The One

A vague sense of wrongness woke Wilma Deering.  The bed beneath her was lumpy, and the blanket that covered her smelled of an unfamiliar herb.  The air was real instead of the bland processed oxygen aboard a spacecraft. 

She partially opened one eye and glanced around cautiously.  Natural light filtered in through a nearby window.  The room’s walls were built of stacked shale rock, the window a lexite derivative often used within small spacecraft.  A nearby table was of roughly made wood and a chair from a civilian spacecraft’s bridge sat beside the table.

A young space colony would salvage ship parts for other ships, not use them in their houses.  Survivors of a ship crash must have built this house.

The elaborate room and building technique suggested more than one person lived here. The permanence of the surroundings suggested inhabitancy of long standing. Many years probably.

What was she doing here?  She’d been on patrol with Hawk, everything had been normal, then a horrible buzzing and humming began around her, and the ship interior had become blurry and white then....

Then....  Here.

Buck and Hawk must be frantic.

She sat up.  Every synapse in her brain seemed to explode with pain, and the room darkened and spun.  Groaning, she clutched her throbbing head.

“Hello,” a young male voice said politely in Basic. “Do you feel bad?”

As she jerked her head toward the speaker, a wave of blackness forced her to close her eyes and sag back down. 

“Do not move. I come to you.”

Wilma opened her eyes gingerly and stared up at the avian boy who now bent over her.  His face was softer than Hawk’s, the nose less prominent, and his feathers were more russet brown than white.  He appeared to be around twelve or thirteen.   Surprise and pleasure filled her.  Hawk wasn’t the last of his people after all.

“My name is Ari.” He smiled bashfully.

“I’m Colonel Wilma Deering of the Searcher.”

“Are you a human?”

“Yes.”

“Terrific. I have always wanted to meet one.” He held out a cup of liquid. “Drink this. It helps me on similar occasions.”

She lifted slightly and took the cup, then gulped down the vile-tasting liquid.

“You wear a uniform.  You are a soldier?” 

“Yes, I’m in the Earth military, but my ship is for exploration, not war.”

“That would be wonderful!  To travel, see new species, to learn new things.”

“Yes, mainly it is.”

“I wish I could do that.  Be there.”

“Me, too.”

Wilma’s unhappy tone brought the boy back to the present. “You are curious about what happened to you?”

“Extremely so.”

“My father knew One would do this eventually. It was inevitable.” The boy held up a hand to stop her next question.  “Let me explain.  One is a congregate energy creature. Or to put it another way, One is a colony of individual energy creatures that form a single consciousness. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good, you will understand better when you meet it. One kidnapped you from your fighter almost a day ago. It can phase in and out of locations in space probably to a distance of several light years. It tends to stay here on this planet, though, because this is its home.”

“Why did it kidnap me?”

The boy blushed a scarlet red. “It wanted to find me a wife. It botched it as usual.”

“Gee, thanks,” Wilma said dryly.

“I have said something wrong. I am sorry. What did I say? I will not make the same mistake again. I learn quickly.”

“You just implied that I would not make a good wife.”

“What is wrong with that?  You would not. You are not of my people.”

“I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. Why does One want a wife for you?”

“Children.”

“Why does it want children?”

“I had better start at the beginning. My father said that is the best way to explain yourself.   ‘Once upon a time.’” Ari laughed. “I love human fairy tales. About twenty-two years ago, my parents left our home world on an expedition. My father was a historian of our people. He wanted to check out some stories he had heard about  another tribe of our people.  He and Mother intended to be gone only a few years, but they encountered many problems.

“First, the information he had depended upon was wrong, then they had ship troubles and were grounded for years until they could replace the ship. Then I was made, and they stayed planet-side until I was born and old enough to travel. All these delays postponed their return home. They longed to return to our people and to my brother Grin who was left at home with friends.

“‘Brother Grin’ is a pun, do you not see? I love human puns, too. The Brothers Grimm, my brother Grin. Grin is my brother’s nickname because he smiled a lot when he was little. I wonder if he smiles now.

“After so many wasted years, we left. About six months into our journey, we traveled near here. I was a ‘babe in arms’ as you humans would say.  Our ship broke. We drifted for a long time. One found us and brought us here.”

“So you’ve been held prisoner all these years.”

“You must understand about One,” Ari said defensively. “It is not mean or cruel on purpose. It is just that it has always been alone. Until my parents and I came, it believed itself the only intelligent life in the universe. It has trouble conceiving of other intelligent life or anyone else besides itself. It is selfish like a child, not vindictive like an adult.

“My father said that the creation of a system of ethics first requires two or more people of equal or near equal power. One never had that. Before us it was all by itself. It did not know how to act or react in an ethical or civilized manner with sentient life.”

“Your father is an intelligent man.”

“He was.” Ari beamed. “At first One treated us as pets. It is gentle and good to other life forms, or it ignores them entirely. We were well-cared-for pets to it. My parents could not communicate with One to tell it otherwise. One communicates telepathically. 

“But being very young and pliant mentally, I began to communicate with One. My parents and One were very excited. As I got older and had something to say, it was even better. I learned how to translate for One and my father.

“One was deeply shaken. You can imagine how it felt. It discovered the concept of otherness which fascinates it. Unfortunately, it could not understand separate will and desire in others. What it wants is all that matters.

“My father begged it to free us and to help us get home. It refused us. We were too incredible a toy.

“My father was afraid of One’s fascination for us. He feared that it would capture others or travel to other worlds to observe. One has dangerous powers. It can destroy a civilization. It should not be around other intelligent life forms. It is too immature and powerful.”

“Since it captured me so easily, I can agree with your father.”

“Yes. My father salvaged part of the ship’s computer.  It has a wonderful library of history, film, and literature from our planet and others. I especially like human literature and history.

“He erased all astronomical information. He removed other information as well. One could not read the tapes, but I could, and One can read me. It has easy access to me. I can hold back things with effort, but sooner or later things slip out.

“I was never told the location of my home world. I know a lot about my people and others, but I am ignorant of so much. I know I am ignorant, but I do not know what I am ignorant of.”

“That would be frustrating to someone as intelligent as you are.”

“A compliment.” The boy smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“They are dead.”

“I’m sorry.” 

Ari timidly offered his hand, and Wilma squeezed it in comfort.

“This planet is harsh and dangerous,” Ari explained.  “The mountains are very crumbly. My mother was killed in a rock slide about seven years ago. My father became ill four years ago, I don’t know why, and died.”

“Did One read my mind?  Is that why I have such a headache?”

