Eternity's End

by Jeffrey Carver

  "What do you mean you brought—"

  YZ/I waved a hand in the air. "Our contacts with the Narseil indicated an interest in communication."

  The underground. Legroeder swallowed, not speaking.

  "We had things to talk about—but we couldn't be too obvious about it." YZ/I nodded to Tracy-Ace. "We have appearances to maintain. Very important. Power structures and so on."

  Lanyard. The Ruling Cabinet.

  "But you sent out... I mean, your ship tried to destroy us," Legroeder protested. "Destroy the Narseil."

  YZ/I's breath hissed between his teeth. "That idiot, Te'Gunderlach. If he hadn't been killed in the fight, I'd do it myself. He was ordered to find you. Capture you. Not kill you. That's why Freem'n Deutsch was programmed to—"

  "Deutsch? Programmed?"

  "Must you interrupt? It didn't work. Deutsch was supposed to get a priority override if the captain got carried away." YZ/I shook his head. "Damn augments are probably what drove Te'Gunderlach berserk, and by then Deutsch's override was too little, too late. Fortunately, you made it here nevertheless—so everything worked out—"

  "Not for the dead people we left behind," Legroeder interrupted.

  "That is true," YZ/I said flatly. "I do not like losing ships or crew."

  I wasn't thinking of your crew.

  "In any case," YZ/I said, steepling his fingers, "due credit to you for a well-executed infiltration. We must guard our perimeter better, in the future. We had no idea that Flechette was being flown by you and the Narseil. But you came—wisely probing through the intelnet, and you triggered one of our signal points—and so we made contact. And here we are." YZ/I spread his hands.

  Legroeder took a moment to absorb it all. There seemed no point in further denial. He exhaled slowly. "What about the—" he hesitated, struggling to say the word, "underground?"

  White light rippled up YZ/I's shoulders and neck. He puffed from the cigar. "As I said—here we are."

  Legroeder's mouth opened, closed. "You?"

  YZ/I extended his hands. "Us. The underground—such as it is. Ready to undertake change for the betterment of the Republic, and so on. But—" he cautioned "—not too publicly. There are people—" and for an instant, the monitors behind him filled with faces; one of them was Lanyard "—who might regard this as sedition, and use it as a pretext for attempting to seize power." YZ/I raised his chin. "Question. Are you ready to talk?"

  Legroeder let his breath out, stunned. He glanced at Tracy-Ace; in her eyes there was only serious business, no sign of the playful lover. "Why did—you wait so long?" he stammered finally. "Why didn't you talk to me right away? Why are the Narseil down there in jail, while I'm—?" He didn't finish the question.

  YZ/I's face flickered. "Do you feel that the Narseil are being mistreated, after what you've seen elsewhere?"

  Legroeder swallowed. It was true that they, and he, were being treated far better than anything he'd ever seen at DeNoble.

  "We don't accommodate everyone so well. But we needed time. Time to get to know you. Find out what kind of a man you were. TA here was entrusted with that job." He grinned, all teeth.

  Legroeder felt blood rushing to his face. Tracy-Ace gave her head an almost imperceptible shake. It wasn't just that, she seemed to be saying. Or was it, You fool...

  "We brought you here," YZ/I continued, "partly to talk to you and your Narseil friends on matters of common interest—and partly because we have a job we think might interest you."

  Legroeder barked a laugh. "Why would you think I'd be interested in a job, if you knew what I went through at DeNoble?"

  YZ/I carefully stuck the cigar back in his mouth and talked around it. "But there was also what came after, yes?"

  "Meaning what?"

  YZ/I shrugged. "All those attempts on your life on Faber Eridani? Who do you think was responsible for that? And for your being framed for the attack on Ciudad de los Angeles? And the attack on Robert McGinnis?"

  Legroeder felt weakness and rage mixed into one. "Are you claiming responsibility?" He wanted to look at Tracy-Ace, and found he could not. Say no. At least say she wasn't involved.

  "Me?" YZ/I replied. "Rings, no! Not my way of operating. Not at all. And certainly counterproductive to what I hope to do."

  Legroeder slowly began to breathe again. "Then who? I take it you know."

  "I know in general terms." YZ/I waved his cigar in a circle. "For starters, I imagine it was Centrists, not Free Kybers, who did the actual deeds. Kyber-sympathizing Centrists, mind you. Not connected with Ivan."

