Kirlian Quest (5 page)

/Civilization promoted by such means would not be worthwhile. We must never again consider the horror of galacticide./

::You know, if we had tried it against a smaller galaxy, we might have won. There would still have been plenty of energy.::

/Which
galaxy? Pinwheel? It has two major sapient species, Sphere Pin and Sphere Wheel./

::Pin and Wheel!:: she exclaimed in delight ::No, we couldn't destroy that galaxy; it's too cute.::

/Well, what about one of the dwarf ellipsoids or irregulars that fill in the volume of the Cluster? There is Sculp with its Sphere §, or Furnace with its Sphere #.../ he trailed off.

::Why are you silent, Herald? Have you traveled there? What do you know about them?::

/Oh, Sculp and Furnace are very special in their way. They resemble globular clusters, which are little balls of stars perhaps eighty parsecs in diameter, very tightly packed with about a hundred thousand old red stars. But Sculp is two thousand parsecs in diameter, and Furnace four or five thousand parsecs. They are grossly oversized for globs, yet too small to be galaxies. They actually represent the 'missing link,' the intermediate stage between—/

::You are evading my question, Herald. I feel it in your marvelous healing aura. Would you lie to a dying child?::

Herald paused, shaken. /Yes, child, I do evade. I have traveled to Sculp on business, but will never go to Furnace./

::Why not?:: She sensed a mystery here, and was excited.

/I think this is not a thing you would understand./

::That is exactly the kind of thing that interests me most! Please, Herald; I will keep your secret. Tell me what keeps you from Furnace. Is it very hot there?::

/The sapients of # are hot, but that would not dissuade me, as I would naturally go there in Transfer./

::Come on, tell me—or I'll condemn Furnace to be destroyed for our energy supply!::

/You bargain ruthlessly! Therefore I must confess: my betrothed is there./ He dealt a card: the Devil.

::Oh, I am sorry, Herald. I would not really have destroyed Furnace! But—how could you love her if you have never been there? Did she come to Andromeda?::

/No, we have never met. It was a birth-betrothal, decreed by the Cluster Council. We are the two highest Kirlians living in the Cluster and so by law, we must mate with each other before we take any other mates./

Smallbore finally took note of the card. ::The Devil? Now I really
don't
understand, Herald. Why is this law? Where is the Devil? You are not even of her species, are you?::

/I hardly understand it myself, Smallbore. There is a body of experts who believe that the mating of two high-Kirlian entities is more likely to produce high-Kirlian descendants. Many other experts doubt this. The available evidence lends itself to differing interpretations. But for the past few centuries, that law has been in force; it applies to all auras of one hundred fifty or above. Thus I am betrothed to this devil female./

::So you have to marry this hot one! Why is that so bad?::

/Just how old are you, child?/

::Old enough to snoop on my parents, some. I know what the words mean.::

Herald sighed, hoping he wouldn't get in trouble with the older Metamorphics. Some cultures still had regressive notions about what was fitting for children to know.

/I have to mate with Flame of Furnace. After she conceives by me, I am free to mate and marry elsewhere. But I refuse to honor this dictate, so I shall never Transfer to Furnace, or permit Flame to Transfer to me./

::But she might be a nice girl!::

/That is irrelevant. It is a matter of principle. The Cluster Council shall not dictate my personal life./

::Won't that get you in trouble with the Cluster Council?::

/Not so long as I don't marry elsewhere. I shall remain celibate./

Smallbore considered that. ::But you might have a child like me. Would you deny me my short life?::

Herald was silent, struck by the ramifications of the question. A child like her?

