GROUND / CH. 7: THE WEDDING OF KANA

GROUND, FULL MOON AFTER HARVEST

The odd academician with two heads walking through the city with a pair of predator carcasses in a barrow turned a few heads, but everyone assumed she'd commissioned a hunter to bring her them. It must have cost a fortune. She spotted a messenger, who was idly waiting around for some trade and looking shocked at the wealth of protein she was moving. She beckoned him over, and gave him a package and an envelope.

“Deliver this parcel and the note to Reverend Lak, or his wife, Una, please, the address is on the parcel. They'll pay you well.”

“Reverend Lak isn't known for being rich or generous, maam.”

“My brother isn't known for having a scandalous relative with two heads, either. If you are not paid, you may share that gossip. Is that contract acceptable?”

“Yes, Maam,” he agreed. Legitimately obtained gossip was a source of pay for the messengers; it could, after all, be sold to the papers for publication. Signing the delivery contract didn't take long.

The messenger went up to the stern-looking building and knocked at the stern looking door. The verse above it had been changed since he'd been there last, he saw. Now it arrogantly read 'Be sure God will judge the wicked and the arrogant.' He wondered if the reverend saw the irony. Probably not.

“Yes?” It was the reverend Lak himself.

“A parcel and a message from your sister, Reverend. She said you would be generous.”

“My sister?”

“Yes, Reverend, that's who she said she was. Academician with two heads and two predator carcasses in a barrow.”

“You'll allow me to read the note first?”

“Of course sir.”

Lak read. 'Dear Lak and / or Una, I know we don't see eye to eye on everything. But if this messenger has delivered the parcel, and you are reading this, he has done his job well and I promised him generosity. The parcel contains about a kilo of fresh predator meat, properly drained of blood and killed with thanksgiving to the One who is Three and is gracious beyond our imagining. I suggest you give him half of it, or if you're feeling generous then give him all. I'm sure it'll be acceptable payment given the prices in he market. I have plenty, and I invite you and your family to share in the bounty of our gracious God tonight, and to take the second carcass for the poor of your parish as you leave tonight. I had no expectation or desire to be attacked by two when I set out this morning, but they both attacked and (praise be to the One), I live.

'Lak, I wish to show you something that I believe will help you and your astronomer colleagues in the years to come. It is not perfect, but then I'm not an expert in optics, so I hope you will see the potential beyond the imperfections of my crude attempt.

'Lak and Una, I do not know if you have heard rumours about the young man on the frontier who wrote a strange tale of meeting aliens who told him of what the One had done. I've no doubts about his sincerity, and I believe I can convince you also. I do not ask you to approve of me, but I ask that you honestly consider what I say, and give glory to the One for his infinite mercy.

Lana.'

“Do you know what is in this letter?”

“No reverend,” the messenger said.

“I am told the parcel is meat, killed in self defence, bled properly with thanksgiving to the One in accordance with Holy Scripture. Would half of it be acceptable payment?”

“Half a kilo of fresh-killed meat? Certainly!” It was worth at least a week's earnings.

“Then I ask you take all, and share the second half with those who have need of protein. And I gently suggest this is the perfect time to ask Kana to marry you, young Thek, and stop trying to sneak.”

“You... you know about our feelings for each other, sir?” Thek asked his girlfriend's father. They'd been so sure they'd never get his approval that they'd been keeping it a secret. They thought.

“You were very discreet and respectful. Kana is in her room. Tell her the whole family is invited to a meal at my sister's tonight, and she should expect lots of protein, so she can plan accordingly.”

Thek had never been in Kana's room before, but he'd been in the house before, for youth group meetings, and he knew which door to knock at.

“Thek? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Your father's asked me to deliver a message that the entire family has been invited to your aunt's house. And Kana, I think you've been getting your dad wrong.”

“Why?”

“He suggested it might be a perfect time to ask you to marry me.”

“What?” she asked, shocked.

“Will you?”

“Dad approves?”

