Exiles at the Well of Souls

by Jack L. Chalker

  They filled in the tracks by the simplest method imaginable. They wore flowing white capes of some animal fur, and it dragged behind them as they walked, the light top powder filling in behind them. They didn't sink down into the snow nearly as heavily as they should have; the padlike feet acted almost like snowshoes.

  Tracks weren't a problem here; they knew they were being taken into the mainstream of Gedemondan life, whatever that was. This was the part hidden away from all comers, the part they never let you see.

  And that made them wonder. Why them? Did the Gedemondans know they were coming? Were they being helped? Or were they prisoners to be interrogated about all these invasions before being tossed over a cliff? There were no answers, only more walking.

  Occasionally the great snow-beasts would pop right up out of the snow. It was unsettling at first, until they realized that there must be trap doors of some kind—whether over ice caves, natural or dug, or rock caves, or even artificial dwellings that were covered with snow they didn't know. It was clear, though, that one of the big reasons you never saw the population was that they were living and doing whatever it is they did below the snow cover, the art of camouflage coming naturally to them.

  Night came, plunging this wintry world into an eerie glowing darkness. The night sky of the Well World reflected off the snowfields in distorted, twinkling wonder. New Pompeii wasn't visible, but it might not yet have risen, or it might have set, or it might be out of sight behind the distant mountains.

  They hadn't had time to take any supplies. The Gedemondans had been gentle but insistent; when they had protested, they had been picked up as easily as Renard picked up a bag of apples, and plopped down on top of the two best able to carry them, Tael and Doma. Tael was too overawed and a little scared to protest much; Doma seemed curiously at home and docile around the strange creatures, as if they had some mysterious power over her.

  Or, they hoped, because she could perceive no threat.

  Still they didn't go hungry. Just after darkness fell they were led to a large cave they would have never known was there, and other Gedemondans brought familiar fruits and vegetables, from where they couldn't guess, served on broad wood plates, and a fruit punch that tasted quite good.

  They even seemed extra concerned about Mavra's problems. Her dish was higher and thicker, the easier to reach it, and the punch was in a deep bowl so she could drink as she wished.

  Renard had not used his electrical powers at Mavra's suggestion; they were, after all there to contact the Gedemondans, and this was, if nothing else, contact. But he couldn't resist it, finally, and reached over to a close relative of an apple and applied a small charge that baked it.

  The Gedemondans didn't seem impressed. Finally one who was sitting against the cave wall got up and walked over to him, then crouched down across from him, the plate in the middle. A clawed hand reached out, touched the plate. There was a blinding flash lasting only a fraction of a second, and the plate and fruit just weren't there any more. Renard was dumbfounded; he reached over, felt the spot where it had been. It wasn't even warm, yet there were no char marks, debris, or anything but a tiny little odor of ozone or something. The snow-creature snorted in satisfaction, patted him patronizingly on the head, and walked off.

  That ended the demonstrations of power.

  They were bone-tired and chilled, but they did not spend the night in the cave. Although they didn't run, it was apparent that their captors were on some sort of schedule, and that they had a particular place for their captives to be at a certain time.

  It was several more hours before they reached it, and by that point Tael was complaining to the silent leaders loudly that she couldn't go a step farther.

  It was a solid rock wall, looming ominously ahead in the near-darkness. They started for it, expecting to turn any minute, but it didn't happen. Instead the wall opened for them.

  To be precise, a huge block of stone moved slowly back, obviously on a muscle-powered pulley, and bright lights shone into the darkness. They went on, into the tunnel.

  The light was from some glowing mineral that picked up torchlight and magnified it a hundredfold. It was bright as day inside.

  The inside of the mountain was a honeycomb; labyrinthine passages went off in all directions, and they were quickly and completely lost. But it was warm—comfortable, in fact—inside, the heat coming from a source they never did discover, and there were strange noises of a lot of work being done—but what was going on it was impossible to see.

