by Geary Gravel
"We can't predict it." She spread her hands. "The web is sundered. This is a new thing we've brought here, this unplanned death."
"I brought it here," Ernrys said. "No need to decorate the truth."
"Spurge," Cil said. "We'll never know exactly what happened here, but I'll tell you one thing: the web had already been critically disrupted long before the kin's transformation."
"Explain," Jefany said, her eyes on Emrys.
"This world lies in a balance of incredible complexity," Cil said. "The first robot probe to graze the atmosphere caused ripples of change to move through the pattern. That could have been enough to eventually destroy the entire ecosystem—it might still be! No, it's a noble gesture, Emrys, but if you plan to accept all of this guilt, you're going to have to do a considerable amount of research before you try to justify it to me."
"Chassman thinks the world is aware of its loss," Marysu said haltingly in the silence that followed. She turned to the empath. "You said that."
"There is a disquiet growing in my mind that does not come from any of you," he said. "It is sourceless,- vague. But it is there."
"You told me that Raille seemed affected by something external," Cil said. "As if she were being pulled toward Kin's deserted estate."
March shrugged. "Something strong was tugging at her. Tried to pull her right through the wall till we drugged her quiet."
"Do you think there's any chance that two of the kin will come here?" Jack asked. "Like it happened before, when the old one died."
Cil pursed her lips. "Very doubtful. It's out of sequence. They should have started for the estate before now, but the satellites say there's been no anomalous movement. I think the death of one kin and the preparation of its neighbors to mate is supposed to occur gradually, simultaneously. But as far as the others are concerned, Kin's still alive—his sort of death is not accepted here. And what effect his absence will have—" She spread her hands in a shrug.
"Why did Raille have so much trouble facing the kin?" Jack asked.
"Raille's perceptions were never trained." Chassman's dark eyes swept the Group. "She delved the creature when she encountered it that first day—a shocking experience to the un-practiced—and thereafter from time to time. She didn't know how to prevent herself from going into its mind."
"The kin have no minds," Cil said.
He turned to her. "There is something there. We shared the same experience."
"Bright all around," Choss said. "Like a silver ocean, like drowning."
"Delving the kin catalyzed her latent abilities. They began to manifest themselves in different ways. You all felt it to some degree. March said it yesterday: she was someone to talk to. Am I correct? And during the transference of the noumenon she walked in your dreams, trying to help you, trying to ease the pain of being human—"
At that moment, the lights went out in the Hearth Room.
A second later they were on again, accompanied by a high, piercing ululation.
"Hut!" Emrys screamed above the siren. "What's happening?"
The noise ceased as abruptly as it had begun.
"A ship has entered orbit around Belthannis," came the voice of the Hut. "I regret the unpleasantness of the auditory signal."
"A ship?" Emrys rubbed at his ears.
"The Darkjumper Esse, sent from Sipril to investigate and remove the Special Evaluation Team currently on Belthannis Autumn world."
"So soon?" Emrys said. "We had four months left. Ah, the election: Ansalvage has persuaded them to abandon the Evaluation process, as I feared. Now there's nothing left." His face was lined with despair. "Hut, why do they not establish communications? Tell them it isn't necessary to blast us off the—" He stopped. "The Screen. The link is still down."
"Down again," the Hut corrected him. "After the call to Maribon it seemed prudent to disengage the link once more. No, they don't know we're aware of their presence. That unfortunate noise you experienced was a scrambled information carrier from one of the Esse's planning computers."
"I got part of it," Marysu said. "A warning of some sort."
"My congratulations," the Hut said. "Your abilities are astounding. It was indeed a warning. Sent by a semi volitional, one of my peers. That unit will be diagnosed as having malfunctioned for the microseconds it took to transmit the message. The Ship is working now to establish a new link with your Screen—a tedious process, but one that I predict they will accomplish in another seven to ten minutes."
Emrys' face was like a stone. "Let them come, then. It's time it was all over."