“Yes, it tried to talk to you and failed.  Even I have trouble. When it communicates too swiftly or too eagerly, it causes horrible headaches.”

“I hope it failed.”

“It did.”

“How have you managed by yourself?”

“The loneliness is hardest. When I have to talk, I go to One or speak to the computer. I fear I will go mad or am mad sometimes. Am I insane?”

“No, I don’t think so. You are remarkably well-adjusted.”

“Always I plead for my freedom. I tell it that it destroys me. I will go mad or die from loneliness. It does not understand this. It only wants more and more from me. It demands other conversations now. That is why it stole you.”

“Infants to train from birth in its communication.”

“Yes. My father hoped that One would not understand about sexual reproduction. It replaces worn energy beings asexually. I was left ignorant of reproduction for fear that One would understand and do what it does now. I am ignorant but not stupid. I figured things out for myself, and One acted.

“Unfortunately for you, it misunderstood. It is good at general understanding, but the specific frequently confuses it.”

“What will happen to me?”

“I will explain its mistake. It will return you.”

“Thank you. How can I help you?”

“You cannot. I am here for life.” 

“One will try to find you another mate.”

“Yes.”

“We have to stop it.  There are no females of your race,” Wilma paused, not wanting to tell him his race was practically extinct, in the known regions of space, then added vaguely, “for many, many light years.”

As another thought hit her, Wilma inhaled hard.  She’d been in short range of Hawk when the creature had grabbed her.  Maybe Hawk had been the intended target.  It had felt his avian brain patterns and found her ship that way. 

Tilting his head as if hearing something, Ari said, “A piece of One is coming. It is a loose conglomerate. It can scatter itself over the planet with ease. That does not affect its thought or communication. Look at that corner of the room.”

Wilma stared mesmerized as a white light glowed and shaped and formed into an amorphous balloon made of light. Fluttering, it shifted from a child’s balloon to a man-sized glob then back again as it glowed, twittered, and hummed before them.

The sounds made her head ache even more.

“Hello, Fluffy. What do you want?” Ari walked to the energy balloon. “No, it will not work. You made a mistake.”

Wilma could hear Ari, but felt that she was missing most of what the boy said. Instead of the whole conversation, she was hearing Ari's unconscious verbalizations of pieces of the conversation.

“I told you. It will not work. You made a mistake. Return her. No, you cannot do that. It is wrong. We will try. Give us a chance.  We will give you children.  Give us some time.

“I will not speak again. Leave me. You sicken me.”

Fear streaked through Wilma.  Realizing its mistake, did the balloon creature intend to kill her? 

After the balloon disappeared, Wilma asked, “Why did you call it Fluffy?”

With a sigh, Ari sat down on the bed beside her.  “I do it to annoy One.  I gave the individual energy creatures names. They are all a little different. It is rather like me naming your thumb Fred and holding conversations with it.” He grinned mischievously.  “It is very annoying.”

“It would be.  Is it going to kill me?”

“No!  It would never do that, but it refuses to free you. It intends to try again to find me a wife.”

“There are no suitable females of your people within range.”

“If not, it will try something else. Something horrible. One came up with this idea while probing your mind. It touched your memory and found your childhood.”

“What does that mean?”

“It cannot do this with you. You are unreachable to it now because it tried contact and failed. It burnt you out. It plans to capture someone else and force mental age regression to a pliable mental age. It will create instant communicators without waiting for an infant to age.”

“I’ve seen that done in hypnosis. Returning your memory to your fifth birthday and then going back to normal. It does no harm.”

“One will destroy the adult personality in the attempt. It would be murder of the memory, experience, and maturity.”

Wilma shuddered. Such an invasion would be the worst rape imaginable, a rape and murder of the soul and memory. Death would not touch the inviolate soul. This act of possession would. “What can we do to stop it?”

“I can control One a little. I refuse to talk when it does something I disapprove of. Usually, that works unless it is really determined. Sometimes it forces communication on me. It has nearly killed me like that several times. I tried ostracism. I even told it that you and I would give it children. No luck.”

Wilma laughed. “That would be an enormous sacrifice on your part.”

The boy blushed. “You are a very beautiful human female. I like you, but I could not mate with you. It would be wrong. I once overhead my father say that any children born of my race and yours would be born deformed or defective.”

“I think you are a handsome man of your people. You are right, though. It would be wrong to do that to children. Why did you offer to give One children?”

“I stall for time. What does One know? It could not tell whether we were or were not trying to have children.”

“True. What do we do now?”

“Do you understand communications equipment?”

“Yes.”

“The equipment in my parents’ ship is broken. If I brought it to you, could you fix it? It is portable.”

“I guess so. If it can be fixed. I’ll go with you.”

“No. It will be faster if I go alone. You will not have the strength for several days. I can be back in that time. I may even talk Fluffy or Glow into transporting me there. That would save time. I dare not ask them to bring me back here with the equipment. One is not stupid. With the equipment repaired, we can send out a warning to others. It is all that I can think of doing.”

#

“Where the blazes can she be?” Buck Rogers muttered to himself and stared out of his fighter at the infinite star field.  Another search pattern finished, and still no sign of Wilma.  

His communication’s equipment sputtered, and Hawk’s voice echoed around him, “What did you say, Buck? Your transmission was garbled.”

“Sorry, Hawk. I was talking to myself. I was wondering where Wilma is. I can’t figure it. We’ve searched beyond the range of her fighter. No debris, no nothing.”

“We cannot give up hope. We will keep looking. Planet search teams have not finished yet. She probably had mechanical problems and landed somewhere.”

“I hope and pray.  If it’s not that, she’s been grabbed by someone who left no trail and no clues.  I’m switching from ship-to-ship to Searcher’s frequency. I’ll see if they’ve heard anything. Back to you in a bit, Rogers out.”

Buck spoke with the Admiral, then switched back to ship-to-ship.  “Hawk, Rogers back. No luck on planetary searches. All unsuccessful.  She’s on none of the planets.

“I want to try a wider search pattern next. What do you think?”

Buck waited for an answer but heard only static. “Can you hear me, Hawk?  Hawk? Hawk, are you there?”

#

By the afternoon of the next day, Wilma felt strong enough to explore Ari's house and the area around it.  Finally, she settled down on the ground by the small, trickling stream that irrigated the vegetable garden near the stone house. No other greenery was in sight except for a few scraggly desert trees and bushes among the scattered rocks beyond.

It was the most abysmally drab world she’d ever seen. Nothing but gray dirt, rocks, sand, and a dirty brown sky as far as the eye could see. Even the flaccid green plants looked beautiful in comparison. 

