Spires of Infinity (37 page)

Shaking his head at the blank looks everyone was giving him, Gabriel would have at least thought Allie could keep up. Maybe Kari too, she seemed rather smart.

“What else do we know of that has infinite destructive energy,” Gabriel asked.

“Something we just happen to have in the basement?”

“A black hole,” Allie said slowly.

“A black hole has infinite mass,” Gabriel held up his other hand, “infinite gravity, and infinite
time
. What would happen if you contained something that could destroy an infinite amount of mass and time within something that has infinite mass and time?”

Gabriel grasped the fist representing the paradox with the hand representing the black hole.

“That is brilliant,” Allie’s eyes popped wide.

“Oh yes,” Gabriel cried again.

“The two forces cancel each other out. I cannot believe that I never thought of that! That is pure genius!”

“I’m lost,” the twins said in unison.

“We kill three birds with one stone,” Gabriel explained. “No more black hole in the basement, goodbye nuclear wasteland, and hello warm yellow sun.”

“The calculations will be staggering,” Allie muttered. “A single mistake and

everything goes boom.”

“How about I make matters even simpler for you?”

“What do you mean? How?”

“What if I travel back to the day that the black hole was created,” Gabriel asked,

“and turn off the containment field? The black hole will
be
the paradox.”

“What about us,” Mister Mittens asked. “I was born only because of the radiation caused by the nuclear war. If it never happened I wouldn’t exist. Most people on this world will simply cease to be, replaced by others who might have been.”

“That’s where things get a little sketchy,” Gabriel shrugged. “No one really

knows
exactly
what happens when time paradox is created. My thoughts are that it will create an alternate timeline where the Spires were destroyed. The paradox will try to create a new timeline, but the black hole will cancel out the force driving it before it can completely branch away, causing both realities to exist in the same place at the same time.

“In fact, I believe that we’ve already created the paradox. The three of you were granted access to the facility by Allie herself, several centuries ago. Why would she do that? How would she even know about you? Because we’ve already gone back to fix things, and the changes to the world haven’t happened here yet because we still have to go back in our part of the timeline to fix them. We’re all still here, even though the paradox is active, though the effects haven’t caught up to us yet. And . . . none of you are following a single thing I’m saying, are you?”

“It is possible,” Allie shrugged, “but highly unlikely.”

“Look, I’m a lawyer, not a physicist, but I
think
that because the paradox will be contained at its moment of creation, everyone in this world
now
will still be here. It’s the world that will reset, not the people. The paradox still exists. The impossibility of the timeline has not been erased, but the destructive energy it generates is gone. Or, maybe I don’t really know what I’m talking about and everyone will just cease to exist. Allie?”

“I calculate a seventy-nine percent probability that things will turn out the way you say, Gabriel,” Allie nodded.

“One in five,” Mister Mittens said thoughtfully. “I’ll take those odds if it means saving this world from freezing to death.”

“Me too,” Sam said.

“I am afraid that I will cease to exist,” Allie sighed dejectedly. “I suppose that is for the best, really. I should have died long ago . . . unless. Of course! I have an idea!”

“Who will go back,” Kari asked. “I’ll do it, if you tell me what needs to be done.”

“It’s my responsibility,” Gabriel said. “Your father sent me here to fix things.”

“You already came up with the idea,” Sam cried. “Let someone else. What

happens if you die in the past, or get trapped back there? If you’re going, I’m going with you!”

With a nod of agreement with herself, Sam folded her arms beneath her breasts

pointedly. Not that Gabriel didn’t enjoy the sight of her cleavage nearly toppling out of her low neckline, but with how much huffing and puffing she was doing lately, a more modest garment might have been a better choice.

“I am afraid that would not be advisable,” Allie said. “This facility has very sophisticated security systems. One person may slip through with my help, but the chances dwindle exponentially with each addition.”

Sam glared at the hologram.

“Computer skills will be necessary,” Allie continued.

