CHAPTER 21
NEW BEGINNINGS
“Captain, look who’s here!” exuded Tiny, from behind the bar. So loud and excited was his proclamation, that most of the hundred human customers in the Inn and all twenty of the songbird customers in the bar turned to see who was entering Captain Jack’s new Song Flame Inn. Many of the humans gasped, most of the songbirds squawked, and there was perceptible movement of customers away from the big open doorway through which the three travelers entered. Two huge, fierce looking Peregrine falcons stepped through the over-sized doorway, preceded by a small, smiling young woman wearing a worn orange and yellow glide suit.
Captain Jack Martin excitedly limped towards them as fast as he could. “Kate! And our good friends Swift Wing and Mate to Swift Wing! You’ve returned at last!”
Kate stepped forward to receive a hearty bear hug from the Captain and return it as best she could. “Hello, Jack; looks like business is good.”
“Business is incredible, both here in Song Wood and back at Spaceport City. I get a steady stream of high paying V.I.P. businessmen and tourists from Earth, eager to hook up with bird guides, songbirds, and flock leaders. Humans are also going crazy over two-meter orchids and fifty kilo spiders. Business is insane!”
“Not too many humans, I should hope,” said Mate to Swift Wing.
“Nope. Kate, so far the Pact of Blue that your husband and Blue set up to regulate Earth to Aves interaction has held up under incredible pressures and demands, and smaller crop areas and selective logging are in place to prevent the recurrence of Scourge.” Jack gestured towards an empty table, where Tiny was already depositing two big vats of nectar-sweetened water for the falcons, and two mugs and a picture of beer for Kate, Jack, and himself. "Drinks are on the house," announced Jack, as they all settled around the table. The huge birds stood with talons gripping solidly constructed wood perches that surrounded each table.
"Are you taking good care of my old COM unit, Jack?" Kate asked.
"Its remains still occupy a place of honor over the bar, Kate, though next year when the Aves museum opens it will be one of my many donations." Jack pointed to where the badly crushed COM unit hung above the bar.
"Donating the Roc Bar to be used as a museum was generous of you, Jack," Kate remarked.
"The new combination hotel and main museum being built next to it will be the biggest building on Aves, Kate. Keto is personally running the whole shebang, so it's just as well that I moved out here. I'm staying out of politics, even though the Council is held right here in Song Wood."
“They made quite a good team in the Council of Birds and Humans, both Blue Dawn Jay and John, mate of Kate,” remarked Swift Wing, after she had lapped up half of her nectar-sweetened water. “Any creatures that can talk raptors into anything at all are gifted in song. When John persuaded Yellow Claw to be an ally in the Great Battle, instead of him being a small meal, he showed his persuasive gifts to be great indeed. I hope that the Council of Birds and Humans can survive without them.”
“The Council will continue to do just fine, with Red Claw presiding,” said Kate.
“Do you think that Blue and John have really quit the Council for good then?” asked Jack.
“I think so,” said Kate. “Blue has his family to care for, and my husband was discouraged from further politics when the Space Directorate rejected his ideas about introducing Aves mushrooms, worms and birds to Mars.”
“Earth and Mars are still studying the idea seriously though,” said Jack, “and I think they’ll come around. It makes too much sense. The mushrooms could create deep living material while worms could churn up Mars dust and rock much quicker than anything being done now. Bringing in the birds to control them makes sense too. I'm in favor of more study before jumping into it though. The mushrooms and worms need to be better understood before the politics can work out. John and Blue could help push it through faster though, if they were to return to the Council.”
Kate smiled and shook her head. “I doubt that will happen. Politics is too boring, compared with what’s out there.” She waved her hand towards the big Plexiglas window that looked out on Song Wood Glen. More than anywhere else, Song Wood was the central meeting place for birds and visiting humans. From here humans went off with bird guides to experience local Aves forests and wildlife. A few adventurous people went on longer expeditions, but to date still only a small fraction of Aves had been explored by humans. Now that birds were allied with humans, Aves exploration was much safer and more practical, and her husband ex-Sheriff John Weltman wanted to be part of it.
