Rama 3 – The Garden of Rama by Clarke, Arthur C.

the Earth,

“The north side of the colony, between die villages, is reserved for farming. Farm buildings have been constructed here, along the road that connects the two northern towns. You will grow most of your food in mis area. Between the food supplies that you have brought with you and the synthetic food stored in the tall silos three hundred meters north of this building, you should be able to feed two thousand humans for at least a year, maybe eighteen months if waste is kept at a minimum. After that you are on your own. It goes without saying that farming, including the aquaculture that has been allocated to the eastern shores of Lake Shakespeare, will be an important component in your life in New Eden. …”

To Kenji, the briefing experience was like drinking out of a fire hose. The Lincoln biot kept the information rate exceedingly high for ninety mintues, dismissing all ques-

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tions either by saying “That’s outside my knowledge base” or by referring to the page and paragraph numbers in the Basic Guidebook to New Eden mat he had handed out. Finally mere was a break in the briefing and everyone moved to an adjacent room, where a drink that tasted like Coca-Cola was served.

“Whew,” said Terry Snyder as he wiped his brow, “am I the only one who is saturated?”

“Shit, Snyder,” replied Max Puckett with an impish grin. “Are you saying you’re inferior to that goddamn robot? He sure as hell ain’t tired. 1 bet he could lecture all day.”

“Maybe even all week,” mused Kenji Watanabe. “I wonder how often these biots need to be serviced. My father’s company makes robots, some of them exceedingly complex, but nothing like this. The information content in that Lincoln must be astronomical.”

“The briefing will recommence in five minutes,” the Lincoln announced. “Please be prompt.”

In the second half of the briefing the various kinds of biots in New Eden were introduced and explained. Based on their recent studies of the previous Raman expeditions, the colonists were prepared for the bulldozer and other construction biots. The five categories of human biots, however, elicited a more emotional response.

“Our designers decided,” the Lincoln told them, “to limit the physical appearances of the human biots so that there could be no question of someone mistaking one of us for one of you. I have already listed my basic functions—all the other Lincolns, three of whom are now joining us, have been identically programmed. At least originally. We are, however, capable of some low level of learning that will allow our data bases to be different as our specific uses evolve.”

“How can we tell one Lincoln from another?” asked one bewildered member of the scouting party as the three new Lincolns circulated around the room.

“We each have an identification number, engraved both here, on the shoulder, and again here, on the left buttock.

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This same system is employed for the other categories of human biots. I, for example, am Lincoln 004. The three that just entered are 009, 024, and 071.”

When the Lincoln biots left the briefing room, they were replaced by five Benita Garcias. One of the Garcias outlined the specialties of her category—police and fire protection, farming, sanitation, transportation, mail handling—and then answered a few questions before they all departed.

The Einstein biots were next. The scouts erupted with laughter when four of the Einsteins, each a wild, unkempt, white-haired replica of the twentieth century scientific genius, walked into the room together. The Einsteins explained that they were the engineers and scientists of the colony. Their primary function, a vital one encompassing many duties, was to “ensure the satisfactory working of the colony infrastructure,” including of course the army of biots.

A group of tall, jet-black female biots introduced themselves as the Tiassos, specializing in health care. They would be the doctors, the nurses, the health officials, the ones who would provide child care when the parents were not available. Just as the Tiasso portion of the briefing was ending, a slight Oriental biot with intense eyes walked into the room. He was carrying a lyre and an electronic easel. He introduced himself as a Yasunari Kawabata before playing a beautiful, short piece on the lyre.

“We Kawabatas are creative artists,” he said simply. “We are musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, writers, and sometimes photographers and cmematographers. We are few in number, but very important for the quality of life in New Eden.”

When the official briefing was finally over, the scouting party was served an excellent dinner in the large hall. About twenty of the biots joined the humans at the gathering, although of course they did not eat anything. The simulated roast duck was staggeringly authentic, and even the wines could have passed the inspection of all but the most learned enologists on Earth.

Later in the evening, when the humans had grown more comfortable with their biot companions and were pep-

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pering them with questions, a solitary female figure appeared in the open doorway. At first she was unnoticed But the room quieted quickly after Kenji Watanabe jumped up from his seat and approached the newcomer with an outstretched hand.

“Dr. des Jardins, I presume,” he said with a smile.

10

hespite Nicole’s assurances that everything in New Eden was completely consistent with her earlier remarks on the video, Commander Macmillan refused to allow the Pinta passengers and crew to enter Rama and occupy their new homes until he was certain there was no danger. After returning to the Pinta, he conferred at length with ISA personnel on Earth and then sent a small contingent headed by Dmitri Ulanov into Rama to obtain additional information. The chief medical officer of the Pinta, a dour Dutchman named Darl van Roos, was the most important member of Ulanov’s team. Kenji Watanabe and two soldiers from the first scouting party also accompanied the Russian engineer.

The doctor’s instructions were straightforward. He was to examine the Wakefields, all of them, and certify that they were indeed humans. His second assignment was to analyze the biots and categorize their nonbiological features. Everything was accomplished without incident, although Katie Wakefield was uncooperative and sarcastic during the examination. At Richard’s suggestion, an Ein-

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stein biot took apart one of the Lincolns and demonstrated, at a functional level, how the most sophisticated subsystems worked. Deputy Ulanov was duly impressed.

Two days later the voyagers from the Pinta began moving their possessions into Rama. A large cadre of biots helped with the unloading of the spacecraft and the movement of all the supplies into New Eden. The process took almost three days to complete. But where would everyone settle? In a decision that would later have significant consequences for the colony, almost all of the three hundred travelers on the Pinta elected to live in the Southeast Village, where the Wakefields had made their home. Only Max Puckett and a handful of farmers, who moved directly into the farming region along the northern perimeter of New Eden, decided to live elsewhere in the colony.

The Watanabes moved into a small house just down the lane from Richard and Nicole. From the very beginning Kenji and Nicole had had a natural rapport and their initial friendship had grown with each subsequent interaction. On the first evening that Kenji and Nai spent in their new home, they were invited to share a family dinner with the Wakefields.

“Why don’t we go into the living room? It’s more comfortable there,” Nicole said when the meal was completed. “The Lincoln will clear the table and take care of the dishes.”

The Watanabes rose from their chairs and followed Richard through the entryway at the end of the dining room. The younger Wakefields politely waited for Kenji and Nai to go first, and then joined their parents and guests in the cozy living room at the front of the house.

It had been five days since the Pinta scouting party had entered Rama for the first time. Five amazing days, Kenji was thinking as he sat down in the Wakefield living room. His mind quickly scanned the kaleidoscope of jumbled impressions mat were as yet unordered by his brain. And in many ways this dinner was the most amazing of all. What this family has been through is incredible.

“The stories you have told us,” Nai said to Richard and Nicole when everyone was seated, “are absolutely astonishing. There are so many questions I want to ask, I

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don’t know where to start. . . . I’m especially fascinated by this creature you call the Eagle. Was he one of the ETs who built the Node and Rama in the first place?”

“No,” said Nicole. “The Eagle was a biot also. At least that’s what he told us, and we have no reason not to believe him. He was created by the governing intelligence of the Node to give us a specific physical interface.”