Kirlian Quest (38 page)

"When did your love manifest unmistakably?"

"When I encountered her—enhanced.” Herald savored the memory. "She had an aura of two hundred fifty."

"Then was it not the aura you loved, the enhanced aura of the Ancients?"

"You could put it that way. But it was no Possession. It was
her
, magnified tenfold. The only aura I ever encountered higher than mine."

"Would not that same aura, in any other female, have commanded your love in much the same fashion?"

Herald felt nervous. "Perhaps."

"In fact you cannot be sure she was not merely the vehicle. You did not love the alien girl; you loved the Ancient aura."

Herald, weak from his ordeal and the sedation of drugs, could only agree. "The Ancient aura makes her what she is."

"And if that aura imbued the girl of Sphere Jet you would love her similarly."

Herald tried to be objective. It was difficult. "Perhaps."

"Why not settle for the live Sixteen in lieu of the dead Psyche? If you find the Ancient aura, you may have love again—without illusion."

Herald thought for a long time. "No," he said at last. "Psyche lives. The real Psyche, whom I love regardless of aura. I know it. She brought you out of shock, there in the tunnel during the laser attack, when I was impotent. She spoke to me. I believe in her. I must find her."

Hweeh was silent. Herald knew his friend perceived only unreason in this cleaving to a dead alien female. And he could not be absolutely sure Hweeh was wrong.

At last Hweeh spoke. "The Earth relief ship arrived while you were unconscious. You can now Transfer to some host elsewhere in the Cluster. Given the personal situation here, and the urgency of the Amoeba crisis, I think you had better do that promptly. Sixteen told me of your new theories concerning the Ancients, and I have messaged the Cluster Council. They will form a new committee to explore the ramifications—"

"Another committee!" Herald exploded.

"Precisely. So if anything is to be done in time, it seems we must still do it ourselves.
We
must locate the Ancient source. I did manage to extract information on a highly secret project that may be related. It is not the most promising source of information, but we are severely hampered by the frustrating blindness of the Council. At least it will get us away from here, and perhaps—"

Herald made a jet of bemused wonder. "That the salvation of the Cluster should depend on such random factors! I agree; we must follow up
anything
that shows promise. Where is this secret project?"

"Galaxy Pinwheel."

"The Blanks? The null-aura species with potential sapience?"

"No, this is a re-creation of the actual Ancient culture. It was hoped that this would lead to insights about—"

"Good notion. Let's go."

 

 

 

Chapter 10:

Moderns of Ancients

 

 

X
Aural generator manifesting in globular Cluster orbiting third Galaxy.
X

&
Another generator? Is there an ancient site there?
&

X
No.
X

&
Then it must be a special project to develop defensive aural technology on a crash basis. Investigate and take covert action if necessary. Repeat,
covert
. We are almost ready for overt action on Cluster scale. Assign one research and one action unit.
&

0
Unit 9 assigned.
0

X
Unit S assigned.
X

 

* * *

 

Pinwheel was a quarter the diameter of the major galaxies, so its sapients were somewhat sensitive about its status. It was indeed a full spiral galaxy, and its two major Spheres were now full members of the Cluster coalition.

The project was set up deep inside a globular Cluster orbiting the center of Pinwheel. This glob was 250 light-years in diameter, and contained about 100,000 bright red Population II stars. There was very little obscuring dust within it, few planets—and no black hole, to Herald's relief. It was an entirely ordinary Cluster, and it had been uninhabited until the special project was organized.

Herald tilted his ring, looking around. He was in a Wheel host whose spherical body rolled freely in any direction and whose magnetically fixed disk possessed the assorted sensory equipment of the species. Beside him was Hweeh of Weew, mattermitted once more in his own body at great expense (and protest by the Cluster Council functionary in charge).

A Pin moved forward: an angular four-legged creature whose sensory organs were on projecting spines.

^Welcome, visitors of the Two Galaxies,^ it clacked.
^
I am Prick of Pin, co-supe of this station and your guide for the duration. I hope you are feeling sharp.^ He extended one rod.

