Toby couldn’t help but shiver even though he was nicely layered with insulation.  It wasn’t that kind of shiver.  It was the oh-my-god-there’s-an-alien-space-ship-right-in-front-of-me-and-the-door-is-opening kind of shiver.  The ship gleamed as a silver and blue oval in the light from Ruth’s crystal.  He couldn’t believe they were here, on an island in the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter looking at an alien space ship.  He shivered again and took a side look at the others standing on either side of him.

 Father Adam was praying under his breath, each word a puff of white cloud in the freezing air.  Mei Ling had that narrow eyed concentrated look she got when she was about to sink her teeth into something.  Over her head, he could see Wolf assessing the alien ship with the same squinty-eyed look.  The others stood quietly behind Ruth like coiled springs ready to let go.

 Ruth stood calmly, dressed casually as she had at home.  He couldn’t see how she stood the below freezing temperatures but her skin looked healthy.  Taking a closer look, he realized the scars were mostly thin white and pink lines as if the accident had happened years ago rather than just months.  He decided it must be the crystal’s doing.

 “I’d appreciate it if you’d leave the talking to me.  None of you are armed, I hope?”  Ruth’s voice had the same easygoing tones he remembered.

 “Just my service revolver.”  Peter volunteered.

 “Thank you, Peter.  What ever you do, do not bring it out.  It wouldn’t do any good and cause more harm than it’s worth.  The Ikiiri are armored.”

 “Just what is taking them so long?”  Sam asked the question they were all thinking.

 Ruth chuckled.  “Have patience, Sam.  They’re not cold weather creatures.  It causes their joints to go creaky.  Unless they’ve invented a personal force field that works on cold as well, they’re probably debating what to do about the temperature.”

 “Did you know that before you started up here?”  Seth’s voice had the contemplative note that he’d used when they were discussing their dreams of ancient Greece.

 “It was six of one, half a dozen of the other.  The winds I needed were here and the cold was just an added bonus.”  She raised and lowered her shoulders in a shrug that didn’t move the crystal an iota.

 “How do you stand this freezing weather without any cold weather gear?”  Marag asked plaintively and Toby silently agreed as the cold crept in.

 “I can regulate my body to tolerate most extremes.  Of course, I spent the nights curled up with the polar bears you met, Peter.  They were great insulators.”  Ruth tensed a bit as they saw movement from within.  “Show no reaction if you can when they appear.  Marag and Brother Liu, I believe you are the only ones who have seen them.”

 The priest beside him cleared his throat.  “It’s Father Adam Benson, Ruth.”

 “Greetings, Father.  So glad you could come.  Let’s hope that this meeting goes better than the last one.”  She was smiling the little half smile Toby remembered from the Peabody when the first creature appeared in the open door.

 Toby’s eyes widened when the first Ikiiri emerged.  His first impression was one of color, shimmering iridescent color.  It wasn’t really armor, he guessed but scales layered over each other in overlapping joints that moved sinuously in the light of the crystal.  But its eyes were what captured his attention, large and opalescent in ever changing hues that seemed to reflect the light.

 “People!  Do not look into her eyes.  They are one of her weapons.  Beautiful but deadly.”  Ruth’s voice cracked in the still air and Toby immediately dropped his eyes to the shoulders from which the long arms grew.

 But then his eyes caught the slight protrusions that extended beyond her sinuous shoulders.  His whisper sounded too loud in the cold air.  “They’re winged, Ruth.”

 “Well, the myths about dragons had to come from somewhere.”  She chuckled.

 “Greetings, sssmall onesss.”  The deep liquid voice had an odd hissing quality.

 “Greetings, Great One.  Welcome to Earth.”

 “You know me?”  The long neck twisted down to get a better look at Ruth.

 “You are the fourth Ikiiri Queen I have welcomed to my world.”

 The diamond shaped head reared back.  “You defeated my clan sssissters?”

 “Yes.”  Ruth lowered the crystal to chest level.  “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask your people.  Perhaps you could satisfy my curiosity?”

 “Yesss?”  The Ikiiri settled back on her powerful looking hind legs and cocked her head at Ruth.

 “Why do you keep coming to my world every two thousand of our years?”

