The Evolutionary Void (81 page)

The Raiel warship was
big
. Aaron studied the
return that was coming from the hysradar. Most of the image was fuzzed, denying
him any details. Some small part of his mind wasn’t sure he wanted details.
Which is hardly strong of me
, he thought with a cool
amusement.
That part of the Knights Guardian has obviously
been lost
. Again, that wasn’t something that disturbed him. Even the
name Lennox meant nothing, which he knew on an instinctive level was a good
thing: He wanted to be free of what was.
She
dwelled
there in the past, slithering though the banished memories, taunting, bleeding
poison, leaving only shadow in her wake. It was the only place she could hurt
him now.

He recalled Cheriton’s last terrified thoughts. The pleading.

Not relevant
. A definitive conclusion that
gave him a great deal of confidence in himself.
I’m still
here, still me
.

The warrior Raiel ship was matching course with
Mellanie’s
Redemption
now. Ten light-years ahead was the fringe of the Wall stars,
the closely packed multitude of globular clusters throwing out a screen of
blazing light that blocked any glimpse of the Gulf beyond and the true dark
core of the galaxy.

“What now?” Troblum asked.

His remaining passengers appeared uncertain. Oscar and his Knights
Guardian team had gone into suspension, though Corrie-Lyn refused to leave
Inigo, and as Aaron suspected, the Raiel might need proof from the original
Dreamer. That left five of them still awake and moving around, which, even with
the medical capsules all installed in the forward cargo hold, still made for
cramped conditions. It didn’t bother Aaron, but he could see how the others
were getting agitated. Troblum’s nonexistent personality didn’t help, and as
for the amount the big man ate at every meal …

“They haven’t blown us to shit yet,” Aaron said. “That’s got to be good.
So we’ll ask them if they’ll let us go through the Wall and into the Void.”

“What are you going to say to them?” Corrie-Lyn asked. The presence of
the warrior Raiel was having quite an effect on her. The tentative relief she’d
shown after they came through the wormhole had shrunk away as soon as the
warship had rendezvoused with them.

Aaron ignored her. “Inigo, Araminta, I think this one’s for you.”

The two Dreamers exchanged a what-the-hell look.

Araminta-two sighed. “I’ll do it.”

Aaron opened his gaiamotes to sense the Second Dreamer reaching for the
giant warship. Riding passively in conjunction with Araminta’s thoughts was
making him aware of whole aspects of the gaiafield he’d never known before.
There was certainly some kind of consciousness registering out there, and it
was not a human one. It was too composed for that. He also felt the first
direct touch with the Skylord, which sent a chill firing along his nerves.
So close now
.

“We are the human Dreamers,” Araminta-two told the Raiel.

“Yes. You are two Dreamers. The third of your kind is a long way from
here. And part of you is elsewhere.”

“That’s correct,” Araminta said, mildly surprised by the summary. “We
seek to travel into the Void. We believe we may be able to prevent the final
devourment phase.”

“We know this. Qatux has spoken with us. You may pass through.”

“I thank you.”

“You understand that the ships which you also lead will be intercepted.”

“Yes. I understand this.”

“If we succeed, then millions of your kind will be destroyed. Why do you
not cease to appease them?”

“It is not that simple. However, I believe in what we are doing. I
believe this will resolve the threat which the Void holds over this galaxy
without any loss of life.”

“As you wish.”

“I would ask one other thing. There is an entity called Ilanthe traveling
with the Pilgrimage fleet whose nature is uncertain. If there is any way it can
be prevented from reaching the Void, I would urge you to implement it.”

“We are aware of Ilanthe. We remain vigilant for it.”

“Thank you.”

The warrior Raiel ship slid away.

“It’s fast,” Troblum said admiringly. “Faster than we are. I wonder what
kind of drive theory they have.”

Inigo put his hand on the big man’s shoulder. “When this is over, I’m
sure they’ll be delighted to give you a full tour.”

Troblum’s face produced a grimaced smile. He clearly wanted to wrench
himself away from the hand.

An awkward Inigo quickly snatched it back. His thoughts were apologetic
even though he said nothing.

Corrie-Lyn gave Aaron a shrewd look. “So now do you know what happens in
the Void?”

