"But he also fears you may return to destroy his Empire only a short time after each departure and that at any given second his existence will simply cease to be.”
“He does?” Gerryls asked.
“Yes. You see, though on your ship a million years might pass, he is terrified of these untamable time tunnels. With your powers, one of you might learn to control them, to bypass the encoded signal in the exotic matter transmission device that prevented any of our ships from entering the past. When he sent you on your mission to galaxy group seven, he thought you would retrieve the untamed singularity and give it to him before you knew what he planned for our world. Now he fears you will use it to try to destroy the empire before he has had a chance to expand it, before he has moved to another world and consolidated his eternal reign, or even that–as I said, you might decide to return to the days of the Federation and attempt to alter his future.”
“That’s an idea,” Onracey whistled.
"And as for the future,” Ornenkai continued, “he knows Valeria will supernova in perhaps less than twenty thousand years. Before that happens, Marankeil plans to escape by orbiting the natural ring singularity of the black hole Kai-rek and emerge from its companion white hole into the future, where you cannot harm him."
“Thank you, Ornenkai, for your information,” Kiel said, after a moment.
Ornenkai nodded, his eyes straying to Alessia, though they seemed to scan her with a vacant expression.
He fears you, child of Enor, she heard a voice in her thoughts. It was Ornenkai’s voice, the Ornenkai she remembered. He fears you, now that Hinev is gone, that you will know how to use the singularity from Kiel3. Yes, for some reason, he fears that you will indeed return to his past. That only you can.
She stopped, struck by a panic. Why? Why after all of this time did Marankeil imagine her to be a threat to his power? She had never learned anything that might harm him from her father, even if her father had truly been from the land of Enor.
Yet now he believes he has won–that he can control your unconscious mind and prevent you from attempting it. At the same time–he never predicted what I might do to stop him!
So, Ornenkai lived, after all; her dream had been only a dream, Alessia concluded as the mechanized unit dismissed itself and withdrew, leaving the explorers to discuss his news.
At the same time, for the past few hours she had sensed the new entity surrounding, permeating Selesta, as though the dormant soul of the ship had been wakened–a benevolent presence, but cold and strong as well. Its sadness moved her, but she sensed its power with trepidation. This was no simple entity, but an ancient creature of complexities beyond her present understanding. It called out to her in some way, tried to contact her–and yet in the end it said nothing and grew quiet.
Had Hinev somehow tampered with the computers? she wondered. Who else might have lived on Selesta while they were at the Imperial Palace in order to imbue its memory with a new depth of character, memory, and an authentic program of human feeling?
Or had that been what Ornenkai was doing in her vision?
Ornenkai must have overseen some of the remodification, she concluded. He was a brilliant scientist himself, and had probably imbued the computers with some aspects of his own personality as he programmed information into its memory bank. Or–perhaps Ornenkai had been living here until the explorers returned from the Imperial Palace.
Why else would she sense his strong presence coming from the ship?
Chapter Fifteen
"But Kiel, are you sure we can make it to Kiel3 and back in time to stop Marankeil before he escapes to the future?” Gerryls asked, making no attempt to dissemble his lack of faith.
“What do you have in mind?” Kiel turned to him.
“Well, as you know it’s a long journey, even if we use the centipede hole passages the lai-nen discovered between galaxy two and the Edge of the Great Cluster.”
“And?”
“And if Marankeil orbits outside the event horizon of the black hole Kai-rek and escapes us we may not be able to find him. We won't know where and when he may emerge." Gerryls showed him open palms.
"He can't return too far into the future," Kiel protested. "He'll be relying upon the fact that when Seynorynael is gone, the Empire worlds will be thrown into chaos.”
“Yes, I know. By the time news reaches the fringes of the Empire that Valeria has supernovaed, he will already have put his plans to reclaim the territories into motion. The question is, Kiel, where will he establish our new home world?”
“I don’t know,” Kiel shook his head. “On Goeur perhaps?”
“Or Kayria, or Eretae4...” Gerryls added.
“Gerryls, I have faith that we'll be able to find him. He won’t go far from Seynorynael, or else risk losing all that he has conquered."
"Kiel, there’s something I don’t like about any of this,” Wen-eil said, his face twisting in concern.
“What?”
“Who’s to say he won’t lead our people to an uninhabited world?”
“I hardly think he’d care to rebuild his power from scratch,” Kiel replied. “Not when he can convert one of the governmental outposts.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Wen-eil continued. “But there won't be room for all of Seynorynael's citizens in any one of the territories.”
“The Council can always divide the population among the Fleet and disperse them across the territories,” Mindra suggested.
“Yes, but then, without a strong Seynorynaelian coalition, our people will be assimilated in only a few generations. We’ll be the minority, you see, so any trace of Seynorynaelian culture will die out among the planets.” Wen-eil continued.
"I thought Marankeil planned to move Seynorynael to another orbit–around the white star Filna.” Vala interrupted. “The Imperial Palace scientists spoke of generating an electromagnetic field to take the planet from Valeria long before the supernova approaches."