“I didn't even know he knew. He complimented us on being discreet and respectful.”

“But... we won't be able to afford a wedding banquet for ages.”

“I've just been paid half a kilo of meat for delivering a kilo of it, and Kana, I've got to give the other half to people who need it. How about we offer it to the shelter?”

“Who sent dad a kilo of meat?”

“Your aunt.”

“Aunt Fla, the vegetarian sent dad a kilo of meat?”

“Your dad's sister. Oh,” Embarrassed, he added, “he, urm, said you ought to expect to eat lots of protein this evening and plan accordingly. She had two predator carcasses. Two!”

“Dad's sister?”

“Yes.”

“Now I'm really confused.”

“I'm shocked, but... will you marry me, Kana?”

“Thek, I love you. Just let me check what dad actually said, OK?”

Kana found her father in the kitchen, embracing her mother, as she read a letter. Embarrassed at finding them so close, Kana coughed.

“Hello, Kana,” Lak said, not releasing his wife. “Do you have something to tell your mother?”

“I'm confused.” Kana said.

“Oh? Did I misjudge things?” Lak asked.

“What things?” Una asked. “Oh, hello Thek. I thought you'd left. Was there something else?”

“Mum, Thek's just asked me to marry him.”

“He what?” Una asked, shocked and Kana thought, possibly angry.

“He's a good lad with a steady income, Una.” Lak said. “And they've been discreetly making plans for ages. I thought you knew. Lana's generosity seemed like a perfect opportunity for them.”

“I've never heard of you having a sister, dad.”

“Well, Lana and I don't agree on lots of things, so we gave up having shouting matches. I really didn't like what she was getting into in frontier biology, and I'm sorry to say I was right.”

“Dad, are you saying academician Lana, the one with two heads, is your sister?”

“Yes. And just to throw cold water on any flames of righteous anger, read what she wrote about the preparation of the meat.”

Kana did as her father instructed. “But, Dad, there's no need to drain a carcass of blood if it was self-defence. And it sounds like she's saying she was praying as she killed it. It wasn't a herd-beast!”

“But she obviously could, so she did. Can you sense the love for the One in her lines?” Lak said.

“You don't think it's fake?” Una asked.

“Lana write lies? I'd never believe it!” Lak turned to his daughter, “So, Kana dear, you've said Thek asked. Are you planning to eat your fill of fresh predator protein and then fight your God-given impulses because the feast has come too soon and you are not ready, or is it God's hand at work that this letter was delivered by Thek and not some stranger?”

Kana looked at her parents in embarrassed surprise, “Mum? What do I say to that?”

“It is a rush, but in the circumstances of such a bounteous provision, it is not unseemly. But Thek would have to take a message to your aunt, and ask if she would mind it not just being family. But equally, we could have the wedding tomorrow instead, if you'd like a bit more time to prepare yourself? Or you could just say no, of course.”

“Why would I say no?” Kana asked, looking full at Thek's face. “If my aunt agrees, and my messenger will deliver the joyous invitations, I'd be very happy to be your wife, Thek.”

----------------------------------------

GROUND, UNIVERSITY

Thek had been sure he'd heard two voices singing when he'd knocked, but he didn't see anyone.

“Honoured academician,” Thek said, “I have a letter from my future father-in-law, your brother, with a question.”

“You'd better sit down then, I expect you'll want a reply. Little Kana has all grown up then? How time flies!”

“Yes.”

“And your statement about Lak's lack of generosity was what exactly?”

“Urm, I was hoping for better pay, maam.”

“Is that all? Fleece the customer?”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“No maam. He doesn't have a reputation for generosity among messengers.”

“Because?”

“Because he's stern, doesn't approve of most messengers, I didn't think he approved of me, he speaks out against selling gossip.”

“Because?”

“Gossip is a sin.”

“So why should I bless your marriage to my niece, if you profit from sin?”

“I try hard not to, maam. I'll accept any payment, even a promise of payment, rather than invoke the gossip clause. My colleagues call me a fool, but it feels right.”

