The ceremonial locale on the far side of Mt. Erirota was more attractive than impressive, a pristine grassy clearing high up on the slopes of the extinct volcano. Beyond the clearing the native vegetation grew thickly, reflecting the high rainfall the area received. Either the grassy sward was carefully maintained, Pulickel decided, or else it lay in a slight but significant rain shadow.
It was early evening and Senisran's compassionate sun lingered on the distant horizon, pausing briefly before its daily disappearance to paint scattered clouds with streaks of gold and crimson. Sunset was the only time of day that could reduce sea and sky on this world to insignificance, he mused as he soaked in the spectacular panorama.
Irrespective of the incipient ceremony, the gathering itself was most impressive. It looked as if every big person in Parramat and not a few of their attendants had assembled in orderly fashion on the edge of the clearing. Recorders humming inconspicuously, he and Fawn stayed where Ascela and Jorana had left them. They had an excellent view and felt no need to roam.
The assembled Parramati had dressed for the occasion in their finest regalia. Colorful woven skirts vied for attention with flamboyant headdresses and elaborate necklaces. Snouts, cheeks, eye sockets, and ears were decorated in vibrant facepaint while rings hung in profusion from long fingers and tails. Shoulder garlands of the rarest and most exotic flowers the archipelago had to offer filled the air with wild, confused perfume.
Yet the gaudy spectacle belied the attitude of those present, which was solemn rather than celebratory.
Having been made ready earlier, torches and standard-borne bone lanterns were brought forth and lit, their individual lights strengthening as that of the sun faded. Querying Ascela as to the ceremony's duration, Pulickel was told that it would take as long as it took, a response that grated on the xenologist's sense of the precise.
The Torrelauapan was not being cryptic. It was simply a fact that no one knew how long a Goggelai should last. The ceremony would define itself, the visiting humans were told. They would have to be satisfied with that. Ancient oral guidelines, Fawn pointed out, were inherently obscure.
As the last of the torches and lanterns were lit, the dusky peak of the volcano glowed bronze in the final light of the setting sun. Drinking in the sight both natural and synthetic spread out before her, Fawn Seaforth found that she didn't care if the Goggelai produced any profound revelations about Parramati culture or not. The spectacle was sufficient unto. itself.
In addition to the unprecedented display of color and design, there was music in abundance. Flutes, stringed instruments, and an astonishing assortment of barbaric percussion filled the evening air with energetic melodies interspersed with eruptive bursts of jagged rhythm. Unable to resist the seductive ostinatos, many of the assembled dignitaries were soon chanting and dancing in place. While Fawn occasionally found her own body twisting and arching in time to the alien tempo, Pulickel was apparently immune to all such melodic blandishments. He remained stolidly in place, his recorder whirring, doing his best not to stare disapprovingly-or otherwise-in her direction.
As for the mysterious, revered howling stones themselves, their actual appearance was something of a letdown. Carried in woven bags or brought forth in intricately patterned baskets, they looked no different from any of the other stones the visitors had seen. Irregular lumps of green volcanic glass, some were larger than the growing stone whose use had been demonstrated to Fawn, while others were even smaller than the two stones so briefly borrowed by Pulickel. Several were so big they had to be carried in on hardwood litters supported by four Parramati apiece.
One by one, the stones were removed from their traveling containers and placed before a big person standing along the inner rim of the great circle that now enclosed the modest meadow, until the grass was ringed with a fine of sacred stones. Each stone, Pulickel noted, rested no less than half a meter from its neighbor. None was allowed to touch.
Even when the ring was complete the procession continued, until two concentric stone circles and part of a third lay gleaming on the ground. The two humans were given free rein to wander in and among the stones and stone masters, musicians and attendants, recording whatever they wished. For the most part even those Parramati they knew, like Ascela and Jorana, ignored them. All were enraptured by the ceremony.
When Pulickel accidentally tripped over a particularly long stone, no one so much as twitched. As for the stone, it rocked back and forth a couple of times and lay utterly still, a big dark green rock that differed only in color from the igneous escarpment that backed onto the meadow. If it and the several hundred others that had been so laboriously brought together embodied any significant powers, Pulickel reflected, these were being held efficiently in check.
From Jorana's original description, he and Fawn had supposed there were no more than a few dozen of the howling stones. The presence of hundreds was therefore the biggest surprise of the evening so far. Judging from the expectant attitude of the assembled, there promised to be more.
