The compleat collected s.., p.574
The COMPLEAT Collected SFF Works, page 574
"Take your time," said Matlock. "I'll remind you of any you've forgotten."
"Thank you," said Sister Augustine. For a moment she debated with herself whether it was a mortal or venial sin to volunteer incomplete information, then went on quietly, "The reason why only one cameraman, with the captain to help with the mike and lights, was allowed to film was that I thought the creature might have been panicked by a larger number of people into making some defensive act, especially since they would be using equipment which it could have mistaken for weapons. The creature has never met large numbers of human beings. The sisters visited it only two or three at a time, and it is quite possible that it thinks there are only a few of us. Nuns wearing habits tend to look the same even to Earth-people."
Captain McCloskey laughed and Matlock frowned at him. She continued, "Another and more venial reason for restricting the filming is that the cellar is full of dusty old furniture and junk and is badly in need of spring-cleaning. I would have been mortified if you'd turned your lights on it. May I, too, express my feelings freely?"
"Please do," said Matlock.
"Very well," said Sister Augustine. "I dislike, and totally reject, your inference that I am some kind of religious, publicity-hungry and money-grubbing charlatan. I am very pleased that this program will earn us lots of money, but that money will be at the disposition of the sister-general of my order, not me. I have no doubt that most of it will go for famine relief and to our schools and medical missions, which are in very deprived areas, so that my central heating will have a very low order of priority. As for the idea that our convent could be moved brick by brick, just look at that ..."
She raised her arm slowly to point through the study window, where the sun was dying a spectacular death beyond a glittering, amber sea and the dark, dramatic outlines of the cliffs. One of the cameras swiveled to follow the direction of her pointing finger.
"... I cannot think of anywhere else I'd rather live."
"Sister," said Matlock drily, "are you trying to direct this program as well as star in it? Don't answer that. We'll run the film now and, believe me, the questions that follow will not be rhetorical."
All eyes were on the monitor as the shoulder-held camera tracked down the steps leading to the cold store, across the floor and into the lower cellar. There the light and camera had been turned on Sister Augustine while she explained that this was necessary to let the creature know that the equipment was harmless. Then the camera swung to bear on the creature itself and moved slowly closer. They could see every physical detail, hear every low, bubbling, alien sound that it made. The camera moved into a close-up of the head, chest and shoulders. A long-fingered, alien hand came into view.
It made the sign of the cross.
"And that," said Matlock in a bitterly disparaging voice, "is the reason for the naval vessel in the bay, the tank regiment presently drawn up before your walls, the continuing low-level aerial surveillance and, ultimately, the reason for this program. Because that piece of film has been seen by everyone on this planet with access to a TV, and they are seriously concerned. Not everyone, of course, just the ordinary, simple, superstition-ridden people who still make up the majority of the world's population. They, many of whom are not even adherents of your particular faith, have exerted so much political pressure on their respective government representatives that no civil or military authority will risk the simple, direct expedient of just moving in and taking the creature away from you, for fear of the serious religious and political repercussions that would certainly follow.
"So it has fallen on me, Sister," he went on, "to reason with you. To convince you that you are wrong to keep this alien from us or, if that fails, to show my audience that your position is untenable, ridiculous, based on superstition rather than reason, so that few objections will be raised when we do move in and take the creature from you.
"If you agree to give it to us now," he added, "you would save yourself, and your convent, a whole lot of grief.''
Sister Augustine remained silent for a long moment, then she said, "I can't."
"A predictable answer," said Matlock. He went on grimly, "if the only way of gaining access to this creature is by discrediting you, and the narrow-minded, out-dated and superstitious kind of thinking that is holding it here, then discredit you I will. But I ask you, Sister, try to think more broadly. The first extraterrestrial to visit Earth is in your convent and the first, or perhaps the second thing you do is try to convert it to your religion! How narrow-minded can you get?"
"Just one minute, young man!" said Sister Augustine, in a tone that was neither nun-like nor gentle. "I've already told you about the incident when the creature warned me to be careful with its wounds, although obviously not in sufficient detail. Threatening me with its tail was the first time it made anything like a hostile act. When that tail came within inches of my face, I jumped back and crossed myself instinctively because I thought it might be about to kill me. Since then, it crosses itself whenever anyone visits it, but plainly the action is one of simple mimicry. It probably thinks it's making a gesture of friendship or recognition. The idea that we are trying to convert it to our religion is ludicrous. Even if we wanted to, we can't communicate well enough to exchange philosophical or theological concepts. Next thing you'll say is that I baptized it while irrigating its wounds."
The deepening color of Matlock's face suggested that he might well have been about to say just that, but instead he said, "Then you can assure me, Sister, that there is no religious significance, no deep universal meaning, no supernatural revelation in the creature's action? And can you also assure our viewers all over the world, the people of many religious beliefs, Christian and otherwise, who are deeply troubled by the thought of an extraterrestrial creature making this sign, that they have nothing whatever to worry about?"
