{"id":600,"date":"2024-08-10T07:32:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T11:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=600"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:38:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:38:58","slug":"the-changeling-game-chapter-54","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/the-changeling-game-chapter-54\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 54"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 54\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> <i>Pitch Black<\/i> (2000); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick<\/i> (2004); <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> (2004)<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> M<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language, violence<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> Jack, Kyra, and the Meziane family have an opportunity to make First Contact with a brand new species. The opportunity\u2014and risk\u2014that arises forces Jack to make a decision that may affect a whole planet\u2019s future.<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6a8e7a6760cca6064268470' value='6a8e7a6760cca6064268470'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6a8e7a6760cca6064268470' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6a8e7a6760cca6064268470' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6a8e7a6760cca6064268470' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6a8e7a6760cca6064268470' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">54.<br \/>\n<u>Mommy Ree<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat <i>is<\/i> that?\u201d Takama asked, a hint of a quaver in her normally firm, no-nonsense voice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The enormous crustacean, still a good distance away, was bearing down upon them. Ten-legged, with pincers each as big as a human being, its thick, segmented carapace mottled shades of rose, violet, and indigo, it was moving fast, the miniature versions of itself clinging to its back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat,\u201d Jack told them, \u201cis Sebby\u2019s <i>mother.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cBaraka,\u201d<\/i> six voices said in unison. Kyra immediately began snickering.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack released her seatbelt and clambered over the open back of the vehicle and into the truck bed, avoiding the olive trees and pulling her pack onto one shoulder before turning back and reaching for Sebby. \u201cC\u2019mere, kid, let\u2019s go meet your mama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby sprang into her arms.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTizzy, wait. What are you doing?\u201d But even as Safiyya was speaking, Jack was already climbing over the side of the bed, jumping down into the field.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat she does best,\u201d Kyra snorted. \u201cDiving <i>right<\/i> into the deep end\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt could be <i>dangerous!\u201d<\/i> Tafrara objected.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But Jack, while she sensed nervousness from the approaching creature, also sensed curiosity and longing\u2026 and disbelief. No hostility, no anger\u2026 not even much fear. And, if \u201cMommy\u201d was like Sebby, she had a stinger\u2026 but didn\u2019t have it out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby was chirping excitedly as Jack walked forward toward \u201cMommy,\u201d standing on her shoulder and holding onto her hair.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMommy\u201d slowed down, coming to a halt while Jack was still a few meters away. Her antennae, stunning feathery constructions colored a mixture of rose and violet, waved forward toward Jack. Curiosity dominated the emotions coming off her, and hope, and disbelief\u2026 and only then, after all of those, nervousness. Was this strange creature a threat to her babies?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I\u2019m no threat to you,<\/i> Jack thought carefully, hoping that \u201cMommy\u201d would hear her the way Sebby could. <i>I will not hurt you or your children. I come as a friend.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>My sister!<\/i> Sebby added, chirping for emphasis. <i>Saved me from the bad water!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Squeaking chatter erupted on Mommy\u2019s back. <i>The water, the water, the bad water!<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Mommy slowly moved closer, antennae out. Jack stood still, letting her approach, letting Mommy\u2019s feathery antennae brush against her face and Sebby\u2019s carapace.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>My child\u2026 my lost baby\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The images were sudden and powerful, almost costing Jack her balance. She was crawling along the ground, covered in her children, seeking food for them in the early dawn light. A strange roar kept jangling at her sound receptors, and she kept detecting an odd, briny scent that didn\u2019t belong. Then a large wave crashed over the hillside, striking her. Her babies shrieked, several of them tumbling from her back and falling into the water that was suddenly sloshing around her legs. Another wave struck, and another. She struggled to hold onto the ground, to grab at her children as they floated past her and away, crying for her help\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Half of her babies had been lost to the bad water, the monster wave. There should have been twice as many riding on her back in this moment, and the loss still cut through her. But\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026But one had returned?