The Evolutionary Void (8 page)

The other girl giggled as well. Edeard’s eyes snapped open, and Araminta
looked out through them into his maisonette.

The Ellezelin forces capsule slid over the smooth fast-moving surface of
the Cairns. Directly ahead was a big old house with walls of white arches
filled with purple and silver glass, surrounded by balconies that overhung a
pool whose water glimmered an inviting turquoise. Well-maintained formal
gardens flowed down the slope to the southern bank of the broad river. Even
under the wan light that filtered through the gray clouds scudding against
Colwyn City’s weather dome force field, the place looked inviting, a real home.

“Very fancy,” Beckia muttered as the capsule floated down onto the broad
lawns. “The building supplies game must pay more than I realized.”

“In an External planet economy, going multiple is just a smart way of
avoiding taxes,” Tomansio said dismissively. “Bovey wouldn’t be able to afford
this if every one of hims paid income tax.”

The capsule door expanded.

“Can I trust you?” Oscar asked quietly. The other two froze, then looked
at him. Beckia’s gaiafield emissions were spitting out resentment. Tomansio was
amused more than anything.

“You can trust us,” Tomansio said, pushing a warm sensation of confidence
into the gaiafield.

“She founded you. You wouldn’t even exist without her. And you’re all
waiting for her return.”

“Common mistake,” Tomansio said. “We all understand her flaws, but we
don’t forgive her. We were born out of her determination, but now we have grown
far beyond her.”

“Pupil and master relationship, huh?” Oscar queried.

“Exactly. She accomplished a lot in her time, most of which was
disastrous. We are about the only good thing that ever emerged from the Cat’s
life.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless she did have children …”

Oscar simply responded with a wry smile.

“Quite,” Tomansio continued. “So her continuing existence, albeit in
suspension, is something of an embarrassment to us. It leads to
misunderstandings like this one.”

“Far Away rioted when Investigator Myo arrested her,” Oscar countered.

“Far Away did,” Beckia said. “We didn’t. By that time she’d grown to a
symbol of Far Away’s independence. Arresting her was seen as a political act of
repression against the planetary government by an authoritarian Commonwealth.
I’d point out the riots didn’t last long once the details of the Pantar
Cathedral atrocity became known.”

“But her principles remain with us,” Tomansio said. “The dedication to
strength. Ever since our founding we have never broken our code. We stay loyal
to our client, no matter what. Not even the Cat broke that. And we certainly
wouldn’t double-cross
you
. Oscar, you demonstrated
the ultimate human strength when you martyred yourself so our species could
survive. I told you before, we respect you almost as much as the Cat.”

Oscar looked into Tomansio’s handsome face, so redolent with sincerity, a
note backed up by his gaiafield emission. He fervently hoped his own
embarrassment at such a proclamation wasn’t evident. “Okay, then.”

“Besides, that wasn’t our Cat, not the founder of the Knights Guardian.
If we weren’t committed to you, I would take a great deal of satisfaction in
tracking her down and finding out exactly which faction has violated our Cat
for its own ends. Didn’t you say they’d cloned more of her?”

“Not anymore,” Oscar said flatly, and walked out of the capsule. Beckia
and Tomansio shared a quiet smile and followed him out onto the trim lawn.

Mr. Bovey had come out of the house to meet the capsule, three of hims.
Oscar hadn’t met a multiple before, at least not knowingly. He couldn’t ever
recall hearing about any on Orakum. The leader of the trio, the one standing in
front, had black skin and a face that had even more wrinkles than Oscar’s;
several gray strands were frosting his temples. To his left was a tall Oriental
male, and the third was a young teenager with a thick mop of blond hair. None
of them was releasing anything into the gaiafield. However, their posture alone
told Oscar they were going to be extremely stubborn.

