Eternity's Mind

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Celli reached out many wooden arms with countless fingers made of green fronds. It took almost nothing to shatter the crystal terrarium dome, break apart the support beams, and knock aside the partially constructed new dome. Solimar did the same.

  The two newborn verdani treeships, with Celli and Solimar integrated as pilots, sprang free. Beneath them, the tree roots broke through the lower deck and the base of the terrarium, and the massive branches pushed upward, outward. They tore free of the chains that had bound them for far too long.

  It was glorious! In the flood of nourishing light from the Fireheart nebula, her arms and branches grew and grew. She could feel the strength pouring into the tree’s heartwood and what remained of her mortal cells, but also the energizing sunlight from the hot core stars in the nebula.

  The two new verdani ships soared out into the chaotic battlefield of Fireheart, and Celli felt exhilarated and free.

  CHAPTER

  117

  ELISA ENTURI

  Garrison’s ship was offensive in so many ways. The Prodigal Son was originally an Iswander ship that he had stolen from Sheol and used to kidnap her son. Elisa knew he didn’t possess enough weaponry even to force Lee Iswander to turn down a thermostat, yet he flew here making arrogant demands.

  She watched Iswander’s face when Garrison’s companions blithely commanded him to cease all ekti-X extraction operations. The arrogance! As if Lee Iswander hadn’t already been hammered enough? Her rage extended beyond what she saw in his expression, but she knew Iswander felt it inside his heart too. She was attuned to him. She felt for him, and she had often made the hard decisions and performed the dark tasks that he wouldn’t admit he needed.

  In the control center, Iswander stood in front of the comm screen. He scowled at Garrison. “Let me get this straight, Mr. Reeves. You flew here to demand that I shut down my operations and cease all ekti-extraction work? And everyone else in the Confederation has received the same demand, thereby cutting off the supply of stardrive fuel throughout the Spiral Arm? That’s ridiculous—how is civilization supposed to survive?”

  “Right now we’re focused on letting the universe survive,” Garrison answered in a cool voice. “We have to think bigger than one industry. Bloaters are the brain cells of a cosmic mind powerful enough to fight the Shana Rei.”

  “Preposterous,” Elisa said.

  “It’s true, Mother,” Seth said. “We saw it ourselves.” When he appeared on the screen, her heart skipped a beat. Garrison had brought her son to use him as emotional blackmail, no doubt placing him in harm’s way. There were no depths to which that man wouldn’t stoop.

  With the Prodigal Son hanging amid the bloaters, the extraction operations had ground to a halt as the workers waited to hear an answer. Alec Pannebaker moved around the control center looking flustered and confused.

  Princess Arita transmitted a harder warning. “You are still part of the Confederation, Mr. Iswander. All operations received the same command. If you wish to file a complaint with the King and Queen, you can go to Theroc.”

  “And bring Elisa with you when you do,” Orli said with an edge in her voice. “The Confederation courts want to have words with her.”

  Elisa turned to Iswander. “You can’t let them walk all over you, sir.”

  “No, Elisa. No, I can’t. They have hounded me enough already.” He pounded his fist on the comm deck and opened a channel across his ekti operations. “Attention Iswander Industries personnel. I’m giving you a clear directive to continue your work. Ignore the threats of these intruders. This is a private facility outside of Confederation jurisdiction, and my business is my own. You’ve stood with me for this long. Thank you for having faith in me a little longer.”

  Though obviously uneasy, Pannebaker nodded. “We’re with you, Chief.”

  Garrison transmitted back, “Mr. Iswander, the bloaters have to be protected. We can’t let you harm any more of them—you’re damaging Eternity’s Mind.”

  “This is my company,” Iswander shouted back, and Elisa was proud to see the emotions rising inside him. “I’m trying to provide for my people—and I have had enough. The Roamer clans have disrespected me again and again. I’ve been beaten down, yet I pulled myself back up. I have played by the rules. I have fought, and I have succeeded—only to have someone come and take it from me again. No more!” He yelled at the screen. “No matter what I do, someone finds a way to turn it against me. You cannot take everything. Do you hear me? You cannot take everything.” Sweat appeared on his forehead.