Hweeh quickly formed eye-stalk, horn, and sticklike appendage and used the last to touch Prick's proffered stick. @Gratitude, graciousness,@ he said formally in his own language, letting the translation units each entity carried take care of it.

^You have impressive aura!^

@Wait till you touch my companion!@

Prick extended a stick toward Herald. Herald angled his disk to contact it momentarily. Now he felt the Pin's own aura: a strong one of one hundred. But of course this project would attract strong auras.
^.
Pleasure,
^.
θ he said, using the mode of his host, making the sounds by vibrating his disk.
Pleasure
, he thought.
Cupid and Psyche had a child named Pleasure.

^Phenomenal! Perhaps your aura is a reversion to that of the Ancients!^

Herald dismissed that promptly.
^.
There is no evidence that any modern species relate directly to the Ancients.
^.

Yet what of Psyche!

^Perhaps we shall now procure that evidence.^

And that summed it up; for this was the super-secret Modern of Ancients program, the Cluster's major hope to comprehend the nature and purposes of the species that had conquered the Cluster three million years ago.

^.
Perhaps,θ Herald agreed politely.
^.
Shall we proceed?θ
We shall proceed
—the phrasing of Sixteen's acquiescence to an affair that had demanded herself and him. Had he been willfully blind in the same way the Cluster Council was blind to the threat of the Amoeba despite the evidence? At what price could he justify his quest?

Prick showed the way through the station to the enclave. All of it was under cover, for this was an airless planet. Occasional skylights showed the globular day-night: a thousand bright stars illuminating the surface constantly, preventing full night from ever descending. The average separation of stars in this region was a quarter of a lightyear, and they were large stars. The planet seemed to be encased in a glowing shell.

That was the reason the project was here. No outside species could expect to locate the precise planet of the particular globular Cluster of the particular galaxy that supported it. Only the privileged few even knew of its existence. Who would poke about a globular Cluster for
anything?
Such Clusters were among the oldest unified structures in the universe; there was nothing new in them. Or so it was generally supposed.

The hall opened out suddenly on a vast domed landscape of such architectural splendor that both Herald and Hweeh paused, awed. It was an Ancient site as it must have been in its heyday. Rounded buildings rose many floors high, with spiral ramps servicing them; other ramps spiraled down to lakelike reservoirs. There were no straight lines, no angles; everything curved in pleasing ratios. There was foliage everywhere, unfamiliar to Herald's prior experience, though not to his host-mind: Pinwheel trees shading the contours of the parks from the glare of the myriad stars above, pastel-hued lawns, and fruit-bearing gardens.

@I would like to reside here myself,@ Hweeh murmured.

^.
So would I,
^.
θ Herald agreed.

^So would we all,^ Prick said. ^And so you shall—for a day. We believe we have successfully recreated Ancient architecture, physique, and culture, and we hope this will enable you to feel and think like Ancients and thereby comprehend their secrets.^

^.
An ambitious notion,
^.
Herald said.

^The Ancients residing in the enclave are androids,^ Prick explained; ^laboratory-manufactured pseudo-life, directed by operatives. Most are remote-controlled, but some are actually occupied.^

^.
We shall need to occupy them,
^.
Herald said, rotating his disk firmly.
^.
We are not here merely to observe, but to experience.
^.

^The Weew could do it; he is small and malleable. But your own Wheel host is far too massive.^

^.
Then I must Transfer to a smaller host. What is available?
^.

^There are service entities of Sculp who occupy the androids for testing and repairs.^

^.
Ah, yes, the Sculps. I am familiar with the species. I will accept such a host.
^.

^As you wish,^ Prick said dubiously.

The Transfer was instituted, and soon Herald was in a Sculp host. This was a boneless, multispiked sapient whose body had evolved within the convoluted stalks of giant tubetrees.

