watch for exploding reactors. And I've sent a message shuttle back to Kaylanx, to tell them that the Couples of Hydra are out of commission, and they'd better get the warfleet back in shape before the Squishies show up." He closed his eyes again, to concentrate on the DareDrop . "Back to current events. What's the name of the island we're looking for?"
"Pyrta."
Veddin relaxed in his chair, working with his ship to communicate with Hydras network of automatons. "Strap yourself in. We're gonna make this a short ride."
The blastoff was less than gentle. Veddin had pangs of sympathy for Autumn, listening to her gasp for breath, but he could no longer suppress the sense of urgency he'd felt since they were stranded in the city. Pyrta was near the equator; he could just see the two of them arriving in time to watch a hurricane smash whatever useful equipment there might be to bits.
Once in free fall, Veddin asked more questions about Hydrans. "Autumn, why are humans so different from other species? What makes human psis so much more powerful—and so much more rare?"
Autumn looked a bit wan from the acceleration and now the weightlessness, but she answered nevertheless. "There are a lot of arguments about that; it may be the hottest question the biologists have." She untangled her arms from the webbing, tried to get comfortable. "One part of the answer is pretty straightforward. As the . . . complexity, I guess, of an organism increases, the probability of resonant psibond formation decreases: There are so many more links required to form the resonance. The flip side of that, though, is once those linkages form, the resonance is much more powerful." Her expression turned perplexed. "What we don't really understand yet is how we could have evolved so far before developing psychic powers. Everywhere else, psi develops before intelligence does. Psychic ability usually serves as the bridge from muscle-oriented evolution to intelligence-oriented evolution. 'Course, the evolution of intelligence doesn't go too far. It always plateaus before the beings get too complex for near-one-hundred-percent pair formation. An average alien Couple isn't quite as smart as an average human in isolation."
Veddin nodded. "How related are complexity and intelligence? Are more intelligent Couples more powerful as well?"
"Not necessarily. Psi power and intelligence are related statistically, but not directly. My parents, for example, have a normal, single-resonance bond. But they're very intelligent, or they wouldn't be the Commissioners." She shook her head. "On the other hand, there are some really dumb Couples out there that are awfully powerful."
Veddin chuckled. "I see." He thought for a moment. "But you still haven't told me why man developed so much intelligence without developing any psychic powers along the way."
"Nobody knows. We think early man must have had psychic abilities; marginal pre-men wouldn't stand a chance without it." She shrugged. "But then the psychic abilities disappeared, somehow. The pre-men had developed just enough so that continued evolution of intelligence worked better than reverting to animals."
Veddin closed his eyes as the DareDrop interrupted. "Get ready. Were going back down." Just before the acceleration hit, he wondered, "You know, maybe the same thing happened to those pre-men that's happening here."
"What?"
"Wouldn't that explain it? Suppose somebody started jamming the psifields on Earth, way back when?"
Before Autumn could reply, the breath was squeezed from their bodies.
They stepped out of the DareDrop into a large circle of scorched earth. The stench from the crisped wildlife caused them both to gag.
"You practically destroyed the place we were coming to visit," Autumn complained. "Even our biggest ships don't wreck the landscape this way."
They hurried from the area. "The DareDrop is a warship, woman. It is not a sightseeing bus. You need power in a warship, not pretty baffling." They were
"Pyrta."
Veddin relaxed in his chair, working with his ship to communicate with Hydras network of automatons. "Strap yourself in. We're gonna make this a short ride."
The blastoff was less than gentle. Veddin had pangs of sympathy for Autumn, listening to her gasp for breath, but he could no longer suppress the sense of urgency he'd felt since they were stranded in the city. Pyrta was near the equator; he could just see the two of them arriving in time to watch a hurricane smash whatever useful equipment there might be to bits.
Once in free fall, Veddin asked more questions about Hydrans. "Autumn, why are humans so different from other species? What makes human psis so much more powerful—and so much more rare?"
Autumn looked a bit wan from the acceleration and now the weightlessness, but she answered nevertheless. "There are a lot of arguments about that; it may be the hottest question the biologists have." She untangled her arms from the webbing, tried to get comfortable. "One part of the answer is pretty straightforward. As the . . . complexity, I guess, of an organism increases, the probability of resonant psibond formation decreases: There are so many more links required to form the resonance. The flip side of that, though, is once those linkages form, the resonance is much more powerful." Her expression turned perplexed. "What we don't really understand yet is how we could have evolved so far before developing psychic powers. Everywhere else, psi develops before intelligence does. Psychic ability usually serves as the bridge from muscle-oriented evolution to intelligence-oriented evolution. 'Course, the evolution of intelligence doesn't go too far. It always plateaus before the beings get too complex for near-one-hundred-percent pair formation. An average alien Couple isn't quite as smart as an average human in isolation."
Veddin nodded. "How related are complexity and intelligence? Are more intelligent Couples more powerful as well?"
"Not necessarily. Psi power and intelligence are related statistically, but not directly. My parents, for example, have a normal, single-resonance bond. But they're very intelligent, or they wouldn't be the Commissioners." She shook her head. "On the other hand, there are some really dumb Couples out there that are awfully powerful."
Veddin chuckled. "I see." He thought for a moment. "But you still haven't told me why man developed so much intelligence without developing any psychic powers along the way."
"Nobody knows. We think early man must have had psychic abilities; marginal pre-men wouldn't stand a chance without it." She shrugged. "But then the psychic abilities disappeared, somehow. The pre-men had developed just enough so that continued evolution of intelligence worked better than reverting to animals."
Veddin closed his eyes as the DareDrop interrupted. "Get ready. Were going back down." Just before the acceleration hit, he wondered, "You know, maybe the same thing happened to those pre-men that's happening here."
"What?"
"Wouldn't that explain it? Suppose somebody started jamming the psifields on Earth, way back when?"
Before Autumn could reply, the breath was squeezed from their bodies.
They stepped out of the DareDrop into a large circle of scorched earth. The stench from the crisped wildlife caused them both to gag.
"You practically destroyed the place we were coming to visit," Autumn complained. "Even our biggest ships don't wreck the landscape this way."
They hurried from the area. "The DareDrop is a warship, woman. It is not a sightseeing bus. You need power in a warship, not pretty baffling." They were
Similar Books
