CHAPTER 15
STRANGE CONVERSATIONS
Brownie? Captain Jack friend? Kate realized that the little brown creeper had to be the Captain’s missing brown bird, the friendly one that he had claimed could talk so well! “Kate. Kate is my name. Yes, Sheriff John is hurt, but I think he will be alright. Yes, Kate is Captain Jack’s friend. Captain Jack has told me about his good friend Brownie.”
“Kate is new friend for Captain Jack. Brownie did not see Kate at big human nest of Captain Jack. Did Kate come from far away? Come in big flying home from human world far away?”
“Yes. I came from very far away. I arrived in a space ship a few days ago, a big flying home.” Kate’s head was spinning. The little bird was actually using decently structured sentences and discussing space travel with her!
The jay squawked loudly and hopped closer, and the brown creeper peeped something in reply. Kate, realizing that she was missing profound data, retrieved her COM from her belt and activated it.
“What word for this color?” the creeper asked Kate, as it poked the jay’s wing with its long, pointy beak.
“Blue,” Kate replied, as she warily watched the jay. One stroke of that powerful bill could kill. “And we call the bird a blue jay.”
“Blue Dawn Jay is my name,” squawked the big jay abruptly. “Brownie is friend of Blue. Brownie sings human song, and Blue learns. Kate should sing more human song, and Blue will learn human song more.”
“Sing? Oh, you mean talk.”
“Talk?”
“Yes. We are talking now. Human singing is something else.”
“Show the something else that is human singing.”
Kate sang ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’ very poorly. The jay repeated it accurately, mimicking it so well that it sounded like a recording of her awkward effort, then the jay squawked with the creeper for a short time.
“Blue does know now; Brownie did explain. Human talk is Plain Song. No other notes to know, is only Plain Song. Human singing also plain, but with notes, so is better than plain talk. Human talk is like the crow song, not good. Human voice is plain and slow, always.”
“I have a poor voice, but I am not a singer, I am a scientist. Some human singers have good voices.”
The big bird bobbed its head. “Blue understands. Some humans are singers, not Kate. Is true for birds also. Kate is a scientist human, not a song human. What is a scientist?”
“Scientists try to know things, to understand how things work. My job is to understand living things on new worlds, to understand how they live, to know how their bodies work. My job is to understand birds, to know many things about the birds of this world.”
The jay squawked in clear excitement. “Blue is a scientist bird. The job of Blue now is to understand humans, to understand many things. Blue is a singer also. Brownie sings that humans have other songs, good songs that do not use human singing. Songs without voice. Brownie sings that some humans use things not alive to make songs, and do not use human singing. This is a new thing to know. Can Kate make other songs? Song made from other things?”
Kate was perplexed. Things used to make song?
“Guitar,” squawked Brownie. “Drum. Violin. Kate can make their song with small box.” The clever little bird pointed its long beak at the COM that hung from Kate’s belt. It seemed an odd request to get from giant birds, after sitting out a rainstorm in a great forest.
Nodding, Kate retrieved the unit. As if on cue, the rainstorm moved on further and the sound of it receded as she searched the COM for recorded music. In the relative quiet, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons suddenly burst from the little box. She was glad now she had paid extra for True Sound and decent amplification, for the little COM unit gave a good accounting. The effect on the birds was astonishing. Blue stared at the box intently, wondering how on earth the tiny thing could sing, as did the other jays. Brownie bobbed his head with the music. Even the falcons stopped preening and feeding on the dead crow and hopped closer to listen, transfixed by the exotic, unworldly music that emanated mysteriously from the tiny box. Kate stopped it after one movement however, as she was worried about conserving the COM unit’s energy reserves.
“Good song,” nodded Blue. “Good box. Humans clever. Is very good, that humans sing.” Then it was again Kate’s turn to be amazed, for the jay sang several minutes of orchestra music back to her, note for note, mimicking the various instrument sections so closely that they were easily recognizable. Kate was astonished. The bird nodded its head. “Is good song, but no words in the song. This new song is plain, with no words inside it, but is very good plain song.” The big bird glanced around, taking in the other birds who watched their every move, then nodded its head. He breathed a long sigh that seemed to Kate could signify regret. “No time now for more human song. Blue is sad of this. Now need human plain song that you call talk.”
“Yes, we should talk,” agreed Kate. “Is Blue a friend to Kate?”
“Blue does not know. Blue and Kate need talk now to know this.”
“Fair enough. Why did you save us?”
“Blue does not know,” said Blue. He squawked with the other jays for several seconds. “My flock Bob and Nod did hear crows attack humans. They did hear the names of the crows. These were the same crows that killed their young eggs, so they did attack to kill the crows. From above I saw them fight crows and so I came to help my flock fight. Also, I did see humans. I am on a quest to find humans. I must sing with humans, learn knowledge of humans as scientist bird. When I find humans being attacked by crows, I decide that I must keep humans safe to sing with them.”
