Castle Murders

Twenty-one World

The star that was the sun hung, bloated and swollen, in a dusk-red sky. A billion years ago it had been small, yellow, and hot. Now it was a ruddy monster giving off little light compared to its former compact self. Nor did it have much heat to give, but its immense size brought its surface closer to the planet. The air was temperate.

The green sea looked as it had looked five billion years ago.

They walked the beach and found something unusual lying in at the edge of the surf. It was large and looked dead. Its shape was indeterminate. It had tentacles on one side, claws or hooks on the other. Its body was flat, except toward what amounted to a head, where it bulged. The skin looked like leather here, blubber there. The color was a mottled blue-green. There were two eyes in the head, and a third, perhaps malformed, on the hump behind the head.

Goofus sniffed at the creature, barked once, and sat in front of it.

"Gene, it's really gross."

"It would probably have thought us pretty damn homely. But that means little to me. I'm no relativist, aesthetic or otherwise. I say that's ugly, and I say to hell with it." Gene walked on up the beach.

"I feel kind of sorry for it," Linda said. "Dying alone in this place, at the end of the world."

"I wonder if it's good to eat," Snowclaw said.

"Snowy! Don't be disgusting."

"Well, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"And that looks like blubber to me. Parts of it, anyway."

"Yuck. Well, have a nice time. C'mon, Goofus."

Snowclaw stalked the animal's length and breadth, eyeing it.

"Nah." He walked away.

Linda looked back over her shoulder. "Goofus?"

Goofus was still planted in front of the thing. He looked expectant, as if waiting for his master to give a signal.

"What is it, Goofus?" Linda walked back, Snowclaw following.

Goofus barked.

"He must sense something about it," Linda said. "I wonder what."

"Maybe it's still alive."

"Do you think?"

"It looks dead, but you can never tell about big sea critters. I know. I hunt them."

"That looks like a mouth, there. Maybe that slit there is a nose. Sort of. Nothing's moving."

"You know," Snowclaw said, "something tells me it is alive. Just barely."

"Oh. Did you see it move just then?"

Goofus got up on all fours and barked.

"I think it did move," Linda said. "I wonder if we can do anything to help it." She cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, "Gene!"

Gene had wandered back to the ship, which had come to rest on dry sand a little way up the beach. Gene waved and yelled back, "Just a minute!" He climbed inside the Voyager.

"What's that?" Snowclaw said.

Something had extruded from the creature: a metal rod looking not unlike a radio aerial.

Linda put both hands up to her cheeks. "Oh, my! Could this be a machine?"

The end of the rod unfolded into a wire mesh disk. The disk rotated slowly until it was aligned with the Voyager.

"God, I hope that's not a weapon," Linda said.

"You want me to rough it up a little?"

"No! Snowy, don't do anything."

Goofus barked and sat on his haunches again, watching the thing intently.

One of the eyes on the creature blinked.

"It is alive!" Linda exclaimed. "But I don't understand the aerial. Is this thing animal, vegetable, or mineral?"

"Maybe a little of everything?" Snowclaw ventured.

A high wave came in and washed over Linda's pretty silver boots. They were watertight. "Do you think it's trying to communicate with us?"

Gene came running from the ship.

"Hey, there's something going on with the computer. It's going nuts…." He saw the communications dish. "Now what the hell is that?"

"We were asking the same thing," Linda told him. "I think it wants to establish contact."

"Well, apparently it has, at least with our computer. The screen's jumping with activity and I can't make head or tail of it. And this looks to be the cause of it all."

"What do you think it is, Gene?"

Looking at the thing afresh, Gene gave it a clinical scan. "Some sort of intelligent, seagoing life form. Doesn't look anything like a dolphin, but those flaps back here might be fins of some kind. Lessee ― eyes, breather holes, and that's gotta be the mouth, although it's kind of on the small side. Maybe it doesn't eat much. And of course, your basic telecommunications link, standard on any sentient creature."

"Is it sick, in trouble, what?"

"Prolly both. Beached, like a sick whale. Very like a whale, only smaller."

"I wish there was something we could do."