By the time the last vestige of sunlight had fled from the horizon and the scene was lit entirely by torch and lantern light, the chanting and music-making had risen to such a pitch that he had to shout to make himself heard above the noise. The relentless Parramati percussion in particular gave new significance to that part of the ear known as the tympanum. While his recorder could adjust automatically to the rising din, he had to struggle to tolerate it.
The rolling artificial thunder boomed down the slopes and echoed through the valleys. Fortunate wildlife fled, but he and Fawn had no such option. With luck, he winced as an especially loud burst of music assailed his ears, it would all be over soon.
Fawn's thoughts were stumbling down the same discordant path. "I wonder if this is going to go on all night? If so, we could probably return in the morning for the big finish."
He checked his chronometer. "No one's said anything to me about time. We probably ought to inquire. For all we know now, the ceremony could take days."
"I suppose we should wait it out awhile before asking. Our presence here is something of an honor, and we don't want to insult anybody by making it look like we want to leave early." She smiled encouragingly at him and he nodded reluctantly.
It was well after midnight when he checked the time again. The music and chanting gave no sign of slackening, the assembled participants no indication that they were running out of steam. If anything, they sang and played louder than ever. Torches and lanterns burned as brightly as at sunset. Fawn's notion of leaving for a while and returning later was looking more and more attractive. The activity, as well as the hour, was exhausting.
Those stone masters who dropped out of the inner circle promptly had their positions assumed by others. No such reinforcements waited in the wings for the two tired xenologists. Pulickel found his thoughts drifting more and more often to his room back at the station. His quiet, soundproofed room.
Without any warning, signal, or fanfare, the music ceased. Chanting fell to a sustained murmur. Several big persons representing the outermost islands of the Parramat Archipelago stepped forward and raised three fingered hands skyward. The music resumed, only this time it was pointed and brief.
Words were uttered that neither xenologist recognized, though from their inflection Fawn knew they were archaic. But though those who spoke them might be ignorant of their meaning, they enunciated each one carefully and with great respect.
Supplicating hands were lowered. Selecting them from the innermost circle, several big persons brought the first stones forward. The two speakers accepted the offerings, placed them on the ground, and pushed them together. Their fatigue now forgotten, Pulickel and Fawn double checked their recorders and tensed.
Contact was achieved between stones. Green sparks flew from an emerald flash. Fused, the conjoined stones emitted a steady, soft green glow.
"What now?" Pulickel whispered aloud.
“I don't know. Remember, the Parramati haven't performed this ceremony in a very long time. They probably aren't too sure of the consequences themselves."
Two more stone masters removed their respective burdens from the circle and brought them forward. Others were preparing to do the same from the opposite side of the ring. One at a time, they added their stones to the lambent green mass in the center of the ceremonial encirclement. With each additional stone the irregular shape added to its size.
Pulickel watched as a stone as big as his head was placed against the near side of the burgeoning aggregation. Vibrating noticeably, it slid up the side of the mass and rotated several times before slipping neatly into a slot in the top of the heap. Other stones similarly maneuvered themselves into position, displaying an inner animation none of the sacred stones the Parramati used in everyday life had previously exhibited.
There was no formal organization, no apparent rhyme or reason to the process. The natives merely dumped the parts in a pile, Pulickel realized. Whatever the growing green mass night be, it was putting itself together. It was apparent that in addition to assorted helpful powers, certain stones were possessed of something very different but equally impressive.
Memory. Memory ancient and, so far, inscrutable.
By now the refulgent green lump was taller than an adult seni and had assumed a roughly rectangular shape. It sustained its baffling growth as more stones were brought forward and added to the enigmatic structure.
Fawn leaned close. Even above the excitement and noise, the sights and the pungent presence of hundreds of highly active Parramati, he could still smell the perfume of her.
"Somehow I don't think this is intended to make the pohoroh grow bigger or the river run clean," she whispered.
The ceremonial stone rings continued to shrink as more and more of the glassy green pieces were added to the growing puzzle. It was far taller than any seni now, but individual stones continued to maneuver themselves up the uneven flanks and fasten themselves to the top, steadily adding to the height of the luminescent mystery. The assembled Parramati were as entranced by their handiwork as were the visiting xenologists.
