“And completely valid. Maybe the one argument that has remained relevant for our entire history. Without education and understanding, the barbarians would have outnumbered us and swarmed the city gates a long time ago.”
“She’s making a pretty good go of it right now, isn’t she?”
“Ilanthe? Typical case, educated way, way beyond her IQ, with ambition stronger than ability. She’s just another cause fascist, son, and that’s the worst kind; they always know they’re right. Anyone who dissents for whatever reason is evil and an enemy, existing only to be crushed.”
He wouldn’t have believed it could happen, but the Delivery Man actually felt himself smile as he walked on through the alien groves and meadows. “So very different from your liberalism, huh?”
“You got it, sonny.”
Before long the cultivated fields gave way to the valley’s tangled grassland. Tyzak chose a small path that curved around to run parallel with the major river several miles away. That put the Delivery Man facing the giant empty city that straddled the mouth of the valley; its grandiose towers and arresting domes were barely visible through the late-morning haze.
That vision. The clean air. The bright sunlight. Walking to a definite goal. Whatever the reason, he actually began to feel a sense of purpose again. Not confidence exactly, but it would do for a start.
“I can go faster,” he told Tyzak.
The big alien started to lengthen its stride, bouncing along in an effortless rhythm. The Delivery Man matched it, relishing the urgency their speed brought. I’m doing it, he told Lizzie and the kids silently. I’m coming for you, I promise.
Ozzie didn’t let anything slip about his opinion. Myraian smiled in that dreamy way of hers and said: “Sweet.” Then she relived Ingo’s Last Dream again.
Corrie-Lyn was the most affected. She knelt in front of Inigo and looked up, as if pleading for it not to be true. “They had it all,” she entreated. “They succeeded. Their minds were beautiful.”
“And it is worthless,” he told her in turn. “They are no longer human. They have anything they want, which takes away any dignity and purpose they might have had. Their lives are day after day of ennui. All that concerns them is the past. Visiting places because they have already been discovered. That’s not gaining experience; that’s a dismal nostalgia trip. They no longer contribute because there’s nothing to contribute to.”
“They reached fulfillment,” she said. “Their minds were so strong. Inigo, they flew!”
“But where did they fly to? What did they use such a gift for? To please themselves. Querencia became a playground for characterless godlings.”
“They succeeded in throwing off the kind of mundane physical shackles that grind our lives down. This is what the Waterwalker gave them. They lived in splendor without having to exploit anyone, without damaging anything. They understood and loved each other.”
“Because they were all the same. It was self-love.”
“No.” Corrie-Lyn shook her head and walked out onto the veranda. A few moments later Ozzie heard the sound of her shoes on the creaky old wooden steps down to the garden.
A dismayed Inigo rose to follow her.
“Don’t do it, dude,” Ozzie said. “Let her work it out for herself. It’s the only true route to understanding.”
For a long moment Inigo hesitated; then he slowly sank back into the tall-backed chair at the kitchen table. “Damnit,” he grunted.
“So that was it, huh?” Ozzie said. “Bummer.”
Inigo shot him a thoroughly disgusted look.
“I don’t get it,” Aaron said. “They achieved something approaching the classical heaven on Earth.”
“Fatal, man,” Ozzie said. “I’ve been there myself. Trust me: plutocrat with a decent brain and the finest rep available during the first-era Commonwealth. Wine, women, and song all the way; I had it so totally better than those guys. Well … except for the flying bit. I gotta admit that was way cool. I always wondered why Edeard couldn’t do that. Man, if I ever got into the Void, I’d be trying from dusk till dawn. Oldest human wish fulfillment there is.”
“I don’t understand,” Aaron said. “They had reached fulfillment. All of them. That is admirable. It was the final validation of the entire Living Dream movement.”
“A dung beetle that gets its turd home is fulfilled. We’re talking levels here, dude. Am I right, Inigo?”
“You’re right.”
