Read The Celestial Steam Locomotive (The Song of Earth) for Free Online

But when you are mature—when you become a Dedo—it is the Joy.” And she looked sternly at her child, to impress her with the awe of it all.  
    “Humans are animals. I like this animal.” Shantun patted the dik-dik, which was struggling to its feet, the Healing Stone having done its work.  
    “The Duty is paramount. Do not waste the Healing Stone, and set that creature free, Shantun!” The older woman was conscious that the conversation had gone too far—that her daughter might dare to question the Unity of Purpose, next. “A Dedo must have bonds with none but Starquin himself. That is the Logic. You are behaving like a human.”  
    “I’ll tie him up for the night.” Shantun attached a thong to one of the pavilion poles, then tied it lightly around the dik-dik. The tiny antelope pushed her arm with its nose and the girl was oddly moved. There must be something more than the joy of Duty. There had to be. “He can’t go out in this dark,” she explained lamely.  
    “You have time.” Wuhan’s voice was resigned. “You have aeons to get this foolishness out of your head, fortunately.” So saying, she composed herself for sleep and Shantun departed into her half of the pavilion. Outside, in a charmed circle, gnus and zebras grazed, alert to give warning of the approach of any night predator. The Dedo had some power over them, too.  
    So night came to the veldt, and with it came the night prowlers—the big cats, leopard and lion. Another cat was abroad that night too, one that did not need to rely on stealth, so swift was he. He walked slowly on long legs, his long tail held low but ready for use as a counterbalance when he went into his bounding, swerving run. He walked quietly, and the gnus and zebras ignored his coming because he was not a hunter of such large game. Although his pace was swift, his jaws were small. In all, he was a curiously built animal, and The Song of Earth tells a strange tale of his ancestry.  
    And now he heard something, and his instinct told him the prey was small and suited to his talents. He uttered a low cough and went into his run, because now he could see it, tiny in the starlight, and helpless.  
    Wuhan awoke to a snuffling noise. She swung her feet out of the bed and parted the entrance flaps of the pavilion, and saw what she saw. And something irrational happened inside her, something her ability to see into the Ifalong had not allowed for. She moved to protect a creature that was not of her own species. She tried to snatch the kicking dik-dik from the cheetah’s jaws.  
    Shantun heard the noise too, and rushed from her bed. But now the cheetah was gone. Her mother lay on the dusty ground. The dik-dik stood nearby, trembling, wounded. Wuhan had suffered the worst wound, however. Small and elderly, she had fought the cat off, only to suffer a dreadful gash across the throat. Already she had lost much blood, and she was soon to die.  
    Shantun dropped on her knees beside her. “What happened?” In the dark she couldn’t see the worst of it.  
    Wuhan tried to speak, but failed.  
    “I’ll get you into the pavilion. You’re hurt.” Shantun was strong. She began to pick her mother up.  
    Wuhan tried to struggle, to say something, but her speech was gone.  
    And nearby, the Rock flickered...  
    Just the faintest flicker, but Wuhan knew. And she knew she must get to the Rock and gain contact with the human Traveler, for Starquin’s sake. She tried to shake off Shantun, and when she realized the girl was too strong for her, she tried to shout, to point. The Rock! The ROCK!  
    Shantun was crying, “Oh, Mother, you do feel it. You do know what I mean—this liking for other creatures. You protected the dik-dik, and the cat hurt you for it. Oh, Mother, I like you so much!” Only then did she feel the blood, and a chance shaft of moonlight showed the well of her mother’s throat. “Mother!”  
    THE ROCK!  
    “Oh, Mother...” Shantun laid the small form