Kage Baker
Sky Coyote

KAGE BAKER. Kage Baker was perhaps one of the few female science fiction authors to achieve a certain well-deserved fame and recognition in a world that is mistakenly believed to be exclusively within the competence of male authors and aimed, according to the usual banal common thinking, primarily at an audience composed essentially of men rather than women.

Kage Baker, recently passed away (in 2010 due to uterine cancer and still very young), was also a painter and teacher before embarking on her writing career (she won, among other things, the Nebula award in 2009), and worked for twelve years in the navy. She, in fact, probably did even more to break down these common and discriminatory stereotypes associated with genre and the sci-fi field by setting a woman as the protagonist of her main series of novels (there are eleven novels set in this science fiction 'universe'). I am, of course, talking about the botanist Mendoza, born and 'retrieved' in sixteenth-century Spain and after being made immortal, hired by the Company, the Dr Zeus Inc, with the special role of a botanist tasked to recover specimens of extinct plant species.

The series I'm referring to is known as 'Company' ('La compagnia del tempo'), a series of novels where Mendoza is a recurring and main character, although in some sections, such as the chapters told in this novel, she plays a secondary role so as not to disrupt the story's content and the series' timeline, which clearly with each novel also reveals key passages of the work's overall 'grand plan'. Nonetheless, these novels can and should be considered in their uniqueness and as such certainly do not lose their value. In fact: you can read just one and still enjoy it. The individual stories end within themselves as could be the case with the individual 'chapters' of one of the most famous science fiction series like Isaac Asimov's Foundation Cycle.

URANIA, THE MASTERPIECES. So: entertainment, power intrigues, a good dose of irony and great imagination, great attention in studying and reconstructing historical situations. Here are the constants of this series of novels that Urania is now periodically republishing in the main series.

On this matter, a reflection on the state of publishing, particularly concerning science fiction, doesn’t hurt. My sincere opinion is that there isn’t much interest in science fiction today, if we exclude the usual names like Isaac Asimov or Philip K. Dick (very different but certainly very popular authors) or J. G. Ballard. Consequently, the offering you might find in your trusted bookstore's dedicated sections is always very confined to the usual names or perhaps some books that have TV series as their reference theme or cinematic events. 'Star Wars' as usual. For a while, first favored by the film adaptation and then perhaps by the publicity done by AstroSamantha Cristoforetti, 'The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy' was very popular. There’s been a lot of talk about Andy Weir's 'The Martian', which is definitely valid from a scientific perspective but is not at all thrilling to me and, in truth, poor in exciting content.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that science fiction is a genre with nothing left to say. On the contrary, there are plenty of new authors and always new themes to tackle and new contents. It’s a fluid subject that inevitably, like others, has carved out an important space on the web. The crisis in the science fiction sector is the same as the crisis in publishing in other sectors. No more, no less. A perhaps irreversible crisis, although personally, unless I am forced by what will be the natural evolution of times, I don't think I would ever be able to fully adapt to e-books.

Anyway, this for me was a re-reading because I had already read this novel and others from the same series within the Urania collection. However, for the past two or three years due to budget limitations and fewer and fewer subscribers and especially fewer casual readers (the 'aficionados' after all never give up), it had to make cuts and since then alternates publishing something new with reprints, the so-called 'Masterpieces', of what can be considered new classics of the genre. A choice that many didn't like, clearly not even me, a long-time subscriber, but in the midst of nothing, I'm obviously happy that Urania still exists and because I haven't read everything - how could I anyway - occasionally I might find something new. For what it's worth, to me.

COYOTE CELESTE. And so be it. Here I am again reading about the 'Company of Time', which by now is truly a new great classic of the science fiction cycles and in what is its second chapter.

If the events of the first novel ('In the Garden of Iden', 1997) took place in Europe between Spain and England and in the sixteenth century and ended in a seemingly tragic way, this time the setting is radically different. We are in California where Joseph, one of the 'immortals' at the service of the Company and the same who in the first novel recruited the aforementioned heroine Mendoza, turning her into what could be described as a 'good machine', carries out his role of facilitator in a completely unconventional manner and for a mission that in reality will reveal itself very easy to accomplish given what is now his well-established experience in the service of Dr Zeus.