He grinned back as annoyingly as he could. “We’re not there yet.”

“We will be soon,” Araminta-two said. “And the Skylord knows that.”

Oscar and the Knights Guardian were brought out of suspension for the
passage itself. The cabin once again was crammed with too many people, but this
time it wasn’t so bad. This time everyone was jokey and excited, eager to see
what lay outside the fuselage, eager to be inside the obdurate, mysterious
boundary.

The
Mellanie’s Redemption
was slowing as it
approached the black wall. It dropped out of hyperspace fifteen light-years
away, the same distance the
Silverbird
had been when
the distended cone opened for it.

Radiation alerts sprang up in everyone’s exovision. Far behind them the
loop burned a dangerous burgundy as high-energy photons smashed relentlessly
through the clouds of dark mass swirling through the plane of the Gulf. All
around the starship streaks of irradiated matter swarmed in toward the boundary
like a particulate ocean with a solitary eternal tide.

Araminta-two actually looked nervous even though he was in constant
contact with the Skylord. Still entwined with the Second Dreamer’s thoughts,
Aaron could sense the great creature’s interest and expectation growing.

“Remember to ask it to pull us through somewhere close to Querencia,”
Tomansio said. “We don’t want a forty-year voyage like Justine.” He didn’t
actually give the cabin a pointed look, but everyone knew his opinion of the
starship’s reliability. Perhaps it was the proximity of the Void, but they were
now sharing quite intimately.

Araminta-two gave him a tight nod, then spoke to the Skylord. “We are here.
Please call to the nucleus; please urge it to bring us into your universe so we
may achieve fulfillment.”

“I have waited so long for this moment,” the Skylord said.

“When we come, we need to be near the solid world where humans lived.”

“There were several such worlds,” the Skylord replied.

Inigo gave Araminta-two a shocked look as her concentration faltered
briefly.

“Shit,” Tomansio muttered.

“I thought there was only one,” Oscar said out loud.

“There’s more than one?” an incredulous Corrie-Lyn said. “How many were
there?”

“It took Justine to Querencia,” Aaron said urgently. “Be specific.”

“What did she ask—” Araminta-two shook his head irritably and
concentrated again. “The world we seek is the one where a member of our species
is already waiting for us. She arrived recently. It has a city there, a city
that did not arise within the Void.”

“I know the world you seek,” the Skylord replied.

“I hope it does,” Troblum said. “Because it’s starting.”

“Will you be there?” Araminta-two asked. “I need you there to guide me.
Without your help I will never reach fulfillment.”

“I come,” the Skylord promised.

Hysradar showed them the surface of the boundary expanding at
hyperluminal speed, a great protrusion heading up directly for the starship.
Just like the planetary FTL wormhole but on an unimaginably vast scale. They
watched in silence as the smooth crown opened. Once again the glorious
undulating nebula light shone out into the wretched desolation of the Gulf,
casting a single beam of elegant luminosity across the
Mellanie’s
Redemption
.

The starship accelerated forward eagerly, passing through the small
aperture. Behind it, the boundary closed again, shutting off the pale light.
The pinnacle sank down again, merging back into the featureless surface of
infinite darkness.

“So where are we?” Aaron demanded. The starship’s visual sensors were
working perfectly, showing stars and nebulae all around. There was no sign of
the boundary.

“Working on that,” Troblum said. He was sweating profusely.

“Well, whadda you know,” Tomansio said. A cup of tea was floating in
midair, ten centimeters from his outstretched fingers. It lifted a little, then
wiggled from side to side. He grinned wildly. His mind was radiating smugness
and satisfaction for all of them to perceive.

“Oh, crap,” Corrie-Lyn exclaimed. Her mind shimmered rapidly in
everyone’s farsight, its surface luster dimming as she ponderously fought down
the exuberant emotions, shielding them from psychic perception like a mother
folding her arms protectively around a crying babe. Images and memories
persisted in flashing out: Edeard scrambling to shield his own thoughts, the
techniques he employed. After a short while the surface of her mind hardened to
an impermeable screen from which nothing leaked, not a single emotion or memory
or sensation.

