The Space Between (13 page)

"Your meaning?"

"Well, hundreds of thousands of people,
maybe millions, have died, and more are dying every hour but, in
the grand scheme of things, it isn't really that many at all. They
keep sending the bats and we keep shooting them, apparently without
a whole heap of trouble. Since the first few surprise hits,
firebombs have hit a couple of places, but that's about it. There's
more chance of being injured when you're hit on the head by a
bullet-riddled corpse."

"Perhaps they are slow to learn."

"Perhaps they're stubborn. Perhaps they have
so many bats they can afford to just keep sending them."

"I do not understand." Meledrin paused as a
strange look passed across Kim's face. "What is the matter?"

It was a moment before the woman replied.
"Well, this planet of yours, Sherindel, is nowhere near ours. We
know that. So what are the odds that these aliens coincidentally
attacked our two worlds at the same time?"

"I do not understand what it is that you are
saying, Kim."

"The aliens know that Earth and Sherindel
are linked in some way. That suggests they know more about us than
we think. It also proves that this isn't just some random attack by
evil alien hordes."

"I do not think that you can make judgements
like that with the limited information available."

"Look, something's going on, and we have to
tell someone. And soon."

"I was under the impression that is what we
have been attempting to do."

"Yes, I know. Come on, we need a cab."

They waited by the side of
the road for several minutes before Kim waved at a passing vehicle.
It pulled over and Kim climbed into the back. Meledrin followed a
moment later muttering the words of
Action
. Kim's words had finally sunk
in. An enemy without end. But according to the woman that piece of
news paled into insignificance against the realization that the
aliens knew about the gateway in the Ohoga tree.

She rolled down the glass window. The rain
was slackening. It was enough to be an annoyance, but the cool
breeze helped. She worried about her people. She worried about
Palsamon.

She took a deep breath, belatedly hoping
that Kim wouldn't notice. "What is love, Kim?" she asked, schooling
her face to calmness and watching row after row of buildings file
past. She had heard humans everywhere talk of love but was not sure
she understood.

"Love? It's... Well, depends on the type of
love, and who's defining it."

"You are defining it. You are defining all
types."

"Well, love, I suppose, is intense positive
feelings one living creature has for another living creature."

"That is it?"

"Yes. Basically."

"Intense positive feelings?" Meledrin shook
her head. It had to be more than that. The concept seemed to
dominate the lives of humans.

"Yes. I mean, that's the general
definition." Kim sighed. "Look, Mel, tell me what brought this
question on and I might be able to do a better job of
explaining."

She wished Kim would stop calling her 'Mel'.
It was not dignified. "It does not matter. I was merely wondering."
She did not know, and Kim obviously could not explain. She gave it
no more thought.

Meledrin climbed out of the
cab when it eventually pulled over to the side of the
street.
Lesser Changing
.

"So, where are we going?" Kim asked the
vehicle's driver as she handed over paper money.

"Down there."

"Where the crowd is?"

Meledrin turned to look as well. A large
group of people were gathered in front of a building. Many of them
appeared to be men. That was another thing she could not
understand.

"That's it, Miss."

The driver smiled and chatted with Kim as if
they were equals. He showed no deference at all. It was all
Meledrin could do to hold her tongue. Instead, she tilted her head
back so the rain could massage her face. They didn't really have
rain on Sherindel. Not like here. There, it was never much more
than a mist. The difference pleased Meledrin, but she was unsure
how long that feeling would last.

"Come on."

Meledrin allowed herself to be drawn to a
small dry area in the doorway of a building.

"You'll catch a chill standing there like
that, you idiot."

"A what?"

"A chill. A cold? You know running nose,
sneezing, that kind of thing."

"We do not have such things on
Sherindel."

"Well, this is England, Mel. I reckon you'll
find out what a cold is."

Meledrin shrugged and sighed. Shrugging was
hardly dignified either, but humans used the action often, and it
did convey quite a lot. "Now, what action do we take?" Meledrin
leaned back against the cold bricks of the wall while Kim looked
about. The young human seemed at a loss as to what to do. "Are we
not going to see the Lords?"

"Yes, but..."

"But what? The operator of the vehicle
indicated that we must go in this direction." She pointed down the
street. The crowd was quite large.

"All right, let's go then."

Meledrin watched as Kim
dashed from the protection of the doorway and ran down the footpath
as if all the dwarves in the world were after her. Meledrin
waved
Lesser Action
and followed at her usual pace. Her long strides kept her
close. The rain was an inconvenience, perhaps, but not worth losing
one's dignity over. Though by the time she caught the young woman,
standing in another doorway, Meledrin was starting to wonder. Her
dress was clinging to her body, revealing her breasts almost as if
she were naked. Indeed, even as she joined her companion she
noticed a man ogling her from a window nearby. She stared at him
until he looked away.

Kim continued to dash from scant cover to
scant cover while Meledrin followed not far behind and worried
about what she might say to the Lords of the United States. She had
never met any humans before Kim, and she was discovering that
reading about them could not prepare her for what she needed to do.
They were so unpredictable. They did not seem to have any guiding
tenets as a race, with each one viewing situations from a totally
individual perspective. So, with no real grasp of what drove
humans, she had no point from which to start. Did she appeal to
their greed or their compassion? The riches of the world they would
have access to, or the riches of elfish culture? She decided that,
in either case, she would not mention the dwarves. The little men
would be of no attraction to anyone, either in the way they lived
their lives or the way they destroyed the land.

Meledrin followed Kim into
the crowd of people.
Lesser
Changing
. Many of them had little boxes
held up to their eyes or were talking into strange objects. Kim
pushed her way through and Meledrin followed, slipping through the
crowd. She tried, without much success, to avoid brushing against
the men. When the way became too congested, even for Kim's
outrageous shoving, they were forced almost to a
standstill.

