Pompods

17

Elder Ino walked around the lake as he looked at the ship. He observed its incredible features and wondered what the intent for some of the protrusions at one end were meant to do.

He finally decided to rest at what he gathered was the front of the ship, but since its features still remained ambiguous, there was always the possibility that he was staring at its backside.

The lake's size had shrunk again by half and yet he was still a fair distance away from the ship. Its depth had also dropped away dramatically, yet even so, Elder Ino felt that he was only observing half of the ship.

A small ramp could now be seen exiting into the lake. Memees traveled up and down it tirelessly each day from sunrises to sunsets. They would always stop and gather each day on the ships highest point to watch the final rays disappear over the mountains before they left the ship for the night.

It was still early enough in the morning that most in the village had yet to awaken. Yet here were Memees furiously working away at assembling the ship.

"What do you think will happen once they've completed it?"

Elder Ino turned to see Baru walking down the dry lakebed. His Memee companion casually perched upon his shoulder with its little leaf tote slung around its tiny frame in the same manner as Baru's.

"I see your companion is still quite adamant about staying by your side."

"Yes, it is quite unusual for them to stay around one individual for any length of time. But I can say that I am quite happy this little one has decided to become my companion," he said as he gently caressed the tiny creature's belly with his finger and caused it to gurgle pleasantly. "I will gladly enjoy its company for as long as it wishes to accompany me."

"Have you been able to gather more insight from the journals?"

"As of yet, no more than we already knew. But I am certain that there is a connection somewhere that will help us. Although it has enlightened us about our pasts, there are still many questions left unanswered."

"Yes..." said Elder Ino as he trailed off for a moment. His gaze returned to the ship as Baru sat down to take up a space beside him. "One wonders if what happened in the past has anything to do with why the Memees are reconstructing the ship now."

"And if so, has that anything to do with the tremors we've been experiencing. I've been wondering if perhaps they are aware of what is happening, but are unable to communicate that reason with us."

They watched as Baru's companion dropped to the lakebed and started gathering small pebbles until it had gathered enough and made a large pile.

"Perhaps they have decided to finally leave us after all this time," said Elder Ino after handing a pebble to the tiny creature he'd been holding unawares. "You did find out that they were originally part of the ship, did you not?"

"Yes, they seem to have been the ships intellect, for lack of a better understanding. There are still many terms used in the journals that I could only guess as to their true meaning," replied Baru as he dislodged a pebble near his foot. "One thing is certain, the gemstone that we use were once part of that ship."

Elder Ino's bemused expression revealed a sliver of his inner concerns. "There are so many pieces to this puzzle left unanswered. This ship, the Memees, the gems..." he said, his voice trailing off as the Memee interrupted him to dislodge a stone that rested under his foot.

"And what of Oku? I've just heard about his resonating with the gems in the storeroom," said Baru as his concern mirrored those of Elder Ino.

"What concerns me more is the gem embedded within him. Even thou I've reassured the council that we are safe, there is still a part of me that is still deeply worried about him and why the Memees seem to gather so carelessly around him."

"I've often wondered if they did not have a hand in what happened to him."

"Pop!" sounded Baru's companion. Its little arms and head swayed in the air, reminiscent of the dance they once did around Oku's pod so many cycles ago.

"And I'm sure you were a part of that little scene, weren't you?" Baru queried his little companion.

"Pop! Pop!" it sounded as it continued gathering stones. It gurgled every so often towards a stone it deemed unworthy before tossing it away.

"If only we understood them, it could resolve many questions," said Elder Ino as he watched the ship.

They watched silently as Memee after Memee traversed up the ship's ramp with variously sized pieces as others walked into the lake to retrieve more. Still others could be seen diving from the highest points of the ship as others lay floating upon the lake's surface to soak in the suns rays.

As if both had been hypnotized by the activities on the ship, Baru's companion popped loudly to grab their attention.

They watched it proudly display the stones it had carefully stacked to form the rough shape of a sphere. All the stones where darkly hued except for one reddish pebble that it had perfectly balanced atop the others.

It danced briefly around the stone sphere, waved its little arms in the air as it bobbed its head towards the stones. After completing a full orbit around the sphere, it started to bounce near the stones. Each bounce caused it to vibrate until the stones were about to topple when it grabbed the small red one and threw it towards the lake where it disappeared under the water's surface.

"Nicely done little one," said Elder Ino as he patted it on the head.

"Yes, good job catching that little stone before the whole thing fell apart," said Baru.

If Memees had a face in the traditional sense, it would have had a stunned look upon it.

It slapped itself in the middle of its head with one little fin, hung its head for an instant and then proceeded to gurgle and pop exuberantly. It bounced around for a few moments before frantically waving its tiny arms at the both of them. Finally it forcefully expelled air and propelled itself back onto Baru's shoulder where it slapped him on the cheek once, pointed towards the ship before crossing its arms as best it could and turned its back on the both of them.

Elder Ino giggled briefly as Baru stifled himself from laughing, worried that he might further upset his tiny companion. "I think we seem to have missed the intent of that routine," he said as he tried to contain himself.

"I believe you might be right," replied Elder Ino as he leaned over to regard this seemingly unique Memee. "Whatever it is trying to tell us is now quite obviously important and has some relevance to what the rest of its kin are doing."

"In that case I should return to the journals and see if I can make some progress on understanding them better," said Baru as he stood to leave. He attempted to gently rub his companion's belly only to have his hand slapped away.

He could still hear Elder Ino laughing as he exited the dry lakebed.