The Evolutionary Void

  Oscar’s biononics threw a small privacy cloak around the table. ‘Mr Bovey,’ he began in censure, which he was about to follow up with something along the lines of what’s she up to? when the man simply grinned and shook his head. ‘No,’ he said emphatically. ‘That’s Mr Bovey over there keeping an eye on you.’

  Oscar twisted round. The two men eating steak and kidney pies waved solemnly. ‘I don’t get . . .’

  ‘I’m Araminta. Araminta-two, I suppose. I borrowed one of my fiancé’s bodies. This one to be precise. I always liked this one.’

  ‘Ungh?’ Oscar grunted.

  ‘I’m starting to go multiple. It’s an interesting lifestyle, don’t you think?’ And he gave Oscar a lopsided smile.

  ‘Fuck me.’

  ‘Quite. You said you could help?’

  ‘Oh shit yes!’ Oscar’s skin was actually tingling from astonishment. He couldn’t help it: he started laughing in delight. Maybe there is hope. ‘If you’d like to come with me . . .’ Biononics and secondary thought routines had to regulate his neural responses, filtering down his adrenalin rush so he could concentrate properly on the mission. He had to stay focused.

  Araminta-two gave him a modest shrug and stood up.

  ‘Cover us,’ Oscar told Beckia and Cheriton. ‘Liatris, get us out of here.’

  ‘Way ahead of you,’ Liatris said.

  Oscar couldn’t remember being both elated and terrified to such an extent. If they were going to be intercepted, it would be now after this version of Araminta was identified for what s/he was. As they walked to the door he wanted to shove his integral force field up to full strength, activate all weapons enrichments. Keep cool. Keep calm. It’s a brilliant manoeuvre. No one could anticipate she’d do this.

  Liatris brought the ingrav capsule flashing down directly on to the pavement outside the restaurant, earning several angry glances from pedestrians who had to dodge out of the way. The door opened and Oscar virtually shoved Araminta-two inside. Then they were rising fast, already curving towards the docks.

  Araminta-two nodded cheerfully at a thunderstruck Liatris, then looked round briefly. ‘You know, some people think ingrav shouldn’t be allowed in this city.’

  ‘Right,’ Oscar said.

  ‘There’s a chance it screws up the deep geology. There could be earthquakes.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ This was so the opposite of anything Oscar was prepared for it had shifted over to vaguely surreal.

  Their capsule dipped down to hover in front of the Bootle and Leicester warehouse. The doors curtained apart and they nudged forwards. Oscar just knew that was going to draw attention from the dock staff. It didn’t matter any more. They had Araminta, so nothing else mattered. Actually, one Araminta, not the whole person. Maybe that’s why she – he – whatever – is a bit . . . flaky.

  Tomansio was in the middle of the starship’s cabin as the three of them rose up through the airlock. The floor solidified underneath them. Oscar couldn’t help the vast grin on his face. He jabbed a finger at Tomansio. ‘I told you so!’

  ‘Yes,’ Tomansio said softly.

  That was when Oscar’s biononics told him Tomansio was executing an extremely thorough field scan of Araminta-two. He almost protested, then realized he should have done it back in the restaurant.

  ‘Clear,’ Tomansio declared. ‘In fact, very clear. You don’t have biononics, even your macrocellular clusters are basic.’

  ‘Mr Bovey is multiple,’ Araminta-two said. ‘He doesn’t depend upon the technocentric systems other Commonwealth cultures revolve around.’

  Tomansio dipped his head. ‘Of course. But you do understand what you’re saying is difficult to accept without proof.’

  ‘I know. Watch through me.’

  The Dreamer’s gifting to the gaiafield revealed her view through the front of the Lady’s Light. From her position she could see the curvature of the planet starting to fall away below as the starship rose ponderously out of the atmosphere. The dawn terminator line was etched by a gold corona which skittered off ocean and clouds alike. The Dreamer’s mouth opened. ‘Trust me, Tomansio, I am very real,’ she said.

  Across the gaiafield, those billions of Living Dream members watching in envy as the Pilgrimage began reaffirmed their devotion to her. Tens of millions wondered who Tomansio was.

  Araminta-two lifted an eyebrow at Tomansio. ‘So?’