She could almost forgive One for kidnapping her. Even a deaf and silent human would be a vast improvement over this landscape.

The boy was incredibly strong to have survived emotionally in this sterile, empty world. Most people would go mad within a month.

If she had to be marooned for the rest of her life on a desolate dying boulder like this, she could do a lot worse for companionship than Ari who was so starved for family love.

Every time she saw those sad brown eyes of his she wanted to hug him and act disgustingly maternal. He was more of a child than a teenager, and she couldn’t really see them raising kids together. He needed to be raised first.

A few wistful thoughts of the other person she wouldn’t mind sharing this exile with drifted by, then she laughed.  Buck would be bored in a few hours.

A hum and twitter began and grew louder behind her.  Her head twinged like an old wound.

One was materializing in the house behind her.  More than one of the balloons from the noise being made.  Something about the sound seemed triumphant. 

Wilma scrunched her eyes and listened harder, but nothing but that emotional resonance was understandable.  Why triumphant?

A sick fear at several possible reasons forced her to her feet and into the house. 

The twittering and humming of the energy creatures was fading away as she reached her bedroom. Hawk sprawled unconscious on the bed.

Slamming her fist against the door frame, Wilma swore.  She’d hoped that Searcher would be out of One’s range by now, but knowing the Admiral, they’d stay however long it took and do whatever needed to be done to get her back.  Damn and bless them.

She sat down on the bed by Hawk, checked his vital signs, then straightened him into a more comfortable position, removed the energy pistol and communicator she’d hoped to find, and tucked them into her own uniform out of sight. 

So far, so good.  The Admiral was following protocol for possibly kidnapped crew.  Hawk should have a transponder embedded under his skin with a signal which might be strong enough to reach Searcher.  That is if One hadn’t removed it. 

She turned on the communicator and hailed the ship, but silence answered her.  They were definitely out of range.  With a shrug, she set the communicator on emergency beacon and tucked it back out of sight in her uniform.  

If nothing else, this second beacon would tell the ship that at least one of them was alive and had some freedom of movement.  That would keep Buck from arriving with blazing guns.

If One didn’t have a way to stop communications and if the Searcher circled close enough to read either signal, Buck would come for them, and knowing Buck, not even an all powerful collection of energy balloons would stop him from getting them off this planet. 

Yeah right, and soon the whole crew of the Searcher would be sharing this dismal world with her.   One didn’t seem like the type of creature to see reason or to be patient.

Maybe, unwilling to wait for a baby, the damned creature had already ripped away the avian’s adult memory.

Hawk moaned deeply and opened his eyes.

She bent over him.  “Do you know who I am?”

He blinked with surprise.  “You are Colonel Wilma Deering. Where are we?”

When he started to sit up, Wilma pushed him back down. “Don’t get up, or your head will feel like it’s falling off.  Let me get you something for your headache.”

She picked up the clay jar Ari had left by the bed and handed it to Hawk.  “The liquid tastes disgusting, but it helps.”

Hawk gulped the contents then grimaced and handed the jar back to her. “Why are we here?”

“You’re to be the blushing bride of a very lonely young man. Don’t look so shocked. I’m not insane.” Wilma told him about One and Ari.  She paused frequently to wipe off Hawk’s pale, sweat-drenched face. She wondered if, upon waking, she had looked that bad the day before.

“Apparently, One’s physical presence is enough to give us these headaches and the weakness,” Wilma added. “I don’t think it probed your mind. I guess it’s waiting for later when you’re rested and Ari’s back.”

“Describe Ari to me, please.”  His voice was matter-of-fact, but his eyes and face glowed with joy like he’d been adrift for years and had finally spotted land.

Wilma gave a complete physical description then added, “He looks nothing like you.  Maybe there’s a tribe of your people in this region. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”  When Hawk didn’t reply, she asked,  “How’s Buck?”

“He is worried about you. If we can be found, he will find us.” Hawk turned his face away. “I do not feel well. Would you please leave.”

“Certainly.  The vile concoction will make you sleepy.  Don’t fight it.  Sleep is part of the cure.  I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

Hawk slept the evening away so Wilma settled down on the living room floor for the night.

A little after dawn, One’s hum and twitter filled the house like the roar of a hive of great bees.  Considerably more than one balloon had materialized. 

Groaning with pain, she placed her hands over her ears, stood up, and walked toward Hawk’s bedroom.

It was filled with energy balloons.

 “No, stop, don’t do this.  It’s wrong.” she screamed and tried to force her way through the balloons.  A wave of nausea and dizziness hit her, she fell to her knees, and the room went black.

Hours later, bright daylight shining through the window on her, she regained consciousness. She lurched to her feet and staggered to Hawk who lay much as he’d been earlier.  His breathing was natural, and, resting her ear against his chest, she could hear the steady thump of his heart. 

At least the damn things hadn’t killed him in the process. 

She sipped some of the herbal concoction then stretched out on the bed beside him, rested her head against his chest so she’d feel any movement, and let herself drift into sleep.  

Whimpering with pain, Hawk wiggled.

 Wilma jerked awake with a start and sat up. 

Tears streaked his cheeks.  “Adrian, my head hurts.”

“Oh, Hawk.”  She lifted his shoulders, her arm beneath his head, and put a cup of the headache remedy to his lips.  “Here, drink this. It will make you feel better.”

He drank the liquid, then buried his face into her shoulder.  “I am afraid, Adrian. Where is my father?” The sobs started again, and he clutched her.  “I want my father.”

“It’s all right, Hawk. I’m here.” Tears streaking her own cheeks at the loss of her adult friend and his past, Wilma held him rocking and crooning to comfort him.

#

Buck eased the fighter into the planet’s atmosphere.  Wind rocked the ship, but he straightened it with familiar ease and studied the land below.  Rock, brown rock, and even more brown rock with just enough green patches and water to keep the atmosphere breathable and absolutely no sign of civilization or a military base.

The sensors on the control panel told him little more than his own observation.  Maybe the Searcher's computers would make more sense of it, that is, if they were able to read his fighter’s data. 

The intermittent microsecond data bursts he sent were meant to avoid detection by enemy equipment, but they had an unfortunate tendency of being garbled by planetary atmospheres like this one. 

Even Hawk’s transponder and the emergency beacon had been barely readable when they’d neared this planet.  Only the fierce concentration and skill of the bridge crew had allowed them the miracle of this one clue to Wilma and Hawk’s disappearances. 

Even now, so close to the ground, he still hadn’t picked up either signal.

Well, if the atmosphere made it rough for him and the Searcher, it made it as rough for whoever had taken his two friends to spot this small craft. 

