Bender of Worlds

by Isaac Hooke

  “But it will buy us a few seconds of confusion at least,” Tane said.

  “Yes,” Jed agreed.

  “You’re both assuming the dweller broadcast what he said he did,” Sinive chimed in. “Maybe the alien decided to tell them we’re carrying their precious Doomwielder. A betrayal like that wouldn’t surprise me.”

  “Gall wouldn’t do that,” Tane said. “He wouldn’t betray me. And you’re supposed to be sleeping.”

  “I know,” Sinive said. “G’night. It would help if you stopped talking.”

  “Gia, have we set a course for Kharikhan V yet?” Jed asked.

  “Muse, you heard the man,” Gia said. “Best speed.”

  “Setting course to Kharikhan V and accelerating,” the Mosaic’s AI said. “Best speed.”

  “Make sure to approach from the south pole,” Jed said. “Like we talked about earlier.”

  “I’m choosing an arcing trajectory that will take us below the elliptical plane of the system, coming back up again so our approach will be from the south pole, where G’allanthamas purports the blind spot in their observation centers resides,” Muse replied.

  “Excellent.” Jed glanced at Tane. “By the way, if you feel so inclined, you can connect to the ship’s mixnet now. There’s no Galnet in the Umbra.”

  “Oh yeah,” Tane said.

  So he did that, connecting to the local mixnet labeled Musenet. He half-expected to receive some hidden command embedded in the mixnet that would make him lose control of his body, but such an instruction never came.

  He made his way back to his quarters. When he arrived, he told Muse: “Notify me when we receive any gravimetric pulses in answer to Gall’s communiqué, okay?”

  “I must confirm this request with the captain,” the Mosaic’s AI said. Then: “All right.”

  Tane spent the next several hours resting in his quarters. He applied his usual moonscape environment to the compartment but wasn’t able to do more than nap. Eventually he found himself playing a relaxing mind game he had downloaded a few months ago. It involved redirecting the flows of a waterfall to guide where it would pool in various birdbaths. There was no timer or anything of the sort that would stress him out. Just the flowing water, the chirping birds, and a wind chime sounding somewhere nearby. Yes, definitely relaxing.

  At one point, Muse notified him: “I just detected gravimetric pulses coming in from the region of the system’s Oort cloud.”

  “Thank you,” Tane said.

  He glanced at the time. It had been about two and a half hours since they jumped to the system.

  Since he was connected to the local mixnet, he could reach G’allanthamas directly now, rather than routing the call through the intercom, as the dweller showed up in his contact list. He called the alien and looped in Jed.

  Both of them answered, voice only.

  “So what did the dwellers say, Gall?” Tane asked.

  “They believe me,” the dweller told him. “We have full clearance to land.”

  “Well that’s somewhat reassuring,” Tane said.

  “It is,” G’allanthamas said.

  “Thanks for the update,” Jed said gruffly. He promptly disconnected.

  Hmm. The Volur seemed in a rather unusual rush to go.

  “Before we land, I want to teach you how to close your mind off to Graaz’dhen,” G’allanthamas said. “It is a skill you need to know.”

  “Probably a good idea,” Tane said. “Should I call the others so we can all participate?”

  “No,” G’allanthamas said. “Why do you think I waited until now to bring it up? When I saw the Volur disconnect, I knew I finally had my chance. This knowledge is for you, and for you alone.”

  “So how do I do it?” He wasn’t sure if he was going to keep the knowledge to himself. Jed and Sinive deserved to know, since they would be coming with him. He made a mental note to forward a copy of the session to the two of them. The wonders of having a chip that recorded the past twenty-four hours...

  “Fill your mind with chaos,” G’allanthamas said. “When you sense the Graaz’dhen in your head, delving your thoughts, overwhelm the intruder. Summon every possible mundane memory you can think of. Every image. Every song. Every speech. In the cacophony, the Graaz’dhen will be unable to find what it is looking for. It will be unable to exert control. It is the only way to keep the intruder at bay. It’s similar to the chaos you must summon in preparation for Siphoning the Dark.”

