"Huh... We'll have a lot to think about what magic is useful. You don't want to say 'Nivis can live in all places that people don't live in now'. I think I understand. We need a safe way to go off the ice. We were looking for one but have not found it yet. Maybe soon."

The satellite would neatly solve it. Also help with communications issues, especially if they launch the other one. How hard would it be to make more comms relays, they don't need to be the behemoths of the Aurora's original design... But she's not a satellite specialist.

"We thought the planet was like that. Burning hot sun. Too cold ice. And small in the middle good place... How many people live in Lei and FD and Allheart?"

"Yes, I think that is how it works. Before Audron make his flying thing, we try to make a different flying thing with a room like that, but with a frogold instead of a kappa.

Many million people I think?"

This seems like a good time to translate what they've all said and check in with everyone else on the expedition.

Is Siamek folding his arms?

He is not.

"We have one thousand one hundred and seven, now that we know Miguel Hernandez is okay. While we wait for Dr. Montero to get back, does any person here want things? Things to write with for See-ah-mek? Different things to sit on? Things like that."

But yes, it does seem like time for a quick break. The Nivis-ers confer quietly on one end of the room and send a few emails too.

NO THANK YOU

"I have questions about politics. Miguel say that Nivis now have one person in charge, but in the future, have democracy. Is that right? Nivis people, do they like aliens? Some like and some don't like? We don't want to make people afraid. What do you say about how to not make people afraid?

For us, all people happy because to learn many good things like scop. We have many species and often we have new species so new alien species isn't a problem. But this is important to say about three kind of a country: FD and Lei are at war. Allheart isn't at war. Now FD and Lei are at war slowly and few people are hurt, but we are afraid because maybe in the future FD and Lei at war quickly and many people are hurt. Also we don't know in the future what everyone does. Maybe Allheart is at war. Maybe Nivis is at war. Very bad. FD is afraid because maybe Nivis say Lei is better, say FD must die. Lei afraid because maybe Nivis say FD is better, Lei must die. What do you say about this?"

"War is among the most tragic of human endeavors. Ah... War is maybe the most sad thing people can do... Slow war is better than fast war, but no war would be better also. And if we can have war with less killing and hurting and less - a complicated thing I'm not sure you have words for, 'perfidy' or 'war crimes', things that just make it harder to talk to the other person in the war because you can't trust them, like saying 'we will not fight tomorrow' and then fighting anyway, or things that hurt people and don't even help you win the war, like hurting someone who isn't fighting. Those are bad too, and if there has to be a war it should not have those."

"It is right that in the future we will have democracy. Maybe soon, maybe in three hundred days. Going from one person in charge to democracy when we have places to live and food and things are okay is in the thing everyone said yes to when we left our old planet. That is why I can't say yes to big things for Nivis that last a long time. I can't say 'Lei is better' or 'FD is better'. I don't know things about Lei or FD. I don't want to do things fast and wrong. I want to do them slow and right. Also, I have not been elected. -Elected is chosen by democracy."

She is also aware that Hester is, self-admittedly, FD. Though there are Lei people here too. Ostensibly. Trust but verify?

"Nivis people all know about aliens. The people who saw Audron's flying thing talked about it to everyone. I think most people will like aliens! But some might be very upset. We think aliens that look like us and don't look like balls of water or made of rocks or have seven legs and three heads or something like that, are impossible. We think magic is impossible. Some people might think you are - making it look like you have magic, but don't, as a trick, and be mad. Also they might think, Nivis is special because we know lots of things and can make machines. Lei and FD and Allheart are special because people have magic. If Lei and FD and Allheart know how to make machines, Nivis still might not have magic! ...We aren't letting people come here just because they want to meet aliens right now. There would be too many and it might be bad."

People will want to know if the aliens destroyed Exodus, but she doesn't want to admit they don't know what happened there to the aliens. She has a gut feeling they'll find out tomorrow. There was a shape spotted by one of the rovers that was curved like the bridge's nose...

"I don't want war. I think war happens when a country thinks something more bad than the war is bad will happen, if they don't. If aliens don't want to do bad things to Nivis, probably we don't need war. If aliens want to do bad things to Nivis, well, that would be bad... But I want to say 'that is bad! stop!' and not do a war. I want to ask the same questions? What does Lei think about aliens? What does Allheart think about aliens? What does FD think about aliens? What does Allheart think about Lei and FD?"

"How do countries at war talk and trust things they say? How do we learn to do that?" He hopes the answer isn't that it takes practice and the aliens have had a lot of practice having wars.

"When you go from your old planet, everyone say yes to what else?

Some people here think that aliens must look like balls of water too, but some people think that aliens must look like people here. A long time ago, there were many animal species and no people species. A long time ago but less long, there were many animal species and one people species and one magic, magic to make more magic. But we don't know if one people species and one magic are new at the same time or at a different time.