Meeeeeee. 

Buck jumped at the returning sound of the beacon echoing through the craft.  The sound was sweet, but he lowered the volume and concentrated on his instruments.  Changing direction and lowering his altitude, he aimed for the beacon’s location.

The terrain became mountainous slag heaps of broken rock and soil. 

Another sensor sounded a warning. Kkkkaaaa kkkkaaaa.

An avian life sign was just ahead, but the beacon location was several miles beyond. The avian was moving toward the beacon.

Slowing, he studied the valley and the mountainside for a landing spot.  Best not fly in too close to Hawk.  The fighter’s wash might knock him off the side of the mountain or bring these ancient piles of rock down on top of them both. 

“Perfect,” he decided aloud and settled the fighter into a flat area in the center of the valley.

He hopped out, pulled on his jacket and his emergency pack, tucked his weapon into the jacket pocket holster, and began his climb up the mountain to the path that threaded high above. The brittle, broken rock provided plenty of foot and handholds so he made good speed up the slope. 

With a grunt, he pulled himself onto the path.  Rock crumbled beneath him, and he scrambled forward till he reached the mountain’s side. 

Ahead, he could just see Hawk who wore a dark cloak and hood which didn’t look like the one he normally wore.  Someone else must be on this desolate world as well, and Hawk had made contact with them.

With careful haste, he started after his friend and soon was close enough to shout, “Hawk.”

Hawk spun around, the path crumbling beneath him, and pitched over the edge.

Cursing his stupidity, Buck ran to the broken point in the path, threw himself down, and crawled forward until he could see below.

Hawk’s body lay twenty-five feet down on a wide ledge.  The cloak covered him so completely that Buck couldn’t tell how injured the other man was.

Remembering the rope in his pack, he pulled it out, tied it to the biggest boulder in the area, then rappelled down to the ledge.

“Hawk, I’m so sorry.” He knelt by the still body, rolled him over with infinite care and gentleness, and stared down into the face of a stranger.  Avian like Hawk, but with brown tinged white feathers and brown eyebrows feathers.   The face was less angular as well with the nose shorter and softer, and he had the immature, slight body of a boy in his early or mid-teens.

Avian, yet not of Hawk’s tribe, probably, Buck decided.  He must have stumbled on one of the lost colonies of Hawk’s people. A wonderful welcome-back present for his friend when Buck finally found him and Wilma.

Buck carefully examined the boy and set his broken left arm. No other damage was evident although deep bruises covered the avian‘s body.

He covered the boy with a blanket and sat beside him to wait for him to regain consciousness.  Trying to get the boy back up on the trail would be hard enough with him conscious.     

Late afternoon sun baked the sheltered ledge with warmth, and Buck had to fight to stay awake.

An angry humming and twittering filled the air around him. With a sudden start, he jerked himself awake again and covered his ears against the sound, but it roared in his head.

A balloon of light formed near him and then a second. The horrible din increased.

One of the balloons floated toward them. He stood and swatted it.  Stinging energy seared his hand, and he yelped.  The second balloon neared. Buck moved between it and the boy then stopped.

The first balloon floated gently and caressingly against the avian’s face like an affectionate cat. Buck stepped away from the second balloon which came to the boy and softly rubbing against his body. They must be the boy’s pets.      

One of the balloons flew into Buck’s chest stinging him and forcing him backwards. It twittered angrily at him. The second slammed into him.

Covering his ears, he tried to hold his ground, but he was fast running out of ledge. He wouldn’t be as lucky as the boy. The rest of the mountain was sheer.

The balloons began to work in unison shoving him toward the ledge’s rim.

“Fluffy, Glow, stop that.  He did not hurt me. I fell. He helped me.”

The balloons pulled away and returned to the boy dancing a few feet above him as if on guard. The boy smiled at Buck and motioned him forward. “Come here please. They will not hurt you.”

“Hello. I’m Buck Rogers.   How do you feel?”

“Rocky.”  The boy laughed. “A pun. I am Ari. Are you a friend of Wilma’s?”

 “Yes.” Buck knelt by the boy. “Is she here?  Is she safe?”

“Yes. I will take you to her. Can you pick me up?”

“Sure.”  Buck slipped his equipment pack back on then picked him up.  “Now what?  I can’t carry you off the side of this mountain.”

“But they can. Close your eyes. We take a fast trip to Wilma.”

The world trembled under Buck’s feet, and he opened his eyes. They were inside a large stone room, and the balloons had vanished.

The boy called out, “Wilma, we have company. Come here.”

Wilma walked out of one of the adjoining rooms.  “Damn, Buck.  They got you, too.”

“No, I came in a fighter.  I followed the....”

With a nod, Wilma quickly changed the subject, “What happened to you, Ari?”

“I fell off a mountain, and broke a wing and my head.”

“The kid's heavy. Where can I put him?”

“In here.  This is his room.” 

 Buck followed her into the room and eased the avian onto the bed.

When he straightened up, Wilma gave him a warm hug. “I’m so happy to see you, but I’m sorry you’re trapped too.”

“Am I trapped?”

“Yes, we all are.”

“Even I am ‘only a bird in a gilded cage’,” Ari said.

 “Is Hawk here?”

“Yes.  He’s had a hard day and is asleep. We can see him later.” Wilma told Buck of what had happened to her since her disappearance, and Ari chimed in occasionally with details of his own history.

“About Hawk,” Buck asked again.

“The balloons brought Hawk here yesterday afternoon.”

“Who is Hawk?” Ari asked Wilma.

“He’s a dear friend, and he’s avian.”

“I wish to meet him now.”  Ari sat up eagerly.

“Rest. He’s sleeping. You both need the rest.”

Buck studied her strained face. “What’s wrong, Wilma?”

Rubbing her temples as if they ached, she told them about what One had done to Hawk.

In the long dead silence after Wilma finished talking, Ari spoke, “Take me to him, please. I must see him. I can help, I think.”

When Wilma nodded, Buck picked Ari up and moved to the other bedroom. Stopping at the door, he took a deep, steadying breath then walked in and placed Ari by Hawk who, without his breastplate, looked slender, young, and vulnerable curled in a ball asleep.

“I can join another’s thoughts by touching the temples,” Ari said.  “It is similar to what I achieve with One.   My father said that I have strengthened my telepathic gifts by constant use.” He smoothed the feathers on Hawk’s head tenderly then rested his fingers on Hawk’s forehead. 

“He has been hurt badly, but his last years have not been destroyed.  They are only dammed up.  Memory blocks. But the memories will be destroyed completely when One enters his mind again.

