Synthesis

by Rexx Deane

  ‘You will need to repair the ruptured conduit under the ship before tackling the generator,’ the cube said. ‘The power failure alert indicated the supply from the reactor was compromised. The shield will not function correctly without it.’

  He threw his multi-tool to the floor and leaned against the wall. ‘I know.’ He dropped the cube and slid down into a sitting position. Hugging the transparent prosthetic legs provided no comfort; he buried his head in his hands.

  ‘I’m going to have to use the cargomech to lift the ship.’

  Chapter 26

  Shafts of sunlight came thinly through the leaves of the bush around Sebastian as he woke; the air was cold on his face. He rolled over.

  Tolinar still sat cross-legged, eyes open. ‘We are to move onward,’ he said.

  Sebastian crawled out of the shelter and, as he stood up to stretch, several vertebrae cracked in their usual fashion.

  Tolinar peered out from the bush. ‘Are you broken?’

  ‘No, it’s normal. Aryx keeps telling me off about my posture. Gods, I hope he’s alright. Where’s Shiliri?’

  ‘Shiliri has gone ahead to the Hesperidium to advise them of our approach and will be back soon. We are to make our way there.’ Tolinar stepped out from the shelter and made his way towards the Cambium.

  Sebastian finished stretching and followed. He licked his lips. ‘Is there water nearby?’ While the Cambium fruit had staved off his thirst for the last few hours, it was now returning with a vengeance.

  ‘There is a stream a few miles away,’ Tolinar said, reaching for a tendril that hung from a nearby tree. ‘But this will provide you with sufficient water for the time being.’

  Leaves rustled high above in the canopy, shifting like they had on the bush. With a quiet pattering, a rivulet of water dribbled down the tendril and trickled off the end.

  Tolinar held it out. ‘Drink.’

  Sebastian tipped his head back and crouched beneath the vine. It was the purest, freshest water he’d ever tasted; after a couple of mouthfuls his thirst was quenched. He opened the valve on his N-suit and topped up the reservoir. While he filled it, his thoughts drifted back to the walk through the cliff.

  ‘The tunnels we came through, were they built by your people?’

  ‘No. They are very old. We think they are remnants of an ancient civilisation that existed long before the Folians became sentient.’

  He finished filling the suit and headed towards the Cambium. ‘Were they magic users, too?’

  ‘We do not know. We have found little evidence of them except the sparsest of ruins. A stone here and there, occasionally tunnels and worn steps. Of the people, we have found no trace, even on our travels using the living ships. We do not know if we would understand their artefacts if we came across them, as neither Folian nor Karrikin use technology, such as you know it, and have little understanding of machinery.’

  ‘So, you use thaumaturgy instead of technology. How exactly does it work?’

  Tolinar stopped and turned to face him. ‘Karrikin do not use thaumaturgy. Folians do. They taught Duggan Simmons the art, and we understand it was a complex concept for him to grasp. We were not directly involved, but you may ask Shiliri.’

  As though summoned by the subject of conversation, Shiliri’s half-voice, half-thought whispered through the trees. ‘The Hesperidium await your arrival.’ Her face appeared in a nearby trunk. ‘What would you like to ask me, dear Sebastian?’

  ‘I was asking about thaumaturgy – magic – and how it works, how Duggan was taught.’

  Shiliri drifted away and the pair followed. ‘To convey a full understanding now would take too much time. However, I can describe how Duggan explained his interpretation. He believed that part of the catalyst, what you call carbyne, exists in another plane of space. A plane of space that minds touch when they use the art. Our people are constantly in contact with it.

  ‘We experience the universe as a complex weave, and we manipulate the threads that run through it. Other races treat the fabric of the universe as a sheet of cloth, cutting and stitching it together into new shapes using technology, but we manipulate the threads of the universe directly, forming that cloth into smooth, seamless shapes. That is the essence of what you call magic.’

  ‘But how is it done? What’s the process?’ There had to be some logic, some cause and effect he could understand.

