Beyond Heaven's River (21 page)

“I don’t see what you’re after.”

“You’ll understand.”

The compound sensors announced intruders. Anna went into the rock garden to meet them and offer breakfast, and Yoshio came out in coveralls. The meal was quiet, less relaxed than the night before. Alae commented on the garden’s precision. “I admire a solid view of things,” she said softly. “Things in their place, all’s right in the mind.”

“Japanese tradition,” Anna said. “Tranquility of the surroundings, tranquil thoughts.”

“Yes. I can see that,” Alae said. “Certainties.”

“We were wondering what it’s like to live here,” Oomalo said. “This isn’t exactly a choice world — I say that despite our share in it — and surely both of you have lived in better surroundings. Yoshio lived in a better time, and Anna … well.” He smiled.

“It’s interesting. We’re always coming up with surprises,” Yoshio said.

“Oh?” Alae looked up.

“Anna has found she doesn’t like going out after dark.”

“You were a bit upset, too,” Anna said.

“We both feel the pressure of something unidentifiable outside. Ghosts, perhaps? At any rate, there’s a lot more than meets the eye, and when the dark takes away the eye’s dominion, it becomes more obvious.”

“You think there are artifacts?” Oomalo asked. Alae’s face became animated, and she followed her husband’s question with a silent movement of her lips.

Kawashita shook his head. “Probably not. Everything has been searched, and the Perfidisians were too thorough. But, like you and your ship,” he looked at Oomalo, “I can’t quite give up hoping.”

“Look at all of us,” Alae said. “Spending our lives chasing after the garbage of the past. Wasted information, wasted debris … very foolish. No certainty at all, no neatness even.”

Anna was startled by the woman’s concise evaluation. “A syndrome,” she said, nodding in agreement. “Shall we invent a name for it?”

“I think Yoshio and I would disagree with you women,” Oomalo said. “It adds richness to life … an expectation. The potential of discovery is what keeps all good people working.”

“Still, it’s crazy,” Kawashita admitted. His fingers folded and unfolded the piece of paper. Oomalo dropped his glance every time the drawing was fully revealed, examining it closely. “I am going for a walk,” the Japanese said, standing up suddenly. Anna started to say something, but closed her mouth and clenched her teeth.

“Outside?” Alae asked.

“Something has occurred to me,” he continued.

“What’s that?” Oomalo asked.

“I’m not certain. Anna, will you come with me?”

“We’d better stay in here.”

“Nonsense, the weather’s fine outside,” Oomalo said. “Do you need company?”

“No,” Kawashita said. Anna tried to catch his gaze but couldn’t. A sharp taste began at the back of her throat.

“I’ll go along,” she said.

“There are some questions I’d like to ask, things we might decide more easily if we had some quiet,” Oomalo said to her. “Alae has preparations to make on the lander, and we could —”

“Are you taking a cart?” Alae asked Kawashita. “Perhaps I could hitch a ride.”

“I think we’d better stay here, all of us,” Anna said.

“Why?” Alae asked sharply.

“We can get the negotiations done more quickly,” Anna said lamely.

“I’ll ride out with your husband and walk back. We can talk just an hour or so from now.”

Anna felt like shouting but kept her outward calm. This was too pat, too obvious … and yet, unless she deliberately accused them of planning foul play — and perhaps forced their hand, made them even more dangerous — she had no argument worth voicing. And if her fears were groundless, she’d be a fool, accused of inhospitality at the very least. That might be a perfectly reasonable exchange for safety. But her suspicions couldn’t override her caution. This morning Yoshio had demonstrated that he was alert, capable. He could probably handle Alae without trouble, and she was evenly matched against Oomalo.

Reluctantly, she watched Kawashita and Alae walk to the peristyle. Oomalo sat in his chair, finishing the last of a glass of fresh juice. “This is very good,” he said, licking his lips. “Quite refreshing.”

|Go to Contents |

Beyond Heavens River

Forty

Kawashita said nothing to the woman beside him on the cart. He was concentrating on steering. When he tried to turn it in one direction …

He forgot making the effort. But now something was lingering behind the erased memory. Somewhere a persuasive force was weakening. He tried to turn the cart aside again and felt a tug in his head, directing him to another course. The tug was more obvious as they approached the Waunters’ lander. “What’s the matter?” Alae asked.