"Yes," said Sister Augustine promptly. "Yes to both questions." As a look of quiet triumph suffused Matlock's face, she went on. "But having said that, I must confess to feeling seriously troubled myself by this whole affair. I keep asking myself why, of all the places on Earth where it could have come ashore, did it have to be at this convent? No doubt you'll say that it had to come down somewhere, that the location was due to sheer chance, coincidence, or fate. But you will understand that, following the vocation I do, I must also include providence."
There was a sarcastic edge to Matlock's tone as he said, "You're wriggling, Sister. First you say that the creature's gesture and presence have no religious significance, then suggest that it has." He turned towards Sister Constance. "Perhaps you can give me a straight answer, Sister. Can you remember, if you are allowed to remember that is, any occasion when Sister Augustine performed religious acts or prayed over this creature?"
"My memory," said Sister Constance, anger lowering by an octave her already deep voice, "is very good, and not susceptible to outside influence. The only time that anything like a prayer was said was on the first evening, when we had our arms around the creature lifting it onto the divan. But it seemed to me that Sister wasn't so much praying as thinking aloud."
"What did she say," asked Matlock, "exactly?"
"Very quietly she said," Sister Constance replied, "Dear God, your creation is much more complicated, and wonderful, than we thought."
At that moment the study door opened and one of the sisters, her identity hidden by the broad back of the sound engineer who was blocking her passage, tried to enter. Through the open door there also came, without impediment, the ineffably sweet and glorious sound of the Orbisfactor Kyrie Eleison.
"Your sacred music," said Matlock sarcastically, "is right on cue. But Sister, you promised me that there would be no interruptions."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Matlock." she said. "But you must understand that this is a convent and our religious exercises, including the singing of Vespers, must continue in spite of this influx of television people." She raised her voice slightly. "Please leave, Sister, and speak with me later."
The Gregorian plainchant was silenced by the closing door, and Matlock said, "I think Sister Augustine and I are beginning to irritate each other. Has anyone else a question?"
Dr. Watterson cleared his throat and said, "My interest in this is psychological rather than religious, Sister. You seem to have made friends with this creature, and now feel very protective towards it, even though it began by frightening you rather badly. I am considering the possibility that some kind of non-material influence, a form of telepathy perhaps, is being exerted.
"Also," he went on, "a little earlier you told us, and I hope I'm quoting you accurately, that threatening you with its tail was the first time it made anything like a hostile act. Were there other hostile acts? If so can you describe the circumstances and your feelings at the time, as fully as possible?"
"I wasn't aware of any mental influence, Doctor," Sister Augustine replied. "Making due allowance for the circumstances, my feelings were the same as those I would have towards any injured person requiring treatment. And if it was able to communicate telepathically, would we have such a difficult job making it understand us?"
Dr. Watterson nodded thoughtfully and waited for her to go on. She hesitated, feeling her face grow warm with expectation of the embarrassment so surely to come.
"Doctor," said Matlock eagerly, "I think you've entered a sensitive area."
Ignoring the presenter, she took a deep breath and went on, "The second and only other hostile act, when the creature gripped my wrist very tightly, happened when I tried to take away its property. This was a box which—"
"Sister!" Captain McCloskey broke in accusingly. "You gave me to understand that the creature had neither clothing nor equipment. You didn't tell me about any box. It might contain, or be, a weapon capable of unimaginable—"
She held up her hand and said, "I didn't know about the box until after your first visit, and decided not to tell anyone about it because of the kind of reaction that Captain McCloskey is displaying now."
Still concentrating all of her attention on the psychologist, she went on, "We discovered the creature holding it one morning, scratching and pressing at it with its fingers, and obviously trying to get it open. We brought it our tool kit, the one we use for making electrical repairs, but that didn't help. After trying to open it for about half an hour, the creature threw the box into a corner. If you'd been there, Doctor, I think you would have agreed with me that, for an extraterrestrial, it showed a very human reaction towards a stupid gadget that wasn't working. When I picked up the box to see if I could open it, the creature grabbed my wrist tightly. When I let go, it put the box under the divan and raised its tail into the warning position for a moment. Obviously it didn't want to be separated from the thing.
"The box itself was badly dented," she continued, "probably by contact with the rocks when the creature came ashore. It measured about fifteen inches square and six inches deep. One of the large faces was covered with thin padding and hollowed out to accommodate the curvature of the creature's upper chest and neck. On the opposite face there was a six-inch circle recessed about a quarter of an inch. There were four straps to hold the box in position, but I couldn't understand how the fastenings worked. It weighed very little, no more than two pounds, and I thought that it must be some kind of life-belt or container for emergency rations, certainly not a weapon."
"And you are, of course, an authority on extraterrestrial weapon systems," said Matlock sourly.
"Please go on, Sister," said Doctor Watterson, ignoring him.
"There isn't much more I can tell you about my feelings." said Sister Augustine. "With so many armed men charging about the countryside, not quite knowing what they were looking for, I was afraid of the creature being shot before questions could be asked, and I decided to keep its presence a secret for the time being. I telephoned the Sister-Provincial to tell her what I was doing, and a sister was sent to her with photographs of the creature to prove that I wasn't having a brainstorm.
