Empress of Eternity

by L. E. Modesitt

  “What do you suggest we do about it?”

  “We can’t do anything about the systems. We’ve already tried.”

  “So you want me to try to find out more from her?”

  Duhyle shrugged. “What else can we do? Except prepare to wreak whatever havoc we can on the Aesyr.”

  “Grenades or no grenades, you aren’t going in first.”

  “No…but there’s no point in my being behind everyone, and I know how they’ll work. I’ll follow the spec-ops types.”

  “Kavn…”

  “…and some of the security troopers.”

  She looked at him.

  “Mimyra, if we don’t stop them, we don’t have a future. And I was combat-trained first.”

  She nodded slowly. “I don’t have to like it.”

  “Neither do I.”

  She reached out and took his hand. They sat in the ever-changing light, waiting…

  54

  9 Tenmonth 1351, Unity of Caelaarn

  Maertyn set the platter of cool casserole in front of Maarlyna, then seated himself across from her at the lower-level table next to the kitchen area. “What are the Gaerda troops doing outside?”

  “Trying to stay warm. The wind has picked up, and it’s bitter out there.” She looked at the sprig of greenery and then replaced it in the side pocket of the singlesuit. “Hardly what we expected for the holidays.”

  “I don’t know that we expected anything, except being together.”

  “I’m so sorry, Maertyn. You’ve tried so hard…and now…”

  “You couldn’t let everything end…” he said softly.

  “I could have. Perhaps I should have. Everything will end, sooner or later.” She shook her head. “Except so many people would never have the chance to laugh…love…live…and…”

  “…enjoy whatever holidays they might have?” Maertyn kept his voice light, hard as it was.

  “I was looking forward to the holidays, spending them with you.”

  “We still can, can’t we? They’re more than a month away.” He smiled. “All we have to do is save three civilizations. Oh…and find a way to remove our guards before we can save our own.”

  “Dearest…what do you think we should do about the Ruche people?”

  Maertyn almost smiled at her avoidance of his indirect question. “If you can send them weapons, even a few of the ones I sent here, have them stage a counter-coup.”

  “With three people? Isn’t that unrealistic? Besides, I can’t send anything…” She paused. “Nothing substantial.”

  “What do you mean…nothing substantial?”

  “Just a moment.” Her once-amber eyes turned an almost blank silver.

  Realizing that she was “consulting” with the Bridge systems, or dredging the memories of past keepers, Maertyn hoped she might come up with something.

  After a time, her eyes refocused on him. “If I used all the energy available for the event-congruency the Bridge touches and they leave, I might be able to send fifty grams to the Ruche, and a fifth of that to the Vanir.”

  “That little?” he asked. “For all the available energy? How much does the Bridge generate or hold?”

  “The amount is so large it’s meaningless, but most of that is used to maintain it, as you put it, out of time. If the Bridge drops into time, more is available, but its mass is no longer shielded and the effects…that’s what happened the last time, when the moon fell…was dragged…toward Earth and was fragmented.” She paused. “It was the only time the Bridge occupied a single specific event-point, and it was very brief. It also was almost the last time.”

  Maertyn let out a low whistle.

  “That’s why the Bridge has been seeking a keeper. The systems can only monitor, not act. Things are stable, but the Aesyr have enough knowledge to make them very unstable if they get hold of the station. The Vanir don’t want to give up the station for that reason, but they know the Aesyr would rather bring the universe to a very premature death than allow the Vanir to remain in control of Earth.”

  Maertyn shook his head. “I don’t understand. If there is no time, only these…event-points, don’t all events essentially happen at once? And if that’s so, why couldn’t earlier keepers know what would happen and do something about it?”

  “Time is the way intelligences perceive the entropy of events. Events do succeed each other. No one has ever resolved with certainty the degree of causality involved, or if strict causality even exists.” Maarlyna shook her head. “Those aren’t my words, and I’m not sure I got them quite right. They don’t translate into Laarnian.”

  “So events do somehow follow each other?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. So you can’t send anything explosive back—or forward…or to their event-point—with the Ruche people.”

  Maarlyna smiled, brittlely. “Anything I did send would be highly explosive, but most of it would have to be shielding. If I didn’t shield it, it would explode instantly in their time period.”

  “Like antimatter?”

  “With event-point separation along continuity, energy differentials do build, and it takes more and more energy…”

  Maertyn nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face as she—or the Bridge systems through her—explained.

  “…but the nature of the event-point penetration limits what the Bridge can do, in direct relation to the event-point separation from the event-point locale of the keeper…”

  “You can do more here than for the Ruche, and more for them than for the Aesyr?”

  “It’s more complicated than that. Here there’s no energy differential, but…yes, that is, for the Ruche and the Aesyr.”

  “Maybe you should just leave the choice to the Ruche people. You can extend the Bridge out of time, so to speak, anywhere. Let them choose where they want you to put them down.”