  Finally, they were at their destination. It was a comfortable, large room. There were several big beds there, filled with soft cushions of fabric, and a large fur rug that was perfect for Mavra. There was only one entrance, and two Gedemondans stood there, conspicuous yet as unobtrusive as possible. This was it, then.

  They were too tired to talk much, to even move, or worry about what was in store for them. They were sound asleep in minutes.

  * * *

  The next day all awoke feeling better, but with some aches and pains. Gedemondans brought more fruits, a different punch, and even a bale of hay which could be used by both Tael and Doma. Where that came from there was little mystery; it was a ration at one of the trail cabins.

  Mavra stretched all four limbs and groaned. "Oh, wow!" she said. "I must have slept solid and unmoving. I'm stiff as a board."

  Renard sympathized. "I'm not feeling too great myself. Overslept, I think. But we're the better for it."

  The two Lata, who always slept motionless on their stomachs, still had their own complaints, and Tael said she had a stiff neck. Even Doma snorted and flexed her wings, almost knocking Tael in the face.

  The Gedemondans had cleared away the breakfast dishes; now only one was in the room, looking at them with a detached expression.

  Vistaru looked at him. Her? No way to tell with them. "I wish they'd say something," she muttered, as much to herself as to the others. "This strong, silent treatment gives me the creeps."

  "Most people talk too much about too little now," said the Gedemondan, in a nice, cultured voice full of warmth. "We prefer not to unless we really have something to say."

  They all almost jumped out of their skins.

  "You can talk!" Hosuru blurted, then covered, "That is, we were wondering . . ."

  The Gedemondan nodded, then looked at Mavra, still on her side on the rug. "So you are Mavra Chang. I've wondered what you would look like."

  She was surprised. "You know me? Well, I'm pleased to meet you, too. I'm sorry I can't give you my hand."

  He shrugged. "We were aware of your problem. As to knowing you, no. We were aware of you. That is different."

  She accepted that. There were lots of ways of getting information on the Well World.

  Tael could not be restrained now. "Why haven't you ever talked to us?" she asked. "I mean, we had the idea that you were some kind of animals or something."

  Her lack of subtly did not perturb the Gedemondan. "It's not hard to explain. We work hard at our image. It is—necessary." He sat down on the floor, facing them.

  "The best way to explain it is to tell you a little of our own history. You know, all of you, of the Markovians?" That was not the word he used, but he was using a translator and that's the way it came out.

  They nodded. Renard was the most ignorant of them; even Tael had had some schooling. But Renard, at least, knew from his own area of space of the dead ruins of that mysterious civilization.

  "The Markovians evolved as all plants and animals evolve, from the primitive to the complex. Most races reach a dead end somewhere along the line, but not them. They reached the heights of material attainment. Anything they wished for was theirs. Like the fabled gods, nothing was beyond them," the Gedemondan told them. "But it wasn't enough. When they had it all, they realized that the end of it was stagnancy, which common sense will tell you is the ultimate result of any material utopia."

  They nodded, following him. Renard thought there was some argument against
that, and that he'd like to try Utopia first, but he let it pass.

  "So they created the Well World, and they transformed themselves into new races, and they placed their children on new worlds of their design. The Well is more than the maintenance computer for this world; it is the single stabilizing force for the finite universe," the snow-creature continued. "And why did they commit racial suicide to descend back to the primitive once more? Because they felt cheated, somehow. They felt they had missed something, somewhere. And, the tragedy was, they didn't know what it was. They hoped one of our races could find out. That was the ultimate goal of the project, which still goes on."

  "It seems to me they made a sucker play," Mavra responded. "Suppose they weren't missing anything? Suppose that was it?"

  The Gedemondan shrugged. "In that case, those warring powers below represent the height of attainment, and when the strongest owns the universe—I'm speaking metaphorically, of course, for they are mere reflections of the races of the universe—we'll have the Markovians all over."