"A week later Captain McCloskey arrived," she continued, "and the meeting was as he described it. The news of the creature being here got out, possibly from my phone calls to the sister-provincial being overheard. Shortly afterwards we were besieged by the media, who were much less polite than the army, and I was asked by Sister-Provincial to provide facilities for this program. It was a request I could not reasonably refuse, even though both Sister-Provincial and myself knew that Mr. Matlock, with someone like Doctor Watterson in support, would be using it to discredit me or show that I was mentally incompetent. ..."
"Mentally incompetent," said the psychologist softly, "you are not."
"... But now," she went on, "things are so bad that my sisters, who are neither young nor strong, are afraid to go to the town on their daily visitations to the sick. They're being hounded like royal honeymooners, and even the old people they call on aren't safe from harassment.
"I invoked the rule of sanctuary on the creature's behalf," she added firmly. "The responsibility is mine alone, and it is unfair that others should be made to suffer."
"Let me repeat, Sister," said Matlock loudly, as if anxious to remind everyone that he was still there. "There is an easy way of letting your friends, and yourself, off the hook."
"I doubt if your reminder is necessary. Mr. Matlock," said the psychologist. Then to Sister Augustine he went on, "Have you considered, Sister, that your plan for protecting the creature may already have succeeded? Certainly you've attracted more than enough attention to ensure that it is not going to be killed accidentally, in mistake for an escaped zoo animal. The point I'm making is that you have made very sure that no physical harm will come to it."
When she did not reply, he continued, "This creature belongs to another world whose level of technology is far beyond ours, and whose culture and intentions towards us are unknown. The only way to find out is by long-term observation and interrogation in depth. But for that we must first examine it, study its metabolism in detail so that proper food and accommodation can be provided, and then establish, no doubt with computer assistance, proper two-way communication."
He nodded towards Captain McCloskey and went on, "I expect the military will be breathing down our necks at every stage. They will want to know if your creature was engaged on a reconnaissance operation that went wrong, whether it was able to report back before it came down, the strength and degree of hostility of its people, or if there is any hostile intent, which I myself am inclined to doubt. But in time we will have this information, because we have the specialists and the facilities to get it. There is no longer any reason for it to stay here, Sister, so why not go easy on yourself and let the professionals take over?"
Sister Augustine looked down at her hands, wondering why she was continuing to argue when there was no reason to argue anymore. She said, "I doubt whether the creature would find the regimen you've outlined more pleasant than its present accommodation. As I've already explained to the captain, my own view is that the creature is a stranger, a traveler who is injured, frightened, alone and who may be grieving for family or friends who did not survive the crash, and its feelings as well as its intentions are unknown to us. I understand your viewpoint, Doctor, and for the past few days I've been tempted to do exactly as you suggest.
"But how can I be certain," she went on before Matlock could interrupt, "that I've done the right thing here? It just seemed to me that if the creature was directed to this particular place, by whatever agency, then surely it was not simply to be handed over by us to the people who were first hunting it and now intend torturing it for scientific reasons. I wasn't confining the creature, because there is nothing of value in the cellars and they are never locked. I was simply trying to protect it until it learned enough about us to decide for itself what it wanted to do."
"But it will never learn enough," said the psychologist gently, "from a few hand-signals, pen sketches and TV programs."
"It had more than that to go on," said Sister Augustine. "Last night Sister Constance and I took it for a walk along the battlements, to show it the forces deployed around us ..."
"Excuse me, Sister," Captain McCloskey broke in. "There was a report of two nuns behaving in a suspicious fashion last night, apparently using the walls and battlements to hide from the airborne searchlight. But they were seen on an infra-red sensor rather than by visible light, and they were unaccompanied."
Sister Augustine looked at Sister Constance, who cleared her throat and said, "We took a calculated risk, Captain. I guessed that you were using infrared detection because your searchlight was shining all around the convent but rarely onto it. I also thought it likely that infra-red equipment mounted on a helicopter might not be completely shielded from the engine's heat interference, so there would be a consequent loss of image definition. The creature has a very low body temperature, as low, perhaps, as that of the surrounding terrain. That being so, I thought it likely that the relatively much stronger heat signatures of Sister and myself would obscure that of the creature walking between us. If I'd guessed wrong, I'm sure there would have been an immediate reaction from your people."
"There would indeed," said the captain, looking as if he wanted to hide.
"What was the creature's reaction," asked the psychologist, "to all this military might?"
"I had no way of knowing," Sister Augustine replied. "When we returned to the cellar I tried to explain the situation graphically and with gestures, tried to make it understand that I might not be able to keep it and the people outside separated for much longer. But I didn't know what it was thinking, it just went on making bubbling sounds, and I certainly couldn't read its features."
"But Sister," the psychologist said excitedly, "this means that you knew you would eventually have to give up the creature, knew all along! I realize now that invoking the rule of sanctuary was a masterstroke, and you deserve every credit for that, because it made us all stop and think when we could so easily have made the worst mistake in history. Can I assume now that you're ready to give it up?"