Today a huge throng of birds was gathering in the trees and bushes, watching the visiting human orchestra and the Song Wood bird chorus set up in the Glen for a joint concert to be held later in the day. Nearly a thousand human tourists had also gathered for this Star Corporation sponsored concert.
Most profits for such events went to Aves/Earth joint research and treaty enforcement, but even with only a ten-percent cut the Star Corporation was making more profits on tourism and cultural exchange between Aves and Earth than they were making from food and lumber. The over-all impact on Earth was incredible; the Aves phenomenon was being touted as a new renaissance for Earth. Aves bird song was being listened too and studied across Earth. Bird legends hidden in bird song were being translated into hundreds of human languages for public consumption. Paintings, sculptures, and stories about Aves birds dominated human art. Human interest in space exploration and in Aves reached even greater heights when delegations of birds began visiting Earth.
The impact of Aves life-forms on Earth was being closely regulated, so far. A few food plants had even been successfully modified by Corporation biologists and under close scientific scrutiny were being raised both on Aves and Earth with dramatic success, though there were some caveats. The full potency of Aves food could not be fully exploited by Earth life-forms, which lacked the ability to effectively digest and metabolize some of the Aves-unique chemical components. Conversely, Earth food was found to lack some of the nutrition needed by Aves life-forms. Compatibility between Earth and Aves life-forms was high, but not 100%.
Many people feared that the introduction of Aves life forms to Earth could lead to disaster. For example, what if Aves ants or spiders established themselves on Earth? The impact on the already strained Earth ecosystem could be as great as occurred from global warming, pollution, and other human induced disasters.
It was the cultural impact of Earth on Aves birds that most worried Kate and many other humans and birds. Physical and legal impacts were successfully being restricted, but the inevitable impact of human thoughts and culture was unknown. However, for better or worse there was no turning back now. Aves and its birds would irreversibly change; but minimally and slowly if Kate, Blue, and their allies could manage it. Aves birds needed it to remain wild and free, as did the humans that they inspired.
About a quarter of the birds waiting for the concert to start were crows and grackles, Kate noticed. It was good to see the blackbirds at peace with everyone else, and even taking part in Song Wood cross-cultural activities. Of course they were still blackbirds, and probably scheming at something; as undoubtedly were many of the humans.
“It should be quite a performance,” said Jack. “Is that why you finally came out of your beloved forest? To hear the concert? It will be broadcast live to Earth, you know. The Corporation's cut of the profits will be insane!
“Hardly,” said Swift Wing. “We came here to meet with Blue.”
“Blue is coming here to Song Wood? That IS big news.”
“My husband will be here soon too,” added Kate, “riding Yellow Claw.”
“That will stir up the tourists,” said Jack, grinning. “In my view John’s biggest diplomatic victory was talking that eagle into helping him instead of killing him. As you know, he did that by telling Yellow Claw that he owed her big-time and that he wanted to join her flock by Freedom of Flight. Peeked her interest long enough to talk things out, b
ut that clever eagle has certainly taken advantage of John being part of her flock since then. And what about Blue’s mate Fly Free?”
“She’s staying with the nest, to watch the chicks,” explained Kate. “Bob and Nod are nesting nearby, with their own chicks, and so are Brownie and his family. Blue’s chicks will be fine.”
“Birds sing that Blue wants the five of us to join him on a great quest,” said Mate to Swift Wing.
“Another quest then, is it?” growled Jack. “You’d think he'd had his fill of those.”
“I don’t think he ever will,” said Kate.
Jack sighed. “No, I don’t suppose he will. I can do the math. Blue’s too much like you Kate, and like his old mentor, Song Flame. He sings that he wants to quietly nest but then gets an itch for adventure that he just has to scratch. Always searching for knowledge, of all things. What sort of quest is it this time?”
