8.

Tanu found Ishnu and his assistants busy restoring instruments that had deteriorated during the long sleep, checking alignments, making observations, and comparing their observations to complex calculations made the previous cycle. When Tanu entered the chamber Ishnu leaped to his feet and greeted him with enthusiasm. "Lord Tanu, my friend! It is a pleasure to see you! What brings you to my observatory?"

"Lord Ishnu," Tanu nodded in greeting, "I have been thinking of you, and of a conversation we had on our way to the council chamber at the end of the last cycle. Do you recall it?"

"I do indeed. We spoke of the shortening of the alive time, the lengthening of the dream time. The subject has been much on my mind already this cycle."  Ishnu's face turned serious, and he lowered his voice. "Tanu, had we risen to begin this cycle at the same time the last one began, the sun would now be in the Bull. But it is already in the Archer."

"What does that mean? How many great-moons have we lost?"

"From the Bull to the Archer would have been twenty great-moons. If we also lose twenty when the dream-time approaches, that will leave us no more than eighty in all from ice to ice."

"Eighty great-moons! And full restoral will cost us thirty of those at our labors."

"Yes, and another dozen toward the end, to stock the caverns and make our preparations for the next sleep."

"Leaving barely forty for the revelry. You are wise to speak quietly. The people will rebel."

"Or sink into despair. What of your plans, Tanu? Is there anything that can be done?"

Tanu smiled at his friend. The youthful figure before him bore little resemblance to the wizened little man who spoke longingly of death at the end of the last cycle. The rebirth of hope that came with each revival was strong in him yet, despite his discouraging knowledge gained from scanning the heavens. For a time, at least, he would be a good ally, and his knowledge was valuable. Tanu held out his hands.

"There is hope, Ishnu. It lies in these. And in these." He touched the crystalline tools at his belt. "Our ancestors knew that with our hands and our crystals we tap the deep energies of the world and direct them to our will. For long and long we have used them to accomplish only the restoral, and to carve out the networks of deep chambers. We had all but forgotten the true nature of our craft. But during the dream time I became aware of the vast energies that dwell at the heart of our world. Our world is not dying, Ishnu. The energies it releases to warm us each cycle are but a trickle of its tremendous power. I believe we can tap those energies more intelligently, and use them to extend the time of living.

"But I have only begun to understand how that may be done. Only recently have I seen that the streaming auroras and the circling moons do more than light our way. I suspect that there is much I might learn from you about the nature of these things."

"What would you have me teach you? It is true as you say that there are vast energies at work guiding the path of our world in its long sweep through space. With the aid of my instruments I have divined the orbits of the other worlds we pass, and I can discern the energies that link these worlds to ours. Of these things I can teach you, but of little else."

"Tell me if you can, Ishnu, how the sun causes our world to revive."

"Ah, I see. You strike at the heart of what was once a great mystery, Tanu. I am impressed by your perceptiveness. Truly some higher awareness has awakened in you.

"For many ages it was thought that our world responded to the increased energy it receives from the sun Ipsu as we draw nearer to it. But at our distance this energy is feeble at best, and not enough to of itself cause the thaw. When this became understood the mystery deepened.

"But at last it was realized that the speed of our world along its path increases as we approach the heart of the system, and decreases again as it leaves. Thus it intersects the streaming energies which pervade all space at a greater rate. In doing so the energy fields of our world interact more strongly with the surrounding fields of space, and the result is a stirring and strengthening of the surface energies that bring us life."

"I guess you are right about my awakening awareness, Ishnu. I seem now to sense even something of this when I open myself to the source of the energies we use. We use these energies, Ishnu! We use them daily in our reconstruction work. And if as I believe, and as you seem to be telling me, they are the same energies that bring life to our world, perhaps I can influence them to extend our time. This is what I must try to do. Your words increase my confidence, Ishnu. Thank you for that!"

"Your words in turn inspire me with hope, Tanu. Thank you for that; my heart is with you. But tell me now, what is your plan? How will you go about tapping these energies for your purpose?"

"First I must study the warm chambers more fully, all of them that I can find, to learn how it is that the energies are stimulated and conducted to them. Only then will I be ready to develop a way to enhance the effect, or re-create it in other places. When I am ready, I will take my plan to the council. It is then I will truly need your support, Ishnu."

"Fare well in your travels, then, Tanu, and you can count on me when the time comes."