On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate
not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and
slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes
Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. The Braiders accidentally created a
resonance wave that will destroy the Milky Way and the only way to stop it is
for the Yown’Hoo-Kiiote-Human Triads to build a physical wall. The merger of
Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls Society may produce the Membrane to
stop the wave.
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Kashayla; the smallest canine pack of
Kiiote – six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of
Yown’Hoo – a prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches
away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret
for decades, allowing the two warring people to reproduce and grow far from their
home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we
encountered the Kiiote.”
“And we into internecine war when we encountered the
Yown’Hoo.”
“Yown’Hoo and
Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.”
“Together, we
might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included
Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
Retired looked at him, then looked at me. He stared for a
long time, then finally said, “He’s your family, ‘Car. Do you trust him?”
“Who, me?” I staggered back into ‘Shay. She shoved me
forward. “Why do I have to decide?”
“Like I said.”
I looked at my great uncle, Tim. I’d known him during the
first ten years of my life – well. Since being stitched into the Triad though,
we hadn’t seen each other. I shrugged and said, “I trusted him when I was a
kid.”
“Do you trust me now?” my great uncle said abruptly.
“Trust you ‘now’ for what?” ‘Car said out loud. He was
asking himself the same question and it was deeper than the obvious one – trust
him to lead our Triad, only one of three on Earth, to safety. But the deeper
one had to do with the fact that he was an artificial Human. He had been built
of alien technology after my flesh-and-blood great uncle had died. I said
abruptly, “How did the flesh-and-blood Great Uncle Tim die?”
The plastic-and-metal Great Uncle Tim shrugged totally
Human-looking shoulders and said, “He was killed in a hunting accident.”
“A what?” said Retired.
“In those days, there was an abundance of wildlife that
Humans could capture and eat – it was called ‘game’ for some obscure reason.
The animals were limited and Humans typically ‘hunted’ herbivores. I remember
that my Template said that carnivores tasted ‘strange’.” He shrugged again. “At
any rate, Humans who hunted used slug-throwing devices and scattered pellet
devices. One morning, early, your great uncle was hunting. Oh, I forgot to
mention that even then, Humans imbibed a great deal of alcohol to enhance their
enjoyment of certain activities. Excessive use of alcohol could lead to
anything from the slowing of reflexes to death.” The robot’s Human-looking eyes
looked at me and for a moment, our gazes locked. He shrugged again, turning one
hand palm-up. “I don’t know what they had to drink for then, nor do I
understand the high incidence of alcoholism now.” He turned to look at the Herd
mother, then the Pack Leaders, adding, “I also do not understand how the Yown’Hoo
and the Kiiote, who both possess a cure for this malady, do not freely offer it
to the Humans.”
Qap and Xurf lowered their bodies to the ground.
Dao-hi sheathed her tentacles and stamped once. The rest of the Herd backed away from the robot acting like it was my great uncle Tim.
Then I wondered what it was that had made my great uncle the
man whom I remembered. It wasn’t his construction – flesh and blood or metal
and plastic. It was how he spoke; what he said; even how he stood and what he
thought of me. The robot whom I had thought was the flesh-and-blood great uncle
of my childhood…it stood before me now. I held my breath. What I decided could
help us escape or get us killed.
Either way, the alien robot in front of me acting like it
was Great Uncle Tim hadn’t steered me wrong in the past; my own father had
trusted him; and we were, in fact now hidden from people who obviously wanted us
dead. I said, “I’ll trust you.” The group began to move and froze as I added, “I
also want to know more about my Human great uncle. The truths.”
GU Tim snorted then said, “It’s not all pretty.”
I managed to keep a smirk from my face then said, “It never
is with us Humans.”
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