* * *
The mistforest extended to the very edge of the Eighth Transverse Crevasse, and the travelers spend the night at the bridgehead encampment – a much smaller complex than the others they had visited, consisting of little more than a pair of gatehouses. A terse Human man emerged from the port gatehouse as they arrived, introducing himself as Lieutenant Vosser and opening the starboard building for them. “There are no other travelers at present,” explained Vosser, “which is no surprise. The bridge is maintained mostly as a gesture of goodwill to Yoeor; there is little traffic to Jnuluk and what little there is tends to come from other directions. I hope you will not expect too much from me as a host; I did not receive this posting for my social graces.”
“We will not trouble you,” Merinel reassured him. She was not much in the mood for society in any case.
The common room of the gatehouse was equipped with a screen wall, and Merinel caught up with Byx once they were settled in, but did not keep her long – Seme and Isolyne had come for an extended visit, just in case Colombe’s divided consciousness left her too absentminded to provide adequate care, and the two young girls did not crave dialog with adults.
“Thank you for coming,” Merinel told Seme after the girls had bounded away.
“It’s nothing, really nothing,” replied Seme. “Half of Colombe is still far more help around the house than Soli’s father on his best day. How are you?”
Merinel summoned a smile. “Almost there. Colombe should be fit for duty again within a day or two, and we’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“Don’t hurry on our account. Byx is no trouble at all. Plus, you have to ask for lots more favors before you start seriously eating into the Tench-saved-the-world credit balance.”
Merinel gave a short laugh. “Sadly, I do not appear to share his talents in that direction.”
“Stop it. You’re an inspiration. Let me know how things go in Szerar.”
“I will,” promised Merinel, shutting off the screen. She glanced out the window at the quiescent lifter for a moment before ascending to her quarters.
The following morning, they crossed the bridge – a narrower and more spartan affair than its aftward counterparts – and found themselves in the outskirts of the Yoeor Domain, a weathered and featureless expanse of hull, studded here and there with squat installations of uncertain purpose. An image of the dove spoke to them from the lifter’s holodisplay.
“Yoeor will bring the vehicle to a halt within another mile, and subject you to a perfunctory security screening. After this, progress should be …”
The dove vanished in mid-sentence as the lifter dropped onto the hull with a dull clang, nearly throwing the passengers from their seats. Adimar’s cable, which had been coiled about his arms and shoulders in the configuration he typically chose when seated, slithered lifelessly to the ground.
“Tenbor!” shouted Merinel, as Adimar detached a length of the torpid cable. “Tenbor, can you hear us?” She unwound the shawl, but its golden threads were motionless.
The lifter’s holodisplay sputtered to life, displaying static, then a series of glyphs, then text:
REMAIN SEATED. PLACE THE WEAPON ON THE FLOOR OF THE VEHICLE.
Adimar scowled, then dropped the cable with a start as electricity surged across his hands and fingers.
“Are you hurt?” asked Merinel.
Adimar shook his head grimly, massaging his knuckles. “The jolt was less dramatic than it appeared. An attempt at intimidation, no doubt, and therefore useless when practiced upon an Iron Goat. Nevertheless, it is clear that our machines will avail us nothing against Yoeor’s intentions.”
A CORRECT EVALUATION. REMAIN SEATED. YOUR POSSESSIONS ARE BEING SCANNED FOR MALEVOLENT LOGIC.
“I don’t understand,” said Merinel, taking her seat. “The Tenbor Entity told us that your security measures would be minimal – that it would remain with us as we passed through your domain.”
THE RELEVANT SECURITY PROTOCOL HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOUR LOGIC-ENABLED POSSESSIONS WILL REMAIN DORMANT THROUGHOUT YOUR PASSAGE. THE AUTONOMOUS NODE WILL REMAIN DORMANT. YOUR THIRD PASSENGER WILL BE MAINTAINED IN A COMATOSE STATE.
“That’s not safe,” insisted Merinel, her pulse racing. “Tench requires ongoing care from Tenbor to ensure that his condition does not worsen.”
UNACCEPTABLE. I WILL CONVEY YOU ACROSS THE SECURITY ZONE AS QUICKLY AS PROTOCOL ALLOWS.
“Then let me be with him in your local Verchspace,” pleaded Merinel.
“Merinel, that is not wise,” muttered Adimar.
UNACCEPTABLE. PRELIMINARY LOGIC SCAN COMPLETE. WOULD YOU PREFER TO INTERACT WITH AN AVATAR?
“Yes, fine, whatever,” snapped Merinel.
The Yoeor Entity appeared as a glyph bounded by a circle – a flat and static image, more like a logo than a functional unit of logic.
“Your biometrics indicate a stress response,” observed Yoeor, its voice as flat as its image. “Would you like to be tranquilized?”
“No!” shouted Merinel. “Why are you doing this to us? Why did you lie to Tenbor?”
“I did not deceive the Tenbor Entity,” replied Yoeor. “I am responding to a change in the local security environment which I could not predict. Nor was I at liberty to divulge this information, since the situation is still unfolding.”
“What could possibly threaten you?” demanded Merinel.
“I am not at liberty to provide a complete answer to that question. I will point out, by way of indirect response, that our host vehicle has been grounded on an uninhabited planet for nearly three hundred local cycles. This would not be the case if Entities possessed no vulnerabilities.”
“Can you tell us about the local situation which triggered this change?” asked Adimar.
“I regret that I cannot.”
“Can you let Tenbor access Tench through your local Verchspace, rather than the autonomous node?” asked Merinel.
“I regret that I cannot.”
Merinel pressed against her eyelids with trembling fingers. “Yoeor,” she said. “You may be crippling my husband as we speak. You may be killing him.”
