Theatre of the Gods (66 page)

And in that instant Misfortune’s Queen was happy. Just for the
briefest flutter of a butterfly’s wing. They heard footsteps approaching. Barrio withdrew his hand, and in an instant was a drooling gimp again. An aide appeared at her doorway.

‘Your sisters have drunk a poison and are dead.’

‘Thank you. That will be all.’

The aide left.

‘A poison? So their master chose to show them mercy. Surprising.’

She smiled as she heard the aide’s footsteps caress the marble floor. Now her own plan could be put into action. She would rule all and none would stop her.

It was good to be the Queen.

EPILOGUE

Captain Lambestyo stood beneath the black hulk set upon the shore. The silver beach stretched into the distance, a narrow jungle shore beneath a sky that was almost a solid mass of stars. The hulk was a skeleton of an ancient ship, a wooden ship, probably a merchant ship. Its timber was rotten and eaten through by worms, its sails and heraldry were the gently wafting webs of spiders. Around the hulk hung the skeletons of long-forgotten sailors, watching for ever the eternal motions of the stars. Around the hulk were the bones of a giant sea creature. It had its many tentacles wrapped around the hull, and you could see where the wooden decks had splintered in its grip. The vessel and its monster must have died together, thought the captain. The ship was called the
Nemesis
.

Captain Lambestyo was surprised to be where he was. Minutes ago he had been sitting in his capsule. He had not moved for days. He no longer slept. The boredom had turned his thoughts to lazy tickles at the back of his skull. He had taken the gift that Lenore had forced into his hand as he was led away and held it lightly in one hand. It was strange that in all the time he’d been there he hadn’t thought to look at it. Now that he did he was struck by what an unusual charm it was: a starfish. He noticed that the creature wasn’t a fossil. It was just an ordinary starfish, but the more he looked into it the more he saw: the way it sparkled faintly, as if covered in fine sand. The way it seemed to change colour in the moonlight, and
even in time with the rhythm of the sound of the waves. The waves?

And that was how he came to find himself standing on the beach beneath the wreck of the
Nemesis
and its doomed leviathan.

He knew he was dreaming. Thought he might be dreaming. This was a lot like a dream, although he never dreamed himself. He stooped to scoop up a handful of wet sand and plucked out a coin. It had a picture of an explorer on one side, a constellation of four stars on the other, and it had been rubbed smooth by the sand. He pinged it with his thumb and watched it sparkle in the starlight. Then he pocketed the coin and wandered off along the beach. His boots sank deep into the sand. Presently he came upon a sign placed at the edge of the jungle. It said ‘This Way’ and an arrow pointed up a narrow path. He saw no option but to obey. And up he went: the steep path, the wet jungle leaves sticking to his face, and the peaceful bird calls from within. As he became lost in the darkness he found the path lit by glow-worms and he climbed ever higher over thick jungle roots and sleeping lizards.

At last he reached the top of the ridge where he discovered another sign: ‘Not Much Further’. Through the trees he could see the very top of a volcanic peak. He started down the steep path, slipping and sliding as he went, and soon he emerged on another beach, much like the one he’d left, but wider and fringed against the jungle edge by rocky shelves, and on those rocks were countless gleaming starfish.

The captain realised then that he was still holding his starfish. He took it to the nearest shelf and placed it on the reddish rock, and as he did the creature came to life, flexed its five arms and moulded itself to the rock, and every starfish there seemed to give a little shiver of welcome. ‘OK then,’ said the captain. Then he saw a figure in the distance, walking down the beach towards him. Not walking fast, but strolling, ambling, and every now and again taking a moment to gaze up at the stars. It took ten minutes for the figure to arrive, and as he came near the captain saw that it was a man. This man wore a high-necked woollen sweater, the kind often worn by sailors,
and he had longish dark hair neatly parted to the side. When the stranger arrived he said, ‘Hello, my friend, my name is Carl.’

*

‘We cannot use language because we have no voice boxes. That’s why I’ve been designed to speak for us.’ Carl gestured to the starfish scattered on the rocks.

‘Are you real?’

‘Real is a strange word. It doesn’t really belong here. My physical presence is a thought image projected directly into your mind by all of us. Isn’t that a blast?’

‘A blast?’ The captain didn’t understand.

‘Yes, but what I say to you is all real. It is our collective thoughts, the thoughts of my species, which you see all around you.’

‘The starfish?’

‘We don’t really call ourselves that, although we do find it tender.’

They wandered together along the bay where the sand crackled with the pieces of a billion shells. The volcano rose to dominate the sky and it burned white as ash.

‘Why am I here?’

‘The why is an interesting question. None of us can truly know why we are here. You came here with our friend, the one you put back on the rock. That’s how we move around – we need vessels, just like you. You were the vessel that brought our friend home, and we’re glad to see her. Her adventures have taught us a lot about the physical dimensions.’

‘I have to help my friends.’

‘Your friends?’

‘Yes. I don’t know what has happened to them.’

‘I’m afraid the situation isn’t good.’

‘No?’

‘No. They’re in a terrible situation. I’m afraid even you can’t help
them now. You’re too late.’

‘But they need me.’

‘It’s interesting that you’ve come to think of them as friends now. You didn’t start that way.’

‘No.’

‘And now that you think that way it’s far too late.’

‘Yes.’

‘And isn’t that always the way?’

‘Yes.’

‘Sometimes, to do the most good you have to do nothing. Be patient. It’s not your strongest suit, I know.’

They wandered past the head of a path at which stood another sign: ‘Volcano Open 10am to 7pm’.

