Amaryllis by Jayne Castle

don’t have a clue.”
    “Do you really think they’re alien in origin?”
    “That’s the consensus of opinion.”
    She glanced up. “How can the experts be certain? There’s so much of this world that we haven’t yet explored. Perhaps it’s an alloy composed of some metals that are found on the other side of the planet or in the oceans.”
    “Theoretically, it’s remotely possible that those items are made of some rare St. Helens materials,” Lucas said. “But it’s highly unlikely. Trust me, the lab folks subjected the artifacts to every test they could imagine. All of the results indicated that they did not originate on St. Helens.”
    Amaryllis gazed thoughtfully at the relics. “I wonder what happened to the people who made them.”
    “Probably the same thing that almost happened to the First Generation founders. They didn’t make it to the Second Generation. Maybe they never discovered the basic Three Principles of Synergy. Or maybe they refused to accept the fact that the only way to survive was to learn to utilize native materials. When their technology went down, they went down with it.”
    “But their technology didn’t disintegrate. It’s right here in front of us.”
    Lucas smiled wryly. “Their tools survived, but they wouldn’t have done the owners any good if they lacked a power source. I’ll bet that whoever left these items behind never discovered jelly-ice.”
    “Do you suppose the people who invented these artifacts came through the curtain, the way the founders did?”
    “Who knows?” Lucas watched a wispy green scarf settle lovingly around Amaryllis’s hip.
    “Perhaps they got trapped here, too, when it closed.”
    “Could be. Or perhaps they returned to their home world before the curtain came down. Maybe these things are just so much garbage they left behind.”
    The story of the curtain was familiar to every schoolchild. It marked the major turning point in human history on St. Helens. The drifting web of raw energy had materialized in space near Earth two hundred and fifty years ago. It had lasted just long enough for scientists and researchers to discover it, study it, and eventually to take it for granted. The curtain was assumed to be a permanent feature of the solar system.
    To the people of Earth, who had not yet found a practical means of voyaging beyond the nearest home-system planets, it had been an astounding discovery.
    The curtain had had several bizarre properties, the most intriguing of which had been its ability to warp the fabric of time and space. It had functioned as an energy gate to the distant star system that contained St. Helens.
    Forty-five years after the discovery of the curtain, the first colonists had shipped out for the new world that had seemed so Earth-like and which, because of the energy gate, was now so comfortably close to home. Supplies could be transported easily, which was invaluable because technology kept breaking down on the new planet. Visits to friends and relatives on either world were possible. Earth-based corporations opened branch offices on St. Helens.
    Five years later, just as the founders had settled in, the energy curtain had closed without any warning. It had never reopened.
    “Perhaps the curtain was a gateway between many different worlds,” Amaryllis said. “Not just between Earth and St. Helens.” The scarves of her dress fluttered gently, as though responding to a tiny shiver that had gone through her. “It’s a weird thought, isn’t it? The people who made these artifacts might have been here when the founders arrived.”
    “I doubt it.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    “Several reputable psychometric talents have studied them.” Lucas took a sip of his weak green wine punch. It was nasty stuff. “These things are old. Very old.”
    Amaryllis nodded. “Well, it will give the researchers something to study for years.”
    “Yeah. Keep ’em busy.” Maybe it wasn’t just the damn flutter dress, Lucas