 Toby bit his tongue.  What?  Nobody ever asked why they came?  Sheesh!  I would have thought that somebody would have been curious before now.

 “For the honor of my clan.”

 “I see.  But is conquest the only way to honor your clan?”

 “To have mussst be to fight.”

 “What is it you must have, that you fight me every visit?”

 “I do not have the wordsss.  My communicator isss new.”

 Toby watched one long triple jointed finger tap the jewel that hung around her neck.  It was green and pulsed faintly every time she spoke.

 “Animal, mineral or plant?”

 “Mineral.  There isss an abundanccce of thisss element on your world.”

 “Really?”  Ruth tilted her head a trifle.  “Where in my world would this element be found?”

 “In the large ssseasss.  Our sssensssorsss ssshow that it alssso appearsss in deep pocketsss on sssome of your continentsss.”  The Ikiiri Queen moved closer to Ruth and behind her appeared some slightly smaller dragons.

 A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and halted their forward movement.  The upstanding flaps that seemed to serve as their ears pressed flat against their head scales but they stood their ground.  There was now the same number of dragons as there were humans and Toby wondered if this was going to get ugly.

 For the first time in this adventure, he realized that they could all be dead in a moment.  His head had acknowledged that fact but he now knew it in his bones, his very cold bones.  To keep from panicking, he took a good look at the new dragons.  They were all a foot or so shorter than their Queen but that still left them two foot taller than any of the humans.

 The iridescent color of their scales was in varying shades of a single color.  Two of them were glowing orange while four were opalescent green.  The other five were all in shades of blue purple that seemed to shine in the darkness of the Arctic winter.  Looking down at his friends and relatives, Toby decided that the humans were a pretty drab lot in their navy blue cold weather gear.  With their hoods up and pulled forward, it was hard to even tell their sex.  The only real color came from Ruth’s bright blue sweater.

 “I wonder if you might have a sample of this mineral.”  Ruth asked.  “I am curious about what brings you here to my world.”

 “Yesss.”  The Ikiiri Queen pulled aside one of the scales on her upper abdomen and brought forth a small white crystal.  With a flick of her long fingers, she sent it sailing through the air into Ruth’s suddenly empty right hand.

 The light from the crystal never faltered and Ruth’s eyes darted to the substance in her hand then back to the Queen.  Bringing it to her lips, she tasted it before any of them could stop her.  Toby saw her shoulders quiver once and he almost broke ranks with the others to go to her but there was no need because Sam was already at her side.  She dropped the small cube in his hand and he eyed it carefully.

 “Taste it and tell me if it’s what I think it is.”  She asked him, still watching the movements of the Ikiiri Queen who suddenly seemed enveloped with shivers that shimmied her scales in an almost hypnotic manner.

 Toby forced his eyes away and instead watched Sam tentatively bring the small crystal to his lips and lick it once with the tip of his tongue.  A shocked look flew across his face and he tasted it again as if he couldn’t believe his first impression.

 “It’s salt.  A spectrometer could tell the precise elements in it but basically it’s salt.”  The words puffed out of his mouth in little clouds of white.

 “That’s the element you wish from this world?”  Ruth’s voice was controlled.

 “Yesss, it is what completesss our %&**&%$.”  She nodded.

 Toby shook his head at the burbling sound that completed her sentence.

 “It seems that your translator can not quite handle that word.”

 One long finger scratched under her chin while she thought.  “Perhapsss not.  It isss part of our diet that dealsss with our . . . mating.”

 “Reproductive cycles?  The making of young Ikiiri?”  Sam questioned her.

 The Ikiiri Queen craned her head to look at him.  “Yesss.  Who isss thisss one?”

 “This is my son, the doctor.”  Ruth spared a quick glance up at Sam, catching his grinning nod with a flick of her eyes.

 “Ah, thessse are my sssonsss behind me.”  The dragon pointed to either side of her and all the other dragons bobbed their heads in greeting.

 “We are a little different here on Earth.  Only some of those behind me are my children.  The others are family.”  Ruth cocked her head to one side and spoke slowly.  “I understand that you wish the salt that is so plentiful on my world.  Does clan honor say that you must fight for it or is there another way?”

