But no matter the reasons, which were always debatable, the reality could not be denied. Only seconds after three people tumbled out of a spacefaring vessel that had entered the lower atmosphere of Ovinegg, a flash of green split the sky beneath them, and the daredevils never reached the ground.
The podship absorbed them into its skin and dropped them gently into its passenger compartment. Then it continued on its way, leaping back onto the podways and accelerating.
* * * * *
Noah could not explain what had happened, but in the moments after the rescue he felt that he again had control of the vessel. With uncertainties and questions swimming through his mind, he directed the podship across space to the pod station orbiting Canopa—a cross-space journey of only a few more minutes.
Inside the grid-plane, Noah sat in one of the passenger seats, with his eyes closed. He felt an odd sensation as his thoughts occupied two places at once, and he sensed that even more was possible. The idea amazed and frightened him. In the passenger compartment of the podship, he saw two young men leaning over a gray-bearded man who lay on the deck, tending to him. Something seemed to be wrong. The image faded.
Opening his eyes, Noah saw Tesh seated beside him. She was saying something to him but he only saw her lips moving, and didn’t hear her voice. She seemed upset. Something clicked in his ears, like a pressure change, and he heard her.
“Why aren’t you answering me?” she demanded.
“What?”
“What do you know about this?”
“About the trip to Canopa, you mean?”
“That’s where we are?”
“We’ll discuss it later,” he said. Then, looking at Dr. Bichette, he said, “Go to the passenger compartment of the podship and see what you can do. A man needs your attention.”
Bichette frowned. “But all of us are aboard this grid-plane, in the cargo hold.”
“It’s someone else. Go! Now!”
Looking perplexed, the doctor hurried away.
Turning to his rotund adjutant, Noah said, “When Bichette returns, Subi, I want you to off-load this grid-plane from the podship.”
“Are we going down to Canopa, sir?” The big man slipped into the command chair, began checking the controls.
“That is my intent,” Noah said.
“But it’s too dangerous down there,” Tesh sputtered.
“I need to check on the Guardians,” Noah said. “They’re at risk because of me, and I need to go to them. The Doge and my sister have captured some, and others have taken refuge in the forests near our compound.”
“How do you know all that?”
Without answering her, not telling her what he had overheard Francella and the Doge say during Noah’s own fantastic mental journey through the galaxy, he said instead, “Maybe I can find enough of our people to organize a resistance movement. This may be too dangerous for the rest of you, so you can leave anytime you wish.”
Noah’s companions fell silent, as his comments sank in.
Presently, Noah took Tesh and Anton aside, and said to them, “Remember, you told me the Diggers had made a tunnel system that honeycombed much of my compound? Could you draw me a map, using the ship’s computer system?”
“Maybe,” Anton said. “We’ve been in those tunnels chasing the Diggers and shutting them down, but they were just burrowing in all directions, without any organized plan.”
“If you could recall the main passageways, including any beneath my old administration buildings, that would be a big help.” It occurred to Noah that he might journey there mentally, but he did not feel entirely comfortable—or safe—in that realm yet. The rapid growth of his paranormal powers opened up an exciting new realm to him, but it was also terrifying, like walking a tightrope between extreme mental clarity and complete lunacy. For now, he preferred to obtain the information this way.
“I think we could do that,” Tesh said. “Between the two of us.”
“All right,” Noah said. “Get to work on it.”
Presently, Dr. Bichette returned to the grid-plane, accompanied by two teenage boys. “We’ve got a dead man in the passenger compartment,” the doctor said. “These young people were with him, and are telling a fantastic story, that they were plucked out of thin air and taken aboard. It sounds like a lot of gibberish to me, but I want you to hear it for yourself.”
Gazing beyond the doctor, Noah met the gazes of the two youths he had previously remote-viewed in the passenger compartment. They appeared to be confused, and were obviously quite upset at the death of their companion. They exchanged introductions with Noah and the others, then repeated their story for Noah, adding details.