When magic make more magic, new people look like people here. Why? Maybe because people must look like the one most old people species? Or maybe because magic must look like this always on all planets? We don't know. Why do we have magic? A long time ago a person give us magic, maybe. That person choose animal that looks like them and give magic make people...or, that person choose smart animal and give magic? We don't know. Maybe same person give you magic but you don't know, or maybe you are that person but you don't know? People here think many things...

All people are special. All people are interesting. All people must be happy. If we learn to make machines, Nivis people are still special and interesting and must be happy. One old species, you are very interesting!

So I say, people think many things about aliens. People are afraid. Some people want Nivis help to war, kill Lei or kill FD... Some people are afraid because Nivis is angry and want to kill all people here for a reason we don't know. People think many things.

I don't want to say what FD thinks. Now, I say what I think and what many people think. In the future when talk to Lei people and Allheart people, I say what FD thinks.

I explain. Audron's flying thing is small. Audron and I and Chime and Siamek must go to Nivis. That is three FD people and one Lei person and no Allheart people. We must also be one more Lei person and one Allheart person. To choose is hard because there are few options - Audron make flying thing in Allheart so there are few Lei people. One Lei person speak English but he is big and flying thing small. One Lei person speaks English not well, and she is big but less big, but big and the flying thing is small. One Lei person, Leslie, doesn't speak English but isn't big, and this is good we have two fire people. Allheart have many options and choose tengu.

So now how many people speak English? Two FD people, maybe Allheart person far away talk to tengu, no Lei people. Two, maybe one, zero. In the future, one, one, one? Then we can talk about what FD and Allheart and Lei think. Also, in the future, we speak better English. Do you want to learn our language?"

"...I think countries at war talking and trusting is very hard and not easy to say much about when you know little English. Also hard to say is all the 'regs', 'regulations', the things written down people agreed to. One thing they say is, all people of Exodus will get food and house and visit doctors and be free in some ways... I think it is impressive - wow! - that you know English this much from talking to Miguel.

We want to visit the place for talking you said earlier. We want to learn your language. We want Miguel to come home. We want to keep all the pieces of Exodus that fell on the ice. We want to tell the people of Lei and FD and Allheart and other countries, Exodus and Nivis is here to make things, not break them."

This is about when Dr. Montero returns with a Geiger counter. (He is also eagerly anticipating an e-mail with the results from the pharmacological auto-identifier and toxicity screener that is looking at one of the leaves.)

He will, moving slowly and telegraphing his movements, pass it near but not on everyone present, including Nivis's people and the table and chairs and door.

"There is a normal amount of radiation present. You all have a small amount more than we do, but it is not a dangerous amount. You won't get sick. You will have a little bit more chance of bad growth inside you, 'cancer', if you stay here a long time."

"Thank you. When in the future we speak better English or you speak our language maybe we talk about countries at war talking and trusting each other. 

All Exodus people have food and doctor and house and freedom, that is good. 

Thank you. Many days, my job is to learn English, all day long."

This would be the perfect time to talk about travel arrangements but Siamek is still not folding his arms. Soon they're going to have to talk about it even if Siamek hasn't made up his mind. 

"I think that you have all pieces of Exodus on the ice makes sense. We now have three pieces of Exodus on the ice, but when I tell everyone what you want, then you have them, I think. Pieces of Exodus not on the ice, we have? 

I tell to everyone, Nivis is here to make things not break them.

I think that Miguel wants to come home to Nivis, but I want to ask: if maybe he doesn't want to come home, what do you want us to do? This is not important now but maybe in the future this is important."

The leaf is not any known earthly species, but it resembles Earth life in chemical composition and chirality and overall structure. The genetic code is different, and, even when translating the code, the genes are mostly different. There are no organelles with their own DNA, but there are chunks of DNA that look like they used to be separate before they were incorporated into the nucleus.

The leaf is not toxic to humans, nor is it very nutritious. It doesn't contain much beyond the minimum necessary for it to have grown. Nothing that looks like it would interact with a human to affect night vision.

This particular machine isn't a DNA sequencer, but it can at least detect the presence of nucleic acid chains.

The next step will doing that sequencing, then finding a volunteer more eager to try 'alien magic' than they are cautious and test low-light vision in a dark room while attached to as many monitors as can be made non-invasive.

"What parts of Exodus fell not on the ice? If it is a machine, we might want it. If it is just broken metal, we want it less. When we have more places they will still be Exodus but might not be Nivis. If Miguel doesn't want to come home I think it will be because he doesn't feel safe. We will work on a safe way to come home. If Miguel doesn't want to come home even then, the regs actually say people can leave Exodus if they want, if they say 'I am no longer a person of Exodus'. But I want to talk more before we have a lot of people saying 'I want to go be a person of Lei or FD or Allheart' or 'I want to go be a person of Exodus'."