  "Then who were they connected with?"

  YZ/I extended a hand toward the back of his working alcove. A holoimage appeared in the wall, showing a raider stronghold. Not Ivan. It was reminiscent of the stronghold from which Legroeder had escaped, in Golen Space. "This particular outpost is run by a boss by the name of Kilo-Mike/Carlotta," said YZ/I. An image of a dark-haired, heavily augmented woman appeared, giving Legroeder a shudder. YZ/I nodded toward the image. "KM/C and I don't get along too well. But KM/C has a great many connections in the Centrist Worlds—particularly, as it happens, on Faber Eridani. She—"

  "Wait a minute," Legroeder said. "Connections I could see. But why would anyone on the Centrist Worlds have the slightest sympathy for pirates? Unless they're getting a kickback—"

  YZ/I snorted. "Of course, they're getting kickbacks. But that's not what turned them into sympathizers."

  "Then what—?"

  YZ/I took a puff on his cigar. "Betrayal."

  Legroeder remembered El'ken recounting the Centrist betrayal of the Narseil. But he didn't think that was what YZ/I meant. "What do you mean?"

  "Betrayal of their own world's vision and purpose!" YZ/I thundered. He interrupted himself. "Christ, I'm being a poor host. TA, could you grab a couple of chairs for yourself and the rigger? Thank you." He paused again to study the burning end of his cigar. "A fanatical sense of betrayal. And they're right. The Centrist Worlds defeated the Kyber worlds—not us, but the worlds our ancestors came from—in the War of a Thousand Suns. You know that, right?"

  Legroeder nodded, ignoring the implied insult.

  "And then, having won among other things the right to be first out to the Well of Stars, what did they do?" YZ/I shook with rage. "You tell me!"

  Legroeder hesitated. "Not much, I guess. There were some surveys." And meanwhile, drawing inward while rebuilding, regaining prosperity. And then... nothing. Isolationism.

  YZ/I snorted contemptuously. "They won their racist war, then congratulated themselves and sat on their fat asses! Did they take risks to explore the worlds they claimed they were fighting for the right to colonize? NO!" He stuck the cigar back between his teeth again. "So that is what our fleet is going to do now. Seems pretty clear they've abdicated any right—" He stopped and glared. "What?"

  Legroeder wondered why he was even arguing with this man. Nevertheless... "The Centrists wouldn't even have won that war—if you can call it winning—if they hadn't betrayed the Narseil. Turned their backs on an ally and made a deal with the enemy." The enemy they hated. The enemy that was more implant than human. "And if they hadn't broken up their rigging partnership with the Narseil, maybe we would be on our way to the Well of Stars right now."

  YZ/I grinned. "You learned from El'ken and McGinnis. Very good. You know, I was sorry to learn of McGinnis's death. He was a worthy man."

  "Yes, he was," Legroeder snapped. "And if you knew what those people were doing, why didn't you stop them?"

  YZ/I stubbed out his cigar in a receptacle behind him. "I didn't say I could control them, for Almighty's sake. Just that I knew about them. KM/C has a lot more people on Faber Eridani than I do. And believe me—those sympathizers are very angry about their world's failure to act. Angry enough to collaborate with their supposed enemies, the Free Kyber. Imagine that."

  Yes, imagine, Legroeder thought numbly. Imagine consorting with the Free Kyber. He met Tracy-Ace's gaze for a fraction of a second and jerked his e
yes back to YZ/I.

  "Some of them are in positions of authority, where they can make a pretty good show of opposing Free Kyber activity—"

  "You mean piracy?" Legroeder asked carefully.

  "Whatever." YZ/I waved a translucent hand. "All the while turning a blind eye to it. How do you think the Free Kyber fleets have been assembled so quickly? These are isolated outposts—many of them embedded in the Flux as we are, with practically no access to raw materials! That's why we need to colonize! We know we're living on borrowed time!" He paused. "You know, there's an old proverb, 'Where there's no vision, the people die.' Well, all the vision has gone out of the Centrist leaders. But there are others who haven't lost it."

  "You mean people like Centrist Strength?" Legroeder asked sarcastically.

  YZ/I shrugged. "They're not someone we deal with, but yeah. Same principle. Lemme ask you—why do you think, for decades now, the Free Kyber have drawn their tax from the wealthy planets, almost without opposition?"