  ‘The will of the caster manipulates the carbyne in the weave before manifesting in this plane of space. It is difficult to alter existing physical matter without intimate knowledge of its structure. It is far easier to manipulate the fabric of space to conjure and transfer energy. As to the process … We feel the weave and intone sound to bring manifestation into being, but Duggan had to be more proactive. He believed intuition was the only way to discover what is required for a given effect. An image, a sound and the will to direct are the key requirements. He discovered images and sounds by meditating and using gestures. As one cannot know what he experienced, it would be best for you to ask him, should you wish to learn.’

  ‘Can anyone do it?’

  ‘It is not unreasonable to assume so,’ Shiliri said, ‘but in practice, it takes a certain pattern of thought. The practitioner needs to be able to focus on many things, but also have a unique perspective.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘You must be able to let go of the concepts of past, present and future, and understand the true nature of the universe and how all things are connected …’ Shiliri paused, as though waiting for acknowledgement of understanding.

  Sebastian nodded, glad to listen as he walked while she flitted from tree to tree. ‘Go on.’

  ‘You must understand that there is no such thing as time. There is no way of returning to what has been, and whilst future events may be predicted by calculation, it is important to remember that they do not already exist.’

  ‘But we’ve been able to detect that time passes differently in relation to gravity!’

  ‘This is just the effect that gravity has upon the motion of things. Time is simply a perceived effect of motion. If nothing moved in the universe, time would not exist – even your ancient philosophers realised this.’

  ‘Isn’t that like our riddle of “if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it—” ’ He immediately regretted the analogy.

  ‘There is still sound,’ Shiliri said, apparently unfazed. ‘Even without an observer, the air still moves. There is still sound. If there is no air to move, there is no sound. It is the same with time. Your timing technology, as far as we understand it, measures the vibrations of crystals or atomic decay. Entropy. These are physical processes, affected by gravity, as is all matter. Speed also affects the motion, and this is why ships that travel close to lightspeed experience very little time, whilst it passes normally to those observing it.’

  ‘I think I get it.’ So much of it was basic physics, and for a people without technology, they certainly had a good handle on it.

  ‘Yes, I believe you do. The second part of mastery is to unshackle your mind from the idea of beginnings and endings. The universe is eternal—’

  ‘Wait a minute!’

  ‘Energy cannot be created or destroyed, is that not correct?’

  ‘As far as I know.’

  ‘And matter is energy. The big bang, as your scientists call it, was simply the energy in the universe condensing into matter and expanding in an explosion. Eventually, the energy held in matter will be released through entropy, and the cycle will begin anew. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it will always exist, and has therefore always existed.’

  Sebastian leaned against a tree. ‘I’d never thought of that …’ It was like someone had placed a wedge against his skull and driven it home with an acceleration node, leaving the halves of his brain on opposite sides of the galaxy. At length, he said, ‘I can’t get my head around it.’

  ‘Do not be disheartened. Duggan was unable to grasp the concept i
mmediately, even though he saw the logic of it.’

  ‘What about the one that came with him? William.’

  ‘I do not know whether Duggan taught him. He remained outside our influence, in the caves near their ship. We do not know why he left Duggan behind.’

  ‘We found a diary in Chopwood that might explain it. The medic wondered whether he had some kind of virus. Apparently, he went a bit mad when he got back there.’

  ‘There are no viruses on our world. We could attempt to divine the cause, if it is important to you.’

  ‘No, it’s fine. I know the cost to you is high, and my concern is the explosion on Tenebrae.’

  The avenue abruptly ended at a large lake with a wooded island in the centre.

  ‘The Hesperidium is separated from the rest of the forest to protect it from fire,’ Shiliri said. ‘It is precious to us, and we cannot afford to lose it. It holds our most ancient host trees. The original consciousnesses are gone, but it remains our most potent place of power. We use it as a meeting place for our council.’

