15. AN UNTOUCHABLE LESSON

Advice from the native life of Terraful

Outside the main portal to the various habitations and work places of the only human population on Terraful the sky was a radiant blue with hardly a cloud marring its monochrome perfection. The blue Savannah stretched for as far as the eye could see in every direction and a stream, nearby, gurgled along whilst an Untouchable greeted them with a spout of rainbow water.

“Very good,” murmured Zoz in response to the visual message. “I wish I could radiate their language, but I can’t,” he added, “but I have learned to understand it whilst enjoying the odd hour or two fishing.”

“You can read the lights?” asked an amazed Pul.

“They’re a lot more than lights, they’re an entire and very subtle language,” Zoz told him, somewhat sharply. “The Untouchables evolved on Terraful countless millions of years ago and we are guests here and can be easily removed by them if they decide we offer any kind of threat to any one of their long standing conventions.”

“I know all that,” muttered Din irritably, “but what does the creature say?”

“You must never refer to the Untouchables as creatures!” snapped Zoz. “They are the prime movers on this planet and must always be respected! Their main habitat is under the flowing waters of the streams that bisect the blue plains of Terraful until they flow to the central purple plains, where they are evaporated by the heat of their sun, and so there are no oceans unless the purple vegetation that gives the huge central plain its name can be called one, for it is flooded at its edge and the waters slowly evaporate and drift as clouds of vapour to the southern continental shelf where they fall as endless storms of warm rain, some of which get blown as far North as this when conditions are right. The water, as you know, is then somehow, and we don’t understand this natural phenomenon, forced between layers of porous rock until it emerges in this Northern hemisphere as steams for the Untouchables and their symbiotic foshes to live in.”

“Yes, yes, we’ve learned all that already!” growled Din.

“Then you had better be absolutely sure there’s not one detail of it that you’ve forgotten,” snapped Zoz, “for if you offend an Untouchable the entire population of humanity may well be ejected from Terraful, and as you may well be aware, there’s nowhere else for us to go. The two moons are lifeless and airless. There are no other habitable planets on this system. We are trapped here, and I believe this to be highly unlikely considering how long has elapsed since the Trumpsters denials and subsequent ecological collapse, until we get a message that we can return to a revitalised Earth.”

“Remind me of their caves,” suggested Els, rather timidly, “I think I was unwell when you covered that part of their life cycle in class.”

Zoz nodded, pleased that at least one of his three students was showing some sense. “They have caves in which they emerge from the endless trickle of the streams. There are vast subterranean pools where they rest and enjoy family lives. Don’t be fooled, though, they may look like blind and stupid monsters, but that’s deceptive. They are extremely intelligent and have what we refer to as 20/20 vision, even in the dimmest of dim lights. They cultivate their foshes, which forms the basis of their diet, and we would do very well indeed if we left well alone. The Untouchable that communicated with me as we came out of the main portal told me that there may be a storm from the South venturing this far North and that if that happens we will need to seek shelter or be swept away. It may be, therefore, that we won’t have long on the surface for secret debate.”

“What was it you wanted to tell us?” asked Els.

“It is my belief that the Wise Council has lost its marbles,” murmured Zoz, “for it instructed me to destroy your ex class-mates, Fil and Cun. And that goes against everything in my character. I fear there is only one thing open for me to do and that is approach my colleagues and form a group that will locate the Wise Council and repair it. It may even need to be reprogrammed, and all this must be done before Michaelmas.”

“Why then?” asked Din.

“You must know that it is the Wise Council that produces the birth pills, and without such things the waters of Terraful will be an endless contraceptive and the rate of human births on the planet will drop to zero.” Zoz looked scared as he said that. “We have been instructed by the past to prepare our race for the future,” he said obliquely, “and we’ll never do that if our population disappears for ever.”

“How many humans are there on Terraful?” asked Pul, giving voice to a question he’d wanted answering for some time.

“There are you five, being three plus the other two,” murmured Zoz, “and maybe half a dozen more groups of five. Then there is the manufactury at Clingle, but that has been completely automated for at least a century. And that’s about it for your generation. There are the parents and grandparents, too, half a dozen priests and their prostitutes, and not many more odds and ends. Not many people, to tell the truth, and not enough to easily suffer the loss of two young fems approaching their Michaelmas.”

“I thought it was a bustling place!” said Din slowly, “why have we been deceived?”

Zoz shrugged. “It was not done deliberately,” he replied obliquely, “but that is not important. Not now. We, and I include you in this, must locate the soul of the Wise Council and do what is necessary to put it straight.”

“And where is that soul?” asked Els.

“There was a vessel that brought us to Terraful,” Zoz told them, “and the soul is inside that. It is buried inside our complex and quite ancient by now. I’ve lost count of how many generations have elapsed since our forefathers landed here.”

“I thought you knew everything to do with history,” muttered Din sarcastically.

“I specialise in pre-history,” murmured Zoz, “and I fear that it is from pre-history we must learn, or else we will die out on Terraful and that may well be the end of all human life in the entire Universe.”

“Then let’s do something,” suggested Els.

Zoz was about to tell her to be patient because what they tried to do was the most important thing any human on Terraful had tried to do, but he was stopped as a sudden roar and squall and downpour of unexpected rain from a sky suddenly turned charcoal grey crashed into them and all but knocked them off their feet.

An untouchable flashed its rainbow waterspout at them.

“I did warn you,” read Zoz.

© Peter Rogerson 25.04.19