“What about the falcons?” She nodded towards the raptors, who had gone back to preening but still stood next to Blue, towering above him.
“Falcons are not friends to crows. Jays are not friends to crows. Blue, falcons sing of this. Falcons help Blue; Blue help Falcons.”
“Interesting,” said Kate. “An alliance. Not friend, but not enemy, but allies. The jays and falcons are allies against the crows.”
The blue bird nodded his head human-like in agreement. “These jays and these falcons are allies. The crows are enemies to songbirds and falcons. Songbirds and falcons sing, and be allies. Are humans enemies or allies with songbirds?”
Kate took a deep breath. She could be on shaky ground here. This jay seemed to be sophisticated though; she decided to be truthful. “Not friends and not allies, not yet, but not enemies. Humans came to this world to grow food for humans, not to be the enemies of birds. There was fighting with birds when humans first came, but the fighting has stopped. Captain Jack is a friend to most songbirds. John and I do not want to be your enemy. I want to be a friend to all birds. Perhaps humans and birds should try to be friends, not simply allies. Friends would be better than allies.”
The jay cocked its head to one side, as if considering the concepts. “Yes, to be friends is always better than to be only allies, but much is there to know first. Humans come from far world in big ships to find food?”
“Yes. There are many more humans far away on our world. Humans on our home world need more food. We will take the food we grow here on this world to our home world in our big ships.”
“Human home world is far away? Home world is at other star: twinkle, twinkle little star world, far away, as in song? Ships are large homes that carry food to human world from bird world?”
Kate nodded her head in amazement. This was all happening astonishingly fast. Too fast. This creature was extraordinarily intelligent, the way it was putting everything together so quickly. How was that possible? They didn’t seem to have any science or technology, certainly no astronomy. How did they know of other worlds? What if she was telling this clever jay something that she shouldn’t? She decided to change the subject. “Now I must help my friend John, and rest. We need food, water, and to be warm and dry. Can you help us?”
The big jay squawked to Brownie and then to the other two jays, who had been standing a few meters away, silently watchin
g. The jays hopped away into the forest as Blue returned his attentions to Kate. “We will help. You eat and rest soon, when it will be dark. At dawn we talk most, Kate, but talk more now also, for Blue is a scientist.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Humans are here on this world how long?”
“Four years.”
Blue and Browne squawked back and forth. “Four cycles of seasons only? Humans were not here long ago? First humans come to this world only four years before now?”
“Yes. The first humans came here four years ago. John was one of the first humans to come here, in the first ship from Earth.”
This time Blue turned and squawked with the falcons for several seconds. “Humans have names for birds. Humans call my kind of bird blue jay. Where do humans find these names?”
“On our world there are small birds that look like you. We use their names for the large birds of this world.”
“There are birds like us on your world far away at other star?”
“They look like you but they are much, much smaller than you. They do not talk, and they are not intelligent like you. Wait, my COM box can show you.” Kate pulled her collapsible screen from her pocket, plugged it into her COM, and spread it on the ground before Blue. After a quick search the COM displayed an earth blue jay in a cage, sitting next to a human in a white laboratory outfit.
Fascinated, the jays and falcons stared at the screen as a strange voice spoke about blue jays, using some strange human words. Shortly, Kate turned off the presentation, and there was a flurry of song between the birds, after which Blue turned to regard Kate once again. “These are birds on your far world? How can we see them here?”
Kate explained recording basics, using analogies with the memories of living creatures, after which the birds all squawked to each other again.
“This explains your music also,” noted Blue astutely. “Are there other recordings in this box which you may show to birds? Recordings of human ships and homes? Recordings of places on this world where you grow plants and live?”
“Yes, I can show you many recordings. I can show you far away homes of humans on the human world and the settlements of the humans here on this world.”
While the birds squawked together excitedly for several minutes, Kate checked on John, who was still unconscious. In the meantime, the two other jays returned, carrying folded leaves, which they lay gently at Kate’s feet. Unfolding them, Kate found that one contained several huge cracked nuts and berries, while the other contained water. She splashed a handful of the clear liquid on John’s face, and was rewarded when his eyes opened and looked up dully at her. He drank water from her cupped hands, and when he became aware of the nearby birds, tried to sit up.
“What’s happening?” he asked weakly.
“It’s all right, John, these birds are friendly. They saved both of our lives.”
“Crows attacked us.”
“They were defeated by these birds.”
John stared in the direction that Kate pointed. The suns had set, but the storm clouds were gone and light from one of the Aves’ moons already provided dim light. Suddenly he reached for his holstered gun, pulling it out in one smooth motion, and pointed it towards the birds. It was a long barreled handgun with a shoulder brace that folded out, turning it into a short-barreled rifle. “Get behind me Kate,” he whispered urgently.
