The Myst Reader (37 page)

Thus far his tests had proved one thing conclusively. Age Five was doomed. It would degenerate and be destroyed within a generation, unless he made these vital, telling changes to the book.

Lifting his glasses, he blinked, then rubbed at his eyes. He was tired, more tired than he’d been in years, yet he could not let up now. It was only ten days until the ceremony, and everything—everything—had to be ready for that time.

Pulling his glasses back down, Atrus waited. The moon would be rising soon, and then he’d know.

If he was right, Gehn had placed Age Five’s single moon well inside the synchronous orbital distance from the planet. This had the effect of increasing the planet’s tides dramatically, and, ultimately, would result in the moon being dragged into ever-lower orbits until it would finally smash into the planet’s surface. That final catastrophe would take many lifetimes, but long before that happened, the great tides generated by the moon’s ever closer orbit would destroy the island, smashing it into the surrounding sea.

He needed to push Age Five’s moon back into a stable, synchronous orbit: one where its rotation rate would be equivalent to the planet’s. What complicated the task was that he would have to achieve this in a manner that could not be directly observed.

As the light dimmed, Atrus pulled his cloak tighter about him. The air here was thin and cold, and it would be good to get back to D’ni, if only for some sleep.

He waited, watching as the sun winked then vanished beneath the edge of the horizon. Atrus turned and, pulling up his glasses, looked for the moon. He saw it at once, directly behind him in the sky, low down, the silver-blue orb huge and ominous.

Wrong
, he thought, chilled by the sight.
It’s much too close.

The tremors began at once, the tiny plateau gently vibrating, as if some machine had started up in the rock beneath his feet.

The sea was stippled now, like a sheet of black, beaten metal.

Atrus stared up at the moon. What had gone wrong? Had he written in a contradiction of some kind? Or were the changes he’d made simply the wrong ones?

Or, in his tiredness, had he mixed up the two books? Was he in the wrong Age—the Age where he had exaggerated the moon’s deteriorating orbit?

The trembling grew, became a steady shaking. There was groaning now from deep within the earth, sharp cracks, the sound of rocks falling, splashing into the sea below, while the sea itself seemed to be boiling, as if in a great cauldron.

In the distance, the land was glowing, not with the silver-blue of moonlight but a fiery orange-red.

A cold wind gusted across the plateau.

Frowning, Atrus stepped over to the edge and, lowering his glasses, increased their magnification.

That distant glow was the molten glow of magma, spewing out from deep within the fiery mantle. Out there, beneath that low and massive moon, the planet’s crust was tearing itself apart.

The noise all about him was deafening now, and the shaking was so bad that he found it hard even to stand without bracing himself. It was time to link back.

Atrus half-turned, lowering his right shoulder, meaning to slip the knapsack from his back and take the Linking Book from inside, but as he did the ground lurched violently.

Knocked from his feet, Atrus reached out blindly, grabbing a nearby outcrop, but though it stopped him sliding, it was no good, for the whole plateau was slowly tipping over, sliding inch by inch toward the sea below.

What’s more, the knapsack was trapped beneath him and when he tried to lift himself to free it, he lost his grip and began to tumble down the tilted face of the plateau.

For a moment his fingers scrabbled at the surface of the rock, and then, abruptly, he was falling through the air.

“
No
… !”

His cry was cut short as he hit the cold, dark surface of the sea.

For a moment he panicked, not knowing which way he faced, the water in turmoil all about him, and then his head breached the surface and he gasped for air.

Water splashed his face constantly now, filling his mouth and nose. He struggled not to swallow any, struggled to bring his knapsack around so he could get the book.

And then he saw it.

Directly ahead of him, its thundering crest lit almost demonically by the obscenely huge moon that seemed to ride on its back, was the wave. A huge, black wave that towered over the surrounding pinnacles of rock, smashing and splintering them as if they were nothing.

And as it came on the water all about Atrus grew still and smooth, an eery silence falling. A silence that contrasted with the great roar of the oncoming mountain of water.

For a moment Atrus forgot. For a moment he simply stared at the sight.

Then, abruptly, he snapped into action, and, scrabbling at the sack, his fingers numb from the coldness of the water, he took the Linking Book out and flicked it open.

Home
…

And even as Atrus placed his hand upon the page, the moon blinked out and the whole of the sea in which he rested seemed to lift up to join that great black wall of water, the noise so loud it made his whole skull tremble, as if at any moment it would shatter.

COMING TO HIS SENSES, ATRUS FOUND HIMSELF
lying in an exhausted heap on the cold floor of the chamber, back on D’ni, a puddle of water from his drenched clothes forming beneath his body.

