‘And what exactly are those?’
’To observe Tedric and inform me of his every word and deed. Tedric represents an unstable, uncertain force in this rather predictable universe. I need to know exactly what he’s doing at all times.’
‘How am I. supposed to make these reports? I don’t think Tedric will let me walk in with a communicator in my hand set to your private frequency.’
‘A radio won’t be necessary. I have other, more direct means in mind.’ Villion stood, a smile clinging to his lips, and crossed the room. He loomed above Carey like a stark, natural force. ’There is a certain ancient technique known to us vemplars. Let me see your eyes.’
Frightened all at once, Carey tried to look away, but his head turned upward in spite of himself. Unwillingly, he gazed directly into Fra Villion’s dark, emotionless eyes.
For a moment, Carey was absolutely paralysed. Something was happening - something dreadful - but he didn’t know what. He wanted to scream but his voice refused to respond to the command of his will. His mind was dizzy. His body was numb.
Then, abruptly, the spell broken, it was over. He slumped low in his chair, nearly toppling to the floor. Turning away, Villion crossed the room and sat as before.
Villion said, ‘Speak, Carey.’
‘Speak, Carey,’ said Carey, at exactly the same moment as Villion.
Hearing his own words, Carey again wanted to scream, but his voice was not his. Villion had spoken through Carey’s lips.
‘Yes,’ said Villion. ‘I’m afraid, Carey, you’re going to have to get used to having a passenger in your brain. There’s no need to be afraid. You can speak and act as you desire on most occasions, but when it’s necessary, I’ll be there to assume control.’
’This…is…monstrous,’ said Carey.
Villion shrugged, showing his unconcern. ‘Now go,’ he said.
‘Now go,’ said Carey, simultaneously.
Involuntarily, he stumbled to his feet and, like a man in a trance, turned and headed for the door. His feet moved as if propelled by a will of their own. As he walked, he heard a voice laughing behind him. He wanted to turn to see who it was, but his feet refused to let him.
Chapter 5
Among the Dynarx
The Dynarx were not the first intelligent alien species confronted by the human race during its drive to occupy the Galaxy. More than a hundred separate races had preceded them, with the bulk of these rather easily gathered up into the general scheme of the Empire of Man; the Dynarx, however, were different. Put simply, the Dynarx were the first alien species to teach the human race a most valuable lesson: that the Galaxy was not, as some men had sometimes believed, a private human reserve.
At the time of their discovery by men, the Dynarx occupied a thousand planets. To the discoverers, these worlds represented untold riches, and the initial reports received on Earth concerning the Dynarx system were filled with excited superlatives that barely concealed the greed of the men who made them.
Unfortunately, after filing these reports and announcing their intention to establish personal contact with the dominant aliens of the region, the discoverers were never heard from again. They vanished as swiftly and utterly as though they had never existed.
The initial reports of such alien wealth naturally inspired others to follow, but these men, and their ships as well, vanished as completely as the first. Expedition followed expedition into the great Sargasso Sea of the Dynarx realm. None was ever heard from again.
The Empire took notice. Initial puzzlement turned to rage, and a great fleet of four hundred warships was launched against the Dynarx. These warships reached their destination and then promptly vanished. No sign was ever found of any of them again.
After this, the anger turned to fear.
Meetings were convened in the imperial palace. Alternatives were discussed. In the end, the Emperor - a greedy but not a foolish man - did the only wise thing. He issued a proclamation declaring the entire sphere of Dynarx occupation outside the bounds of human expansion. The Galaxy was a big place, he reasoned. One thousand planets more or less…well, that still gave the human race several billion others to fill.
In the centuries since the issue of the imperial proclamation, a few brave men had chosen to ignore the decree and visit the Dynarx in spite, of it. Some of these men later returned but most did not. The imperial authorities pretended not to notice. They had other problems with which to deal. By this time, the Empire of Man was engaged in a centuries-long war with another advanced alien species, the Wykzl.
- Wilson, the renegade robot, was the most recent individual to visit the Dynarx. He, of course, had returned.
