But then the Obin learned that Charles Boutin’s daughter Zo? had been on the space station. The Obin took her from the station and she alone was spared among the humans. And the Obin kept her and kept her safe and found a way to tell Charles Boutin that she was alive and offered to return her if he would give the Obin consciousness. But Charles Boutin was angry, not at the Obin but at the humans who he thought had let his daughter die, and demanded in exchange for giving the Obin consciousness, that the Obin would make war on the humans, and defeat them. The Obin could not do this themselves but allied with two other races, the Rraey, whom they had just attacked, and the Enesha, who were allies of the humans, to make war on the humans.
Charles Boutin was satisfied and in time joined the Obin and his daughter, and worked to create consciousness for the Obin. Before he could finish his task, the humans learned of the alliance between the Obin and the Rraey and the Enesha, and attacked. The alliance was broken and the Enesha were made to war on the Rraey by the humans. And Charles Boutin was killed and his daughter Zo? was taken from the Obin by the humans. And although no individual Obin could sense it, the entire nation despaired because in agreeing to give them consciousness Charles Boutin was their friend among all friends, who would do for them what even the great Consu would not: give them awareness of themselves. When he died, their hope for themselves died. To lose his daughter, who was of him and who was dear to them because of him, compounded this despair.
And then the humans sent a message to the Obin that they knew of Boutin’s work and offered to continue it, in exchange for an alliance and the agreement by the Obin to war on the Enesha, who had allied with the Obin against the humans, once the Enesha had defeated the Rraey. The Obin agreed to this but added the condition that once the Obin were given consciousness that two of their number would be allowed to know Zo? Boutin, and to share that knowledge with all other Obin, because she was what remained of Charles Boutin, their friend and their hero.
And so it was that the Obin and the humans became allies, the Obin attacked and defeated the Enesha in due time, and the Obin, thousands of generations after their creation, were given consciousness by Charles Boutin. And among their number, the Obin selected two, who would become companions and protectors to Zo? Boutin and share her life with her new family. And when Zo? met them she was not afraid because she had lived with the Obin before, and she gave the two of them names: Hickory and Dickory. And the two of them became the first Obin to have names. And they were glad, and they know they are glad, because of the gift Charles Boutin gave them and all Obin.
And they lived happily ever after.
Hickory said something to me I didn’t hear. “What?” I said.
“We are not sure ‘and they lived happily ever after’ is the appropriate ending,” said Hickory, and then stopped and looked closely at me. “You are crying,” it said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was remembering. The parts of it I was in.”
“We told them wrong,” Hickory said.
“No,” I said, and put up my hand to reassure it. “You didn’t tell it wrong, Hickory. It’s just the way you tell it and the way I remember it are a little…” I wiped a tear off my face and searched for the right word. “They’re just a little different, is all.”
“You do not like the myth,” Hickory said.
“I like it,” I said. “I like it very much. It’s just some things hurt me to remember. It happens that way for us sometimes.”
“I am sorry, Zo?, for causing you distress,” Hickory said, and I could hear the sadness in its voice. “We wanted to cheer you up.”
I got up from my seat and went over to Hickory and Dickory and hugged them both. “I know you did,” I said. “And I’m really glad you tried.”
NINE
“Oh, look,” Gretchen said. “Teenage boys, about to do something stupid.”
“Shut up,” I said. “That couldn’t possibly happen.” But I looked anyway.
Sure enough, across the Magellan’s common area, two clots of teenage males were staring each other down with that look of we’re so gonna fight about something lame. They were all getting ready for a snarl, except for one of them, who gave every appearance of trying to talk some sense into one guy who looked particularly itchin’ to fight.
“There’s one who appears to have a brain,” I said.
“One out of eight,” Gretchen said. “Not a really excellent percentage. And if he really had a brain he’d probably be getting out of the way.”
“This is true,” I said. “Never send a teenage boy to do a teenage girl’s job.”
Gretchen grinned over to me. “We have that mind-meld thing going, don’t we?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” I said.
“You want to plan it out or just improvise?” Gretchen asked.
“By the time we plan it out, someone’s going to be missing teeth,” I said.
“Good point,” Gretchen said, and then got up and started moving toward the boys.
Twenty seconds later the boys were startled to find Gretchen in the middle of them. “You’re making me lose a bet,” she said, to the one who looked the most aggressive.