Pathspace: The Space of Paths

by Matthew Kennedy

  The tank, for some reason, did not turn at the last moment to straight out its course, as if the occupants were otherwise engaged. Lester scrambled to his feet and watched the tank crash into the front of a building. It pushed partly through the wall and slowed, treads grinding on debris. Then the treads stopped.

  “What did you throw in there?”

  Xander grinned. “Five dollars worth of death, in the form of white-hot everflames.” He barked a laugh. “Clothing and wire insulation both tend to be pretty flammable.”

  The hatches popped open again. This time, smoke billowed out of it, followed by an angry Brutus. There were scorch marks on his uniform.

  The tank was still not moving. “Oh dear,” said Xander. “Did I get lucky and break your toy? Well, I'm not sorry.”

  There was murder in the Texan's eyes. “Nuthin that can't be fixed,” he sneered. “What I'm going to do to you, however. . . .”

  Lester could see Xander draw himself up, but he stepped forward and thrust the old wizard behind him. “I believe I have this dance,” he said. His eyes were hard as steel.

  Brutus laughed. “Grandpa can't take me, but you think you can?”

  Lester stared back at him. “We have unfinished business.”

  “That so? Well I reckon we can finish it real quick.”

  Lester looked him up and down. “I believe you're right about that.”

  He felt Xander's hand on his shoulder. “Les, you don't have to do this. War isn't personal.”

  Lester shook the hand off. “Sorry but this is.” He looked at Brutus. “In a minute or two there'll be men will be boiling out of the Governor's headquarters with enough crossbows to make you a human pincushion. They're good men so they'll probably let you surrender.” He paused. “But you killed my father. For that, and for what you did to my mother, you don't get to surrender.”

  Brutus made as if to laugh, but lunged at him instead, seeking to catch him off guard.

  Lester was ready for that. He ducked to one side, stuck out a foot and added a push to the middle of the bigger man's back to help him on his way to landing on his belly sliding toward the center of the street.

  As Brutus growled climbing to his feet on the slippery surface, the snow on the road began to move toward him from all directions. He blinked at it, in surprise, but the expression on his face shifted when he felt something begin to lift him off his feet.

  A smoke ring of snow hovered for a moment parallel to the road, then as the force of the incoming wind grew to a roar, the ring,with Brutus in the center of it, began rising into the night air. Lester let it get almost as high as the top of the Governors 'scraper before he relaxed the pathspace weave and let it dissipate.

  A cold part of him, colder than the snow, enjoyed the terrified scream that wailed from Brutus as the man plummeted several hundred feet into the now-uncovered street. If he winced at the sickening impact, it didn't show.

  He stared at the body, where something wet was spreading, making the road even darker. Eventually he was aware of Xander coming up to stand beside him. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For not interfering.”

  Xander shook his head. His eyes were still on the body. “I'm glad you're on our side.”

  “I remembered what you said,” Lester told him. “You can make a swizzle out of anything, anywhere. The metal pipe just helps anchor the pattern, to make it last longer.” He thought for a moment. “I suppose with a little sideways push I could have dropped him on the neat bullseye your melted snow made around the Honcho's tomb.” He brushed fresh snow out of his hair. “But anyway, it's over.”

  “No it isn't,” said Xander. “We still have to find the rest of those tanks.”

  Chapter 94

  Aria: “you who turn the wheel”

  This time she had no patience for inching along ventilation ducts. Aria strode up to the men guarding the door.

  They eyed her uncertainly. “Er, it's supposed to be a closed meeting, ma'am,” one of them said, fidgeting.

  “I don't give a flying fork what it's supposed to be. Let me in or there will be trouble!”

  The other man coughed. “Um, actually, the word is supposed to be – “

  “The point is, there will be trouble if we do,” said the other guard. “For us, anyway.”

  The door behind the two men opened. Xander poked his head out. “Oh, good, you're here,” he said. “We were just about to send for you.”

  “Ha!” She lifted her chin and swept past the two guards who, if anything, appeared relieved to have escaped their dilemma.

  She had never seen so many people in the main conference room before. To the right of the Governor's desk Jeffrey and a couple of other men were standing. The front row of seats in front of the desk was occupied by the military and civilian advisors. Behind them sat row after row of men and women, most of whom she could not identify.

  A man in the audience was on his feet. “And just how are we supposed to believe they'll just go home and leave us alone, eh? You're saying we should just let them go back and plan a better invasion?”

  Kristana looked exhausted. Why is she listening to these fools? thought Aria. Why doesn't she just throw them out and do whatever she believes is the right thing to do? But she knew the answer to that one. Colorado is not an empire. If she starts down the road of acting like an Empress she'll never fulfill the Dream of the late General – the restoration of democracy and the Union.

  “No,” said the Governor, “I'm not saying that. But neither am I saying that we should act like an indisciplined mob. War is a funny business, people. Once the shooting is over you don't act like rabid wolves and tear your opponents to pieces.”

  “With all due respect, Governor, I wasn't asking for that and you know it.”