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Gasping, Jack came back to herself. She might have fallen over, except that Mommy had reached out with one pincer, still closed, to prop her up. Both of her antennae were caressing Sebby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack closed her eyes, conjuring visions of her own to share. The wave that almost took her and Kyra\u2026 learning how to move between a world that was dry and the world where the water came and went\u2026 the night of the monster wave, when, as it receded, she and Kyra had spotted a small creature clinging to a piece of driftwood\u2026 bringing Sebby over to the dry world\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Disbelief. Hope and disbelief.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>All true!<\/i> Sebby insisted, sharing images of his own. Exploring the apartment, discovering the delicious insects that tried to sneak into it\u2026 discovering <i>olives\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Now <i>there<\/i> was a fantastic idea\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack unshouldered her pack, moving slowly so she wouldn\u2019t alarm Mommy. Unfastening its top, she pulled out the container of olives that she had brought with her, opened it, and drew out a handful, holding them out to Mommy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You are going to give Cedric a heart attack, Tizzy.<\/i> Kyra\u2019s \u201cvoice\u201d was tinged with both worry and amusement, even as Mommy\u2019s mandibles delicately touched Jack\u2019s upraised palm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Mommy was careful, though. She drew the olives in but left Jack\u2019s hand unscathed. A second later, a wave of astonished pleasure flowed over Jack. Olives, she suddenly realized, were amazing. The stuff of <i>life itself.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Curious squeaking erupted on Mommy\u2019s back. Her surviving babies, picking up on her enjoyment, wanted to know what was so wonderful\u2026 wanted to try some, too.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack wasn\u2019t sure if she had enough olives to go around.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Don\u2019t worry, I think we all packed some,<\/i> Kyra told her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Behind her, she heard people moving around the all-terrain vehicle, picking up their packs and opening them, and then heard the swish of the grass parting as they moved through it. The Meziane family was bringing backup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>This is my family,<\/i> Jack told Mommy, who had tensed slightly. <i>They will not hurt you or your family. They love Sebby too.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Made me their baby! Took me in! Loved me! Love them!<\/i> Sebby had a lot to say.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">In a way, Jack was glad that she hadn\u2019t understood Sebby so clearly until this day; the temptation <i>not<\/i> to bring him back to his world might have been far too great, and this reunion might never have occurred.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Everyone was holding out olives as they approached. Jack pulled another handful out, too, giving one to Sebby as she did.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She felt the moment when Mommy gave permission, and the other babies began to jump off of her back and scuttle toward Jack and her family. <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHeaven help us,\u201d muttered Usadden.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s fine. It\u2019s going to be just fine,\u201d Izil said, stepping forward and kneeling down to offer olives to the approaching babies. They were, for the most part, roughly half the size of Sebby, or even smaller. Several of them, squeaking eagerly, headed straight for him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cShit, you\u2019re gonna get swarmed,\u201d Kyra warned him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWouldn\u2019t be the first time. I mean, with other species\u2026\u201d Izil began giving the nearest babies an olive each. \u201cStart handing them out too, if you don\u2019t want me buried in baby Sebbies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Cedric laughed and walked forward, kneeling down a few feet away from Izil.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack wasn\u2019t sure if it was <i>her<\/i> heart that suddenly felt full to overflowing, or Mommy\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Soon everyone had a group of babies surrounding them, happily eating olives while Jack fed Mommy and Sebby from her container\u2026 and Sebby shared visions of his adventures in the apartment and then the <i>ait Meziane<\/i> house. He was especially proud of the visions he shared of helping Kyra and Jack fight, and defeat, Pritchard. <i>Stung it! Stung it <b>good!