“I know computers,” Kari protested. “And I’m very skilled in creating illusions to hide myself. I can do it.”

“Come to the control room and I will explain everything that needs to be done.

Follow the yellow arrow.” With that, Allie vanished. “And hurry. Time is growing short. With my current maximum power allotment, performing Gate Jumps is simply impossible once I raise the energy shield.”

The door opened, revealing a holographic yellow arrow hovering above the

ground pointing to the left back toward the observation catwalk. Shrugging, Gabriel stepped into the hall, and the arrow matched his pace.

Following the arrow, he strode out onto the catwalk with the others close behind.

A particularly strong gust of wind blew him off balance, and before he knew it he was tumbling over the edge with a surprised yelp. His fall abruptly stopped as someone grabbed his wrist in an iron hard grip.

Looking up, he saw Kari smiling down at him with a mouth full of bestial teeth.

“Careful. Even the hero of the hour can fall to his death if he’s not paying attention.”

Seemingly without any exertion at all, Kari lifted him up with one hand until he could get his feet back onto the catwalk.

“How did you,” he found himself unable to finish as he stared at her.

Laughing musically, Kari released Gabriel’s wrist.

“I told you,” she said with a wink. “Our kind have what you might consider

superhuman abilities. That arrow is looking impatient. We’d better hurry.”

Looking toward the arrow, Gabriel found it poking at the door on the other end of the catwalk. If it had feet, it would be tapping one impatiently.

Feeling a chill, Gabriel turned to see Sam glaring coldly at Kari, her tail bristling.

Kari returned the glare for a second before turning away, which only made Sam angrier.

He was almost certain that those two could strike sparks just glaring at each other.

“Sca—“ Michael said.

“—ry” Jonathan finished.

They each clapped a hand to one of his shoulders in consolation.

Gabriel’s reassuring smile withered when Sam turned her glare on him. Would

she rather he fell to his death than have Kari save him? Women just didn’t make any sense at all sometimes! If ever!

Following the arrow through what looked more like an office building than a

scientific facility, Gabriel began to feel more at home. It reminded him of the building his firm owned three floors of in Chicago, and he supposed that there would always be a need for office work, even here.

The arrow led them to a door next to a large window showing a large circular

chamber below, with a big metal frame that had all sorts of wires and tubes attached to, and hanging loose around it. It looked like some sort of torture device. The door opened to a room full of computer workstations arranged in neat rows. To the left was another large window showing the torture device. At the front of the room were a large screen divided into fourths, displaying camera feeds that changed periodically, and a large console below it, sporting multiple workstations.

Appearing at the front of the room, Allie beckoned them forward. Coming to a

stop before the large control panel, Gabriel examined the screen before turning back to her as the others filed in.

“Let me explain my plan,” Allie said, eyeing the twins with a frosty expression as they lounged against a workstation. “The person who goes back will need clearance codes, and knowledge of the system to shut down the containment field. This person must be capable of encrypting the controls to lock the past version of myself out of overriding them. This person will then have to program a Gate Jump back here or risk certain death. I can teach these things, but it will take time, and there is this to consider.”

With a grim look and a flourish, Allie gestured to the screen as two of the images enlarged, blocking out the others. There were clouds of dust on the horizon, and Gabriel could barely make out dark shadows in each that might have been people.

“I have detected two armies marching on this facility. One from the north, and another from the east. The northern army will reach us in just under an hour, and the one to the east, about twenty minutes after that. I cannot raise the energy shield while performing a Gate Jump, so everything must be accomplished before the first army arrives, which leaves no time for teaching.”

“Then what should we do,” Kari asked.

“I have a cunning plan,” Allie grinned.

This made Gabriel laugh as it reminded him of something a character in an old

British comedy used to say.

“Sorry. You wouldn’t get it. Please go on.”

“I propose that we make a copy of my AIOS, and that the person who goes back,

take this copy with him. This will ensure the capability of completing all necessary tasks, and guarantee my continued existence beyond the destruction of this facility.”