  "But not Gedemondans?" Vistaru prompted.

  He shook his head. "We took a different path. While the rest ran toward materialistic attainment, we decided to accept the challenge of a nontechnological hex for what it was—and not try by ingenuity to make it as technological as we could. What nature provided, we accepted. Hot springs allowed some cultivation in these uniquely lighted caverns, which run through the entire hex. We had food, warmth, shelter and privacy. We turned ourselves not outward, but inward, to the very core of our being, our souls, if you will, and explored what we found there. There were things there no one had ever taken time to dream of. A few Northern hexes are proceeding similarly, but most are not. We feel that this is what the Markovians created us to do, and what so few are doing. We're looking for what they missed."

  "And have you found it?" Mavra asked, somewhat cynically. Mystics weren't her style, either.

  "After a million years, we are at the point where we perceive that something was indeed missing," the Gedemondan replied. "What it is will take further study and refinement. Unlike those of your worlds, we are in no hurry."

  "You've found power," Renard pointed out. "That dish of food was just plain disintegrated."

  He chuckled, but there was a certain sadness in it. "Power. Yes, I suppose so. But the true test of awesome power is the ability not to use it," he said cryptically. He looked over at Mavra Chang and pointed a clawed, furry finger at her.

  "No matter what, Mavra Chang, you remember that!"

  She looked puzzled. "You think I'm to have great power?" she responded, skeptical and a little derisively.

  "First you must descend into Hell," he warned. "Then, only when hope is gone, will you be lifted up and placed at the pinnacle of attainable power, but whether or not you will be wise enough to know what to do with it or what not to do with it is closed to us."

  "How do you know all this?" Vistaru challenged. "Is this just some mystical mumbling or do you really know the future?"

  The Gedemondan chuckled again. "No, we read probabilities. You see, we see—perceive is a better word—the math of the Well of Souls. We feel the energy flow, the ties and bands, in each and every particle of matter and energy. All reality is mathematics; all existence, past, present, and future, is equations."

  "Then you can foretell what's to happen," Renard put in. "If you see the math, you can solve the equations."

  The Gedemondan sighed. "What is the square root of minus two?" he asked. "That's something you can see. Solve it."

  The point was made in the simplest terms.

  "But this doesn't explain why you pretend to be primitive snow apes," Tael persisted.

  The Gedemondan looked at her. "To entwine ourselves in the material equations is to lose that which we believe is of greater value. It is really too late for any of your cultures to comprehend this; you are too far along the Markovian path."

  "But you broke your act for us," Hosuru pointed out. "Why?"

  "The war and the engine mod, of course," Vistaru said flatly, in a tone that indicated she thought her friend a total idiot.

  But the Gedemondan shook his head from side to side. "No. It was to meet and speak with one of you, to try and understand the complexity of her equation and perceive its meaning and possible solution."

  Renard looked puzzled. "Mavra?" he asked quizzically.

  The Gedemondan nodded. "And now that is done, although what can be added is beyond me right now. As to your silly, stupid, petty war and your spaceship, well, if you're up to a short journey I think we will settle that now." He got up, and they did the same, following him out. Another Gedemondan followed with their clothing; they wouldn't need it in the warm caves, but it was obvious that they would not return to that room.

  They were left in a junction area for a while, and their talkative guide left them. Soon they were joined by another Gedemondan—or was it the same one?—and they continued off. It was silent-treatment time again, regardless.

  Later, after what seemed like several hours' walk, they stood again before a stone wall and were helped getting their cold-weather gear on. Some kind Gedemondan had created a form-fitting fur coat with leggings for Mavra. She was amazed, and wondered how they could have done it in a night.

  But it helped. The great door opened with a rumble and revealed a strange scene.

  It was a great bowl; a U-shaped valley hung over it, and snow filled it deeply.

  And, askew on a ledge, unmistakable even at that distance, was the engine module.

  And now the guide spoke. It was a different voice, they thought, but with the same kindness and warmth.