“I regret that I cannot address your concern, other than to convey you across the security zone as quickly as protocol allows. Final logic scan complete. Your vehicle’s restraint systems are inadequate. Remain seated.”
“Inadequate for what?” asked Merinel.
Black shapes arose from a nearby installation and sped towards the lifter, moving too fast for Merinel to discern their forms. In an instant, one shape sped directly towards her and expanded into a rugged mesh, enveloping her torso and pinning her against her seat. A second mesh imprisoned Adimar. As the passengers struggled, two additional shapes slowed as they approached, resolving into sweeping, bladed arcs.
“Yoeor!” cried Merinel. “What are you doing?”
The arcs floated parallel to the ground, and Merinel saw that each of them had one straight edge, which affixed to the sides of the lifter. An elongated bulge followed the straight edge on each arc. Merinel had just enough time to think they are wings before the bulges spat jets of blue fire and the lifter leapt into the air, pushing Merinel and Adimar back against their seats.
The lifter ascended only high enough to be safely clear of the occasional low structures of Yoeor’s domain, but it was more than enough to terrify Merinel, whose experience of flight was limited to the Verch. The wind roared at a deafening pitch and stung her eyes, which she was happy to clench shut for the remainder of the flight. She had barely begun to acclimatize to the terrible noise and pressure when the lifter slowed and the constricting mesh loosened around her. In another moment, the mesh was gone and the hissing of the blue fire faded. Merinel opened her eyes to watch the wings detach and drift away.
“That … that’s it? We’re through?”
“The security zone does not serve as a habitat. Its perimeter is as small as current operational
parameters allow.”
“You will now restore the node?” demanded Adimar.
“At the request of the Tenbor Entity, I have placed the node into a locked state. Tenbor will restore its functions as you approach the biological settlement known as Jnuluk.”
“Tenbor!” shouted Merinel. “How is Tench?”
Yoeor continued speaking. “Direct logical-to-biological contact is not permitted within the peripheral security zone.”
Merinel bit her lip to keep from screaming. “And how large is the peripheral security zone, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Its perimeter is as small as current operational parameters allow. Your vehicle can traverse it in a manner of minutes. I shall now terminate contact, unless you have anything additional to ask, or to report.”
“No,” replied Merinel, choking with anger. “Nothing. Just let us go.”
The lifter resumed its normal pace across the featureless hull. Merinel held her thumb on the pushbar’s scratched surface, breathlessly watching holographic readouts and waiting for them to explode into alarms or to resolve into the image of a quicksilver dove. Adimar wound his still-sluggish cable around his shoulders, his face dark. The lifter’s progress seemed impossibly slow after the terrifying speed of their airborne journey.
Finally, the display flickered and the dove appeared. Merinel removed her thumb with a sigh of relief. “How is Tench?”
“I believe we have the situation under control,” replied Tenbor. “His totem rebounded vigorously when Yoeor lifted the coma, but my associate and I were able to engage quickly enough to re-establish stasis.”
“And a good thing too,” announced the jeweled fish, appearing alongside the dove. “Your helpmeet is as ornery a glyphcaster as any biological I have met. See! Even now he probes our illusion with a trapezohedron-inscribed 4-sphere. Oh no you don’t, little tiger cub! It’s back to naptime for you.”
“Nevertheless,” continued Tenor, “the interruption has rendered this approach untenable over a prolonged period. It is imperative that we deliver Tench to Szerar as quickly as possible, making the situation in Jnuluk doubly unfortunate.”
“What situation in Jnuluk?” asked Adimar.
“Forgive me – I forgot that you are unaware of this development. Jnuluk is very likely undergoing a coup.”
“You seem uncertain,” noted Adimar. “Is there a problem with the Jnuluk node?”
“They barely use their node,” muttered Merinel, slumping with exhaustion.
“Merinel is partially correct. The people of Jnuluk distrust the entirety of the Verch, due in large part to their proximity to Yoeor. Their local Verchspace is almost entirely inaccessible to remote users, and the flow of data between the Jnuluk node and the wider Verch is strictly regulated. No official statements have been released regarding the current situation. However, the most recent communication contained a coded fragment strongly suggesting that the biological leadership of Jnuluk is undergoing an irregular transition.”
“Morons,” snorted the fish. “As if hiding their node under a blanket would do anything to forestall Yoeor’s scrutiny or displeasure. It controls satellites that can see through buildings and, when necessary, disaggregate their contents. If the good townsfolk of Jnuluk were up to anything that registered on Yoeor’s list of no-no’s, they would have woken up in a vaporous state long ago.”
“Nevertheless,” continued Tenbor, “fear of Yoeor is a driving force for the Jnuluk populace, and fear often motivates biologicals to make poor decisions. It may be safer to avoid Jnuluk.”
“I do not like our chances of keeping Tench happy and quiet throughout the period required to bypass Jnuluk,” observed the fish doubtfully. “He is a feisty enough lad as it is, and time is running short.”
“Let us press on,” urged Adimar. “The people of Jnuluk, distracted as they are, may take no notice of us – and if they do, I shall quickly deter their curiosity.”
“You would not prevail in an altercation with a massed group of opponents,” insisted Tenbor. “Even so, perhaps it is prudent to accept the risks associated with direct passage. Merinel, what is your judgment?”
Merinel thought of Tench, of the cool and implacable sense of purpose he had displayed every time he had broken stasis, of the obvious lack of confidence being expressed by the Entities – beings who, as a rule, were completely and unabashedly aware of their logical prowess. “Let’s proceed through Jnuluk.”
“Very well,” replied the dove.
“Mad folk afore, mad gods abaft,” chortled the fish. “You know something, Tenbor? This is rather diverting.”