“See, be careful what you wish for. Utopia at our biological level just doesn’t work out. Once you’ve achieved everything, there is nothing left. You take out the core of being human: the striving. Edeard’s descendants had reached a state where fulfillment was inevitable. You didn’t have to work for it. That’s less than human; they were starting to un evolve. And in their own way they knew it. Their population was way down on Edeard’s time and still shrinking. There was no point in having children, because there was nothing new for them. They wouldn’t be able to contribute anything relevant, let alone profound, to the Heart.”
“In which case this Last Dream doesn’t help our situation in any way I can fathom,” Aaron said.
“Not your mission, no,” Ozzie told him, curious how that would affect the man’s strange mentality. “But I guess if we release the Last Dream, it might cause the rise of a few doubters in Living Dream. Mind, they’d be the smart ones, and face it, they’re in a minority in that religion.”
“Too late,” Inigo said. “Even if the majority acknowledged that the result of a Pilgrimage into the Void is ultimately a lost, sterile generation, it won’t affect the Pilgrimage itself. And you saw Corrie-Lyn’s reaction. She doesn’t believe the Last Dream is an indication of failure. If I can’t convince her …”
“Throwing your belief is always hard, man. Look at you.”
Inigo rubbed his hands wearily across his face as he slumped down in the chair. “Yeah, look at me.”
“I’m sorry about that, man. No, really I am. That was one tough mother of a fall. How long have you bottled that Last Dream up?”
“About seventy years.”
“No shit. That’s gotta be good to let it out finally. Tell you what, tonight you and me are going to get major-league hammered together. It’s the only way to put shit like that behind you. And if anyone’s going to understand a colossus of a disaster, it’s yours truly.”
“That’s almost tempting,” Inigo admitted.
“You can do that afterward,” Aaron announced. “Now that we’ve determined the Last Dream is not relevant to us, I need you both to focus on what is achievable.”
“Man, you never give up, do you?”
“Did you give up when the Dreamer emerged and subverted your gaiafield?”
“Please, don’t try that motivational psychology bullshit on me. Whatever you are, you’re not up to that. Trust me, stick with the psycho threats.”
“As you wish. Stick your pleasantries and stay with me now. Our task is to get the Dreamer into the Void.”
“It may not be,” Inigo said. “I actually think Araminta’s faith in the Void isn’t entirely misplaced. The Heart will be able to defeat Ilanthe.”
“You’re right about that,” Ozzie said. “The Silfen believe in Araminta. I can feel it, man. It’s their strongest hope right now.”
“Again, irrelevant,” Aaron said.
“No, it’s not,” Inigo said stubbornly. “The Ilanthe side of the problem didn’t emerge until well after your mission was started. Given how big a factor she is, we have to start taking her into consideration. It would be irrational to do anything else.”
“Our mission is to get you, Dreamer, into the Void.”
“No. Kills me to say it,” Ozzie admitted, “but Inigo is right. Ilanthe is clearly part of the original problem, even though your boss didn’t take that into account when he preloaded all that mission crap in your brain. You’ve got to start thinking about her, man. Come on, there must be some room to maneuver in that metal skull of your
s.”
“Fair enough. I can see she is a factor in the ultimate outcome. But if we’re not in the Void, we can’t confront her, now, can we? So will you two please start putting your genius brains together and solve this problem of how to get Inigo inside.”
“Can’t be done,” Inigo said. “Even if you still had that ultradrive ship you lost on Hanko, it couldn’t get us to the Void boundary before the Pilgrimage. Basically, whoever gets inside first wins.”
“Don’t big it up like that, dude,” Ozzie said. “If you’d gotten there first, you might have stood a chance of a win. But nothing is certain, especially not in there. Now that you can’t get in, we all need to start thinking about a dignified yet fast exit.”
“That is not permissible thinking, and I’m getting mighty tired of telling you,” Aaron said. “Don’t make me ram the point home, because I’m through talking metaphors. Now, how do we get the Dreamer into the Void?”
