reasoning so far?”
Enge signed respect and comprehension. “I admire as well the clarity of your thought processes and exposition.”
“As well you might — since the burden of all responsibility here seems to fall upon my strong shoulders. Repetition of argument. Food. Once you get them to admit that they need food to live, ask them if they wish to obtain it collectively or individually.”
“Wonderful!” Enge radiated agreement and enthusiasm. “Permit me to continue your thought. As we did in the sea, collectively catching schools of fish, so shall we do in the efenburu of sisterhood. We will all catch fish…”
“No! You are missing the point. You are no longer yilieb young in the ocean, but Yilane with the need to work together for your mutual good. Some of you must be selected to fish for all the others, and one of the group of fishers must order the others in the manner of fishing.”
“I understand and appreciate your point. But this decision will be difficult, difficult.”
Ambalasi was in complete agreement. “That is the story of survival: nothing is easy. We have had our cities so long we forget that once we competed on equal terms with all of the other life forms. Now we bend them to our will. And now we had better find a way to bend your Sisters before they become prematurely extinct.”