The air was cool, and the silence, after that hideous destructive roar, was the most welcome sound he’d ever heard.

He let out a long breath, remembering that final moment as the wave towered over him, lifting him up into its sightless maw as if to devour him, then sat up.

Tearing off his glasses, he turned toward his desk. Catherine was sitting there in his chair, unaware of his return, her whole attention focused on the book she was reading.

“Catherine?”

She looked up, closing the book and setting it aside. Then, taking in the state of him, she quickly stood and came around the desk. “Atrus? Are you all right?”

He stood, fending her off. “I’m okay. Just a little trouble with the moon.”

“The moon?”

He waved her query aside, then, softly, “Why are you here? I thought we said it would be best if you stayed on Riven.”

“I know but …” She stopped, then went over to the desk and turned the book around to face her. “I don’t want to go back.”

“But you must. You can’t stay here.”

“I’ve been working on something,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard him. “I wanted to surprise you.”

Catherine turned and handed him the book.

Atrus stared at her, then, when she said no more, took the book over to the desk, sat and opened it. For a while he was silent, the sound of a turning page the only noise in that great chamber. Then, with a little shake of his head, he looked up.

“What is this?”

She stepped up next to him, looking down at the open pages. “I’ve written us an Age. Somewhere we can go. I’ve named it Myst.”

“But this is so different from your other Age.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No … it’s what I would have done, had I time. You …” He laughed, and covered her hand with his own. “I think you are astonishing.”

“I’ve been studying.”

Atrus looked at it again, astounded by the sudden restraint in the writing, the deep understanding of D’ni principles that surpassed even his own. He was silent for a long time.

“There are one or two final touches,” she said, breaking that silence. “But when they’re done …”

“You’ll take me there?”

Catherine smiled. “Of course. Now out of my way, I’ve work to do.”

ATRUS SAT BACK AFTER CATHERINE HAD GONE.

Whatever he felt for Catherine, whatever she might feel for him, this was far more important. If his father was allowed to triumph on Age Five, then he would triumph everywhere, for there was no end to Gehn’s ambitions. Having seen what Catherine had—through chance or design—created in her two Ages, he knew now it was possible that Gehn might yet achieve his dream of resurrecting the D’ni empire, or at least a shadow of it; of creating countless slave worlds, with himself as lord, the fate of millions subject to his will.

There was but one solution: to trap Gehn on Age Five and destroy all of the Linking Books that led out of that Age. But to do so he would have to take the risk that he, too, might be trapped there. And now that Catherine had created Myst island for them—as a sanctuary, away from Gehn—the thought of failure seemed suddenly quite hideous.

Of course, they would have to write another, separate Age—a simple, uninhabited world they might reach from Myst, one where fruit and herbs were plentiful, so they would be provided for, for her new Age was curiously lacking in such things.

Thinking of what he had read of Catherine’s latest book, he wondered briefly if she really had written it, or whether, like his father, she had copied elements of it. It was so different, after all, from her other world.

Or was that fair? After all, if she had been studying …

He shook his head, trying to clear it, to keep focused on what he had to do.

His main priority was still to stabilize the island. Once that was done, he would need to find where Gehn kept his Linking Book, for unless he knew that he could not trap him. He would have to go there and look—to search all the likely places until he found it.

And the most likely place was the cave behind the temple.

Right now, however, there were other things to do. Yawning, Atrus took the Age Five notebook from his pocket, then, pulling his journal toward him, turned it to the page on which he had written out the changes he was to make to the Age Five book, and began to write.

“ATRUS! ATRUS!”

He woke, wondering what on earth was happening. Catherine was standing over him, shaking him by the shoulders, calling his name time and time again.

“Atrus! Come on, wake up! You have to listen to me!”

He sat up, groggy, barely able to open his eyes. “What?”

“It’s Gehn … he’s moved the date forward!”

“The date?” Atrus was suddenly wide awake. “Moved it to when?”

“Three days. We’ve got three days.”

He groaned. Then it was impossible! There were still more tests to be made before the Fifth Age could be put right. And then there was the matter of Gehn’s Linking Book. Unless he could get hold of that …

“Catherine … you know where Gehn keeps his Linking Book.”

She nodded.

“Could you take me back to Riven and show me where?”

Again she hesitated, then, “What are you going to do?”

“Does my father expect to see you again before the wedding ceremony?”

Catherine shook her head.

“Good.” He looked about him at the cluttered desk. “Then we’ll take all of this to Myst. All but the Myst and Age Five books. Then I want you to stay there, Catherine. I want you to keep away from both D’ni and Riven.”

“But you’ll need help …”

Atrus looked at her sternly. “The biggest help to me will be to know that you’re safe.”

“But what are you going to do?”