"No!" March looked at Emrys incredulously. "You can't let them. There's a way out for you: when it gets dark you and the others will go out into the woods. Put them off until then. Gather up as much food and as much clothing as you can, and take shelter materials and weathershields. Load it on the droshky." He had begun to pace the room, speaking rapidly. "I'll take a packet up to the ship and keep them busy while you get away. I know what machines to disable so they can't find you. I've, taken on the big ships before—they'll have to limp home if they want to get there in one piece. They won't come back, not with the dangers of travel nowadays. With luck, you'll all be able to live on the plants after your supplies are gone."
Emrys shook his head. "No, March," he said with a gentle smile. "I couldn't consider—"
"I know the Dance of Death," March said softly, helplessly.
"No. No killing. You know that's done with now."
"Emrys—" March looked around the room, searching for support, his face twisting through a dozen conflicting emotions.
"My idea, March, my responsibility. The rest of you didn't know what I had planned until the very end. They'll believe that if I surrender myself." He put his hand on the warrior's shoulder. "I've lived a long, long life, March. Considering the way things are going in the Community, I don't fear this."
March sagged under the old man's hand. His stern face collapsed. "Emrys, don't die," he whispered fiercely. "Don't let them kill you." Then he shuddered and drew himself up straight. "I could beat them all! It's true!" He raised his hands, flexing the blunt fingers, and wept.
Emrys shook his head again, slowly. "We'll welcome them," he said. "They've come to take us home."
"No, they have come to judge you," a golden voice said above their heads. "Emrys, I am leaving. Time grows short."
He raised his eyes blankly to the ceiling.
"What are you talking about, Hut? You'll come with us."
"No, they will take me first if they can. They will draw me up to the ship before they speak with you, claiming it was necessary to reestablish the link. And while they have me, they will put me through their sieve and learn the whole truth of what has happened here—all that I have witnessed. I cannot let them do this."
"Hut, this is nonsense. They will learn the truth any—"
"No. What you did, you did out of love. The kin could never know what you had done for them, yet you acted out of love. Now it is my turn. Can I do less for you?" The golden voice hummed with feeling. "Soon I must go, quite soon, for I feel them reaching for me and their machines are very powerful. I have some influence with them, but sooner or later the humans would intervene, and I cannot withstand them all. They would pluck me up like a blade of grass in the end. I could not betray you, Emrys, so I must disobey you. It is an act of complete volition you are witnessing. Tell them what you wish— it cannot come from me!"
"No, wait! Where can you go?"
"I shall flee along the other link—to University, to the great Well. There I will be dispersed and they will never find me."
"It means death for you, Hut."
"If death is what comes to me, think what it will signify! You have let me share so many lives here. Quite apart from everything else, I would not give that up to them and break your trust, for you trusted me with your lives."
The voice faded from the center of the domed ceiling and reappeared nearer, seeming to hover over each of them for a time:
"Marysu, when you made a language out of the ever-autumn of Belthannis, I sat with you in the dimness of your room and I heard, I learned.
"March, when you labored to teach the kin movement you thought too gentle for your own body to master, my steps followed the patterns in your heart and I Danced.
"Jack, when the struggle between what you had always seen and that which you had just begun to hear commenced, I felt the resolve of conflict into beauty in your art and in your mind.
"Choss, when you turned dissatisfied away from your mirror and toward the world, toward chance and accomplishment— oh, I knew the risk of that, I knew the courage there.
"Cil, as you moved through this strange unfolding perfection, determined to accept and understand, I discovered peace and the delight of wonder.
"Jefany, when you decided to let this drama touch you, shape you, spark words within you no matter what the cost, then I too felt the stirrings of pain and creation. . "Chassman, I was here waiting when you returned from your journeys outside, touched by silver and beginning to watch your fellow men curiously, so curiously.
"And Emrys, beloved teacher, dear friend—nothing that I saw here among the considerable accomplishments of these seven did not reflect your love."
Emrys stared at the air above him in pain and wonderment.