Ozzie hunched his shoulders. The agent was starting to annoy him, which wasn’t good. He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist pushing Aaron to the limit just to find out what the limit was. Just like the Chikova at Octoron. “So can we still plan for that emergency telepathic linkup if everything else fails?” he asked innocently.
Aaron’s arm came off the table. Weapon enrichments bulged up out of the wrist skin. “Don’t.”
Myraian’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled up from the depths of some narcotic state. “Bad boys. You won’t get any supper.”
“I want my supper,” Ozzie said.
Aaron gave him a long warning glance, then the enrichments sank back down. “Okay, then, let’s examine this in a sweet progressive fashion. We’re now a little more than eight thousand light-years behind the Pilgrimage ships; the Lindau is terminally screwed. So we need something faster than the Commonwealth’s ever produced. What’s available on the Spike?”
Ozzie let out a sigh. “Hey, you heard the man, me-brain-in-a-jar. What have we got out there?”
“The Spike’s AI is currently registering three hundred and eighty-two alien starships docked,” the smartcores replied. “None are known to be faster than a Commonwealth hyperdrive. The fastest local sensors have observed is the Ilodi ships, which can reach twenty-two light-years per hour.”
“No use to us,” Inigo said.
“You two could steal one and get back to the Commonwealth,” Ozzie suggested. “If Inigo publicly reappeared, maybe your boss would get in touch and tell you what the hell to do next.”
“That would be a last resort if even a telepathic link to the Heart failed,” Aaron said. “You said that the High Angel would pick you up if the expansion phase begins.”
Ozzie suddenly wished he hadn’t shot his mouth off earlier. This line of thought could only go one way. And Aaron wasn’t about to drop it, not him, not ever. “It might. Depends on how busy it is.”
“Your precise words were: ‘Qatux owes me. The High Angel will stop by and collect us on its way to Andromeda or wherever the hell it’s going.’ That means you can call the High Angel here.”
“Dude, I could ask. There’s no guarantee …”
“Ask.”
“What’s the point? You want to get inside the Void. Qatux is heading in the opposite direction. A long, long way in the opposite direction.”
“The Raiel are the only known species able to break through the Void boundary. They can get us inside.”
“Can but won’t. Don’t even have to ask.”
“Humor me.”
Ozzie gave Inigo a frozen help-me-out smile. The ex-messiah just shrugged his shoulders and said: “Welcome to my world.”
“It’s not easy to make contact,” Ozzie said. It was lame. This was a losing battle, and he knew it.
“For someone with his own private TD channel to the Commonwealth?” Aaron queried lightly.
“Ain’t going to work,” Ozzie said.
“I’m almighty pleased for you about that. You deserve a moral victory over me around about now. Maybe I’ll shut up and leave you alone afterward.”
Ozzie gave him an evil stare and told his u-shadow to open a link to the High Angel.
“Expand this end of the link to include us, please,” Aaron told him.
Ozzie couldn’t remember being quite this pissed off for some centuries. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help get Inigo inside the Void. But that he might have to actually accompany him was deeply worrying, and Qatux might not agree to lend them the High Angel unless he came along. Ozzie did not want to go into the Void for the simple reason that no one had ever been known to get out.
The link was accepted by High Angel.
“Ozzie,” Qatux said. “It has been many years.”
“Yeah. Listen, we’ll do the old buddy-buddy catch-up crap later; I’ve got a couple of people here on my end of the link who need to get into the Void before the Pilgrimage. Any chance you or your species can make that happen?”
“Ozzie, as always you are never what I expect. This is why I always delight in knowing you. Is Aaron with you?”
“I am here,” Aaron said. “How did you know that?”
“This link stretches over seven thousand light-years; it also passes through many nodes within the unisphere. I do not believe it to be totally secure. Please remember that. However, I am glad you have survived. Our mutual friend Paula Myo has been keeping me informed of your travels.”
“Ah. Right.”
“And the other person with you; this is the man you were searching for when we met?”
“Yes.”
“That is excellent news.”
