They fell silent, staring at Genevieve.
“The mana you were given, it was the singing of the harbingers’ language, wasn’t it? The voice of the sea?”
Wordlessly, they nodded.
She asked, “How many thousand islands have you settled?”
Two of them glanced at one another, then at Melanie, who sat nearby. She shrugged.
“She didn’t tell me,” murmured Genevieve. “But you dark-skinned people have obviously not interbred with the lighter-skinned ones. There are two types of you, and if one has settled Galul, the other must have settled elsewhere. There should be millions of you islanders, after forty generations.”
“We have settlements on several thousand islands,” First said. “Most of the populations are small, a few thousand. On Earth we were an island people, we have become so again.”
“None of your villages would be evident from space, not even in Galul.”
“You are correct,” said Fourth. “Even there, we stay out of sight of the ships that come in.” She was a slender woman with skin like brown satin.
“Galul was settled by your lighter-skinned people,” Genevieve said. “Who were less well adapted to the sun and the sea.”
“There was another reason,” said Melanie. “Ten of the original keepers’ staff were scientists, six of them so-called white, four so-called asian. The rest of the keepers were sea people, Maori they were called, who actually worked with the creatures.”
First nodded. “There were different skills represented by the two groups, and all the skills were needed. Our ancestors lost much of their equipment and records, and they were not sure whether needed aptitudes would survive if we interbred. Retaining the original types became one of our customs, even after we learned that the skills existed in both groups.
Galul is still occupied mostly by those like Melanie whom we call shell-people, light skins. As you say, they are not as well adapted to the sun and the sea.”
Genevieve nodded. “Which turned out to be a good thing, because when the settlers landed on Haven, they too were light-skinned. You’d have had a hard time penetrating that society if you hadn’t had light-skinned agents. But Stephanie was dark, and though it’s surprising, she managed to penetrate the society of Haven. How long have you been investigating the people of Haven?”
“Only since P’naki,” said Third. “Only since the atrocities.”
“You reacted to stop the Mahahmbi killing your women, but you did nothing about their killing other women. It’s clear you could have done something. You are numerous enough that you could have killed the Mahahmbi who came out into the desert to perform those rituals!”
“But that wouldn’t have stopped it,” objected Second. “People on Haven knew all about the lichen, so we’d have had to kill most of the Mahahmbi and a great many of the Havenites, including many innocent persons. As for killing the lichen, even destroying a small patch of it was difficult, and we’ve found the spores on all the islands of the Stone Path and on the shore cliffs of Haven.” She sighed deeply. “We thought we’d done everything possible, but the spirit doesn’t agree! It agitates. It does not rest.”
Melanie said, “Recently, when we figured out how to procure off-planet equipment, we set up computer models of various approaches we might take—”
“You managed to procure equipment,” interrupted Genevieve, “by planting agents in Havenor and having them falsify purchase orders from the Lord Paramount. You intercepted the shipments when they arrived in Bliggen. You probably have quite a number of agents working in that so-called resort, as well.”
“That’s perfectly true,” snapped First, “and how did you know?”
“My travels have been instructive,” she replied. “I find that I can reliably infer all kinds of things I’d never thought of until this morning. In fact, I know a good deal more than you do about what happens to all the things the Lord Paramount buys with women’s lives. I can also tell you why the spirit is so upset, the same reason your computer models will tell you, when you get around to running them.”
“That’s hard to believe,” said Melanie.
Genevieve smiled grimly at her. “Then don’t believe. Veswees tells me belief isn’t necessary. Nonetheless, in a very short time there will be an invasion from space. It will result in the subjugation of this world and an eventual depopulation of all landmasses . . .”