‘It might interest you to know that we are the oldest species in this universe, and that we have been explorers for billions of years. We are Immortals. We can travel between dimensions as easily as you can wander down this beach. We’ve existed so long, and seen so much, that we are now part consciousness. Does that word mean anything to you? Consciousness?’

‘No.’

‘It will. We’ve seen the rise of every species, and the fall of most. We’ve learned to communicate with your species through letters and psychic projections. We were surprised when you learned to travel between dimensions. This was never intended to happen. We plan all our activities with great care, because whenever something enters another universe, as you know, something in that universe has to leave.’

‘I actually did not know that.’

‘You didn’t?’

‘No.’

‘Well I never. That’s cool. We work hard to make sure that when we enter another universe there’s someone waiting to leave. In that way the natural order is preserved. It’s complicated. Anyway, you
are the only other species to travel between universes. But you’re doing it all wrong.’

‘We are?’

‘Oh yes. And now some of your most powerful business people are signing pacts with devils. Worse than devils. Your species is inviting forces into the mechanical dimensions that they just can’t control.’

‘Sorry.’

‘That’s cool. It’s not specifically your fault. You’ve come a long way in a short time.’

‘How many miles?’

‘Oh, distance is not an issue. It’s what you learn along the way. You’ve learned more just walking down this beach than you have on all your adventures, isn’t that true?’

‘I suppose it is.’ They gazed up at the stars for a while.

‘This is a grand show, isn’t it? This all might seem to be about something, but it isn’t. This is a show about nothing.’

‘Nothing?’

‘Nothing. We have been here for countless billions of years, living in the seas of moons and planets, roaming the universe on the hulls of ships, or just floating through space. In that time we haven’t built anything, or owned anything, but we have absorbed most of the knowledge the Infiniverse has created. Yet in the grandest scheme of all things we are still nothing. Any more questions?’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

Carl laughed, a great and burbling laugh. ‘Great question! We want to make
you
a business deal.’

‘A business deal?’

‘Exactly. As I said, some of your enemies have made a pact with a powerful monster. The pact can only lead to our destruction. We’ve been working with the Xo and their secret agency, Dark Hand, in return for showing them certain secrets. We want to offer you the same deal. You work with us to stop this Master Plan, we work with you.’

‘And I’d get treasures?’

This time Carl’s laugh broke like a wave upon the beach. ‘Oh, you kill me, you really do.’

‘I … what?’

‘You will certainly get treasures, only they’ll be treasures of consciousness, not of the purse.’

‘Oh.’

‘But those are the best kind of treasures. Things have made you sad. We want to make you happy again. We want you to become one of our pilots. It’s a new idea we just had – like, only about four million years ago.’

‘Sure.’

‘If you agree, then we’ll teach you to be a real traveller, and you’ll get to travel all over, see all kinds of crazy things, so long as you do as we say. If you follow our teachings you’ll be able to go anywhere, see anything. But the first part of the journey is the longest, with many difficult obstacles, and you’ll have to make it without even leaving this beach. Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known. Are you with us?’

‘Well. OK.’

‘OK then. The first question is: what is a sound that makes no sound?’

And by the time Captain Lambestyo had thought of an answer and opened his eyes, the sun was rising.

Stay calm. Breathe deeply and relax. Picture yourself in a calm and relaxing place away from whatever it is that is making you tense. Find your ‘space’. The universe is mostly space, but it is often full, especially in the busy season.

Picture yourself floating peacefully in a bath of soothing water. There are bubbles in this bath. Perhaps. In any event it is very soothing. Now imagine yourself floating out, away from your cares and worries, away from the struggles of everyday life, away from your house, your street, your neighbourhood. You are perfectly calm and surrounded by a ball of blue light. Focus on this light and let it surround your whole body. You are floating up above the earth, above the clouds, you are floating out into space, surrounded by this peaceful and not at all dreadful blue light. Now you find yourself floating through the heavens, past stars and planets and comets. There is nothing here that can hurt you. You are totally relaxed. You float outward, outward, past a nebula shaped like a happy kitten perhaps. Unless you are afraid of kittens. You should not be afraid of kittens. Of all the creatures in the universe to be afraid of, the kitten should not be the main one. They cannot even hold a gun! Imagine. A kitten trying to hold a gun in its tiny paws. Is that not adorable?

You are completely relaxed. The kittens cannot harm you now. You are floating out beyond your galaxy, which holds some several
trillion suns, and you can see your local group: the cluster of galaxies which comprise your cosmic neighbourhood. And you are floating away from them. You are completely relaxed. Your body is completely relaxed. Now you are floating far away from these galaxies and out into deep, deep space. Here there is nothing. There is no light, no matter, no heat, no radiation. This is what most of the universe is like. You thought it was all full of stuff, the universe, and it is, so long as you are looking at it from within a galaxy, which is thick with stars, planets, moons and space-kittens. But if you leave your home, leave your planet or floating city, travel for billions of miles into deepest, darkest space, as you are now, the empty void between the galaxies, you’ll suddenly no longer be able to see anything. Not a thing. You’ll be floating in a darkness so empty and silent that with your naked eye you won’t even be able to see the faintest glow from your nearest star. You’ll find yourself drifting, utterly alone, unable to know even which way is up, and which is down. In such a position you might have cause to cry: ‘This is not my beautiful universe!’ And you might think to yourself: ‘How did I get here?’ Which is a very, very good question.

But you are relaxed, you are safe, you are safe within your peaceful ball of blue enveloping light. You are bathed in a tiny sea of tranquil light. You are sleeping, comfortably, and dreaming only happy dreams. You are dozing peacefully within your ball of light, in deepest space, in an ocean of nothing, in the arms of sweet mercy. All the things that make you afraid are gone. You are a sleepwalker in a sea of tranquillity. And when you wake you will know your true self.