  ‘Okay, that was pretty convincing. A multiple of two. Who’d have guessed?’

  ‘Not you,’ Araminta-two said.

  ‘Let’s hope I’m not alone.’

  Oscar grinned again. ‘I was right. She didn’t betray us.’

  ‘Oscar, I love you dearly,’ Tomansio said. ‘But if you don’t shut up about that, I will shove you headfirst into—’

  Oscar chuckled. ‘Yeah yeah.’ The smartcore showed him two capsules arriving in the warehouse. Beckia and Cheriton came sprinting out. It took the edge off his humour, slightly. He ordered the smartcore to launch as soon as the other two were in the airlock.

  Tomansio gave him a startled look as the Elvin’s Payback punched clean through the warehouse roof and accelerated vertically at twenty gees. The internal gravity countered some of the force, but they all had to sit down quickly in the couches extruded by the cabin floor.

  ‘A little drastic?’ Tomansio mused.

  ‘Tactically smart. Up here we can run if we have to.’

  ‘You’re the boss.’

  Beckia and Cheriton emerged from the airlock, and gave Araminta-two incredulous looks as they lumbered over to their acceleration couches.

  Oscar’s initial jubilation was draining away. Viotia spaceflight control was directing a lot of queries and warnings at them, but nothing appeared to be in pursuit. Space above the planet was relatively clear; none of the starships the sensors could detect were threatening. ‘All right,’ he said to Araminta-two. ‘What the fuck is going on?’

  ‘I was running out of options,’ Araminta-two replied. ‘Becoming the Dreamer is a diversion.’ His confidence faltered for a moment. ‘I hope. That’s where you come in.’

  ‘I wasn’t lying,’ Oscar said. ‘We’re here to help in any way we can.’

  ‘Why? I know who you are, I checked. But I’d like to know who’s backing you.’

  ‘Fair enough; it was ANA, but now we’re just hanging on by ourselves. Hoping for something to turn up. And . . . you did.’

  ‘What do you need?’ Tomansio asked. ‘Are you going to crash the Pilgrimage fleet into the boundary or something?’

  Araminta-two’s dignified face produced a sad smile, making him look even older. ‘There are twenty-four million people on those starships. Idiots, yes, but still people. There is no way I will slaughter them as an example to the rest of the galaxy not to go in. No, if they arrive at the Void boundary before we can stop them, then I’ll have get the Skylord to open the way for them. So you see, I really need help.’

  ‘Name it,’ Oscar said.

  ‘Bradley suggested I find Ozzie. He said Ozzie is a real genius, and if anyone can come up with a solution it will be us in combination.’

  Oscar’s skin chilled right down. ‘Bradley?’ he asked lightly. The others gave him a curious look. It must have been because of what his emotions revealed.

  ‘Bradley Johansson,’ Araminta-two said. ‘I met him on the Silfen paths.’

  ‘Bradley Johansson is alive?’

  ‘Bradley is a Silfen now.’

  ‘Holy crap.’

  ‘Do you speak the truth of this?’ Tomansio demanded almost in anger.

  Araminta-two faced him down. ‘I speak the truth.’ He turned back to Oscar. ‘Bradley told me you and he fought together in the Starflyer War, he said I could trust you, Oscar. And you did help me back at Bodant Park.’

  ‘Bradley a Silfen,’ Oscar said in wonder. ‘How about that? We both survived the Planet’s Revenge in our own ways.’

  ‘He lives,’ an incredulous Beckia murmured. ‘The greatest of us all, our founder,
humanity’s liberator. He lives! Do you realize what . . .’ She broke off, too overwhelmed to speak.

  ‘I don’t wish to disappoint,’ Araminta-two said. ‘But he’s not coming to help. I’m afraid the best he could do was send me.’

  ‘And he wanted you and Ozzie to team up?’ Oscar queried.

  ‘Yes. Um, he was also worried about the Ilanthe-thing and what it is now. Even the Silfen are concerned about that, as much as they are about anything.’

  ‘Nobody knows much about Ilanthe,’ Oscar said. ‘So let’s concentrate on what we can achieve.’ He opened a secure link to Paula.

  ‘Take her to Ozzie,’ Paula said as soon as he’d finished explaining.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Bradley is right. The Dreamer and Ozzie together would make a formidable combination.’

