“They did. What makes this most unfortunate is that all detachable, quasi-independent creatures on this world carry their neural and cortical networks inside their skin. Soon, there were no more Corojumi. The system managed to muddle through for the last several hundred years because there hasn’t been a six-moon conjunction in at least that long.
“Now, however, a conjunction approaches. There is one Corojum left, but it doesn’t remember enough of the dance to recreate it. Kaorugi can make more Corojumi, of course, perhaps it has done so, but they will not know anything about the dance. Without the dance, the Quaggi in the egg is going to wake the Quaggima, she’ll crack the egg, which will set off whatever the propulsive force is, the hatchling will be burst out into space, and it’s likely good-bye Dosha.”
“Dosha?”
“We call it Newholme. They call it Dosha, which means fitting, or proper, or, in some contexts, ours.
Calvy started to speak, but Questioner raised her hand. “Two final bits of information that should be kept in mind. First, Kaorugi interpenetrates the crust of the planet. It feels the pain of the Quaggima, it realizes what will happen if she wakes and the egg hatches. It does not bear that pain and apprehension motionlessly. It writhes. It heaves. The mountains tremble and the caverns fall. Kaorugi itself is the source of much of the recent geological activity.
“Second, the Timmys, Joggiwagga, Eigers, and so forth are capable of independent movement and also independent thought. When these independent parts first realized the dance information was being lost, they went to the two cities, along with some large leggers and tunnelers and whatnot, and captured all the first settlers who had killed the Corojumi and dragged them to the Fauxi-dizalonz in the hope they might be holding some of the information. Their reasoning was that mankind ate animals—the first settlers had brought livestock with them—therefore they may have digested the Corojumi and somehow absorbed the information.”
“So that’s what happened to the first settlers!” cried Calvy. “They drowned in this Fauxi whatsit?”
Questioner shook her head. “No. Fauxi-dizalonz isn’t water, it’s a living thing. The settlers went in the pond and they crawled out again. Unfortunately, they went in as Jong, which means trash, and they came out as jongau, which means bent trash, trash cubed, something that is unworkable and useless. The implications of that occurrence are extremely interesting.”
“The man known as Thor Ashburn must have been one of their descendents,” said Madame. “But … there was nothing physically abnormal about him. Except his smell!”
“You’re sure?” asked Questioner in her turn.
Madame stared sightlessly into space. “No. Of course I’m not sure. I never saw him unclothed. The boys were his sons, and I am sure they were physically normal, except for smelling like their father.”
Questioner said, “He and the boys would be no danger to us, I don’t imagine, but there are no doubt many others of his ilk.”
“All or most of whom—so said our tunneler—are on their way here,” said Madame.
“Why?” demanded Mouche. “What’re they coming for?”
“I don’t know,” said Questioner. “Curiosity? Or maybe they’re frightened. The recent tremors are enough to have frightened anyone.”
“And the tremors come from Kaorugi,” mused Simon. “In response to the pain of Quaggima … “
“Which is in response to the movement inside the egg,” said Madame.
“Which is in response to the tug of the moons,” said D’Jevier.
“Which nobody can do anything at all about,” concluded Calvy.
“Not unless we can recover the dance,” said Questioner. “Which is an issue I have decided to consider separately from the ethical concerns posed in doing so … “
“Ethical concerns?” cried Calvy. “At a time like this you’re worried about ethical concerns?”
“I was created to worry about ethical concerns! Under Haraldson’s edicts, we would have no right to interfere with the hatching. The Quaggi came here after a local population had arisen, however, so the rights of the local population should take precedence over the Quaggi’s rights. They, it, Kaorugi, had already interfered with the Quaggi before mankind entered the scene, but that issue is Kaorugi’s ethical concern, not ours. I don’t blame it for what it did, and in my opinion it also acted rationally, though mistakenly, when it abducted my people.”