::Oh, I have wounded you,:: Smallbore cried contritely. ::I am sorry, Herald. Forgive me!::

/No fault in you,/ Herald replied quickly. /You have caused me to examine my motives, and they are unworthy. I would not deny you life./

Smallbore looked through the deck, found a card and laid it down: Death. She considered it for a long moment before speaking. ::Strange, Herald. I know it for what it is, yet I find no terror in it. How can this be?::

/Many things in life are worse than death. Not long ago I analyzed the Shield of Arms of a noble Ast, and he charged me by the Lot of Asterisk to explain its fault. When I did, he died. For him, abatement of honor was worse than death, though in truth it was the fault of the vengeful King of Arms of Ast./

::Oh, the poor entity! I must comfort him, when I enter that realm.::

/That might be appropriate,/ Herald agreed.

::And after that, I shall go haunt the King of Arms of Ast!:: she said with a return of childish malice.

/Perhaps that, too, would be appropriate,/ Herald said. If there were any reality to life after death....

 

* * *

 

When Bore returned, Herald had gone. Smallbore remained too ill to drill, sinking toward death, but now there was a special brightness to her finish, a kind of metallic radiance all about her, and she was at peace. ::I will die very soon,:: she announced. ::Isn't it wonderful?::

Bore was suspicious. Had the alien drugged her? ::Tell me what passed between you and the Healer.::

::He touched me, and he showed me pictures, and he told me stories,:: she said simply. ::It was such a wonderful conversation! Daddy, I love you!::

::Did he give you funny rock to eat? Did he flash compelling patterns on your receptors? Did he make subtle threats?::

She laughed, her whole body vibrating. ::None of it, Daddy! No poison, no hypnosis, no warnings. He made me feel so
good!
::

Now an even darker suspicion occurred. She was, after all, old enough to snoop on her parents and to know what the terms meant ::Did he touch you... in a certain way?::

::Daddy!:: the child exclaimed with mock shock. ::I'm way too young to know what you mean, let alone to breed. And anyway, do you think I'd do it with a Slash?::

Embarrassed by his daughter's perception and humor, Bore desisted. ::It is only that you were so sad, and now you are so happy, yet nothing has changed. If the Healer did nothing but talk to you, I paid—uh—::

::I know you paid him a lot of mineral, Daddybore. He is a very expensive healer and he is very good. But I am sorry if it was not worth it to you.:: And she began to dim.

::It was worth it!:: Bore vibrated quickly. ::It was worth the whole punctured planet! I just don't
understand
it!::

Her treads clinked cheerfully. ::He said you would not, Daddy. He explained how sad you would be after I died, because you don't understand about apologizing to irregular blobs or haunting Kings of Arms or Devils having little girls like me.::

::I certainly
don't!
::

::But he told me how to make you happy again, in the little time I have left. May I do that?::

Amazed, Bore vibrated acceptance.

And for the few days that Smallbore survived, she made her parents happy, for
she
was happy. After she was gone, a plaque to Herald the Healer was erected in the Metamorphic household, and no slight to Sphere Slash was permitted.

There was of course no possible connection, but the King of Arms of Ast became indisposed shortly thereafter. Forced to retire from office, he was heard to mutter, *
Damn
that child!*

 

 

 

Chapter 3:

Kastle of Kade

 

 

0
Samples taken and inspected. All are aural nonsapients.
0

&
As always. Any association with the sapients?
&

0
Yes. The sapients control them, breed them, utilize their products, and slaughter them for food.
0

&
They employ aural entities—as cattle?
&

0
I have consulted with all my units. There is no question. These samples are animals, bred for docility, production, and potability of flesh.
Not
for intelligence.
0

&
Surely this culture must be expunged from the face of the Universe! We shall give this Cluster to the animals, letting the meek inherit. As we have done before.
&

0
As we have done before.
0

&
Research units report in order, routine reports omitted.
&

D
Our assignment, Sphere Dash Andromeda, contains several operative ancient planetary sites. One on planet £ has been penetrated, circa eleven cycles BP, but no evidence of exploitation, and site was resealed.
D

&
Planet £? This has a familiar aspect.
&

D
Its designation is taken from its formerly dominant species, the tripeds. Sapient but nonspacefaring, owing to their extreme bulk.
D

&
It was this species that penetrated the site?
&

D
Correct. Two £ entities died within it. Presumed malfunction of admittance procedure, corrected by site computer when intruders were analyzed.
D