  ‘All right then.’

  ‘And . . . Araminta really met Bradley?’

  ‘Yeah, so she says. Something, huh?’

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘So where’s Ozzie these days?’

  ‘The Spike.’

  ‘No shit, Paula, that’s seven thousand lightyears away.’

  ‘I know. But face it, what else have we got? We’re that desperate now.’

  ‘Okay.’ The Elvin’s Payback had finished its initial acceleration. It was curving into a wide elliptical orbit above Viotia. Oscar grinned at Araminta-two. ‘Ozzie’s in the Spike. It’ll take five days to get there.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’

  ‘Great.’ He gave a relieved smile.

  ‘A word of caution,’ Paula said, which brought Oscar down fast.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘I believe someone called Aaron has possibly taken Inigo to the Spike for exactly the same reason you’re going, to link up with Ozzie.’

  ‘Oh crap.’ He glanced round to see the team all giving him a vaguely accusatory stare. ‘Inigo? They found Inigo?’

  ‘Yes. Which I’m hoping is good. If you can bring together the First and Second Dreamers along with Ozzie, that may really give us the kind of edge we’re going to need to—’

  ‘Take out the Void? Blow up the Pilgrimage fleet? Eliminate Ilanthe?’

  ‘I’d settle for any one of those right now.’

  ‘So who is this Aaron character and who is he working for?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know. But logically he belongs to a Faction inimical to Pilgrimage. And be careful, he can be very trigger-happy, and he’s known to be somewhat aggressive with it. Your team should be able to protect Araminta from him if he turns hostile.’

  ‘Okay. What about you, Paula, what are you doing?’

  ‘Working on a couple of leads, as always.’

  Feeling slightly let down by her reply, Oscar ordered the smartcore to go ftl and take them to the Spike. Then he and the others started questioning Araminta-two in earnest.

  ‘What will you do now?’ the SI asked Troblum as the Mellanie’s Redemption tracked Oscar’s starship going ftl. It suddenly vanished from his exovision. None of the sensors could track it when it was stealthed.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said unsteadily. The conversation between Oscar and Paula, which the SI had intercepted, had left him badly shaken. Both Dreamers and Ozzie coming together to solve the problem was cause for some tentative hope. ‘I can’t make a difference.’

  ‘You know more about the Sol barrier than any other individual. They might need that.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ It was too big, too much, and getting horribly personal again. But it was a huge unexpected relief to solve the Araminta puzzle. She hadn’t betrayed anyone, she was doing what she could. And . . . Araminta, Inigo, Oscar and Ozzie together. That’s going to be history.

  Catriona came over and sat on his lap. She was wearing a thin lacy top and tight jeans. The feel of her resting there, human scent and musky perfume, her perfect form centimetres from his eyes. It was comforting somehow.

  ‘We should go,’ she told him softly.

  ‘Yes.’ Even that made him feel good.

  Sensors showed Paula the Elvin’s Payback flash into hyperspace and activate its stealth. She could track it of course, though few other ships in the galaxy could.

  After a minute, the ship hanging in suspension a hundred thousand kilometres above Viotia also pushed back fully into hyperspace, and followed Oscar at ultradrive speed. Its stealth wasn’t as good as the ANA ship, but its drive seemed more than capable; and the real giveaway was the mass. It was identical to the Mellanie’s Redemption, which Paula had last seen departing Sholapur at mere hyperdrive speeds.

  ‘And then there was one,’ Paula muttered.

  The remaining stealthed ship started to move. Its drive signature was one the Alexis Denken was also familiar with from Sholapur, as was the much superior stealth effect. Paula ordered the smartcore to follow the other three starships to the Spike, then opened a secure link to the High Angel.

  ‘Hello, Paula,’ Qatux said.

  ‘So you can’t break through the Sol barrier?’

  ‘No. Our trip here was largely symbolic, a statement of Raiel support for the rest of the Commonwealth.’

  ‘I don’t expect empty political gestures from you.’

  ‘If there is any way we can influence the Living Dream from their Pilgrimage we are obliged to enact it.’

  ‘They’ve just launched.’

  ‘I know. Paula, if you would like to come with us when this galaxy falls, I will be happy to take you.’