There was a long minute while everyone struggled with the same technique
with varying degrees of success. No one was surprised when the two Dreamers
shielded themselves perfectly. But no matter how hard he tried, Oscar simply
couldn’t contain his ebullient thoughts; the best he could achieve was to tone
them down a bit. “This group’s Edeard,” he said ruefully. “He could never
protect himself fully. Personally, I see it as a sign of superiority to the lot
of you.”

Everyone allowed a glimmer of amusement to trickle out. Except Troblum.
His shield was darker than most, and the thoughts below were convoluted. His
emotions didn’t match anything familiar.

Aaron was satisfied with his own protection, though the others were
giving him curious looks. Their emotions were hurriedly wrapped away from
perception. “What?” he asked. His longtalk matched his voice in intensity.

“It’s like you’re at war,” Corrie-Lyn said. “Your thoughts are shining
out, yet they make no sense because they have so many contrary facets. You are
anger and conflict.”

He gave her his old concessionary grin. “But I still function.”

“So?” Tomansio asked, his inexorable curiosity infecting them all. “We’re
in the Void. What next?”

“Makkathran,” Aaron said solemnly.

Tomansio let out a growl of frustration.

Araminta-two looked at something far beyond the cabin’s bulkheads. “It’s
here,” he said in wonder.

Aaron’s farsight felt the Skylord approach, a benevolent concentration of
thoughts that intimidated through sheer size. Somehow it seemed to negate
worry, sharing satisfaction on a level that was impossible to refute.

“You are here,” it told Araminta-two.

“Part of me. The rest will follow as I bring those who seek fulfillment.”

“My kindred welcome you. They welcome those who are to join us here in
the Void.”

“Makkathran,” Aaron whispered.

“Will you guide us to the world we spoke of before?”

“Yes.”

Aaron instinctively reached out to grab hold of something and steady
himself.
Mellanie’s Redemption
was twisting around,
gravity shifting in strange swelling motions. Exoimage relays from the fuselage
cameras showed him the huge crystalline folds of the Skylord’s body rotating
spryly against the flexing ribbon of violet phosphorescence that was the Buluku
nebula. Then the stars ahead were brightening as the Skylord executed its
temporal acceleration function, and the starship was flashing toward the hot
blue light points at close to lightspeed. Behind them, the Void shifted down to
a dull carmine.

Araminta-two inhaled sharply, his hand pressing flat on his chest.

“What’s wrong?” Oscar asked him.

“It’s very weird, like I’m being torn in two. You seem fast, yet I’m not
slow, or part of me is. The Pilgrimage fleet is hardly moving until I
concentrate on it. Arrrgh. Ozziedamn, this is so strange.”

“Temporal rate difference,” Troblum said. “You are conscious on both
sides of the Void boundary, which means you’re living at two different speeds.
It will be hard to reconcile.”

“You’d better go into suspension,” Tomansio said.

“No!”

The spike of alarm from Araminta-two’s mind was enough to still them all.

“Sorry, but no,” he said. “I—this body—has to live through this. If this
me goes into suspension, that means it’ll be just her left; I’ll be out there
all alone. If they come for me with those brain infiltrator
things
, I won’t have any refuge.”

Tomansio nodded in understanding. “How far are we from Querencia?” he
asked Troblum.

“We’re heading for a star system about three light-months away,” Troblum
said. “I guess it’s Querencia.”

“Three months. Well, I suppose it’s better than three years.”

“Or thirty,” Oscar said. He was leaking sympathy and concern.

Araminta-two fumbled for his hand. “Thank you, Oscar.”

Now embarrassment was added to the emotional blend he was betraying. “I
think I’d better head straight back into suspension,” Oscar said. “Who else?”

“Us as well,” Tomansio said.

Inigo and Corrie-Lyn consulted on some unknown level. “We’ll sleep it
out,” Inigo said. “There’s nothing for me to do until we reach Makkathran. Is
there?”

“No,” Aaron confirmed. “How about you?” he asked Troblum.

“Me what?”

“Okay, then. That’s myself, Araminta-two, and Troblum staying up for the
rest of the flight.”

“I’m sure you’ll all be very happy together,” Corrie-Lyn said. Her mental
shield allowed no feeling to show through.