Timeweb Trilogy Omnibus (111 page)

These vessels were most peculiar. Stretching his mind and peering into them, he saw that they were piloted by Hibbils, sitting inside navigation units that were unlike anything he had seen before. Surrounding the furry little men were arrays of computers and servo machines, blinking lights and panels. He saw no Parviis on board any of the ships. And in the cargo holds he found something very troubling, transport ships full of Adurian and Hibbil soldiers.

What does this mean?

With each podship that he viewed, he sensed increasing agitation, as if the creatures were sending signals to each other, warning one another about him. Gradually he felt his connection to the podships slipping, and the interiors began to flicker in and out of view. Soon he could not view the interiors at all, and the sentient spacefarers began to veer away from him, like frightened fish in a cosmic sea. Focusing his energy, Noah tried to take command of one podship, and then another, but to no avail. They sped away from him, in all directions.

As I suspected, they fear me,
he thought.
They know about the sensor-guns I recommended.

Their continuing reaction against Noah suggested to him that they had a means of sensing danger, but only at a primitive level. If they had been more intelligent, they would realize that he had actually saved many more of their kind than he killed by preventing the Mutatis from using their planet-buster weapons … weapons that destroyed podships as well as merchant prince worlds.

Breaking away, Noah found that he could expand his mind again. With a rediscovered measure of control, he tried to locate the Parvii Fold where Tesh said one hundred thousand podships were, and where he presumed that the Parviis were attempting to recover. But he could not locate the region, not in any of the sectors in the galaxy. She had told him it was in the most out of the way place, so perhaps he just needed to look harder. Discontinuing the effort for a moment, he tried to see another assemblage of podships, at the Tulyan Starcloud. He made out the milky star system, but could not get close to it, could not penetrate the powerful mindlink security veil of the Tulyans.

His mind arced involuntarily, and he sped across the galaxy, back to Canopa. To his surprise, he surged into the podship and saw Tesh inside the sectoid chamber. Somehow he had gotten past the defenses of the creature. Was that because he had been more closely associated with this one in the past than with any other? Did it trust him more?

Almost immediately, Noah sensed the uneasiness of the creature, but his own mind pressed forward, trying to overcome the resistance. He had not intended to fight her for control of the vessel, but found himself doing so anyway, without his volition. He struggled to break away and leave Tesh and the podship alone, but the more he tried, the harder another side of his psyche fought for dominance … over him, and over them.

Against the powerful mental onslaught, Tesh lost her hold and tumbled to the floor of the sectoid chamber. But she fought back ferociously, aided by the podship, and Noah was glad they did, because it seemed to him that Tesh had more of a right to control this creature than he did.

Gradually Noah found himself losing the battle, and presently he peered into the alpine dream world again, as he drifted off to slumber. The sentinel rocks were larger now, and more powerful.

They set up a defensive perimeter, letting him sleep.

As he continued dreaming, Noah found himself viewing the interior of the podship, but his hold was tenuous, with only flickering images coming to him. Tesh had just emerged from the sectoid chamber, and had switched on her magnification system. The images shifted, and abruptly Noah stood with her inside the passenger compartment, gazing at her while she glared at him. Looking down, Noah saw that his feet seemed to float in space, with swirling nebulas and speeding comets below him. He sensed the uneasiness of the podship around him, and saw the interior skin of the vessel trembling.

“My mind scanned Timeweb,” Noah said, his voice remote. “I don’t mean to be here. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“You tried to take control of this ship again,” she replied, a scolding tone.

“Not consciously. I didn’t even enter the web consciously.”

“Just as you are not here consciously now?” Tesh said.

“Yes. When I was out in space, I saw strange podships, filled with Hibbil and Adurian soldiers. The ships were piloted by Hibbils inside computerized navigation units. So strange, and troubling.”

“There is a disturbance in the web,” she said.

“Most peculiar. Thinking back now, I do not think those podships are normal. I suspect they have been created artificially, perhaps cloned for military purposes. The Hibbils and Adurians are not to be trusted.”

“You must tell Doge Anton what you saw.”