<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Mommy didn\u2019t believe at first.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Sebby saved our lives,<\/i> Jack agreed, backing him up. She shared her own perspective, how dangerous and terrible Pritchard was, how badly he\u2019d hurt Kyra and how much worse he had intended to hurt both of them, how scared for Sebby she was when he jumped from the ceiling onto Pritchard\u2019s shoulder, and then watching as Sebby paralyzed the huge man in an instant\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Already?<\/i> Mommy asked in wonder. <i>A first kill so soon? She will be a mighty huntress.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cShe?\u201d Jack gasped. Unlike Sebby\u2019s referent for a sibling, the concept Mommy had transmitted had <i>definitely<\/i> been gendered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra, open-mouthed, turned to look at Jack. <i>Whoa, wait. She?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh my,\u201d Izil said. \u201cI\u2019m looking at these babies, and they have two different physical conformations. Some of them are shaped like their mother, and like Sebby, but some are shaped a little differently. But consistently. This is a species with sex-linked morphologies\u2026 and Sebby\u2019s morphology is <i>female.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSebby\u2019s a girl?\u201d Takama asked, looking up from the group of babies surrounding her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cJeez,\u201d Kyra laughed, \u201cdoes she take after her big sister or <i>what?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack was astounded. How had she <i>missed<\/i> that? Especially given the way she\u2019d run her own con, masquerading as a boy\u2026 surely she should have known?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But then, judging by Mommy\u2019s size, Sebby was even more of a baby than they had realized. Maybe biological sex didn\u2019t <i>matter<\/i> at this stage of her development. Takama had told her, in one of their rambling after-dinner conversations, that even human children\u2019s remains had frequently been impossible for archaeologists to tell apart in digs, unless they had reached puberty before death or there were gender-specific artifacts preserved with them\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>How do I tell your males and females apart?<\/i> Mommy asked. Apparently she had been following along with Jack\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh, um\u2026 Izil? I don\u2019t know how to explain this exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cExplain what, Tizzy?\u201d Izil\u2019s little brood of sebbies seemed to have been sated on olives and now were running their antennae over him. He had sat down on the ground, cross-legged, so that they would have better access. One or two were even climbing up his shirt. <i>They<\/i> were all still the size of ferrets.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMommy\u2014that\u2019s Sebby\u2019s name for her\u2014wants to know how we tell our males and females apart. I uh\u2026\u201d Now Jack felt incredibly embarrassed, aware of just how little concrete information about that she\u2019d actually learned. She felt like\u2014at least most of the time\u2014she could generally tell\u2026 but then, she\u2019d put a lot of effort into counterfeiting masculinity by replicating as many of its stereotypical traits as she could. What was the <i>real<\/i> difference? A zoologist, surely, could explain it better than she could. Humans were, after all, part of the animal kingdom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cCan you translate for me?\u201d Izil asked. \u201cI\u2019m not hearing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAmong humans\u2014that\u2019s what we\u2019re called\u2014males tend to be larger in size than females. Males tend to have more upper-body strength and narrower hips, while females have wider hips to accommodate gestation\u2014we do that internally, not by laying eggs\u2014and mammary glands on their chests to feed offspring. We often depict this in symbols by giving males a straight rectangular body form and females a form that curves. That is accurate for most, but not all, human beings. Size varies widely enough that there are small males and large females, for instance, and much more variety in body shape than just \u2018rectangle\u2019 and \u2018curved.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack could feel Mommy listening through her, fascinated, as Jack visualized what Izil was describing. She conjured up images of her father, Cedric, Ewan, Tomlin, Izil, Usadden, and Riddick. <i>Male.<\/i> Then she conjured up images of her mother, Shazza, Fry, Takama, Safiyya, Tafrara, and Kyra. <i>Female.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She sensed Mommy\u2019s understanding and fascination, and then <i>Mommy<\/i> showed <i>her<\/i> what the humans in front of her looked like, to her. Entirely different colors characterized them, including some that Jack had never seen before and could barely comprehend. Heat signatures, she realized after a moment, mapping out the warmest and coolest parts of their bodies. Izil, cross-legged on the ground\u2026 <i>Male?<\/i> Mommy asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Yes,<\/i> she answered. <i>That\u2019s Izil. He\u2019s been making sure Sebby has lots to eat.