Another council request is a permanent Data Haven representative here at the Garden of Chiron, though that’s not something we can settle until after the war. Someone to provide computing support would be great, but they are talking about a proper embassy. The stuff with computers, that could be remote work, with hard drives shipped back and forth, or it could be the transfer of equipment—such as came with Marina—and skilled hackers to the Garden of Chiron.
“What I’m hearing is that it would help us to have a road in between,” Cleve says pensively.
That gets some oohs from the audience, so I speak up lest they think we’re looking to make our own Earth Corridor, Morgan fashion. “It’s the Monsoon Jungle, so it would have to be a network of mapped out, more traversable routes. Navigable arroyos and the like. We’re not talking a paved road.”
“Either that or we lay some wire,” Cleve says. “Some cable.”
I look around the room at the people leaning in and whispering to each other. “Is the distance too far that that’s an unreasonable thing to work on?” I ask.
“You’d have to have an intermediate station,” someone says.
“Morgan has repeater nodes. The same thing could work here,” I suggest, though I don’t really know anything about the engineering side of this. I just want the people who do to think about it.
“Yes, but they get all the metal for that by stripping it out of the planet,” objects someone else.
“I believe we were talking about salvage earlier?” I say leadingly.
That prompts further discussion. The Stepdaughters have used up all the local wreckage from Unity, and a project of this scope would require a significant amount. If Data Haven were to uncover a massive new source, on the scale of a colony pod, that would certainly be enough.
“Data Haven has already uncovered some pieces of wreckage that they’re not doing much with since they aren’t airtight. It’s possible they have enough that they could get started on the project,” I share. “But also, there’s a fair bit of wreckage in the Monsoon Jungle, both Progenitor ruins and colony ship parts.” That sets off some hmms of consideration. Remembering how annoyed Shroomnuts got when we thought we could just walk off with her recovered items, I hasten to add, “Now, some of those things are already spoken for by native inhabitants of this planet, however—” I’m interrupted by some gasps of wonder and the scrape of chairs as people sit up more straight, suddenly paying a different sort of attention.
“Have you met sentient, nonhuman life on this planet?” one of the councilors asks.
“I think so,” I reply.
Now the room breaks out into a loud blur of constant, excited chatter. I seem to have derailed the proceedings. “We’re talking about the craws,” Cleve says matter-of-factly. He and Deirdre get everyone to quiet down, but the alliance is no longer the hot topic of the day.
“Craws, you say?” someone says. “They’re intelligent, but they don’t have a society.”
“Says you,” I mutter.
“They don’t make tools.”
“Says you,” I repeat, louder now.
“They can use them,” Cleve reports.
“We’ve not been able to decipher a language. We’ve studied them.” I guess they haven’t paid much attention to the claw clacking.
I slap my hand down sharply on the table in front of me and declare, “Let’s discuss restitution.” That throws a cold bucket of water on this whole conversation—though to me, it’s not really a change in topic. People quiet down, and the whole room focuses on me. Not everyone here knows exactly what happened, but there have certainly been rumors. “Part of the restitution that I have already discussed with your council leader Dr. Skye is nationalization of Gupta’s lab,” I say. “This sort of research—adapting humans to the planet, understanding the physiology of creatures here, working with those creatures—that is a public resource and needs oversight.” Some people look to Deirdre, and she nods; she promised me that back in the hospital.
“Let me tell you a little story about an example of this done wrong,” I continue. “Where people decided to weaponize native Chiron life and use it to fight their battles for them. Do you think that I’m talking about Dr. Gupta?” It’s clear everyone here—other than Cleve—does. “No. I’m talking about Progenitors. I’m talking about Progenitors who kidnapped craws and manipulated them—genetically, physiologically—and turned these inquisitive artists into terrified and angry and possessive warriors. Who, yes, carved out spears. We encountered a Progenitor lab that was the ruins of these sorts of experiments, and we encountered the abused craws. We saw firsthand the level of intelligence these creatures have, the level of capability they have. And not just the ones in the lab who had been manipulated,” I add, lest they think natural craws are lesser. “The craws that live in the Monsoon Jungle are crafty and clever. They like fine things. They don’t just collect materials, they also work with them. We saw examples of braided vine, decorative materials that they offered to us in exchange for other things. If that is not an indicator of sentience—if commerce is not an indicator of sentience—then what are your terms?” Even people in the Morgan domes would recognize that.
“There are craws in the Monsoon Jungle. They live there, they have their homes there. They scavenge for materials, same as humans do. They pointed out to us wreckage from Unity as we traveled through the jungle with them. So what I want you to consider is that, in your search for additional material—that doesn’t involve stripmining Chiron, but repurposing what’s already here and what’s already been manufactured—you might need to negotiate with those who are already using it or valuing it. But also, as Dr. Citali told me, part of being responsible for this planet is not just not ruining it ourselves, but also cleaning up what messes we find along the way. And that includes that Progenitor lab. So, as one scientific experiment,” I say, laying a hand on my chest, “I would ask that as part of the restitution to me, you do what you can to help Checkerboard—that is the craw’s name—” There is more looking around and murmuring; even councilors already aware of the general details of the situation are surprised by some of the specifics. “—so that she can recover from the experiments she was subjected to.” Somehow I get through all that without memories and fears overwhelming me. In retrospect, I suppose it’s good I did have that anxiety attack at the temple, as it was one of the things that prompted me to open up to Sam when she offered to listen. Better for that to have happened there than here.
The discussion that follows results in some interesting decisions that I did not anticipate. Cleve points out that the craws might even be happy to help with salvage, provided humans have interesting items of trade. That might mean leading humans to ruins or accessing harder to reach places. But even more innovative than that is the idea of approaching the craws about setting up a mail service through the Monsoon Jungle. It’d have to be cash on delivery, of course—the craws we’ve met have been keen about getting fair trades.
One of the councilors is thrilled. “I knew it! I knew it! I always thought the craws were intelligent, we just couldn’t prove it.” Not only are they supportive of treatment for Checkerboard, they are excited to meet her.
“Just realize that Checkerboard may not be as excited to meet you,” I caution.
The council votes for full support of healing for Checkerboard and passes a motion to recover the Progenitor facility. Even the craw mail service gets approved, at least an exploration of the possibilities.
They ask if there are any specific craws we recommend working with. “Shroomnuts and Bluebell are two craws we know in the Monsoon Jungle. They are, at this point in time, keeping watch over Checkerboard at that Progenitor lab. They’re a good starting point for dealing with craws in general, if you can work out a way to communicate. You’ll recognize them by their ranger patches.”
“And their tasers,” Cleve mutters.
I do share the story of the successful exchange booth on Bim’s farm, which demonstrates that asynchronous communication with craws is possible and a way to get to know their likes and dislikes. My personal recommendation—for people who can’t communicate through resonance fields—is to focus on gestures and understanding the positive and negative senses of claw clacks when dealing directly with craws. “I think Shroomnuts and Bluebell are primed to understand humans a little better because of the interactions they had with us. Bluebell made clear to Cleve that she wanted to keep a taser, and she understood his reply that she could have it.”
So, yeah, the negotiations actually work out smoothly. Not that there isn’t a bunch of work ahead. Getting a Data Haven ambassador here will take time, and a cable line between there and here is a major infrastructure project. That will require a lot of resources but also careful land management to protect the Monsoon Jungle. And with that location mentioned again, the question of what can be done militarily to protect it from Morgan’s fungicide is raised. Before we get too far into the weeds on that, Deirdre proposes sealing the alliance formally. There is one last matter though—thanks to Astrid—which is discussion of borders.