Five days ago, a message packet had arrived by FTL ship, announcing that the first trailblazer ship had successfully laid down an iperion path connecting Hellhole and Candela – the first link in the new DZ transportation network. Its significance was akin to the Golden Spike in the transcontinental railroad, an event Adolphus had read about in ancient Earth history. Within weeks, the whole fleet of his carefully coordinated trailblazers would arrive at their destinations throughout the Deep Zone, and all those other planets would soon join the network. But this was the test run.
Rendo looked nervous. “Do you think Candela will just send a volunteer to prove that it can be done? It is an unverified route.”
With a faint smile, Adolphus shook his head. “Administrator Hu is going to be on that first stringline ship. She’d fire anyone who tried to suggest otherwise. Our orbiting hub is fully functional?”
“Eight of the twelve nodes are already operational, General, and the rest are approaching completion. A new one powers up and finishes its shakedown every few days. We’ll be ready for D-Day, sir. Don’t worry.”
Even so, Adolphus had plenty to worry about. The provocative situation practically guaranteed war with the Constellation, but he had to cement his victory so swiftly that the Diadem’s powerful forces would not be able to react in time – even if he had to destroy the Sonjeera-Deep Zone stringline connections on his end. Tanja Hu, one of his closest allies, would operate the first test route, followed closely by Ian Walfor and then his other nine co-conspirators. They had all discreetly acquired their own ships which would be ready to defend the stringline terminus rings from Sonjeera – a single point of vulnerability, no matter how large a fleet the Army of the Constellation sent against them.
Adolphus had received reports from his sleeper cells on the rest of the DZ planets, and over the past six months they had recruited more locals, increased the grassroots level of dissatisfaction with the Diadem’s oppression, even though none of the populations realized that independence might be so close at hand.
He knew he was about to unleash the whirlwind. As closely timed as such incredible distances would allow, trailblazers should arrive at their scattered destinations, unannounced, each installing a terminus ring above a Deep Zone planet. Every eventuality had to be considered and dealt with. With that in mind, secret operatives had been stationed on any DZ world where he and his fellow conspirators felt the planetary administrator might side with the Constellation rather than independence. Those operatives were armed and ready to ensure a swift takeover.
“What about the new connection from here to Buktu? Have we heard from Ian Walfor? He’ll be glad to use fast commercial ships for a change instead of his slow FTL clunkers.”
Theris checked his records, though he must surely have known the answer off the top of his head. “Administrator Walfor flew the trail-blazer himself and should have arrived at Buktu yesterday or the day before. I expect we’ll be receiving him on an inaugural return voyage very soon now. If calculations are correct, the Candela hauler will be here within the hour, sir.”
Seventy minutes later, just before local dawn, the stringline ship from Candela hurtled into the system – a ten-minute error that puzzled the theoreticians and delighted the pragmatic General. Everything was going precisely according to plan. How he wished he could be up there in orbit, sitting in the hub’s command chamber, to receive Tanja Hu directly. But for now he would continue to abide by his promise to the Diadem and remain on the planet; it was a matter of honor.
Except for his handful of allies, the remaining Deep Zone planetary administrators had been kept in the dark about his bold plan. Once the wealth of new opportunities appeared, though, any logical person would see the advantages to the alternative network, even those who still considered themselves patriotic members of the Constellation under Diadem Michella.
However, Adolphus needed to give them something concrete, more than mere words. It was imperative for him to demonstrate the superiority of his vision. It had to work.
Rendo Theris touched his earadio and beamed. “Administrator Hu’s vessel has safely docked at the stringline terminus!”
On the shack’s comm screen, the dark-haired Candela woman leaned into the image area. She looked exceptionally pleased. “Permission to come to the surface, General Adolphus?”
“Most enthusiastically granted.”
“Then I’ll be right down.”