“It will be difficult and dangerous for us, but I will give him back what he has lost before One can finish the damage. I must go deeper than I have ever attempted. One will try to stop me, too.”

“How dangerous?” Wilma asked.

“We may both die.”

“No!”

“I must. I have no choice.”

“Why?” Wilma asked.

Ari caressed Hawk’s face.  “He could be my father’s twin.  He is my brother.  He must be my brother.”

#

Propped against a boulder outside Ari’s house, Wilma watched Ari and Hawk chattering together in the sunny garden.

From the moment Ari had claimed Hawk’s kinship two days ago, they had become inseparable. In Ari’s presence, Hawk seemed less terrified than in those first hours. No longer withdrawn, he was now a normal four year old, a normal four year old in an adult’s body.

Enjoying the ease between the two, Wilma thanked the gods of space for the boy. Her day spent alone with the child Hawk had been hell. Between the physical agony and the emotional devastation of memory rape, he had been hysterical.

Never had she felt so totally inadequate. With a four year old’s mind, he had suffered a trauma an adult couldn’t handle. Only Ari with his love had eased the agony. All Ari’s years of pent-up love was now lavished on the child Hawk.

The great pity was that Ari needed a big brother, not a child in an adult’s body.  The wistfulness in his eyes when he looked at Hawk was heartbreaking, and Hawk’s hunger for family had burned in his eyes when he’d heard about this orphan.  One’s selfish choice to change Hawk was as despicable for Ari as it was for Hawk and the humans who loved him.

The agony of that day still plagued her. Every time she saw Hawk, her heart wrenched with grief. Proud and courageous Hawk was dead. A sweet, frightened child wore his body. The contrast between the two hurt like hell.

For Buck it was worse. She had reluctantly played mother to the tall, masculine avian. It was embarrassing but necessary. Buck had been eager to help his brother of the spirit. He had jollied himself into the role of father for his best friend. The first time Hawk saw Buck, he had screamed in terror at the strange male human. Poor Buck. Hawk thought he was the bogey man.

In the last days, Buck had employed his incredible charm on the child Hawk with extreme diligence. Now the avian did not fear him, but he still remained shy. Buck assured Wilma and Ari that he would “have the bird eating out of his hand” in the next few days.

Wilma studied the two avians. The boy played the man. The man played the child. Both of them were innocent children robbed of their experience. Ari was a shy child because of his isolation, Hawk because of mental maiming. Neither deserved such an unnatural role.

The boy began to tell Hawk something with exaggerated voices and gestures.  Wide-eyed and solemn but with an occasional giggle, Hawk watched him. 

Wilma leaned forward and listened intently.

“Hi, darling, I’m home.” Buck plopped down beside her.

Wilma looked at him with surprise then realized he was joking. His Twentieth Century humor was incomprehensible at times. “Welcome back.”

“How’s our two little nestlings?”

“Ari’s a lot better, and Hawk’s regaining his strength.”

“We won’t be able to keep One away from him after that.  The damn balloons will finish destroying every last bit of Hawk’s past.”

“One’s only holding back now to mollify Ari. He’s still furious with it for what it did.”

”Ari’s a good kid,” Buck said. “What in the world is he telling Hawk?” 

When Wilma shrugged, he listened then chuckled.  “It’s ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’  That’s an old Earth fairy tale.  I’ll to tell it to you sometime.”

“Ari enjoys being Hawk’s big brother. He’s doing a good job. I hate to think what we would have done without him.” Wilma paused. “Do you think Hawk is Ari’s brother?”

Buck gazed at the two avians. “I don’t think so. There’s little resemblance. Just the feathers and the build--Ari’s father’s clothes fit him perfectly.  I’ve seen only Koori besides Hawk, but she looked more like Hawk than he does.”

“Ari wants a family so desperately. I think he’s seeing what he wants to see in Hawk, not what’s there.”

“You’re probably right, but Hawk does answer to Grin.”

“Kids that age will answer to anything. Hawk insists that I’m someone called Adrian. It makes him feel happy and safe so I’m not disagreeing. Could he have brain damage?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.  Ari said that One’s regression was clumsily done.  A delicate operation with a pick and shovel.”

 Wilma stretched wearily.  “Should we try to bring his past back? What if he’s too badly damaged? At least he can function as a four year old, and he is happy.”

“I don’t think he’s been truly happy since Koori died, but he deserves those memories.  He would rather grieve over her than not remember. I certainly would.”

Wilma winced at the unspoken truth behind that comment. One had told the boy that it would regress Buck as soon as Hawk’s proved a success.  It couldn’t resist another chance at conversation. “Any luck with your fighter?”

“None. Everything’s dead. Fried by those damn balloons. The communication equipment Ari dropped when he fell off the mountain is a pile of rubble.  Just as well.  By now, since I’ve not contacted them, the Searcher has left this area at flank speed.”

“You really think they’ll do that?”

“They damned well better have.  I told the Admiral that if I didn’t get back, they’d better cut and run before the whole damn crew started vanishing.  The Admiral looked grim and said that was a prudent suggestion, and he’d take it ‘under advisement.’  Since no one’s followed me here that we know of, I’m guessing the Admiral saw the wisdom in my suggestion.” 

“We’re on our own then.”

‘‘I’m afraid so.”

#

“I must try to restore Hawk’s memory tonight,” Ari said.

Wilma glanced at Buck sitting beside her on the living area’s floor than back at Ari who sat on one of the chairs.  “His mind and health are still fragile.”

“We run out of time,” Ari replied. “One grows impatient. If it touches his mind again, the damage will be complete. I will not be able to help him after that.”

“What will prevent it from doing the same thing again?” Wilma asked. “It can just regress Hawk again.”

“I will stop it if I must.  I doubt if it could succeed a second time.  A second attempt would fail or kill Hawk. The mind is too delicate to survive more than one such maiming. One would not risk killing him like that.”

“You have more faith in those balloons than I do,” Buck said.

“One understands death in others. It is virtually immortal, but it saw my mother’s death and my father’s. It understands nonexistence and the end of thought. It felt my pain and grief. It will not kill.”

“It tried to kill me,” Buck said.

“Only to protect me. It believed you had and would hurt me.”

“It will try to stop you,” Wilma said.

“I’ve thought of that,” Buck said. “We need a diversion, but that’s almost impossible since those balloons can be everywhere at once.” He paused. “I’ve got the solution. I want you to call One. Tell it I want to be regressed tonight. I’ll keep it busy while you work with Hawk.”