“It is right. You know what's in this letter?” Thek nodded. “The problem is, the meat was meant to be an excuse for me and my brother to have a long talk. I'd totally forgotten how long it was since I saw little Kana as a podling, and stupidly imagined she was still about six or so. The other problem, as you see, is that I've started cooking some of the meat.”

“Oh,” Thek said, noticeably wilting at the thought of not marrying Kana tonight.

“But, I can put this to one side. It was mostly an experiment anyway. And if Kana's getting married, then I want to talk to her about genetics. So, you get to bring the second carcass, and I'll go and see if your future mother-in-law will let me step into her house.”

----------------------------------------

GROUND, REVD. LAK'S HOME

“Hello, Lak. Sorry for not remembering Kana has been growing up. Am I welcome?”

“Of course, Lana.”

“From Una too?”

“Una repented of her hatred of you a long time ago, Lana.”

“I hope I don't stir it up again. Can you lend me a hand with the meat, I can't fly through your doorway.”

“You flew here with that meat?” Lak asked, once they'd got the meat inside.

“Lots of wing muscles, not much in the leg department. I've not changed for months.”

“Sister, you're strange.”

“Kind though,” Mick said.

“Oh, fine, Mick, well done! Let's get thrown out right away, shall we? Lak, this is Mick the alien.”

“Lana has been kind enough to keep me alive long enough to learn your language,” Mick said. “Biologically, I used to be a multicellular organism, so there is definitely no romance or sexual perversion involved.”

“But Mick does have a useful weapon he calls an engraving tool, which helps deal with predators, so I can't accurately call him a parasite any more.”

“Lana... are you serious?”

“My people developed this tool for engraving rock,” Mick said, getting his rock-cutter out of the pouch he'd asked the skin at his side to make for it. “It will cut most things though; do not reach out to touch the light.” He turned it on, and Lak stepped backwards, his eyes showing his shock.

Mick turned it off, and put it back into its pouch. “The One who is is very very good, Lak. I don't know why he chose that my ship crash in the one place on this planet where there was someone near who could prevent me from dying very quickly, but please do not insult the One or the miracle that He sent to keep me alive.” He gave a little apologetic smile “Sorry if that makes any problems for your theology.”

There was a knock at the door; Thek had finally caught up.

“Did I interrupt anything?” he asked as he noticed Lak's face.

“Just... my sister's just told me a bit about her experiment with a second head, that's all. It's fascinating, but maybe now isn't the right time to discuss it.”

“Probably not,” Lana agreed. “But... can I talk to Kana. Una at the same time, actually.”

“They're in the kitchen,” Lak said. “I've been banned.”

“Just the right time for me to intervene, then,” Lana declared, and went in without knocking. “Hello Una, sorry for not knocking, but I expected you might want to hide having a copy of that book,”

“And you wanted to catch me red-handed?” Una asked, defiantly.

“I wanted to make sure if you did, then you had the second edition, which corrects some very dangerous oversights in the first one. Most importantly, a little patience saves a lot of risk, and don't get tempted to look for specific traits so much as healthy. Here you are, just off the press.”

“That's it?” Una asked.

“Other than me saying that the meat is here, and asking if you want my help preparing it at all.” [Mick, please stay silent.] “If not, I'll go and talk astronomy with Lak.”

“What do you know about astronomy?” Una asked.

“Not much. Except that, unless methods have changed recently, they spend far too long drawing dots that could draw themselves, and then can't really believe some of their results because they don't trust their pencils were in exactly the right place.”

“And suddenly you've got a solution?” Una challenged.

“I had an idea, and spoke to a chemist. They're better at solutions and solutes than I am.”

Kana laughed, then asked “Why aren't you laughing, Mum?”

“It's an old joke,” Lana said, “And I think your mother told it to me. Una, I am not trying to steal your daughter from you, I never was. Nor did anyone in the lab in any way expect what happened to Unth, that his brain would shred itself.”

