Tortoise Reform Page 17

  The panther tumbled, losing control of its legs. Then it righted itself, but it had acquired respect. It had not realized that the rest of the burrow was close enough to strike in that manner. “Have it your way,” it thought, and slunk away.

  "Watch the cat,” Indigo thought to Owl. “This may be a ruse to get the cub out of the tree and vulnerable."

  "You watch the cat,” Owl thought. “I will fly to the cave to notify the bears."

  Indigo tuned into the panther's mind. Sure enough, it was lurking nearby, awaiting its opportunity.

  "I'll carry him home,” Rowan thought. She approached the tree. “Cub, I know you,” she thought to him. “I visited your cave, and spent a night with your mother and sister."

  The cub recognized her. “Nice human!” She lifted up her arms, and took him carefully down from the tree. Then she carried him toward the cave.

  They were met part way there by the mother bear. “You saved my cub!” she thought.

  "We're friends,” Rowan reminded her. “I couldn't let the panther eat him.” She set the cub down, and he ran to join his mother.

  The panther gave up the hunt in disgust. It could not get the cub when the mother was with him. A panther was formidable, but a grown bear was more than a match for it.

  "But you owed us nothing,” the mother bear thought, perplexed.

  "I just had to do it,” Rowan thought. “Now we must go to meet the Council of Tortoises."

  The mother bear struggled with a concept that was somewhat beyond her level, for she was not fully sapient. “Grateful."

  "It's okay,” Rowan thought. “Maybe some day a panther will have me up a tree, and if you're in the neighborhood, you can help me."

  "Help you,” the bear agreed. Then she and the cub departed. Indigo was amazed at how well the girl had communicated with the bear; she must have lent some of her sapience to it, so that it responded more intelligently than otherwise. She had a certain talent that way; all of them were smarter in her presence than otherwise.

  They resumed their journey. But now they were late, and this was going to bring mischief. Indigo couldn't blame Rowan for saving the cub, but it might turn out to be a very expensive gesture.

  There was one large river to cross. Because they were now on a main trail, there was a shallow section where animals and their bearers could wade across during the middle of the day. There were alligators, but they were not allowed to molest any creature in the crossing bar at that time. If any did, there would be a mass-mind alligator hunt that would rid the river of the offender. Alligators, like bears, were only half sapient, but they understood the rule and punishment well enough. Safe crossing was honored.

  But they reached the river late. It was afternoon, and the alligators had full range. They would have to wait until tomorrow to make the crossing.

  "But that will use up our margin,” Rowan protested. “We want to get there early."

  It was true. But none of them could cross when the alligators were hunting. They would be bitten, drowned, and eaten.

  "I wish I'd realized,” Rowan thought. “But I still wouldn't have let that panther eat that bear cub."

  Indigo understood that, because he was in touch with her mind. Her sense of community went beyond the burrow.

  They prepared to camp beside the river, as there was nothing else to do. Then a big male bear approached. Too big; if he attacked, they would have to use the mind hammer, because none of them could oppose him physically.

  Indigo slithered out to meet him. “We are traveling, seeking no quarrel,” he thought.

  "Cross river,” the bear thought.

  "We will cross the river, but must wait until tomorrow."

  "Cross river now."

  What was bothering this bear? “Alligators,” Indigo explained. “Not safe."

  Rowan's thought joined them. “Didn't I see you at the bear cave?” she asked the bear.

  "Cave,” the bear agreed. “Cubs."

  Indigo felt her sudden delight. “You are one of the cave bears! You came to help us, because we saved your cub."

  "Saved cub,” the bear agreed. He understood her better than he could communicate.

  "And now you will do us a favor in return. Like helping us cross the river."

  "Cross river,” the bear agreed.

  Indigo was amazed. The bears had grasped enough of the principle to honor it. This bear must have followed them, looking for a chance to help, and here it was.

  They braved the river. Indigo led the way again, swimming. Owl flew watchfully above. Rowan carried Gopher and Cottontail on the howdah. She waded into the river, following Indigo. Soon she was waist deep.

  "Alligator!” Owl thought, spotting it from above.

  "Where?” Indigo asked. “Tell the bear!"

  Owl sent a location picture to the bear. The alligator was swimming right for Rowan.