By this time the object was putting out so much light that it was impossible to look directly at it for long. In addition to the meadow and the softly chanting circle of natives, it illuminated the surrounding jungle as well as the looming flank of the mountain. Yet heat remained a byproduct of the reaction notable only for its absence. The intense green radiance was entirely cool, allowing supplicating stone masters to touch the product of their efforts with impunity. From its apex, a meter-wide shaft of coherent green light suddenly shot skyward to pierce the night sky.
From the time the first two stones had been brought together, a distant hum had been audible. With the addition of each new stone, this had grown steadily in volume and intensity, until now it vibrated within teeth and bones. It was a whine, a single high mechanical note, an antediluvian call, the song of something endlessly dormant and only now slowly reawakening.
A howling.
Few stones remained, and these were piously added to the pile. Pulickel saw Fawn shielding her eyes as she tried to follow the activity. Meanwhile, except for suffusing the meadow with light and sound, the impressive green agglomeration had done nothing. The world hadn't shifted on its axis, the ground beneath his feet remained stable and the solid, grassy growth common to Senisran still cushioned his sandaled feet.
Even if whatever it was managed to complete itself, he realized, that didn't mean that anyone present would know what to do with the final result. He wondered if any of the orbiting surveillance and survey satellites put up by the Commonwealth and the AAnn were presently in position to detect the green beam and, if so, what they would make of it. Couldn't worry about that now, he knew.
The last stone was brought forward and reverently placed against the mass, which by this time was the size and approximate shape of a Parramati longhouse. The stone efficiently slid up and around the right side to settle itself into and fill one remaining gap. Pulickel and Fawn tensed, but nothing happened. Together with the Parramati they found themselves confronting a substantial structure that put out a vast intensity of green light, and it in turn confronted them.
But nothing happened.
A few uncertain mutterings began to be heard among the assembled. Pulickel found himself echoing them. Was there anything to be learned here, or was it all a colossal bust? Perhaps the device was designed simply to put out a shaft of green light, possibly as some kind of unknown navigational aid. Or maybe it was no more than an elaborate marker.
Frustrated, he walked up to it, shielding his eyes from the evanescent glare. No one stopped him.
Up close, he found that he was able to see into the mass to a surprising depth. A network of complex internal striations was clearly visible. They appeared to link slightly darker masses buried deep within the body of the construct. Reaching out with one hand, he lightly traced the lines nearest the surface. Like the light it put out, the object itself was pleasantly cool to the touch.
Behind him he heard Fawn call out sharply, "Watch yourself, Pulickel. There's something coming out."
As he stepped back, the construct began to exude something very like a large, transparent egg, as if the glowing green lump was giving birth. The voices of the assembled big persons rose in unison, chanting loudly.
Approaching this new and unexpected phenomenon with caution, he saw that in contrast to the rest of the mass, the protrusion had a faint reddish tinge, like an excited fiber optic. He was unable to gauge its thickness or even if it was hollow or solid. Already, three-quarters of it had emerged from the howling green lump. Indifferent to urging or chanting, suspicions or hopes, the remainder resolutely refused to ooze free of the construct. From a tactile standpoint it felt no different from the rest of the green mass.
Fawn joined him, along with Ascela and Jorana. As they inspected the faintly reddish ovoid, the curving, tapered end facing the circle suddenly opened. There was no door, no hatch. One moment the end of the object appeared solid; the next, it displayed an opening.
Together, Pulickel and Ascela peered inside. The interior of the ovoid was floored with what seemed to be a layer of dense fog. Ignoring Fawn's admonitions, he reached in and down. His fingers sank a centimeter or so into the frothy substance before encountering an unyielding surface.
He straightened. "Interesting stuff. It looks like you could brush it aside with one hand, but it doesn't move. There's initial give, and then it turns solid. What do you suppose this thing is?" His ears were filled with Parramati chanting and the high-pitched whine of the construct.
Hands on hips, she studied the mysterious protrusion. "Your guess is as good as mine. I'm inclined to think that anything that has a floor, walls, and an entrance is designed to be entered." Blue eyes speculated on the protrusion. "The big persons have been saying all along that the Goggelai is supposed to open a different sort of road. This could be some kind of transportation device."
He nodded contemplatively. "Uh-huh. Or an oversized alien food processor. Right now we are somewhat lacking in information."
