The Shape of a Choice

The team came back with a sealed crystal case and no agreement about what the valley had noticed.

I was sorting beans with Mallow when the first hoofsteps reached Brindlehook. Shining went to the door; I stayed at the table, partly because standing up too quickly still had a way of making decisions for me. Twilight entered behind Nettle, her travel cloak dusty at the hem. Merrit carried the equipment pack, straps checked for what had to be the third time. Sable followed with her field book held flat beneath one foreleg.

The case rode in Nettle’s magic, wrapped and shut. I kept my attention on that rather than the western windows.

“Everyone back in one piece?” I asked, pushing a bowl of beans away from the edge.

“Everyone,” Nettle answered. “The marker remains inactive. The crystal is sealed and isolated.”

Twilight set her notes on the table. “The response faded completely before we left. We didn’t see it return.”

Mallow took Merrit’s pack from him and set it beside the bench. “You’ve had a long walk. Sit down before you fall on my floor.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Merrit replied, lowering himself into a chair.

Mallow gave him a plate. That settled the immediate question of whether the station would feed them before it asked for a report.

Nettle placed the sealed case on the far end of the table, well away from the food. “We have enough to confirm the valley can respond to foreign resonance without David present. It bent toward the exposed crystal. The filament remained weak and failed to form a relay. Covering the source reduced the response.”

“Same broad pattern as with me,” I said. “Different strength.”

“Apparently,” Twilight replied. She opened her notebook, then stopped with one hoof on the cover. “I want to be careful about that word.”

She turned the book so I could see the field diagram. Sable had recorded the light’s orientation, the filament’s length, and how long it took to fade after the crystal was covered. There were measurements for each, though the numbers meant less to me than the neatness of the columns.

“We didn’t have a calibrated instrument for comparing intensity,” Twilight continued. “The crystal test and your earlier test used different conditions. You were visible to the valley. The crystal was the exposed source. We can say its response was weaker by observation, but not give a reliable ratio.”

“That’s a better answer than ‘you’re twice as interesting.’”

Twilight shut the notebook halfway. “It would also be a completely unsupported answer.”