Rendo paced nervously around the landing area while the passenger pod descended from the orbital hub, but Adolphus was confident. “Relax, Mr Theris. If we can establish a whole new stringline network, we should be able to land a passenger pod without too much trouble.” He stood under the floodlights. The eastern horizon was suffused with brightening light.
Gazing into the greenish sky, Adolphus tried to catch a glimpse of the descending vehicle. A glint of light was followed by the screech of deceleration engines, and presently the passenger pod landed on one of Ankor’s paved landing areas, within five meters of its projected arrival.
With as much decorum as he could summon, given his pride and excitement, Adolphus marched forward in the dawn to greet Tanja Hu. The pod’s hatch opened, and the dark-haired woman emerged, blinking in the morning light.
Adolphus brusquely shook her hand. “Welcome to our new Hellhole Spaceport, Administrator.”
Tanja looked at the rugged landscape that was still swathed in the shadows of daybreak. “Let me savor this moment, General.” She rapped her knuckles quickly on the pod’s still-steaming hull; if the hot metal burned her knuckles, she showed no sign of it. “After today, none of us in the Deep Zone needs the Constellation anymore.”
75
In her mind – inside Jhera’s life – Antonia remembered the last days of Xaya, the vivid terrors and triumphs before the destruction came. At the end, Jhera and Birzh had clung to the hope that Zairic’s desperate plan would succeed, although they knew how slim the probabilities were . . .
Antonia embraced Devon in the pool – and Birzh was there with him, a part of him, just as Jhera was part of her. Birzh . . . her lover, her companion! After losing each other in the slickwater, they had waited for centuries, and by the force of their love the two Xayans had come together again. Now, all those memories roared into her mind.
In the final weeks before the world ended, Xayan engineers had dug reservoirs all across the world to be filled with the preserved remnants of an entire generation. As powerful telemancers, Jhera and Birzh encouraged their people to go to the nearest reservoir; they showed their frightened fellows what needed to be done to achieve immortality. Dissolving themselves into the slickwater was the best hope they had. Even the skeptics had no argument. The combined strength of the planet’s telemancers was not enough to divert the asteroid, and the impact would kill them all within days.
Ah, but those last days! Each second of life had seemed so desperate, and so fleetingly sweet. The Xayans could not evacuate their planet. Only one faction had the technology to travel among the stars, and they were already gone with some of the most powerful telemancers. Another faction, led by Encix, had squandered their last days digging out and armoring the preservation bunker, in which they placed recordings and artifacts, a sampling of their racial heritage . . . a museum. A crypt. But even if their plans succeeded, Encix could preserve only five Original Xayans; the rest of the population had no chance of surviving.
But by dissolving their memories in the slickwater, the Xayan race could endure. By the millions, they had surrendered themselves to the slickwater pools, gelatinous bodies sloughing away into the sentience-absorbing liquid that recorded every scrap of information about who they were.
When time grew short at the end, and it became apparent that not everyone could be saved in time, Zairic and the leaders tried to select the best and most important Xayans, the lives and memories that must be preserved.
As the asteroid approached, the crowds grew larger at the slickwater reservoirs. People began to pan
ic, realizing that there was not enough time. Jhera, Birzh, and other powerful telemancers guided by Zairic himself worked up until the last moment, saving as many as possible.
When thunder began to shoot through the sky and the fiery shockwave hammered down upon them, Jhera had extended an appendage, touched Birzh’s soft skin. With a shuddering clamor of love that resonated between them, they had used their own powers of telemancy and slumped forward into the slickwater that was already trembling with the impact to come.
That was the last thought Jhera had. She and Birzh had been lost in the pool of lives for centuries. And now they were back.
Zairic’s bold vision had proved true, and he had shown them the way to save themselves. Even though their race had lost its chance for ala’ru, the racial transformation that was their destiny, the Jhera inside Antonia felt joy to know that they might have another opportunity to change the universe. Zairic had been correct in that, as well.
