The Great Council meeting is in two days. I have gone back to my indoor training in the mornings, and I spend my afternoons with Fragrant Flower from Isadora Plain.
\nThe Major\u2019s initiative of taking me up to swim was not appreciated by his hierarchy, who remind him that my body was still breaking in and that each physical activity has to be monitored.<\/p>\n
I came back once to the pendula room. The session was stopped again when I reached the 10th level. My nimbleness is now being tested in combat situations. Dalygarans fight in a particular manner: \u201cYou have to visualize your opponent and neutralize his attack by using all the strength he put into it against him. You can avoid him, throw him away, or immobilize him; on no account should you harm him. This is our code of honor.\u201d
\nThe Major made some of his men come to show me. My learning was facilitated by my anticipation abilities. The exercises became harder and harder, from one-on-one to one against four opponents. The more they were, the faster was I. The session ended when my opponents lined up in front of me and put their right fist in their left hand at their chest level.
\n\u201cIt is a token of respect. They admit your talent. You may answer them by putting your left fist in your right hand if you don\u2019t want to humiliate them.\u201d And so I did, immediately.<\/p>\n
This afternoon, Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe is in charge of me. The High Command has decided I should never be left alone, and Fragrant Flower from Isadora Plain is unavailable as she has to go to her doctor for a routine check.
\nOn today\u2019s agenda, walking in the forest and botany. Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe is inexhaustible. We arrive at a viewpoint on Laurina Mountain, one of the highest of this planet.
\n– Beth, I can feel your trouble.
\n– Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe, you told me the first day that I am going to forget everything when I get back home. I don\u2019t want to forget. I want to remember, all of you, all that I\u2019ve seen here. Your world is so wonderful.
\n– But it\u2019s the law\u2026
\n– What?
\n– I meant, it\u2019s the law of time.
\n– No, no, no, no, no. You said \u201cthe law\u201d. I can feel your trouble now too. Remember: in this body I\u2019m one of you.
\n– Nobody must know that you know.
\n– That I know what?
\n– That we\u2019re going to erase your memory.
\n– I forbid you! All of you! You won\u2019t do anything to my memory.
\n– As I told you: it\u2019s the law. You come from an alpha planet.
\n– And?
\n– Your technology level is far too unequal to any of the planets from this part of the universe.
\n– So? And what is your level?
\n– Gamma. This is the third level. Civilizations can access technology when they are ready to. Earth is not ready to absorb what you\u2019ve seen here.
\n– This story of time differential was just smooth talk then, eh?
\n– I\u2019m afraid it was.
\n– How? How did you dare put it on me like that?
\n– Beth, your arrival was\u2026 unexpected. We had to take quick decisions. We had no idea of who you were. And you\u2019ve chosen to stay\u2026
\n– I didn\u2019t know the consequences.
\n– But I had to offer you a body. It\u2019s what we do for every travelling mind.
\n– How is it possible that I didn\u2019t hear the return signal from Earth?
\n– Felt\u2026
\n– Yes, felt.
\n– Because there wasn\u2019t any.
\n– How is it possible? When I am in another body the bond is broken, isn\u2019t that right? And don\u2019t lie to me this time.
\n– No, it persists. This is what is allowing you to have all these abilities in addition to ours.
\n– And so, what?
\n– We\u2019ve sent somebody inside your body.
\n– What? What have you done?
\n– Don\u2019t be angry. We had to do it. When we understood it was a gas travel unit, we were in a hurry to make sure that your body had a mind inside. You wouldn\u2019t be able to go back before the decision of the Great Council, and if no mind had gone in your place when the gas cut, your body would have been lost forever. You wouldn\u2019t have been able to go back to Earth.
\n– I\u2019ve never talked about gas with you.
\n– We got it from our records. We can access your memories during the acquisition time if necessary. And it was necessary. It was the Major who told me, when I went outside the disembarking room. Do you remember?
\n– Oh, better and better. You\u2019ve got access to my memories. But why don\u2019t you tell me anything?
\n– We didn\u2019t know anything about you. And you were in this body\u2026
\n– Why the hell is this body so special, eh? You know what? I wish I\u2019d never come here!
\nAnd then I saw Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe looking at me with big surprise.