He had an explanation, too. 'It’s a question of motive,’ he told Tedric, as their ship plummeted towards the pale blue world which, according to Wilson, housed the bulk of the Dynarx population. ’The first explorers wanted to steal. The fleet wanted to kill and destroy. Me, all I wanted was knowledge. You tell me. If you were the Dynarx, wouldn’t you have responded differently to different stimuli?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Tedric, ‘but that still doesn’t explain what happened to all those men who disappeared. No one ever reported sighting an enemy fleet. What sort of weapons do the Dynarx possess?’
Wilson shook his head and grinned. ‘I doubt that they’ve ever developed a gun.’
’Then how?’
‘When you meet them, you’ll find out,’ Wilson said. ‘When I left the Dynarx, I promised to keep their secrets to myself.’ He turned to Captain Juvi Jerome and winked. ‘Surely you people don’t object to an old outlaw keeping his promises, do you?’
Captain Jerome told him coldly that she personally did not mind. During the voyage, Wilson had been paying her a sort of special courtly attention that she did hot especially appreciate. Juvi was the first woman to serve in the Imperial Corps in many centuries and she felt she had proven her ability to stand on her own when she had helped save Tedric’s life aboard the Iron Sphere. Besides, Wilson’s attentions seemed to make Yod Cartwright jealous, and that was an additional complication she did not need in her life right now.
With the others, Juvi turned and watched on the view-screen as the strange planet grew in size. When the ship landed, she disembarked, her boot heels digging deep holes in the soft blue sand as she, Tedric, and Wilson moved across the flat, empty terrain. Tedric had ordered Ky-shan to remain aboard ship. The Wykzl and Dynarx were ancient enemies who could not bear the sight of one another. Yod Cartwright - to his considerable frustration - had been delegated by Tedric to keep the alien company. For herself, Juvi felt more relaxed temporarily freed from the strain of constant tension between Yod and Wilson.
Abruptly, the robot halted and pointed across the blue desert. ‘Here they come,’ he said. ‘Let’s wait for them.’
Juvi looked across the flat sandy ground and studied the alien creatures who were quickly approaching. She had, of course, never seen a Dynarx before. They were always described as resembling green slugs, but now, as she watched, Juvi decided that wasn’t entirely fair. The Dynarx were by no means repulsive in appearance. More than slugs, they reminded Juvi of frolicking dolphins. The Dynarx seemed to bounce across the land rather than slide over it. They had several small flippers on their bottoms that appeared to propel them, bright pink eyes, and broad toothless mouths frozen in perpetual smiles.
It didn’t take her long to decide, based on first impressions, that she liked these aliens.
You are a pretty one too.
The thought entered her mind from without. Startled, she swung her head. ‘What did…?’
‘Hush,’ said Wilson, who was beside her. ‘Let them come closer.’
The Dynarx continued their steady approach and stopped a few yards from the three of them. There were nine of the aliens. After a momentary pause, one moved away from the others, and bounced up close to Wilson, who leaned forward and patted the alien on top of its head. His lips moved, but Wilson did not speak aloud.
Two more Dynarx broke from the group, one approaching Tedric and the other Juvi. She bent forward as Wilson had done and patted the alien’s head. The flesh was warm and smooth to the touch.
You are a kind, clean entity.
Again, the thought just popped into her head. She stared.
‘Did…did you speak to me?’ she asked aloud.
We speak. I am Dynarx.
She turned her head and saw Wilson watching. ’That’s right,’ he said. ’They’re telepathic. But don’t worry. They won’t peek at your innermost secrets unless they’re invited.’
Tedric was listening, too. ‘Mine said it was Dynarx. Not a Dynarx, just Dynarx. What does that mean?’
‘It means they’re all the same,’ Wilson said.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Juvi. ‘Mine said the same thing.’
‘I don’t claim to understand it either,’ Wilson said, ‘but I know it’s a fact. The Dynarx have separate bodies, enough to occupy a thousand planets, but there’s only a single vast mind. When one speaks to you, they all do.’
