Infinite Day (112 page)

Merral walked out to the spire of rock at the top of Tahuma-B, and as the heavens seemed to swirl and glow above, he gave thanks to God.

After some time, Anya joined him and, heedless of the cold, sat down next to him.

“I thought it was the end,” Merral said. “I really thought it was.”

“I failed again last night,” Anya said in a burst of words.

“And did you realize that it doesn't bother me?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask you what you've been trying to prove?”

Overhead the sky began to shimmer into pink and orange ripples.

“Yes.” There was a sigh. “It's all very silly. You were the great adversary. . . . I wanted to be worthy of you.”

“And that's what you wanted to prove?”
How extraordinary.

“Yes.”

“That
is
very silly. Very, very silly.” He sighed. “I would have loved you anyway.” He sighed again. “Actually, I'm glad you failed. One warrior in the family is enough.”

36

N
ow, you who have followed this tale so far, I offer you a choice. You may make an ending here. After all, the strands of the plot are all but tied up, and you can imagine the rest:

Nezhuala, the Blade, and the Dominion are destroyed, and peace is at hand.

Anya and Merral will declare their love for each other, marry, and return to Farholme.

Vero, now a much wiser man, will become the first historian of the Great War.

Lloyd will take up nursing, and Jorgio will return to Farholme and a garden.

Ethan will retire and get his new heart in time.

Betafor will be released from her obligations, given a ship by a grateful Assembly, and, as dismissive of humanity as ever, will leave.

And what of the Assembly itself? It will resolve that the Dominion must never arise again. Teams will be sent to its worlds, and the long and demanding task of pacifying them will begin. At the same time, Dominion technology will be mastered and travels in shallow Below-Space will be allowed for exploration and seeding vessels. Soon, a reinvigorated Assembly will begin to expand at a far faster rate than ever before. The day of the Greater Assembly will dawn.

All this you may choose to imagine.

Or you may continue and read what did happen. Because the reality was far stranger, more horrific, and ultimately, far more glorious.

Just after a spectacular dawn, Merral made a quick rotorcraft survey of the battlefield. The fighting was over, and they were beginning the doleful work of recovering the dead.
My task is done here
.
I can begin to look to the future.

Back at the core center, he contacted Ethan, who somehow managed to look drained but happy at the same time.

“So resistance is over with you. The Blade is confirmed destroyed. All their ships seem accounted for.” He nodded as if to himself. “Very well, I'm going to open the Gates and let the Assembly know that we have been delivered. And, Commander, do come back soon from the wilderness. There is much to plan.”

Ten minutes later, Merral was watching the lights on the Gate control core come alive when he received a short and grainy message from Vero.

“Merral, I am heading to Jerusalem.” His friend's face flickered in and out of focus. “I think it is vital that we lay the right foundations for what happens next. We thought we were at the end of the story; I now believe that all we have seen is but the prologue. Real history is beginning. I want us to gather in the Chamber of the Great King. At five today. Please be there.”

Setting up a committee to run the Tahuma site, Merral made plans to fly to Jerusalem with Lloyd, who had recovered, and Anya. As he did, Betafor came over.

“Commander, I have a request. You and Sentinel Enand promised me that I would be released from my duties to you when this was over.”

“Indeed we did. And there was the matter of citizenship.” Merral thought of something. “I am meeting Vero at the Chamber of the Great King this afternoon; we will formally do it there. You have served us well.” Merral saw a flicker of dissent on Lloyd's face but ignored it.
We should take Jorgio with us too
.

They took off early in the afternoon, flying low over the broken and scarred ground and then the great desert, before crossing the valley of the Jordan and descending into Jerusalem.

A mood of gathering jubilation was in the air, although Merral sensed the tone was tempered by the realization of the losses.
The war against the Dominion has cost us dearly. And some of the costs are as yet unknown. The old Assembly is dead and Vero is surely right: a new, and hopefully greater, Assembly must emerge. Yet much needs to be planned, and there are still matters that must be sorted out. Like memorial services . . . and the trial of Delastro.

Deep in thought, Merral went straight to the defense center and there gratefully took off his armor. “That will do for a museum,” he said aloud, and as he said it his hand found the ancient identity disk around his neck.
I can take it off now; the war is over.
Yet he paused.
It could wait
. The symbolism of taking it off in the Chamber of the Great King was irresistible. A new thought came to him, and he went and collected something. It was the Flag of the True Freeborn that Azeras had borne.

“Take it to Earth and present it wherever you present such things,” he said. Well, I will now do just that.

Merral then called Jorgio. To his surprise the gardener seemed depressed and barely coherent, but he agreed to come with them.