“Buck!” Wilma exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, Wilma. After a bit, Ari can bring me back. I trust in his skills. After that Hawk and I will be useless to One. It will free us all in disgust, even Ari. He will be a constant deterrent to One’s plans if he stays here. One will be happy to see him go with us.”

“You have more faith in me than I do,” Ari said. “I do not know that I can help Hawk. He may be beyond my aid, or may be mentally damaged beyond repair. And if I do save him, I may not be able to save you. You do not have an avian mind.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Buck said. “I’ll just be giving up a few days as I am if you fail.” He smiled. “Hawk and I have fought and lived side by side, soon we may be playing ball together and listening to Ari’s stories. Hardly the old age I had in mind.”

Wilma laughed with effort. “Well, just call me Mommy.”

#

Wilma walked into Ari's bedroom later that evening. “One is with Buck. You can go now.”

Ari sat on the bed with Hawk huddled fearfully against him. He embraced his brother comfortingly. “Do not be afraid. I will not let it hurt you. One will never hurt you again, I promise.” He looked up at Wilma. “Just One’s physical nearness gives him pain and increases the mental damage. I must go now or his past will be totally destroyed.”

He stretched out on the bed and settled Hawk against his side. “I am going to make you sleep now. When you wake up, you will feel better.”

Thanking the gods of space that the kid was on their side, Wilma watched Hawk relax trustingly into sleep in Ari's arms.  With his telepathic skills, he’d be almost as dangerous an enemy as the balloon creature.

Ari smiled warmly up at her. “I may not see you again. If not, I was honored to know you and Buck. Take care. Farewell.” His body went limp.

Pressing her hands over her ears, Wilma sat down beside them. In the next bedroom One twittered and hummed with increasing volume as it worked on Buck.

With growing apprehension for the safety of her three friends, Wilma waited.

#

Propelled from the darkness into the light, Ari floated on a current of thought. Random sense memories touched him fleetingly-- the taste of milk, the odor of growing earth, the sound of strangers’ voices.

Strangers to me, not to Hawk, Ari reminded himself.  He was in Hawk’s early memory now, that part of Hawk that One wished to retain.

Memories grew and solidified as age increased. Brief scenes, flashes of memory fragmented and whole, flowed past or he passed them. He was unsure which.

The current eddied and slowed.  Ari advanced into a room with its outline and detail wispy and unreal. The two men and the boy in the room were as solid and as real as life.

This had to be an important structural memory, one of those well-remembered moments in life that affects all that we are and all that we will become.

Ari moved closer to the two avian men who remained unaware of him.

One of them was Hawk, and he had a very young avian boy in his lap.  No, the man couldn’t be Hawk, it was their father, and the boy was Hawk. 

The other man was of their father’s years, and he was tall and regal, yet his brown eyes glowed with passion and humor. Leren, Hawk’s mind told Ari.   This is Leren, Father’s best friend.

Hawk’s father said, “I am decided, Leren. Adrian and I will leave Throm. It is best for us and for our people.”

“But, my friend, you will leave us without a Hawk.  A Hawk has been our warrior leader throughout time. It is the last vestige of our proud past.”

“Our people have given up our greatness willingly,” Hawk’s father said bitterly.  “My presence has not stopped them from creeping back into the primitive past.”

“We went back to the simple times to regain our racial strength, to rebuild at the beginning.”

“Do you not mean to hide from our destroyer. We make ourselves so pitiful and inconspicuous that we will be beneath contempt or notice. We make ourselves bugs hoping that no one will notice us and squash us thoughtlessly.”

“You are too harsh on our people, Hawk.”

“No, I am not harsh enough. We make the same mistake our ancestors did when they chose to give up flight and assume the likeness of the humans.  We only lessen ourselves in such an act.

“That choice did not rescue our people then. This choice will not save our people now. In these acts of cowardice we only lose ourselves. We should hold our ground and our former greatness. Our civilization should not be traded for simple caves and farms.”

“We are so few now. We wish only to protect ourselves from the humans.”

“The human Bible says that man is made in God’s image. That is typical of the humans and their proud vision of themselves. Our people are far worse: we have made ourselves into the image of our imagined devil/destroyer -- the human. My people blame humanity for our destruction. I blame our weakness.”

“If I were not your friend, Hawk, I could easily name you as others do.”

Hawk smiled dourly. “‘Human lover’ is not the ugliest thing I have been called. I do not love the humans more than my own people. I merely acknowledge their capacity for greatness and great evil. They are as we-- good and evil, proud and foolish. We should not grovel in fear nor hide from the humans in caves. We should meet them as equals and as partners. It is our only hope.”

“Is that why you chose Adrian as your mate?”

“Yes, and because I love her. After the boy’s mother died in childbirth, no other woman touched my heart until I met Adrian. She has been a good mother to the boy and a good mate.”

“Yes,” Leren said grudgingly, “the human female has surprised us all.”

“Her name is Adrian. Our people have not accepted her, nor do they accept me now. It is best we leave, at least for a time. I have heard strange stories about our past that I wish to verify. It could bring great good to our people. Adrian and I will go. The boy will remain behind with you and your mate if you will take him.”

“Gladly.”

“It is well. He will be Hawk now. I give him my title and my name, and I take in its place his child name. Because I love my people so, I leave my most precious possession behind, my son.”  He caressed the boy’s head. “He will be Hawk for our people. They must have a Hawk. Only for their sakes do I leave the boy behind. He will be a symbol to them of what we were and what we can be. He is Hawk. He is the best of our race. He must survive for that alone.”

“You speak as if you will not return.”

“I will return. I wish only to protect the child.”

He continued, ”I ask this, Leren.  Teach him the ways of our civilization in its greatness. He must also know the human machines and the human ways. If we must have the humans as enemies, let him learn what his enemy is. I have left my studies and my thoughts for him to examine when he is older.”

“I will educate him as you wish. The Hawk should know all that he can to help his people.”

“I hope to return to finish his education in five years or so, but only Make-Make knows the future. Adrian and I follow a dangerous flight trail.”

“It is the humans and their anger at your marriage with Adrian that make you flee from our people? You fear to bring their wrath upon our people?”

“Only in part. This is not the first anger among the humans, it will not be the last. She is only the excuse the haters use.”

The boy Hawk stirred in his father’s lap. He had heard and would remember this conversation although he was not old enough to understand fully what had been said. 

The child Hawk only knew that his father was being forced to leave him. He clutched his father and wept. “Do not leave me. Please do not leave me. Do not let the humans take you away from me.” The child sobbed inconsolably with a hatred for humans now planted that would grow and flower in the long years in which his father would never return.