Perhaps here a little clarification on how the Company works and what its ultimate goal is, is needed. The 'Company', Dr. Zeus Inc, is a multinational from the future (twenty-fourth century AD) that, after discovering how to travel in time, is forced to give up exploiting the idea for commercial purposes (traveling turns out to be too expensive) and therefore decides to use androids, cyborgs, for its purportedly exclusively scientific purposes. Not only. These cyborgs are completely similar to humans, being hybrids and practically modified humans after being chosen and 'retrieved' by the various representatives of the company. Furthermore, always with the aim of maximizing its employees' work efficiency, the company has gifted them with immortality. Indeed, they will live forever throughout the centuries or at least until what is considered due to compelling reasons (the company travels only to the past and not the future) a moment of uncertainty that raises questions even among the immortals about what their fate will be: the present time, the twenty-fourth century, that is.

The other specification to be made is that these agents, including the 'facilitator' Joseph, the protagonist of this novel, operate in the past. However, any action they take wouldn’t have any effect on the actual events of history. Their sole purpose is to watch over the unfolding of human history, where necessary 'facilitate' - indeed - by interacting with the reality of the period they cross; perform merely executive actions, and finally conduct operations aimed at preservation, i.e., carry out true 'recovery' missions of objects, information, knowledge, or, as in this case, entire civilizations.

In the case at hand, however, it is not only about the cultural legacy of a civilization or what might be archaeological finds or manifestations of the natural world now vanished. Joseph will indeed have the task, easier than it might appear to a shrewd facilitator like him, of bringing 'to safety' an entire native community of California before it is effectively wiped out by the white man - we are at the time when the Spanish began exploring the area at the end of the seventeenth century.

The story at this point unfolds on two levels. On one side there is Joseph's mission, who to ease his task will present himself to the Chumash as Coyote Celeste, one of their deities, and the one they feel closest to. Coyote Celeste is indeed a trickster and a liar, embodying in some way those traits that might be considered vices by a member of the Chumash community. Apparently, he possesses no particular powers other than being notably shrewd, but precisely for this reason, he enjoys their goodwill, sympathy, and respect: his cunning is recognized as a great quality, and he personally commits himself to act as a mediator between other deities and the Chumash people, thus considered a sort of protector.

During his mission, Joseph will present himself to the community as Coyote Celeste, telling them that to save their existence, they must necessarily leave the land they know and do so before the arrival of the white man, who seemingly has already had contact with the community, and who will bring their total destruction and extinction. The story, told with a good dose of irony, still draws its roots from real historical facts like the conflict with the neighboring and hostile monotheistic tribe of the Chinigchinix, which will perhaps constitute the main obstacle to Joseph's mission, casting doubt on his word and in some way creating particular fascinations not only among the Chumash population but also among other immortals.

THE DR ZEUS INC. Within and intertwining with the main events of the novel are those more personal pertaining to the nature of immortals and their relationship with Dr. Zeus, alongside the uncertainties regarding their future which, as mentioned, appears unknown to them when they will reach the present time. Joseph, a facilitator of long experience, will remember with flashbacks his old adventure companions who have mysteriously disappeared and who apparently have been 'put out of use' for no longer being useful to the Company. Furthermore, it appears that Dr. Zeus and its representatives don't look kindly on the immortals, not envying their immortal nature, but because they seem to harbour a kind of contempt towards anything that belongs to the past.

Men of the twenty-fourth century are portrayed as unbecomingly adventurous and not even highly intelligent. They’re not stupid; they have great scientific knowledge, but somehow they seem to have lost that humanity which can still be found in the immortals themselves (in this sense, Mendoza's character is certainly the most significant, as will be learned throughout the other novels and already starting from the first where she is the protagonist of what can be defined as a true impossible love), and this is particularly true regarding typically human qualities, like irony or what could simply be called 'brilliance'. Their very purpose to preserve and recover relics from the future appears somehow contradictory given their manifest disdain for past manners and customs, and what seems to be an attitude more of detachment than superiority.