Late in the afternoon, with shadows lengthening, Merral, dressed in a clean uniform, found Anya, Lloyd, and Betafor and took a vehicle to Adeeb's. Jorgio was waiting and his face was troubled.

“What's the problem?” Merral asked as he helped him into the vehicle.

“
Me
is the problem. I just can't believe as it's all over, Mister Merral. I really can't.” Then he fell silent and stared morosely out of the window as they drove on.

They found the chamber still surrounded by troops, but the chief of the guard recognized Merral.

“Chairman Malunal and Dr. Andreas Hmong are waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” Merral said, trying to hide his surprise.

They walked up to the building, and Merral saw Ethan and Andreas standing by the high doors. There were introductions, not least Jorgio and Betafor, on whose tunic sides the emblem of the Lamb and Stars now gleamed brightly.
What will she display when we set her free?

“Vero is already inside,” Ethan said. “He was waiting. I let him in.”

“How is he?”

“Tired. As we all are.”

Together they walked in through the doors, which were then shut behind them. Inside it was darker than Merral had expected from the images he'd seen. The darkness drew attention to the single, slight figure at the front of the high, bare space, standing before the installation of the chair, the scepter, and the crown.

As they walked forward, Merral saw that the darkness was thickest by the window embayments with their blast shielding. He heard a strange noise from his side. Jorgio was muttering, “It's all wrong.
Wrong
. Lord, have mercy!”

Lloyd's eyes, swiveling around the chamber, came to rest on Merral's face. “Something
is
wrong, sir,” he hissed, and Merral saw his hand slide into his jacket.

He has a gun.
Merral started to protest.
Not here, not in this place
. Then he felt his spine tingle as though the temperature had dropped.

The party stopped a few paces away from the figure in the suit.

“Vero!” Merral called out. A terrible fear was edging into his mind.

The figure turned slowly toward him.
It is Vero's face
.

“My friends.”
It is Vero's voice
.

Betafor squealed and stepped back as if she had identified some dreadful horror.
Is it Vero?

Merral stepped forward and reached out his hand. He saw the figure wore dark gloves. On a strange impulse, Merral raised his fingers to touch Vero's face. The flesh was cold.

He stepped back, his hand shaking.

“It's not him, Mister Merral!” Jorgio rasped in fear. “Not him!”

It isn't.
“Lloyd!
Kill him!
” Merral shouted.

Lloyd's gun was already out. Vero's face was changing, its shape flexing and bowing.

The gun barrel wobbled. “Can't, sir.
Can't!
” Lloyd wailed.

The face twisted as though some strange creature was pushing underneath. The mouth split wide in a smile that kept going. As the figure walked over to Lloyd and the waving gun, dark skin spalled off the face. The figure that wasn't Vero took hold of the gun, turned it around, pointed it at Lloyd's chest, and fired.

Lloyd gasped and slumped heavily to the ground, blood pumping out of his chest.

“Even if you had fired,” the figure said with a sneer, “you wouldn't have hurt me. I am beyond such harm now.”

Merral was bending over Lloyd. “Hang on!” he shouted to him, but he knew it was helpless. There was too much blood.

Merral looked up to see that pale flesh was emerging on the face of the figure that had pretended to be Vero. The head tossed from side to side, and the skin fell off in great, dark flakes.

The face underneath became recognizable. The mouth moved, and this time the voice was not Vero's. It was recognizable too. Merral remembered both voice and face from over six hundred light-years away.

“I am the lord-emperor Nezhuala.” The tone was taunting. “I have come here to inaugurate a new universe.”

“
No!
” It was Ethan's voice.

“What did you do with Vero?” Merral demanded, standing up, fury, grief, and fear all merging in his mind.

Nezhuala threw the gun away carelessly, and it clattered along the floor. Then, with gloved fingers, he slowly peeled away the last fragments of skin from his face. Merral looked down to see Anya staring at Lloyd and shaking her head in a way that told him that he was dead. Beyond her, Betafor was staring at Lloyd's form with an unfathomable look.

“Vero?” Nezhuala said. “Him? He overreached himself. He tried to assail me in
my
realm. So I killed him and took his form. It was an easy trick.” The tone was one of pure contempt. Merral stared at him.

Vero never made it. Vero is dead
.

Then anger surged and Merral leaped at Nezhuala. But even before he touched him, he was thrown down onto the floor. Something like flames of fire ran up and down his muscles, and he found he could barely move.

Nezhuala smirked. “I will not kill you outright. I want you to watch.” He made a gesture toward the shadows.

With extraordinary effort, Merral pulled himself up to a sitting position. Anya crouched next to him, holding his shoulder.

As he sat there, the pain ebbing away, he saw two figures emerge from an access door in a corner of the chamber.