“Except me.”

“Except you and you'd left by then, and it was only later any of us really understood you meant what you said literally, not metaphorically. I regret what happened, and not listening to your concerns, more deeply than anyone else I know, but it was his decision. He told me to go ahead, I was the junior researcher. And I often wake up screaming remembering it.”

“But you're still involved in frontier biology. You've got that thing on your shoulder. Is that what Unth would have become? Some kind of statement of individuality?”

“No, Una,” Lana said, gently, “The plan was that we see if I could carry him for a few minutes, to see if, after a near-fatal attack, without any other alternative, someone could possibly be brought back home that way. And if everything had gone well I was planning to defy convention and demand Unth become my husband, because it didn't feel right to take someone apart otherwise, even though we had no intention of podding or doing anything.”

“I see you are still decidedly single.”

“Unth, as you well know, is an almost mindless shell. If I go near to him, he screams. If he catches my scent, he becomes violent, dangerous, determined to shred me. He almost killed someone, just because I walked by.”

“That was a long time ago,” Una said, dismissively.

“It happened again, six months ago. They'd reassigned him to another area and no one thought to tell me, the idiots. We had no romance, Una, made no promises, I just wanted to insist on it. He might have adamantly refused, I don't know. Now... Now he'd prefer to kill me than be near me, prefer to kill others than let me escape, prefer to die than be healed.”

“So, what is that second head that's watching me so attentively?”

“A second pair of eyes is very useful in my work. These ones? They're pretty good...”

Una came over and looked at Mick's eyes, studying them.

“Single lens arrangement. And the iris is right behind the front lens,” she said. “What are you doing, Lana? Everyone I've heard thinks you grew some normally, but you didn't did you?”

“I am not doing research for the frontier biology department. They've not noticed what you just have.”

“So, what have you done?” Una asked.

“Six harvests ago, I went for a walk. I didn't care if a predator got to me. There was... an accident. I was badly burned, and there was another creature there, crushed, mangled, dying multicellular organism. It was really obviously dying, because its insides were mixed up with the landscape and its heart was skewered on a rib. I thought about the risks and decided I had a choice between dying from the burns and wounds and being poisoned, so I consumed most of it. I kept the eyes, which somehow healed, and some other bits. The eyes are interesting, I'm not fully sure how, actually, but they self-focus, and self adjust to brightness. And if it's dark they see in grey and switch to colour when there's more light. And they see in a slightly different colour spectrum than ours.”

“What sort of accident?” Kana asked.

[Mick, please.] Lana said [Don't say anything, but get out the rock-cutter?] “I recovered this there, too. It was very effective in killing the predators. As far as I know it'll cut anything it touches.” Mick pressed the button, and the other women leapt back at the light. “What is that?” Kana said, in shock.

Una focussed both eyes on the tube in her sister-in-law's hand, the strange markings on it, the detail, the buttons. “We couldn't make something like that, could we, Lana?”

“That was my conclusion, too.”

Una looked at the woman who'd once been her colleague. “Lana, the reports of alien visitors? You're saying you know they're true because you ate one of them? You ate someone capable of making that? Of.... of travelling from another planet? Are you nuts?”

“What should I have done, Una? Died from the accident too? The space-ship crashed practically on top of me. My leg bones were smashed, a lot of my skin burned away. The One says it's good to stay alive if we can.”

“But your experiments with predators and things? Couldn't you have at least tried to keep it alive?”

“Should I have done that, Una? Just two years after trying to do that with Unth almost killed us both? You know that, you were there in the aftermath. Should I have tried?”

“If anyone could have done it, you could, Lana. You were the best at doing that sort of thing. You shouldn't have just eaten the poor being.” Lana just looked at her.

“I've got double standards, haven't I?” Una said.

“Yes mum, but we still love you,” Kana said, seeing a side of her mother she'd never known.

[Can I say something now?] Mick asked Lana.

[Not yet,] Lana thought.