After listening intently, Noah had little to say in response. He decided privately that the matter would require more thought and analysis, in a manner that he could best do on his own.
“You’re free to go,” Noah said to the boys, “or we can take you into our organization.” He identified himself and provided them with basic information about the Guardians and their ecological mission, but didn’t mention what he had in mind yet, an attempt to reestablish his operations on Canopa.
Acey Zelk described again how he and his cousin had jumped out of the treasure ship with the captain, and asked what had happened to them, how they had been pulled out of the air.
“We’re not sure,” Noah said, and this was mostly true. He saw no benefit in speculation, or in saying anything more about the matter.
“We’re treasure hunters,” Dux Hannah said, “but I’d say we’re out of a job now. Speaking for Acey here—and he’s gotten me into trouble by speaking for me—I’d say you have two new recruits, Mr. Watanabe.”
“First I need to tell you more about what you’re getting into,” Noah said. “I’m heading into real danger, going after the people who stole my property and killed the Guardians who worked for me. Our enemies are powerful, the Doge Lorenzo himself, and my own turncoat sister.”
Acey whistled. “Sounds worse than jumping out of a ship with no parachute.”
“Could be,” Noah said. He looked around the compartment, at the others. “I think I know what Subi’s answer is, but I’m giving all of you, including him, the opportunity to leave right now. If necessary, I’ll proceed without any of you. I can fly this grid-plane myself, maybe not as well as Subi, but I can get it down to the surface, and the on-board scanning system should enable me elude the Doge’s surveillance grid. The risk is obvious, but it’s critical for me to get down there and rally the Guardians against the schemes of Lorenzo and my sister.”
“I’m with you, Master Noah,” Subi said, without any hesitation.
“So am I,” Anton said, from a chair at the computer terminal.
“We are, too,” Dux said. Beside him, Acey nodded.
Looking at Eshaz and seeing him nod his large, scaly head, Noah didn’t need to hear him speak to know he would risk his own life with theirs. The two of them had an affinity that transcended galactic races and star systems, and even time itself. Noah felt like they had been friends forever, though he knew that could not possibly be the case. The Guardian leader sensed extreme dangers ahead of him—it could be a suicide mission—but he had to face these particular enemies himself and not flee or send in surrogates to do his bidding.
“I’m not getting off this ride yet,” Tesh said. She made an adjustment to the tunnel map that Anton was drawing on the computer.
Staring at Dr. Bichette, whose silence had been palpable, Noah said, “We have no real need for your services any more, so I wish I could allow you to return to your home on Canopa. Unfortunately, I can’t do that, though, because you’re a security risk. Even if you tried to keep your mouth shut, the Doge would take you in for questioning in his notorious Gaol of Brimrock.”
The doctor shot a lingering look at his old girlfriend, then scowled and asked, “How old are you, anyway? You’ve never told me.”
“And I never will,” she answered, with a sly smile.
&nb
sp; Noah thought about her broken relationships with Dr. Hurk Bichette and the shaky subsequent relationship with Anton Glavine. He didn’t want to be the next victim on her trail of broken hearts, but couldn’t help the feelings of attraction that he felt for her.
Standing in front of Noah with her hands on her hips, Tesh said, “The only reason I’m sticking around is because you have some explaining to do.”
“I see it the other way around,” he snapped.
She bit her lip and muttered to herself. A mixture of emotions played across her face: shock, anger, and confusion.
As Noah saw the situation, the two of them were growing farther and farther apart. In one respect, he thought this was a shame, since he was attracted to her, though he would never admit his feelings to anyone, or act on them. Honoring Anton’s obvious love for her, Noah wanted to keep his distance from any entanglement. In the past she had been flirtatious toward him, but he couldn’t imagine having any relationship with her.
“So, you’re with me, Tesh?” Noah asked.
“I just said I was.” Angrily, she looked away.