  The bear charged into the water, making a great splash. He lifted up his forelegs, becoming tall. He pointed his snout at the alligator. “Go!” he roared mentally and sonically.

  The alligator hesitated. This was more than it had counted on. Then it swerved and went for Indigo.

  But Owl tracked it, and the bear charged forward. He brushed close by Rowan, causing her to stumble. Then he lunged for the alligator, snapping his jaws.

  The alligator swerved aside again, avoiding the bear. It circled, seeing whether it could still get at the others.

  The bear stood again. He made a hugging motion with his great front legs, his formidable claws showing. His eye and mind were locked on the alligator.

  It was becoming clear: if there was one creature who could balk an alligator in shallow water, it was a big bear. This bear was doing it. Maybe it would be a different story in deep water—and maybe not. The bear had muscles and teeth and claws, and he was twice as massive as the alligator. He might not be able to catch the alligator if it was just the two of them, but he could intercept it if it came for Indigo or Rowan. Once he got hold of it, he would do some real harm. “Go!” he roared again.

  Reluctantly, the alligator retreated. Indigo resumed swimming, and Rowan resumed wading. The bear followed closely after them.

  Another alligator came. Owl targeted it, putting its location in the bear's mind, and the bear growled. The alligator kept its distance.

  They made it safely to the far shore. “Thank you, Bear,” Rowan thought as she stood on the bank. “We are even."

  "Even,” the bear agreed. Then he turned around and swam back across the river. Neither alligator bothered him.

  They resumed their trek. They were still late, but not nearly as late as they would have been. Indigo mulled over what had happened. Burrow mates helped each other, and bears helped other bears of their cave, and sometimes the two made deals, as they had when Rowan spent the night in the bear cave. But a spaced exchange of favors was normally beyond the comprehension of bears. Rowan had done it, by enhancing the bears’ understanding. This was an aspect of her mind that the burrow mates had not understood before.

  When dusk came, they camped for the night. Rowan had vegetables in her pack, and Indigo didn't need to eat, as he was still digesting his rat. So Indigo guarded Gopher and Cottontail as they grazed, while Owl hunted mice.

  Rowan climbed into a branching tree for the night, with Cottontail in her pack. Owl perched on a branch, and Gopher and Indigo rested by the trunk. It wasn't comfortable being away from the burrow, but they managed.

  In the morning they resumed travel. They reached the burrow of the Council Tortoise at midday. The mates of the predator burrow were already there, with their human bearer, hoping that they would be the only ones. Had Gopher's burrow not made it within three days, it would have lost the case by default.

  The Elder Tortoise was on his bearer's howdah. In deference, the others were on the ground. The predator's human male sat to the side, uninterested in the proceedings, sinking into a snooze. But Rowan sat close, facing the Elder.

  Gopher made the
case. “We wish to make this human girl our sixth burrow mate,” he thought. “She is sapient."

  "She is a dangerous rogue human,” the predator tortoise thought. “She must be banished."

  The Elder's mind focused on Rowan, and Indigo felt its power, augmented by that of the linked Council members. “Open your mind."

  Rowan opened her mind to the tortoises. This time Indigo was on the edge, not fully sharing the experience, but he knew what it was: a phenomenal expansion of intellect, awesome in its reach and detail. Indigo felt the Elders’ amazement. The girl was not just sapient, she was superior. There was no other mind like hers in this realm.

  And if that scared off the Elder Tortoises, their plea was doomed.

  "The bears,” the Elder thought. “What was that interaction?"

  Now Gopher reviewed what had happened. “She knew the cub. She acted to save it. So the bears helped us cross the river."

  "This resembles a burrow interaction,” the Elder thought. “But it was beyond the burrow, with non-sapient animals."

  "She has that effect,” Gopher agreed. “It is one reason we want her. She will make us better."

  The predator tortoise protested. “She makes ghosts with her mind. She is dangerous. We must not have a mere human among us with power like that."

  The Elder oriented on Rowan again. “Make a ghost."

  Rowan made the image of a fire. It started on the ground before her, then rapidly spread outward, passing through the animals and reaching the trees. The Elders were impressed, but not favorably.

  "This human is sapient and well meaning,” the Elder thought. “But also dangerous. It may not be good to have her in this realm, or as a burrow mate. We are unable to make a decision."

  Indigo hated that. No decision was a negative decision, because their burrow was incomplete without its sixth member. Rowan had to be approved, or they were lost.