"Like? I wish we could help, too. But…" Gene raised his arms in despair.

"Maybe if we pushed it back into the ocean."

"I'd say the thing weighed something on the order of two thousand pounds, avoirdupois. Besides, it's obviously an air breather, or it'd be dead already. Likely has lungs and gills."

"I still wish we could do something."

"Aside from comforting it, there's little. But of course, we're assuming ―"

The creature emitted a whistling sound. It started in a high pitch, then descended until it became a rush of air.

"That sounded so sad," Linda said.

"Yeah."

"What were you saying?"

"I was going to say that we're only making assumptions here. For all we know, the thing is in the middle of a proper and natural life function, like spawning, or something. Or it's just sunning itself after a swim. Who knows?"

"I think it's sick," Linda said. "Goofus knew right off."

"I'm not going to argue with Goofus. The critter looks terrible enough."

The whistling sound came again, this time varying in pitch. It wandered up and down the chromatic scale, then settled in the middle registers. The creature started to modulate the sound, and something like a voice began to emerge from all the piping. It was doglike at first, which elicited another woof from Goofus, but then it became less feral and, while not exactly human, began to sound like something that could form words, though none came.

This went on for a long time. Snowclaw grew bored and strolled up the beach, sniffing for quarry. Gene left the strand and went to examine the strange trees that grew inland. They were gnarled bonsai-like little things with pink leaves.

Linda sat and listened. Every once in a while she thought she heard something that sounded like an effort to speak.

Finally, after about a half-hour, she heard, quite clearly, "Ablomabel."

She stood up. "Excuse me?" she said.

"Ablomabel."

"Could you say that again?"

"Ablomabel?"

"Oh. Okay." Linda touched her chest. "Linda."

"Vinah."

"Linda."

"Vin-dah."

"No, Lin-da… Linda. Linda Barclay."

"Lin-dah-baleee."

"Yeah, sort of. Pleased to meet you."

She coached it along, and at the end of a few minutes she was rewarded with, "Lin-DAH bar-CLEE."

"Right. But it's more Lin-da BAR-clee. Never mind how it's spelled. Okay, your name is Ablomabel. What are you?"

"What… are… you?"

"Oh. Are you asking me a question?"

"Ask-ing you a ques-tion."

"Gee, you're coming along fine. That was a good sentence."

"Thank you."

The voice was almost human.

"You want to know about me," Linda said. "I'm a human being. I'm from the planet Earth."

"Ear-r-th."

"Yes."

"Ear-r-th. Yes."

"And I and my friends came here in that craft over there. The one you're communicating with. But I guess you know that."

The creature said, "I know. I know. I know everything in computer. I am of it with."

"Then you know pretty much all there is to know about us. There's a lot of information in that computer."

"Much data is giving."

Gene had returned in the middle of the conversation.

"Linda, are you giving bootleg Berlitz courses again?"

"Ablomabel, this is Gene. Gene, Ablomabel."

"So I am pleased meeting, Gene, you," the creature said.

"The pleasure is all mine. Tell me, does _Ablomabel' have any meaning in your language?" Gene asked.

"Yes, meaning title of leader of… thought-process-change group?"

"Ah. A scientist? Philosopher?"

"Yes!" the Ablomabel said. "Meaning much the same, yet different, I am thinking about."

Linda said, "Ablomabel, are you feeling ill? What are you doing here?"

The Ablomabel answered, "There is an ending. I am coming to shore, to home, once again, last time. Then ceasing to function. Ending. Death."

"That's terrible. Is there anything we can do?"

"There is an ending to all," the Ablomabel said. "I am fatigued, weary. Long time with sickness. And old, very old. There is no one left, I fear that. No one reports. I am last, I think. Then, I die, I think. I came here to see again the sun, which dies."

"That's so awful," Linda said. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do?"

"I am sure, thank you, please. But glad is in my mind for meeting my new friends. I will stay longer, not die yet."

"Oh, please don't die. You must have a lot to tell. Can you tell me, do you live in the sea?"

"Yes, my kind is sea-living."

"How long has your kind lived in the ocean?"