  “I can’t put them just anywhere. No more than the length of the Bridge from any point on its apparent geo graphical location.” Maarlyna made a wry face. “I don’t talk that way, but it’s like I don’t have any choice when I try to explain some things.” She frowned. “I might be able to do something else, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If we leave the Bridge out of the event-point, but open a door…and leave a present from here…and then set the Ruche people down where they can find allies…”

  “Leave a present from here? I thought you said you couldn’t put them in two places or…”

  “I can’t. But I could expel fifty grams from here…without having them leave the Bridge…” She shook her head. “I’m sounding like Tauzn might. What’s happening to me? I’m not like that…I wasn’t.” Tears oozed from the corners of her eyes.

  He stood and walked around behind her chair, where he leaned down and put his arms around her.

  “Why…why, Maertyn?”

  “Because it’s much easier to be compassionate when you have no power. When you have power, no matter what you do, someone gets hurt.”

  “That’s…that’s not the only why. Why am I feeling it now…and not earlier?”

  “I can only guess.” He waited, but when Maarlyna did not speak, he went on, “When you…merged…or became the keeper…some of what is you got submerged. You’re strong, stronger than most people realize, but it took a while for you to get…your mental balance. You have now…and you’re asking the questions you always did.”

  He could sense her nod as he kept his arms around her.

  There was another period of silence before she spoke again. “The Ruche Twenty…they’ve killed thousands. Would hitting them be that bad?”

  “You’ve asked twice about the Ruche people. You don’t have much…elapsed time to work with, do you?”

  “There’s some.”

  “But not much.” Maertyn’s back began to cramp and twinge from the awkward position, and he eased his arms from around her and straightened. “No…it’s always a risk when governments are attacked, especiall
y if the attack is successful. You never know if the new government will be even worse than the old one. Much of the time, it is.”

  “Are you saying I shouldn’t do anything?”

  “No. I’m saying that I believe you should. But you should, knowing that it might not work out.”

  “How would you make it more likely to work?”

  “Can you tell if people are in a building?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then we’ll have to guess…and hope. I’d say that, since it’s not a tropical culture, even if it’s warm temperate, The Twenty are most likely to be present in early afternoon. Even if they’re not, if your present can destroy whatever the capitol building is at a time when the most people will see it…”

  “Do you really think that will work?” asked Maarlyna.

  “The odds of the three of them fomenting a successful counter-revolt aren’t good,” he admitted. “But they’re essentially dead if they stay in the station or if they try to leave it where it’s located geographically, or if they attack the capital directly.” He paused. “Can you lock the station for at least a few years after they leave?”

  She stiffened, ever so slightly. “I think so. Actually, that will happen anyway. I don’t know that I could unlock…Why? Oh…”

  “Just to keep the Ruche honest for a time. I don’t know that I…we know enough about causality or what was it you said…‘the entropy of event-points.’ Do you need to talk to them quickly?”

  “Fairly soon…I just feel it. I can’t explain it.”

  “Then we should eat, and you should do so.” He stepped back from behind her chair and moved around the table and settled back at the table, looking at her and then at the casserole.

  55

  35 Quad 2471 R.E.

  The keeper returned to Faelyna’s workroom in the station less than half an hour after she had vanished. That was the way it seemed, but all of the station equipment that indicated time was nonfunctional. Eltyn had tried not to look too hard at the images of equipment that continued to shift and mutate moment by moment. He did wonder just how many eons those changes represented and how long the ancients had actually operated the station in the fashion represented by those images.

  You weren’t gone that long, offered Eltyn as the woman in scarlet appeared.

  It was long enough to consider the possibilities. Do you know of a place where you have friends who will help you?

  Why? asked Rhyana.

  I can transport the four of you there, if it is no farther than Hururia. We can also create…a disruption…in Hururia that will make seeking you…less of a priority.

  Eltyn glanced to Faelyna. TechOversight?

  She shook her head.

  He should have realized that The Twenty and the RF would have targeted all the known TechOversight Facilities.

  Chiental is possible, offered Faelyna.

  The keeper glanced back at the shadowy silver figure that Eltyn had not seen appear; then toward the three. After a moment, a map of the continent appeared, projected into the air, with dots in places where there were no cities. Point out where this place is.

  Eltyn stepped forward and studied the map, finally locating the Fhranan Peaks. About here. Against the western cliffs in a valley opposite the tallest peak in the range. He paused. Most of the installation is under the mountain, except for what looks like a log lodge.

  We should be able to locate it. We’re already shifting the Bridge toward Hururia. It won’t intrude into the event-point, but it will be visible in a way, just below the reality horizon. The Twenty will see it. It won’t be a Bridge, though.

  What else could it be? asked Rhyana.

  The most glorious rainbow they have ever beheld. We should go down to the main level. That’s from where you’ll be leaving.

  So soon? asked Eltyn, almost involuntarily.

  There are advantages to operating outside the event-points. The keeper turned, walked to the ramp, and headed down to the main level.

  As he followed, Eltyn wasn’t certain that her boots actually touched the surface of the ramp. He also tried to sense whether the station or Bridge was moving, but he felt nothing. He looked to Faelyna.