“When I awaken. So odd,” Noah repeated. “Those strange podships veered away from me and fled in fear. Even this podship does not accept me. I sense its fear.”

“I know,” she said, softly.

“Why can’t the podships understand that I don’t want to hurt them?”

“Don’t you know?” she responded. “After you recommended the establishment of pod station defense mechanisms all over the Merchant Prince Alliance, three podships were destroyed at the Canopa station. Podships, even cloned ones, know your part in the destruction of their kind. They sense it, smell it on you.”

“I know that, of course, but I only did what I had to do, because of the terrible Mutati military threat. That’s what I mean, that they should be able the sense the truth, the unavoidable actions I took.”

“On some level this podship might realize that,” Tesh said. “Perhaps that is why it permits you this close.”

As Noah touched the interior skin of the creature, it recoiled and shuddered. “This is most distressing to me,” he said.

“I understand,” she said, “and perhaps in time they will, too. I don’t blame you for the podships. You only did what you thought was necessary.”

He smiled winsomely, and saw its disarming effect on her.

“Noah, I still care about you, despite all that has occurred.” She smiled gently. “Since you have come to me in this manner, does that mean I’m your dream girl?”

“No question about that. I knew it the moment I set eyes on you, though I tried to deny it, tried to stay away from you. Look at this! I can’t seem to get away from your charms, even when I sleep.”

They drew together, and kissed.…

On the podship, Noah and Tesh had their first sexual encounter. For both of them it was astounding, but Noah wondered how it could have possibly occurred, since she was actually so tiny in her physique, a creature the size of a Human finger. Previously she had explained that the magnification system around her was so complete that it processed physical acts—in all of their intimate details—as if her body was really much larger.

But now, experiencing the spectacular sensuality with her, Noah could hardly believe it.

Chapter Eighty-Three

We have not yet seen all of the life forms that can be created in this universe.

—Tulyan Warning, a common finding of the timeseers

“I hate him as much as Francella does,” Lorenzo muttered.

He stomped around The Pleasure Palace, where robots and other workers were preparing for the evening’s gambling activities, carrying immense trays of food and setting up the finest wines and other liquors. Even with the cessation of podship travel, Lorenzo still had his valuable wines, especially old growth redicios and vintage champanas from around the galaxy, having accumulated them during his two-decade tenure as Doge. Keeping all of that was part of the deal when he abdicated. He also kept the del Velli corporate operations and his own Red Beret forces, stationed on the ground near two shuttle stations and on the orbiter.

Maintaining pace with the aged but still spry man, Pimyt moved his little legs rapidly. “It is too bad we didn’t kill him,” the Hibbil said. “Now Noah is making important political advances, aligning himself with the new Doge.”

“My foolish son Anton,” Lorenzo grumbled. “I’d disown him, but he has his own wealth now and wouldn’t care. My options are badly diminished. Why isn’t Francella keeping them apart? And what about her promise to give me access to the Office of the Doge? She must be dying. It can’t be good that we haven’t heard from her.”

“Noah still has our prisoners,” Pimyt said. “Shouldn’t we negotiate with him for their return?”

“I don’t negotiate, unless I have the upper hand. You should know that by now. You taught it to me.

“True enough, but it’s embarrassing to linger like this.”

“Hang embarrassment. It can’t be worse than our failed attack, or having to abdicate.” Lorenzo gestured with his hands as he spoke, and accidentally slammed into a tray carried by a young waitress, spilling food on all three of them and sending dishes crashing to the floor.

“Oh, excuse me, Your Magnificence!” she said.

Workers hurried to clean up the mess while the flustered woman used a towel to wipe Lorenzo’s billowing white tunic, where a crepe had soiled the fabric.

“You’re only making it worse!” he thundered. “Get away from me!”

She burst into tears and hurried away.

Kicking the tray out of his way, Lorenzo continued his angry march around the casino, ignoring the soiled white shirt and the food on his shoes.

“Do you think the Doge might attack me?” Lorenzo asked.

“Unthinkable. That would cause an uproar against him by the merchant princes.”