 “I do not underssstand.  What you call sssalt is very preciousss, no one would give it away freely.”  She was obviously perplexed by the question.

 Toby saw Ruth take a deep breath and slowly release it.  “On Earth, we believe in the value of trade.  One country,” she paused at the puzzled look the Queen was giving her, “an entity like your clan.  We have many countries on Earth and each one has something that the others need.  So, instead of fighting, we trade one need for another.  Therefore, all are satisfied and the world keeps on growing in knowledge and deed.”

 The large eyes blinked once and her head came forward.  “How then do you keep your ‘countriesss’ alert and combat ready?”

 “We practice against and with each other every few years at something we call the Olympic Games.  Every country sends their best to compete against others in many different events.”

 “I sssee.  Thisss trading that goesss on.  How do you ensssure that parity isss achieved?”

 “Skilled negotiators from each country meet and iron out the differences.”

 “It sssounds like bargaining from weaknesssss.”  Her tones were disapproving.

 “I can assure you it is not.  The alternative is that I must take action against the warring parties and neither of them wish that to happen.  It’s not nice for them to anger Earth’s Avatar.”  Ruth’s voice dropped to a slight whisper, drowned by the howling wind that suddenly roared about them.

 Ice and snow whipped through the air around the Ikiiri forcing them almost to the ice surface.  The shrieks of the wind echoed in the stillness that followed the departure of the winds that Ruth had called forth from the Arctic.  Toby found himself shaking almost as hard as the dragons in front of him even though the wind hadn’t touched any of the humans.

 “I protect what is mine, Ikiiri.”  Her voice was colder than the ice around them.  “My children will be protected at all costs.  But if you can bring yourself to . . . adjust your thinking then we can speak of each of our needs and perhaps come to some agreement that would see both of us satisfied.”

 Toby could see by the rapid blinking of her eyes that the Queen was shaken.  He felt for her because the cold iron in Ruth’s voice had him shaking as well.  Taking a look at the others, he was surprised by the identical looks of fierce determination on Mei Ling’s and Marag’s faces.  Something in that statement had drawn forth the same reaction from them and he promised himself a quiet talk with his friend later.

 “Thisss isss a new thought for usss.”  Her head curved towards Ruth.  “I do not know what my clan sssisstersss would sssay to thisss proposssal.”

 “Each generation must have new thoughts or else the race stagnates into oblivion.”  Ruth said gravely.  “We are both mothers.  Can we approach this from that point of view?  If our children are to grow up to explore new places and ideas, then we must provide them with an example of courage to change those beliefs that may have grown stale with time.”

 The Queen swiveled her head to look at her sons arrayed behind her.  Her posture gentled a bit and she looked back at Ruth thoughtfully.  “I mussst ponder thisss.  If I give you my word to not ssstart thisss battle prematurely, will you give usss leave to confer within our ssship?”

 “Certainly, I would accept your word.”

 “Then I give you my word that we will withdraw for a ssspace of two of your hoursss, only to return with my anssswer.”

 “And I accept.  We will withdraw to the silver vehicle you see to my right and await the results of your deliberations.”  Ruth dipped her head slightly and the Queen mimicked her gesture before turning to enter her ship, followed by her sons.

 Toby noticed for the first time that they had tails that skated over the surface of the ice sheet with little skips and jumps.  Not very long but long enough to leave a foot or so of tail upon the ground.  Only when the door closed behind them did the others break ranks and swarm around Ruth.  Sam was the only one who dared touch her shoulder for the glowing crystal was a reminder of the power she’d shown with her wind storm.

 “You all must be freezing.  Let’s get you inside your plane so you can warm up.  The Ikiiri should take a little longer than she thinks to discuss my proposal.”  Ruth placed the crystal into a pouch that hung around her neck and the sound of the wind in the distance lessened.

 “Wow, this is so cool, Ruth.”  Toby couldn’t help but grin from beneath his hood.

 “Cool being the operative word, young man.”  She shook her head and let her own smile free for a moment.

