1

Marta is listening to quivarde, the elegant, angular Brazilian music that has become the soundtrack to her life.
This music is her country’s cultural gift to the twenty first century, in the same way that samba and bossa nova had been more than one hundred years previously. Marta had been introduced to it by Miss da Guia in her last Earthside packet, and had fallen in love…
It wasn’t the only thing she had been introduced to by her Earthsister, as under her tutelage Marta had begun to watch a wider range of content on her interface. Previously, she had tended to view a diet of educational programmes, historical drama, and serious documentaries, but under the influence of MDG (as Marta had started to call her), she had begun to watch entertainment shows.
Marta wasn’t sure if this was a deliberate ploy on MDG’s part, to get her to ‘lighten-up’. She assumed there must be an element of coaching from the Mission Planners lying behind the content of Miss da Guia’s packets, but she had to keep reminding herself that these were messages from the past and the Planners had no way of knowing how the Marta of the present day would think and behave.
Nevertheless she had, to use a phrase she’d heard in a teleplay, started to ‘let her hair down’ and had begun to enjoy the soaps and romantic comedies sent from Earth. As a consequence, she now understood more about her Earthsister’s life in Sao Paulo… She now understood shopping, was more aware of fashion, and was starting to realise how important competitive games were to people back on Earth, all things that had mystified her previously.
But most of all, she enjoyed stories of romantic love, and yearned for the opportunity to experience this for herself. But Han had proved a bust, and Rai was out of reach, so Marta had resigned herself to never knowing it. In the meantime fantasy would have to do!
Her ‘face was now reminding her insistently that the other girl’s latest packet was now ready for her to access,
“Ola Marta! Como vai?”
The familiar surroundings of her bunk had given way to the brilliant sunshine of a Sao Paulo street…while the haunting angularity of quivarde was replaced by something she couldn’t place, something harsher and more vibrant…
“What do you think of my new lips…?” Miss da Guia had moved into shot and was pouting appealingly, “…so much better to kiss with…! And I must show you this…!”
MDG’s hair had been flame red but now changed suddenly to electric blue,
“Neat, huh…! It’s the latest thing…you can control it with your ‘face and have any shade you want, instantly…! All my friends have got it…!”
She did a sinuous little wiggle to emphasis the point,
“…and it also works with my make-up…!”
Her eye shadow suddenly changed from shocking pink to lime green,
“…and watch this…!”
The girl’s eyes, normally chestnut brown, flickered to cobalt blue.
Marta was entranced… Her Earthsister had previously showed her clothes that could change colour or even pattern…but this was so much more…
The other girl was speaking again,
“…you know, I may just change my nose again…my surgeon says he can fit me in next week…”
Marta allowed herself to drift off while MDG prattled on. It occurred to her that listening to her friend, because Miss da Guia was a friend even if the relationship was completely one way, was very much like watching a soap opera. You could just relax, unplug your conscious mind, and let it wash over you… She believed that the dynamics of the relationship wouldn’t have shifted much even if she’d been able to reply… She was sure that Miss da Guia would still have done all the talking!
Marta had become aware that during the course of the packet that they hadn’t visited anywhere that was familiar to her. Her friend seemed to acknowledge this,
“Sorry we’re not at Venezia today…!” MDG was referring to the mall she appeared to live in, “…but we are having a little trouble with the Camposettas…”
Marta was instantly intrigued as this was first time that any reference had been made to the Camposettas, whoever or whatever they were, or to anything even approaching ‘trouble’ in Miss da Guia’s life,
“Anyway, Marta, I hope you have been watching Love changes everything like I said…” Miss da Guia was referring to a popular Brazilian soap that she, like her Earthsister had now become addicted, “…but as they say in Hollywood…” MDG had switched to heavily accented Standard English, “…it’s ciao for now!”
Later on Marta searched for the term that MDG had used, and came across several references to camposetta… Confusingly, the word appeared to refer to several different things, sometimes meaning people from the North who had moved to the South or people from the South, from Brazil’s poorer neighbours such as Uruguay, who had moved north. It also referred to people who had moved inland from fishing villages when the waters came… But the linking factor was that these were poor people from outside the city…who had now arrived within it…! She then found a reference to an explosion in a mall in Brasilia that had killed dozens of people…and was being blamed on camposettas.
The whole thing was unsettling to the girl who ‘though used to reading about disasters and human tragedies in the abstract, wasn’t accustomed to linking them to people she knew…