“Still, I want more protection up here. I want you to order more of my soldiers onto the orbiter.”

“But that would require reducing our forces at the shuttle stations, where they perform screening operations to keep undesirables from coming up here.”

“Then put in a requisition and get me more troops. Raise a stink about it.”

“Yes, Sire. Right away.”

“We’ll pay for it … or some of it… if we have to, but only as a last resort. Don’t offer anything Just make demands. I want more powerful gunships patrolling the space around us, too.”

“All right. I’ll take care of it.” As if afraid that Lorenzo would give him a longer list, the little attaché hurried away, leaving almost as rapidly as the waitress.

Pimyt would prefer to have Lorenzo still in charge of the Merchant Prince Alliance, since it gave the HibAdu Coalition more opportunities to set up their military plans. But the coded nehrcom messages he had received told him that things were going well enough anyway, with Hibbil and Adurian troops stationed strategically on merchant prince and shapeshifter worlds, ready for major, simultaneous attacks.

For his own personal safety, and for the benefit of the clandestine military operations, Pimyt did not want the orbiter to fall under attack. Conceivably, Noah Watanabe could convince Doge Anton to mount an offensive against Lorenzo. It was not likely, but he wanted to eliminate the possibility.

Purporting to operate under the authority of Lorenzo, Pimyt dispatched a priority telebeam transmission to Doge Anton, asking him to broker a peace conference between Lorenzo and Noah. The Doge Emeritus would not be pleased to learn what he was doing, but Pimyt didn’t care. It would protect the orbiter, and would give the Hibbil the additional time he needed to accomplish the goals of the Coalition.

Pimyt was stalling for time, but didn’t need very much more now. The Adurians had discovered a way to speed up the process of growing cloned podships. As a result, the fleet was expanding rapidly, and the ships were filling with troops and military materiel.

Within the hour, Pimyt received a response from Anton’s office, saying the Doge was away on important business, and would attend to the matter upon his return. There were other things as well—referred to in the communication, but not explained—that needed to be taken care of before any arrangements could be made for a peace conference.

Chapter Eighty-Four

The universe is a treasure chest filled with mysteries.

—A Saying of Lost Earth

As Tesh emerged from the sleeping quarters that she shared with female Guardians, she found Doge Anton del Velli awaiting her. He stood at the top of a stairway that led down to the cavern floor from the barracks building, with his arms folded across his chest.

“I thought we might have breakfast together,” he said.

“We can talk here,” she said, scuffing her foot on the deck. “I don’t feel like getting indigestion, with you at the table pressing me for what you want.”

“I need to get to the Tulyan Starcloud right away. It’s very important. Look, you’re the one who suggested a diplomatic mission to the Parvii Fold.”

“I suggested it to Noah, not to you. As far as I’m concerned, you’re not needed.” She paused. “In any way.”

“It isn’t going to help the situation if you and I can’t be on cordial terms. That’s the least we should do, after the feelings we shared in the past. Besides, I never did anything to hurt you. Why are you taking this attitude with me?”

“Because I sense something, that you aren’t telling me the whole truth.”

He sighed. “I just think the diplomatic mission needs to be undertaken with more preparation. I’m willing to throw my full efforts into the enterprise, and we need high-level Tulyan involvement, too. You can’t just go to the Parvii Fold with Noah Watanabe, only the two of you. Is that what you have in mind?”

“I assume he might bring some of his top Guardians, such as Subi Danvar and Thinker. I know he has others, too, who have negotiating skills.”

“Well, we need a lot more than that.”

“How much more?”

“That’s what I want to discuss with the Tulyan Elders.”

“Is military force part of your plan?”

“The Tulyans are pacifists.”

“Throughout most of their history, they were. But their mindlink attack with comets changed all of that. I’m afraid they aren’t in the right frame of mind to talk with Woldn. And Woldn isn’t going to feel favorably toward them.”

“We can’t just go to the Parvii Fold in one ship, with a few people. No matter the high office I hold, we need more of a show than that. If the Tulyans pitch in and we fill their podships with a diplomatic delegation, that will carry more weight with Woldn.”