"No one knows if the field will be able to move and protect such a large object as a planet." Kiel shook his head. "But even if they succeed and Seynorynael is spared from destruction, it will take time for the planet to arrive in its new orbit, and even longer for her people to reestablish their dominance. Any changes in the empire's order are likely to tip the balance of power. The revolutionary groups are likely to take advantage of Seynorynael's vulnerability."
“That has me worried, too, Kiel.” Gerryls said quietly.
"Are you sure we need to worry about the supernova now?" Celekar asked. "The Empire has twenty thousand years or more to prepare for it. Don't you think we could be back by then?"
"You can never be certain, with time dilation. It took us much longer to reach Kiel3 and return the last time." Kilran said. "We only managed to cut the distance by returning through the centipede hole and into the past again."
"But we also stopped to visit half a million worlds, and we didn’t return directly. We orbited the galaxy to check on the lai-nen system first." Celekar protested.
"True.” Kellar nodded.
“But just because we have twenty thousand years before the supernova doesn’t mean that Marankeil might not transfer his government to another world before then. We don’t necessarily have much time,” Gerryls said.
“Gerryls, you know we’ve been given orders to go to the Fringes to pick up tributes and shuttle them to the section worlds. It will take some time to finish all of the supply routes–before we even get to Kiel3. And Kiel3 lies in the opposite direction."
"Explorers, indeed." Talden muttered derisively. “Marankeil has made us his drones–no, worse than drones. I know you swore your allegiance Kiel, and I respect your honor, but do we really have to consider following Marankeil’s orders?”
"We don’t,” Lierva said, her eyes hard. “We could just go to Kiel3."
"Yes, we could, but the
Grand Fleet will soon know we have abandoned our mission if we don’t arrive on Nepheria." Onracey shook his head.
“And what could they do about it?” Lierva demanded.
“They could take punitive action against innocent lives. And you know how much we love to carry excess baggage on our consciences,” Derstan said. Lierva’s face appeared momentarily crestfallen.
"Unless–” Broah’s eyes lit up mischievously. “We send a distress beacon that we were caught in the Bageros nebula and could not navigate our way out until we passed the centipede hole."
"What would that accomplish?" Hilden's mercurial eyes narrowed out of curiosity.
"They might decide the delay is too long and send another cargo ship to take care of the supply routes. Then we would be free of our obligation and we could continue on the exploration route. Then no one would know if we altered course for Kiel3." Broah explained.
"What could the Empire do if they knew we had abandoned our mission?" Alessia asked after a brief pause. "Once we've reached Tiernan, Marankeil won't be able to send anyone to follow us. He won’t be able to choose a faction to punish that he wouldn’t already, since no one across the empire is supporting us, or has a reason to feel anything but hatred for Hinev’s explorers. So why are we worrying about what Marankeil will do?
“All he can do is further malign our names in history, but is that any worse than what he has already done in naming us responsible for coordinating his conquest of the Great Cluster? We must reach Kiel3 and return before he escapes us, this much we know. Why not go there now–with no delays?" She asked, her teeth clenched. She didn’t want to go, despite what she had said.
"If Marankeil guesses what we are trying to do, won't he disappear from Seynorynael until he knows he’s safe?" Mindra protested.
"Yes, he might," Kiel conceded. "But I still don't think he’ll be able to go far. We can catch him, no matter where and when he emerges again." Kiel looked at Alessia with a spark of amusement and gratification that she agreed with him. "I agree with Alessia–we should head for Kiel3 right away." The others nodded, though some only reluctantly.
At the same time Alessia shrugged off a strong desire to retract her own suggestion.
* * * * *
Selesta had only passed out of the Valerian system a few hours when the Grand Flagship appeared behind them. The Grand Flagship, Marankeil's oldest ship in the Imperial Grand Fleet, was one of the few that possessed an engine which contained the exotic matter necessary to create negative pressure and enlarge natural centipede gate holes.
Its appearance changed the explorers' plans; there could be no escaping to Kiel3 with the Grand Flagship following them, because if they did, it would follow them there.
"What is the Grand Flagship doing following us?" Celekar seethed, but in his heart he knew the answer, as they all did.
"It looks like Marankeil has anticipated that we might be planning to divert from his mission for us," Filaria commented.
"But why the Grand Flagship?" Cerdko asked gravely, though his atypical features had been crafted perfectly for irreverence; he had the reputation of being something of a scrapper, a loner, and a hothead, but today his manner was thoughtful. "I wouldn’t think he’d want to risk losing it."
"He knows us too well to worry about that, Cerdko," Wen-eil pointed out. “He knows we won’t open fire on one of our own ships, no matter what they do to threaten us.”
"Perhaps Marankeil has sent his android units on board–or one of his back-up mechanized units. I'll bet the commander has orders to follow us." Kellar suggested, folding his arms across his chest.
"Can he really do anything to us?" Loussya wondered aloud, turning her attention to Kiel, who had said nothing in the interchange; usually, it was she who remained silent.