“He wants to find out about the Old Ones and how the birds got to Aves.”
Jack whistled. “Now that’s really taking on a biggie, to try to solve the big mystery of Aves. Are you all going to join Blue’s flock to do it?"
The falcons laughed loudly, which caused anxiety among both human and bird tourists. "Hardly, human," said Swift Wing. "Raptors don't flock. But we will join him for a time, in Freedom of Flight. Besides, without keen raptor eyesight and wisdom, such a quest would of course be doomed."
"Quite so, my love," agreed Mate to Swift Wing. "Kate and Mate to Kate will provide technical assistance of the human sort, aided by those mysterious tools they carry, if it becomes necessary."
A blue jay perched near the big Plexiglas window suddenly squawked with great excitement, in jay, than in Plain Song, and finally in several human languages, as dozens of other birds and humans crowded to the windows to see what was happening. "Blue Dawn, Blue Dawn, Blue Dawn," he sang.
Poor-sighted humans pointed binoculars and long-range COM devices to the sky above the top of the Great Oak. "It's him! It really is Blue Dawn Jay!" exclaimed an excited human tourist looking through binoculars, overwhelmed that she was able to view the planet's most celebrated bird hero. "Say, that woman that came in with the falcons must be that bird-woman friend of his," exclaimed another, excitedly. "Right! Husband to that ambassador to the birds or whatever he is! You know; the guy that rides eagles!" Eyes turned towards the table where Kate was chugging down her mug of ale, but the presence of the fierce looking falcons kept most curious humans and birds several meters away from their table.
One man sat alone at a table close to Kate and her friends, quietly watching and listening. Kate thought that he looked familiar. Of course! She almost didn't recognize him in his green and red Corporation clothing. It was that Josh what's-his-name, the Brethren man that arrived on Aves on the same flight as her. For a moment their eyes met, and they exchanged little nods of recognition. The Brethren, like the blackbirds, had been re-integrated into Aves society, but Josh had evidently abandoned the Order and could now drink beer like everyone else. Good for him!
"I hear Blue singing," said Swift Wing, cocking her head. Outside, hundreds of other birds had become silent, so that they too could better listen.
"It is time for us to go," said Kate, as she chugged down the rest of her drink.
"Freedom of Flight, for all of you," said Captain Jack. He hugged Kate again and gave each falcon a friendly slap on the side as far up as he could reach as they exited.
Outside the door the trio paused as Kate swallowed a motion-sickness pill and gathered her courage. They were already fifty meters above ground level, on a little platform for birds next to stairs that most humans used to access the Song Flame Inn. Despite many hours spent in flight and high within towering trees, her body and psyche still rebelled when she flew. But she loved it.
"Are you ready, ground crawler?" Mate to Swift Wing teased.
"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, as she reached as high as she could, grasped huge feathers, and pulled herself up onto the back of the great raptor.
Mate to Swift Wing gave his friend a few moments to strap herself securely in place, and then he and his mate spread their mighty wings. "Kreeeeee," they screamed to the blue sky, as they took to the air where they reined supreme! Raptors were flying!
High above Song Wood, Blue Dawn Jay glided down to the top of the Great Oak, landed on the highest branch that would support his weight, and announced his arrival. “SHAAACK! Yaw-yaw, yaw-yaw, yaw-yaw! Hear my song, birds of Song Wood and human friends! I am Blue Dawn Jay; crest-feathered blue as clear sky, shoulders gray as storm clouds, blue wings and tail banded black as night and white as snow am I. Strong as hawk, swift as falcon, cunning as a crow am I. By The Pact I am your protector, for I am a blue jay, yaw-yaw!
“A proud song master of Aves am I. Joyful songs of all songbirds I sing; songs of thrush, chickadee, nuthatch, finch, tanager, grosbeak, and more. Songs of warm suns, soft winds, fat juicy nuts and crawlers, gentle rains and forests green, mixed with song of harsh wind and crushing thunder overcome with strength of beating wings and hearts.
