26
Family and friends are the anchor of civilization. The peace, security, and love that frame the house we live in, the countryside with which we are familiar, those with whom we share our time, form the cornerstone of our lives. There is no greater treasure that we have devised and that we will always embrace than their presence.
—Reverend Agathe Lawless, Sunset Musings, 1312
A half-finished silver tower should have been easy to locate, but it was a big continent, and we had no specific instructions other than just head west and slightly north. Belle’s radio transmissions drew no response.
The ground was mostly covered with what might once have been a single giant city. Forests were few and small. There were no country areas and few waterways. Occasional sections of open ground appeared to have once belonged to oceans and lakes. Whatever the reality, they were obviously in full retreat. We cruised over unending urban structures, passing countless tall buildings. They appeared to be in decent condition, but they were empty.
The sun was in the middle of the sky when Robbi Jo, seated beside me, leaned to her left and pointed out through the wraparound. “There it is.” She was right. We all knew it immediately. The unfinished Silver Tower was a unique structure in a ziggurat style. It stood on a wide base, with parapets on both sides, which gradually, a few stories at a time, grew together into a circular monolith design. And then, probably halfway to its intended height, the construction had stopped. There were other tall buildings, but only a few in the area rose higher, and there was probably nothing that would have approached its altitude had it been completed.
Assembly Hall was presumably the wide circular building with pillars across the street. There was a substantial number of statues out front.
“We’re getting a transmission,” said Belle. “They want to know who we are. Do you wish to go visual?”
Alex was in the passenger cabin. “Not yet, Belle.” He activated the mike. “Hello,” he said. “This is the Belle-Marie. We came across the Lost Mission. They need your assistance.”
After a minute they responded, “Belle-Marie, there is no record of your vehicle. Who are you?”
“We are from a different place. Do you wish to go visual?”
“I don’t know what that means. Yes. Go visual.”
“Be aware we are not Arkos.”
“Go visual.”
“Be aware we look different. Do it, Belle.” The monitor lit up and we were looking at an Arko, whose eyes went wide in shock. He pushed back in his chair and almost fell out of it. He needed a moment to recover. When he did, he asked where we were from.
“We are aliens. From far away. You know about the mission that went to Korella?”
“Wait. Let me get someone.” He waved his right arm, looked to his right, and said, “Over here.” There was a brief delay before somebody else appeared on the monitor.
The replacement also could not avoid staring. He needed a minute to get his feet on the ground. Then: “Who are you? What happened to you?”
“Hello,” said Alex. “We are aliens.”
“Incredible.” Belle explained that she couldn’t translate his one-word response, but she gave it her best try.
“Your people are in serious trouble,” Alex said. “They are dying from a virus. We came to get help.”
The speaker looked as if he’d gotten control of his emotions. “Do you know where Assembly Hall is?”
“Yes. We can see it.”
“Very good. We are located in the Maintenance Center two blocks north of Assembly Hall. There’s a parking lot with a large carved rock globe at the entrance. My office is on the fifth floor.” He showed them five fingers. “I will be waiting for you. My name is Randol. And just so you know, no weapons are allowed in the building.”
I got on the allcomm: “Who’s going down?”
In the end, Alex and Robbi Jo. Hopefully, before it got much later we’d have the directions to Sovol and be on our way.
Robbi Jo took control of the lander. Both she and Alex wore imagers clipped to their shirts, so we could see everything. I watched them descend through a cloudless late afternoon sky and set down in the parking lot. There were a few vehicles, but they were together on the far side. They climbed out, carrying no visible weapons, and turned to look at the sphere. It was set in a brace, about eight meters in diameter. A line of symbols was engraved on it, nothing that Belle could read. Alex took a picture. Then they started toward the front of the building.
“Good luck,” Gabe said.
They climbed a few steps onto a deck. The doors, either glass or plastene, opened automatically. They passed into a lobby, filled with chairs and sofas. A long, curved desk was set against the back wall. It looked like a place that would normally have been busy, but it was empty. Several lamps blinked on, and a male voice came out of nowhere. Belle told us the speaker offered greetings. “The associate director,” the voice continued, “welcomes you to Xachri. Take the elevator to the fifth floor.”
Belle explained that they were being directed to an office number something. “Sorry. I can’t translate the numbers.” Belle spoke to the voice. “Take the elevator,” she said.
Three elevators lined the wall at the far side of the lobby. Each had two buttons with symbols. An Arko came out of a door behind the counter. He spoke, and Belle took up the translation: “Let me assist you.”
He pushed a button beside one of the elevators. It opened, and they all went inside. The doors closed. The Arko looked nervous, but he did what he was supposed to. He pushed another button and they started up. The doors opened and they all got out. The Arko turned left and led them down a corridor with a lot of doors. He selected one, the seventh one on their left, and knocked on it.
It opened into a room with a sofa and three chairs surrounding two large potted plants. Two windows looked out onto the parking area. An Arko sat beside a table, wearing a white pullover shirt and dark slacks. He was trying to appear at ease. He got out of his seat. “Welcome,” he said. “And thank you for trying to help.”
“It’s our pleasure.”
“I’m Randol. What can we do? Where are they?”