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The following day she was going on Mission with Rai, not something she was looking forward to, although the boy was markedly different when he was alone with her…rather than showing off in front of the others…
The subtle shunning that she had experienced since ‘the experiment’ had started to break down. Sal still ignored her, but Priya, never one who could keep her mouth shut had started, tentatively at first, to resume their previous intimacy. Marta was glad of this, and had started, maybe in compensation, to share some of the material sent to her by MDG. To say that Priya was amazed and fascinated by Miss da Guia’s world was the understatement of the century…and what made it worse for the younger girl was she couldn’t tell anybody…as apart from Mission business she still wasn’t supposed to be talking to Marta!
She had undergone a full debrief from Nurse Gee in the days that followed her unauthorised diversion ‘off-mission’. But after what appeared to Marta to be a fairly mechanical telling-off, stressing the risk to both girls’ safety and the cardinal sin of deviating from agreed Mission parameters, Six Gee returned to the enormity of what the experiment had demonstrated,
“Mission AI is clear that your experiment and the behaviour of the creature afterwards met at least some the criteria for animal intelligence…” Gee paused, as if to gather her thoughts,
“…the events in the crater previously appeared to demonstrate a number of things…”
Gee then proceeded to enumerate them,
“One, the creatures communicate; two, they are capable of abstract thought, as illustrated by their capacity to plan…and their ability to link a human being on the surface of the planet with a human being riding within a vehicle…regarding each as essentially the same thing; …and three, their capacity, at least intermittently, to function as social animals…
Your experiment with the test subject you have named ‘Harvey’, added important new evidence. ‘Harvey’ clearly has something analogous to self-awareness, as the animal was able to recognise its camera image as ‘himself’, if I can presume to assign gender in this case. He also proved capable of understanding and following instructions, of comprehending number and sequence…as least as far as three…and most important of all, his behaviour towards the VDU after you had left showed a level of sophistication in remembering, conceiving and comprehending relationships in the abstract, shown by only a limited number of animals on Earth…
What we find difficult to explain is why such abilities would have developed in this context… As they would appear to have no conceivable survival value…”
This was a long speech even by a nursemaid’s standards, and Six Gee’s omission of her usual endearments seemed to Marta to indicate a new respect on her behalf…maybe an acknowledgement of Marta as an adult…
Normal service resumed, however,
“…and so, my dear, we have agreed that your work must continue… You will of course work with Priya, as this is still her specialism…but we feel your input and guidance will be invaluable in her development…! However…! Rather than approaching the animals in person…we have determined that you should guide and direct the research vehicles remotely…via your interfaces…”
Marta found that she had been holding her breath during the nursemaid’s speech, and now could finally relax… She felt ecstatic, vindicated even, but one doubt remained… If the creatures linked the children with the rovas would they still react in the same way when approached by an unmanned vehicle? Still, that was something for another day…