  “Sounds easy enough,” Tane said. “You’re not Graaz’dhen, right?”

  “No, I am Amaranth alone,” G’allanthamas said.

  “But you have some ability to interface with minds, as you did when you searched Sinive’s thoughts for unconscious commands,” Tane said.

  “This is true,” the dweller said.

  “All right, I’m coming down to the cargo bay and you can try to interface with my mind, and I’ll fight you off,” Tane said.

  “It will be no contest,” G’allanthamas said. “I am nowhere near as strong as a Graaz’dhen.”

  “So there’s no point in practicing with you, you’re saying?”

  “That’s right,” the dweller said.

  “Ah well, guess I’ll learn in the field,” Tane said. “Like I always do.”

  “Are you bringing the Volur and your woman with us into the dweller city?” G’allanthamas asked.

  “Of course,” Tane said. “And she’s not my woman.”

  “Isn’t she?” the dweller said. “Then why is she so protective about you? And you her?”

  “I didn’t notice,” Tane said quickly, wanting to change the subject. “Why do you ask if they’re coming?”

  “The Volur I don’t mind,” G’allanthamas said. “He can turn himself invisible. The woman, not so much. Maintaining a blurring field around myself, you and her is taxing. If we leave her behind, I’ll have slightly more strength to help if the excretory appendage hits the fan, to quote a human expression.”

  “That’s not quite the expression,” Tane said. “And I don’t think I’m leaving her behind, I’m sorry.” He could imagine the scene she would make if he even tried.

  “It was worth the attempt,” G’allanthamas said. “Wake me when I’m needed. Until then, I will conserve my strength.”

  G’allanthamas ended the call.

  Tane sent a copy of the mind training session to Sinive and Jed, minus the comments at the end about Sinive.

  He was about to resume the waterfall-birdbath game when he had a thought: all this time, Jed had remained conspicuously absent from the compartment he supposedly shared with Tane. There was a top bunk waiting for him here, and yet he wasn’t using it. The man had hidden wellsprings of energy. Either that, or he was sleeping in the cockpit.

  Or somewhere else…

  Tane glanced at his overhead map. Since he was connected to the mixnet, he could see the locations of everyone aboard.

  Jed was in Gia’s quarters.

  Interesting.

  That explained his seeming rush to disconnect earlier. Gia hadn’t seemed in any condition to receive his affections, but then again, adrenalin-fueled lust could work wonders on a tired body. Or maybe Jed had transferred some of his stamina to her beforehand: Tane had seen him do that a few times with Lyra, for completely non-sexual purposes of course.

  He checked Sinive’s location. She remained in the cockpit. Probably fast asleep.

  He no longer felt like playing the waterfall game and dismissed it, leaving behind the moonscape of his quarters. He closed his eyes, willing the ship to reach the planet sooner. Somehow the fact that Jed was getting it on while Tane had to sleep alone in his compartment bothered him a great deal.

  As well it should. Sinive had seemingly cast him aside for no apparent reason.

  Maybe I’ll make her stay behind after all.

  Not that she would listen. Still, strangely, the thought made him smile. Just imagining the priceless look on her face was more than enough to brighten Tane’s n
ight.

  Tane was awakened by an alert. He sat up, almost hitting his head on the overhead bunk, and he swung his feet off the bed to let them dangle onto the deck. Which still looked like a moon.

  He was receiving a call from Gia.

  He accepted and her disembodied face appeared in front of him.

  “The planet is quickly coming up,” Gia said. “If you have polar coordinates, now would be a good time to give them to me.”

  Tane looped G’allanthamas into the call, voice only.

  “Gall, we need the location of the shuttle you stowed on the planet,” Tane said.

  “Are we approaching the planet from the south pole, as I asked?” G’allanthamas said.

  “We are,” Gia said.

  “Excellent, I’ll guide you to the location,” G’allanthamas said.

  “Not good enough,” Gia said. “I want the final coordinates, and our full route, now.”

  The dweller didn’t answer.

  “Did you get that, Gall?” Tane asked.

  “Yes,” the alien said.