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Sebby?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Me!<\/i> Sebby bounced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack could feel Mommy marveling at just how <i>much<\/i> food Izil must have been providing her daughter, in order for her to grow so large and begin articulated speech so young.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Maybe, Jack suddenly wondered, it was the olives?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Mommy looked from human to human, showing Jack how she saw them and confirming whether they were male or female. She guessed right every time and was fascinated by the sound patterns of their names.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMay I ask <i>her<\/i> some questions?\u201d Izil asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Izil began asking Mommy about herself, whether the brood climbing over the family was her first or if she\u2019d had more in the past, and other questions about the cycles of the world and how they affected her biological cycles. Soon they knew that she had lived twelve full Tangiers Prime years, making her the equivalent of thirty-two Standard years old, and had first reproduced when she was ten Tangiers Prime years old, roughly five Standard years earlier. That brood had been tiny and unsuccessful, as most first broods frequently were. This new brood had hatched in the spring, making them almost a Standard year old.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Safiyya and Takama started unpacking lunch foods as Izil and Mommy continued their discussion, with Jack and Kyra providing translations. Many of the babies were fascinated by human food and were curious to try some. Sebby, still full from her large breakfast and olive snack, was climbing on Mommy and running her antennae over her mother\u2019s huge carapace, trilling happily.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Soon they knew that Mommy\u2019s species was a solitary predator species that mostly hunted a variety of plain and steppe insects, some of which were bigger than a human. They also ate some kinds of fruit\u2014but nothing, Mommy told them, as impressive as those olives\u2014and a flying animal that looked, to Jack, like someone had stapled bat wings onto a feathered snake. It took a minimum of a full Tangiers Prime year for offspring to grow large enough and strong enough to stop riding their mother\u2019s back, and they would travel alongside her for at least another four of the world\u2019s 32-month-long years after that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Other predator species existed, and sometimes posed a threat to her babies, but Mommy herself was now far too large for any of them to try to take on. One or two might pose a threat to a visiting human. She showed them, via highly colorized images, what to watch out for. When she projected deliberately and carefully, the others could \u201chear\u201d her almost as well as Jack and Kyra could.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNow for the really important question,\u201d Cedric said during a small lull in the conversation. \u201cIs there a place where she dens, or frequents, that would be a good place for the olive trees?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It took a few minutes to fully unpack his question for Mommy. Then she insisted upon looking over the young trees, touching them with her antennae and examining the maturing fruits forming on them already.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You brought these for us?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe wanted to make sure Sebby could still have olives, yeah,\u201d Jack told her. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know about you. We didn\u2019t know Sebby was still a baby. But yeah, they\u2019re for all of you now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I will show you our home. You will always be welcome there.<\/i> Jack could feel Mommy marveling at it all, these strange creatures, unarmored yet so oddly powerful, who had not merely brought her daughter back to her but had made her flourish almost beyond comprehension\u2026 and had brought precious gifts as well! <i>You will come back again, yes?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI will find a way,\u201d Izil promised. \u201cThere are others who know how to come here. Tizzy and Dihya must leave soon, but I will find someone who can help me come back. I want to learn everything I can about you and this world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd we will come back too, one day,\u201d Kyra said. \u201cOnce it\u2019s safe for us to return.\u201d She transmitted an impression of something hunting her and Jack, something that hadn\u2019t found them yet but might if they stayed too long in one place, something they were going to lead away from this world before shaking it off their trails so they could safely return. <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>What hunts you? I will help you fight it.