Rejoicing filled every fiber of her being, and Antonia felt an opening in her mind, of her mind, to the powers and possibilities. As all the painful, horrific images of Jako drifted away, she became aware of her own body and realized that she was clasping Devon in the pool. Their touch was completely different from the last one that Jhera and Birzh had shared, yet fundamentally the same.
Holding each other, she and Devon-Birzh levitated out of the pool. Using the telemancy that their alien companions controlled, they continued upward to hover over the settlement of Slickwater Springs. They flew above all that they had been before. Sharing their thoughts as they rose into the sky, the two kissed. They flew higher still.
76
In the middle of the night, Sophie awoke when Devon knocked on the door to her room. He stood, strangely calm, in the dimness, but she knew her son well enough to sense that something had changed. All shreds of sleep vanished. “Devon, what’s wrong?”
“I have to tell you all of it, Mother. But first, the terrible part.” A chill ran down Sophie’s spine, and she sat up in bed. “I killed a man,” he said plainly. “He attacked Antonia.”
Sophie didn’t know which question to ask first. She blurted them all in quick succession. “Is she all right? Are you all right? Who was this man?” Sophie got up and put on a pair of shoes without bothering to change out of her loose nightclothes.
“Antonia is outside, and yes, she’s all right now. So am I.”
Sophie was moving, trying to solve the problem, taking charge of the situation. She hurried to the door, took his arm as she looked for the lights. “Show me the body first. Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Yes, he is dead.”
It was too much all at once. “We’ll contact General Adolphus right away.” He was at Ankor for the completion of the new stringline hub, but he would take care of this. She needed to protect Devon. “Your voice sounds strange – you must be in shock.” This all seemed so unreal.
“I’m not in shock, Mother. I know exactly what happened.”
Speaking very little, Devon led her out of the main house to where Antonia waited in the shadows. Sophie ran forward. “There you are! Devon said you were attacked.”
“I was raped.” She had pulled her torn clothes back on. In a strangely clinical tone, Antonia explained who Jako Rullins was, what he had done to her family and to her, how he had hunted her down, found her, and nearly destroyed her again.
Sophie reeled. On the barren ground not far from the outermost pool lay the corpse. A small, bright glow spilled across the ground where the man had dropped his torchlight. Sophie did not need to bend closer to see that he was indeed dead. His head was a bloody mess; Devon had not simply struck once, but battered him repeatedly . . .
“Oh, Devon! And you, Antonia!” Sophia reached out and put her arms around them both. “We’ll take care of this . . . this garbage. There’ll be an investigation, but everything will be all right. It was self-defense. The truth will come out.”
She held the two, expecting them to break down and begin sobbing, but felt a rigidity in both of them. They were like statues.
“There’s more to tell you, Mother.”
Sophie’s alarm was invaded by a creeping, dreadful certainty. She picked up the torch on the ground, turned it to their faces. There it was: the odd, but familiar, sheen in their eyes.
They told her the rest, and Sophie nearly collapsed; she kept herself upright only out of sheer habit. She couldn’t imagine what these two had been through – and now she couldn’t imagine what she would do without Devon. The real Devon. “If only you’d come to me first, I could have helped you. And Antonia too!”
But when she raised her head and saw how calm, serene, and centered they were even in the wake of such astonishing events, Sophie was at a loss for words. Finally, she said with forced resignation, “I know you never planned to do this, but there must have been some other way. I don’t know this Birzh . . .” Her voice hitched. “But you are still my son, Devon.” She held him tightly. “I still love you.”
“Without what Jhera has done for me,” Antonia said, “I wouldn’t have found the strength and peace that I have now. I’d forgotten what it was like to be happy, and now Jhera and I both have what we want.”
Devon took Antonia’s hand. “So do I.”
Sophie knew that no amount of complaining and scolding could undo what they had done. Once exposed to the slickwater, Devon and Antonia could not surrender the alien lives that now resided within them, even if they had been willing to do so – and they certainly didn’t seem interested in that.