A cold shudder racing through his body, Ari turned away and moved on. “My mother was human.” He tried to visualize her but could only get vague impressions of her. He was so young when she died, too young to remember anything but the warm sense of her love and her presence.

He had once heard his father mutter to himself that the child of a human and avian would be deformed or defective. Although he didn’t look like Hawk or his father, he wasn’t deformed.

Bereft, Ari wiped a tear away. He could talk to One and others couldn’t so his father thought he was defective. He was human and defective so Hawk couldn’t be his brother.

He trudged onward until he came to a great stone wall that stretched to both ends of the horizon--the memory block between Hawk’s childhood and the rest of his life.

He scaled it and started to search for the adult Hawk. It would take both of them to clear a path through the wall so the two parts could be joined. 

Sensing the weakness around him, Ari ran forward with renewed urgency.  The adult Hawk was losing strength and vitality. Soon it would be too late.

Memories of a life Ari could only wish to have touched and caressed him as he moved forward. Seducing him with bittersweet poignancy, memories impeded him, but he ran on.

Playmates his own age raced around him with happy shrieks. His own people surrounded him with love and respect. Hawk’s people, Ari reminded himself. Hawk’s people and Hawk’s memories. I am alone. I have only One.

Koori. Koori laughing, Koori smiling, Koori weeping. All the Koories of Hawk’s memory. The wonder of holding Koori in his arms. The despair of watching Koori die in his arms.

His people lying dead upon the ground filled him with anger and desolation.

New memories came, but the desolation remained.

Buck stood between Hawk holding an injured Koori and a group of evil humans. “Go on, Hawk. Get Koori to the healer. They only want me. Go on.”

Wilma smiling with compassion and humor. Other human faces filled with friendship.

Buck stands before a tribunal demanding that Hawk’s life be spared.

The human cheers and happiness when he was spared.

The Searcher explodes around him.  Hawk and Wilma are pinned by debris. Buck pulls a beam off Hawk who begs him,  “Never mind me. Help Wilma.”

Enemy soldiers marching toward them, Buck and Hawk stand side by side, their energy weapons drawn, while behind them Wilma ushers several family groups of Adrin refugees.  Buck shouts to Wilma, “Get them to the shuttle, we’ll hold the Dron back as long as we can.”

Ari paused in thought as he remembered Buck saying, “I want you to call One. Tell it I want to be regressed tonight. I’ll keep it busy while you work with Hawk.”

The one great truth that One did not understand but must understand stood stark and pure and beautiful before him.

He forced himself forward. 

Just beyond, Hawk lay silent upon a catafalque in their people’s ceremonial robe for the dead.  Ari gave a cry of despair. “No, you cannot be dead.”

He pressed his ear to Hawk’s chest. A faint heartbeat. But so cold, so terribly cold.

Shivering, he lifted his brother at the shoulders and embraced him to warm him with his own body heat. “Do not leave me. Please do not leave me. I need you. Take my life force. Share my life force. I give it freely. Do not die. I need you so much.”

As his warmth flowed to Hawk, color returned to his brother’s face, his heartbeat strengthened, and his breathing deepened.

How could he wake Hawk?

Fairy tales are the keys to the consciousness his father had once said. They would be the key now. But what fairy tale? Sleeping Beauty? No.

Magic. The naming of names. He must say Hawk’s true name, and he would awaken. But what was his true name? All his names were true.

“Grin, Peregrine, Hawk, Brother.” He repeated the names again slowly with wistfulness touching the last name. Hawk stirred.

No longer holding him, Ari was now held. Comforted, he wept against Hawk’s chest sharing his long loneliness and his past with Hawk as he had shared Hawk’s  past.

After peace touched him, Hawk spoke, “Brother.”

Ari straightened and wiped away his tears. “I am Ari.  I am half  human, and  I may not be your brother. I cannot be certain. If I am, I am defective. I would not be your brother then.”

“Whatever you are, whoever you are, you are my brother,” Hawk said gently.

“Thank you. Are you well enough to travel? We must return to the wall. If we do not breach it soon, One will destroy you completely.”

Hawk swung off the catafalque and stood up. Ari noticed with a start that he now wore the black clothing he had on the first day instead of the burial robe.

“I am weak, but with your help...”  

He placed his arm over Ari's shoulder, and Ari steadied him by wrapping his arm around his  waist. “We had better hurry. We run out of the time your friend Buck paid so dearly for.”

Drawing upon the strength Ari shared, Hawk traveled backwards through his past. Only his memories of Koori slowed and finally stopped him.

Ari tugged him ineffectually. “Come on.  We cannot stop. We do not have the time.”

“But Koori,” Hawk said wistfully. “So real, so alive here.”

“If your adult self dies, she will die again. All of your memories of her will be erased. It will be as if she never existed, never loved you.”

Hawk closed his eyes and turned away reluctantly. “Lead me on.”

Reaching the wall, they stopped, and Hawk stared at the enormous stones. “What do we do now?”

“I am not certain. I hoped you would be the key to make the wall fall, but nothing happens. Try saying ‘Open Sesame’ to the wall.”  He shrugged.  “A human fairy tale solution.”

Hawk spoke to the wall, “Open Sesame.” The wall remained whole.

“Well, it was worth a try. Let us climb over. If we reunite you with your past self, the two of you may be joined again. I will help you climb.”

As they neared the wall, Hawk fell heavily to his knees pulling Ari down with him and slumped against him. “My strength is gone.”

Ari moaned in despair. They had been so close, but One had come.

Humming and twittering angrily, One blocked their path to the wall.  

Hawk’s life force began to fade. 

Hatred for One touched Ari for the first time. “No,” he screamed. “You cannot have Hawk.  I will die first.”

He began to give Hawk his own life force as One’s presence drained his brother’s. Lightheaded, no longer having the strength to hold Hawk upright, he let him sink to the ground.

Hawk’s eyes fluttered open, and he gazed up at him. “Ari, let me die. Please do not do this. Let me die. Go back and help my friends. They need you. Please, Brother, help my friends. Let me die. Save yourself.”

Ari drooped above him. “No. I hold my ground. If One sees I am determined to die with you, it may give up. It does not want me to die.”

“It does not understand what is happening. Please.” Hawk caressed Ari's face.

“I learned something from you and your friends. I learned that there are some things and some people more valuable than your own desires and even your own life. You are more important to me than life. That is one thing One has never learned.  I will not give in. This is as good a way to die as any. At least I am not alone.”

Hawk’s hand dropped, and he fainted.

Ari lay down against him, savoring their closeness.

