Fragments 1: Devolution Landing

Hearing the Story

"Was it worth it?" Elveren asked as they sat in plastic seats of the tiny aircraft.

Marcus Babin turned to her with a rare but genuine smile.

"Oh yes!"

"What did you learn?"

"Well, you may be interested to know that their ancestors almost certainly came from your own little world."

"Oh..." she said with surprise. "How did you work that out?"

He smiled again.

"Well, partly it was from the way they described their heavenly home... They listed the moons and the cities, and the wildlife..."

"But?"

"But mainly it was from the inflexions in their accent and her use of certain Sirian colloquialisms. With a little work, I should be able to turn my new data into a rather definitive paper.”

He tapped a voice recorder he had clipped to his jacket.

"At the very least," he continued. "I'll get enough published words to beat Magbar Fulcit. A very productive morning, I think."

She hoped the young Martian would still feel this after Androbos had vented his anger. Although the professor had kept his peace so far, she had no doubt that he would have a few words to say later.

"What else did you learn?"

"She recited the story of her people. It was in slightly... mythological language but I got the gist. Once I worked out how to ask properly, she just went for it. Quite astonishing really..."

"And?"

"And I'll need to listen back through my recording carefully and make sure I've got everything right. For now, I think it would be enough to say that she confirmed our suspicions about the crash site and the riverside camp. As far as I can tell, they abandoned the camp after two or three generations when they realised it would be impossible to live like Sirians on a world without resources. They made a positive choice to become hunter gatherers and abandoned fixed settlements. It seems to have worked out well for them too..."

"Until now..." she said.

"Yes," he said as his smile slipped. "Until now..."