  "You spoke of power. Over there, just next to that little promontory there, your Ben Yulin and his associates now stand. We marked the trail as subtly as possible, and they almost lost it several times, but they managed to blunder through."

  They strained their eyes, but it was too far away.

  Now the Gedemondan pointed to the opposite rim. "Up there," he said, "stand Antor Trelig and his compatriots. Again, their journey was stage-managed so they arrived at their point within minutes of the other. Of course, neither party knows the other is there."

  The snow-creature turned back and stared at the engine module, marvelously intact and preserved, the remains of the great braking chutes still entwined in it.

  "This is power," said the Gedemondan, and pointed at the module.

  There was a rumbling sound that shook the entire valley. Snow started to fall all around, and the engine module trembled, then started to move, slowly at first, then more rapidly, off the edge of the hanging valley.

  It poised for an instant at the edge, then plunged over the side with a roar. But it didn't just fall—it seemed to break apart, and there was a tremendous rumble and roar. Smoke and flames and white-hot billowing clouds erupted. The thing blew itself up on the way down, and, when it hit the snow below, the explosions continued, making the valley look like a minor volcano for several minutes. When the smoke and roar died away, the last of the echoes gone, there was only a melted, smouldering ruin in the snow, bubbling and hissing.

  The Gedemondan nodded in satisfaction. "And so ends the war," he said with a finality that was hard to deny.

  "But if you could do this—why did you wait?" Vistaru asked, awed and a little frightened.

  "It was necessary that all sides witness it," the creature explained. "Otherwise they would never have accepted the truth."

  "All those dead people . . ." Renard murmured, thinking of his own experiences.

  The Gedemondan nodded. "And thousands more now littering the plains. Perhaps this experience will save thousand more in times to come. War is the greatest of teachers, and not all of its lessons are bad. Their cost is just so terribly high."

  Mavra had a different thought. "Suppose the engine module hadn't landed here," she asked him. "What then?"

  "You misunderstand," replied the Gedemondan. "It landed here because it had to land here. It could
land nowhere else." He nodded, almost to himself. "A very simple equation," he muttered.

  * * *

  They stood there a while in silence, stunned. Finally, Mavra asked, "What happens now? To us? To the warring powers?"

  "The warring powers will pack up and go home," the Gedemondan replied matter-of-factly.

  "Trelig? Yulin?" Renard pressed.

  "Are too devious to have been caught here," the creature replied. "They will do as they always have done and act as they always have acted, until the time comes for their equations to solve. They are much entwined, those two, and with you, Renard, and you, Vistaru, and, most of all, with you, Mavra Chang."

  She let it pass. All this talk of her importance seemed ridiculous.

  "And us?" she prodded. "What happens to us now? I mean, you've pretty well blown your cover, haven't you?"

  "Power is best used judiciously," the Gedemondan replied. "A simple adjustment, really. You never were picked up by us. You followed an old trail that seemed recently used, and discovered this valley. Then you watched as the engine module destroyed itself, jarred perhaps by too many sounds echoing across the valley and hitting just the wrong points as it fell. Then you made your way east, into Dillia, to report. You never ever saw the mysterious Gedemondans."

  "That's going to be a hard story to keep to," she pointed out.

  "But it is true," the snow-creature told her. "Or, as far as your companions are concerned, it will be, the moment you cross into Dillia. We have picked up your pack and supplies and will provide them before you cross the border."

  "You mean," Vistaru said, a little upset, "you're going to make us forget all this?"

  "All but her," he replied, gesturing toward Mavra. "But she will get sick and tired of trying to convince you of all this fairly quickly."

  "Why me?" Mavra responded, still puzzled.

  "We want you to remember," the Gedemondan said seriously. "You see, while we developed here along these lines, our children out there in the stars did not. They are all dead now. All gone. The Gedemondans here may yet solve the Markovian problem, but they will never be in a position to implement that solution."