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. All three intelligences hover on the
edge of extinction. The merger of Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls
Society might not only save all three – but become something not even they
could predict. Something entirely new...
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Xiomara; 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)
I was finally loose enough to set off on my own trek. I had
about thirty kilometers to go until I could head back up to the surface.
Retired had said I should be close to the Dunes by then. He’d another surprise,
too. He’d given me directions to a shelter that contained a wing I could use to
fly, combining helium and a small hydrogen jet. Slow, sure, but faster than walking
to Saint Clodoald. Once there, he wanted me to see if I could get the cargo plane
flying or the tank running, or some other thing that could carry us all the way
to Grendl.
I found that if I kept my elbow pressed to my side, I could
almost jog. As I lit out for my rendezvous with the surface, I realized that if
I had secret orders, then everyone else could have secret orders, too.
I just hoped we were all working on the same side, though we
knew that the conjures wouldn’t be…no
idea where the things would crop up.
On the other hand, why would Retired have sent me to get
something so big if we were just going to sneak away by ourselves? He had a
plan. For all of us. For all I knew, he was working with others as well.
We hadn’t heard from the Triad Corporation for months before
we were attacked down in the Cities. They were supposed to have taken care of
us.
But what if Retired was our contact with the Corporation?
What if my great uncle Rion was our contact? Both of them were gone now and
they’d put me – literally – on point. I had to get the transport – the rest of
them would gather the people that would go on the transport.
For a moment, I was blinded as the entire plan came into
sharp view: each Team would gather up a leader of some sort. My guess would be
each Group would gather up some one that would be safe for us to connect with –
allies, I’d hope.
Retired, GURion, and me? If I had the transport, there had
to be someone who would be able to run it. Who? Human allies? There weren’t any
that we know of. It seemed that this whole thing was being run by…well, aliens.
But what about St. Admiral? She’d given her life for the
plan – a plan that was supposed to meld all three societies into one. We’d been
taught that the society the Corporation was hoping for would be a van Der Waals
society.
The name came from a scientist in the 20th
Century who came up with evidence that there was a force that held molecules
together – it wasn’t as strong as ionic and covalent bonds which did their work
by either sharing or giving up or picking up electrons. But it was more subtle
than the others and was the force that let geckos walk on walls, and
nanotechnology, and holding enzymes together, as well as being fundamental to condensed
matter physics. It was both mysterious and incredibly powerful.
That was us. At least that’s what we were supposed to become
– something better than any of the three could be paired or alone.
I kept running, taking breaks for water and some of the protein
bars I had in my hip pack. It wasn’t really long before I reached a branch in
the tunnel. This was my place to get off and go up to the surface. I could
still see my breath – it had been a constant ten degrees C our whole time. The
sleeping room had been warmer, but I also knew it was winter up on top.
That would probably mean snow. I stopped at a ramp I came
to. There were no more branches. The ground just went up. At the foot of the
ramp was a chest which I opened. Boots, pants, a jacket, and a fur-lined hat.
All of them a little big for me, but I tied the boots tight and figured they’d
be fine. From here, Saint Clodoald was about thirty-five kilometers straight
west. I glanced at my chrono. It was still light, but at this time of year, it
would remain so for only another hour. I wasn’t excited about floundering
around in the dark, so I poked around, finding a backpack which I opened.
There was a Kiiote coldlight and I used that to root around
in the bag – it was designed to be held in the mouth – where I found a knife
and a collapsible bottle as well as a small supply of dried food. By then,
sunset was less than a half an hour away. I ran up to the surface and cracked
the door.
Something rammed it, knocking me back, my head slamming against
the wall…
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