\n– What is it? What happened? Tell me!
\n– You\u2026 literally flashed.
\n– Whatever!
\n– Go under the tree other there, he says with an authoritarian tone.
\nAnd then I am under the tree. A moment later I am near him again.
\n– What\u2019s that?
\n– You\u2019ve activated it. Incredible, you\u2019ve activated it!
\n– I don\u2019t understand anything. Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe, can you explain it to me?
\n– Your body isn\u2019t only a body. It\u2019s a travel unit. Everything is miniaturized and connected so that your body travels like those that do so with our transporters. You dematerialize yourself and rematerialize wherever you want to go.
\n– Are you kidding me?
\n– Oh, no. It\u2019s a prototype. And it seems that you\u2019ve succeeded in making it work.
\n– Oh, and I flashed?
\n– You wished not to be here without giving a destination. The machine didn\u2019t know what to do. You dematerialize and rematerialize at the same place. When I gave you the order to go under the tree, you went under the tree.
\n– Then I wished to talk to you, and I was facing you again.
\n– That\u2019s it. When the Major finds out\u2026
\n– And how are you going to explain it to him? That I was so annoyed about what I\u2019ve just learned \u2013 and that nobody must know \u2013 that I\u2019ve activated the transporter part of the body? They already want my memory to be erased. Do you really think that now they\u2019ll let me go? I am certainly going to have to stay some more days. I like Dalygaran, but I want to go home.\u00a0 I miss my friends and family\u2026 And if I\u2019ve understood correctly, I can do it now. I only need to wish it.
\n– No. I told you, this is a prototype. It can only go on this planet at this time. But that you succeeded in moving within just a few days is a great performance. The Major needed a whole moon long.
\n– The Major? I\u2019m in the Major\u2019s body?
\n– In the prototype he was testing before your arrival.
\n– I know.\u00a0 I understand now why he was so furious. I\u2019ve interrupted the test.
\n– Yes. And we should talk to him.
\n– We\u2019ll talk to him if he admits the stuff about time is a lie.
\n– I don\u2019t know if\u2026
\n– A secret for a secret. Convince him\u2026
\n– You\u2019re impossible. But I agree that trust has to be mutual. I\u2019m going to try to convince him.<\/p>\n
Thereafter, we walked in silence.
\n– It is time to go back now, he says to me after a while.
\nHe looks around him.
\n– Where the hell are you?
\nI appear in front of him briefly and disappear straight away.
\n– Beth, this is not a toy. It\u2019s high technology.
\nI start laughing and he looks up. I am perched in a tree just on his right.
\n– Climb down from there, normal\u2026
\nI materialize beside him.
\n– \u2026ly.
\n– Oh, don\u2019t look at me like that, I say to him. I just have to learn how to control this new feature if I don\u2019t want to activate it accidentally, during my morning sessions.
\n– Oh, dear me! I hadn\u2019t thought of that.
\n– Don\u2019t worry. I don\u2019t understand how it works, but it seems that when I learn something new, I control it quite quickly. It\u2019s as though there were an on\/off button in my head. It\u2019s something I can feel.
\n– You\u2019ve got to be careful if you want to keep it secret. You promise?
\n– I promise! And I swear that I\u2019d never speak of this planet, if I were able to keep my memory. Who would believe me, anyway?
\n– You would do this?
\n– It would save me from being considered insane. The travels as they\u2019re done on Earth aren\u2019t very popular, you know. And there are some people who think that it\u2019s not even real.
\n– Is that so? And what do they think it is?
\n– Hallucinations due to drugs.
\n– Oh!
\n– If I tell all that I\u2019ve experienced here, they would treat me like a liar. I\u2019m not sure even my friends are ready for the idea of a transporter. It\u2019s science fiction to them.
\n– You mustn\u2019t tell them either. Tell nobody.
\n– I know. But your law\u2019s going to erase this secret anyway, isn\u2019t it?
\n– I\u2019m going to see what I can do.
\n– Really?
\n– I can try anyhow.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Great Council meeting is in two days. I have gone back to my indoor training in the mornings, and I spend my afternoons with Fragrant Flower from Isadora Plain. The Major\u2019s initiative of taking me up to swim was… Continuer la lecture