 They walked back to the plane and inside quickly.  Peter went up and turned on the storage battery so the heaters would work.  The temperature inside had fallen drastically in the short hour they’d been gone.  Ruth accepted a cup of tea and settled on top of one of the storage crates.  Toby could tell they all wanted to talk but weren’t sure how to start so he decided to jump in.

 “How come nobody asked that question before?”

 Ruth shook her head ruefully.  “The good lord only knows why we didn’t but every time I met one of the Queens, she challenged and I accepted.  Then I destroyed her and her ship and died myself.  Thus, we had a self-perpetuating prophecy that always spiraled out of control very quickly.  I was going to ask her this time and when you all showed up, it just made it that much more pressing.”

 “You are negotiating for the entire world.  Questions will be asked by every head of state that I can think of.”  Father Adam sounded faintly condemning.

 “Yes, I am.  Crazy or not, Father, I am Earth’s representative.”  Ruth looked at him gravely.

 “Appointed by whom?”  His whole body bristled with tension.

 “The planet.”

 “That’s a very glib answer and one which is going to be asked by many if we survive this confrontation.”  Father Adam swallowed hard and continued.  “And how will this proposition be seen by the world?”

 “There are four types of people in the world, Father and they haven’t changed since Man began to walk upright.  The Leap-a-head’s, the Look-a-head’s, the Stand-still’s and the Look-behind’s pretty much comprise all the differences in the people of the world.”  She paused to take a sip of tea.  “Most of you are in the first two categories.  I estimate that 3% of the world are Leap-a-head’s and maybe 10% are Look-a-head’s but that leaves 87% who are going to be shocked and appalled by my bargaining.”

 “In the democracies of the world, the majority rules and quite rightly.”  Father Adam continued doggedly arguing while Toby thought over the categories and grinned at the memories of how his friends would fit into them.

 “That’s true, Father.  But the inventions of the past and their innovations came from people who didn’t create a committee first then plan it out step by step.”  Ruth’s eye softened at the confused look on his face.  “Our leaps occur as they will and usually by the hopes of a few dreamers who dare to take a chance at failure.  This plane is a good example of the result of a pair of tinkering brothers who tried something new, failed over and over again but kept on working until they succeeded.”

 “Militarily there’s a problem with negotiating with aliens who may or may not think the way we do.  Not to mention the language problem.”  Peter spoke up from the window where he was keeping watch on the alien ship.

 “Quite true, Major.  Except for one thing.”  Ruth smiled into her teacup.  “They can’t lie to me.”

 “You’re kidding?”  Wolf spoke from behind Toby.  “Aren’t you?”

 “Nope.  Sorry, but there it is.  The aura around a person telling a lie is quite distinct even if she is an Ikiiri.  They are a very clannish bunch.  And honor is something they take very seriously.  They came here to challenge us and the rules say that I have the choice of weapon.  So they could not in all honesty attack us without warning.”

 “Good heavens.”  Seth was sharing the next crate with Sam, their unzippered suits touching all along their lower extremities.  “They’ll be eaten alive by our politicians who are a pretty unchivalrous lot.”

 “They might if I let that happen but I won’t.  If I can get the deal I want, we should be able to not only get our space program back on track but leap ahead out into space beyond this small solar system.”  Ruth held out her cup to Marag for more tea.

 Toby took a deep breath and slowly let it out.  All his life, he’d wanted to be an astronaut.  He’d taken all the science and math courses that would prepare him only to see the space program gutted by the people who held the purse strings and the fumbling of the agency who wasted money on programs that went nowhere or crashed at the last moment.  He’d accepted that he wasn’t getting off this planet and he’d chosen his second passion for the past as his goal.

 But with a few words, Ruth had re-ignited the flame inside of him that had never quite gone out.  He’d seen aliens up close and personal, heard them speak and watched their ship land.  With a sudden ache of desire, he wanted what they might offer with a physical pain that raced through his whole body.  Looking into Ruth’s eye, he saw the same fierce desire for space exploration that echoed in him.

 Mei Ling leaned against his arm and he put it around her, looking down into her dark gaze.  “What’s up?”

 “I have no desire to go into space.  Never have, don’t think I ever will.”  She sighed and rested her cheek against the faintly steaming suit he was wearing.  “And you do, don’t you?”

