Hawke, Simon Time Wars 2 The Shapechanger Scenario

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You
see, my marriage to Tyla isn't quite the same thing as a human marriage,
which
is not to say that I regard it as anything less. But it's a different sort of
relationship.
"By our human standards, I'm not legally married to Tyla, since it was a
tribal
marriage. And in any case, there's certainly been no legal precedent. The
situation poses an ideal opportunity to observe at close hand the customs and
lifeway of an alien species. If I weren't an ethical man, then once I was
finished with my studies, I could easily leave and not feel in any way bound
by
the tribal ceremony. However, I recognize that while their marriage customs
are
different from ours, they don't take them any less seriously than we do. I
could
even argue that they take their form of marriage a great deal more seriously
than we take ours, since they bond for life. They'd never understand the
concept
of divorce. But while mating is an important part of their bonding, it's by
no
means an imperative.
"For instance, Tyla's mother is still in the prime of life, yet three of her
husbands are well past their prime. The cycle doesn't come upon them anymore.
One of them is very old, indeed, the senior husband of another marriage whose
matriarch had died. Death of the wife releases a male for remarriage, but in
this case, the male was extremely old, no longer capable of reproduction and
only minimally capable of sharing in the workload. Tyla's mother married him
nevertheless, adopting him, in a manner of speaking, into her marriage.
Rather
like bringing an orphan into the family.
"You see," he continued, "in a sense, the matriarchal structure of the tribes
places every female in a marriage in the role of both wife and mother to her
husbands. Which is not to say that the husbands are necessarily subservient.
Once you've seen a Nomad male, I don't think you could come to that
conclusion.
The wife is not an autocrat. She's treated with the respect and veneration we
might give an elder, the founder of the family- even though she very often is
not the senior in chronological terms. She's the family arbiter. The children
are all held in common within a marriage, sharing all the husbands as
fathers.
Female children within the marriage have a certain share in their mother's
ranking."
Higgins grinned. "Imagine what it's like to court a young woman with six
fiercely protective older brothers and you might have some idea of what it
means
to become involved with a Nomad female, only she might have a dozen or more
fiercely protective brothers and as many fathers. The female has the final
say
in the matter-the mother rarely interferes-but if the males in the family are
all against you, the odds of your being accepted into the marriage are
extremely
small. In fact, if their disapproval is strong enough, you may not even
survive."
"So, apparently, you made a good impression on the relatives," said Breck,
smiling and sipping his wine.
"Well, more specifically, I made a good impression on the tribal matriarch,
Tyla's grandmother. The marriage was really her idea, though Tyla volunteered
for it."
"I don't follow," I said. "You mean your marriage to Tyla was . . . what
would
you call it, arranged? I thought you said the senior females didn't
interfere."
"Normally, they don't, but in this case, it was different. I had established
a
rapport with the tribe over a period of time and Dyla, the tribal matriarch,
called all the females in the tribe together and asked if any of them would
be
willing to accept me into marriage. And it was very much a request, not an
order. Tyla volunteered."
He grinned. "I've always wondered if she was the only one, but she won't tell
me. We both treat the marriage seriously, but we obviously didn't marry for
love. We have respect and affection for each other, but even as I'm observing
them, they're observing me. They've always kept their distance from humans
before, but now it seems they want to learn a little more about us."
"Because they're starting to perceive humans as a threat?" I said.
"Partly," Higgins replied, "but there's another reason, which bears directly
on
your coming here. Their gods have started appearing to them in physical
manifestations, directing them to increase their contact with humans and
learn
more about us."
"Their gods?" said Breck.
"The Nomads have a very spiritual relationship with their environment," said
Higgins. "They worship nature spirits. To put it in our terms, they believe
that
each element in nature has a spirit or a soul-plants, animals, minerals . . .
Well, there have been reports circulating throughout the tribes of nature
spirits manifesting themselves to tribal matriarchs. Animals suddenly
standing
upright and transforming themselves into the aspect of people-tribal people,
that is-speaking to them in their own language and then changing back again
before their eyes."
Breck and I exchanged glances.
"The tribes believe each living thing is possessed of a spirit," Higgins
continued, "and they extend that definition to things we would ordinarily
consider inanimate, such as rocks, water, mist, and the ground itself. To
them,
everything in nature is imbued with 'spirit force.' Their rituals reflect
this
sort of anthropomorphism. However, while they believe that one is capable of
communing with the elements, there is no basis in their spiritual mythos for
a
literal communion, where the spirit forces actually start talking back to
them.
Nor is there any basis in their folklore for manifestations such as I've been
hearing about. And it's not in their nature to lie or exaggerate. I'd already
started having some suspicions and the recent sabotage at the refinery seems
to
confirm them."
He paused, watching us carefully for a reaction. "I think the quarantine of
Draconis 9 has been broken. I believe there are ambimorphs on Purgatory.
Which
means there could be am-bimorphs on the colony worlds, as well. Perhaps even
on
Earth."
Neither Breck nor I said anything.
Higgins refilled our wine glasses, then poured himself another glass, as
well.
"So ... I made my reports through the necessary channels, and forwarded
copies
to the corporate headquarters and Bureau of Extraterrestrial Resource
Management, discreetly voicing my suspicions, and I was told that I'd become
a
raving paranoid, that I've been spending far too much time out in the
wilderness
with the tribes, that I've gone native and started to lose touch with
reality,
and that what I really needed was a long rest. Perhaps even to be relieved of
my
post here and sent back home to recuperate." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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