With an exasperated sigh, Noah gave instructions for Anton and the boys to bring the dead captain on board the grid-plane, so that they could make proper arrangements for his body.
* * * * *
Half an hour later, Subi guided the grid-plane out of the cargo hold and into a docking berth of the pod station, where they connected and awaited their turn to depart. There were other grid-planes in the berths of this busy facility, and larger merchant vessels. Four large podships loomed in the central docking bay, including their own craft.
“Uh oh,” Subi said. He pointed through the front window, and Noah saw around a dozen Red Beret officers on a nearby platform, looking at Noah’s grid-plane and talking among themselves.
“Our ship is still painted Guardian colors,” Anton said.
The Red Beret commander did not take long to make his decision. He and his men hurried to board their own ship, several berths away.
Subi activated his weapons system, causing panels to slide open on the side of the grid-plane, revealing high caliber puissant guns. The barrels glowed blue. At a nod from Noah, Subi backed out into the airless vacuum of the docking bay. Just as the Red Beret vessel attempted to do the same, Subi opened fire on it, riddling the hull with holes.
A weapons panel opened on the Red Beret craft, but too late. Subi’s shots struck their mark, and the vessel exploded in a ball of blue and orange. Debris and the bodies of the Doge’s soldiers floated in the docking bay.
One of the nearby merchant vessels was hit by the explosion, and within seconds small robots scurried onto the hull, making repairs. The damage appeared to be superficial, and not near the engines. Then an odd assortment of sentient machines streamed out of that craft and others moored by it, scurrying through airlocks onto the walkway. The machines were dented, scuffed, and dull. They looked like refugees from a scrap pile, but were moving efficiently, and took positions on the walkway.
Just then, more Red Beret soldiers appeared on the walkway, running toward empty airlocks, including the one where Noah’s grid-plane had been berthed. The men wore breather shields over their faces, which would permit them to open the airlocks and fire through them.
But the sentient machines lifted their robotic arms in synchronization, and their hands became an assortment of glistening weapons: guns, mini-crossbows, and dart shooters. They opened fire on the Red-Berets, cutting them down on the walkway and in the airlocks.
“We have unexpected allies,” Noah said. He and Subi scanned the ships and walkways, looking for more opponents. None appeared. The machines mopped up the rest of the soldiers, killing them to the last, while only losing a couple from their own ranks.
“Who are those guys?” Anton said.
“I don’t know,” Noah responded. The engines of several machine vessels were firing, glowing orange in their exhaust tubes.
Then he recalled the fantastic mental excursion he had taken, when he saw podships crossing the galaxy, and one of them was filled with robot ships journeying from the Inn of the White Sun to Canopa. These must be the same sentient machines, a small army of them. And they had come to his aid. But he kept the information to himself for the moment.
Now most of the armed robots reboarded their ships, but some stayed on the body-strewn walkway. One of the machines became apparent now, the flat-bodied robot that Noah remembered seeing in his earlier vision. The others gathered around him and waved their mechanical hands—no longer showing weapons—in the direction of Noah’s grid-plane.
“Pull back into the dock,” Noah ordered. “Let’s see why they helped us.”
Chapter Seventy-Five
One of the great delights of life is the discovery of new friends.
—Noah Watanabe
The leader of the robot force was one of the most peculiar sentient machines that Noah had ever encountered. His flat-bodied appearance was somewhat seedy—dull gray with a small dent on the front of his face plate, and numerous scuff marks. Most robots that looked that bad were no longer operating. His companions didn’t look any better.
The robot featured a hinge arrangement at the center of its body, by which Noah had earlier seen him fold open and closed. “I am called Thinker,” this one announced. “We saw you blow up the Red Beret vessel, and noticed the green-and-brown colors of your grid-plane. Obviously, you are Guardians.”
Noah did not reply, nor did those who stood with him, his companions on the trip here.
“And you are Master Noah Watanabe,” Thinker said.
Stepping up beside Noah, Subi feigned a laugh and said, “He just resembles Watanabe.”