  Now Elisa grew alarmed at the intensity. Iswander was actually shaking, and she worried that he might suffer a breakdown. “You can’t take everything,” he repeated in a quieter voice.

  Elisa understood what he needed her to do. She had always understood. He didn’t just need her as his adviser and as his deputy; he needed her personal strength. He needed her to take necessary action—he always had, even though he wouldn’t admit it. Elisa had to do what he wouldn’t: that was why she was so important to him. That was why she was a part of Iswander Industries in a more intimate way than any other employee.

  Iswander hadn’t meant it when he claimed that he didn’t know what she was capable of, to pretend that he hadn’t realized what instructions he implied, when his instructions had been perfectly clear to her.

  She heard what he said now, and she knew what his heart meant. Lee Iswander demanded to be the one in control of his own fate, when too many cosmic vagaries had knocked him back and forth. He was through being pummeled. Elisa had seen it happen again and again. She had to save him. No one else could.

  She slipped away from the admin center as Garrison and his companions continued to argue over the comm, trying to make Iswander “see reason.” But they weren’t going to see reason. Elisa would make them understand just how determined Lee Iswander was, however. She would make him see just how determined he had to be. Some things could not be done by half-measures.

  Racing to the launching bay and her waiting ship, Elisa knocked workers aside, paying no attention to their surprised shouts and questions. She had the engines prepared within moments. She didn’t ask permission to launch, didn’t bother with safety checks or interlocks.

  Using the emergency-release system to open the launching-bay doors she dropped her ship out and away, and soon she was among the bloater operations: the protected clusters of nodules, the pumping stations, and the fuel-tank arrays full of stardrive fuel even though there was no current market for it.

  Elisa saw the Prodigal Son and headed straight for it.

  Garrison had brought that ship here to poke a sharp stick in her eye. He had brought Seth to flaunt the boy in front of her—but this was a necessary action, and it would be Garrison’s fault. He had dragged the boy into danger, so he would be responsible for how these next few minutes played out.

  They might claim that the nodules were living cells in a bizarre space brain, but Elisa also knew how dangerously volatile the bloaters were. And so did Garrison.

  She powered up her weapons and positioned her ship among the nearest bloaters, within clear view of the Prodigal Son. Garrison would have noticed her by now; maybe he would even guess what she intended to do. This standoff was in her control.

  Garrison transmitted, “Elisa, what are you doing?”

  “I’m doing what I have to. You forced us to this. No one is going to disgrace Lee Iswander again. No one will take these operations away from him. He will sacrifice them all, and you, before he lets that happen.”

  Orli shouted on the comm. Even Seth cried out, “Mother, what are you doing?”

  Steeling herself, Elisa broadcast on the open channels so that everyone in the extraction field, including Lee Iswander, could hear her. “You need to back away, Garrison. Withdraw and leave us alone. One blast from my jazers will ignite the bloaters. This whole cluster, all these ships, your ship, mine, and the administration hub, will go up in a flash. You know what’ll happen.”

  “
You can’t,” Orli cried. “You’d wipe us out, including yourself.”

  “And you’d kill a whole section of Eternity’s Mind,” Arita said. “You can’t do that!”

  “And I can’t let you crush Mr. Iswander again. I know what he wants.”

  “But we’re trying to stop the Shana Rei,” Garrison said.

  “I have more personal concerns than that. One shot, that’s all I need.” Elisa’s voice had a ragged edge. “I’ll do it, Garrison. You know I will.”

  Lee Iswander broke in. “Elisa, you must stop this. It isn’t what I want.”

  She just smiled and muted his transmission. She knew he didn’t mean it. Instead, she put her fingers on the firing controls.

  CHAPTER

  118

  RLINDA KETT

  Abandoning Celli and Solimar tore her heart, but as soon as the two green priests had the wental water, Rlinda seemed not to exist for them. They were absolutely certain of what they intended to do.

  She had no choice but to trust them. Rlinda had to get the hell out of there.

