The Long Earth

wormhole, a tunnel between two fixed points …’
    ‘Like the rabbit hole to Wonderland,’ Joshua said.
    ‘We must learn all we can.’
    Sally, meanwhile, was watching Lobsang eat, her mouth gaping. ‘Joshua … it
eats
?’
    He grinned. ‘Wouldn’t it look odder if he didn’t, in this company? Nobody else is bothered. We’ll discuss it later.’
    Spencer leaned back comfortably in his chair. ‘We know Sally very well, of course. Now, tell me about yourselves, please, gentlemen. The world is evidently changing, and the change brings your wonderful zeppelin! You first, Lobsang. You’ll forgive us our curiosity about your exotic presence particularly …’
    For the first time in Joshua’s experience, here in this crowded, sociable place, and with trolls watching them like an audience at a cabaret, it seemed that Lobsang was flustered. This was one of those moments when Joshua genuinely couldn’t tell if Lobsang really was ultimately a human, or just an incredibly smart simulation that was adept at mimicking such subtle human aspects as being embarrassed.
    Lobsang cleared his throat. ‘To begin with – I am a human soul, though my body is artificial. You are familiar, perhaps, with the concept of prosthetics? The use of artificial limbs, organs to sustain life … Consider me as an extreme case.’
    Spencer looked totally unfazed. ‘Amazing! What a step forward. At my age you do begin to wonder why the universe places intelligence in such fragile receptacles as our human bodies. May I ask if you have any special talents to share with us? That’s what we ask all newcomers, so please don’t be offended.’
    Joshua groaned inwardly, anticipating Lobsang’s reaction to that.
    ‘Special talents? It would be easier to list the exceptions. I am not very good at watercolours, as yet …’ He glanced around curiously. ‘Clearly this is an unusual community, with an unusual background of development. What about industry? You have iron, evidently. Steel? Good. Lead? Copper? Tin? Gold? Wireless radio? You have surely passed the telegraph stage. In addition, printing, if you have the paper—’
    Spencer nodded. ‘Yes, but only handmade, I’m afraid. Since arrivals in Elizabethan times. We made improvements, of course, but we haven’t chanced upon an artisan who knows much about paper manufactory for a considerable time. We have to rely on the talents of those who drift here, haphazardly.’
    ‘If you can provide me with ferrous metals, I will fabricate for you a flatbed printing press utilizing waterpower – if you are familiar with waterpower?’
    Spencer smiled. ‘We’ve had water mills since the age of the Romans.’
    Again Joshua was struck by the depth of time represented here. Sally looked amused at his reaction.
    ‘In that case I can construct a robust alternator. Electrical current. Mayor, I can leave you an encyclopaedia of discoveries in medicine and technology to the present day – although I would advise you to take it a bit at a time. Future shock, you see.’
    The crowd around them in the hall, drawn by Lobsang’s strangeness, murmured a general approval at this.
    But Sally, who had been listening impatiently, said, ‘It’s very kind of you, Lobsang, but all this Robert Heinlein stuff will have to wait. We are here because of
the problem
– remember?’ She looked at Spencer. ‘And you know all about that.’
    ‘Ah. The troll migration? Alas, Sally is right. There is clearly cause for concern. It is a slow-burning problem, you might say, but, we believe, it has serious repercussions across the worlds – the Long Earth, as you call it. But even that will wait for tomorrow, Sally. Let us go and enjoy the sunshine.’ He led them out of the building. ‘You are very welcome here, I can’t emphasize that enough. You’ll see that we embrace scatterlings from all the families of mankind. Sally is pleased to call this place Happy Landings, which we find amusing. But to us it is just home. There are always spare sleeping places in City Hall, but if you prefer privacy all the family cabins are roomy. You are welcome, welcome …’

38
    THE VISITORS WALKED through smiling crowds.
    Joshua thought the layout of the place was unusual, and the architecture. There seemed to be no plan to the road system; it was a tangle of criss-crossing lanes that wandered off into the forest, as if it had just evolved that way. And the buildings were heaped up on often very ancient-looking foundations.