A Short Story by W. Steve Wilson
The Shimmery combine’s hopes of restoration and reproduction are dashed as a member lies dying. Shimmery needs to take drastic action to save Fourth and the combine.
The massive crawler had continued to move south along the edge of the ripple roughness, traveling slowly on its six trunks that ended in large, black rollers. If Shimmery6 did not move quickly, their chance to restore their energies and save Fourth Two would be out of reach and Fourth Two would never mature to become Sixth.
Rousing from their overnight torpor, Fourth One checked with Two and sent a spark of urgency across the combine. “We have to act today. We’ve got to save Fourth Two. They’re fading—we can’t just let them die.”
Third deepened their connection to Fourth One and shared soothing energy. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. We can’t catch the crawler as it moves south. You need to let them go.”
“No,” said Fourth One, jarring the combine with a flood of anxiety. “I’ll recombine, and we’ll become just Fourth again.” A deluge of alarm and horror rushed across the combine. “I know what you’re feeling. I remember, too, what happened when Twelfth and Thirteenth recombined. But that was different.”
“How was that different?” asked First, loosening their connection to Fourth One, a wave of panic accompanying the change. “They tried to combine their memories, and they went mad. Their jumbled, corrupted memories spread through the combine. We had members lose millennia of shared knowledge.” First’s waves of anxiety and fear pummeled the combine. “We’ve never recovered from having to abandon them. We lost untold numbers of experiences and thoughts. That could happen to you, and we’d lose you and Fourth Two. We can’t risk it.”
“Twelfth and Thirteen had been separate for millions of rotations. Integrating their parallel memories drove them insane.”
“You don’t know that. And besides, you’ll have the same problem, Fourth One. You and Two have parallel memories for the time you were separate,” said First.
“We’ve only been separate for a few rotations, and Two has been in torpor practically the whole time. They can’t have too many memories. And it’s my choice. I’ll take the chance.” A sharp spike of determination shot across the combine.
Second tightened their connection to the combine and sent a soothing, calm to their brethren. “I think we should let Fourth try.” First shed a small current of doubt. “Of course, I remember, but Fourth One has a point. We can protect the combine if Fourth One and Fourth Two separate from us.”
“Are we agreed then?” asked Third. A small chorus of affirmation spread across the combine. First tempered the combine’s agreement with a wavelet of reluctance, but a weak reply even came from Fourth Two.
Before the combine disentangled, Second said, “Fifth and I can chase down the crawler. We’ll see if we can tap into the energy safely.”
Doubt from First spread across the combine. The other members tamped it out and Second and Fifth separated and left as Shimmery2. First and Third disentangled, moved apart, and waited.
It was up to Fourth now to heal themselves.
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“We need to move across the edge of the ripple roughness. We can’t keep up with the crawler,” said Fifth.
Second shed a slight wave of anxiety across the Shimmery2 combine. “But Fifth, if the crawler doesn’t turn back north, we’ll be farther away.”
“I know that’s a risk, but we can’t continue as we are. The crawler seems to be following the edge of the ripple roughness. We can’t chase it. Each rotation, we’re moving slower.” Second’s soft current of acquiescence lapped against Fifth.
Shimmery2 turned west at the southern tip of the ripple roughness. The Shimmery combine had traveled this area on the western border of their life zone many times in search of the briny substrate where they could rest and recharge. And earlier, before the Change, Shimmery had basked in the warm sea and savored the rich waters flowing into the delta. The warmth near the equator, the mild summers and winters had been idyllic. All that remained now was the brine, but it was home.
After three rotations of their planet, Fifth sent up a thin tendril and spotted the crawler just a short distance away. Shimmery2 moved as quickly as they could and coalesced right below the rear of the beast.
“We should be careful,” said Second. “Maybe just touch it with a thin tendril. Fourth had tried to disable it with a thick tendril.”
Second sent a soothing calm to Fifth as the younger member reached up the thinnest tendril they could manifest and touched the box at the rear of the crawler. A soft warmth flowed down the tendril. Second and Fifth savored the rich flavor of nuclear radiation, delicious after eternities shielding themselves below the planet’s surface, accessing only the bland cosmic radiation that filtered through the shallow layers.
Second strengthened their connection to Fifth, and the warmth and energy flowing through the connection with the crawler rejuvenated and invigorated them. “This is delightful, Fifth. The shock Fourth felt must have been from too much too fast. We can absorb this at our own pace and share our reserves with the whole Shimmery combine. If we replenish the others, we can reproduce again. Just like First said, we can restore our combine and preserve the Collective.”
Without warning, the crawler began extruding parts of itself—sharp edged tendrils extending out from the beast, fixed and hard. One of its hard tendrils stretched to the surface, and a thin, sharp, whirring tip began grinding away at the rock below it. Second and Fifth maintained their connection and filled themselves with reserve energy but sent short tendrils above the surface to observe the beast. After some time, the whirring stopped, leaving only powder on the surface. The crawler extended new tendrils that picked at the powder—and then it stopped.
Fifth withdrew its tendril, and although the flow of energy stopped, Second and Fifth felt younger and more energetic than they could remember since the Change. But doubt entered Fifth’s connection to Second.
“Do you think we’ve damaged it?”
“I don’t think so,” said Second. “Just to be sure, let’s disengage when the crawler is using its tendrils.”
For many rotations, Shimmery2 followed the crawler. They would feed on the nuclear fire in small doses using their thinnest tendrils. When the crawler stopped and used its tendrils, they would retreat a short distance.
On the twenty-eighth rotation since Shimmery2 began its feeding, the crawler extended the same tendril that it had used to grind the rock to powder. Shimmery2 disengaged and retreated, sending delicate tendrils just above the surface to observe.
This time, the crawler extracted a small fragment of rock and stored it inside itself.
“It seems we were right to not feed when the crawler is working,” said Second. “And, Fifth—I think it’s time to go home. We’ve been gone too long. Our connection to the combine has become faint as we moved away from the travel corridors, and we need to learn what happened to Fourth.” A warm wave of assent from Fifth washed over Shimmery2, and they headed east—this time, across the ripple roughness, exulting in their newfound energy and vigor, barely resisting the powerful urge to replicate, and become Shimmery4.
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NASA/JPL-Caltech, August 6, 2021: Data sent to Earth by NASA’s Perseverance rover after its first attempt to collect a rock sample on Mars and seal it in a sample tube indicate that no rock was collected during the initial sampling activity.
[https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-perseverance-team-assessing-first-mars-sampling-attempt ]
NASA/JPL-Caltech, September 6, 2021: NASA’s Perseverance rover today completed the collection of the first sample of Martian rock, a core from Jezero Crater slightly thicker than a pencil. Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California received data that confirmed the historic milestone.
[https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-collects-first-mars-rock-sample ]