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2

Rai’s Mission was to carry out experiments on some of the giant pods, the maroon pseudo-plants that dominated the landscape of Alpha 5. It was known that the pods pumped water from below the surface of the planet. It was speculated that the pods in a particular ‘grove’ might be interconnected, that they might all actually be one plant. In the same way that some terrestrial fungi were actually single organisms, in some cases covering several square miles, the only outward manifestations of which were the fruiting bodies, commonly known as mushrooms and toadstools. Indeed, Marta had read somewhere that the largest organism on planet Earth was in fact a fungus.
Rai’s experiment would involve injecting nanobots, microscopic, semi-autonomous mechanisms into one of the pods. By tracking their progress through the pseudo-plant’s circulation system, he was hoping to prove the theory of interconnexion…
A suitable grove of pods, the size of a small forest, had been identified twenty kliks north of the Dome. Earthcom had determined that there was a lone crusty in the area, but it was judged that the creature was too far away from the proposed site of the experiment to pose any risk…
Rai was characteristically taciturn on the trip out. Marta assumed he was a participant in the policy of ‘sending her to Coventry’ that the other children appeared to have agreed on. But in truth it was difficult to tell, as Rai rarely spoke to her anyway unless it was unavoidable…
They arrived and parked the vehicle at some distance from the grove. Marta had no real function on this Mission other than supplying protection, although she did offer to help Rai set up his experiment.
Rai didn’t appear to want any help, and the crusty was at a safe distance, so she felt free to wander. Here, at the heart of the grove, the pods arched up over her head, more than ten metres into the air…
She paused to rub the ‘trunk’ of one of the pods, it was smooth, and warm to the touch…gleaming dully in the magenta twilight,
‘A purple thought in a purple shade…’ wondering where that thought came from (and then remembering), she swung idly in and out of the pods, arranged like so many columns in some vast elfin hall…
If she lifted her head she could glimpse the lilac sky through the gaps in the foliage. Raising her arms towards the sky she stretched luxuriously…the rifle slipped from her shoulder as she lowered her arms, but she didn’t pay it any mind…
She almost didn’t see the creature…almost walked blithely past, lost in her reverie. But a slight movement caught her eye…
The arthropod was almost perfectly camouflaged in the underbrush…less than a metre in length, it looked like a miniature replica of a one of the big pseudo-crustaceans…Only rather than black it was a deep magenta, almost purple, presumably to blend in with its surroundings…
‘I wonder…?’ thought the girl. She could now hear a low susurration, a faint sighing as it breathed. The creature regarded her with its beady eyes and made a mock charge, before backing off…scrabbling with its ten legs as it tried to burrow back further into the vegetation,
“Rai…!” she spoke into her throat mic,
“What is it…?” the boy replied testily,
“You’ve got to come and see this…!”
“I haven’t got time…! What is it anyway…?”
“You’ll see when you get here…I’m not kidding! You’re really going to want to see this… Look, I’m quarter of a klik away, bearing SSW…your ‘face will guide you…!”
“Give me five minutes, I’m almost finished…!”
Rai arrived almost ten minutes later with a sour expression on his face,
“So what’s so important…?” He stopped when he saw the creature,
“I think it might be a baby…of one of the big pseudo-crustaceans…!” said Marta, absolutely fascinated by the small creature which, now it could no longer hide, seemed to be regarding her with something that looked a lot like curiosity,
“…isn’t he cute…!” said Marta adoringly,
Rai grunted and then said,
“How do you know it’s a he?”
“I don’t…! But it’s got to be one or the other…!”
“It could be neuter…like a hermaphrodite…?”
“Unlikely…” she said, “…nearly all the complex organisms we know of are sexual beings…”
“This could be an exception…..we are on a different planet…”
Before she could reply her ’face intruded. It was Six Gee,
“The pseudo-crustacean is now moving towards your position! I repeat it is moving toward your position…! It is moving extremely quickly! E.T.A. less than twelve minutes! We advise, my dears, that you return to the rova now…!”
“Are you getting this…?” cut in Marta. A recent upgrade to her interface made it possible to take a direct feed from her visual cortex,
“We are seeing what you are seeing…! But, I repeat, you have to move now! The creature will be approaching from the SW…! You must not let it get between you and your vehicle…”
“Better get going… Have you got everything?” she asked the boy,
“We can pick it up on the way…”
They grabbed Rai’s stuff and made it back out into the open in less than eight minutes,
“Oh shit, the rifle…! I left it back in the grove…!”
“No time to get it now…” said Rai urgently. They could now see the crusty, moving faster than they’d ever seen one move before,
“We better run for it…!” said Marta. The rova was two hundred metres away, if the creature wanted to it could easily cut them off,
“Run!” screamed Rai, “leave the stuff…!”
They made it in less than thirty seconds although that wouldn’t have saved them. Fortunately, the black monster paid them no attention at all as it hurtled towards the grove.
Once they were safely inside the vehicle, Marta turned to Rai,
“That was one angry parent…!”
Later she said,
“Sorry…for leaving the rifle behind…”
“I don’t think a rifle would have stopped it…” said Rai, “it might even have made things worse if we’d fired at it…”
They sat in silence after that as Rai drove them back to the Dome. They’d been able to retrieve the equipment they’d left by the vegetation when Mission AI confirmed that the pseudo-crustacean was staying put in the pods…
“Marta…”
“Yes…” the girl held her breath. A conversation with Rai that wasn’t strictly about Mission business was something to be cherished…
“…I opened my Earthside packet…” Rai paused as if not sure what to say next,
“And…?”
“…well, it was like you said… He lives in New Delhi…and he was just telling me stuff about his life and his friends…and what he does…and things…”
She could see fear in his eyes,
“Marta…! He looks just like me…he could be my older brother…! Why would he…? Why would he look like me…?”