“Something’s wrong.”

“Can I help?”

“I can only go a certain number of ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something limits our pathways, stops us from going off given courses.”

“But there’s nothing here.”

He held up his hand and motioned for her to take the wheel. She did so, the cart sped up again, and she maneuvered it back and forth. “Goes any way I want it to,” she said.

Kawashita shook his head, irritated. “But you aren’t pulling it where itshouldn’t go. Try … here.”

They both forgot. He shook his head to clear it. Alae stared ahead as if nothing had happened. “What?” she asked.

“We’re here,” he said, indicating the lander. “I must go farther.”

“If it’s so important, I can go with you.” She was clearly as excited as he was, but it seemed for different reasons. He was in too much of a hurry to argue. He spun the cart around and set it on automatic pilot, then examined his chart. When he snapped out of the lull of forgetfulness again, the paper was on the floor of the cart, almost falling out. He bent to pick it up. Their direction had changed, but he wasn’t sure how. He didn’t try to change the cart’s course again until they were six kilometers from the dome. This time he distinctly remembered giving the order to his arm muscles to turn the wheel. And he remembered the arms refusing. He slammed the cart to a halt. Alae almost fell out, cursing. Something clattered by the edge of the seat cushion, but he didn’t look to see what it was.

Alae did. She was frightened by his irrational behavior. When he stepped out of the cart, she did, too. Their environment fields separated with a faintplop . Then she saw the folded cutter on the floor of the cart. She picked it up, adjusted it, and nicked her finger accidentally. She swore, too low for Kawashita to hear.

If the cart wouldn’t turn, he reasoned, something was in its way. If he stepped from the desired path, he would encounter whatever the obstacle was.

He held out his hands. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Whatever the persuasive force was, it was weakening. Just as the weather machines had weakened and collapsed, just as the environment in the dome had finally given out, a last device was fading.

Alae watched him with dismay. He was acting like a madman. Or he was trying a ruse on her, to catch her off guard. “Yes,” she said to herself, “kill me, get rid of both of us.” She turned to look at the dome. She wanted to warn Oomalo, but it was too late.

|Go to Contents |

Beyond Heavens River

Forty-One

It was all out in the open now. “What are we going to do, then?” Nestor asked.

“Be more direct, I hope,” Oomalo said. “I’d like both of you to accompany us in the lander. It’s silly wasting your time. You’re such a powerful and intelligent woman — silly wasting all that here. Neither of you wants to give it all up — your lives, everything, for this stupid world.”

“What’ll happen in the lander?”

“My wife and your husband will be there. We’re all partners in this venture. You’ve tried to hide something, but we know now, and we’ll just take our fair share.”

Anna looked for some sign of insanity in the man but couldn’t find any. He was calm, rational, and seemed to be following a plan.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“We have good evidence you’ve found artifacts here. We intend to get our share of the sale of any such finds. That’s legal. We’re prepared to use slightly illegal means, however, to convince you.”

“Legal or illegal, I don’t know what you’re talking about. We haven’t found anything here since the first landings. Who’s been telling you these lies?”

“That doesn’t matter now. Alae —”

“What’s she doing to Yoshio? Have you got something planned?”

“Things are working out fine as they are. Your husband is strange.”

Anna laughed.

“We’re serious. We lost just about everything we valued when this place turned into a bust. We have nothing more to lose, and a lot more to gain. We’re taking you back to our ship.” He reached into his collar and drew out a tiny sliver of silvery metal.

“What’s that?”

“It’s Crocerian. Our employers — our original employers — provided them in case we should get in trouble at our post. The Aighor ship wasn’t allowed to have registered weapons. We weren’t rich enough to have a few rulings reversed. These will do, however. Alae has one.”

“Yoshio isn’t well — he took a fall several days ago.”

“We have med units on the ship.”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t believe this,” she said. “You’re everything I thought you’d be. Everything! I shouldn’t have even let you land.”

“We were prepared for that, too.”

“What will you do when my ship finds we’re gone? Hold us for ransom?”

“No. They won’t know where you are, and we won’t tell them. We’ll just keep you until you tell us what you’ve found, and make a recorded confession.”

“We haven’t foundanything !” Anna shouted.Oomalo brought up the sliver.