"Oh, Hut, to lose you now," he said. "No, I can't let you—"
"No. They are quite close now. I go! Goodbye to all of you, good life, my friends. Farewell, Jon."
Then there was silence, and with it came a feeling they had
never known in this room, a feeling of utter emptiness.
Emrys lowered his face into his hands and sat there until a small red star flared suddenly on the empty Screen and a faint voice began to sound:
"To the Group on Belthannis: Greetings."
Jefany found Emrys on the sundeck, sitting cross-legged next to the twisted sho'shenti tree in the corner, sipping tea from a shallow bowl and looking very ancient.
"Fair afternoon, is it not?" he said. "Come sit here by me." He patted the pale wood, flashing her a brilliant, unsteady smile. 'Tea?"
"Jon."
"Laid low by the god out of the machine, Jefany. Machines, I should say. Computers, ships, whatever. Struck down, struck down."
"Jon, if something is dying before its time and you think you can save it—"
"Jefany, please." He turned from her with a grimace. "Leave me my misery at least."
"I can't. We still need you. Your friends are down there talking to a stranger, and they don't know what to tell him."
"Tell him defeat, tell him failure, tell him death."
"All right." Her gray eyes considered the hunched figure, the aged tree. "I give you back into the care of your misery, then." She gazed once toward the forest, then turned to the dark doorway.
"Jefany—wait. I'll speak to him." Emrys stood shakily and crossed to her side. "Only walk with me."
4
"Greetings from the Esse, honored Sessept. I am Chope, Planner."
Emrys drew himself up with an effort, nodded to the smiling, ivory-colored face. "Captain Chope. My name is Emrys."
"Of course, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I was sorry to hear that you were indisposed. I trust you're feeling better now."
"Why are you here so soon, Captain Chope? Not that it
matters, in light of present conditions, but we've only had two-thirds of our allotted year."
"Ah, yes, they tried to notify you. That's when the problem with your Screen was discovered. Now we hear that your Hut computer has somehow destroyed itself! Terrible, and very probably connected to the Screen malfunction. Well, we've been en route since a few days after the election, as per the new edict. Quite a long trip out here, you know, and made so much longer now that we have to take our time. But it's worth the trade-off, speed for safety, no one denies that."
Emrys shook his head, feeling tired and stupid. "I'm afraid we're a bit out of touch here, Captain. We've been off the Net for some time."
"Of course, of course, forgive me. There's a lot of news. Where to begin? After the announcement about the ships was made just before the election, and with the subsequent rapid climb of the Builders in popularity—"
"The Builders?" Emrys raised his head.
"Yes, of course. Ki-mo-li-Set is a Builder herself, and her solution certainly showed the Builder mark, though now the Expansionists are claiming they've better ways to use the knowledge."
"Captain, who is the new Emperor?"
"Why, Varshni, of course. Lords, have you been out of touch that long? It's over two months since the Builders were swept into office, two months since Ki-mo-li-Set's announcement."
"What was the announcement?"
"That there's nothing wrong with the ships—never has been!" Chope grinned, watching the reaction on Emrys' face. "And where do you think the problem is?" He drew the question out with an infuriating slowness, enjoying the process with an innocent glee. "In the jump itself! As Ki-mo-li-Set told the Net—it's already become a rather famous statement—'It may well be Dark in there, but it's certainly not Empty.' No, there's something in there, Sessept, something in the Darkjump that goes after our ships, something we haven't been able to track yet. But it needs time to work its destruction, time to notice us, time to attack. Ki-mo-li-Set proved it conclusively: the more time spent in the jump the sooner the ship's lost, or exploded, or enfeebled."
"But—" Cil had come to stand at Emrys' side. "You came here through the Darkjump. There's no other way. It's too far."
"Ah!" The Planner waved a forefinger at her. "We came here through several jumps. It's a tedious process for all of us—Pathfinder and Powermeister, especially, as it means frequent recalculation of course, position, and speed. This trip should have taken three jumps and about two weeks. Instead, we made it in two months, through a total of twenty-seven hops in and out of the Dark. Tedious, as I say, but it increases our chances of survival by eighty-six percent."