“Songs of my wise mentor Song Flame I sing. Songs of jays, of the great flock leaders Strike True and his brother Scar, of my comrades Bob and Nod, and my great true love, Fly Free, and our chicks, I sing. Songs of small birds of great courage and heart like my good friend Brownie I sing with great pride.
“Songs of raptor and human I sing also, and even songs of my blackbird cousins. Songs of joy, love of mate, and Freedom of Flight. Songs of one great flock that spans worlds, bird and human. Your songs are mine and mine yours, for you are the World and I am prince of the World; all the World is mine, and I belong to all the World. By The Pact of the Jays and the Pact of Blue I pledge wing and beak and claw to you all. Crawlers and worms, beware my swift beak, for I am your winged death, and you are my food. Humans and blackbirds, deal fairly with me and with all birds, or face my winged fury.”
Blue paused, cocked his head, and listened attentively to the chorus of replies, to the hundreds of songs in dozens of languages from all around him, simultaneously sung, songs of Blue and his great adventures, songs of praise, respect, and adoration. The human response was mostly the clapping of hands, in the way of their kind, for their song was plain and slow indeed.
From far below two great Peregrine falcons rose swiftly, a small human female in an orange glide suit riding on the back of one of them. “WEEchew, WEEchew,” they screamed. From far above all of them the scream of the great golden Eagle Yellow Claw answered, “kreeeeeee,” accompanying the happy shouts of a male human that rode on her shoulders as they spiraled down majestically to meet the others.
Blue squawked happily. These who came to him were fellow seekers of knowledge and his good friends. The thousands of well-wishing songbirds, raptors, and blackbirds that rose from Song Wood in the wake of the falcons were his friends also, for like his wise mentor Song Flame the cardinal, Blue Dawn Jay was a bird of all flocks.
“Yaw-yaw, yaw-yaw, yaw-yaw; we shall now quest, quest, quest by Freedom of Flight!” he sang joyously, as he flew to meet his friends, his strong wings beating the thick damp air. “By Freedom, Freedom, Freedom of Flight!”
The End
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Return to Contents
About the Author and Pending Novels
Three additional novels to be published over the next few months are as follows:
The Shrinking Nuts Case began as a short story. Private detective Jake Simon is a crude, rude, flawed, 'old-school' hero, with a sexy, more intelligent assistant that aids him when he takes on a strange case involving magic-capable beings from a parallel universe. Many complications ensue, including a missing billionaire, mobsters, evil elves, and the little problem that Jake has been shrunk in height from six-foot-two to two-foot-six.
Secrets of Goth Mountain began as a short story titled Cube. The novel involves ancient secrets kept hidden by the Goth family (including the hero Johnny Goth) and a reclusive Native American tribe.
Mythic characters introduced in the short story If Einstein Could Fly are featured.
Government Men is the first written and the most complex and ambitious work. The unlikely hero is an inept DoD civilian scientist who leads the effort to save Earth from impending alien-induced doom. The large cast includes mythical, supernatural, scientific, and alien characters, as well as an unlikely reincarnation of the author. Perhaps still more unusual, the novel is also included within itself.
Two of the novels involve dragons, two involve unicorns, two involve space aliens, all three involve magic or paranormal capabilities, all include love stories, and one includes a talking cat.
Several other novels are in various stages of creation, including a possible sequel to Blue Dawn Jay of Aves. Looming in the background for the birds is their fear of their legendary creators the Old Ones. Delving further into Aves bird society and the mysterious origins of Earth-like life-forms on Aves is the subject of a possible follow-on novel (tentative title: Secrets of Aves) to be completed if there is sufficient reader interest.
Sing and fly free, humans of Earth!
Gary J. Davies, Mechanicsville, Maryland, November 2013
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