by Jack Conner
NO! she sent. STOP!
Out of my way! Uthua sent.
No, you must stop! You CAN’T kill Francis.
I can. I will. I should have done it when the Sleeper recommended it weeks ago. Now I see why it did so. It foresaw this moment.
Don’t kill him, she repeated. You swore.
I will do what I must. Uthua paused. You can still join me, sister. You can return to your people. I’ve given you the offer before, and you’ve turned me down. But I know you’re tempted. I know you YEARN for it. Yearn to come home. Just … stand aside … and you can.
Avery could only see her from behind, but he could almost feel the longing stare she sent Uthua; it was in every quiver of her muscles, every subtle angle in her posture as she floated, hair streaming around her, in the center of her sac. She ached to return to her home, her true home, in the deep. Breathlessly, Avery waited for her to reject the offer, but she said nothing. The silence stretched. Uthua did not try to get around her again; he knew he could not, at least not easily, and it might be more to his benefit to let her come to her own decision.
It had all come down to this, Avery realized, the whole war and everything after it—it had all come down to this one, pivotal moment. Would Layanna side with humanity or against it?
“Don’t,” Avery said. “You can’t listen to him, Layanna. After all you’ve sacrificed to help the people of this world, you can’t turn back now. Remember Edgar. Remember Frederick. Remember me.”
Slowly, she turned to him, and he could see the measuring quality in her gaze. Just how did Huos go missing, Francis?
A shudder worked its way down Avery’s spine. Dear lords, he thought to himself. Not now. Anything but this. “Huos?” He heard the hitch in his voice and tried to smooth it out. “What do you mean?”
The priest. You know who I mean. Her mental voice was slow, measuring. Almost predatory. He went missing after I sent him to you. I believe Ani was… just talking about him.
“I ...” Avery caught Sheridan’s gaze. She was coming forward, stepping around half-melted bodies with her venom spear gripped in hand, poised to throw it at any opportunity. Janx, jaw set, came from the other direction.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Avery said.
“Priest?” Ani said, and Avery caught sight of her behind Uthua, coming around so she could see Avery better but trying to steer clear of the behemoth. “What about the priest?”
“It’s nothing,” Avery said, hearing the desperation in his voice. “It has nothing to do with you.”
A man DIED, Layanna sent. Weren’t you just telling me how important human life is, Francis?
“Don’t say anything, darlin’,” Janx cautioned Ani.
No, sent Uthua, sensing some weakness and knowing that exploiting it was his last, best chance to fulfill his objective. Tell us about this ... priest.
“It’s not important,” Ani said, clearly realizing that now wasn’t the time for this.
Oh, but it IS. I can feel it. There’s a conspiracy of silence surrounding the disappearance of this priest, and that’s obviously of significance. Isn’t it, Layanna?
Avery concentrated on the circlet. He could feel energies ... just out of reach ... vast and seemingly limitless. If only he could push a little harder, delay Uthua a little longer ...
I always suspected something, Layanna sent, but I was never sure. Then I saw you, Francis. On that submarine. I saw you risk everything for that ... that whore. Her gaze swung to Sheridan, who cocked her spear away from Uthua and toward Layanna.
“You’re imagining things,” said Sheridan.
Am I?
I think not, sent Uthua.
You’re right, Layanna replied. Their silence is revealing. I sent Huos to Francis, and Huos never returned. What, I wonder, did he see that made him have to disappear, Francis?
“It was a time fold,” Avery said. “That’s all.” He could feel sweat trickle down his scalp beneath the circlet.
Is that all, Ani? Layanna asked the girl, and Avery was reminded at how close the two of them had become. Almost like a mother and daughter. Almost.
Ani looked at her feet. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
There was a smile in Uthua’s mental voice as he sent, But I think you have something to say—
Gigantic ruby fingers rose up from the ground around him, the digits of a giant a thousand feet tall. Avery concentrated harder. At last he’d tapped into at least some of the greater power of this place. The fingers continued rising around Uthua, trapping him in a great fist. Uthua screamed, a titanic roar that shook Avery to his core, and then the fist closed, crushing the phantasmal substance of the sac, which flamed into nonexistence, then curled around the fish-man body of Muirblaag, about to kill Uthua utterly. All stared in awe at the terrible crystal fist as the last phantasmal threads of Uthua’s other-self oozed between its fingers.