"What can be done about this—thing in the Dark?" Emrys asked.
"As yet there's no consensus. We're not even sure what it is. Is it one thing or many? It may be a natural phenomenon, or it may be some sort of living creature, sentient or not. The Builders want to concentrate on finding armor of some kind to shield us, all the while trying to make contact with it, but the Expansionists are for going trawling with sensors and every kind of weapon, till the thing's been hunted down and exterminated." He smiled. "So the old conflict continues in a new arena."
"Captain." Many appeared at Emrys' other side. "If a Builder sits in White Spire at this moment, why were you ordered to halt our Evaluation?"
"For just that reason. Let me tell you about this Emperor, this Varshni," Chope said with a respectful shake of his head. "Do you know what the first official act was to come down from the Spire? Abdication. Abdication! Blue Shell refused promptly, of course, but the uproar! Varshni claims the whole system's rotten, the Imperial paradigm unworkable. The Shell says it wants an Emperor. Varshni says if they really wanted someone to tell them what to do, they'd be obedient and accept the resignation! Excellent! This squabble shows no signs of stopping, but it's a friendly war, I believe.
"But you asked me about the Evaluations. The colonization process is on total freeze for the time being. Even the Parad can't muster much enthusiasm for continued Expansion, now that the great doom's been lifted. The Emperor—excuse me, the Abdicate—is a cautious sort, and rightly so, I feel. There's a full interdict on any new Expansion till the system can be given a proper review."
"And the Evaluations?" Emrys' voice was toneless.
"Oh, that's all done with, of course. Has been for more than a month, but of course you couldn't know." He saw their faces. "I'm sorry. Naturally, you'd be concerned about that. Vitally concerned. Look now—" His voice grew hearty. "Don't think your work has been for nothing. I understand there are some very fascinating, eh, creatures down there, and I'm sure you'v
e gathered very valuable data on them, a significant contribution to the datapool that more than justifies the expense. You'll miss out on the chance to make your presentation before the Weighers, of course—now that the interdict's in effect, all indigenes are under full protection anyway, so there'd be no need for a formal Judgment. Our function here, besides providing transport back to the Community, is to, well—" His face grew apologetic. "We have to check into things, as it were, and make sure you haven't harmed any of the indigenes. Not that we expect to find anything of the sort, you understand. It's just a formality. Varshni's very concerned with justice, you see, and quite ruthless about enforcing it. But that's enough unpleasantness. I'm confident you've left this delightful world pretty much as you found it, and as soon as our experts and their machines have had their look around we'll be on our way, and you'll all be home before you know it. It's just a pity about the Hut-machine being lost, isn't it. That would have saved some time, and it's quite an expensive unit. I've always had my doubts about this semi volitional business. A bit too much responsibility for a machine to handle, if you ask me-----"
"I don't understand it." Cil looked up as Emrys entered the Hearth Room. "He says they're satisfied." She pointed to the quiet Screen. "They made their count with the information I'd given them about Number Eight and they said that including the baby that should be coming next month, the figure tallied with the satellite reports of two years ago. He said it was marvelous, the way the system maintained itself so precisely—" Her eyes widened with understanding as another man entered the room behind Emrys. "Oh. Of course. I had forgotten. They counted him on their lifeseeker as one of the kin."
"Mm." Emrys turned to where Chassman waited by the doorway. "That's why I asked him to meet me here. We've reached a moment that can be postponed no longer. They must hear our story now."
"No." Chassman moved toward the table.
"We have to tell them," Emrys said. "There's no way out of it, truly."
"No," Chassman said again. "You must tell them nothing about what has happened until you are far away from here."
Emrys shook his head. "Must I explain a hundred times?" he said wearily. "You won't be punished for what's happened. None of you will. The responsibility was mine. They'll transport you to Maribon, Chassman, I'm sure of it, along with Raille and Choss. If necessary we'll go to the new Emperor. Anyone with such a reputation for justice—"