§Very good,§ Herald said, speaking by rasping several spikes together. §Now let's see the androids.§

The physical nature of the Ancients was unknown, but study of the many ramps on their sites had suggested they were wheeled but also could traverse irregular terrain. Therefore, as Prick explained, the androids possessed both wheels and legs. Three legs, to maintain balance at all times, each with rollers at the base. They also had three upper appendages, with sucker-disks along the inner sides and six tentacle-fingers at the end. Three of the fingers were pointed, with hard claws: pincers for grasping hard objects. The softer, more dexterous alternate fingers made this form extremely facile with tools. A solid head at the top was ringed with optics, auditories, and radiation emitters and receptors. It was, overall, a most ingenious body.

Too bad it had been worked out before Herald's discovery about the distinction between Ancients and pre-Ancients. For it was a composite of a tremendous wealth of misinformation. Once the resurvey of sites was completed, the physical form of the Ancients would be narrowed considerably. Meanwhile, he was willing to find out whether occupation of such an android host provided any real feel-of-Ancient, and whether that would lead to any further key insights, in himself or in Hweeh. It seemed to him that on Mars they had come very close to a basic comprehension of the Ancients, and perhaps one little additional shove would break it all open. Then, perhaps, would follow the last-second miracle that would save the Cluster—just as had happened when Flint of Outworld and Melody of Mintaka saved the Milky Way Galaxy. Ancient technology had been the key in both prior cases; if it could only be invoked again.

Hweeh seemed to have adapted readily to his own android. §Are you ready?§ Herald inquired.

@Yes,@ Hweeh replied.

"Then let's unify our linguistic modes," Herald said in Quotes. "We both retain facility with the expression of Segment Etamin, which is probably not comprehensible here. It will serve as a convenient but private code."

"Agreed," Hweeh said immediately.

^My translator did not catch that,^ Prick said. ^What is the language?^

§It is the mode of Cloud Nine,§ Herald said. §The so-called Large Magellanic, orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy. Their symbol is high finance, $. A very happy if irregular scheme.§

^Strange. My translator is conversant with $. I should have—^

§Perhaps it was Cloud Six, the Small Magellanic, the ¢ symbol. I get confused at times. Each host I occupy contributes its language and much of its culture to my mind for a time. Once I depart the host, these gradually fade. Shall we now enter the enclave?§

^Yes, of course. But I must warn you that the— We try very hard to render this enclave as realistic as possible. The program has been modified extensively with experience, until now—^

§Until now it seems to possess purpose of its own? This is an indication of success. Do not apologize.§

^The computer integrates the changes, and it does have positive feedback. Changes are still occurring, so that even I do not necessarily know what prevails unless I constantly recheck. We seem to have here an accelerated social evolution, which is encouraged. However, it means that I will be unable to maintain contact with you after you enter. We have a strict noninterference policy. It is essential that we allow the thrust of the Ancients to manifest in whatever manner develops. Only that way can we—^

§I understand,§ Herald said, cutting off the developing lecture. §This is an excellent program. We shall not interfere, but shall seek to merge with its flow.§ And he rolled toward the enclave aperture.

In a moment he and Hweeh were through. They coasted down the ramp toward the first park. Herald's Sculp host was well suited to this confinement and conversant with the controls of the android. Herald quickly acclimatized, so it was as though he occupied the Ancient mockup directly. Hweeh had more trouble, but his tripod kept him stable.

They encountered a Modern going the other way, skating blithely along with enviable proficiency.

+Aura,+ the stranger said in greeting. He spoke in Clustric, with the Plus inflection, fittingly enough. He had an aura of 120 himself, but it was the unflexing field of machine generation, such as was used to imbue energy being Transferred galactic distances.

Of course! The salient characteristic of the Ancients was their aura, estimated to have a norm of one hundred and extremes of thirty-three to three hundred. One-third of norm to triple norm, though some experts felt this was too conservative. Modern sapients varied much more widely than this, as shown by Sixteen of Jets aura and Herald's own aura. But the Ancients were by the signs far more uniform than the contemporaries. Perhaps that was part of the secret of their strength. Also, no one knew precisely how intense a living aura could get, but three hundred seemed to be the practical limit.