Prophet and the Blood March (Prophet of ConFree) (11 page)

"Always something we do not need," Dragon said. "We finally get rid of the D's, and now we've got Brights poking around our galaxy."

"This is an extremely important issue," Tara said. "The Brights are pretty much all-powerful. We cannot counter their technology. So far they've been on our side against the D's. They've been friendly. But there's no guarantee that will continue."

"It's hard to communicate with psychics who do not speak," Snow Leopard said, "and who live in another universe."

"It may be hard," Tara said, "but I'm sure you recall I asked you to do that, Snow Leopard. And I expect it to get done. How is it going?"

"We're making progress. But slowly. They've actually had some interesting prophecies. One involving UMC starcraft. Another involving Bright starcraft – both seemingly strafing Legion troopers. But nothing we can so far pin down. You'll know the instant they come up with hard, identifiable information."

"You'll remember I asked for a contact team of psychics to stand by for whatever mission we come up with. If the Brights are now operating in our galaxy this may happen sooner rather than later. You tell those people – what do they call themselves?"

"Delta Research."

"You tell them to stand by for trouble. Yeah, and one more thing. I want a high-powered delegation to visit the UMC as soon as poss and brief them on the critical importance of not, repeat not, shooting at or in any way being aggressive towards the Brights. If they classify humans as enemies, we are all in very deep trouble. We'll send reps from Galactic Info, the Legion, Fleetcom and, hell, send 'em a personal rep from me. Emphasize the stupidity of challenging the Brights in any way. Bribe the Mocains. Whatever the hell has to be done. I don't want anybody taking potshots at the Brights. We've got enough problems with the D's, we don't need any new, all-powerful enemies."

"You want me to go?" Snow Leopard asked.

"No, I want you here. Just make sure the Mocains get the message. And tell Thinker to get those Delta people producing some useful prophecies for us. This would be a good time."

Δ

Bees was squirming in her chair, straining to hear the latest from Good Soul. She could barely stand it. It was all bad news.

Help. Help. Any thinking being, help….
A message of distress, from somewhere unknown, somewhere maybe not even in our own time and space.
They are coming. Late, too late….
Who is coming? Describe them! Why are they coming?
Alone. Fellows captured. Helpless. Planet 6621.
Fellows captured. What does that mean? Planet 6621. Sorry, no record.
Fools, fools in peril. Too late for them, too late for me. The thoughtless dead approach….
The thoughtless dead. That's not too hard.
Fools fools fools. We fools, I the fool, Good Soul, cry for release. No escape. Stupid, now die. Die your deserved death.
Whoever Good Soul was, she was helpless.
Captured by aliens, skinlight slowly fading, flickering. Die in a dirty hole, alone.

Good Soul's thoughts seemed stronger now, or maybe Bees was just getting better at hearing them. It seemed time was running out for Good Soul. Bees felt a great sadness. She could hear her. She should be able to do something to help her. Skinlight – she must be a Bright! Pursued by unthinking aliens – that was us!

"Bees. Excuse me." Doctor Dimension stood there, holding a printout in one hand.

"Yes, Doctor?" Bees reluctantly removed her earphones. Doctor D appeared happy. He looked almost comical. His long hair was carelessly mussed up and he was beaming in delight.

"As you know, we've been doing a lot of research on the DX neural transmissions that you've been freescanning. We've been making progress. Slow but sure."

"I'm glad to hear it, Doctor," Bees said, in a neutral tone. She was anxious to get back to Good Soul.

"We've succeeded in tracing some of the transmissions back to their general points of origin."

"General points of origin! What does that mean?"

"I used your special frequency, you know, Good Soul, as a test."

"A test?" Bees was frozen in anticipation.

"Yes. The frequency originates in this universe, in DX of course, and it is sourced to the Inners, UMC vac, somewhere in or around the Luyten sector."

Bees gave a little squeal and her arms jerked as if activated by a burst of electricity, sending her dox cup ricocheting off the counter to bounce around on the deck. "Oh! That's wonderful! Where in the Luyten Sector? Where where where!"

"Um, well, we can't say exactly. We're still learning. But I'm certain it is the Luyten sector, or the vicinity. Is that helpful?"