  "May I speak?” Rowan thought.

  The Elder hesitated. This was an irregular request. But then the curiosity of the Elders prevailed. They wanted to know more about this strange human. “Yes."

  "You're right. I am sapient, and I am dangerous to this realm. If you banish me, I will go back to my own realm. But I don't think you should do that, because though I am the only human of my kind here, I am one of millions there. Any of those humans would be dangerous here, and I don't want them to come here any more than you do. But they might come. There may be other portals we don't know about, and the humans will come, and it will be terrible. But if you let me stay, I will do all that I can to stop any others like me from coming here. That will make you safer. I know what my kind is like, and I might be able to stop others from coming, if I have the support of my burrow. Because I am learning telepathy, and the other humans in my realm don't have that. I can help change their minds, so they don't come. At least, I promise to try."

  Indigo hadn't thought of that case, but she was right. Other humans might cross over, and it would be awful. But as a burrow mate she would be more effective in stopping them.

  "She must be banished,” the predator tortoise thought.

  Indigo sent her a sharp thought. “You won't do well either, if other sapient humans come. None of us will. You're better off letting us keep our burrow, where we can block off the portal. We couldn't do it without Rowan—and neither could you. You could be destroyed, if you are there when they come. They have frightening—” His thought stalled, because he lacked enough of the concept.

  "Machines,” Rowan thought helpfully. “Including weapons that can kill any animals from a distance."

  "Weapons?” the coyote asked.

  "Guns,” Rowan thought with distaste. She made a mental picture of a coyote and a man. Something flashed in the man's hand, and the coyote fell dead. “They hurl bits of metal that hurt what they hit.” She amplified the concept of guns and bullets. They were terrible things.

  That set the predator tortoise back. She consulted with her burrow mates. All of them were shaken by Rowan's revelation, which they knew was a true one. Then she addressed the Elder. “We withdraw our protest."

  The Elders consulted, and came to their decision. “The sapient human is approved as a burrow mate. Your burrow is recognized. But we may reconsider later, if your sapient human does not keep others out."

  And there it was: victory. Indigo reveled in the joy of Rowan's mind, that they all shared.

  But the Elder was not quite finished. He addressed Gopher. “And we will be looking for evidence that you have become a responsible landlord and burrow leader. Your wild days must end. Burrow management is serious business."

  Now Rowan laughed. “Tortoise reform! You can't avoid it any more."

  Indigo knew that was going to be difficult for Gopher. And for the rest of them. They were all young and wild.

  Author's Note

  This novel is fiction, of course, but it is drawn from reality. I live on a small tree farm in Florida, and all the animals of the home burrow are there. Gopher tortoises really do dig burrows, anywhere up to forty feet long, and perhaps ten feet deep. They spend most of their time in them, coming out mainly to graze on wire grass and some leafed plants. There are tortoise burrows all along our long drive, and two are right by our house, so we see the tortoises often enough. Each one has a slightly different pattern on its shell, so they can be told apart. We like them, and leave them alone, because that's the way they prefer it.

  Other animals do join the tortoises in their burrows. The small burrowing owl does, and the indigo snake, and over a hundred other creatures. So the gopher tortoise really is a landlord, and without his burrow a number of other animals would be in trouble. The gopher tortoise is thus a keystone species—that is, one whose presence fundamentally affects the welfare of other animals. That is one reason it is a protected species. Once upon a time people hunted these tortoises and ate them; now that is forbidden.

  What does not exist, as far as we know, is telepathy. So I wrote this story to explore what it might be like if there were a realm where animals could read each other's minds, not needing to talk the way human beings do. If they could do that, they would have a great advantage, and might even be able to form an animal civilization. If they learned to read minds long enough ago—millions of years—they might have taken over the world, and human beings would never have had the chance. Perhaps that would be a better world.

  —Piers Anthony, October, 2004

  About the Author

  Piers Anthony is one of the world's most prolific and popular authors. His fantasy Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list 21 times.

  Although Piers is mostly known for fantasy and science fiction, he has written novels in other genres as well, including historical fiction, martial arts, and horror.

  Piers Anthony's official website is HI PIERS at www.hipiers.com, where he publishes his bi-monthly online newsletter. Piers lives with his wife in Central Florida.

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