Barry Longyear - Enemy Papers

Davidge sits at the fire, staring into the flames, the manuscript in his lap. I turn off the glove light, remove my coat and face protector, throw them over an empty chair, and sit in another, wondering why Davidge wasn’t at the repast as part of Estone Falna’s homecoming. As the flames warm me, I again look at the interior of the cave. On one of the beds of branches, Haesni is sound asleep, a leather quilt pulled over it.

I think of the Koda Nusinda and wonder where in the manuscript Davidge is. One part that gave me pause was the lesson of the repast. As the actors played their parts, the blind human Nicole, not knowing they were actors, was having presented to her the problem of Amadeen. The Mavedah’s goal was the death or removal of all humans on Amadeen. The Front’s goal was the death or removal of all Dracs on Amadeen. The Dracon Chamber’s commitment to the Mavedah and the United States of Earth’s commitment to the Front, and the mutually exclusive goals of the Front and the Mavedah, made the workings of talma impossible. Nicole ended the big war by severing the larger powers' commitments to the warring factions on Amadeen.

The core of the problem, though, still remains, although the removal of the opposing side by something other than death must have fallen in priority. The Mavedah’s goal now is the death of all humans. The Front’s goal is the death of all Dracs. Where is there room for talma? Every time the Front and the Mavedah form a truce in an attempt to settle things through negotiations, an unruly faction from one side or the other always demolishes the truce by performing an atrocity on the other side. How can the Mavedah punish one of its own groups for killing humans, after all that the Front has done to them? Of course, how can the Front punish one of its own groups for killing Dracs, after all that the Mavedah has done to them?

"Yazi Ro," Davidge says, "have you read this?" He holds up the manuscript.

I pull my mind back from the past and look at him. The human’s gaze is on my face. "Yes. I read it on the voyage here."

"Were you supposed to read it?"

Again the shrug. "I do not know."

He looks at the manuscript and raises his eyebrows. "What if you reading this screws up the talma?"

I settle back in the chair, stretch my legs out toward the fire, and clasp my hands over my middle. At that point I answer. "Then the talma is screwed up. On the other side, though, what if my not reading it would mangle the path? What if my reading it or not reading it makes no difference at all?"

Davidge smiles and says in formal Dracon, "Aakva, why do you play with your creatures so?" He looks at me, sees my expression, and says, "From The Story of Uhe. The Koda Ovida?" He looks at me as though I have three heads. In English he asks, "Yazi Ro, is it possible that you do not know your Talman?"

My Amadeen English responds. "It is not only possible, Uncle Willy, you can bet your wrinkled old ass on it."

An unusual squeaking comes from the back of the chamber and Davidge turns from me and looks toward the child’s supposedly sleeping form. "If you are finished sleeping, Haesni, there is some sewing you can do."

"Oh, I’m sleeping, Uncle," gasps Ty’s child. "I am sleeping. I think I’m just having a bad dream." This last followed by more poorly stifled squeaking. At last, unable to contain itself any longer, Haesni laughs out loud, throws its covers aside, and runs into one of the back chambers. Davidge smiles and closes the manuscript.

My elbows on the chair’s armrests, I cover my eyes as I feel an edge of shame. It is not my mission in life to humiliate this teacher in the eyes of his student, even if the teacher is a human. When the echoes of Haesni’s laughter die, I say to the human, "I apologize, Davidge, for referring to you as Uncle Willy. Once we settle this matter," I gesture toward the manuscript in his lap, "I will be gone. It is not your fault I am here now and there is no point in seeing how much more difficult I can make things before I leave."

The human nods and looks down at the manuscript. "I wouldn’t make any plans on leaving soon, Ro. The Ovjetah is smarter than anyone I know. If Jeriba Shigan thinks there’s a good chance of achieving peace on Amadeen, I’ll give it a look. So, we’ll do what we need to do together until we both agree that the job is hopeless. Okay?"

"I agree."

"Good." The human stands, places his hands at the small of his back, and stretches. Finished, he looks at me. "Confidences are sacred, Yazi Ro. What you tell me in confidence I will never repeat without your permission. What I tell you in confidence you will never repeat without my permission. Agreed?"

"Yes."

He takes a step and squats next to the fire. Adding a stick to the flames, he looks toward the back of the chamber, then faces me. Speaking in almost a whisper, he says, "The name Uncle Willy really doesn’t bother me."

I feel my brow rise in astonishment. "Nearly every member of the Jeriba line that I have met has warned me that you hate the name."

He holds out his hands, looks up at the smoke hole, and grimaces as he looks for words. "Kids need an easy way to score against adults." He looks down at me. "Know what I mean?"

I shake my head. "No."

"Is your parent living?"

The question pounces on my awareness like an emotional predator. I feel my breath growing short. "No. Yazi Avo died before my first year." In a very quiet voice, I tell him my shame. "I never learned my line."

Davidge nods as questions in his face resolve. "I see." He stands, goes to his chair, and lowers himself into it. Staring into the fire, he gathers his thoughts. After a long moment, he frowns and looks at me. "What were we talking about?"

"Uncle Willy."

"Right." He nods, sits forward, and says, "To generations of the Jeriba line, from Zammis’s nameparent to Haesni, as well Estone Nev’s descendants and the children of the line’s retainers, I have been playmate, friend, teacher, and warden. Kids, mostly wanting to do what they want to do, reverse the order. To them I am the warden, the one who stands in the way of their adventures, like trying to fly by jumping off the cliff."

I point toward the ocean. "That cliff?"

"That’s the one. Shiggy even had a set of wings it had designed and built. The only way I could discourage the experiment was to let Shiggy try it, although I got the kid to use a small hill for its first flight rather than the cliff." He smiles in remembrance, then brings himself back to the moment.

"Warden first. Later they regard me as teacher, friend, and playmate. Usually. Still there’s this piece of each kid that remembers, and resents, the guy who spoiled all the fun, who was mostly right when they were mostly wrong."

I nod as I understand. "Letting them call you Uncle Willy and believing that it makes you grind your teeth is an easy, and harmless, way of letting them wreak vengeance on the warden."

"Yes."

"Was it the same sort of thing with Estone Falna ?"

Davidge’s eyebrows go up. "Heard that story, did you?" He grins and shakes his head. "Falna was different. It wasn’t satisfied with mere vengeance. Falna wouldn’t settle for anything less than total annihilation. Strong-minded and smart as a whip. Its parent died on Earth. Did you hear about that?"

"No."

"Estone Oyneh was a part of the Dracon Chamber’s diplomatic delegation. There was a racial incident, a crowd thing that got out of control, and Oyneh was dead. Falna saw it all. It was less than a year old."

I feel the cold fingers of reality clutching my heart. "I too lost my parent before I reached my first year. I saw it die."

Davidge looks at me and I see the compassion in his face. "It is a hard way to grow." He looks at the fire. "Estone Nev had Falna brought here and I took it into the cave. It took five months for its nightmares to stop. I’m awfully proud of Falna. I hated to miss it doing the rites, though." He nods, picks up the manuscript, and opens it. "There’s stuff to eat next to the fire and back in the cave where Haesni went. I better get going on this." He finishes a page and turns to another.