Kiel sat quietly, contemplating their situation. But there was only one solution that came to his mind–only one way out of the trap Marankeil would have set for them, only one opportunity to escape on their present flight path, much as he disliked the idea. They would have to chance an orbit around the rotating black hole Kai-rek that lay between Valeria and the neighboring Kayrian system.
Kai-rek, the ancient remnant of another powerful blue star, long since dead, had been transformed into the universe's darkest creation where the known laws of physics collapsed and matter became infinitely dense. But it was precisely the unusual properties of space-time around a black hole singularity that created the black hole dimension gate across space and time, connecting infinite black and white holes across the galaxies.
It was the only way to get away from Marankeil's Grand Fleet, the only way to ensure that they could reach Kiel3 and return before Marankeil had escaped Seynorynael. Only one thing gave Kiel cause for concern, but it would certainly ensure that the Selesta was not followed.
No one had ever successfully attempted the passage through a black hole.
* * * * *
"It's the only way, and we have to decide soon." Kiel advised; a long silence had followed his suggestion.
"Hmmm, you think the negative pressure of the string engine we possess will keep the gate through the ring singularity open?" Gerryls reflected, considering. "I suppose hypothetically speaking it should work," Gerryls admitted reluctantly. "But there are complications–"
"Gerryls is right. The black hole may take us into another part of the universe, even into another universe–" Vala protested. "It might even bring us into the future instead of the past, even if we try to predict the coordinate planes, the quadrant containing the past–"
"We could be launched a million years into the past, and then what would we do?" Peilann protested, feeling as though the majority was going to override those who disagreed with the idea.
"Well, that would certainly give us enough time to collect this singularity device from Kiel3 before Marankeil knows about it," Lierva broke in, dispelling the tension with her hearty laugh.
"Can it be done, Kiel? Can we predict the right coordinates?" Ioka looked to Kiel, whose face was turned away from them, looking out the lowered forward viewport at the familiar backdrop of stars.
"Hypothetically, it is possible." Kiel nodded. "The lai-nen had extensive theories on it which they might have proven, hard to say. We know that the black hole Kai-rek is paired with a white hole singularity, a past singularity if you will, and perhaps many others throughout our universe. The black hole and white whole are one and the same–the white hole emits matter as the black hole consumes it. Some say as soon as it is created, the white hole is immediately covered by an event horizon and turned into a black hole. But that does not mean the whites holes do not exist.”
"Yes,” Gerryls interrupted. “The negative pressure of our string engine should allow us to pass through the ring singularity, through the throat of the black hole, and allow us to escape from the white hole by keeping the channel open. But it would be imperative that we get the entry coordinates right,” he said gravely, “or we will be consumed by Kai-rek.”
"You mean we could die, even with Hinev's serum?" Nal-ayn’s face paled.
"I don't know," Kiel admitted. "But if we don't attempt this, I don't know how far the Grand Flagship will go to drive us away. I'll understand if none of you want to take the risk, but–that means we'll have to give up the mission to Kiel3."
"We can't do that, Kiel," Lierva protested. "If we allow Marankeil to stop us, all those lives are on our head–the present ones, even future generations–"
"How is it our fault?" Celekar asked. "We weren't even here when the Empire was formed. And no one alive now believes in our innocence, anyway, no matter what the future might learn to the contrary. They don’t expect anything from us."
"Yes, Celekar, but we formed it for him," Lierva’s voice was cold. "And who else can stop Marankeil if we fail?"
"All right then... I’m willing to acc
ept the risk." Celekar said.
"We'll put it to a vote." Kiel said. "If we decide to do this, any of you who object can take Sesylendae and fulfill the mission as you see fit."
Kiel waited as each privately decided, then sent him telepathic confirmation, so that they would not be swayed by the decisions of the others.
It was unanimously decided to take the ship into the black hole.
* * * * *
Almost an hour later, the explorers had set the course according to their best predictions in the short time allowed them.
After a long approach, the ship headed into the dark, primordial, haunting quiet of Kai-rek. For some time nothing untowards happened. All was calm. Then several of them on the bridge were jolted to the floor.
"Registering unusual fluctuations in the cosmic string density engines," Ioka cried out in a flurry of words. "Ship acceleration detected. We're approaching the event horizon in an elliptical orbit short of the pole. Our calculations are off. Engaging side thrusters–I'll try to correct the orbit before we pass into the event horizon. Hopefully we can slingshot around it and try again."
The explorers waited fearfully as Kellar, Lierva, and Alessia hurried to Ioka's side and struggled to gain control of the ship and check its descent towards the event horizon.
"Take us out as soon as you can," Kiel commanded, glancing among his crew, whose stoic faces masked their terror.
"Yes." Ioka moved her fingers over the navigation panel. No other sound could be heard on the cavernous bridge but the soft responses from her panel.
Alessia's thoughts turned to the engine room. An image formed in her mind's eye, an image of the string singularity density engines. The energy flickered, and she felt a slight vibration rippling across the ship.
"That's it," Ioka sighed, with audible relief. "We're coming away from the event horizon." But her relief quickly dissipated. “Oh no,” she said, cut off by shock.