Timeweb Trilogy Omnibus (61 page)

Presently the strand’s integrity improved, and the podship accelerated again.

The web was a living organism, and over the eons slight aberrations had appeared in it, sections that were not perfectly symmetrical, but this was different. If she’d been a close confidante of the Eye of the Swarm, as she used to be, she could have asked him about it. Woldn was a storehouse of such information.

Parviis communicated with each other in a variety of ways. When flying in a swarm of only a few million individuals, they could beam thoughts to one another telepathically, and could communicate through speech when in close proximity. They could also transmit messages across great distances of space, from sectoid chamber to sectoid chamber, when piloting podships.

But since bygone times, the most important means by which Parviis remained in contact was through the extrasensory morphic field that extended outward from the Eye of the Swarm, reaching Parviis in all sectors of the galaxy. It was one-way, with only Woldn able to transmit freely across space with it, but for Tesh it had always been a comforting, wordless presence, an ineffable sensation that she was part of a larger organism, linked to the Eye and to every Parvii who had ever lived.

Recently, however, she had felt her connection to the morphic field weakening, and an odd, growing impression that she would one day be completely on her own. She wondered if it had anything to do with this podship she had taken control of without Woldn’s approval. She was a podship pilot by profession, but was only authorized to operate one that had been captured by a Parvii swarm, under Woldn’s supervision.

This Aopoddae was entirely different, a peculiar vessel that she had struggled against Noah Watanabe to control, and which he had eventually permitted her to operate while he took heroic action in an effort to save humankind.

Noah was unlike any
humanus ordinaire
who had ever lived. He had unfathomable powers, abilities that in some respects went beyond those of the Parviis, and of the Tulyans. He frightened her. She sensed that he could take control of the ship back from her at any moment, by reaching out telepathically and overriding her commands. It would do her no good to turn the podship over to the swarm; Noah could just take it back.

Her earlier experience with Noah had occurred during a hiatus from Tesh’s duties as a pilot, an ongoing break that had not been relaxing at all, not with all of the problems in the galaxy, including the terrible war between the merchant princes and the shapeshifters. She hoped Noah was safe, but since their parting she had only heard hearsay about him, that he had been taken into custody by the Doge Lorenzo, despite his selfless bravery.

With respect to the podship she was guiding now, she had never heard of a Parvii taking command of one this way. Tesh knew the situation was a gray ethical area, but perhaps in her unique situation she could make a salvage claim to Woldn, and be awarded long-term control of the vessel. She had never heard of a case exactly like this one, but over the millennia some Parviis had received rewards for extraordinary exploits. She recalled some details of other cases, drawing parallels so that she might argue her case to Woldn.

Besides, what if this particular vessel had been contaminated by Noah’s connection with it? It might make sense for her to keep it separate from others in the fleet, to avoid having all of them fall under Noah’s strange, potentially dangerous spell.

But a sinking feeling told her this was an unfounded fear, a rationalization of her questing mind to come up with an excuse for keeping the podship.

Inside the green luminescence of the sectoid chamber, the background hum intensified, and she heard the Eye of the Swarm communicating with her over the strands of the podways. Tesh’s heart sank. But it was not a message for her alone … it was for all Parviis in sectoid chambers around the galaxy, and with it she heard the distant squeal of Woldn’s podship, from the extreme pain of the galactic transmission.

The urgent, drastic command of her superior appalled her. Despite the destruction of three podships by merchant prince guns, and the ongoing state of war between Humans and Mutatis, that did not justify Woldn’s decision. He was committing murder.

Impulsively, Tesh guided her podship through deep space at high speed, searching the main podways for jettisoned passengers that she might rescue. Time after time she arrived too late, however, and found the horribly damaged, space-frozen bodies and other remnants of victims, from most of the galactic races.

And no survivors.

Trying to maintain her composure, Tesh speculated on Woldn’s reasoning, that he wanted to discontinue all space travel immediately in the dangerous regions. Such a terrible way to do it, though. He should have ordered the ships to sectors that were not controlled by Humans or Mutatis, permitting the passengers to disembark safely.

Tesh was already considered something of a malcontent in the collective consciousness of her people. In the past she had voiced her opinions openly to Woldn, often to his annoyance. The last time she had defied him, he’d briefly suspended her privilege to pilot a podship. Something like that could happen again, or worse. But she could not worry about that; the stakes were too high. When she saw him again, she would be even more vociferous … no matter the consequences.

