Homesmind (15 page)

NINE

A man and a woman were crossing the field, striding quickly toward the village. The two stopped outside the ring of shuttlecraft; as Anra watched, they walked between two of the vessels and passed through the wall.

Anra stood up, still holding the tunic she had been mending. A synthesizer could have given her a new garment, but she needed tasks to occupy herself. She stared at the strangers silently until Nenla suddenly rushed from the hut, where she had been visiting with her daughter.

—Hiya— Nenla cried out. She ran to the silver-haired woman and embraced her. —Raef— The man took her hand. —You've come back—

—We should never have left— Raef was a tall, balding, gray-bearded man; Hiya was nearly as tall as he. They loomed over the shorter woman as she babbled her welcome.

—No one else has returned?— Hiya said, touching Nenla's thoughts. Nenla shook her head. —It doesn't surprise me. And now there is a wall around this place again—

Nenla released the couple's hands and went to Anra. —This is Anra SillaHarel— She waved at Fiella as she came out of the hut. —And my own daughter, Fiella—

Hiya and Raef nodded at the girls; the couple's pale, sad eyes were rimmed with red. —We knew your grandparents— Hiya murmured, then closed her mind.

Nenla led the two people to the hut, seating them on a bench outside as Fiella disappeared inside for a bit, then emerged with a jug of wine and some bread. —If you've returned— Nenla said, —then others will come—

Raef shook his head. —If they do, they'll have much to overcome— He broke off a piece of bread and passed the loaf to Hiya. —The village where we've lived these past years is no more—

—What happened?— Nenla asked.

"We must speak out loud of it," Hiya answered. "Our thoughts would be too unhappy to bear. First, our Net grew weak and we could no longer reach out to other settlements. The Minds showed us images of what They called another world and told us we must prepare to leave Earth or be trapped in solitude here. We thought it was a lure, a deception designed to trap us—some thought it might even be a way to test our faith and that those who succumbed would lose their souls. Then the oldest ones among us began to hear the Voice." Hiya's voice rose on that last word.

Anra, sitting at the couple's feet with Fiella, twisted the fabric of the tunic she held, pricking herself with the needle.

"What Voice?" Nenla asked softly.

"They called it the Voice of God," Raef said.

Anra sucked on her bleeding thumb; Fiella was plucking nervously at her hair. "The Voice of God was calling to them, or so they claimed," Raef continued. "It spoke of the end of a great cycle, of a gathering of all minds. It was what our old faith had always promised—that we would be united in God's thoughts. In the beginning, only those near death heard the Voice, but then others claimed to hear it, too. Those who heard it welcomed death. They began by refusing food and water. When others tried to force these things upon them, they hanged themselves with ropes or turned their knives against themselves, and some even murdered their own children. The village stank of death. Bodies rotted with no one to bury them, and others grew ill from the stench." He rubbed at his eyes.

"Go on," Nenla whispered; her freckled face was pale.

"A friend came to us," Hiya said. "She was one of those who were willing to open their minds to new ways— she had welcomed us to her village—but we could see that the madness had seized her, too. She could hear not only the Voice, but also the voices of those who had died. The call, for her, was impossible to resist. She begged us to join her in death, saying that if we opened our minds completely, we would hear the Voice's promise of a unity of minds."

"She must have been deluded," Nenla said forcefully.

"She was not," Raef said wearily, "or if she was, then so was I, for I opened my mind to hers and heard the Voice and felt its power. Only Hiya's desperate pleas were enough to drag me back from the pull of that Voice. We had to leave the village then. I knew I couldn't resist a second time."

Nenla covered her mouth, wordlessly denying the man's words. Raef gulped some wine as Hiya put her arm around his shoulders. "I've communed with the Minds many times." His voice was growing hoarse. "I often lost myself in Their visions of the past and even sought to master some of Their knowledge. I might have touched Their thoughts even more often than you here have, for somehow They consoled me. I came to know the Minds and felt Their drifting even before others were aware of it. Now I must tell you this. That Voice isn't just calling to us, but to the Minds. They can't hear it, but 'They feel its pull, and if They weren't struggling to hold 'Their Net together, they would be open to its thoughts. They and that skydweller Mind are struggling for no reason, for the Voice will claim Them, too."