  “Then what’s the hold-up?” Gia pressed.

  “I’m preparing the route,” G’allanthamas said. “I’ll expect you to enter the atmosphere at the south pole and immediately bring the ship as close as possible to the surface. Only then can you safely follow the path I’ve set out.”

  “That’s fine,” Gia said. “I’m waiting.”

  “Sending the full route,” the dweller sent.

  Tane transmitted the data he received to Gia.

  “We’ll want to achieve atmospheric entry while the southern hemisphere is under the cover of darkness,” G’allanthamas said.

  “We’re in luck, it’s nighttime at the south pole,” Gia said. “I got your route. Seems reasonable. And I appreciate your marking off the range of the different observation stations.”

  “If you follow my route exactly, you won’t have to worry about the range,” G’allanthamas said. “The path I laid out will weave you between the different stations. You’ll never come into view.”

  “Looks good,” Gia said. “I’ll time our approach so that it’s still night when we reach your shuttle. Captain out.”

  S’Wraathar watched the tiny ship from his hiding place behind the moon.

  It had to be the Doomwielder. The vessel had the heat signature of a dweller transport, Haulistete class. S’Wraathar had intercepted the communiqué. The occupant claimed to be a Dirac trader returning from the Outrim planets, where the kraals and the Diracs they engendered had a particularly exotic taste. The trader told the Cre’ite that tonight he was visiting relatives living in one of the small tribes on the far side of the world, while tomorrow morning he would stop by the main Cre’ite colony to offload his wares.

  It had all the outward signs of being true. The heat signature. The story about visiting the family before trading at the colony. The dweller even spoke the Cre’ite dialect of this particular colony perfectly.

  And yet S’Wraathar’s Graaz’dhen senses were on fire. Something was amiss.

  S’Wraathar knew the Doomwielder would one day return to this world. It held one of the two remaining known artifacts the first Doomwielder had left behind. Undoubtedly, there were other such artifacts out there, but no dwellers knew the locations. S’Wraathar had a second vessel hidden near the second planet; he had instructed the crew to jump here if any strange ships arrived. S’Wraathar had shared the positioning technology given to him by his patron with that ship, a technology no others of his kind possessed. With it, his ships could jump to locations in destination systems with an accuracy of plus or minus a million kilometers. That advanced technology would allow his secondary vessel to arrive behind the same moon and alert S’Wraathar without delay.

  The second site would have been the more obvious choice for the Doomwielder to visit, as no dwellers lived there. But S’Wraathar had had a hunch the Doomwielder would choose to visit this site first. Why? Because it was what S’Wraathar would do. He preferred a challenge.

  And it seemed he had chosen correctly.

  He resided on the large bridge of his main starship, Clamananthanorasalman, or Doom Killer in the language of the Hated Enemy. In the deck holes around him lurked the members of his elite personal guard, the Karthaar. He knew many of them from his war days, when he had served aboard the inter-dimensional flagship of the Cre’ite empire.

  There was otherwise no bridge crew, as the ship’s AI ran every aspect of the vessel. The Karthaar were all mentally linked to him, and gave him strength. S’Wraathar was a Graaz’dhen Amaranth, not only mind-connected to his troops, but also capable of wielding the Dark Essence. Most of his troops themselves could summon the Dark fires.

  Normally Graaz’dhen provided energy and boosts to those in the link, but not S’Wraathar. No, he took from his troops, boosting his own attributes. It wasn’t an Essence Link, of course. That was something else entirely.

  Their proximity ensured that the Graaz’dhen link remained strong, and kept him safe from assassination attempts. Not every tribe agreed the Doomwielder must die, and some were willing to kill S’Wraathar to protect their so-called savior. Though S’Wraathar did his best to weed potential assassins from his midst, inevitably he missed a few. At one point he had considered replacing his warriors with robots created by the Builders, but even machine minds could be compromised.

  He occasionally reached out and massaged the telepathic links of his crew, but it was difficult to gauge the loyalty of everyone. He sensed affection and genuine love in some of them, while in others he read only neutral, guarded thoughts. Those were the ones to be wary of. None of the latter served in his elite guard, of course.