  “Then exactly what are you asking for, sir? That we start imprisoning heads of foreign countries? From what we know, Peter Martinez is gone. The current Honcho of the Lone Star Empire is that young man to my left. Are you saying we should put him on trial for his father's decisions?”

  The standing man scowled. “Governor, this isn't some tavern brawl. People are dead.”

  “Yes,” she said, staring him down. “On both sides. But the invasion is over. It's time to get back to the work of fulfilling the Dream. It's time to figure out how to work with our neighbors instead of fighting them.”

  There was a muttering about this in the audience, not all satisfied with the idea.

  Aria strode up the center aisle to stand in front of her mother's desk. “Governor,” she said, “may I speak?”

  Kristana glanced at her. “By all means, if you have something to say, let's have it,” she said. “Everyone else seems to be doing it.”

  Aria turned around and scanned the audience. “The new Honcho didn't order this invasion, and he's not going to be on trial.” She paused. “But even if he was, he would still have the right to speak. Have I missed something, or is everyone but him being given the opportunity? Why don't we hear what he thinks? Are we afraid to listen?”

  The murmuring began again at that, and some of it sounded ugly. Kristana slammed her palm down on her desk. “QUIET!” she roared. “I say again, we are not a mob or a pack of wild animals. This is a civil gathering, and I WILL have civility!”

  When the muttering died down again, she continued. “That's a great idea. Jeffrey, excuse me, I mean your Excellency, you have the floor. Speak.”

  Jeffrey has a haunted look, Aria thought. But how would I look, if my father had just died and I was in front of a room full of people howling for my blood? She couldn't even guess the stress he must be under.

  Jeffrey looked around the room, showing he wasn't afraid to meet anyone's eyes. When he spoke, it was in a quiet voice that forced them to strain to hear him. Aria almost smiled, recognizing the technique.

  “Most of you don't know me, and I don't know you,” he said. “You want to know what I am thinking? Let's start with this. How many of you have
lost a parent? My father is dead. Now I know,” he said, holding up a hand to forestall interruptions, “that he died invading your country, and I can't blame anyone for defending themselves, so let's move on. He tried to take you over, to make you part of his Empire, and he paid the price for that. I'm not here to claim any right of revenge. War is war, after all. But even though we disagreed on a lot of things, he was my father and now I've lost him. So bear with me if what I say seems a little disjointed. I don't expect you to love him, but he was, in his own way, a great man.”

  She could see he was barely holding it together. Aria's heart went out to him. How would she have handled it? Maybe she was lucky the General died before she was born. But then, he wasn't her father . . . just the man she had been told was her father. She turned to look at Xander, who was standing on the other side of her mother's desk. If Xander had died out there on that snowy street, would she be able to address these people as calmly as Jeffrey?

  Jeffrey looked across at Kristana. “Madame Governor,” he said, “both you and my late father,” he swallowed, “had similar dreams. You both wanted to end this sorry state of affairs, this shattered land with countries fighting like squabbling neighbors.

  “I won't speak ill of my father, but I want you to know that although I was raised to rule my father's Empire I have never liked the idea of expansion by conquest, or unification by bloodshed.

  “We both know that Texas and Rado are the two most powerful countries in this region. If we chose, we could both go on fighting and weakening each other. But there is a better way.

  “Hundreds of years ago, thirteen colonies, thirteen separate countries, in effect, occupied this land, with their own separate governments, currencies, and militias. But instead of fighting it out to see which would control it all, they came together for the common good. One central government, made up of representatives from each colony, formed for the purpose of settling disagreements, regulating trade, and guaranteeing the rights of citizens.

  “It all fell apart, of course, in the chaos of the Fall of the civilization of the Ancients. But I have often thought, as did your own General, that maybe we could put it together again. I know you have been hoping to do just that for years now, but I also know that no other country has taken you seriously about it, because no one wanted to make themselves a target for my father's armies by forming an alliance with you.”

  He paused, as if gathering his thoughts again.

  “I was hoping,” said Kristana, “that they might change their minds if they saw Rado continuing to survive, despite his efforts. But go on.”

  “I cannot betray Texas,” he said. “If I go back there and announce that it's becoming part of Rado, I will just be killed, and hostilities will continue. Just as your own citizens would rise up against you, if you tried to tell them Rado was becoming a vassal state to Texas.”

  “That's not going to happen.”

  “I know,” he said. “But what if we could tell our peoples that instead of conquering or being conquered, we are both becoming part of something bigger? What if I could tell Texans that they could trade Texas beef for Rado gold? What if you could tell your citizens that they would have the might of Texas defending them?”

  Kristana considered it. “This is all very nice,” she said. “But how do we know that any alliance, any union with Texas isn't just a ruse to buy you more time to prepare a larger invasion? Trust is precious, your Excellency, and because of that, it is slow to form. You're right in saying that while I want to further my late husband's Dream, I can't do that by risking the safety of the people of Colorado. I won't betray their trust to try to gain yours. So how do we proceed?”