"Helpful? Helpful? Oh Doctor!" Bees leaped up and gave Doctor Dimension an enthusiastic wet kiss. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" She was trembling.

"Ah, yes! Thank
you
. I mean, I'm happy to help," the Doctor said.

When the Doctor left the room Bees picked up the earphones again and tried to calm down. "We hear you, Good Soul," she said. "And we're coming as soon as we can." She knew nobody could hear her except herself but that didn't matter. She meant every word. Good Soul was not a microscopic worm in a drop of water. She was a Bright, under siege, and the Brights had saved Ice and Saka and Bees herself, and the whole damned squad, all of Delta, and maybe all of ConFree, too. And if Bees had anything to say about it, Delta Research was going to help Good Soul.

Δ

"It sure looks identical to me," the Professor said. He was at a table in his office, examining a detailed image of a pale slender reed, sprouting delicate little fronds all up and down its length. He was comparing that image with the fuzzy images of reeds sourced to brain scans from Prophet and Saka.

"It sure appears so," Doctor Dimension said from across the table. "A hit at last. You'll never guess what they call this species of reed."

"Surprise me," the Professor said.

"Delta Reed. That's what they call it. Because it grows in this great marshy delta area of a major river. Is that ironic or what?"

"Delta Reed. Perfect. Now this planet – Bliss." He looked over a printout. "Where is this, exactly?"

"It's in UMC vac. The Luyten Sector – but it's way out there – almost out of UMC vac. It's uninhabited. It's never been inhabited."

"It's obviously been explored," the Prof said, flipping through the pages of the planetary survey.

"Yes. The System sent an exploratory mission there once, when it was their space – almost a hundred years ago. They did a thorough scientific investigation – as you can see, and discovered about a million new species of flora and fauna. Including the reeds. They were evidently impressed with the place – hence the name. It was put on the list for colonization – but it never happened."

"And what is this planet to the UMC?" the Prof asked.

"It's nothing – as far as I can tell. The Galactic Info folks found this survey when searching for our reeds. The latest starcharts still show it as uninhabited."

"So. Saka and Prophet have had DX dreams about this planet, and have seen both UMC and Bright starcraft flying around there dropping ordnance. And Bees has been monitoring distress calls from someone, probably a Bright, from the vicinity of the Luyten Sector."

"Exactly," Doctor D said. "Now that we know about the reeds, I'm going to fine focus in on planet Bliss and see if Bees' frequency originates there. Did I tell you Bees kissed me?"

"Well, she's such a wonderful girl I'll have to overlook her strange taste in men. I'd advise you not to let that get around or Scout may hunt you down and kill you. He's got no sense of humor like I do."

Δ

It was a rosy dawn, so peaceful and still, the clouds on the horizon stained pink and gold, a ruddy sun peeking through the clouds to view the new day – to create it. The sky was slowly changing from black to deep cobalt to a pale blue, the stars slowly vanishing. I was above it all, floating like a bird, gliding on the air currents. It was incredibly relaxing. I didn't even think about what I was doing up there. It was pure sensory overload, and I didn't want to question it.

The dawn revealed the city, a wonderful city by the sea, now glowing pink in the rising sun. It was clearly a major city, built around a great bay that was dotted with bulk cargo ships, a whole commercial fleet at anchor in calm dark waters. The city seemed to be well planned. It had a reddish theme, many of the neatly interlocking buildings constructed of a ruddy stone. Down near the harbor a line of tall buildings sheathed in glass winked at the new day. It was early but the city was already humming with activity. Countless aircars were headed into town along invisible tracks in the sky. A great airship floated over the city, full of passengers lined up at open windows, taking in the view. Off in the suburbs there was a busy starport, and a liner lifted off as I watched.

I wondered what city this was. I had a vague feeling that I had seen it before. Now my body was tingling – something wrong, alert, Prophet, alert! My eyes were drawn to a point in the sky, past the bay, out over the dark ocean. A tiny speck was slowly cutting its way through the sky. Falling slowly, leisurely downwards. Glowing, growing against the dark blue sky. Leaving a white-hot trail. Meteor, I thought. Damn! But at least it was not going to hit the city. It was going to fall way out in the ocean.

I watched it fall. A white hot core, leaving a burning wake. Finally it disappeared over the horizon. I hung there in the air, fascinated.