  She shook her head and shrugged.

  Rhyana slipped ahead of them and continued down the ramp to the lowest level.

  Eltyn frowned, then nodded when he saw the delivery woman return carrying the projectile rifles and two stunners. There wasn’t any guarantee about what might be waiting for them, and the weapons would be useful even if they were welcomed with open arms, although he doubted that was too likely. He was hoping for skepticism, rather than out-and-out hostility, if and when they reached Chiental.

  Rhyana set the weapons on the floor, along the outside wall, but away from the door, then straightened.

  The keeper stopped short of where the south door was—or used to be—and turned back toward the three. She extended a small round pebble to Eltyn. When the south door opens, throw this out. Make sure that it strikes the dome. You have only one chance. Do not let your hand or fingers or any part of your body extend into the door opening or beyond.

  He fingered the tiny stone she had dropped into his palm. It felt like the walls of the station, except that his fingers did not quite touch the smooth surface of the pebble. He frowned. A stone?

  It will do what is necessary.

  Why can’t he lean out? asked Rhyana.

  Then you will all have to leave at that moment…or remain in the station for some time. The fall to the stone pavement around the building would likely kill you all if you tried to leave. You might not be able to depart the station until you were out of food if you did not leave then.

  Might? pressed Faelyna.

  I would not be able to open the station again for some time. How long would depend on too many matters to calculate now.

  Could you allow us to open the doors? asked Faelyna.

  I could…but not if you want to attack The Twenty and leave the Bridge in a location other than where you entered it.

  That’s not much of a choice, snapped Rhyana.

  To move the Bridge, even outside your event-points, requires energy. Opening the doors at a geographic locale other than in its moored orientation requires energy for shielding. There is only so much energy.

  None of the three spoke.

  Do you want to attack The Twenty and then reach this place…or not?

  Eltyn sensed something behind the voice, but whether it was anger, impatience, or frustration…that he could not tell.

  We’ll attack and go to Chiental, said Faelyna firmly.

  I’m glad you finally made up your mind.

  There wasn’t much humor in those mental words, Eltyn realized.

  The keeper turned toward the south wall. The stone slid open wide.

  Eltyn blinked, because the opening in the wall was surrounded by a coruscation of colored light, as if the Bridge/station were in the center of a brilliant rainbow. The keeper had told him that would be the effect, but hearing her words hadn’t conveyed the incandescence of what lay between him and the gold-gilded rounded stone of the Ruche dome.

  The smooth and unmarked top of the dome was a good ten yards below the opening before him and no more than five from the station wall. For a moment, he just looked, wondering how it was possible that they were where they were.

  Throw it!

  He grasped the small stone and threw it at the top of the dome, but not too hard, knowing that excessive effort was all too often counterproductive. Once the pebble passed through the station opening, the stone wall of the station began to close. Eltyn kept watching as the door narrowed. Just before the small dark rock was about to strike the dome, it flared, and then accelerated into the structure. Light flared everywhere, bright enough that he couldn’t see, even after the Bridge/station sealed itself off.

  What happened? demanded Rhyana.

  The building is in ruins. The keeper’s tone was matter-of-fact.

 
; With all those people in it? asked Faelyna. Just like that?

  They ordered the killing of all those who opposed them, didn’t they? They destroyed the ability of thousands to think, didn’t they? Or did you lie to me?

  No…but…

  But what? Never in our long history has anyone who used such methods been stopped without the use of force and more killing. With almost no break in her words, she went on. Before long the Bridge will reach the locale you indicated.

  The keeper glanced to her left, where the shadowy figure in silver had appeared. For a moment, she blurred, then resolidified.

  An image appeared in midair, showing a valley.

  That’s not it, said Faelyna. The western cliffs should be higher, and there should be a small lake to the south.

  Two more images appeared before Eltyn said, That’s it. The entrance is through the log building below that cleft.

  The image vanished.

  You need to take the body of the dead man when you leave. You can drop it once you’re outside the Bridge.

  Rhyana looked to Eltyn. He nodded, and the two of them walked back down to the lower level, where she cut loose the bonds that held the dead man to the chair. His limbs were still stiff and locked him into a sitting position. That made carrying him back up the ramp awkward and slow. They set the body down next to where the door had opened, then straightened.

  Can we just toss him out when the door opens?

  Whatever you want… A wry smile crossed the keeper’s lips, then vanished. It won’t be that long now. I cannot extend the Bridge into the cliff itself, except along the metal tunnel beneath the log building…and not that far.

  When the door opened, Eltyn stepped over to the dead riffie. Rhyana joined him. As soon as the opening was wide enough, the two of them swung the body outward, not as effectively as Eltyn would have liked, since the dead riffie barely tumbled past the edge of the stone and out through the rainbow corona, beyond which he could see only a hazy grayness.

  He stepped back and turned.

  Faelyna already held a long-barreled stunner. She eased toward the opening, but stopped short.

  Eltyn immediately reached down and lifted the remaining projectile rifle, then straightened and turned to the keeper. Why are you doing this?