&
Orient action unit.
&

0
Action unit 1, orient on that site.
0

1
Oriented.
1

&
Act only if site is reactivated by Cluster entities. It is necessary to prevent ancient technology from falling into their capability, but destruction of a secure site would be wasteful, and waste is abomination. This site has historical relevance, and its level is parallel to our present technology.
&

1
Clarification of assignment: should the site be reactivated by local entities—
1

&
This would indicate a repeat activation, highly suggestive. Destroy it, and extirpate life on that planet.
&

 

* * *

 

The item on Herald's schedule said "Exorcism," followed by a Shield of Arms. One glance at that Shield gave him the address, for it was the shape of Galaxy Milky Way, inset by the dragon of Segment Etamin, itself inset by the disk of Sphere Sador, one of the so-termed circular cultures. The specific Achievement was that of Planet Keep, inset by the device of the Duke of Kade. Beyond that, Herald would have to research; he was not conversant with every device of every planet in the Cluster. There were, after all, in the neighborhood of a million sapient-populated planets, with new ones being added and old ones being closed down constantly.

Herald was eager to get the job finished, so he could go home and relax for a day in his own body. His aura suffered only trifling depletion on his excursions, but still he liked to keep it at optimum strength, and that could only be done at home. The interview with Smallbore of Metamorphic had shaken him, coming so soon after the suicide of Whorl of Precipice. Had her warning of the hazard of this mission been a true manifestation of the paranormal? Powerful but incomprehensible forces seemed to swirl about him, settling in to wreak he knew not what. He had been a creature without evident destiny; was that now to change?

The way Smallbore had forced his rethinking about his fiancée, Flame of Furnace... would it be better to abate his foolish pride, go and mate with her and perhaps produce a child like Smallbore? It would not matter to him if that child had no significant aura; she would still be a charming individual. But it would be hard, very hard, to admit so dramatically that his prior stand had been wrong. He could picture the half-veiled flicker of contempt of Flame of Furnace when he came to her.

Best to get this exorcism done with rapidly, so he could relax and sort out his private thoughts. He proceeded to Planet Keep of Milky Way without delay, not bothering with the spot research that would normally have prepared him for the immediate detail. He would learn what he needed while on location; this was not a matter of heraldry anyway.

He arrived in a Solarian host, an upright quadruped creature formed of bone, cartilage, tendon, and meat, ambulating on two digits and employing the other two for manipulation. Its primary senses were optical and auditory and tactile. He had utilized a humanoid host once before, so had no real problem adjusting to its oddities. This was not as convenient a body as his own, but it would serve.

He sat—that is, his body was partially supported in a folded position—in a plushly padded chair in a chamber hung with elegant tapestries adorned with heraldic motifs. He was clothed in a loose tunic with holes for appendages to project, emblazoned with the Achievement of Kade.

/I am present, host,/ he announced. /Please conduct me to the assignment./

Immediately the body shifted weight, brought the solid head forward, and lifted with the large muscles of the thighs so as to balance on the legs. It leaned forward and thrust out each leg in turn to break the incipient fall threatened by its unbalance; a precarious but effective mode of propulsion. One arm stretched forward and drew aside a fiber panel, providing access to another chamber.

A genuine Solarian turned from his contemplation of a window-aperture, startled. He was solid for his species, seeming to possess some superfluous avoirdupois, but seemed nevertheless powerful.

"I am Herald the Healer," Herald said, noting with interest that his communication was not manifested in his normal slashes. He generally stayed with his natural intonation as a matter of pride, but in some hosts the set language patterns were too strong. It didn't really matter; this was a good host, not intruding in any other manner.

He was used to the surprise that his rapid adaptations evoked. Most entities seldom Transferred, even those of high aura, so they took some time to adjust to their alternate hosts. Herald's whole business involved Transfer, so that he was able to make an adjustment in a minute that might have required an hour or even longer for another entity.