  ‘I know the purpose of the High Angel is supposed to be to save life from this galaxy, but something is happening, Qatux, something my instinct tells me is crucial. So I’m going to need a favour. A very big favour.’

  *

  The lake measured over ten kilometres across, its shoreline made up of attractive sweeping coves. Two thirds of the surrounding land was smothered by a thick wild forest, with vegetation scrambling down over the stones which lined the rippling water. The remaining third was an alien city whose globes and spikes dominated the skyline. Deserted for millennia, its iron structures were a similar construction to those of Octoron’s little human township. But this metropolis was put together on a much grander scale. Perhaps a little too imposing: humans living in the chamber had never attempted to settle there.

  Ozzie’s old capsule skimmed above the thin towers and dropped down towards the huge semicircular harbour bay on the other side. There were several small islands dotted across the water. They were heading for the largest, which had a wide sandy beach guarded by rocky prominences on either side. Behind the beach itself the land was a cluster of long dunes before the ground started to slope up into the island’s central mountain. A simple whitewashed stone house stood alone, poised between dunes and the forested slope. It was surrounded on three sides by a veranda that had a leafy canopy of thick vines draped over an ancient, sagging wooden frame. Tall sash windows had wooden shutters on the outside, giving the place the appearance of a farmhouse from rural Provence.

  The capsule touched down in front of the solitary building. Aaron scanned it briefly. Another human was lurking behind the wide slatted doors that opened from the lounge to the veranda decking. She had biononics, but they weren’t weapons-configured. There were some additional enrichments that he didn’t recognize, but their low power usage argued against them posing any kind of threat. The house itself had a few technological items, a culinary unit, medical capsule, two very sophisticated replicators, a fleet of old-fashioned maidbots, and five smartcores larger than he’d encountered before. In short, the perfect retreat for someone like Ozzie.

  ‘Okay, we can go out,’ Aaron said.

  Ozzie gave him a long look. ‘You sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well okay, but be careful of the mutant squids in the lake.’

  ‘I appreciate this intrusion is unwelcome, we’ll be gone as soon as we can.’ Though Aaron couldn’t be sure of that. Ideas were starting to form in the back of his mind in anticipation of Inigo regaining conscious
ness. He gave the sleeping messiah a quick look. It wouldn’t be long before he was awake.

  ‘And remember never to leave the house at night,’ Ozzie said with an innocent tone which nonetheless mocked.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Vampires.’

  Aaron bit back on his response. He wasn’t quite sure how much of Ozzie’s attitude was driven by irritation at having his hermit life violated. If it was genuine, things might get unpleasant. Aaron hoped not.

  Ozzie walked out of the capsule, leaving Aaron to deal with the two unconscious people sprawled on the curving leather couch at the back of the passenger section. ‘Greatly done,’ he muttered and picked Inigo up, fumbling him into a traditional fireman’s lift. For a long moment he was tempted to shoot another sedative (or ten) into Corrie-Lyn, but Inigo wouldn’t be happy about that. And having two bolshie living legends with overblown egos pissed off with him would be a definite disadvantage.

  Aaron carried Inigo over the dunes, and up the grey wooden steps to the veranda. He dumped the inert body onto a sunlounger and went back for Corrie-Lyn.

  Ozzie was nowhere to be seen by the time he got back to the veranda. A quick low-level field scan showed him upstairs in the house’s biggest bedroom with the woman. Aaron abruptly cancelled the scan, trying to quash his feeling of dismay at Ozzie’s attitude and behaviour. He hadn’t expected quite this much irrational stubbornness.

  Inigo groaned and stirred. His biononics assisted a quick rise to full awareness. He sat up and looked round the shaded veranda, then took a moment to stare at the vista of the ancient alien city facing him across the bay.

  ‘We made it then?’

  ‘We made it.’

  Inigo gazed over at Corrie-Lyn on the next sunlounger. ‘How is she?’

  ‘Stable. She should wake up in half an hour or so. Your biononics give you an advantage.’

  Inigo nodded slowly. ‘You kept your word. Thank you.’

  ‘I know she hates me, but truly I’m not one of the bad guys. I just have a job to do.’

  ‘Indeed.’ Inigo started flexing his limbs, grimacing at the chemical-induced stiffness. ‘What do you do for fun?’