The building they were trying to reach, the
center of all the attention, faced out over a small park. A huge
sculpture of an eagle soared five floors above the door. The stone
facade, covered in a metal grillwork, gave the impression of
impregnable strength without clashing with the surrounding
architecture.

Meledrin was impressed. Other buildings in
London were much the same — if not in design, then in size and
spirit — but she hadn't really stopped to look. Now, she slipped
laterally through the crowd, crossing to one of the stone columns
that lined the front of the building. She hesitantly touched the
cool surface. Kim followed close behind, apologizing as she went,
but being ignored for the most part.

"I have never known that stone could be so
alive," Meledrin said, pushing wet hair away from her face. "It has
always been mere stone in the past."

"I thought dwarves were supposed to be the
best stone masons anywhere," Kim said.

"You learned this in your tales of
'fantasy'."

"Well, yeah." She sounded slightly
embarrassed.

"No, you are quite correct.
They are supposed to be stone masons without equal." Meledrin broke
away from the stone and moved closer to their destination. She
moved to another column, touching at its surface. The rain was
lessening, the cloud cover breaking up.
Such a strange world where conditions can change so
quickly.

"'Supposed to be the best masons?'"

"Well, I have never witnessed any of their
work."

"So, let me get this right. You hate
dwarves? Can't stand them? And yet you have never even seen the one
thing that defines them as a race?"

"Masonry does not define
dwarves." Meledrin sighed and continued to examine the column,
running her fingers along the perfect ribs, feeling at the joints.
"Their love of work does. Their need to be
doing
. Their superior physical skills
come from that, not the other way around."

"Okay, but you have never seen the dwarfish
homelands, or whatever they call it?"

"No, I have not."

"How many dwarves have you met in your
entire life?"

Meledrin thought for a moment. "Only
Keeble."

"Only Keeble?"

Meledrin stopped and turned to face Kim. "I
see where you are leading with this, Kim. You are going to ask,
'How can I judge a race of people by just one of their number?'
That is what you are going to ask, is it not?" She smiled. Kim was
young and naïve and would not understand, even when it was
explained to her.

"Yes, that's my question."

"Well, I do not judge them. I let people
that I trust judge them. My ancestors. My friends." She could name
her mothers all the way back to the turn of the millennium, and
none of them liked dwarves.

"And how many dwarves have your friends
seen? And your ancestors? How long since a group of elves visited
the dwarves, or the other way around."

"It has been many years. The dwarves always
end up making trouble and leaving. They are unrefined, loud, and
have not a thought towards custom."

They finally reached a low wooden barricade
with a serious looking saveigni in a green uniform on the other
side. A whole line of them, stiff and staring, guarded the
barricade.

"You mean they have no
thought for
your
customs. Have you considered that they have customs of their
own, dating back as long as yours, that say you should show your
hosts that you're having a good time?"

Meledrin turned away from her inspection of
the guards. "What is it that you mean?" She knew Kim was going to
come up with a ridiculous example, but it was only polite to
ask.

"Well burping, for instance."

"I beg your pardon. I do not know the
word."

"Belching. Expelling air from your stomach
out through your mouth."

"Ah, yes. I understand."

"Well, in my culture belching is considered,
well, not rude but uncouth."

"As it is in mine." Meledrin thought of
pointing out that elves and humans had much in common, but Kim was
speaking again.

"Right, but there's at least one culture on
Earth where belching after a meal is thought to show your enjoyment
of the meal."

"I do not believe you."
Meledrin said with a sniff.
Belching a
display of contentment!

Kim turned to the nearest guard. "I'm not
lying, am I?"

For long moments the man did not reply. When
he did, his eyes continued to rove, scanning the crowd. "Ma'am, I'm
pretty sure the Chinese have a custom like that."

Meledrin sniffed again. Of course the humans
would stick together.

"See," Kim said. "But if a Chinese person
went to someone's house in my land, they might offend when they
were trying to please. All through a misunderstanding."

"Well these misunderstandings have been
going on for longer than anyone can remember."

"And they'll continue to, as long as nobody
hangs around long enough to talk."

Meledrin shook her head. "It is not that
easy, Kim."

"I'm sure it isn't."

Meledrin shook her head and sighed. Kim
would never understand. She turned to the guard. "Please allow us
through, saveigni."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, unless you're a citizen
of the United States, you can't pass."

"Well, as a matter of fact..." Kim removed
her pack and searched through one of the pockets. After a moment
she pulled free a little book and held it out to be examined.

The saveigni glanced at it. "That's an
Australian passport, Miss."

"What? Oh, shit. Wrong one." Kim searched
again.

The guard raised an eyebrow. "You have two
passports?"

"It's a long story. It involves elopement,
unimpressed grandparents, and several official enquiries."

"Right." He turned his attention back to the
crowd while Kim continued to go through her pack.

"Anyway," Kim continued, "surely we aren't
in the U.S. until we've passed through the doors. There's still a
little bit of England behind you there. Have you gotten permission
to keep English citizens off English soil?"

Meledrin sighed. Kim seemed to enjoy
annoying people.

"I couldn't say for sure, Miss. Not sure if
we're allowed to stop Australians, either, come to think of it." He
said it with what appeared to be a friendly smile, as if he was
enjoying himself as well. "Why don't you go and ask the Prime
Minister?"

"Tried to ask the British Prime Minister.
Didn't work. "

"Well then, maybe your own Prime
Minister?"

"I could. Ah-huh." She pulled a little book,
similar to the first, triumphantly from the pack. She smiled. "But
today, I'm American."