“Kill that bastard,” said Janx.
“I think I will.” Avery started.
But … before he could … Layanna made her decision.
Avery could see it in her face as she spun about, fast. He had just enough time to realize, despite everything she had done to stop the R’loth, despite all the work she’d done with the Black Sect over the years, despite the love she’d known with him, with Frederick and Edgar and others … despite all that, she had decided to side with Uthua. In that one, brief instant, part of Avery’s heart broke, and he could see the heartbreak in her face, too.
Then she knocked the staff from his grip with one tentacle and the circlet off his head with the other.
You betrayed me! Layanna sent. Grabbing the items in her inhuman limbs, she seemed able to utilize them. Avery felt a psychic ripple, and the giant ruby fist holding Uthua lowered to the ground, then opened to release him. Gasping, the Mnuthra just lay there, for the moment unable to move.
“Leave my father alone!” Ani told Layanna, coming forward.
Stay back, Layanna sent. I don’t want to hurt you.
Ani blinked, stunned that this was even a possibility, that the woman she had looked at as a mother figure could pose a danger to her.
“Enough,” said Sheridan. Springing at Layanna, she thrust her spear through Layanna’s sac wall, driving toward Layanna’s human self, but something pained her. Made her slow.
Layanna curled a tentacle about her and wrenched her off the floor. The limb started to squeeze. In seconds Sheridan would be dead.
Ani waved a hand, and the ground beneath Layanna shook. Avery realized that if he could kill Uthua with the circlet then Ani probably could kill Layanna without it. With a little luck, anyway.
Don’t, Ani! Layanna said. Don’t kill someone who loves you for the sake of this pitiful creature. She’s the one that murdered your family.
“What?” Ani said, and the ground stilled.
“Don’t listen to her, Ani,” Avery said. He made a move to reach for the circlet, but one of Layanna’s limbs slapped his hand away.
This bitch murdered your family, Layanna sent, her eyes not wavering from Sheridan, who squirmed in the pink tendril. Not only that, but your father knew about it and never said anything.
Avery swayed. This was all going wrong—horribly, horribly wrong.
“Is this true?” Ani asked him, and it was almost a yell. Tears stood out in her eyes.
Avery opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Sheridan tried to say something, but Layanna squeezed her tighter and all that emerged was a squeak.
Janx crouched beside Ani. “Don’t lose focus, girl. Layanna’s just trying to confuse you. Drive you and your pa apart.”
It’s true, though, Layanna sent. Isn’t it? This was directed at Sheridan. Layanna squeezed harder, and Sheridan arched her back and screamed.
“Let her go!” Avery said, striding over to one of the dropped crossbows the soldiers had been carrying. The surviving soldiers had fallen back, too far away to reach the venom weapons wielded by their confede
rates and unwilling to venture into Layanna’s reach.
Layanna turned to regard Avery, and he was shocked at the change in her. What had been doubt and suspicion before was now naked anger and hurt. She had wondered before at the truth, but being brought to this precipice had forced her to confront it, and the truth was clearly not sitting well.
Why? Layanna asked, and there was sorrow in the word. Why her and not me?
Despite everything, the pain in her voice tore at him. My mermaid. I’m so sorry. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to formulate an answer, but the truth was he didn’t know any more than she did.
“Does it matter?” he said at last. “Just put her down, Layanna. We can all remain friends—allies, anyway.”
No. I have nothing to remain with you for. Uthua promised me a place in the deep. He told me he’d spoken to the Elders about it and they had agreed to admit me if I chose to return. Now I see that I have no reason not to.
“Go, then,” Avery said. When she hesitated, he added, “You can’t get through us all. You have no chance to access the weapons of the Ygrith. They’re ours, whether you like it or not, and we'll use them against the R’loth.”
