Read Online Universal Language by Robert T. Jeschonek - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert T. Jeschonek
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atom had one trio of red quarks; the same atom in molecules from the first flower had one trio of blue quarks...which Jalila took to represent zero.
Looking at the results of her analysis, she could clearly see that the scent of the first flower was tagged with the number 7430, and the scent of the second flower with 7431.
Jalila felt a rush of pride and elation. Finally, she had found the key to the Garden of Yesterday.
Now, the question was, would she be able to use it in time?
Though numbers were coded in a relatively simple way, applying the trinary system to language phonemes would be more complicated. At least Jalila had a place to start: the names of the years -- Tolera Vosh and Culan Vosh -- shared multiple phonemes . B y comparing the two in trinary code, she would quickly be able to spot the differences between them and assign consonants and vowels to specific quark color combinations.
With Oric ' s help, Jalila would then identify Vox phonemes in the scent molecule s of other flowers. Once she' d assigned quark values to each basic unit of the Vox language, she would construct a conversion matrix that would enable her to read and record data from any flower in the garden.
So she had a plan of attack ... and in that regard, was light-years ahead of where she ' d been before ... but it would take time to execute. Jalila didn ' t know how much time she had to do the work, but she worried it would n ' t be enough. She worried that the situation on the planet ' s surface had already deteriorated past the point of no return, and by the time she ' d get back to Major al-Aziz , he would be as dead as Folcrum.
T he fate of the world was in Jalila's hands ... and time was racing away from her.
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*****
Chapter 16
"You want the truth? Here it is!" Those were Major al-Aziz's words when Jalila threw open the doors of the ministry building.
For a moment, Jalila stood in the doorway, flanked by Oric and Giza. They'd just raced back from the Garden of Yesterday, and her heart was pounding.
Jalila looked around at the scene in front of her, trying to piece together what had happened while she'd been in the Garden. Though she'd caught glimpses through the ministry's see-through tinted walls while running toward the place, only now did she have enough of a close-up view to get the full picture.
al-Aziz and Farouk stood in the middle of the vast hall. They were surrounded by Vox, including Regent Ieria, the ministers, and armed soldiers. What drew Jalila's attent ion most forcefully , though, was not at ground-level.
Alien creatures floated above everyone, rippling in midair. They looked like New Mecca's ocean-dwelling manta rays, except for the tiny arms on their bellies.
Like rays, the beings were delicate, rubbery wedges with gracefully undulating wings. From wingtip to wingtip, they measured between three and four meters. The dorsal surface of each invader's body was steel gray; the underside, visible with each ripple of a wing, was the color of cream. Each creature had a long, prehensile tail with a forked tip, and each tail was wrapped around a rod with a glowing golden sphere on either end.
One of the manta-like beings reared back with its wings spread wide. The creature's belly was covered with elaborate designs, a mix of swirls and lines and polygons. Were they some kind of ritual markings, like the Vox's tattoos?
Or...
Jalila gasped.
Or were they characters? Were they some kind of language ?
"Jalila!" al-Aziz marched toward her, waving. "We've been expecting you!"
On a wall, Jalila saw the same characters, projected and enlarged. Rearranged, too, and changed. Some were completely different from the ones on the manta's wings, yet clearly in the same linguistic family.
"Meet the Mazeesh," said al-Aziz.
Jalila typed on her Voicebox, and the device spoke her words. "You're communicating with them?"
"Yes we are," said al-Aziz. "As you can see, they use a biologically generated written language. We've
Looking at the results of her analysis, she could clearly see that the scent of the first flower was tagged with the number 7430, and the scent of the second flower with 7431.
Jalila felt a rush of pride and elation. Finally, she had found the key to the Garden of Yesterday.
Now, the question was, would she be able to use it in time?
Though numbers were coded in a relatively simple way, applying the trinary system to language phonemes would be more complicated. At least Jalila had a place to start: the names of the years -- Tolera Vosh and Culan Vosh -- shared multiple phonemes . B y comparing the two in trinary code, she would quickly be able to spot the differences between them and assign consonants and vowels to specific quark color combinations.
With Oric ' s help, Jalila would then identify Vox phonemes in the scent molecule s of other flowers. Once she' d assigned quark values to each basic unit of the Vox language, she would construct a conversion matrix that would enable her to read and record data from any flower in the garden.
So she had a plan of attack ... and in that regard, was light-years ahead of where she ' d been before ... but it would take time to execute. Jalila didn ' t know how much time she had to do the work, but she worried it would n ' t be enough. She worried that the situation on the planet ' s surface had already deteriorated past the point of no return, and by the time she ' d get back to Major al-Aziz , he would be as dead as Folcrum.
T he fate of the world was in Jalila's hands ... and time was racing away from her.
Â
*****
Chapter 16
"You want the truth? Here it is!" Those were Major al-Aziz's words when Jalila threw open the doors of the ministry building.
For a moment, Jalila stood in the doorway, flanked by Oric and Giza. They'd just raced back from the Garden of Yesterday, and her heart was pounding.
Jalila looked around at the scene in front of her, trying to piece together what had happened while she'd been in the Garden. Though she'd caught glimpses through the ministry's see-through tinted walls while running toward the place, only now did she have enough of a close-up view to get the full picture.
al-Aziz and Farouk stood in the middle of the vast hall. They were surrounded by Vox, including Regent Ieria, the ministers, and armed soldiers. What drew Jalila's attent ion most forcefully , though, was not at ground-level.
Alien creatures floated above everyone, rippling in midair. They looked like New Mecca's ocean-dwelling manta rays, except for the tiny arms on their bellies.
Like rays, the beings were delicate, rubbery wedges with gracefully undulating wings. From wingtip to wingtip, they measured between three and four meters. The dorsal surface of each invader's body was steel gray; the underside, visible with each ripple of a wing, was the color of cream. Each creature had a long, prehensile tail with a forked tip, and each tail was wrapped around a rod with a glowing golden sphere on either end.
One of the manta-like beings reared back with its wings spread wide. The creature's belly was covered with elaborate designs, a mix of swirls and lines and polygons. Were they some kind of ritual markings, like the Vox's tattoos?
Or...
Jalila gasped.
Or were they characters? Were they some kind of language ?
"Jalila!" al-Aziz marched toward her, waving. "We've been expecting you!"
On a wall, Jalila saw the same characters, projected and enlarged. Rearranged, too, and changed. Some were completely different from the ones on the manta's wings, yet clearly in the same linguistic family.
"Meet the Mazeesh," said al-Aziz.
Jalila typed on her Voicebox, and the device spoke her words. "You're communicating with them?"
"Yes we are," said al-Aziz. "As you can see, they use a biologically generated written language. We've
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