Oscar’s immediate response was to regret wearing the Ellezelin forces
uniform, which was a huge visual trigger for any Viotia citizen right now. Then
a deeper guilt began to manifest. He wasn’t here backed by Ellezelin authority;
his sponsor was a whole lot more powerful than that. That was the problem.
Marching into someone’s home with the authority and force to demand his
cooperation was exactly the kind of fascistic repression that had so animated
the young Oscar Monroe’s political instincts, which in turn led to him joining
the Socialist Party at college and ultimately being seduced by radical
elements. A journey that ended in the tragedy of Aberdan station.

Talk about going full circle. But we have
to find her. Overriding necessity, the siren call of tyrants everywhere. Yet I
know she cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the factions. Damn, how
does Paula live like this?

“What do you want?” the first Mr. Bovey asked sourly.

Oscar grinned, letting his amusement free in the gaiafield. “Oh, come on.
We know you and her had a thing.”

The three Mr. Boveys stared defiantly ahead.

“Look,” Oscar said reasonably, and plucked at his tunic. “This uniform,
it’s a load of bollocks. We’re not Living Dream. I’ve never even been to
Ellezelin. I work for ANA.”

“Yeah? And I work for the Raiel,” Mr. Bovey replied, all three of hims
speaking in concert. “So that makes us both supersecret agents.”

“I saw her at Bodant Park. Me and my team here, we covered for her so she
could get free. Ask her. We’re the reason she’s still out there. If she still
is.”

There was a flicker of uncertainty in the black Mr. Bovey’s eyes. “I met
Araminta a few times, that’s all.”

“It was more than that. Come on, man, she’s in shit so deep, she’ll drown
if she doesn’t get some serious outside help. So please, if you know where she
is, tell me.”

“I haven’t seen her for days.”

Tomansio grunted in understanding. “She didn’t tell you, did she? You
didn’t know she was the Second Dreamer?”

Mr. Bovey’s scowl deepened; none of hims would look at Tomansio.

“Hell, that’s got to suck,” Oscar said. “She was probably trying to
protect you.”

“Right,” Mr. Bovey said.

“She was frightened, you know that. This planet was invaded just because
she lives here. And she’s all alone. She doesn’t know what she’s doing; really,
she hasn’t got a clue. If you know where we can find her, if you have any
notion where she might be, then we’re the ones you need to tell. Call ANA if
you need my status confirmed. There are others out there who are looking equally
hard, and I don’t mean Living Dream. The Second Dreamer is an important
political tool right now. Who do you think caused the Bodant Park fight?”

“Bodant Park massacre,” Mr. Bovey said. “You unleashed a massacre on our
planet. There were hundreds killed.”

“That was just the warm-up,” Tomansio said. “The agents involved in
hunting her down will not give a crap about civilians who get in the way.
Memory read will be the least of your worries when the others come here. And
they will. Soon.”

“We found you,” Beckia said. “The rest won’t be far behind. Think. Be
real. The most powerful organizations in the Greater Commonwealth are looking
for her. Your entire planet has been invaded because Living Dream is so utterly
desperate. Do you really,
really
think she can elude
all of us?”

“I didn’t know,” the young blond one said through teeth he’d clamped
together. “She didn’t tell me. How could she not tell me what she’d become?”

“If she loved you, she would be trying to keep you out of all this,”
Oscar said. “It was sweetly naive, and that time is now over. You have to make
a choice. Do you want to actively help her? If so, talk to us. If not, run.
Each of yous will have to try and make a break for it and pray that you don’t
all get caught.”

The three of hims turned to look at one another. Oscar was aware of the
figures he could just see in the house standing still. “Give me a moment,” Mr.
Bovey said.

Oscar nodded sympathetically. “Sure.” He moved away, talking to his team
in a low voice. “What do you think?”

“He doesn’t know anything,” Beckia said. “If he did, he’d be out there
helping her. He’s broken up by her cutting loose; he loves her, or thought he
did.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Tomansio said.

“There could be a dozen of hims out there right now helping to shelter
her,” Oscar pointed out.

Tomansio pushed out a reluctant sigh. “I find that hard to credit.”

“Can you actually do a memory read on a multiple?” Beckia asked.