Nenla leaned forward. "We've heard no Voice here. We don't feel the pull on the Minds you talk about."

"Then your fear hasn't yet made you desperate enough to open your minds fully. You'll hear it in time, though. Those near death and those who have nothing left to fear except death will hear the Voice and its promise, and seek to be joined to it. There's nothing we can do. I've come back only to die here."

Anra pressed her lips together, thinking of Cerwen and Urran and the tale Olin had told of his people. Several villagers had already gathered in the road near her hut to listen to Raefs story, and she could sense their apprehensive murmurings. "What is this Voice?" she burst out before Nenla could speak. "We're not fools here— we know it can't be God speaking to us. God has never spoken, in spite of what old stories say—at most, the Merged One would only leave signs for us to interpret."

"You are not a believer, then." Raef stared at her intently.

"What is this Voice?"

"You know what it is, girl," Raef said fiercely. "I *see it in your thoughts, even though you're burying it to hide it from yourself. It's the new star in the sky that grows larger with each passing night."

Fiella gasped. Anra walled in her thoughts. Homes-mind knew; she had sensed that just as she closed her mind. Homesmind had guessed it before and had longed to hide the knowledge from Itself. The stranger in the sky had not been silent; its message had been clear to those willing to receive it. Homesmind was not seeking to save the Minds just for Earth's sake; It was trying to rescue the companions It would need in what might be Its last battle.

That is true
, Homesmind whispered as she opened her link to share her musings.
I have thought of Myself as nearly limitless. I have believed that I was open to all and craved new facts and problems. Yet the Minds and I closed Ourselves to the possibility that another more powerful Mind might seek Our destruction. We were deaf to the stranger's message, for We feared it too much, and could not accept it.

—And Earthfolk heard it— Anra said. —Earthfolk know how easily one can seek the death of another, but of course they don't call it death. It's called the end of a cycle, the fulfillment of old prophecies—

I now see My limitations
, Homesmind's weak voice said mournfully.
The truth was before Me, and I turned from it.

"You have many skydweller vessels," Hiya said, waving an arm at the shuttles. "Why do you stay here and build a wall around yourselves?"

"If we hadn't stayed, you would have come back to an empty village," Nenla replied. "Others who lived here may return, and some Earthfolk may seek a refuge with us. We told the sky dwellers we would stay as long as possible."

"Then you wait for nothing." Hiya leaned back against the hut's wall. "Many are wandering now. They'll take the lives of anyone trying to reach this village. We barely escaped from one band, and others won't be so fortunate. If you were wise, you'd leave while you can."

"If a greater battle threatens," Nenla said, "then we may be lost whatever we do. We may be no safer in the sky."

Hiya's mouth twisted. "I warn you. Those poor souls outside your wall will draw together. Our battle will be here."

In spite of what Hiya had predicted, a few groups of Earthfolk had managed to enter the village during the past few days, and Anra had seen them all. Some were former villagers greeted happily by old friends, while others were strangers. Almost all of them had taken the opportunity for escape that the shuttlecraft offered, and a few of the villagers had left with them. Anra wondered how many more would leave Earth, and who would be left to defend those remaining in the village if it were attacked.

She had met every group, but Silla, Harel, and their children had not been among them. Now she crept toward the ring of shuttles, knowing what she had to do. A door opened; she climbed quickly into one of the craft, letting the door close behind her. She would go to the mountain village and bring the family here. They might need her now, and there might still be a chance for reconciliation. She would try to reach out to them once more.

The shuttle door opened again; she started. Olin was standing outside in the hazy, gray evening light. He must have followed her, while she had been trying too hard to shield her thoughts and intentions to hear him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Go away, Olin."