  S’Wraathar returned his gaze to the tiny ship, and watched it close with the Cre’ite planet. A stealth drone situated near the horizon of the moon provided the video feed, ensuring his vessel wasn’t noticed by the prey. The telemetry indicated the craft was indeed traveling to the far side of the planet, just as the pilot had told the Cre’ite space traffic control. Though it seemed awfully convenient that the vessel approached from the southern pole, where there was a gap in the visual observation centers.

  How would the Doomwielder know that?

  It all made sense now. The Doomwielder had help. It was even possible one of the Cre’ite, or a bounty hunter, had captured him, and was bringing him in for the reward.

  Or perhaps it really was a trader visiting his family.

  S’Wraathar wished the stealth drone offered better resolution. Because of the angle of approach, it was simply impossible to get a visual confirmation. But if the Doomwielder had help, or had been captured, then it seemed likely he would be arriving in an actual dweller transport anyway. But then why the elaborate steps to seemingly avoid visual identification?

  It could all be coincidence.

  But S’Wraathar didn’t believe in coincidences.

  Yes, it had to be the Doomwielder. And he was definitely up to something. Perhaps he didn’t intend to visit the city at all. S’Wraathar began to wonder if there was a second artifact on that planet somewhere, one that his people didn’t know of. It seemed possible...

  Either way, S’Wraathar would emerge from hiding as soon as the tiny ship entered the atmosphere. He would have the Doom Killer maintain a relatively low vector of attack, staying close to the horizon, so that his starship remained obscured from the target even during reentry. Unless his prey managed to get access to the colony’s encrypted space traffic data, they’d never know he was coming.

  The Cre’ite wouldn’t interfere with S’Wraathar’s plans, at least not right away: they thought he was a miner.

  Once he was within range and had visual confirmation of his suspicions, he would shoot down the target vessel. With the Karthaar and the Kran—the remainder of his warriors—he would go out and finish the job, eliminating the threat to his people once and for all. It would be over quickly: he’d be off-world before the Cre’ite security forces could even respond.
/>   S’Wraathar crushed his bifurcated mandibles together.

  Doomwielder, your time has come.

  Tane lingered in the passageway just outside the cockpit compartment, since there was no room for him. Jed was crowded inside in his reduced armor, while Sinive sat on the deck in front of the Volur. Gia resided in the jump chamber. Jed and Sinive couldn’t be bothered to give up their spots to let Tane inside. He might be the World Bender, but they still treated him like Tane Ganeth, Outrimmer and Engineer, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  G’allanthamas of course remained in the cargo hold. Of them all, his situation was perhaps the worst. It must have felt like a prison cell to the alien. It was a good thing his suit provided recycling of his excretory functions, otherwise that hold would have been a pigsty by now. Then again, it probably wasn’t far removed from that state, given the condition the dweller had left his Sigma 231 room rental.

  The Mosaic had penetrated the atmosphere at the south pole only a few moments ago, and Gia had dived the ship, pulling up at the last moment to assume a cruising altitude at about a hundred meters above the rocky landscape.

  On the video feed from the nose cam, Tane could see the surface below. Or rather, the digital representation of the surface as computed by the Mosaic’s AI, as it was otherwise the pitch black of night out there. The ship was emitting a small amount of the LIDAR for guidance, like all alien vessels did—Jed and Gia had worked with G’allanthamas to ensure the emission levels matched what was expected for a dweller ship of the same size. That LIDAR, combined with the infrared imaging performed by the camera, gave Tane a good picture of the landscape below.

  For the most part, the surface appeared rocky and uneven. The terrain was painted in different shades of infrared monotones, with hillocks, hollows, ridges and outcrops outlined by the crisp, white wireframes of LIDAR. Large, blade-like spires occasionally thrust from the land, and Gia flew the Mosaic around the taller variants. Upon the left and right horizons sprawled north-south trending ridges, composed of several hundred of those spires, giving the impression, erroneous or not, that the ship was traveling down the center of a valley.