Practically, as far as the narrative in this second chapter goes, there are still many unresolved issues concerning the Company and what will be the future or rather the present time of Joseph and the other immortals. It’s interesting nonetheless to pose a sociological question and compare our society with the hypothesized twenty-fourth-century one told by Kage Baker. A society where men are not yet the Eloi of H. G. Wells, as they could be since they still reign unchallenged on Earth and without the looming danger of the Morlocks, but are possessed by that same naivety, devoid of that spark that would have otherwise driven humanity's history to that point, where perhaps this journey and the retrieval of the past seem inevitable to recover those primal instincts of the human being that have gradually made way for a certain kind of rationality that seems to be more mechanical than intellectual.

Quotes.

1. There’s something I’ve noticed over all these years: we don’t dance well, after all. Not that any of us is clumsy on a dance floor, nothing like that. On the contrary, it's the opposite. We're too... graceful. Too perfect. Well, it’s impossible not to say it: we have something mechanical. Like big sharks swimming in circles. We never miss a step, a beat. Mortals move differently, with a sort of hesitance that makes their movements beautiful. Perhaps it's passion, I don't know. I knew only one immortal who danced well, but now she doesn’t do it anymore. Maybe it’s just the fault of the high heels that are fashionable in this era.

2. And here I am. Mr Coyote Celeste.

I like this role. Trot, trot, trot on my new feet, leaving strange footprints at the bottom of the ravine. A gull penetrating inland sends a distant cry, and I twist an ear almost comically. Up the twisted walls of the canyon, and any wild beast meeting me here, in the twilight under the oaks, would get one of the worst frights of its life. If I wanted to hunt, could I manage? I point the muzzle, bare my teeth, make threatening clicks. We've had to compromise on the tongue for me to still speak, but I’ve trained to pant in front of a mirror. I'm sure I'll make a good impression.

Once, you know, the line dividing man from other animals wasn’t so sharp. If, a couple of centuries ago, you had roamed Spain with your picadors on a summer morning, you might have met a creature like me. Sure, you'd have been scared, but not really surprised. Then it was the same. Since then, mortals have learned not to see what doesn’t fit the scheme they’ve made of the world; therefore, no bulls with human heads, no transparent women walking the river surfaces, no fire spheres levitating in the air and crying out with a human voice. However, every time mortals live outdoors, it becomes harder for them to ignore everything inexplicable, and so they must invent some context to place it. That's why they tell stories of creatures like me, with fangs and a tail. That's why they’ll accept me as Coyote Celeste come to visit them.

3. I resumed climbing and soon saw a couple of heroes, guarding with their pikes on either side of a path, towering like menhirs. They wore only bear skins. Unless you're as old as I am, types like me, guys so big and strong you’ve never seen, because today they’re all gone.

Imagine immortals built from Neanderthals, with a little genetic interference giving them some Cro-Magnon characteristics, like extreme height and the tendency to go mad when excited. All their other personal qualities, however, were pure Neanderthal: a weightlifter's physique, helmeted head, big and agile hands: plus unwavering courage, and by nothing I mean absolutely nothing.

You want an example? When a Cro-Magnon hunter falls into a bear den, his friends backtrack and wring their hands. After that, they’ll compose sad elegies for him, or perhaps scary stories about bears, but they would never put themselves in danger to save him. When a hunter from a Neanderthal tribe falls into a den, his friends don’t pause to reflect: they jump in after him and defend him with their fists if they have nothing else, until the bears stop biting or their friend manages to climb out.

Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that in the end, the Neanderthals were much fewer than the Cro-Magnons, meaning Neanderthals provided much less genetic material to the so-called Homo sapiens sapiens. Much less doesn’t mean none, though.

4. - You, too, must look and ponder - he said to me. - Look, down there. One day, that will be Italy. That little guy, Napoleon, will come from there, and he’ll descend - he turned one of his big arms towards France - to unleash his armies in an attempt to become a god. Many, many people will have to die before he learns he is just a man. - He pointed again, whirling his large arms. - And that will be Germany, where there will be a man so stupid he doesn’t know what happens when a group of animals only interbreeds, or when a family only marries cousins.