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI wish you could,\u201d Jack told her sadly. \u201cBut it\u2019s too big. The last time someone tried to fight it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She closed her eyes, visualizing Tomlin. Sebby squeaked, contributing her own image of Tomlin\u2019s visit to the apartment and the way he had emanated both distress and kindness, but how sad both Kyra and Jack had soon been, a sadness somehow centered upon him. Sighing, Jack showed both Mommy and Sebby <i>why<\/i> they had been so sad, visualizing Makarov and Pritchard following Tomlin to the spaceport, trapping him in the pilots\u2019 lounge, and then setting off an explosion that laid waste to everything and killed hundreds, including her first intense crush since Riddick\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Monsters! What terrible creatures are these, who would kill so many of their own?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack visualized the envoy. <i>They look a lot like us, but they\u2019re not.<\/i> She showed Mommy what <i>else<\/i> the envoy was, the darkness that rode undetected upon her\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Wait, was the <i>envoy<\/i> one of the\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She blinked, shaking her head. For a moment her mind had wandered off on a weird tangent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThey can\u2019t come here,\u201d she told Mommy. \u201cWe\u2019ve made sure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou mean,\u201d Kyra said, \u201c<i>you<\/i> made sure they\u2019ll be afraid to try to access this universe again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know if <i>I<\/i> did anything,\u201d Jack sighed. \u201cI don\u2019t remember. But I don\u2019t think they\u2019d have experimented with the Star Jump drive like they did if the ship it was attached to had still been spaceworthy. Whatever happened with that test\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m pretty damn sure we <i>know<\/i> what happened\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhatever it was, I doubt they\u2019d risk that happening again. Not without anything to gain. And as long as we break our trails and stay un-Quantified, they\u2019ll never think there\u2019s anything worth gaining.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>We will fight them beside you if you need help.<\/i> Mommy\u2019s mental voice was firm. <i>This land is full of my brothers and sisters. The People will rise to help you.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">That, it turned out, was the name of Mommy\u2019s species: the People. Takama laughed softly, murmuring that the name of virtually every tribe that had developed on Earth had meant that, too, although the Imazighen had taken it one small step further, naming themselves the <i>Free<\/i> People.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">After a few moments, Jack and the others had settled on <i>their<\/i> name for Mommy\u2019s People, that their tongues could reproduce\u2014and it really was the obvious choice: the Ree. Mommy seemed both amused and approving. She, herself, was known among her people as the Dawn Huntress\u2026 but she liked the way \u201cMommy\u201d sounded when her human visitors said it aloud.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Once her babies had climbed onto her back, Sebby settled among them, Mommy led them uphill. Cedric drove the all-terrain vehicle slowly after her with everybody back inside it and the top still down. Jack, now sitting next to him, focused her vision on U1 periodically; the area that they were entering was increasingly rural back there. Whenever she saw a good stretch of level, empty road, she shifted her vision back to Elsewhere to pick out nearby landmarks. They were going far enough afield that trying to follow their backtrail and isomorph in the confines of the hangar might be more trouble than it was worth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack thought maybe half an hour passed before they reached a long, lovely glen. She could see why Mommy had picked this spot for her burrow\u2026 which, they soon discovered, was large, well ventilated, and kept meticulously clean. A shallow, babbling creek ran through the glen, while springy moss grew over much of the ground. Although parts of it were shaded by extraordinary, primordial trees with towering, slender trunks topped by wild crowns of long leaves, much of it would be sunny throughout the day and, at one end, it looked out over the foothills stretching down toward the distant ocean. Cedric\u2019s altimeter said that they were almost 200 meters above sea level, safe from even a monster wave produced by a true syzygy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Soon Mommy and Tafrara were picking out the best spots to plant the young olive trees while Sebby and her siblings played in the creek, splashing each other and doing little variations on the Sebby Dance. As soon as the first location for an olive tree had been chosen, Cedric began digging. Usadden started digging the second hole, and Izil began on the third. Jack grabbed a shovel to tackle the fourth hole, wanting to be actively involved in the planting; after a little while, Kyra took a turn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">As they all worked on settling the trees into their holes, Tafrara explained to Mommy what the olive trees would need, aside from light and water, to grow well and how to tell if they needed special care. She promised that she would find a way to return, too, to check on their progress and help with any problems that arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis is a bit of a complication,\u201d Cedric murmured to Jack. \u201cWe thought, if we got everyone connected to Elsewhere as far away from New Marrakesh as possible, that would be the end of the risk. But now\u2026 I think we need that connection again. We need to be able to come back to this world\u2026 to continue this friendship\u2026 but I don\u2019t know how we can do this without risking the Quintessa Corporation discovering that you, Dihya, and Gavin rescued the <i>Matador<\/i> passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack had found herself thinking the same thing. The passengers had been sent much further and higher into the New Atlas Mountains; there was no telling what kind of life waited on the other side there, or whether friendly enough contact could be made with it to ensure safe passage between there and this location down in the foothills. But\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She took a deep breath, feeling her heart lurch a little as she realized what she was about to do. \u201cWhat if there was a way to\u2026 infect\u2026 someone who <i>wasn\u2019t<\/i> on board the <i>Matador<\/i> with Threshold Syndrome? Someone the Quintessa Corporation would have no reason to suspect?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Cedric had gone still, studying her face intently. \u201cYou think you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2026 think I can <i>try<\/i> to do it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack shook her head. \u201cI think it\u2019d be best to try back at the house. Where there\u2019s more control. And mattresses. The way Dihya and I learned to orient ourselves between universes involved using the tides\u2026 floating on the water and then making it let us go. Works best with a mattress under you. I think\u2026 I could pull someone halfway between the two universes, the way <i>we<\/i> started out\u2026 and then show them how to navigate between both spaces. Worst case, if they can\u2019t, I just pull them all the way back into U1 and it\u2019s over. I <i>think.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m in,\u201d Izil said from behind her. \u201cI volunteer. I want to come back here. My zoology degree isn\u2019t all that <i>useful<\/i> to me right now, especially up in the mountains where everything was brought in from Earth <i>centuries<\/i> ago\u2026 but in <i>these<\/i> mountains\u2026 my whole life I\u2019ve dreamed of getting a chance to explore a whole new world and learn about new creatures, and <i>here it is.<\/i> Whatever the risks may be, it\u2019s worth them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c<i>We<\/i> volunteer,\u201d Tafrara said, joining them. \u201cAs much as I love our world in U1, I need this, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack suddenly laughed. \u201cDamn, it\u2019s a shame General Toal already blew up the old apartment building. The top floor would\u2019ve been perfect to practice in during high tide. But we can make it work at the house, too, as the tide\u2019s coming and going. Kyra and I have worked out lots of tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt means you\u2019ll need to stay in New Marrakesh until it\u2019s time for <i>us<\/i> to leave,\u201d Kyra told Izil, joining them. \u201cWe won\u2019t have time to teach you much if you\u2019re leaving this evening-day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh, I\u2019m not going anywhere now,\u201d Izil replied. \u201cIf you\u2019re willing to teach me, I\u2019m completely at your disposal until <i>you<\/i> have to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThen I think it\u2019s settled,\u201d Cedric said, looking pleased.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Only one thing remained: saying good-bye to Sebby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was easy to spot their little sister, playing among <i>her<\/i> many siblings in the creek. She was handily two to three times larger than any of them. Jack took off her shoes and rolled up her pants, wading into the water.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s time for us to go, Sebby,\u201d she said, feeling her throat tighten.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She barely had time to put her arms out to catch Sebby as the cat-sized crustacean leapt onto her chest for a hug.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Love my Tizzy\u2026<\/i> Sebby stroked Jack\u2019s face with her antennae.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cLove my Sebby too,\u201d Jack managed, hearing her voice crack as she cuddled her little sister close and stroked her carapace. \u201cYou\u2019re going to be okay here, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Happy\u2026 with Mommy\u2026 will still miss you\u2026 come back when I\u2019m big.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou\u2019re gonna get <i>so<\/i> big\u2026\u201d Jack laughed. \u201cI\u2019ve <i>got<\/i> to come back to see it, don\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I will be here\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">It was hard to let go, but Kyra needed to cuddle Sebby, too\u2026 and everyone else had waded into the water to give her hugs as well. Jack retreated from the water and found herself face to face with Mommy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You are good friends. Always welcome. Those other beings\u2026 they are dangerous. Conquerors.