"Very long time, since when the Yvlem decreed there should be living in the sea again after long time deadness in the sea. Many… years ago, eons, long time."

Gene asked, "You obviously have technology, and it seems to be part of you. Are you part machine?"

The Ablomabel answered, "All living who does, are parts of machines, in part machine, and machine parts. Comprehend this?"

"I think I understand. Cyborgs."

"Indeed, there are machines who are living as well."

"So you have robots, cyborgs, but no living things that aren't either one of those?"

"Small organisms, some plants, yes."

"How long has civilization been on this planet?"

"Many long time. Cannot say with exacting. Since the sun was young."

"Billions of years," Gene said. "That's incredible."

"Permitted asking you questions?" the Ablomabel said.

"Shoot. I mean, of course. Go ahead."

"Where is it you are coming from?"

"I think you'll be able to understand this. From another universe."

"Yes, that has been thought, but nothing done in this matter. Another universe. Your machine. You built it?"

"No," Gene said. "I found it. A long-forgotten race of beings built it."

"They were indeed great beings, I think."

"They were pretty remarkable. Unfortunately, their machine doesn't work very well. It ceased to function. That's why we are here. We can't leave. We're stranded."

"This is very unfortunate in the way of bad luck," the Ablomabel said. "Have been attempting to repair the craft?"

"Have been attempting," Gene said, "but no luck so far. Our resources are limited. Tell me, can you possibly help?"

"Gene," Linda scolded. "Ablomabel's dying."

"Already have sent message to machine city not far from this place," the Ablomabel said. "Alerted to the possible trouble and help to be lending."

"That's decent of you," Gene said. "Machines, you say?"

"Yes, they still live and are active. They say they will come to help. But do not hope this much. Your machine in the nature of strangeness is great, I think."

"Yeah, you can't get parts. A real lemon. The warranty expired, and everything went."

"Detecting irony."

"You're detecting it. I mean to say that the craft has never lived up to expectations as far as successful operation is concerned. It was an experimental design. Do you understand? All the harder to fix, consequently."

"Understand. But is it permitted to attempt?"

Gene nodded. "It is permitted, and thank you very much."

The Ablomabel said, "I am fatigued. Conversation has depleted my energy reserves. I will, permission granting, rest awhile and not speak, until the machines arrive."

Linda said, "By all means. Take a nice nap. Don't tire yourself."

The wire mesh communications dish folded up, and the rod retracted into the creature's skin. The opening that received the whole affair closed up.

They had a picnic lunch on the beach. Snowclaw had collected an assortment of shellfish. Finding none edible he complained of hunger.

"Try this," Gene said, handing him a ham salad sandwich.

Snowclaw took it and popped it into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. "Great," he said. "Now what else can I breathe?"

"Sorry, Snowy. But you ate all the stuff we brought for you."

"Canned fish. Great, but I need fresh stuff or my fur starts to fall out."

"There's the ocean," Gene said. He handed Snowclaw his gun. "Go out and shoot some fish."

Linda said, "Gene, there may be sentient creatures out there. Shellfish are one thing, but Snowy eats whales and like that. But he can't do it here. It wouldn't be ethical."

"She's right," Snowclaw said. "I'd probably get sick eating this stuff. I'm tired. I'm going to sack out."

Snowclaw stretched out on the sand, crossed his ankles, and closed his eyes.

The long red afternoon wore on. The green sea went on rolling in and out. All was still. No birds flew, no insects buzzed. Nothing crawled on the beach. For the most part, it was a dead world. Yet, in its way, it was beautiful.

"Gene, how come the sun's not going down?"

"The planet's tidally locked. No rotation."

"You mean it's always like this?"

"Yeah."

"How sad. How sad to see a world end."

"Yeah. I think I'll take a nap, too."

Linda rested her head on Gene's shoulder.

"Gene, do you think we'll ever get back?"

"I don't know. It doesn't look like it."

She watched a high thin cloud drift toward the sun.

"Gene, I'm glad we're together."

"Yeah."

Linda stared at the watercolor sky. Presently, she closed her eyes.