She was studying the ovoid intently. "If it's a means of transport, it's odd that it didn't emerge completely from its surroundings."
"Is it? When did we become specialists in alien transportation systems?" Bending low, he put both hands on the exposed rim of the ovoid and leaned inward.
"And where the hell do you think you're going?" she challenged him sharply.
He glanced back with that fey, confident smile she'd come to know so well. "Not there, I pray. Hopefully just down another road, as the Parramati would say."
She was less than encouraging. "I'd think that after your last experience with the vagaries of stone-impelled transport you wouldn't want to try it again. The Parramati might not be able to bring you back a second time."
He tapped the ovoid's outer rim. It gave back no sound. "We're not dealing with a couple of loose stones here. If this is indeed some kind of device intended to transport individuals down a particular road, then it quite likely is designed to also transport them back. Otherwise why design and build something this elaborate? Why not just use a couple of the transportation stones? I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the more intricate the device, the more complex and varied its function."
"You're assuming a lot," she insisted.
Again the smile, a little wider this time. "I certainly am, but I have a feeling it's the only way we are going to divine this object's intended function."
"It could take you someplace," she brooded, "and not bring you back."
"There is that possibility," he conceded. "But the liturgy of discovery. is rife with explorers who never looked over the next cliff or climbed the next mountain because they were afraid they might fall off."
"Or run into something with a bad attitude and lots of teeth," she added dourly.
He nodded knowingly. "Either way, we can expect to get some answers."
"Before we go stumbling off in search of them," she countered, "let's see what the Parramati think."
He hesitated, then reluctantly deferred to common sense.
"Histories insist that the howling stones open new roads." Ascela exchanged a look with Jorana. "But they do not say what kind of roads, and I have never seen a road open like this." She indicated the beckoning, enigmatic ovoid.
"This is a new thing," Jorana agreed.
Fawn framed her question carefully, not wanting dialect to get in the way of meaning. "Do the histories of the Goggelai say anything about returning back along any roads that are opened?"
"No," the big person admitted, "but it is well known that the clearer the road, the easier the return. I believe we should go and find out." Pulickel was a little startled to find his position so readily supported.
"If it looks like anything," Jorana put in, "it looks like a boat." He was studying the ovoid's exterior. "It is covered to keep off the rain, but there are no outriggers."
Pulickel essayed a seni bark indicative of low-key humor. "If you are right and it is some kind of boat, Jorana, then I think it will have outriggers-but of a kind we cannot see and cannot imagine."
The senior big person indicated agreement. "No matter their kind, so long as they work. We will go together, friend Pu'il." He straightened on his powerful hind legs. "It is the responsibility of big persons to investigate any new roads."
Fawn's attention shifted from alien to fellow xenologist. "You're determined to go through with this, aren't you?"
Pulickel nodded. "Most assuredly." Peering into the device, he added off-handedly, "There is room enough for all of us."
A three-fingered hand gripped his shoulder. "It is good," Ascela told him. "Each of us may see things only another will understand. Knowledge can be shared." Slitted blue-black eyes gazed deeply back into his own, the bond of curiosity linking their two species more effectively than any words.
"Nothing may happen." Fawn eyed the ovoid uneasily. "Or it may collapse in on you."
"Or fill up with water, or toxic gas." Pulickel looked up. "Possibilities will remain nothing more than possibilities unless we do something. There's nothing for it but to try it. Either way, the results will be recorded. Despite all its claims to precision and exactitude, great science often boils down to a leap of faith."
"That's a fine sentiment for a book, not a life." The line of her mouth tightened and she took a couple of steps back. "So go ahead and leap." She raised the forearm to which her recorder was strapped.
Jorana touched his side and he turned. "Let us find out what the howling stones do, friend Pu'il. Let us learn together."
"Yes, together." Knowing that the memory of his recent transgression still burned hot in Parramati memory as well as his own, he was touched by the sentiment.
Ascela had conveyed their intentions to several other big persons. Now, as she entered the ovoid, they explained what was happening to the rest of the assembled. Everyone retreated to the edge of the meadow as every eye focused on the luminous green mass. Fawn found herself surrounded by warm-bodied, heavy-hipped alien forms.