“Well, that sounds easy enough,” Gabriel said.

“Unfortunately,” Allie said, “my personality and my memory are vast, and I

require huge amounts of processing power to run at my most minimal capacity. Any mere copy will not function.”

“Then why suggest it,” Gabriel asked.

“There is a way, but it will require sacrifice on your part, Gabriel.”

“Me? Why from me?”

Hadn’t he already given up enough already? Did he really have to lose more?

“Because you possess Sa’Dhi, and the implants required to put them to use. I will require one of your Sa’Dhi to make the copy. This will erase all data currently stored on it.”

“You can take this one,” Gabriel lifted his left hand to show her the field log. “I barely use it for anything.”

“I’m afraid this will only store my personality and memories. I require a vast amount of memory in order to operate and function. The real sacrifice is this. A normal adult only uses a small percentage of his brain. I will require the computing power of the unused portion of your brain.”

“Wait. What? You want to copy yourself into my brain? No way! I’ve seen and done a lot of crazy things since I got here, but I’m drawing the line at that. Stuff like that
never
turns out well on TV.”

“You misunderstand. I will merely be using the computing power of your brain

through the implant to function. All of my data will be stored only on the Sa’Dhi alone.”

“So this will be like the hard drive you’re installed onto,” Gabriel said slowly, holding up his left hand. “And my brain will act like the random access memory and CPU?”

“Exactly. A very good analogy. I will program it so that the spoken activation word of the Sa’Dhi will still be in place. Speaking the word will allow me to use your body as my own for brief periods of time in order to operate the computers. Otherwise, I will merely use the unused portion of your brain for processing the data required to maintain my consciousness. You will barely even know that I am there, unless you call upon me. I will further be able to speak directly to you by affecting the sensory areas of your brain.”

“I guess I can unplug you whenever I want a little privacy. All right, if that’s the only way, let’s do it.”

“If you would plug your Sa’Dhi into this outlet here,” Allie gestured to the control panel. “I will begin copying my data to it. It should take about ten minutes.”

Wincing as the Sa’Dhi slid out of the jack in the back of his hand, Gabriel

plugged the jewel into the console where indicated. It began to glow brightly as Allie started copying files to it.

“Hey,” Sam pointed to one of the armies on the screen. “Look. They’re flying the Imperial Standard.”

Squinting at the approaching army, Gabriel could see that there did appear to be a banner at the head of it, but he couldn’t quite make it out.

“Is there any way to magnify that?”

The image zoomed in on a large group of Imperial Soldiers, riding cathors like death itself was on their heels. Gabriel thought that he recognized the banner man, but it was hard to say. There was a lot of dust in the air and the image was grainy from the magnification.

“Those must be the remnants of the army that the Apostle defeated at the

Quarantine Zone,” he mused aloud. “I bet they decided to retreat to the nearest fortified position, which would be here.”

“Reinforcements,” Allie grinned. “I could use a few of those. That buys us a small amount of time. Might I suggest that you all get some rest while you can? Or perhaps you would like to clean up after your travels? I will show you where the personnel quarters are.”

“Rest,” Michael said.

“Our very favorite pastime,” Jonathan finished.

Chapter 33: Reinforcements

“Why are you going alone,” Sam muttered bitterly. The two of them lay in each other’s arms on the bed in Gabriel’s room. After he showered, she’d turned up at his door wanting to cuddle, and what sane man would turn down a chance to grope a

beautiful woman in lieu of a few measly minutes of sleep? “You need me to watch your back. You promised you’d never leave me. Remember? You
promised
!”

Feeling the unnatural heat of her body as he held her tightly, Gabriel was

somewhat relieved that she’d bathed too. Her silver hair hung loose, still damp from washing. She smelled of flowers, and it suited her. In fact, ever since Kari arrived, Sam had been on her best behavior, as though trying to prove she was just as well behaved a woman as her perceived nemesis. The change was rather refreshing.