“We might point you in the right direction, though,” Noah added, “but first tell us why you want to see him.”
“I must contemplate this,” the leader of the robots said. Abruptly, he folded shut again, tucking himself away like a metal version of a turtle.
Scowling, Subi rested his hand on a holstered pistol that he had put on, just before going to talk with the machines.
Moving close, Tesh walked around the flat-bodied machine, which was now motionless. The other machines stood nearby rigidly, but in non-threatening postures. “What’s he doing?” she asked.
They didn’t answer.
Moments later, the machine leader folded open. His metal-lidded eyes blinked yellow and then green. He faced Noah, and said, “I have considered the facts, and I was not mistaken. You are Noah Watanabe.”
Noah did not respond, nor did his companions.
“Your identity is obvious to me,” the machine said. “Even without the vast amount of data available to me, you are a well-known fugitive.”
“Why did you help us?” Noah asked, ignoring the assertion.
“Consider it our employment application,” Thinker said. “We wish to join the Guardians, and thought this battle would look good on our résumés.”
“We want to be Guardians!” the machines shouted in unison.
A chill of delight ran down Noah’s spine, but still he hesitated. Calmly, he walked from machine to machine, examining them closely, looking into their metal eyes and checking their blinking, multicolored sensors. Halting at one of the heavily armored sentient machines, he did a double take.
“This is not a machine,” he announced. Through the visor of the face plate, he saw the unmistakable glint of Human eyes, and the skin of a Caucasian.
Moving to Noah’s side, Thinker said, “Quite right, my new friend. This is the brother of your famous inventor Jacopo Nehr.”
“Giovanni Nehr?” Noah said. Surprised, he looked more closely.
The armored man nodded.
While Noah had never met the younger Nehr, he had seen him in public, and knew his reputation as a proud man who never got along well with his famous brother. Because of the strained relationship Noah had with his own father, a renowned man like Jacopo Nehr, he thought he might have something in common with this stran
ge soldier.
Suddenly, the armored man appeared to get very nervous, and looked in the direction of Acey and Dux, who were whispering between themselves and pointing angrily at Nehr.
Then, before anyone could stop them, the boys rushed at Nehr. They knocked him down and began pummeling him through openings in his armor. Robots pulled them apart.
“It seems that we have a minor problem,” Thinker said.
Giovanni Nehr, despite his superior size and armor, appeared terrified of the boys. Blood trickled from his nose.
“What’s the problem here?” Noah asked. He glared at the teenagers.
“Nothing we can’t work out ourselves,” Acey said.
Dux didn’t add anything to that.
“What do you have to say?” Noah said, looking at the man. All three of the combatants had been released by the robots now, and looked very angry.
“Same,” Nehr said. “Just a little misunderstanding, that’s all. We’ll work it out. I promise you, sir, this won’t happen again.”
“They don’t seem to like you,” Noah said. “I want to know why.”
“Uh,” Nehr said, “we were in an airvator together, escaping from a Mutati prison moon, and the guards shot us up pretty good. I was just trying to keep my balance and almost pushed Dux out through a hole, entirely by accident. I didn’t mean to stumble against him. Fortunately he held on, but he was understandably angry.”
Dux muttered something.
Turning to Dux, Noah asked, “Could you have been mistaken? Is he telling the truth?”
“Sir,” the young man said, “Speaking for myself, I’m prepared to let the matter drop. I promise you that. Whatever I thought about him before is nowhere near as important as the mission you want us to accomplish. We’ll set our differences aside.”
“Right,” Acey said, nodding. But his expression, and Dux’s, looked less than convincing.
“One of the disadvantages of your race,” Thinker said, stepping closer to Noah. “Personalities inevitably get in the way.” The lights on his face plate glowed a cheery orange. “Now my machines, on the other hand, have no such problems. I tell them what to do, and they do it.”
The Timeweb Chronicles: Timeweb Trilogy Omnibus Page 38