Jorana followed his fellow villager into the device, moving toward the rear and making room for Pulickel. While the seni squatted, he was forced to assume a crosslegged position on the foglike floor. Arrayed in single file, they faced the opening, the emerald brilliance at their backs.
"Just a minute! Wait!" came a frantic shout. Breathing hard, Fawn crawled in next to him.
"Of course we'll wait," he told her. "We don't have any choice, since we don't know how to go." At that moment she was closer to him than she'd ever been before-and not just physically. "I thought you were going to stay behind?"
Scrunched up against the curving, transparent wall, she did not have enough room to cross her long legs but had to stretch them out in front of her. "I've always been an avid mountain climber, and I'm not afraid of heights."
"Good. I am."
They sat silent and motionless within the ovoid, listening to the howling whine of the device and the distant, submerged but still audible chant of the assembled big persons. After a while, Pulickel began to feel foolish.
"It's not responding to our presence. Maybe we're overlooking some means of activation. Look for a depression, a discoloration-any kind of imperfection in the structure of the inner surface."
Fawn translated for the two Parramati. Together the four of them commenced a section-by-section search of the ovoid's interior. Except for the fog floor, it proved to be as featureless as it looked.
"It has to be here," Pulickel muttered. "There has to be something."
"Does there?" Fawn was less assured. "We're dealing with the technology that made the stones. Stones that stimulate instant growth in plants, affect the weather, send a curious xenologist god knows where but lets local aborigines bring him back, and merge to form glowing green searchlights the size of a skimmer hangar. We don't have a clue how any of this works, what powers them, or why they're here. I have yet to recognize so much as an on-off switch on the least of them, so why should we expect to be able to find one in here? Face it, Pulickel: the Goggelai's a no-go."
"Thank you for those encouraging conclusions," he replied dryly.
"Hey, I say what I feel."
"Perhaps we must use the proper chant," Ascela suggested.
Pulickel didn't laugh. In the absence of any obvious method of physical activation, who was to say that an oral variety might not prove more effective? It certainly couldn't be less so.
As it turned out, the correct thing to do proved to be to do nothing at all, a dynamic in which they were at present actively engaged.
Before the Parramati could commence any new chants, the open end of the enclosure shut. As with its opening, this took place in utter silence and without warning. Again, no door or hatch appeared. One moment egress to the outside world was readily available, and the next a red tinged barrier as transparent as the rest of the ovoid had silently taken its place.
Perhaps it had finally detected the presence of living creatures within and responded appropriately. Possibly it self-activated after an indeterminate but predetermined period of time. Perhaps a sniff, or an especially deep breath, or the exact intonation of a word had activated some hidden mechanism. It was impossible to tell what had done the trick, and quite likely they would never know.
Light, warmth, and a flow of fresh air emanated from the fog beneath. How the machine knew what of which the occupants required, Pulickel couldn't imagine, so he settled for being grateful instead. In finally sensing and reacting to their presence, the device had also sensed and reacted to their needs.
Perhaps something outside changed as well, because a number of big persons were hopping frantically toward the ovoid. Their mouths were open and they were gesturing emphatically. Within the transparent egg, however, all was composed and surprisingly quiet. They could no longer hear the Parramati chanting or the howling of the stones.
Leaning forward, Fawn pushed gently, then firmly, on the end of the new enclosure, on the place where they had entered. Unsurprisingly, it did not yield to her efforts. She sat back.
"Won't budge," she reported tensely. "Whatever happens next, we're sealed in tight."
"Something must be happening." Her colleague leaned close and pointed.
The Parramati who had leaped so anxiously toward the ovoid had halted abruptly. All were staring while a number had begun to retrace their steps as fast as they had advanced. It looked like they were conversing loudly among themselves-Pulickel could clearly see their mouths moving-but the two xenologists and two big persons within the device could hear nothing beyond the ovoid wall.
Ascela and Jorana were utterly calm, resigned to whatever might happen next. They were no less curious about this than their human companions-simply less concerned.
As the world outside began to vanish, it took a moment for Pulickel to realize what was happening. The ovoid was sinking, or retreating, or being absorbed back into the efflorescent green mass from which it had partially emerged. He kicked experimentally at the front of the egg. It yielded no more readily to his foot than it had to Fawn's hands.
Satisfied that they were safe-or trapped-he settled back to await whatever Fate and an ancient alien technology had in store for them.