Gene Wolfe - Return to the Whorl

"I'm sure we were, still. I know we were. And we were going to go to a wonderful new whorl; we did that, but when I think back to the days when I lived with my mother and father, and my sisters and brothers, and all of us knew Patera Silk, I call them the good old days. That seems so sad now. How very young we were!"

"Poor Silk!"

"Not really, Oreb." He smiled through his tears. "I've had a good life, one that's not over yet. I've loved a wonderful woman and a very beautiful woman, and I have been loved. Not many men can say that."

"H'on wi' yer story, bucky."

"Very well. Nettle and I built a house on Lizard, well away from the stealing and the shootings. We were poor, if you like, yet we were happy though there were times when there wasn't enough to eat." Reminded of the necessity of eating, he spooned up soup and tasted it. "This is really excellent. I'm hungry, no doubt, and that always helps. But excellent by any measure."

Tansy made him a little seated bow, her long black hair gleaming in the candlelight.

"We lived there quite contentedly, and brought up our sons. One day five of the leading citizens called on us. They talked about conditions in town, and crop failures-the corn crop, particularly, because it had failed disastrously that year. To tell you the truth, I couldn't imagine what they were getting at. Neither could Nettle, I'm sure. They had never shown any regard for our opinions in the past; and if they wanted our advice, I at least had little to give. There was Marrow, who has been one of our leading men from the beginning, and His Cognizance Patera Remora, and three more. I could name and describe the others, but it would mean nothing to you.

"They had been given a way to return someone to this Long Sun Whorl, or thought they had. Our own lander would have made that possible and even easy, of course, if only it had not been looted of nearly everything that permitted it to fly the moment it put down; but it had been, and was beyond repair. Silk had been our leader until we went into the tunnels. I ought to have said that."

"Good Silk!"

He nodded, his face serious. "He was. He was the greatest man I've known, and the best. It is said that not many great men are good men; but Silk was, and had a way of making even bad people like and trust him that I've never seen in any other man."

After giving her husband a timid glance, Tansy ventured, "I wish we'd known him."

"I wish you had too. I knew him, as I said, and it was one of the principal matters of my life. Nettle and I even wrote a book about him." He sipped more soup. "When we left, he was calde of Viron. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Not in any detail," Hound said. "He was forced out of office. I wish my father were still alive to tell you about it. He knew more about it than Tansy and I do."

She said, "We were children then. It was-I don't know. Ten years ago? Or twelve? About that."

Hound nodded. "He wanted everyone to get on the landers and wanted to go himself, or he said he did. He kept telling people they ought to leave, and taking cards out of circulation. Nobody liked that. There were protests and riots, a lot of trouble. I know a lot of people wanted him arrested and tried, but I don't think it was ever really done. He was an augur, after all."

"He was married," Tansy objected. "Mother still talks about it. She doesn't like it."

Pig coughed and spat. "Nae gang ter Neat yer soup, bucky? Pity ter waste h'it."

He pushed his bowl over. "You may have it, if you'll give Oreb a bite or two. I'm full. Have you had any bread, Pig?"

"Nae, bucky. What h'about yer?"

"I'll cut you some. It will be delicious dipped in that excellent soup, I feel sure."

"There's more in the kitchen keeping hot," Tansy put in, "and in the big bowl should be hotter than what you have. Let me warm yours up, Pig."

Hound said, "I know we haven't really answered your question, Horn, but we've told you everything we remember."

"You don't know what became of Silk after he was deposed?"

Hound shrugged. "I don't think he was killed or thrown into the pits. My father would have talked about it."

Tansy ventured, "People tell stories, you know how it is. Somebody's seen him in the market somewhere, or they're living in the city under new names, Silk and his wife. Or he goes around in disguise helping people. A lot of people think he's gone outside. He was always talking about that, they say."

Nodding to himself, he passed two thick slices of bread to Pig, who said, "Thank yer, bucky."

Hound yawned. "I've seen him. I ought to tell you that, Horn. My father thought he was wonderful, so when he came here, my father held me up so I could have a good look at him. They used to sell pictures of him, too, and for a while we had one over the fireplace. It's probably still up in the attic."

"We're keeping you and your wife from bed, I'm afraid."

Tansy smiled. "It's almost morning anyway."

Hound seconded her. "We were asleep when you knocked. When the sun goes dark, there isn't much else we can do."

"Candles are very dear," Tansy explained, "and so is oil for the lamps. We used to sell them-"

"We still sell oil, but it's pricey these days."

"It's all gone now, dear. Palm bought the last yesterday."

"I'll try to get some more when I go into the city tomorrow. I was going to scout around for candles anyway. Are you two going there?"

"H'are we? We h'are! Ter find me een. Right, bucky?"

"Yes. To find eyes for Pig, and for my friend Maytera Marble back home. I was about to tell you about her a moment ago, as it happens. She's a chem. I suppose there are still a few chems left?"

Hound nodded. "Not many."

"Her eyes have failed her, and I'd like to find new ones, if I can. I was going to say that when those five called on Nettle and me, they did so because we had known Patera Silk better than almost anyone else on Blue. The sole exception to that is Maytera Marble, who knew him better than either of us; but she's very old now, and-and in need of eyes, as I said."

Pig swallowed soup-soaked bread. "Dinna fash me, bucky."

"Thank you. Yet I know it must be painful. Have either of you any idea where I might find new eyes for a chem? Any idea at all?"

Hound shook his head.

"Oddly enough, I do. Do you know where I might find a male chem?"

"There should be some in the city. It's been years since I've seen a chem here in Endroad, male or female."

Tansy murmured, "Except for the soldiers."

"That's right." Hound snapped his fingers. "Twenty or thirty soldiers went through here about, let's see, a couple months ago. They were male chems, naturally, so I was wrong. But they didn't stay and they haven't come back."

"Where bound ter?" Pig inquired.

"I have no idea. Why are you looking for a male chem?"

Oreb had a question too, and stopped demolishing the slice of bread Pig had given him to voice it. "Iron man?"

"Yes, we want to find an iron man. Let me know if you see one, please."

Tansy asked, "But why?"

"Because chems can reproduce, just as bios such as you and your husband can. It's a point I should have raised with Maytera Marble the last time I spoke with her."

Hound said, "A male and a female chem can get together and build a child. I've heard that."

"It's not like we do," Tansy protested. "They have to make the parts and put them together, so it's not the same thing. Our child's going to grow in me. That's what we hope and pray for."

"Exactly. You and Hound can make a son or a daughter for your selves. If I had time I'd look for a better word than make, but for the moment that will have to do. The point is that what you make is a child, not pieces that can be assembled to make up one. You don't make eyes, and afterward a nose, and then a heart or liver; so that even if-I hope you'll excuse this, Pig-even if there were a great surgeon sitting with us who could put new eyes into Pig's sockets in such a way that he could see again, you two couldn't make a pair of new eyes for him to use.