“You’d probably have to gather all of them up,” Tomansio said. “And you
wouldn’t know if you’d got them all until it was too late. Multiples are always
cagey about their exact number of bodies; it’s an instinctive safety redundancy
thing. Interesting psychological evolution. In any case, our time scale doesn’t
allow us that level of luxury. If he’s going to be useful, it’ll have to be
voluntary, and right now.”

Oscar’s u-shadow told him Cheriton was calling on an ultrasecure channel.
Liatris joined the call.

“Brace yourself for the bad news,” the gaiafield expert said. “Living
Dream has found her.”

“Shit,” Tomansio grunted, throwing Mr. Bovey a guilty glance. “Where?”

“Now, this is where it gets real interesting. After the confluence nests
caught her at Bodant, Living Dream has been refining the emotional resonance
routines based on her exact thought patterns. The upgrade has given them the
kind of sensitivity which can detect the slightest emission from her mind. And
a quarter of an hour ago she went and shared Inigo’s Eighth Dream.”

“What’s she doing delving into the Waterwalker’s life
now
?” an irritated Beckia asked. “For Ozzie’s sake, didn’t
Bodant teach her anything?”

“Wrong question,” Cheriton said.

“Where is she?” Tomansio asked.

“Chobamba.”

A puzzled Oscar had to call up the Commonwealth planetary list from a
storage lacuna. “That’s over six hundred light-years away,” he protested. “That
can’t be right. She was here sixteen hours ago.”

“Your ultradrive could make that,” Tomansio said doubtfully. “Just.”

“She’s found a way to screw the gaiafield,” Beckia said. “She must have.
She is the Second Dreamer, after all. That has to give her some kind of ability
the rest of us don’t have.”

“Cheriton, are you sure?” Tomansio asked.

“We’re confined to the building,” Cheriton said. “And I’m using a
dead-drop relay to access the unisphere. Dream Master Yenrol’s been going
apeshit since the nests found her. All the Dream Masters know about it; they’re
working hard to keep it secret. I don’t think this is a scam.”

“How the hell did she get to Chobamba?” Oscar wanted to know.

“Do they know where on Chobamba?” Tomansio asked.

“Not yet,” Cheriton said. “But it’s only going to be a matter of time.
It’s an External world, and Living Dream has several Dream Masters there.”

“Can you warn her again?” Oscar said.

“I’m not sure. There’s talk about shutting down Chobamba’s confluence
nests, isolating her from the gaiafield.”

“Stupid,” Tomansio said. “That’ll alert her to what’s going on.”

“Liatris, can you shotgun Chobamba and warn her?” Oscar asked.

“She hasn’t accessed the unisphere for days,” Liatris said. “There’s no
guarantee she’ll get the message.”

“If people know, it’ll be the talk of the planet,” Beckia said. “She’s
bound to find out. We just have to make it public knowledge.”

Tomansio gave Oscar a little nudge. Mr. Bovey had obviously come to his
decision. The dark-skinned body was walking over to them, leaving the other two
hims to stare pensively.

“Yes?” Oscar said.

“I checked with ANA,” Mr. Bovey said. He sounded faintly surprised. “You
are who you say.”

“And?”

His face expressed a great deal of apprehension, mirrored by all of hims.
“She doesn’t know … she can’t know how to cope with this. Nobody can. I have to
place my trust in ANA. How ironic is that? Being multiple is supposed to
alleviate the requirement of a technological solution to immortality.”

“Can you contact her?”

“No.” Mr. Bovey shook his head as if hes were mourning. “I’ve tried every
minute since I found out. Her u-shadow is offline. She won’t answer my calls.”

“I know this is painful, but is there someone else she’s likely to turn
to?”

“Her cousin Cressida; they were close. In fact, she was about Araminta’s
only true friend in Colwyn City before we met.”

“We know. She’s dropped out of sight as well, but thank you. If Araminta
does get into contact, please let me know.” Oscar’s u-shadow sent Mr. Bovey a
unisphere access code. “Immediately, please. Time is critical now.”