  "Tax?" Legroeder echoed sarcastically.

  "Let's not quibble over terminology." YZ/I waved his hand in annoyance. He looked as if he missed the cigar, now that he'd put it out. "The point is they've been helping the Free Kyber build the colonizing fleet. Most of the ships in that fleet came from the Centrist Worlds—with the help of Centrists who'd rather see Free Kyber colonists move out to the Well of Stars than no one at all. Plus—" YZ/I waggled his hand "—there's the smell of profit for them. Of course."

  "Of course," Legroeder murmured.

  YZ/I gazed at him for a moment. "I believe someone you once knew is among them. A Captain Hyutu, formerly of the Ciudad de los Angeles?"

  Legroeder was stunned. "Captain Hyutu!"

  "A captain now in the fleet of Kilo-Mike/Carlotta. A nasty, mendacious son of a bitch, by reputation."

  Legroeder swallowed back bile.

  YZ/I's eyebrows went up. "You know, neither Hyutu—nor, for that matter, KM/C—will much like what I'm going to suggest. I suspect there could be some personal satisfaction in it for you, though."

  Legroeder raised his chin. "What are you going to suggest?"

  "Oh, nothing much." YZ/I focused on his fingertips for a moment. "Just that I thought you might want to go out and find Impris for us and see if you can bring her back in one piece."

  Legroeder stopped breathing. He heard blood pounding in his ears and felt suddenly detached from reality. Was his heart still beating? Had this man just said what he thought he'd said?

  "You okay there?" said Yankee-Zulu/Ivan, in a voice that seemed to echo in Legroeder's skull.

  Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in... yes, I am okay. He nodded, not trusting his voice.

  "I was afraid I'd given you a heart attack or something."

  You damn near did, Legroeder thought.

  "What do you think? Want to do it?"

  Legroeder cleared his throat. "You want me to find Impris—"

  "Find her, see if anyone's still alive on her, make contact, do a full investigation. Bring her back, if you can."

  The feeling of dizziness was passing, but slowly. "I didn't, uh, realize that Impris was lost. From your point of view, I mean."

  "Well, not completely. KM/C knows more or less where she is, no doubt. They're the ones currently using her as a siren lure to bring in ships. But I don't know where she is... precisely. And even KM/C can't reach her."

  "Then why—"

  "Because I want, very badly, to know why she disappeared."

  Legroeder stared at him. "Why do you care?"

  Yankee-Zulu/Ivan rose from his seat and stretched out a hand. The image of the fleet reappeared behind him. "See this fleet?" he rumbled. "This fleet is the pride of our Republic!" He was actually breathing hard from the apparent intensity of emotion, and it took him a moment to get his breath back. "And I don't want this fleet disappearing the way Impris did!"

  Legroeder shook his head. "Why would it?"

  YZ/I's face turned into a glowing network of veins and arteries. "Because... we have suffered losses. Unexplained losses. Not just Ivan, but other outposts." He turned his hands palm up.

  Tracy-Ace tapped her feet impatiently. "Why don't you just tell him, YZ/I?"

  Legroeder looked from one to the other.

  YZ/I seemed annoyed. "Well, all right—for one thing, ships have been lost that were shadowing Impris too closely."

  And you want me to fly close to her? Legroeder thought. He drew a breath, stretching his lips over his teeth. "Maybe you guys have just been shooting each others' ships up. Anyway, why don't you just stop flying so close to her?" And why don't you stop using her for piracy, while you're at it?

  "Well, the shooting part isn't as far-fetched as you might think," YZ/I said thoughtfully. "But no—we're pretty sure whatever's happened to them is related to what happened to Impris. And we need to find out what the hell that is."

  This time Tracy-Ace looked annoyed. "Tell him, YZ/I."

  YZ/I sighed and rubbed his jaw, setting off little sparkles of color in his cheeks. "All right, it's not just ships near Impris. In the last three years, we've lost four probe ships headed to the Sagittarian Clouds. Advance ships for the fleet..." His voice trailed off, as he waved a hand back at the monitors. "I'm used to losing ships, but... with the whole fleet getting ready to go..."

  "Tell him about your brother," Tracy-Ace said.

