02 Quetzals Flock

QUETZAL'S FLOCK
"We know about the binary star system and how the Dwarf returns in its orbit
to threaten the Giant. We have seen the stars. When our sons come of age, their
fathers take them to the fringe of the ice-lands on the back of the planet. There, we see
the stars and the blackness between them."
Kane felt gut wrenching homesickness. He remembered journeys he had
thought tedious at the time. Casual journeys between the asteroids of New Earth, or
Mars and the Moon.
Hammadi stared him straight in the eye and gave him a graphic lesson in
biology and assured him that the sex act was performed in a way which did not
warrant a medal for bravery. The period of gestation was similar to that of Homo
Sapiens. Birth was as difficult and painful.
Kane nodded once more.
"Tell me something. In comparison to my people, you live a long time. Do
your infants stay as babies for many of my years?"
There was a moment of wide-eyed shock and then they exploded into laughter.
When it had died down, Hammadi managed to control himself enough to explain.
"If that happened I don't think we could sweet talk our women into agreeing to
have a child. What woman would want to change diapers for the equivalent of a
hundred of your years?"
There was another hoot of laughter.
"Infancy is over quickly but after that, the life curve begins to flatten. We are
children for about five hundred of your years and then, when we become sexually
active, the levelling off of the life curve really takes effect. From that time on, you can
hardly see a person age until they reach a high number of days. Urartu is a rare
example of one who has reached almost ten days!"
There was a murmur of awe from Dagh and Motya.
"What about disease and death?"
Hammadi toyed with the fringe of his tunic.
"If one becomes senile or terminally ill, we have the option to take the Breath
of Death. Urartu is the master of this too. He provided the means for the gentle
extinguishing of a life which has become a burden."
His face darkened.
"There are always the casualties which come from the Enmity and the Battle."
Kane side stepped the subject, not wanting to get bogged down in their local
politics.
"Tell me about sleep."
Hammadi leaned forward.
"First, you must tell us what you call sleep."
It was an exercise in semantics but eventually there was common ground.
Hammadi nodded briskly.
"Now, I understand. Sleep is the closing down of the bodily functions and
happens at night."
That wasn't quite what Kane had said, but he didn't want another long
argument.
"For us, sleep also happens at the end of our day. There comes a time in the
cycle of the days, when the night creeps over the Places of Encampment. At this time,
we hurry before the great storms of the nightline and move our herds and
Encampments into the deep caverns. In comparison to them, the Wraith Caves are
shallow. The Enmity and the Battle are suspended. We never mingle with the Black
Cloaks and we are always on our guard against treachery. We seal the entrances to the
27