Diamonds In The Sky by Jerry Oltion

Author:Jerry Oltion [Oltion, Jerry]
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-03-07T17:35:31.421000+00:00

Modani fell upon the floor and wailed in the minor key of abjection, his mental universe crashing down around him as he uttered the formulas he had learned as a youth. “Forgive my unbelief, I pray. Forgive my lack of sacrifices. It is my fault, not Sani’s; curse me, not the one who is faultless.”

But the presumed god, Ellani, fluffed in disappointment and frustration, crest down in despair at his obeisance.

“No, no,” she protested. “We are just very ancient people who have learned a few wonderful tricks through the ages.”

Modani looked up, crest splayed in embarrassment.

Ellani smoothed it as a parent would a nestling’s.

A thousand astronomical units away in the heart of the distended red star, nuclei roared from collision to collision like lions caged in desperately little space. The worst of these rattlings made their torturous way through dense stagnant plasma to the outer layers of the star. Free of the compressed core, the eruption burst forth and roiled the great distended atmosphere. Gas slopped gas over its gravitational border and spiraled onto its dying white dwarf companion.

A lesser star might have gone nova and blown off the excess in a self-extinguishing spasm, but this white dwarf was heavy and drank deep from its companion; the infalling hydrogen and helium sustained a stellar atmosphere thick enough for a gently pulsing fusion reaction. A few kilometers deeper, the helium ash of this fusion, fused into carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and neon. Below that, the core of the white dwarf, already dangerously massive and degenerate, grew even heavier.

David and Ellen’s telescopes noted the flickering, and updated their model. It could not be too long now - a billion seconds, perhaps.

Ellen saw Sani stir from her fog of pain. A brief ripple of uncertainty went through Sani’s crest and Ellen took her hand from Modani’s crest. “I’m afraid I’ve disturbed your mate.”

The Tha-Li woman made a gesture of unconcern. “My pardon, Gentleone, but what did you do?”

Crest and featherfur rising in hopeful anticipation, Ellani produced and absorbed the seaflyer.

“Marvelous!” Sani even managed a chirp of delight. “How did you do it?”

A volume of infrared communication passed between Ellen and David in a millisecond; it was review they had already made their decision.

“First,” Ellen said, “we must be the greatest secret of your lives, because what we are and what we have would change the pattern of your race. So please hold all this down the gut. Understood?”

Modani nodded, but Sani’s crest rose a bit.

“Would that be so awful? I knit, but while I dream of many patterns, only a few get finished. The children need to eat,” she clicked apologetically. “I think what our culture might become on its own is like some big pattern in the future, which we may or may not finish. Is so abstract a thing worth the hunger of even one child?”

“It is a hard choice, Sani,” Ellani agreed. “Yes, some pattern will develop regardless. But think of the millions of lives that have been spent through your history to get you this far.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.