“If it had worked with Unth, Una, what would you have said? Of if Unth had been similarly wounded? I'm not... I'm genuinely asking, Una. I want to know. I know we were both hurt and wounded and regrettable things were said.”

“I don't know, I really don't know. But you should have tried to save the alien. It could have told us what they know of the...” she stopped herself “I don't know... Do I want to know if they don't believe in the One? If they are all atheists there or they laugh at our beliefs like the atheists do? I hope they don't believe in hundreds of gods. Why is my faith so weak?”

[Your turn, Mick]

“'Hear, Oh Israel: the LORD our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength' and also 'love your neighbour as you love yourself' and something like a thousand years later on, something amazing happened because 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him and without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life is the light of man. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.' and then there's a bit I don't remember but it continues 'And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us for a time, we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth. He came to his own but his own did not recognise him or receive him, but to those who receive him, who trust in His name, he gives the right to become children of God.' And later 'For God so loved the World that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.' And you don't understand that because I've left out the Cross, and you can't leave out the cross! Jesus Christ (which means King Jesus), God the Son, the second of the three who are the One, became a living being, and the leaders rejected him and accused him before a weak judge who would not stand up for truth. They killed him by hanging him on a cross. Then, on the third day, God raised him back to life, and he taught people for fifty days then returned to his heavenly home at the right hand of the Father where he had come from, and where God gave him power and authority other all things. And as scripture says, 'God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.' and 'we are saved by grace, so that no one can boast.' And of course scripture says a lot of other things too, and I never could remember most of it very well. Thank you for saying that Lana did the right thing in saving my life, Una. You saying that means a lot to her, I know.”

“By grace, you say?” Lak said, from the door. “'The One has mercy on those he chooses.' Yes. I need to change my next sermon. I think I've been missing something.”

Kana said “I didn't understand everything you said. But... you said God became one of you? And... and you killed him?”

“Yes. He allowed himself to be put to death, fulfilling the old law that said without blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. And he took our sins, and the punishment our sins deserve, God himself providing the sacrifice his justice demanded. He paid the penalty, buying us back from slavery to sin. And in so doing he won the victory over sin and death.”

“Two hundred years ago,” Lak said, “the prophets said, there must be no more blood sacrifices, because God has done something great and wonderful, and we must depend on grace and not dead heard-beasts. The altars in our land were cracked. Some rebelled and denied the prophets, because they loved tradition more than God, and they rebuilt the broken altars. And there was conflict. Many died. And people lost heart or lost their way.”

Lana shook her head. “Lak, Mick has told me of the wars of those who live on land on their home planet. In comparison, very few have died here.”

“But here,” Lak said, “many deny God exists at all, because of the wars.”

“Many, or most? On land it is most who do not truly worship the One, among those of us who stayed away from the wars, under the seas, it is many who don't, but not most. Of those who live on the planet we have changed to make it livable, it is perhaps equal numbers.”

“Another planet? I know there is our sister planet, but... a third?”

“We are not from your sister planet. In our skies there is only one sun. In our history, the thing that God did happened about two thousand one hundred years before your prophets heard of it. I think God chose to wait with telling you until light could travel this far. I expect my people will come, and we will talk to you, but I do not know if we will stay. That is probably a decision for governments and rulers.”

“They are not a united people, Lak,” Lana said, “At least, the land people are not. The sea people are.”

“We sea people have better things to do with our time than argue about governments. And we are not so numerous, either.”

“How many are you?” Lak asked.

“I'm not certain, perhaps a million and a half now. You think that sounds many, I know, but our land-living relatives number thousands of millions. But you should know something, I think. The spacecraft that brought me here, it was one of the first of its kind. It is a university research project. We are looking to see where we can find intelligent creatures. So far, we have only found you.”

“But the other ship...”

“Piloted by my younger sister. Probably hoping she'd find some trace of me.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because God is good,” Mick said, “But as far as I know, I'm not going anywhere, at least relative to Lana, but Kana is getting married. So, how about we concentrate on her future, not my past?”