‘Was that the secret?’ she said.
‘It’s a pretty good one, isn’t it?’ he said, with a grin.
The Dynarx had all turned around, their snouts pointing across the bleak land away from the ship. You follow us, said a voice in her head. She looked at Tedric and Wilson and guessed they had received the same message.
Tedric took a small communicator from the pocket of his silver suit and spoke into it. ‘Ky-shan, this is Tedric. We’ve established contact with the Dynarx.’
‘Yes, I see on the screen,’ said the Wykzl’s tight, disembodied voice.
’They’ve invited us to follow them. I think we’d better go.’
‘I hope it is not treachery, Lord Tedric.’
’They seem peaceful enough, Ky-shan.’
‘If you believe so.’ The voice sounded disappointed. ‘
‘I’ll keep in contact.’
‘Yes, Tedric.’
‘Damned prejudiced fool,’ said Wilson.
Tedric pocketed the communicator. ‘I hope you’re right,’ he told Wilson.
They moved forward, following in the wake of their Dynarx escort. The walk proved a lengthy one, and the ship soon vanished from sight over the horizon. The land remained as desolate as before. Finally, Juvi spied a large patch of green in the unbroken blueness ahead. She told Wilson and Tedric.
The robot nodded thoughtfully. ’Then that ought to be them,’ he said.
When they drew closer, Juvi saw what Wilson meant. The patch of green was shown to be a gathering of Dynarx, hundreds of them at least. At the edge of the Dynarx stood a single, small, flat-roofed cabin. Juvi couldn’t figure it out. Where had the wood come from to build such a structure?
Wilson nodded happily when he saw the cabin. ’That’s where I stayed when I was here the other time. They’ve brought it back for me.’
Tedric seemed no less puzzled than Juvi but, since he said nothing, she also remained silent. Their escort left them in front of the cabin and merged into the mass of Dynarx. Wilson sat down in the sand. ‘Well' he said, ‘how much of it have you figured out?’
‘You mean there’s more,’ she said. ‘It’s not just telepathy.’
‘No, much more. Think about it. What do we have here? A species sufficiently advanced to ward off the whole human race and yet one those capital city - and that’s what this is, believe me - doesn’t have a single building. You tell me the secret.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘Does there have to be one?’
’Tedric?’ said Wilson.
‘You’ll have to explain it to me, too.’ He seemed oddly distracted, as though his thoughts were far away.
’Then you admit it doesn’t make sense?’ said Wilson.
Juvi nodded while Tedric remained motionless. ‘Yes,’ she said.
‘How would you like it if the Dynarx built a real city?’
‘I don’t see how they could. Not in this wilderness.’
’Then watch. I’ll get you one. Just give me a moment.’ Wilson shut his eyes and leaned against the cabin wall. His breathing slowed and his whole body stiffened. He could have been in a complete trance, but then she noticed that his lips were moving. Puzzled even more than ever, she started to speak but Tedric laid a soft hand on her arm.
‘Not now. Let him do what he wants. We can ask questions later.’
It happened without warning. One moment, the land around them was a vast blue desert. The next moment, a city stood on the sand. Only a few feet from the cabin a five-hundred-foot glass, steel and concrete building soared towards the sky. It wasn’t the only one. Everywhere she looked, buildings as tall - or even taller - swept into the air.
‘Bless the Lords of the Universe,’ she said softly.
Wilson opened his eyes and grinned. ‘See? I told you I’d get you a city.’
‘You did this?’
‘Well…’ He laughed. ‘No, I’m afraid it wasn’t me. Credit the Dynarx. I asked for a city and they gave me one.’
’Oh, then it’s not real.’
‘It’s as real as anything else in this universe. Watch.’ Striding over to the base of the nearest building, he gave the wall a kick. They could hear the solid smack of his boot striking the concrete. ‘And look up there,’ he said, pointing.
She looked where he was pointing. It took her a moment to see what he meant, but then she spotted the faces pressed to the windows.,As high as she could see, faces and more faces. Smiling faces. Dynarx faces.