He leaped into the vessel and leaned over her seat, his hands gripping the back. "Why did you come here?"

"Only to get some food from the synthesizer."

"There's food enough in the huts. Don't lie to me. You're hiding something. The wall around your thoughts-tells me that."

"This doesn't concern you. This is something I must do alone."

His beads swung as he shook his head. "At least tell me what you plan to do."

His mind was binding her, holding her in her seat. Perhaps if she told him, he would go away; she could not have him risking his own life. "I'm going to my parents' village," she replied. "We don't know what might be happening there. With this craft, I can carry them to safety here."

"You mustn't." She tried to rise; he pushed her back. She sent out an order to the craft through her link; the door opened. With her mind, she pushed at the boy, trying to shove him through the door, but he resisted, then pinned her to the seat.

"It's too dangerous," he said. "Do you think you'll be safe from other people in this vessel? You don't know who might be out there. Their minds could pull this craft to the ground and drag you from it."

"A shuttle can soar high above Earth, where their thoughts can't reach me. I can stay above the clouds until I'm near their village."

"And what then?" he said. "What if they refuse to come with you? What will the rest of their village do? They might strike out at you, and if your parents try to protect you, they may risk their own lives. Have you thought of that?"

"I have to try."

"Then I'll have to go with you."

"I won't let you. I can't ask that of you." She pushed against him with her mind once more, but his wall blocked her.

"Stop fighting, Anra." He seized her by the wrists. "Are you going to use up your strength against me instead of saving it, or are you going to help me plan this foolish mission and have a chance at succeeding?"

She pulled her arms away; he sat down next to her. "We should wait," he went on. "You'll be safer traveling at night when most will be asleep in that village. Is there a place near your parents' dwelling where we can set this vessel down?"

She nodded. "They're near the edge of their settlement." She formed a picture of the village in her mind to share with him, sure that details that might be important were missing from the image.

"We should land as close as possible, mute our minds so that we don't awaken anyone. If they won't come with us, we'll have to leave right away, before others come for you. You mustn't risk more by spending time trying to persuade them. This vessel has to get you there and back before dawn, or you'll face more danger on the way back. Can it do that?"

"Yes."

"Let me say this. You're risking too much. Had they wanted to come here, they might have traveled here by now somehow. That means either that they've chosen to stay or have been struck down by others already."

"One of my brothers is crippled. It would be hard for him to travel, even with his mindpowers. The village is high in the mountains where they live, and the way down may be difficult." She leaned toward him. "You shouldn't come with me."

"I can't let you go alone. Anra, I care for you. I have to share this journey with you."

"And I'd rather have you safe." She leaned back. "I should have been kinder to my parents the first time I spoke to them. Maybe then—" She closed her eyes for a moment. Her parents and their children were almost strangers to her, yet because they were of her blood— or shared genes with her, as the skydwellers would put it—she would try to bring them to safety. It occurred to her now that others in their settlement might be willing to accept rescue and that she would be leaving them to their fate.

—I see your thoughts— Olin's mind murmured. —Those who aren't bound to you by blood can sometimes be truer friends than those who are. I learned that during my village's time of troubles—

Rulek, she thought, might have said the same thing, since he had cut his ties with all of Earth.

Olin frowned. —Thoughts of him are never far from your mind— Anra tasted the bitterness in his words.

—Help me forget, then. We have a little time— She moved to his seat and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling ashamed that there was a part of herself that she hid from him even when they embraced.

He took her hand. His chest was bare, except for his beads, but he had exchanged his loincloth for a pair of light-brown pants. She fingered the beads he had given her. She supposed that she had grown to love him during the time they had spent together, even though her feelings seemed too muted and calm to be called love. She shared his thoughts contentedly but did not long for them; he was a friend who offered a refuge where she could forget the dangers that surrounded them for a little while. She knew his feelings for her were stronger than hers for him; had their life been peaceful, that discrepancy might have divided them. Now he was willing to risk his life for her, even to help her on a mission he thought was foolhardy. Rulek would not have done so.