The Helianx Proposition/page 47
Although Noe had been briefed on what sHe might expect
from the electromagnetic and gravitational forces present on the planet,
the vastly lessened pressure of gravity only added to hir growing feeling of comfort,
even of pleasure. Not quite the sense of weightlessness sHe remembered
from hir previous lives floating in the oceans of Womb Planet,
but a buoyancy-of-being that filled hir with a profound joy.
In light of this, Noe's sorrow at being separated from hir loved ones gradually dissipated, as hir short flights grew more far-flung and adventurous. There was so much to explore, and Noe, as all Helianx, was an extremely curious creature. SHe knew from the uniscan analysis that at this point in the evolution of planetary life there were no animals of an appreciable intelligence present on this world. But that was of lesser importance to Noe than the extraordinary profusion of different life forms that seemed to mutate while sHe watched. Hir great size and hir ability to remain motionless for long periods of time--a necessary talent for the intergalactic traveler--rendered hir all but invisible to most indigenous life. This allowed hir to observe the frenetic activity that surrounded hir, whenever sHe settled hir body down onto the welcoming earth.
The changing of the seasons; the pounding of rivers swollen with melting snow; streams of lava pouring down the side of a volcano; waterfalls that towered over even Noe's vast bulk; the constantly changing jungles, grasslands and deserts; the many songs of the earth that curled up to hir sensitive ears; all this and more was so novel and fascinating that sHe had completely forgotten the first tempting scent of the sea. SHe had become so entranced by all the new sensations that overcame hir, as sHe took hir short flights around the continent on which sHe found hirself, that sHe was astonished when sHe once again picked up the sweet smell of the ocean.
Perhaps it was a sense of delayed gratification that held her back, hir towering bulk lining the seashore like a range of hills and the salt-laden winds stroking the length of hir sensitive body. SHe knew from the computers' predictions that the oceans of this world would have to be hir home for many millions of years to come, and that there would be signs made obvious to hir as to when sHe would need to leave the water for the land. Noe would later justify hir long delay by thinking back nostalgically to the songs of the Earth and how both their spirits had danced together in their shared dreams.
The celestial beings, whose function it was to nurture the planet through the millions of years that evolution took to produce intelligent life, had been initially surprised at Noe's arrival. They had not been briefed on how to respond to such an unexpected event. Their subsequent attempts to get more information out of MA's local administration had only resulted in a vague reassurance that Noe's appearance must have been sanctioned at the very highest levels of MA's bureaucracy, because they had been told nothing of it.