“Ari,” whispered a voice like hundreds of wind chimes.  Until now the voice had always been beautiful. 

“Yes, One.”              

“Do not die.”   

“I have no choice.”           

“I am lonely, Ari.  I am alone.”            

“I have always been alone. You never understood that.”

“I understand now. Your words/thoughts to your brother have touched me. I free you. Your brother and his friend are whole now. I free all of you. Farewell.” One was gone.

Ari looked up. The wall had disappeared.

Slumping against Hawk, he laughed weakly. He’d won but too late. His life force and Hawk’s were almost gone.  Blackness touched him, and he collapsed.

#

Buck and Wilma walked slowly toward Searcher's Sick Bay. Wilma watched Buck with concern. “Are you certain you’re up to this visit, Buck? This is your first day out of bed.”

“Motherhood’s gone to your head, Wilma. It’s been over a week since those balloons tap danced across my brain. I’m fine.”

“You’re certainly in better shape than Hawk and Ari. In a deep coma for four days.”

“What about the balloon?”

“It’s still there. It just hangs over Ari without a hum or twitter.  Dr Goodfellow believes the way it phases in and out during transfers allows it to travel vast distances to Ari as long as their psychic connection remains, and the kid can talk as comfortably with it now as he did on the planet.”  Wilma shrugged.  “If we ever get out of range, it would surprise me.”

“I guess he’s stuck with the damn thing, then.  My head twinges just thinking about that creature. I don’t remember much about my journey to the fountain of youth except enormous pain.”

“I’m almost sorry I never met your younger self.  Hawk was a sweet little boy.  What were you like?”

“Mom said I was a real brat.  Hard to believe since I turned out so well.”

“Yes, it is hard to believe.”

Buck looked surprised at her easy agreement.  “You must be humoring the invalid.”

“Yes, I am.”  Wilma grinned. 

“What did Hawk say about that information you found in Ari’s derelict ship?”

“Very little. He said that he didn’t care what I found. It didn’t matter to him. As far as he’s concerned, Ari is his brother. He won’t discuss or consider any other possibility.”

Buck smiled. “I don’t blame Hawk. I would be proud to call Ari brother. The kid really came through for us all.”

“I guess you’re right. Still, if Ari’s family were from somewhere besides Throm, it would mean that other avians are out there somewhere.”

“Ari’s ship gave no clues, and Ari doesn’t know. Let’s forget it. Hawk’s right. We should accept the kid at face value. If Hawk accepts him as his brother, we should too.”

Arriving in the Sick Bay, Buck and Wilma entered a small isolation chamber. Hawk sat in a chair by Ari’s bed talking quietly to Ari who lay in bed. One of the balloon creatures floated silently above the younger avian.

After the greetings died down, Wilma forced a not unwilling Buck into a chair and sat down herself at the edge of Ari's bed. Keeping an uneasy eye upon the balloon, she examined her friends. “You all look much better. I think you’ll live.”

“I did not believe that I would ever waken, especially not to a whole new world.” Grinning, Ari motioned around him.

Buck chuckled. “You’ve only seen the Sick Bay. When you get your strength, Hawk, Wilma, and I will show you the Searcher and more planets than you can possibly imagine.”

“I look forward to that. You promised me, Wilma, that you would tell me what happened with One when I was recovered. I am recovered enough.”

“There is little to tell. About half an hour after you went after Hawk, One came from Buck to you and Hawk. It was very angry and more than a little frightened for you, I think. It forced me from the room. I checked on Buck who was still unconscious. After a bit, One just disappeared. You and Hawk were nearly dead. I could do nothing to help you.”

Wilma paused remembering her grief and helplessness. “I heard a strange humming and went outside to investigate.  One had returned our three ships. They stood in a row before the house with your parents’ ship beside them. My fighter was operative so I called the Searcher for medical help and rescue. The ship came soon after. We got you three aboard and left the planet at flank speed.

“After hearing about One, the Admiral was more than happy to put a lot of space between us and that planet. We were afraid One would change its mind and bring us back. We were upset when the balloon appeared above you a day after we thought we were out of range.”

Buck gazed warily at the balloon. “Is it sick?”

“No,” Ari said, “it conserves energy. It has some difficulty being so far away from the rest of itself. One sent Fluffy to check on me. It was worried.”

“You are recovering,” Hawk said. “Why does it not leave?”

The boy lowered his eyes guiltily. “One is lonely. It wants to stay. I did not have the heart to send it away. It will cause no harm. Please help me convince the humans to let it stay. It is so lonely. You and both know what a horrible thing loneliness is.”

Hawk clasped Ari’s hand. “You and I both know loneliness. If it has no harm, I will help you.”

Ari smiled happily. “Glow will replace Fluffy at times, but only one will be here at a time. It will stay with me and protect me. It will not harm our friends.”

Wilma wondered aloud, “Is it a good idea to let it know so much about us? It will learn our planets, our peoples, and our strengths.”

“If it wished to conquer, the ship would have been taken by now,” Hawk said. “The more it learns of others, the less we need fear One. Just by knowing Ari, One has matured remarkably.”

Ari gazed at Hawk with open adoration. “Just by knowing you and your friends, Ari has matured remarkably. One proved that it was worthy of a place with other peoples when it freed us. Our father said that the mark of a mature society or individual was an act of great self-sacrifice. I did not understand that and neither did One. Now we both do.”

“The scientists aboard are quite eager to talk with One,“ Wilma said.  “Dr. Goodfellow is excited, even for him. They want you to translate for it. They hope to discover a mechanical translator in place of training infants.”

 “We can safely assume that One’s balloon and Ari will be considered valuable new ship’s company,” Buck said.

“Thank you,” Ari said shyly. “I don’t want to leave Hawk.”

Hawk spoke quietly but with deep feeling, “Hawk will never leave Ari.”

Wilma gazed at her friends who were all exhausted just from conversation. “I think you all should get some rest now. Sit back quietly for a bit. We can talk later.”

“A perfect idea,” Buck said. “How about a bedtime story, Ari.  ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears?’  Do you remember it, Hawk?”

Hawk glanced at Wilma then looked away as if embarrassed.  “I remember my second youth vaguely. I was happy and well-cared-for.”

“You were a good kid. With Ari’s help and Buck’s, it was easy being a good adrian. ‘Adrian’ is your people’s word for mother?”

Ari laughed. “No. you have made a mistake. Adrian was my human mother’s name. Hawk and I have different mothers, the same father.”

Buck and Wilma shared startled yet pleased glances.

“About the story, Ari,” Buck said.

“Certainly, Buck.  But one thing first.  What is a bear?”

THE END