“John,” said Kate. “Put the gun away. I told you, they saved our lives.”
He kept the gun pointed at the birds. “It’s jays, Kate, blue jays and raptors!”
“I know that, John. I just had a long conversation with one of the jays. They saved us and brought us food and water. They’ve had plenty of chances to kill us, if they wanted to.”
“You don’t understand!” he protested.
“No John, you don’t understand,” she countered firmly. “Trust me: we’re safe. Now put the gun down.”
A bird broke from the group and came hopping towards them rapidly, cheeping excitedly. Weltman shoved Kate aside and took aim at the charging creature.
“Sheriff Johnny! Sheriff Johnny!” it peeped shrilly. For a moment, Kate thought that Weltman would shoot the advancing bird, but he lowered the gun to his side.
“Brownie?” he asked, as the little creeper bounced into him, knocking him to the ground before plopping down on him in a mass of flopping feathers.
Kate gently pulled the little bird off of him, and was relieved to find the battered sheriff actually smiling. The smile disappeared however, as he looked past her at the huge bird that suddenly loomed over them both.
“Sheriff John, I am Blue Dawn Jay,” it announced clearly.
Weltman had the gun in his hand again, pointed at the jay. “Stay away from us,” he ordered sternly.
The bird moved away one step. “You are a friend of other humans, sings Brownie, and friend to songbirds. You protect humans. It is the job of jays to stop others from hurting songbirds. Jays protect all songbirds. This is the Pact of the Jays to all songbirds.”
“The job of all the jays?” asked Kate. “The job of all jays is to protect all other songbirds? All jays?”
“All jays will fight to save other songbirds,” stated the bird. “Jays will fight and die if they must, to save other birds.”
“My God!” said Kate. “John, don’t you see what that means?”
Weltman kneeled slack jawed, staring at the big jay, shaking his head, still trying to comprehend that this bird was actually talking.
“The jays were only protecting the other birds! Humans were killing birds, eating birds, those first years. The jays had to attack humans, you gave them no choice!”
“They’re devils, Kate. You don’t understand; you weren’t there. They attacked us like nothing else mattered.”
“You hunted them, you killed them. For two years you ate them, for God’s sake!”
“They were just dumb birds, Kate, that’s what we thought.”
“And you were wrong. That was the Corporation line. If they weren’t just dumb birds, their claim to the planet would be null and void.”
“But we tried to be peaceful with them, lots of times. It never worked, Kate. They hated us. They attacked us again and again. It was overwhelming, the hate and the violence.”
“Old Ones,” said Blue. “Jays hear the old songs, and hate and fear Old Ones. Humans are the Old Ones returned, that is what all jays would know.”
“Who are the Old Ones?” asked Kate.
“Old bird songs tell of Old Ones. Old Ones make birds, make trees, make much on this world. Bring birds and trees come from other world, a world far away with one star. The Old Ones are crawlers, not birds. The Old Ones have big nests, fly in ships from far stars. They are very clever. Then long ago the Old Ones killed birds. Not for food, only to kill. Birds then did fight to kill the Old Ones.”
“A war,” said Kate.
“War,” agreed Blue. “Killing with no reason. Bad. Many birds were killed. All the Old Ones were then gone, but some birds lived to sing of the Old Ones. Songs of crawlers that walk on two legs, do not fly, fly only using things that they make. Clever crawlers with clever nests that fly to worlds far, far away near other stars. The humans are the Old Ones returned, birds would know, when they see humans. Birds fear the Old Ones, attack the Old Ones. Jays would fight against Old Ones.”
“It all fits,” said Kate. “The first jays encountered didn’t want to talk things over peacefully any more than the humans did. We humans were the Old Ones to them, an ancient enemy returned, again bringing death to birds. The humans didn’t want to find that birds might be sentient, or they would lose the new world they had found. The birds lack technology; it was easy for humans to rationalize away their obvious intelligence. A war between birds and those they thought were Old Ones started all over again.”
The jay nodded its head. “Kate is clever. Blackbirds are clever too. Blackbirds did understand a new way to grow strong, using humans. Blac
kbirds did see humans grow food. Blackbirds did sing that they will be friends to humans, signs Brownie. This blackbird song is not true; for Blackbirds are only friends to other blackbirds. They will be allies with humans only while it is good for blackbirds. Allies, never friends.”
Weltman shook his head, and still kneeled with the gun pointed at Blue. “Wait just a minute! The blackbirds have never attacked humans that I know of, except for those crows today. They have been working with humans, helping with our crops. I never liked them or trusted them, but until today I never had any real trouble with them. On the other hand, many humans have been attacked by jays and raptors and killed by jays and raptors. How do we know you aren’t talking to us now to prepare for war against us? Why should we trust anything that you tell us?”
“Yes, that is clever thought, human,” replied the jay. “And why now should birds trust humans?”