 “Always have, probably always will.”  He answered honestly, feeling the first tremor of uncertainty in his voice.  How could she not want to travel into space?

 “You see, there are already divisions growing up in this small group.”  Father Adam spoke up again, interrupting the speculations of Seth and Peter.  “Can you imagine what that will be like across the face of the Earth?”

 Ruth nodded, her face calm but faintly sad.  “Yes, I can, Father.  There will grow as large a chasm in the peoples of the world as there is now because of our warring religions.  Some will never be reconciled to the new opportunities available.”

 “Growing pains.”  Marag said thoughtfully.  “Or perhaps the birth process is a better analogy.”

 The two women looked at each other in complete agreement.  Ruth nodded.  “All cultures go through them.  I will use every thing at my disposal to further the process as bloodlessly as possible.  But some pain is inevitable . . . on both sides.”

 Toby thought of his mother and her tearful fear of his coming up here.  Magnify that pain by a million other mothers who wished their children safe and the future suddenly didn’t seem so rosy.  And what of the people who stayed behind on Earth while their young people disappeared into space?  What would they be thinking and feeling?

 “It will be a turbulent time for everyone.  And Ruth, you’ll be a target from the word ‘go’.”  Seth’s gazed at the small woman on Sam’s other side.

 “I know.  I’m only postponing the inevitable for a few years.”  She quirked up her lips in a small smile.  “As soon as I build something that won’t come crashing down the moment I leave, then I’ll step aside for the next generation.  I’ve already got the white hair, I’ll probably be bald by the time I can let go.”

 Peter snorted from the window then met her gaze with his own smile.  “You’re going to be one of those pushy mothers who nag everyone into doing what’s good for them, aren’t you?”

 “Hm-m-m, a Jewish mother.  Sounds just about right to me.”  Ruth fluttered her eyelashes and joined her laughter to theirs.

 But Toby noticed that Father Adam wasn’t even smiling.  “And what of the religious question?  Do you try and proselytize your Goddess worship to the world?”

 She shook her head.  “I won’t have to.  She’s quite used to playing second fiddle to the paternal religions.  You will find, Father, that Her worship has been going on far longer than Christianity or even Judaism.  I won’t have to say a word.  Your religion is quite safe from me.  In fact, the religions of the world will have enough to cope with when they find out that Earth is not the center of the universe.”

 Toby hid a smile at the look on the priest’s face and drew Mei Ling into a hug.  She hugged back and laid her cheek against his chest.  They just breathed in tune with each other for a long moment while the discussion continued around them.  Toby didn’t want to think about all that could go wrong in the next hour.  He desperately wanted everything to come out right.  Sending up a heart felt prayer to the god of his childhood, he wished for a positive outcome for their upcoming confrontation.

 Watching Seth’s hand casually rest on his brother’s shoulder, he sent up another prayer for them.  A prayer that encompassed their feelings for each other and the feelings that others showed to them, wafted up to heaven.  He couldn’t tell if Peter knew about them but if the look in his oldest brother’s eyes was any indication then they would be having a little talk as soon as possible.

 He watched Peter straighten up and felt his stomach lurch.

 “The door is opening up.  We’d better get out there.”  He was already zipping up again and pulling on his gloves.

 They followed suit quickly and then Toby caught his breath at the slap of the arctic cold when he climbed down the short ladder to the ice surface.  Ruth pulled out her crystal and carried it before her.  Its light cascaded down to splash on the ice, creating a myriad of rainbows in its path.

 Lining up the way they had at the beginning, they waited for the Ikiiri Queen to emerge.  When she did, Toby wished he could tell from her face what her answer was but the features were just too alien.  Crossing his fingers inside his gloves, he waited for her to speak.

 “Well, I have lissstened to my sssonsss and thought about what you sssaid.”  The Ikiiri Queen stood proudly before Ruth.  “Clan honor isss all.  I will think a new thing now.  I accccept thisss idea of trade.”

 Toby felt the crashing relief like a tidal wave that weakened his legs.  He was so busy shoring up his trembling limbs that he almost missed Ruth’s reply.

“Very good.  Let us begin.”

********************
End chapter 18