“I’m glad you think so. I hope you understand that this third person may be able to neutralize this whole situation if you can get them into the Void ahead of the Pilgrimage. Can you or the warrior Raiel do that?”
“No.”
“I am making a sincere offer. What harm will it do getting us through the boundary? Two people, when there are now twenty-four million en route.”
“I regret we are not able to help. It is a physical impossibility. Even our ships do not have the speed to perform such a task. However, I do have an alternative for you to consider.”
“Yes?”
“Someone else is on their way to meet Ozzie. Someone who is possibly more important than the person already with you. They will be with you in three days. I urge you to wait for them.”
“I’m not sure I can do that. I have a mission.”
“That is a great shame.”
“I’ll wait for them,” Ozzie said.
“Thank you, Ozzie. They are accompanied by an old friend of mine, Oscar Monroe. He will act as guarantor for what you will hear.”
“Holy shit. Oscar? Really? Is he out of the slammer already? Damn, I so lose track of time.”
“He is very much out. I hope that together you will be able to find a solution to this terrible situation. Please convince Aaron’s companion to wait.”
“Do my best, dude.”
The link closed. Ozzie gave Inigo a pensive grin. “Someone more important than you, huh? Now who could that be?” He couldn’t figure it out for himself, which was hugely annoying. Qatux wouldn’t lie, so … someone more important than the Dreamer with regard to the Void. There wasn’t even a list.
“We have been compromised,” Aaron said. He stood up and activated a low-level integral force field, creating a tiny purple nimbus around his stolen navy tunic.
Ozzie chuckled. “Something you need to know about Paula Myo. Apart from being able to freeze your balls off at ten paces with a single look, that chick seriously rocks. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s your secretive boss. She’s done groovier things in her time.”
“I cannot allow my mission to be terminated.”
“Relax. If Paula wanted you stopped, you wouldn’t be here. Qatux was telling me to chill. The old big-Q, he’s not stupid. We need to wait for Oscar. Man, fancy him still kicking around. Tell you, my confidence just went up like ten notches.”
/> “Who in Honious is Oscar Monroe?” Inigo asked.
“Oscar the Martyr,” Aaron said quietly. “He sacrificed himself so Wilson Kime could steer the Planet’s Revenge and save the human race from corruption and extinction. If it truly is Oscar coming here …” He hesitated, which was something Ozzie hadn’t seen him do before.
“So I guess we wait, then?” Ozzie said, curious to see what reaction that would trigger. For someone who didn’t have many memories, it was strange in the extreme that Aaron (or his boss) had room to include a fact that obscure. Yet knowing Oscar was on his way actually seemed able to divert his otherwise rigid fixation on the mission.
There was a noticeable pause before Aaron said: “We must continue to consider methods of getting Inigo into the Void. That cannot stop.”
“But we can do that sitting here, right?” Ozzie insisted.
Again Aaron hesitated. “That is permissible.”
“Cool. But you can forget getting inside the Void. If the Raiel can’t get here, pick you up, then overtake the Pilgrimage fleet, no one can.”
“Qatux said the link was suspect.”
“Dude! There’s caution and there’s paranoia. I think we all know which road you walk down.”
“All right.” Aaron turned to Inigo. “Ethan told Araminta that Living Dream hoped the Void would open a gateway within the Commonwealth for the rest of the followers.”
“It was an idea we were kicking around before I left, certainly,” Inigo replied. “I never gave it a lot of credit.”
“If you can contact a Skylord, you must ask it to reach for you.”
“Oh, Lady, come on …”
“Every option must be examined. If physical flight to the boundary is now denied us, then we must try this method or at the very least see if it is possible. You have to dream the Void again. How could it possibly make the situation worse?”
Corrie-Lyn appeared in the kitchen doorway. Ozzie was fairly sure she’d been hovering outside for some time.
“I will be with you if you try that,” she said to Inigo, and walked over to embrace him. “For now and evermore.”
He rested his head on her shoulder. “Thank you. For everything. For understanding.”
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