  Believing that the two green priests were as good as dead, she flew off, complaining about the Declan’s sluggish engines and wishing she were back in her beloved Voracious Curiosity. She accelerated away for all she was worth.

  When she looked behind her, she saw the glowing greenhouse under fire by a squadron of black robot ships. Then something wondrous happened.

  The terrarium dome shattered like a hatching egg, and two enormous verdani treeships emerged: worldtrees infused with wental water that grew into titans, spreading their boughs wide. Huge thorny branches reached out to embrace the universe.

  Three black robot ships blasted at Declan’s Glory, and Rlinda was thrown to one side. The shields vibrated as she corkscrewed into evasive action while the marauders swooped after her. As she tried to get away, the new verdani battleships were huge and exuberant, and with one sweep of their thorny boughs they smashed the robot attackers. Unhindered now, Rlinda accelerated away with a loud whoop.

  Back during the Elemental War, she had seen the hybrid treeships, some of which were still guardians in orbit around Theroc. Her heart swelled with wonder as she realized that Celli and Solimar must be inside those trees. That was how they got away! That was why Jess and Cesca had sent the wental water.

  In their verdani forms, the transformed green priests flew from the debris of the shattered terrarium, and Rlinda could sense their joy, their newfound energy. The stunted trees that had been confined for far too many years were now liberated. They could fly free, and the green priest pilots, no longer human, could imagine the places they might go. They should have soared across the Spiral Arm exploring empty spaces and unknown star systems—but now, at the moment of their birth and creation, the treeships could barely escape from the Fireheart nebula.

  The verdani battleships expanded as they flew into the sea of gases, doubling and tripling in size from the vivifying energy of the core stars. Robot vessels swirled around the verdani battleships, foolishly attacking them, but the thorny boughs struck back, smashing hundreds of robots at a time.

  Ahead of them, the other Shana Rei cloud oozed in through the ionized gas, implacable tendrils reaching for the treeships.

  Another explosion slammed against Rlinda’s shields, and the Declan’s control panels sparked. Several systems went dark, and she raced to reconfigure her backups, adding power to the front shields because the bombardment was most intense there.

  She concentrated on flying instead of gawking at giant trees, but she could not shake off her dread as the last shadow cloud encroached, swelling up to block the escape of the treeships.

  Suddenly, robot marauders closed in on Rlinda, opening fire all around. Cursing, she dodged again and again, but they kept targeting her. The shields began to fail. Her lone ship was insignificant in this nebula battlefield, but there were so many hunting robots that a swarm noticed her—and targeted her.

  She used every trick she knew, pressed every system beyond its limits, but the robots were relentless. Another hundred angular black vessels closed in. Rlinda swallowed hard. Her shields wouldn’t last much longer.

  “You don’t know who the hell you’re dealing with, bugbots,” she said. It was ridiculous defiance, but it felt good. Her left hand strayed to the capsule in her pocket for consolation and comfort. “We’ll get out of this, BeBob.” She had always wanted her ashes to fly through space with his when she died—that just might be the case here.

  BeBob had been a damn good evasive navigator himself, but Rlinda was on her own. “Wish you were here.”

  Her ship raced alongside the towering verdani treeships. They might get away together, or they might all be vaporized right here inside the nebula.

  CHAPTER

  119

  MUREE’N

  After the Mage-Imperator had nearly bled himself to death, the medical kithmen tried to save him, connecting him to Gale’nh in a desperate transfusion. Yazra’h, Nira, and Prime Designate Daro’h hovered over the dying leader, hoping Jora’h could cling to his strength, hoping the thism could save him—and, more than anything, hoping he had purged the shadows from himself.

  But Muree’n felt the danger and the darkness spreading much farther. Right now, all of the focus was on the Mage-Imperator, but she sensed another vulnerability. There were more threats just waiting to strike. Yes, the Shana Rei meant to contaminate and possess Jora’h, but they also needed to destroy anything else that might hurt them.

  Others were vulnerable.