The Dynarx had occupied their new city.
‘Any more questions?’ Wilson said smugly.
‘Just one,’ she said. ‘How did they do it?’
He shrugged. ‘I haven’t the slightest idea. Ail 1 know is that they can do it and they do do it. You talked about reality. I think that’s the key. For the Dynarx, there’s no such thing as a single, set reality. Anything that can exist, does exist. They pick and choose, shifting from reality to reality. Right now, out of consideration for us, reality is this city. It doesn’t have to be. It can be the big blue desert we saw before or it can be anything else. There were times when I was here before when…well, you would have had to have been here to understand. Maybe you will - later.’
She continued to stare at the city. ‘It’s like magic,’ she said.
‘And maybe that’s what it is,’ he said, ’though I honestly doubt it. After all, to a savage, our ship would seem like magic. To us, this is.’
Wilson moved towards the building. He waved. ‘Come on. Let’s find a place to hang our hats.’
Tedric again seemed distracted but he followed Wilson and so did Juvi. They found a set of glass doors and stepped through into a lush lobby decorated with various kinetic action paintings. Wilson marched to the elevator and called it down. The building appeared to contain apartments, like many such buildings in New Melbourne or other major Earth metropolises. Juvi hesitated before boarding the elevator. Chuckling, Wilson pulled her inside. ‘It’s real,’ he said. ‘I promise you.’
He punched the button for the seventeenth floor.
‘Why there?’ she asked, as the elevator rose with the three of them inside.
‘It’s where our apartment is located.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I have a certain fondness for the number seventeen and asked the Dynarx to put us there.’ . In the seventeenth floor corridor, they passed a number of open doors. Curious, Juvi glanced inside and saw several Dynarx in each apartment, moving comfortably about as though they had lived there all their lives. Wilson led them to the end of the corridor and opened a door.
Inside was a large, well-furnished, six-room apartment. Juvi walked slowly through it, marvelling at what she found. Even the food cupboards were well stocked.
‘I couldn’t actually eat this, could I?’ she said, holding up a ripe red tomato.
‘I don’t see why not,’ said Wilson.
�
��I mean, if I did, I couldn’t live on it. Magic is magic, but you can’t grow tomatoes in a desert.’
’The Dynarx can. I lived on their food for years when I was here before.’
She shook her head and took a tentative bite. The tomato was sweet and full of juice. ‘Magic,’ she said, taking another bite, ‘but good.’
She went over to the window and gazed out at the city spread below. The tall buildings such as this one occupied only a relatively small space at the centre of the city, but various smaller houses stood for miles around. This city wasn’t nearly as large as New Melbourne, which covered the entire continent of Australia, but it seemed no less real, at least not from up here. She could see a smokestack puffing darkly and there was a big iron bridge with a green river running swiftly beneath it.
‘I hope the Dynarx don’t decide to switch realities all of a sudden. I wouldn’t want to have this building disappear with us standing in the middle of it.’
Wilson laughed. ’The Dynarx are always considerate of Others. At least as long as you’re considerate back at them. If you’re not…well, you can see what they’re capable of.’
She nodded. That last sentence had given her a chill. She was beginning to comprehend how the great Imperial space fleet had been made to vanish. After all, if the Dynarx could wish a city into existence, they could also wish a fleet into non-existence.
Tedric stood in the middle of the main room, a tight strained look on his face. He had made no attempt to investigate the apartment further and had not spoken since they’d entered the building.
‘We came here for a purpose,’ he said, turning impatiently to Wilson. ‘Maybe it’s time we got on with it.’
’Is something wrong?’ Wilson said, clearly puzzled by Tedric’s abruptness.
Tedric nodded. ‘Yes. For one thing, Fra Villion knows we’re here.’
‘But how could…?’
‘Never mind.’ Tedric shook his head. ’This vemplar. I came here to see him. Where is he now?’
‘Pal Galmain?’ Wilson shrugged. ‘I suppose he ought to be somewhere on the planet. I’ll ask the Dynarx to…*
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