The administrative center and largest town on Eden was called Snake, a name applied by the first colonists with fine irony. Most of the buildings were constructed of wood, an unheard-of luxury on Earth. Lying under a mantle of fresh powder, it offered a charming if not idyllic appearance. The people wandering the streets looked well dressed and content, but as Jeeter had pointed out, they were too intelligent to let crushing disappointment weigh them down forever. Faint puffs of smoke marked larger buildings on the outskirts of town.
“Snake has a population of thirty thousand,” Jeeter informed them as he parked the crawler inside a covered structure next to a cluster of two-story buildings. All were intricately carved, the decoration comprising an eclectic mixture of northern European, oriental, and modern motifs. Evidently Eden had its share of artists.
They followed him out of the parking structure into a heated corridor, glad to be out of the cold.
“We’ll find you some standard newcomer-issue clothing as soon as you’re finished here,” Jeeter assured them. “You wouldn’t last ten minutes outside in those outfits.” Occasionally he exchanged brief greetings with others using the corridor.
“This is irregular, but you’ve insisted that you’re irregular, so I suppose that makes it regular.”
Eventually they came to a small rotunda, turned down a branching corridor to the left, and stopped in front of a desk.
“Hi, Naki,” he said to the woman seated behind the wood.
“Morning, Jeeter. How’d it go at the GATE today?”
“Smooth as usual. Couple of interesting newcomers. Who’s ombuds for the Council today?”
The woman checked her console. “Tarlek and Madras.”
“Ask Madras if she can spare us a minute or two. Tell her it’s Jeeter Sa-Nos-Tee and that I’ve got company from earth.”
“Give me a second.” She lifted a hand comm unit.
“You’ll like Madras,” Jeeter assured his new friends. “She’s a sweet old gal and my aunt or cousin or something.”
The receptionist looked up. “She’ll see you, but she says it had better be important.”
“It is,” Eric said. The receptionist looked after them as they continued down the hall
XVIII
Madras was in her early sixties, Eric guessed. She was small and olive-skinned and wore her hair straight back. Her forehead shone in the overhead lights as if it had been polished. Eric wondered if she’d been conscripted to this job or if she’d served as a professional administrator on Earth. Later he would learn he was wrong on both counts. She’d been born on Eden and elected to the position.
“Lisa Tambor and Eric Abbott,” Jeeter told her, introducing his charges. “Just in today through the GATE.”
“How do you do?” Madras asked, shaking hands with them. “I enjoy meeting new arrivals, but it’s hard when it takes away from your regular work schedule.”
“These aren’t your usual new arrivals,” Jeeter said. “They’re both artificials.”
“So? Why should that interest me?”
“Mr. Abbott here insists on speaking with someone in a position of social importance. He alluded to it a little on our way over here. Something to do with irregularities surrounding their transposition.”
“That’s nothing unique. Have a seat, Mr. Abbott, Ms. Tambor. Do you wish Jeeter to leave?”
“No, not now,” Eric told her. She had put her stylus aside and was now giving him her undivided attention.
“Jeeter’s told you we’re not natural humans. That doesn’t seem to matter here, and we’re immensely grateful for that. But I have an additional problem.” He was surprised how easily the words came to him. “Are you familiar here on Eden with a race called the Syrax?”
That produced a reaction from the administrator, and even Jeeter looked startled.
“I can see that you are,” Eric said wearily. He proceeded to tell them the whole story, beginning with his first glimpse of Lisa in Phoenix and leaving nothing out. He didn’t want some informed later arrival contradicting anything he said now.
When he’d finished, Madras leaned back in her chair, put her delicate hands behind her head, and regarded him thoughtfully.
“You strike me as more human than many, Eric Abbott. In any case, your honesty vouches for you now. What bands or tentacles molded you no longer matter. You’re far beyond reach of human and alien alike. We're all Edenites together on this world, and anyone who is capable of, and willing to, make a contribution to the general welfare is more than welcome. You had no reason to tell me all this, since you probably could have kept your origin and activities a secret. That you did so marks you as good Edenite material.” She glanced up at Jeeter.
“I don’t think this calls for any special convening of the Council. I may not even bother mentioning it at the next regular meeting. Welcome to Eden, Mr. Abbott. And Ms. Tambor, or perhaps I should say Ms. Abbott?”
“If you like,” said Lisa with a smile.
“I really don’t know how to thank you people,” Eric mumbled, and he meant it.
“No need for thanks,” said Madras. “We’re all outcasts here. We’ve all been lied to.”
“You’re lucky. My whole life is a lie.”
“Why then, this is certainly the place for you, isn’t it? You’re now a part of the most elaborate deception in human history.” She spoke without bitterness. Resignation, Eric thought. As Jeeter said, everyone here was too occupied with the business of survival to waste energy and time lamenting the unalterable.
Finding Eric a job took a little more time than expected. The usual procedure was for a group of colonists to bring with them a list containing the names of those who would follow several months later, together with an explanation of each colonist-to-be’s particular talents. Since neither Eric nor Lisa had ever appeared on the list, nothing had been prepared for them.
Once established, however, his exceptional ability instantly gained the respect and admiration of his colleagues. Soon they were seeking him out with unsolvable problems of their own.
As for Eric, while he’d enjoyed working at Selvern, he’d never dreamed work could be so relaxing and gratifying. Eden’s colonists had been selected for their emotional as well as intellectual maturity. Here there was no fighting for advancement, no pushing for the top rung of a nonexistent corporate ladder, no thought of hindering someone else’s work to gain personal advantage. All that mattered was that the problem be solved. It was an exhilarating atmosphere in which to work, and Eric responded with previously unimaginable enthusiasm.
Though comfortable, life on Eden bordered on the spartan, especially during wintertime. There were also occasional, unpredictable, sometimes fatal assaults by storms or animals which the colonists were unable to deal with. Such incidents made further mockery of the rosy picture WOSA had painted for the colonists in its advertisements back on Earth.
Still, the colonists coped, and Eden’s population grew steadily. The deep bitterness each new batch of deceived arrivals felt was soon pushed into the background as the business of staying alive took precedence over everything else. The natives, like Jeeter and Madras, concealed their feelings far better than newcomers, but as he came to know his fellow citizens more intimately Eric was able to detect hints of the vast reservoir of anger that lay concealed beneath smiling, helpful exteriors. The newcomers had been lied to, but those born on Eden had been denied their birthright.