Alex introduced himself and Robbi Jo. “They moved to a second world. They’ve been expecting vehicles to bring support, but they have not shown up. And they’re enduring a killer virus.”
“May I ask,” said Randol, “where you are from?”
“A considerable distance, Randol.” Belle quickly explained she didn’t know the proper way to address him. Alex asked for direction.
“ ‘Supervisor Randol’ works fine,” he said. “Or just ‘Randol.’ The title doesn’t matter.”
Alex explained about the lost village and the virus. When he’d finished, Randol pressed his fingertips together. “I’m sorry to hear it. Thank you for bringing us this information. We will act as quickly as we can. We’ve been concerned about the Lost Mission for a long time.”
“Good. They need assistance quickly. They might need to evacuate.”
“We will take care of it.”
“When will that be?”
“As soon as the director gets back.”
“Where is he now?”
“He has taken some visitors for a boat ride on the Kava River. As soon as he returns, I’ll let him know.”
“When will that be?”
“Probably three days. Then he’ll activate one of our vehicles and send it to Sovol to inform them of what has happened. They’ll arrange a recovery mission.”
“Three days? Randol, your people are dying every day. Are you able to communicate directly with Sovol?”
“You mean by radio?”
“By whatever means you have.”
“Alex, a radio transmission will take almost four years to reach them.”
“Can you contact him by radio? The director?”
“The director is a female. And she is on another continent. No, I cannot reach her.”
“Do you know if the Triskuul ever arrived?”
“The Triskuul? What is that?”
“It’s the transport vehicle that took the Lost Mission out somewhere to establish a colony.”
“Okay. I don’t know anything about it. But the last time I looked, they were still just missing.”
“The Triskuul should have returned to Sovol weeks ago.”
He smiled. “We’ll check on it. Anything else you need?”
“Can you locate Sovol for us? Do you know where it is? Just tell us how to find it. Do that and we’ll take care of the rest ourselves.”
“I’m sorry. This is an unusual situation. Please do not be offended, but you are people from another place. I am not empowered to provide the information you want. We will have to wait for the director. I know that is inconvenient, but I have no choice.”
“All right. Let’s try a different approach. You say the director is on a boat somewhere.”
“That is correct. On the Kava River. The river is of historical interest. Several hundred years ago—”
“Let’s save that. Can you tell us where the river is, and where she would be?”
“Again, I apologize, Alex. But I can’t allow you to disrupt the voyage. I’m sorry, but you can’t even prove you’ve actually intersected with the Lost Mission.”
“Look,” Alex said. He dug into his pocket and came out with a plastic card.
Szola’s library card. “Szola is the wife of the colony’s mayor. She gave it to us in case anyone here didn’t believe us.” He handed it to Randol.
Randol glanced at it and gave it back. “Colonies don’t have mayors,” he said. “In any case, I’m sure you have the technology to manufacture one of these.”
“The language is yours.”
“As is your interpreter’s. I’m sorry, but I have work to do. I will contact you when the director gets back.”
“Okay,” said Alex. “That’s enough. You’ve informed us that Sovol is just under four light-years away. It shouldn’t be hard to find.”
Robbi Jo turned so her imager picked up Alex. He got out of his chair, went to one of the windows, and looked out at Assembly Hall. “It’s of historic interest, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“That globe in front of the building. It’s a compelling piece of work. There’s something engraved on it. Can you tell me what it is?”
Randol joined him at the window. “It represents the principle on which we are founded.”
“And what is that?”
“We All Stand Together.”
“Beautiful.”
“It is the heart of our society.”
“Randol, I suspect the disappearance of the people on the Triskuul, and of the Triskuul itself, has gotten a fair amount of attention.”
“I don’t really know. Sovol is another world. It’s a long way from here.”
“Randol, you referred to these people as ‘the Lost Mission.’ ”
“That is correct.”
“They’ve obviously drawn some serious attention.”
“All we know is what we hear from the media.”
“They are dying every day. And you’re forcing us to go hunting for them.”
Robbi Jo broke in: “Something you might want to keep in mind, Randol: the Lost Mission is a big deal. Moreover, I won’t even ask how often you get alien visitors. But we’ll be talking to the media soon. And if the Triskuul never arrived, and people are still dying, you might want to think about how you and your boss are going to look.”
Their guide was waiting outside Randol’s office. They left, took the elevator down, and exited through the front door. Robbi Jo started for the lander, but Alex said something to her that we couldn’t hear, and they changed course and headed toward the globe. They took their time, walking slowly through the parking area. When they reached it, they circled around to the front, although they stayed off to one side so anyone in the Maintenance Center could see them. Then they started taking pictures. Alex took photos of Robbi Jo in front of the globe, and Robbi Jo took photos of Alex. Included in all the pictures was the engraving that read We All Stand Together.
As far as we could tell, neither of them looked up at the fifth-floor windows to see whether anyone was watching. Gabe and I couldn’t see them either. But by then we’d figured out what was going on.
They were in the lander on the way back to the Belle-Marie when they picked up a radio transmission. “Alex?” It was Randol. “We’re getting flight directions to Sovol for you. You’ll have them in a couple of minutes.”