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3

Another narrow escape meant another debrief with Nurse Gee, Marta was embarrassed that she’d left the rifle behind and Six Gee was not amused,
“Marta, you seem to be a magnet for trouble…and we are concerned that you’re performance of your duties has become more erratic! Do you have an explanation for this?”
The nursemaid was being uncharacteristically blunt, but what could Marta say, she tried to defend herself,
“I’ve been a bit distracted recently…with girl stuff…!” How could she explain about the soaps and the rest…?
“Marta, I know that you are at a difficult age…facing the difficulties of growing up, of becoming an adult…on top of all the issues that we face here… But you must continue to focus on your duties…”
“We didn’t ask to be here…!” she’d finally had enough, “…no-one asked me if I wanted to grow up on an alien planet…because that’s what this is, isn’t it…! People shouldn’t be here…and we’re people…aren’t we…? We should be on Earth…! We… I should be shopping… I should be going to parties…not facing monsters…I can’t stand it…! I see Miss da Guia…she’s got everything…nothing worries her…she doesn’t have to do anything…! But with me, it’s Marta, why did you forget the rifle…? It’s Marta, you put everyone in danger…Marta we’re not going to talk to you now…because you’re DIFFERENT…!”
Belatedly she realised that she was shouting…Gee waited serenely for her to finish,
“…we know that this is hard on you and the other children…but there is nothing we can do to change the situation, my dear! This was all decided long before you were born…!
“But why ME…?” Marta stomped out at this point and Six Gee let her go…
Later the girl called her nursemaid and apologised, they met in the training room,
“It’s perfectly all right, my dear…! I confess, we sometimes fail to make sufficient allowance for your age…and we had not realised that the other children were behaving in this way towards you…”
“…look, just don’t say anything…if you do, it will just make it worse…besides, I think they are starting to forget about…about what happened…”
“Of course, they are children…and children forget…! However Marta, you will not be a child for much longer…and you must remember that…!”
Suitably chastened, she promised to be more conscientious in future. Six Gee then turned to other matters,
“Mission AI has studied the data from your Mission with Rai, and we have reached the following, albeit tentative, conclusions! The small arthropod you discovered is clearly related to the larger pseudo-crustacean, and may well be its offspring…the creature stayed within the grove for nearly a full day after your departure, presumably guarding the smaller animal. Secondly, there is clearly some means of communication between the beasts that we are unable to detect…! The larger pseudo-crustacean broke off from its normal activities at virtually the same time that you discovered the smaller creature…we confess that it took us a while to conclude that there was a relationship between these two events…for which we apologise..! But I don’t need to stress how important this observation is…! This is the first serious data we have been able to obtain on the life cycle of the dominant species on A5. So well done again…”
Six Gee fixed her green eyes on the unhappy child,
“It would seem, my dear, that even your less responsible moments yield results…”
If Six Gee’s eyes had been able to twinkle, they presumably would have done then… Marta was dismissed and made her way back to her bunk…
Later, lying on her bed, she thought about what Rai had said…about his Earthbrother…! She was intrigued, ‘if Rai on Earth looks like Rai on A5, shouldn’t MDG look like me…?’ But the problem was she didn’t… Her nose was different…her lips were fuller…! She decided to play the packet again…
Looking more closely this time, she didn’t know how she’d missed it…her eyes, the shape of her face were hauntingly similar. Marta concluded she’d been fooled by the fact that her Earthsister looked different every time she saw her…! Her hair changed colour constantly…and Marta was sure that her features now weren’t the same as when she’d sent her first packet… She now remembered something that MDG had said about changing her nose again… She ’faced nose and surgeon, and had come up with an article on cosmetic surgery… The girl read on with growing amazement…it hadn’t even occurred to her that people could, or would even want to change the way they looked in this way…! Surgery, that was for when you were ill or injured, like Sal’s leg…but simply to change the shape of your nose…that was ridiculous…! A stupid waste of resources, better spent on something worthwhile…!
Marta now made a connexion with references in soaps and romantic comedies that had previously gone way over her head…
‘Well, I never…!’ she thought to herself. It seemed that to people like Miss da Guia, how you looked was a matter of choice, of personal preference…to be changed with your clothes…or presumably your boyfriend…! Marta had noticed that MDG had made no mention of Chico this time…he presumably was now history…
However, the same questions remained, ‘why did MDG look so like her, and what was their connexion?’

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Chapter 6. The Others >>