  Sebastian’s stomach quivered as he bowed. ‘Thank you for trusting me enough to bring me here … Do you think your people will be able to help me?’

  ‘If we can convince them, they will tap into the memory of the weave. The universe remembers its experiences and you will have a strong connection to those memories due to your proximity to the events that took place. Those memories will be channelled into you.’

  ‘What will happen?’

  ‘You will have a vision, similar to the one I showed you last night, but you will see only the living beings involved. Your subconscious mind will clothe them and process the memories in its own way. Sadly, there is little that can be done to obtain truly objective information in this way.’ Shiliri stopped at the tree closest to the pond. ‘We allow only one non-Folian at a time. Tolinar is not permitted to enter the Hesperidium with us and will wait here. I will meet you at the tree in the centre of the island. The water is shallow enough to cross.’

  Sebastian walked down the leafy shore into the knee-deep water.

  ‘May you be successful,’ Tolinar called, holding up a hand.

  Sebastian smiled weakly and waved. ‘I hope so,’ he said quietly.

  ***

  Aryx tightened the last few bolts and stood back to admire his handiwork. In a different light, as a feat of engineering, the cargomech would have been a thing of beauty: Its bright yellow headless industrial body stood eight feet tall. Its hydraulic arms terminated in grippers that resembled the prongs of a forklift truck, and the legs rested on large triangular caterpillar-tracked rollers. It loomed over him like some terrifying robot from an old science-fiction movie. He should never have put it together.

  He activated the mech’s remote connection on his infoslate, and the display changed to a view from the front and rear of the mech, along with controls to drive and manipulate the arms. The startup diagnostic gave the all clear. He stuffed his pockets with tools and spare parts and headed down the ramp out of the hold.

  As he slid his fingers over the infoslate, the cargomech trundled out of the ship towards him but, as it rolled off the ramp, it pitched forwards, landing face down inches from his glowing feet. He wiped his brow; it was starting to look like a really bad idea.

  He slid his thumbs up the infoslate and the mech’s arms extended, lifting it up from the floor in a press-up. With a swipe up the centre of the screen, the caterpillar tracks turned and the arms ploughed into the soil. He eased off to allow the cargomech to right itself, and drove it ahead of him as he rounded the starboard side of the ship.

  ‘It would be more efficient to allow me to control the machine,’ the cube said from his thigh pocket.

  ‘I’ll decline, if you don’t mind.’

  The cube remained silent. Had it finally realised sarcasm wasn’t appropriate?

  Aryx stopped the cargomech at the bow of the ship: the highest point off the ground and the ideal place from which to lift. ‘Ultima Thule, retract thrusters,’ he said. They’d only get in the way.

  The ship complied, and the enormous Dyson hoops swung overhead, hinging at the bow and stern quarters until they had folded into the hull at the midsection. Using the mech’s arms, Aryx raised the ship, leaving plenty of room in case of a mechanical failure.

  The Ultima creaked as the robot strained, exposing the damaged area of hull beneath. Smoke billowed out, making Aryx’s eyes water. He ran back into the ship and grabbed a fire extinguisher and emptied it in the direction of the smoke until it stopped. A panel had been torn from the underside of the hull, exposing conduits and wiring.

  ‘I’ll need to get in there to check it out.’ He crawled under the ship, taking the infoslate with him. Halfway to the panel the mobipack collided with the hull and a wave of nausea washed over him. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. Pressing a button on the harness, he deactivated the prosthetics and unstrapped the pack. The grass stubble scraped his arms as he crawled along and the cube stuck in his thigh; he placed it on the ground and continued to the panel.

  ‘It’s fine, Aryx,’ he said, rolling onto his back and glancing at the cargomech. ‘It’s not computer controlled. It’s just standing there.’

  He shuffled closer to the panel; it was torn almost along its full length, where a rock must have caught the underside. Several wires sparked, but the engines were off, so they’d be low-power, auxiliary systems.