  Muree’n knew not to let down her guard. The shadows had already converted numerous Ildirans into mindless killers. She had seen what they could do. The mobs had tried to kill Nira, Prince Reynald, Anton Colicos, and many more. More than once, they had attempted to slaughter the misbreeds, who remained unprotected.

  Mungl’eh had sung her enchanting song, and when the rest of the misbreeds added their unusual thism, they had been turned into a powerful weapon. Muree’n realized that the misbreeds were more than they seemed—not disappointments, but unexpected resources. And when Mungl’eh’s heart-wrenching voice had resonated through the cosmos, that power awakened something … something powerful and wonderful.

  Muree’n wouldn’t abandon the misbreeds now. They might be at risk, even now.

  As the Mage-Imperator received his lifesaving transfusion and the guard kithmen, bureaucrats, and doctors were focused on him, Muree’n left the Mage-Imperator in good hands and ran to defend the misbreeds—in case they needed it.

  Shawn Fennis and Chiar’h were with them, both distraught and tense. Chiar’h’s face and arms were covered with medical bindings from the slashes she had suffered in the previous attack. On guard, she and Fennis held makeshift weapons, just in case. Muree’n doubted they knew how to use them, but the two were clearly ready to fight to the death, regardless.

  The surviving misbreeds huddled in a protected recovery chamber with soft beds and bright, restorative lighting. Ildiran guard kithmen stood outside the room, but Fennis had refused to let them come close.

  Muree’n, though, was different. She entered the chamber and said, “I will do my best to protect you.”

  “Will that be enough?” Fennis asked.

  She grasped her crystal katana. “It is all that I can give.”

  Chiar’h nodded with visible relief. “That may well be sufficient.”

  Mungl’eh lay back with her flipper arms raised. Her mouth was open, and her torso inflated as she drew a deep breath to sing. She produced another beautiful melody that vibrated the walls and drew the misbreeds together, pulling them, uniting them. Strengthening them.

  Gor’ka and Har’lc added their synergy, and her singing became louder.

  Muree’n’s heart felt lighter. Her pulse raced, and she experienced a new emotion alongside the dark determination that had filled her for a very long time. It was hope. It was the melody of possibilities. It was the energetic song of a future with no boundaries. And when the son
g was over, the misbreeds heaved a sigh and settled down.

  Muree’n steeled herself to be alert, to be protective.

  The misbreeds blinked, and in unison they turned to Fennis and Chiar’h, then to Muree’n. “We wish Tamo’l were with us. But she’s gone now.”

  “We could sense her before on a faraway planet,” said Gor’ka. “But the Shana Rei have her now.”

  Har’lc said, “She is swallowed up in a black nightmare, trapped and drowning.”

  “I have sensed my sister, too,” Muree’n said. “And Rod’h. They are together. Perhaps we can find a way to rescue them.”

  “No, nobody can,” said Gor’ka. “We’ve called for her with all we possess, and we have touched her mind. She and Rod’h are both still alive.”

  Har’lc said, “They are fighting together, searching for a way to free themselves. Even here, at such a distance, we can pool our thoughts to give them strength, to give them hope, to beg them to rejoin us.”

  “I would fight along with them,” Muree’n said. “And with you. Can I help?”

  “You can join us,” said Mungl’eh. “We don’t know if there is a way, but we are trying.”

  “We are all trying,” said Gor’ka.

  Muree’n took a step in among the misbreeds and closed her eyes. She reached out, not just with her thism but with her tight sibling connection. “If there is a way for me to help Tamo’l and Rod’h, then I will do so.”

  “None of us knows,” said Har’lc, “but we all try.”

  CHAPTER

  120

  MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H

  When he woke, the Mage-Imperator felt disoriented—yet strong. Surprisingly strong! His heart was beating, his thoughts were racing, and his pulse had a power that he hadn’t felt in a long time. An energy surged through his bloodstream, a clean vibrancy that he could barely remember—and he realized with a sharp intake of breath that he did not feel the shadows inside, not anymore. His blood was clean, the thism was pure. All the entangled strands were under his control again.