  There was a moment of silence. Aria ended it before the muttering could start up again.

  “I have an idea,” she said. “But you might not like it.”

  Chapter 95

  Lester: “The hermit's chapel, the pilgrim's prayer”

  There was rejoicing in the Capitol, but he did not rejoice. So many decisions had been made. Everyone seemed to have gotten something. Jeffrey got to rule a country – the new Honcho got to go back to his people unscathed. The Governor got the beginning of a new Union. And Xander got the founding of his new School. He hadn't decided on a name for it, as far as Lester knew. But workers were already clearing out a couple of floors near the top of the building, under Aria's gardens, and for all he knew the old wizard would be off soon hoping to find some promising youngsters to form their first class of student wizards.

  But what do I get, Xander? he grumbled mentally, as he plodded his way back to the quarters he shared with the wizard. He still could barely believe Aria had made the suggestion that had started the consolidation. How could she do it?

  Xander opened the door before Lester could grasp the doorknob. “I thought you might need to talk,” he said.

  Lester threw himself on a chair. “How can she do it? How can she marry that, that – “

  “That ruler of Texas?”

  Lester collapsed. “Yes. She doesn't want to be an empress! Sometimes I think she doesn't even want to be Governor. So why would she marry him? She doesn't know him well enough for it to be love.”

  Outside, the column of six tanks were still lined up across from them. Lester tried to imagine the consternation the guards must have felt when he and Xander led the vehicles up the street to where they were parked. It had not been easy telling Jeffrey that his father was dead. It had been even harder getting him to come to the Governor's building.

  The tanks had provided the solution. They were drawn up in an orderly line, but they had their orders. If Jeffrey was not allowed to come out of the building by sunrise, they were to assume he was dead and swivel their guns ninety degrees and begin blasting the building.

  This plan had accomplished two goals. First, it had helped give Jeffrey the confidence to go into the lioness's den. But even more importantly, it had effectively immobilized the tanks while he was in there, preventing them from going off to demolish more of the city, or at least the parts that the Fall and the invasion had not yet toppled.

  They were still waiting. Dawn was a few hours away. There would still be enough time for the clauses to be negotiated, and for the ink to dry on the new official documents. And for the announcements of the engagement to be prepared.

  But what do I get? “How can she do it?” he repeated.

  Xander sat down across from him and got out his pipe. “By thinking about her people,” he said, loading the pipe. “In the old days, alliances were often sealed by marriage.”

  Lester didn't look at him. “I mean, yes, the part about leaving the tanks here was clever. Without the tanks, their fuel is useless and without the fuel, we can't use them either. But why do they have to get married?”

  Xander lit the pipe with a touch of tonespace and took a couple of puffs before answering. “Either country could still attack the old fashioned way. This will help put an end to that. Their children will be heirs to both thrones.”

  “The Governor doesn't have a throne!”

  “No,” Xander agreed. “But you know what I mean. It's a good deal for both countries, belonging to the new Union. They have more farmland and a longer growing season. We have more metals.”

  “And your school. Tell me something. Are you going to accept students from Texas? The only reason we survived this invasion was the fact that we had wizards and they didn't.”

  “Actually,” Xander pointed out, “they did have one. Fortunately for us, he never mastered making swizzles, or they might have shown up even sooner, before my tank pit was ready.”

  Lester scowled. “Ludlow. Because of him, we nearly lost. I wish he hadn't gotten away the way he did, once he saw the way things were going, when we showed up to talk to Jeffrey.”

  Xander nodded. “He'll never be the wizard you are, but he did learn the invisibility weave. Just be glad he didn't have more tricks up his sleeve.” Xander puffed again. “You know,” he said, “I think he was planning
to vanish, so to speak, even if the invasion had succeeded. He would have been eliminated the moment the Honcho didn't need him any more. He knew Martinez didn't want a future depending on wizards. ”

  “Does anyone? I mean, I'm glad you're finally going to get the school started and all, but will regular folk ever accept people like us?”

  Xander shrugged. “It may take a while. But one thing I know is, they'll accept what we can give them.”

  Lester sighed. “How's that?”

  Xander blew a smoke ring. “The Ancients had a powerful civilization, no question about that. But it was like having a fireplace with no chimney. They factories, their cars, their shops and planes all depended on burning fuels and spewing the combustion products back into the atmosphere. You can't do that forever, not without consequences. The atmosphere isn't infinite. Sooner or later they would have choked on all the poisons they were creating.”

  “But we still do that. Well, maybe not the factories and cars. But everyone burns firewood to stay warm.”

  “Soon they won't. One of the things our School will do is turn out things like everflames and give them away to families so they can heat their homes without burning up trees and making smoke.” Xander smiled. “Think about it. We can plug up the chimneys and keep all the hot air inside the houses. And the same principle will apply to the forges and so on. Soon we'll have factories again, but this time they won't spew anything but products.”

  Xander's eyes appeared to be gazing at something far away. “And soon, when we're ready, we'll go out into space again. We'll go looking for the Tourists, or for people on worlds around other stars.”