Not if I warn them first. Not if I gather the missing psalms and equations and help them correct the workings of the Central Processor. If I do that, the Atomic World will happen overnight, and without creating any fissures.
“Do it and Frederick died for nothing.”
Frederick died, that’s all that matters. And you’re dead to me, too, now. My last connection with your race, gone.
She seemed to hesitate. Then, acting suddenly, she grabbed him up in a tentacle. He screamed as she wrenched him off the ground, and his stomach flipped. He struggled against her, but she was too strong, much too strong.
Had it really come to this? Would she really devour him or burn him or crush him to paste or poison him? His mind reeled in disbelief.
“NO!” Ani shrieked, and the ground heaved.
Kill me and your father dies, too, Layanna sent.
“You’re awful!”
Fire filled Avery. She’s going to burn me, he realized. Somewhere Sheridan screamed, but then his own screams eclipsed anything else.
He was about to die. He and Sheridan both, and there was nothing he could do about it. Uthua had truly won. The R’loth had prevailed. Avery and Sheridan would die, and the Atomic World would come into being. Nothing could stop that now.
Layanna’s human shape stiffened inside her sac. Her eyes flew wide. Her hands fluttered down to a sharp shaft protruding from her belly. She swiveled suddenly, and Avery’s stomach heaved as she dragged him through the air with her. There on the other side, almost where Uthua had nearly died, stood Janx, legs planted, crossbow in hand. Eyes narrowed, he loaded another venom-coated bolt.
Layanna ripped him from the ground. Squeezing him, she shoved him against her sac wall. He fought it for a moment, possibly because he wasn’t infected, or possibly because she was weakened. She pulled harder, and one of his legs shoved through, or at least one foot. Janx threw back his head and bellowed as the foot began to dissolve. His free leg pressed against her sac, trying to push off, but her tentacles gripped him tight. Grinding his teeth in agony, he finished reloading the crossbow.
She pulled harder, dragging him violently. His leg shoved through above the ankle, then up to his knee, and began to be eaten away by acid.
He aimed.
No! she sent. You stupid—
He fired. The bolt pierced her shoulder and lodged there. She yelled out, and her sac shriveled, over half of it vanishing. The tendrils holding Janx, Avery and Sheridan faded, and the three fell gasping to the floor. Still racked by pain, Avery lunged toward the circlet.
One of Layanna’s tentacles scooped it up. Another limb grabbed up Uthua, still barely able to move. She glommed away from the console and toward the stairs, leaving a trail of steaming slime in her wake.
Ani blocked her way. The girl sent a spike of ruby against Layanna, then an automaton. Layanna nimbly evaded them.
It’s too late, Ani, she sent. Pain shone in Layanna's eyes, but also resolve—a terrible, wounded resolve. I have what I needed from the Monastery—the way to create the Atomic World without destroying it. Soon the world you know will be no more.
One of her tentacles smashed Ani to the side, and the girl flew, a scream on her lips. Shocked, Avery ran to her just as Layanna reached the soldiers. They fired into her to no effect, and she scooped several of them up and devoured them. Avery noticed she chose only the infected ones. Presumably they would sustain her long enough to get clear. After eating them, she propelled herself down one stairway, then another, still carrying Uthua.
Layanna was gone.
* * *
“I’m okay, Papa,” Ani said, as he helped her stand.
Avery ran to Janx, who clutched the stump of his right leg above the termination line at the knee. His fingers looked burned from trying to touch the wound itself, and it must still drip acid. Quickly Avery ripped off his belt and tied it around Janx’s thigh, stopping the bleeding, not that there was much. The acids had fused most of the flesh.
“Thank you, Janx,” Avery said.
Raggedly, Janx nodded. “Can’t believe it. Blondie turnin’ like that.”
Avery swallowed, still too stunned by it to speak.
Sheridan approached. Picking up the crossbow and reloading it, she said, “Can she get out of this place? I mean, without the head, or Ani’s powers?”
