Changelings
- Автор: Маккефри Энн, Скарборо Элизабет
- Серия: The Twins of Petaybee #1
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Changelings». Краткое содержание книги:
CHANGELINGS
They are Ronan Born for Water Shongili and Murel Monster Slayer Shongili. Twin brother and sister. Children of Yana and Sean. Children of Petaybee. As such, theirs is a destiny deeply intertwined with the sentient planet that is their home. For Ronan and Murel are more than human. Like their father, each can transform into a seal and converse telepathically with the planet’s creatures–such as the friendly otter whose life they save one day from a pack of ravenous wolves.
But the twins’ bravery has unforeseen results when a visiting scientist witnesses their startling metamorphosis and becomes obsessed with their capture. To protect their children, Sean and Yana send them to stay with a powerful family friend on an orbiting space station. But no one realizes that Ronan and Murel hunger to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent–and that their search for knowledge will place them squarely in the path of peril.
Meanwhile, Petaybee is changing–and much faster than an ordinary planet’s natural evolution. It appears that portions of the sea are heating up and a landmass is suddenly rising from the depths. To investigate the startling occurrence, Sean heads out to the open water in his seal form. But the newly unstable region holds untold mysteries–and the potential for disaster.
"You did? You mean you didn't make those holos?"
"I did. But I made two of 'em a long time ago, back on three world. Auntie Kimmie Lee, oldest lady living, she learned to make them to sell to visitors back on two world a long time ago. She taught us kids to keep us out of trouble, she says. Also, it shows us what it was like on those two worlds. What we were like. So I just uploaded the old ones I made for fun for the assignment. I did do the last one though, just like you said."
"Oh well," Dr. Freyasdottur said. Both twins could see she was trying hard not to giggle. "I won't raise the curve then if you cheated, but I'll just grade you on the new one. By the way, maybe instead of bothering Top Tech Wayans the next time we do holos, you must share your unfair advantage with the other students and teach them how to make their holos the way you did. Am I clear?"
"Yes'm," he said, and sat down, trying to look suitably chastised.
Chesney Janko gave her presentation next. She was a year and a half younger than the twins and had grown up on a large industrial planet that was a company headquarters. Her family had moved to the station when her parents left the company's employment to take a job with Marmie. She seemed to list imports and exports for hours. "Computer chips and antibiotics and guidance systems and butter and laser rifles and…" She listed them as they occurred to her and not in any particular order or with any particular interest.
Lan Huy had grown up on the station. Her father was one of Marmie's top engineers. She said that at one time, a very long time ago, her father's people had come from a small client country that paid tribute to a very large one. Some of the animals in the larger country were dragons, horned beasts that sounded a little like the curly coats, and birds called phoenixes that self-destructed and rebuilt themselves from ashes. She had seen evidence of these things, but had never encountered any herself except sometimes in dreams. Her presentation seemed to be mostly made up of imaginary stuff, which she said was legend, because although her people were once the most numerous on Old Earth, a catastrophic plague had all but wiped them out.
By the time it was their turn, the twins were both feeling even luckier than usual to be Petaybeans. They looked forward to showing their new friends what a proper planet should have.
But when they were finished, Rory made a big display of shivering. "Brrr, sounds cold to me."
"It is cold, but we don't mind really. Everyone is used to it and our bodies are adapted to it,"
Murel told him.
"How'd they do that?" asked Chesney.
"The planet did it," Ronan said. His sister looked away. She wished he hadn't said that. She didn't think it was a good idea to tell offworlders any more about Petaybee than they might already know.
"How could it do that? It's not like planets think," Rory scoffed.
"Petaybee does," Ronan said. "It's like it's this really big person we all live on." The holo spun on his computer screen.
"Looks like an ice ball to me," Chesney said, shaking her head.
"It is an ice ball," Murel said, her brows lowering and coming together to make a fierce expression, had she been able to see it. "But it's our ice ball and at least it has ground water."
"Now then, young'uns," Dr. Freyasdottur said. "This lesson was to help you learn about one other's home planets, not to criticize them or brag about your own. Please continue, twins."
They did, but it was hard to give the other kids the right feeling about Petaybee when they couldn't talk about winter swims without at least hinting that they could turn into seals. And they just couldn't do that. They understood that much about what Da and Mum were trying to protect them from.
But at least the assignment let them know more about the other students and gave them some idea of how many different kinds of worlds and peoples there were on them.
By the end of the week they had heard from kids whose planets were desert, jungle, rich farmland, or mostly water.
"Nobody else seems to be able to talk to their world, though, Marmie," Ronan said when their hostess asked them how their presentation went and how they liked the others. "Is Petaybee the only one that's-you know-alive?"
Marmie shrugged. "I very much doubt it, mon petit. Perhaps it is just that Petaybee is more gregarious than the others. More outgoing. Or perhaps your people are simply more in tune with the world they were placed upon than others are elsewhere. It's a great mystery."
"Yes," Murel said. "But I still think it would be cool if sometime some of those other worlds started letting their people know whose surface they were living on, don't you?"
"Very cool, my darling. Very cool indeed," Marmie agreed, fluffing Murel's hair with her hand. "Perhaps, given enough time, they will."
CHAPTER 11
For the first few months, the twins were able to talk to their I parents often. At first it was every day, and then one of the expensive relays went down and the com systems had to be rerouted, so it was only possible to talk face-to-face every week. Then Petaybee began emitting electromagnetic interference so that half the time neither one could make out what the other was saying, or see the other either.
"How come it's more that way now than when we left?" Murel asked.
"Lots of reasons," Marmie replied. "Sunspots, the increased activity from the midsea volcanic region your father mentioned. You remember him saying that on his last recon swim he felt the heat in the water and smelled the sulfur much earlier than he had on previous trips?"
"Yeah," Ronan said, "He said it was just a matter of a couple of years now before it surfaces. I hope we can go home by then. I want to see! Besides, if we can't talk to them…"
The face-to-face calls finally became impossible, and the messages had to be routed through a number of different stations. It was hard to say anything important, much less be silly or share a joke, with so many people between you. Petaybee, Kilcoole, the people of their village, and their family began to feel very far away. Fortunately, school was interesting and they liked the other kids and most of their teachers; and of course they had each other, so they could forget to be homesick for long periods of time.
One day toward the end of the first term, Marmie asked them, "What flavor cake do you two like best?"
"Chocolate," "Raspberry," they answered at the same time.
"Chocolate raspberry it shall be then. Your parents cannot come for your birthday, but they've sent gifts and I've invited all of your classmates here for a party. I thought, if it was all right with you, we could make it a theme party and set it up as if it were a latchkay on Petaybee.
How would that be?"
Ronan looked at Murel and Murel looked at Ronan.
Marmie said, "You do not care for the idea? Would it make you too homesick?"
"Oh, it's a good idea, Marmie," Murel said. "It's just-we don't think the other kids are really ready for Petaybee yet. I don't think some of them liked our holo."
Marmie gave an elegant lift and fall of her shoulders, with her hands outstretched, palms up.
What Mum called a "Gallic shrug." It said, basically, What is a sensible person supposed to do when other people are being so silly?
"Your holo was very nice," she said finally. "Those who did not care for it were foolish. But a holo and Petaybee are different, yes?"
"Still…," Murel said, and let her voice drift off as she looked at Marmie, hoping she'd understand the rest without her actually trying to say it.
"We'd like to keep the Petaybee part of our birthdays private, I guess," Ronan said finally.
"I'm sorry. It's really nice of you to want to give us a party, Marmie, but we don't have to have one. We could have the cake anyway, couldn't we?" He looked at his sister. "And presents?"