The Heirs of Columbus

Parthenos Salon

PARTHENOS SALON Blue Ishi reached into a hemlock to hear their tribal stories; the heart was warm, a sacred hollow in the evergreen. The scientists were enchanted by the blues, and trusted tribal humor as an antidote, but the nation was divided over the sentience of the hemlock and their stories. Most of the scientists, molecular biologists, genetic engineers, and the others from several nations, were on one side of the issue as rationalists, empiricists, and logical positivists; on the other side ofthe summit that wintermorning at the pointwere the blues, the wounded, the manicurists, and the Heirs of Columbus. Pir Cantrip, the first lady, and casino crossdressers were on the line between the blues and the gene men, and negotiatedthe tenns of the wager. Uta Moot, the robotics engineer, did not stand with the other scientists on the issue of arboreal sentience; she was roused by the mute child and pursued the animation ofrobots that would heal with remembered stories. The first robot at the nation would second the spirit of the evergreens. "Our play has never been the scientific method, but with the pure pleasure of creation, the blue in the pith, our memories are in the hemlock," said Stone. "So, what's the bet?" asked Lady Bird Johnson. 150 "Overnight with that new robot," said Harmonia. 'With the losers?" asked Teets. "No, no, the winners get the robot," she answered. "The losers crossdress in the casino overnight," said the first lady. She turned a shoulder and clucked her thick tongue. "Wait, on second thought, crossdressers are the winners." Stone and the scientists reached an agreement that the winners would share the pleasures of the robot, and the losers would crossdress in the casino. The scientists insisted that the hemlock must demonstrate an audible sound of pleasure, emotion, or evidence of consciousness. Blue Ishi pushed his arm higher into the hemlock; he pressed his chest to the tree, and reached around the rough slender trunk with his other hand. The blues were perched on the highest branches. The puppets chattered beside the mute child. The scientists , heirs, the wounded, and others waited in a wide circle. Memphis purred and brushed the bark. Stone and the tribal healers heard trees in theirdreams, and the mute child held the hemlock in creation, but no one was sure that the evergreen would respond to convince the scientists, and win the contest with cold reason. The nation waited to hear the stories in the hemlock; to hear a laugh, a moan, to see a wave. First the crown of the hemlock, and then row after row of needles, turned blue. The scientists strained to see, but heard nothing. The blues laughed and the brown branches turned blue with their humor. The hemlock leaned to the south, and then the blues pointed in the same direction; a floatplane circled the statue and then landed near the Miigis Marina. 'Who is it this time?" shouted 'Ihlman. ''ThUp Browne, the investigator," said Stone. 'Who does she want?" asked Gracioso. "No one, ever," said Stone. "She heard about the marvelous manicures," said the first lady, butno one listened to him outside the casino. Theheirs and healers were bothered by the interruption, because they were certain the 151 hemlock was about to respond to the mute child. The scientists heard nothing, andtheywere not convincedthat the evergreenhad pointed to the marina. The blues teased the branches and the crown of the hemlock burst into a blue radiance once more; the bark was warm, and at last the tree was bright blue. When the mute child withdrew his arm the tree made a human sound; the wounded children heard a moan, two or three words. "Not that old talking tree trick," said Lappet Tulip Browne. She had arrived with a backpack, and a miniature tape player with classical music. Shewas notincredulousoverthe rightsandstories of animals and trees, but she was astonished that the obvious was doubtable. There were thousands of wounded children around in the hemlock; their hands were manicured. The children wore blue puckered moccasins, some with beaded decorations, and most of them wore brown shrouds tied at the waist. At a distance the children could have been a pageant of mutant monks, some with masks. "Nothing is obvious to science," said Stone. "Surely, the blue is obvious," said the investigator. "Color is a light wave, not a truth," said Cantrip. "Sir, a blue tree is an...