“OK, OK,” said Weltman. “So we don’t trust each other. Fair enough. Now what?”
“A human must talk Plain Song to the Great Council of Songbirds. Show human clever box to Council. The Great Council will decide what to do.”
“What is the Great Council?” Kate asked.
“Birds from all of this World you call Aves,” explained Blue. “Council will decide what Aves songbirds will do.”
“I’ll be damned!” exclaimed Weltman. “Not only are they sentient, they have some sort of planet-wide government.”
“Kate will come to Council with Blue,” stated the jay.
“Kate will come?” spat Weltman, his hand tightening on the gun. “With you? I don’t think so! Certainly not without me.”
The jay named Blue Dawn nodded its head. “Brownie sang of Sheriff John. A friend to Captain Jack, but a human that hates the jay, and always carries sticks that kill. Small Kate can be carried high and far, it is not so easy to carry Sheriff John. Sheriff John is heavy to carry far. Strong falcons could carry John, but John also is hurt, John should rest. Sheriff John will stay here with Brownie, Bob and Nod. Kate and Blue will fly together tomorrow. Falcons will carry Blue and Kate. Two falcons to carry only two riders. Only two riders can come. One must be Blue, one must be Kate.”
John's head was throbbing, but he had to see this through. “What if I won’t let you take her? You know what I am holding. I could kill you with this, and your other bird friends, if you try to take her.” He doubted that he could stop all of them. He could stop one or two of them if he was lucky, before the others would overwhelm him.
“No, John,” said Kate, sternly.
Blue’s head drooped. “That would be bad; bad for many birds; bad for humans. Humans need plain talk with bird leaders. Brownie sings Sheriff John is good human, friend to birds, friend to Brownie. Blue is friend to Brownie. John will not kill Blue. John will be ally to Blue.”
Weltman shook his head. “Kate is my responsibility. I am the human leader here. I need to protect her; that is my job.”
The jay nodded. “I understand. You are flock leader for Kate. I ask you now that she goes with me.” The jay stood tall, his feathers fluffed such that he looked huge, with the tuft on his head pointing up. “I, Blue Dawn Jay, will protect Kate. Blue will return Kate safe to Sheriff John. This I sing to you, from this flock leader Blue to flock leader John.”
“Yes, I will go,” stated Kate, before Weltman could respond.
John’s jaw dropped. “I can’t let you be carried off by jays and raptors Kate, I can’t!”
“John, I came to Aves to study birds, and this is the chance of a lifetime. I’ve already learned more from talking with them in a few minutes then I learned since I got here. I have to go, and you have to let me go.”
“Kate wants to fly free, away from her flock,” said Blue. “This is the right of any bird, to fly free, as Freedom of Flight. Is this true also for humans?”
“Kate, I spent years fighting jays and raptors, they can’t be trusted!” His gun still pointed at Blue.
“I am jay,” said Blue. “Jays always sing true.”
Brownie stepped forward again, placing his small brown body between the gun and Blue. “Blue Dawn Jay is best bird for Brownie, save life of this small bird many times. Kill many bad blackbirds. Kate is safe with Blue, Blue is best bird ever. Blue is friend to raptors. Blue is friend to great eagle and great owl, keep Brownie safe from blackbirds. Blue always sings true, Blue will keep Kate safe. If you kill Blue, kill Brownie first. Black birds will kill Brownie if Blue is killed.”
It was the longest speech Weltman had ever heard from the plucky little Brown bird. With a deep sigh, he lowered the gun and holstered it. “You win. But this has to be only for a short time.”
Blue cocked his head thoughtfully. “Blue does agree; it must be a short time only. Three days, at most. Blackbirds will attack songbirds soon.”
“Three days then,” agreed Weltman. “After that I’m coming to get you, Kate. And not just to get back to help with the monster worm situation.”
“What is monster worm?” asked Blue.
A stream of excited chirps erupted from Brownie.
“How big is worm?” asked Blue. “Are there many worms?”
“Bigger than humans, most of them, and there are thousands of them,” said Kate. “As large as a large tree, some of them.”
Blue squawked several times, and then all of the birds erupted in excited chatter.
“Does box of Kate carry pictures of worms?” asked Blue.
Kate nodded as she unfolded the COM screen again and held it up. On the screen a scene of terror suddenly appeared, monster worms erupting from the earth, and grackles attacking them, screaming. Humans were glimpsed also, fleeing and firing guns at the monstrous worms with little effect. Blue and all the other birds watched attentively, and Kate could sense their immediate agitation. Within a few seconds the birds were hissing, screaming, pawing the ground, and flapping their wings, prompting Kate to turn off the COM.
“Kreeeee, kreeeeeee,” screamed the falcons.
“Is bad, bad, bad,” sang Brownie, as he squatted under Blue, shivering in fear.
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