and thatâs the notion this force is independent of everyone, gods and humans alike. It can be controlled, but only in part. The chief who possesses this gift is only a transmitter of the power, a kind of temporary guardian.
âThe problem is the word is used in so many different ways. Famous athletes are said to have mana. So are exceptional dancers, artists and other people with outstanding skills. Kahuna claim it. But, independently of all that, thereâs constant reference to mana as a special force giving whoever has it a quality of untouchability.â
Millie still looked puzzled, as Tessa continued. âAs for the talking board, I had a long talk with Cy Walton. Before I was through, we were having a telephone conference call, with half the department over there taking part. Theyâre all excited about the board. I faxed them a copy of the rubbing, and the consensus is itâs the real thing. It would take someone really knowledgeable to have faked it.â
âCould anyone there read it?â
âOh, no. Nothing like that. Itâs just that it has a lot of the elements of other boards they know are genuine.â
âDid you tell them about me?â
âNo. There wouldnât have been much point to telling them.â An amused Tessa looked over at Millie who was shaking her head. âTheyâd have just reacted the way your friend is reacting right now.â
âDid they know of any connection between the boards and mana?â
Tessaâs eyes lit up. âI see youâve been giving this a lot of thought. Thereâs one possible connection. One of the graduate students is doing her dissertation on early European contacts with Polynesians. Sheâs found a reference to a Portuguese priest who was taken captive by the Tongans back in the sixteenth century. When he was finally rescued by a Spanish ship, he was in pretty bad shape, but the story he told was copied down by one of the crew before the priest died. According to the student, the Spaniard had a poor grasp of Portuguese, and the priestâs Spanish probably wasnât any better, so the story is badly garbled. The part weâre interested in deals with how the chiefs acquired mana.â
Lehua sat forward in her chair. Millie simply looked even more puzzled. Tessa went on with her story. âWhen the great chief died, the oldest of the Tongan kahuna would take one of the chiefâs sons aside, normally the eldest, and talk to him. Afterwards, no one could touch the son, and he became the new chief.â
âNo board?â
âNo mention of it in the chronicle.â
âThatâs all there was?â
âThere was one more thing. The kahuna told whatever he told the son three times.â
âThatâs something.â
âI did find out something more about mana itself from a couple of the faculty over there.â
Lehua leaned forward again. âWhat?â
Tessa paused, then said, âI should warn you ahead of time a lot of this is speculation. I guess the best that can be said for it is itâs educated speculation.â
âWhatever you found out is more than I know now.â
âTo begin with, it probably isnât as impersonal as I pictured it to be. Somehow it seems to be like a reactive force, with intent to harm resulting in harm to the doer. Evil intent leads to a resulting evil.â
âSo the basketball was interpreted as being not harmful.â
âExactly. But mana works by a different set of logic than you and I are familiar with. Evil as we know it is a human construct, even a cultural construct. Mana doesnât necessarily share our views concerning the nature of evil. Thereâs a lot of evidence those serving a chief who possessed mana had to be extremely careful, no matter how friendly their intentions.â
Millie was about to say something, but Lehua broke in first. âWhatâs that mean?â
âThe one