<\/i> An image of strange locust-like creatures, swarming over the land and eating everything in their path, came to her. Mommy had seen such creatures when she was small, had joined in the fight against them and worried that one day such things might return. She was, Jack realized, drawing a comparison between those swarms and the Quintessa Corporation. <i>Do not let them catch you.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s the plan. I can\u2019t come back until I\u2019m sure they won\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>But come back. You are family. You are Sebby\u2019s sister. You are my brood.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI will, Mommy,\u201d Jack said, reaching out to stroke her face. What a strange and wonderful honor, to be the \u201cdaughter\u201d of this magnificent creature\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>People keep adopting you everywhere you <b>go,<\/b><\/i> Kyra whispered in her mind with silent laughter.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>She\u2019s adopting you, too, you know,<\/i> Jack whispered back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The drive back was almost completely silent, broken only by Jack\u2019s directions as she spotted familiar landmarks leading to a stretch of empty, unmonitored rural road in U1. Everyone was, Jack thought, feeling as awed and humbled as she was. Like her, they were all sad to be parted from Sebby, but confident that they had given her the best possible life. Jack could also feel six people processing, in wonderment, the telepathic contact <i>they<\/i> had experienced for the first time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Would something like that show up in a Quantification test, she found herself pondering. If so, and the whole family began traveling between \u2019verses regularly, they might all end up needing neurofeedback units from General Toal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The road in U1 was still deserted; Jack transferred them back as soon as Cedric reached a stretch that was level in both universes. Once their comms reconnected to the local system, Safiyya took over telling Cedric which way to drive to take them home.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou know, I\u2019m wondering why you thought Sebby was a boy in the first place,\u201d Kyra said after a few minutes more.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack shrugged. \u201cI guess\u2026 I had no idea. So I just went with \u2018boy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow come? Me, I usually go with \u2018girl\u2019 there. I think most girls do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack thought about it for a moment. \u201cWhen I was younger, right before my parents split up\u2026 I started having dreams for a while that I was gonna have a baby brother soon. My mom and dad were fighting constantly, and I kept hoping that maybe my dream would come true and they\u2019d be too happy to fight anymore when it did. Instead, the dreams stopped and my dad moved out, but\u2026 I guess I\u2019ve always wished for that little brother, ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Takama put a gentle arm around Jack\u2019s shoulders. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Tizzy. That must have been such a difficult time for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah\u2026\u201d Jack sighed. Sometimes, part of her still wondered if the divorce was somehow <i>her<\/i> fault, as stupid as it sounded when she articulated it. \u201cI knew if I ever had a little brother, my parents wanted to name him Spencer. After this twentieth century actor, Spencer Tracy. They\u2019d named me after\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Shit, she couldn\u2019t say that part. Nor that she\u2019d almost had an older sister, who would have been named Katharine, if <i>she<\/i> hadn\u2019t been born too early to survive. She\u2019d spilled far too many details already.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2026a twentieth century actress. But I wanted to name my little brother Sebastian\u2026 so that\u2019s what I named Sebby. Kinda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra was staring at her as if some great revelation had struck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat?\u201d she asked, confused.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Her sister just shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s probably nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But Jack was almost certain she was lying.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 54\/? Fandom: Pitch Black (2000); The Chronicles of Riddick (2004); The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) Rat","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d 54: \u201cMommy Ree\u201d","bgseo_description":"Jack, Kyra, and the Meziane family have an opportunity to make First Contact with a brand new species. The opportunity\u2014and risk\u2014that arises forces Jack to make a decision that may affect a whole planet\u2019s future.","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1174,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions\/1174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}