  He wedged one of the CFD tools in behind the trailing edge of the panel and pulled. It popped off easily and wires draped out from the cavity, several sparking where they touched. Of the six energy conduits, four had fractures that could be fixed with a plasma welder. The wiring might be a little fiddlier, but well within his ability to fix with the tools at hand.

  ‘Once I’ve rewired this and fixed the conduits,’ he said, ‘I should be able to use the thrusters to lift off and get the landing struts down.’

  There was no reply from the cube.

  ‘You ignoring me?’ He separated the wires and started stripping the melted ends with his tools, trying not to get electrocuted while he teased out a particularly delicate bundle of wires.

  ‘Aryx, the sensors on the cargomech are picking up vibrations.’

  ‘What—? Ouch! … I thought I told you I didn’t want you interacting with it.’

  ‘I apologise. Your instructions did not explicitly disallow me from connecting to it – you simply told me that you did not want me to control it. I thought it would be prudent to monitor the situation using its cameras because my current view is obstructed.’

  ‘Well, I don’t want you manipulating it.’

  ‘Very well, but the vibrations are getting stronger.’

  ‘Is it a quake? The last thing I want is this falling on me.’

  ‘I am not in optimal position to identify the source, however the cargomech may be able to see it, if it gets closer to us.’

  Aryx began attaching jump-wires to those he’d separated from the main bundle.

  ‘There is movement in the cameras.’

  ‘What is it? Can you see?’

  ‘My initial “guess” is the predatory creature we saw earlier. The wind may have allowed it to detect your scent.’

  ‘Crap! How far?’ A prickle of sweat broke out down his back.

  ‘One thousand metres and approaching rapidly.’

  ‘I have to get out.’ He dropped the tools and shuffled backwards towards the mech.

  ‘There is not enough time. It will be here before you can get from underneath the ship.’

  Panic rose into his throat and he nearly choked on it. ‘I have to get out. Now!’

  ‘There is no time, Aryx. Let me take control of the cargomech.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘You must, Aryx. There is no other choice.’

  ‘I’m afraid!’

  ‘Trust me. I can protect you.’

  It was impossible to think through the fog of terror. ‘How will I support the ship? You c
an’t just let go!’

  ‘I do not intend to. I have configured your pack to create two support struts, but you must move it into position.’

  Now it was clear: lose prejudice, or die. Let go of the past, or have no future.

  ‘Do it!’

  Two square columns with flared ends coalesced either side of the mobipack, propping it up at an angle. The creature was closing in, and the ground rumbled beneath its approach as Aryx crawled to the pack.

  Six powerful legs propelled the solid, leathery hide-covered body and a thick tail trailed behind. The massive four-eyed head carried sharp forward-pointing horns. Horns pointing straight at him.

  Without legs to counterbalance himself, Aryx struggled to lift the mobipack high enough to get the struts upright. His panic took him beyond pain, and his elbows stained the golden grass red as he wrestled the pack into position.

  The creature was only metres away.

  ‘Now!’ he shouted.

  The cargomech dropped the ship.

  Chapter 27

  The small wooded island rose from the misty lake like something from an Arthurian legend. Soft soil gave easily underfoot as Sebastian stepped out of the shallow water onto the bank and the earthy aroma of damp and rotting leaves drifted on the gentle breeze.

  At the top of the slope the trees grew closer together, forming a dense patch of forest. He made his way to the centre where a circular clearing twenty metres across held an inner ring of tall, widely spaced trees. Gnarled oaks stood side-by-side with bristle-cone pines, birches and even fruit trees. A smaller tree stood at the centre, alone, its low-hanging boughs almost submissive.

  Sebastian walked into the clearing, where the ground was flat and smooth, with only a few leaves blowing across it in the gentle morning wind. It reminded him of the dead wood from the day before. Countless Karrikin feet had probably packed the earth solid over centuries.

  He imagined this was a parliament, with the tree at the centre acting as a podium from where visiting Folians could petition the Hesperidium. He walked up to it and touched the bark.