“She has Thraish’s crown-thing,” Ani said, coming up. “I think that’s enough.” She bent over the staff bearing the Sleeper’s head. “At least we still have this.”
“Can you use that without the circlet?” Avery said. “The crown?”
She nodded. “I don’t need it.” She touched the clear container that housed the Sleeper’s head, and its many small red eyes seemed to be staring straight at her from their folds of clammy white flesh. Did it still have some semblance of life, Avery wondered, or was it completely enslaved to the wielder of the staff? Ani tried to tug on the staff, yet it wouldn’t budge.
“I will need some help picking it up,” she said.
Soldiers were rushing up, Captain Tevic leading them. “Dear gods!” he said, his face ashen. “I can’t ... I can’t believe ...”
“I know,” Avery said. “Quick, send for a medic. I can tend to Janx, but I need a kit. Send for a stretcher and men to carry him. Oh,” Avery added, when the captain started to turn to an aide, “and make sure your people leave markers on the stair-maze when they go down. We’ll need to be able to get back up here without Ani’s help. I have a feeling she’ll be busy with the console.” Tevic nodded and began barking orders to his men. Looking at Ani, Avery said, “Can you ... begin?”
Ani swallowed. “What about lifting it?”
Two soldiers stepped forward and levered the staff off the floor, grunting and straining as they did, which made Avery feel somewhat better. It really was quite heavy. Laying her hands on it, Ani, with the soldiers still holding it for her, pointed the head at the console as though it were a weapon, or some sort of remote device, and said, “I need to commune with the heart of this Monastery.”
For a long moment, nothing happened, and then a figure emerged from the floor. Made all of ruby, it was a facsimile of Ani, even down to her clothes. Ani blinked at the figure, and the figure blinked back.
“Can you understand me?” Ani said.
“Perfectly,” said the ruby girl. “We are yours to command. The other one tried to force his way, and in time he might have won out, but he was not like you. You are a construct of the Holy Ones just like I am, and you interface through this Great One’s mind naturally. It is terrible what happened to this one—" Her eyes flicked to the Sleeper “—but I know it was the work of he who came before. I saw it in his mind.”
“He murdered the Sleeper,” Ani said. “I need your help.”
“Just ask. I have no one else to answer
to. You alone in this world may deal with me openly.”
Ani turned to Avery. “What do you want me to say, Papa?”
Still squatting by Janx, Avery said, “Tell it we need the weapons of the Ygrith.”
When Ani had translated this, the ruby girl said, “The Great Ones had many weapons. You must clarify.”
“We need something to fight the R’loth,” Avery said. “Something we can mount on our ships, or modify our ships with—something deadly to the R’loth that won’t harm the rest of the world.”
Ani relayed this, and the crimson figure nodded. “So it shall be.” She spread her hands, and more figures erupted from the ground around her, many of them, all different and all towering and many-limbed. Avery wanted to draw back but held his ground; Janx couldn’t go anywhere. Some of the soldiers jumped back and lifted their weapons.
“Put those down, you fools,” said Sheridan.
When Tevic nodded, they obeyed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” said the ruby girl. “These are mere aspects of myself. I can produce many, and they can even venture forth from this place, at least for a time. They will help reconfigure your human ships. They will arm you for war against the R’loth.”
Chapter 13
The medic came quickly, along with paramedics bearing a stretcher, and Avery tended to Janx, then saw to loading him and transporting him out of the Monastery. Ani bade the outer walls to open, and one of the radios proved able to communicate with the zeppelins hovering outside. Several had dashed themselves against the closing door and had fallen from the sky, all hands lost, but most still drifted beyond, praying for word and fearing the worst. They reported seeing Layanna leave in her other-self, still bearing Uthua. Almost weightless, she had dropped to the ground thousands of feet below, and later Avery had learned how she’d been spotted traveling toward the sea, eating dozens of infected people on the way, most of them pirates holding out against the invading troops. She had then slipped into the sea and was gone. Perhaps from there she and Uthua had been able to use Uthua’s water-vehicle.