  A flash of light went up YZ/I's face. With obvious irritation, he said, "And men who are like brothers to me are commanding ships in that fleet. All right?" Tracy-Ace stared, and he growled. "Anyway, it's not just that. We're going to commit an entire fleet to the Deep Flux. We need to know what's going on."

  The Deep Flux...

  Tracy-Ace continued staring at YZ/I. "Tell him about your brother!"

  YZ/I put his fingertips to his temple, as his face flashed dark and light. "All right," he said, as though suppressing a pain. "Come on." Rising, he led them across the dais and down the steps to a large holotank monitor. It took him a few seconds to get the image he wanted: an outpost floating in the reddish mists of the Flux. Not Ivan, not DeNoble, not KM/C. It was shaped rather like a skyscraper tower, but with its lower end simply fading into the Flux. "This is... was... Outpost Juliette."

  "Was?" Legroeder asked.

  "Yeah. It was anchored in the Flux, like Ivan. Only it had its foundation in the slow layers. They thought it would be safer that way, keep it anchored better."

  "Only it didn't," Legroeder guessed.

  YZ/I changed the image. "This holo was taken by a ship coming in from patrol, just as this happened." As he spoke, the image suddenly began to quiver and dance, as though they were looking at it through heat waves rising off a desert floor.

  "What's that? What's happening?"

  "Watch."

  The quivering worsened, and the recording became jerky, as though the camera were moving. The surrounding mists flickered and then darkened, and in that moment the tower suddenly became transparent. One heartbeat it was solid; the next it was a ghost. And then it vanished altogether, leaving behind the blood-red mist.

  "Just like that," YZ/I said. "It was gone before the ship could approach for docking. They felt turbulence in the Flux, and sheared off. And then the outpost was just... gone." YZ/I suddenly looked old and care-worn. "Never found so much as a trace of it. And my pain-in-the-ass kid brother was on it at the time." He rubbed his forehead, wincing, then straightened as Legroeder absorbed that blow. "I can tell you, no other outposts are anchored in the lower layers now. Impris, as far as I know, is the only one of these ships that's ever reappeared where we can see it."

  Legroeder regarded him in horror and fascination, thinking of all those people caught, perhaps for all of eternity, in a ghost realm that no rigger knew how to navigate. Impris had been... half a legend, and half a terrible, isolated reality. Just one. But now... So many ships? And an outpost?

  "If I knew where to look, I'd send you after my own ships," YZ/I said.

  "But you t
hink they all somehow strayed into the Deep Flux, and couldn't get out?"

  "If I knew, I wouldn't have to ask you to go find out, would I?"

  "I guess not. But why me?"

  "Why not you?"

  Legroeder stirred angrily. "Give me a reason!"

  YZ/I raised his eyebrows. "All right. You're a rigger, and you've seen the ship, and you have good reason to want to find it again. Don't you?"

  Legroeder shook his head stubbornly. "Maybe I do. But why did you bring me here to do this? It wasn't for my benefit. Why don't you send your own riggers to find it?"

  YZ/I took a deep, hoarse breath. "Do you think we haven't tried?" His voice softened to a growl. "And we've lost two more ships trying. So no, we didn't go to all this trouble just for the fun of it."

  "You still haven't answered my question. What do you think I can do that your riggers can't? I told the Narseil that your riggers have tricks we could learn from."

  YZ/I looked pained. "Our rigging may be different from yours. But that doesn't necessarily make it better."

  Legroeder was startled by the admission. "All right, then—different. I don't know how your people function with all that augmentation, to be honest." Legroeder rubbed the implant on his right temple. "I'm lucky these things didn't ruin my ability to function in the net. I'm sure it's only because they stayed in the background."

  "Exactly," said YZ/I.

  "Huh?"

  "Sure, we have AI augmentation that can run rings around yours, and it's very useful. We couldn't take on the Deep Flux without it. But we also have riggers who are dependent on it, who I think have lost skills that you take for granted. The intuitive element, the human element. They're starting to lose it." YZ/I jabbed a thumb at himself. "You think I'm crazy, saying that? I'm just telling you what's happening."

  He paused. "So let's talk about Renwald Legroeder—who not only has had an encounter with Impris, but escaped from Fortress DeNoble, escaped through a passage that to anyone else would have been suicide alley. We had a ship visiting there at the time—they saw the whole thing. Do you remember it? What do they call it, the Chimney?"