Shen's aide has connected his PDA to the projector (poeting along with an encrypted video stream, not out of any particular sense of paranoia but just because that's the standard), and is taking notes that are visible on the big screen at the end of the meeting room. Occasionally they tab out to check something from the public databases, that might be more comprehensible as the request comes from the aide's PDA, the 'basic' crew manifest in particular is not encrypted.

Meeting Notes

-Visitors: One speaks English, one writes English, bird tengu can talk to Miguel Hernandez.

-Miguel Hernandez is alive. He accused Ahmat Singh of attempted murder. Mary Hersch interviewed him and Security will investigate.

-Visitors can eat food that humans can eat. Visitors are interested in SCOP production technology.

-Visitors presented gifts

-Nivis speaks for caution

-Portraits of the Nivis people present dragged in from the crew manifest, with titles.

-Notes on visitors: Hester, Catfolk, speaks English well. Audron- Humanoid bird person, pilot, media figure(?). Chime- Humanoid bat person, sensor(?). Tengu- Multi-presence(?), comms. Seeahmeck, navigation(?), writes but does not speak English. Leslie, Catfolk, no English.

-Visitors mention three countries: Lei, FD, Allheart.

-Lucy Carver said that trade is good and offered a gift of knowledge

-Descriptions of 'magic' were given and discussed. Visible evidence of fire source, difficult to manufacture glass sphere prepared by 'magic'.

-Dr. Montero mentions concern over radiation

-Nivis asks if there are free places to live. Visitors say yes. Nivis can live in some of these places but not all.

-Visitor population many millions. Nivis population 1107.

-Lei and FD at war. Cold war, slow conflict.

-Nivis relieved it is not a hot conflict.

-All Nivis knows of aliens.

-Visitors say magic comes from one species, but don't know where that species got magic.

-Visitors don't want to discuss politics from potentially biased and limited translation.

-Dr. Montero scanned for radiation. No dangerous radiation levels.

-Nivis wants: Send diplomats. Fetch Miguel. Claims all salvage on the ice.

-Visitors clarify: What about salvage not on the ice?

"The parts of Exodus fell not on the ice are broken metal, I think. If there are machine pieces, no one tell me.

Talk more before many people say to want to be people of a new country, why?" A good answer would be that the people are well informed about their choices. A bad answer would be because they have a specific reason to be afraid of everyone leaving as soon as they can.

Siamek follows the aide's PDA... but its poeting is mostly incomprehensible. The internal workings of the screen are simpler. It's a poet too, a frequent final recipient of information from the PDA, and it does some very complicated math to turn the information it receives into images. So is that why so much of the poets' verses are incomprehensible, you have to do complicated math to get the real meaning? Such a fascinating art form, if it were art, but if the poets aren't people what would be the point of the art... Maybe the aliens who created the poets liked it this way?

He also looks over the visible notes with his eyes. He doesn't know a lot of those words, but he notices one error.

THREE *KIND OF* COUNTRIES

"Mm? Oh. This planet have many countries. Lei is a big country, work together with a few small countries. FD is a big country, work together with a few small countries. Allheart isn't a country. Allheart is many countries that work together with each other. This planet also have a few countries that are not any of FD or Lei or Allheart."

The aide corrects the notes.

"We don't know what being a person of not Exodus countries is like. You don't know what being a person of Exodus is like. We don't know the rules of the other place. We don't know how to be good to people and not say things that make them sad or angry, we don't know what to do if there is a person doing bad things in other country, we don't know how to pay people or what is a safe and not safe way to use magic or machines... We don't know so many things."

That's promising.

He can't delay much longer without being suspicious. "How much long time we stay here now? When we go, do you want to visit the place for talking?"

"You can stay here and rest and eat one more time, if you stay in the part of Nivis we say is okay to stay in. Or if you want to leave soon that is okay. When we visit the place for talking, we want to send three people and some things. We have a rover, which goes on the ground like Audron's plane goes in the air. We want to wait to visit the place for talking until we can bring a lot of things... We have a lot more questions about countries and magic and things you might want to trade. And it will take more time to make the PDAs with knowledge. But if you are tired we should not keep talking."

The long term ideal vaguely shaping up in her head for a good solution is-

Nivis: The new Silicon Valley! Industrial powerhouse and computer manufacturer and research center. And cultural icon. Immigration, integration, democracy.

"We are also going to give you a special talking thing to talk to Nivis from far away. It takes sound and turns it into special light, and then takes the special light and turns it back into sound far away."

"Thank you.

How big your rover? The path to the place for talking is about so big" two meters wide by three meters tall "because the path is under the mountain. To go from on ice to on stone must use magic elevator. Also sometimes ice is dangerous, isn't ice but is air and fall and hurt."

If they're not going to get the PDAs this trip, he definitely wants to stay, if that's an option. 

He 'finishes eating' and folds his (four) arms like a square knot.