“Be calm,” he said. “I’m calm. Nothing will go wrong.” He pointed to the peristyle and the air lock. “We’ll put on environment packs and walk to the lander. Let go.”

|Go to Contents |

Beyond Heavens River

Forty-Two

Kawashita faced the unseen barrier with a frown. He placed one hand on apparently empty air and pushed.

“What are you doing?” Alae asked. She stood five paces behind him, fingering the cutter.

He didn’t answer. He backed away and felt the pressure stop. The illusion, the restraints, were slowly letting up. Two days ago none of them could have even considered leaving the assigned pathways. Now, with an effort of will, at least he could do so. He squinted and saw a few patches of fog.

“See anything?” he asked.

“Nothing. What are you doing?”

“There’s a wall or building here. We can’t see it. But something is changing. If I concentrate, I can see it a little and feel it.”

“Who are you trying to fool? You knew there was something here, you knew it the day we met. You planned it all from the beginning, to keep us out, keep us away from what we deserve. And then you arm yourself to kill us.” She didn’t bother to remove the sliver from her collar. She extended the cutter’s field.

Kawashita looked over his shoulder at her and felt the slice across his arm. He held his hand against the blood and winced at the searing pain. He forced his watering eyes open and stepped back against the invisible wall. Alae gritted her teeth and moved in to finish her work.

|Go to Contents |

Beyond Heavens River

Forty-Three

They stood in the air lock, Oomalo behind her, waiting for the cycle to complete. Their fields came on simultaneously.

“Out,” he said. They walked away from the dome.

At first the ground looked like it was covered by mist. Then the mist began to rise, filled with captured rainbows, forming walls, then buildings, then blocking their view of the lander. A city rose around them, ancient and decrepit, walls collapsed, rubble scattered. Oomalo twirled around and shouted something. Anna shut her eyes for a moment and reached into her pocket. He was facing away from her as she extended the field and cut the back of his hand. The sliver dropped. He screamed and rushed to merge their envelopes. The second swipe caught him in the neck, and he swayed, then went down, clutching at the gash, taking the cutting tool with him.

She started screaming and calling Yoshio’s name.

|Go to Contents |

Beyond Heavens River

Forty-Four

Record of Yoshio Kawashita. Impounded in the Archives of Anna Sigrid Nestor. Not for release until A.D. 2600.

Transcription of all-body record:

The pain and darkness are complete. He is on his back, staring at the dark blue sky, watching stars move and fall one by one, then return. Like universes dying and being born. Then the images steady and the pain subsides. “Hello,” Yoshio says. “Where is she? What did she do to me?”

He thinks he hears somebody speaking, but he can’t see anyone around him. He can’t see the woman who cut him. He can see a spreading pool of blood, and feel a bitter taste in his mouth, and hear the voice — and there are buildings all around — but nothing makes any sense.

Then his hearing clears.

“Who would you have us be? We did not judge, only studied.”

“What?”

“Your reactions told us what we needed to know.”

“Where are you?”

“We conclude our final experiment. You have been curious to know what we are and where we come from. There is no need to conceal the answers now. We are not another species; we are not even self-aware by your standards. We are simply ’agents’ created to represent another group of beings. Only a few species will be able to survive the end of this universe and seed the next.”

“Have I been worthy?” Kawashita asks. “Why come back and tell me these things?”

“It is apparent that human beings represent no threat to our creators, our interests. You have basic flaws which will prevent you from finishing in the competition. You will attempt to create your own agent, but you won’t understand why, or the functions it must serve, and you will destroy it. Knowing this, we have no further curiosity. You have done well in your thoughts and researches. No more could have been expected, for your circumstances were extraordinary. It is unfortunate that your very nature as a human being has prevented you from reaching your goal. But full understanding is a thing granted to few species, much less individuals.

“The Perfidisians have never been. Now even their illusion passes on.”

The stars fade and fall again. He sits quiet, lips working. “Notkami ,” he says. “You took me, you needed me to fail, to make the experiment fulfill … I was not wanting! I was not failing. Everything possible …”

He closes his eyes, takes a deep, shuddering breath, and opens them again.

“But you are wrong,” he says. “Very, verywrong .” He takes out the tapas and tries to smash it on the concrete. After three swings, the recording stops, but not because he has damaged the machine.

|Go to Contents |