It burst like a million suns, lighting up all creation, blinding me, the light turning the city into a negative image. The light did not fade. It burnt itself into the sky, pulsing brightly. Millions of tons of vaporized seawater and superhot melted rocks were twisting up towards the stratosphere in a gigantic glowing cloud and starting to rain back down onto the planet. I could not look directly at it, it was too powerful. It was like looking at the face of God. Then the sound hit but it was not just a sound wave. It was the crack of doom and the last sound anyone in that city ever heard. A titanic shock wave shot in from the ocean, a tremendous burst of atmosphere and superhot debris that leveled the city instantly, obliterating everything, blasting it all to hell, an atmospheric firestorm. And then, with another gigantic rumbling, the earth shook and the ocean came shooting in, a tsunami hundreds of marks tall, a great evil superwave, hitting at the speed of a starcraft, obliterating the flaming remnants of the city, grinding it to pieces.

I somehow remained there, way up in the sky, as the debris rained down, filling the sky, turning it black. The entire world below was boiling, as the ocean swirled over the firestorm. Nothing was left. How had I survived?

Then I saw it. A single starcraft, gliding calmly over the inferno below. I recognized it immediately. It was a Bright fighter.

Recon, I thought. Post-strike recon. Mission confirmed successful.

I screamed at last, vaulting out of bed and crashing to the floor, tangled in sheets. Honeyhair came scrambling after me, shocked awake, calling my name.

I was convulsed, my muscles paralyzed, then I started shaking violently. "Get the Prof!" I called out. "Now! Now! Now! We go to the brainscan room, now! Alert everybody!" This was it. This was what we had been waiting for, all this time. I struggled to my feet, helped up by Honeyhair.

"Are you all right, Prophet?" she asked shakily.

"No! No! I'm not all right." The Brights, the Brights, I thought. Why would the Brights do that?

Δ

As I lay there on the examining table with my head encased in the brainscan device, I tried to remain calm. Pretty much everybody was there, the Prof, Doc D, Paula the psycherchick, all the techs, and everyone else who had heard the ruckus at oh-dark-thirty and realized that something was up. Everyone was wearing rumpled pajamas or shorts and tees or nightgowns. Bees and Scout were there and so were Ice and Kwan and Saka and Lan Hwa. Honeyhair was by my side, still trembling, and Blondie suddenly rushed in to comfort her.

"Just relax, Prophet," the Prof said. "These images are so clear." He was viewing the brainscan images on a d-screen. "Oh my goodness. Oh. All right, just try to relax. Did you hear it as well as see it?"

"Yes. I thought the blast had deafened me. It was so real. So real!"

"And you say you were floating up in the air?"

"Yes."

"Interesting. So the DX is showing you something but you are only involved as a spectator. It's as if it is one possible future, but you don't necessarily have to be there. Like Ice's vision of the attack on Valhalla. In her vision, she was there, a participant, but in reality she was never there. It would have happened, but we reacted to it, so it started to happen, but we were able to counter it because we knew it was going to happen. Good work, Prophet! Good work! This is so thrilling! The instant everything is confirmed I'm prepping a flash Cosmic Secret Q-link report for the Director of ConFree and everybody else who has need to know. But first I wake up Ambassador Wester and brief him."

"Look at that. Look at that!" somebody said.

"Oh my dear God," the Prof said. That impossible tsunami was annihilating the city.

"Oh God, my holy God," Bees said. She appeared to be stunned. She dropped to her knees. She raised her hands, fingers together like a church steeple. "Lord God, heavenly King, all-powerful, all-knowing. We beseech You. Please stop this from happening. Oh dear Lord, oh holy God, I pray on bleeding knees, please spare the city, spare all those innocents dying for nothing, dear Lord, I am only a miserable sinner, I am nobody but please please please, in your infinite wisdom, grant my humble prayers and spare the city, spare the innocents, spare them all. Have mercy on us, I pray to You, I beg You in Your infinite wisdom and goodness please grant my request if it is according to Your holy will, may God's will be done, I leave everything up to Your divine goodness and loving care, I beg you Lord have mercy and spare the innocents, may God's will be done. Please please please." She was trembling.

"That's a Bright delta fighter," Scout said coldly, ignoring his lover's prayer.