Sophie forced strength into her voice and hoped she sounded convincing. “It’s no secret that I wanted you two to get together. You’re a perfect match – but I never expected it to happen this way, this complicated way. I have a thousand things I want to say to you, and a thousand things I wish were different.” She heaved a deep breath. “But since I’m running Slickwater Springs and welcoming anyone who comes here to receive an alien consciousness, I can’t very well chastise you two for doing exactly what I advertise.” Her voice cracked. “But please don’t leave me.”
“We are still who we are, Mother,” Devon said. “Just different. Just more. But rest assured, we’ll remain here with you.”
Before sunrise, Sophie moved with stern determination, her lips pressed together in hard silence as she wrapped up the man’s body. Devon and Antonia carried the shapeless package to a storage shed near the main house. Still asleep, none of the newcomers responded to the commotion. She did not want to panic them; they didn’t need to know there had been a wolf in the fold.
Throughout the process, Devon and Antonia were entirely unconcerned. In the morning, other people would notice their changed behavior, their odd eyes. Sophie decided she would keep them out of sight for a while. Fernando-Zairic would want to speak with them, and she hoped they wouldn’t change their minds about staying at Slickwater Springs. Some part of them was still Devon and Antonia.
For now, Sophie shut off the clamor of other demands in her mind and concentrated on taking care of this nasty piece of business. Jako Rullins had nothing to do with the other visitors. He had not come for the slickwater and had no interest in the alien civilization. He had made his way here only to abduct Antonia Anqui and hurt her. Devon’s actions had protected the girl, probably saved her life. No one would argue that.
Hellhole had laws, and General Adolphus strictly enforced them. On a planet with such harsh conditions, so few resources, and so many exiled convicts, lawlessness might well have grown rampant, but he had created a rigid safety net.
The question of a crime committed by someone who was now a shadow-Xayan had never come up. Devon was no longer the person who had killed Antonia’s attacker. She steeled herself – that part didn’t matter. Jako was the criminal, and her son had defended a victim. Considering the uproar this planet was about to experience as soon as he announced the stringline network, she was sure the General would grant some sort of dispensation.
This was the m
orning the first stringline ship was supposed to arrive from Candela. Sophie knew she would disrupt Adolphus’s moment of glory, but she contacted him nevertheless. He needed to know.
Shortly after he and Tanja Hu toasted their triumph, the General received Sophie’s distraught message, and he reacted with a slow burn of rage to learn about Antonia’s attacker, but Sophie urged him not to leave Ankor, especially now. “I know this needs to be investigated, Tiber – but please keep this as quiet as possible, considering what those two have been through.”
From her image on the message screen, he could see how disturbed she was. “I’ll send Craig Jordan to look into the matter discreetly,” Adolphus said. “But I have to impose the rule of law – it’s the basis of civilization. Hellhole already has more than its share of convicts, misfits, and independent colonists. I can’t have one justice system for myself and my friends and another system for everyone else.”
He pondered as another disturbing thought occurred to him: what if the shadow-Xayans and the settlement Fernando-Zairic had founded did not accept the same laws as the rest of Hellhole? He would have to address that with them – later.
Sophie would never back away from defending Devon. “I’ll make a clear enough case, Tiber. We’ll get information on Jako Rullins from the Constellation. Sounds like he’s wanted for murder on Aeroc, possibly other crimes, and we know what he did to Antonia.” Her nostrils flared. “If I’d been there, I’d have killed him myself.”
Adolphus nodded. “And if the facts are as you’ve described them – which I’m sure they will be – I’ll see to it that the body is disposed of in the wastelands. Devon will be cleared. It’s an obvious case of self-defense.”
Sophie looked satisfied. “Thank you, Tiber. I know you didn’t need anything to distract you on this, of all days. Sorry to interrupt you with a personal matter.”
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