Introduction

The D'ni: Writers of Ages

All who have entered the split in the arid soil of New Mexico have been amazed by the ruins of the civilization that once flourished in the great cavern three miles below the surface. An ancient alien people called the D'ni travelled across vast space to find a new home in this subterranean realm. Advanced in both technology and talent, the D'ni were able to "write" new worlds, which they called ages. The full extent of this art is not fully understood, but one theory is that the D'ni writers were able to pen a descriptive book of the age and a corresponding linking book. Touching the graphic page the book's holder is immediately transported to the age. The linking book, however, is always left behind, and so it is necessary for each traveler to have a return linking book.

According to this theory of linking, the world described already existed, but the D'ni -- in writing the text of the descriptive book -- were able to make small changes to that world, and thus were able to adjust many of the age's natural elements, in particular, its plant life. The D'ni were probably not very different from the human population living on the surface. While we have not found records of D'ni herbology, we can suppose that their needs were much like our own and their resources for testing plants equivalent as well.

About Alien Species

While many of the species appear familiar to the average explorer, upon inspection we find that almost all are truly alien. While transplantation within the D'ni ages has been common in the past (especially to an explorer's personal age of Relto), bringing the plants to the Earth's surface is not always possible, nor is it desirable. Federal law in the United States restricts the importation and transplantation of alien species -- and for good reason: American rivers choked with hydrilla, lawn maintenance filled with dandelions brought to North America by British colonists, and the destruction of native species in Australia with the importation of rabbits and cane toad. We have learned too often and too late what happens when a single seed gets loose in a new environment where evolution has not had time to produce the necessary species to compete with it or to control it.

This is not to say that these new plants can not be brought to Earth for study, but caution must be used to control propagation. Those that spread by wind-blown seed or sporangia must not be planted outside. Even when planted in a greenhouse special controls have to be in place to prevent an accidental escape. Such a greenhouse should have an airlock entrance equipped with special coveralls and black lights. A further precaution would be a strong down-blast of air to blow any clinging passengers to a sticky trap beneath a grated floor. It is my hope that future botanists will be able to study these alien wonders, even if direct access is cut off.