“Let me try it again,” Jacque said. “It’s two lines from a poem: ‘I haven’t seen the Eastern Hill for a long time/How many times has the rose flowered?”
“That seems to be accurate,” Ch’ing said. “It is a poem, a well-known poem by Li Po:
Pu chien Tung S/ian chiu
Ch’iang-wei chi tu hua.
The first two lines of the poem, that is.”
“You thought it in Chinese?” Jacque said. “Yes,” Ch’ing said.
The five of them stood on the river bank for most of an hour, experimenting. They rejected the first notion, Jacque’s, that the creature simply worked better with men than with women. Trying to communicate “hard” data such as Social Security numbers and birth dates, they soon deduced the simple truth: sensitivity of telepathic reception decreased according to how many people had touched the creature before you.
Thus Ch’ing was most sensitive, followed by Jacque, then Carol, Tania, and Vivian, in that order. Ch’ing could read any of them like a book (though actual words came to him in Chinese unless there were no precise equivalent to the English); Vivian received only vague impressions and occasional words. She could get about half the digits in a Social Security number.
“Obviously,” Tania said, “it’s worth departing from our schedule for a day or two to look for more of these creatures.” She suggested they form a line out from the bank, facing the current underwater, with their lights on. They would be able to see the creatures swimming by if they passed within a meter or two.
Ch’ing stayed out of the water to guard “his” creature, while the other four splashed in to find their own.
They talked excitedly for a while, then settled into staring at the bright ochre blankness. Time passed very slowly. It was an event of great interest when a bubble or fragment of twig drifted within Jacque’s field of view. He was content, though; there were a lot of things to sort out. He tried to recall each separate link he had made during the course of the past hour’s experimentation.
A soft chime told him it was time to eat. He wasn’t especially hungry, but was glad to have something to do. The food tube snaked up in front of him and he sucked on it: texture and flavor of mashed potatoes and gravy, but too bland. Then something like an inoffensive mixture of carrots and peas. He wished for a saltshaker. At least the fluids tube gave him a measured amount of red wine.
Now if there were only some way to smuggle in an after-dinner cigar.
Jacque overheard Carol ask Ch’ing whether he would like to try, in the interests of science, an experiment in intimate biological communication, once they got back to Earth with the creature (that being yet another thing you couldn’t do inside a GPEM suit). He said he would be delighted and honored.
Jacque did recognize that the wave of jealousy he felt was both unfair and irrational.
After two hours of immersion, which seemed much longer, Tania said they might as well give it up; continue with the survey. Perhaps their presence had frightened the creatures away or, as Vivian suggested, the one that Ch’ing caught had sent out a telepathic warning to the others.
They asked Ch’ing his opinion and got no answer.
While they were scrambling out of the water, Tania called for a readout from Ch’ing’s biometrics system. Everything seemed normal except for brain waves: a slight wiggle in theta; no activity at any other level.
Before they reached him, an alarm went off and the following information was projected on her viewplate:
EMERGENCY
ALL VITAL FUNCTIONS HAVE CEASED IN
GPEM 2 EMERGENCY MEASURES IN EFFECT
UNDIAGNOSED GPEM MALFUNCTION
NO RESPONSE 21:33:00
NO RESPONSE 21:33:05
NO RESPONSE 21:33:10
NO RESPONSE 21:33:15
NO RESPONSE 21:33:20
NO RESPONSE 21:33:25
NO RESPONSE 21:33:30
DEATH DUE TO CARDIAC ARREST
DEATH PRECEDED BY ABRUPT CESSATION OF MENTAL ACTIVITY
DEATH DUE TO UNDIAGNOSED GPEM MALFUNCTION
13 – Insurance Manual
(From Salesman’s Quick Reference to Occupations, Hartford Insurance Company, Inc., Hartford, CT, 2060:)
Occupation: Tamer
Recommendations:
No new policies to be issued. Outstanding policies, contracted for previous to current employment, not to be extended.