- Sure - I replied uneasily. I was beginning to see where he wanted to go. - But what can we do? These people will have their time. Hitler, the Vikings, the Church of God. All we can do is work in the shadows and try to do our best. We can’t prevent them from existing, as much as we might want to. We can't change history.

- But we have no way of knowing if they’ve lied to us or not! - I protested.

He looked at me and smiled. - No way - he replied. - So I'll speak to Marco when I see him. Tell me, do you know what they intend to do with us, my executioners and me, now that we have fulfilled our task?

- You will be reconverted. - That was what they had told me.

- Really? - He raised his large hands and looked at them. - They will turn us into conservators like you?

- I... I think so.

- Then we just have to obey - he said. But I wonder one thing, though. When the year 2355 comes and goes, will the Company still need conservators?

- No, not as conservators - I replied after a moment. - The Company will have created a new civilization, so advanced that it no longer knows war.

- And no natural disasters, and accidents either? - he asked. From the north came a wind as cold as ice, the harbinger of the impending storm.

- Maybe they'll still need us to help defend against such things - I said. - We must trust the Company, father! What else can we do?

- I don't know - he replied to me. - But promise me you'll think about it, son.

5. - My children! - I exclaimed. - I hate being bored. And you? Even spirits get bored, you know. We sat in the sky talking about the great show the kantap had put on, and the spirits said they'd like to do something to repay that really pleasant evening. So I suggested, why don't we do some magic for them?

Everyone immediately thought it was a great idea and here we are. This evening, I will tell you a story as we tell it in the Upper World. But before I do that, I must show you my special hunting medicine.

There was a flash followed by a snap, when the first slide was inserted and an image appeared on the sheet: a red cylinder the length of a man's hand, with a piece of cord sticking out from one end and a small flame deftly burning at one end of the short cord. I pointed to it.

- Here. Here is my Flashing Fire. If I want to kill something, all I have to do is flip one of these little babies and wait for whatever I’m hunting to stumble into it. It's better than a spear, and not only does it kill, but it also cooks my prey, all in an instant! Do you like it?

But look at this! - Slide change and behold a larger red cylinder, with a stick sticking out of one end while the other end had a cone-shaped head. - This is my Fly like a Duck! When I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, I climb on it, tie myself with a rope, and hold a flame under its tail. You should see me, I go very fast!

I heard them catch their breaths in wonder. I saw Nuktu and the others of the jantap lean forward, staring at the screen, trying to understand how I managed to create that illusion. I stuck out my tongue and grinned.

- Here we are. This is Air Crossing - I continued, indicating the following figure. It was an upside-down U, the ends in dark gray. - When I want something to come to me, I raise this object, and it attracts it! Well... most of the time it works.

Now, these are not just some of my hunting strategies. When I need something else, do you know what I do? I put some shell money in a bag, and I write this on top. - On the screen appeared the word ACME. - This sign is the most powerful medicine of all. With this sign, I can get anything I want. Yes, folks, I also have my secrets! Now you know why I'm a famous hunter, and you can enjoy the hunting stories I'm about to show you. - I stepped forward and worked my way through the seated crowd, settling down behind the kantap and his dignitaries. - Film, guys!

The device started buzzing, and there was an explosion of sounds that startled the spectators. On the screen appeared a blurry image that transformed into a pattern of red concentric circles accompanied by a pleasant tune.

- And what is this, C like Celeste? - Kaxiwalic asked me, leaning towards me and raising his voice to be heard above the music.

- It's the tribal tattoo of the Upper World - I replied to him. He nodded thoughtfully, and then his attention was captured and captivated by the lively figures hopping on the screen. His cries of amazement were soon echoed by most of the inhabitants of Humashup. Then there was absolute silence again as they stared open-mouthed at that bright world of red plateaus, yellow deserts, blue skies. Across this landscape, a cloud of dust moved at high speed, trailing a track and emitting a high-pitched shriek, two tones in quick succession.