Stubbornly, Tesh continued to search the podways for signs of life, taking a few minutes longer. Then she set course toward the distant rendezvous point specified by Woldn, which for Parviis was the most secret, most secure place in the entire galaxy.

Chapter Three

Send nehrcom messages to the best research and development people on the Hibbil Cluster Worlds, and tell them we need faster-than-light spaceships to replace podships. Such a new invention is a matter of utmost priority. The entire Merchant Prince Alliance depends upon it.

—Private wordcom, Doge del Velli to his Royal Attaché

“Our prisoner was right,” the uniformed officer announced. He stood stiffly at the center of the richly appointed office while the old nobleman, Doge Lorenzo del Velli, paced along a window wall.

They were in the Doge’s new headquarters on Canopa, established as the capital world of the Merchant Prince Alliance after the Mutatis had destroyed Timian One. Francella Watanabe had leased him the top three floors of her own CorpOne headquarters building—for a steep fee, of course.

“Oh?” Lorenzo said. He paused and faced his subordinate, Captain Sheff Uki. In his tailored military garb the young officer had the appearance of a fashion model, but he was tougher than he looked. He was also irritatingly sycophantic at times.

Off to one side, the Doge’s Royal Attaché, Pimyt, looked on sternly. The furry little Hibbil stood motionless, his red-eyed gaze fixed on the officer.

“Well, one-third right, Sire,” Uki said. “The lab just gave me a report. One out of the three pods carried a deadly explosive device, with Mutati markings on it. Some sort of mega-bomb, our people are saying, a massively powerful torpedo.”

“It might be the technology the Mutatis used to destroy Earth, Mars, Plevin Four, and Timian One,” Pimyt suggested. The little alien scowled, scrunching his salt-and-pepper beard.

Lorenzo the Magnificent nodded, said, “I want the remains analyzed from every direction, turned inside out. Maybe we can build our own planet-buster and turn it on the slimy shapeshifters.”

“That might be possible,” Uki said, “but it would take time. We’d have to ramp up, with only bits of information available right now. There would be a big learning curve.”

“What about the other pod stations where we set up sensor-guns? Any useful information there?”

“No reports of activity yet. We’re getting a steady stream of nehrcom reports from all seven hundred ninety-two of them, orbiting the same number of worlds. No additional MPA planets have been lost, and no more podships have appeared.”

The Doge rubbed his projecting chin. “So, Noah wasn’t crazy after all. Thank the stars I moved quickly, instead of turning his recommendation over to the Council of Forty for study. Those noblemen would have set up committees and wasted a lot of time.”

The officer flicked something off his own lapel. “You made the intelligent decision, Sire. If you hadn’t moved quickly during the crisis, I daresay we would not be having this conversation at all.”

“Most insightful of you to say that, Captain Uki.”

“With your permission, Sire,” Uki said, bowing, “I’d like to be excused, to order the investigation you desire.”

Doge Lorenzo nodded.

After Uki left, Pimyt said, “He’s too smooth to be an officer. I don’t trust the man, so I’ve arranged to replace him. In my customary fashion.”

“Kill him, then. But wait until he completes the assignment.”

The Royal Attache smiled, and thought back. It was not the first time Lorenzo had authorized him to get rid of someone, particularly the sniveling sycophants who were drawn to the Doge like iron particles to a magnet. At times like this, whenever he felt respect for the merchant prince leader, Pimyt almost regretted what was about to happen.

Soon, he and his allies would make their move, and it would reverberate across the galaxy.…

Chapter Four

Nothing is ever as it seems. For each apparent answer there is always another more significant one. This is true at every level of observation and interpretation. Thus, the final answer to any question is never attainable … perhaps not even by the Sublime Creator.

—Tulyan Wisdom

For weeks, Acey and Dux had stayed in the Tulyan Visitor’s Center. The globular, posh orbiter wasn’t a spacetel as they had initially thought, since the Tulyans apparently never charged any of the dignitaries for staying there. According to a waitress that Dux befriended in the gourmet dining room, the place had more than a thousand suites of equal size and quality.

Dignitaries!

The first day they were there, Dux walked around with his chest puffed out, imagining how important he and his cousin were. In the corridors, they saw well-dressed personages of varying galactic races whom they imagined to be ambassadors, noblemen and their ladies, and even kings and queens by their appearances, replete with royal entourages. The gaping boys’ imaginations ran to considerable extremes. When the two of them later told stories about this experience, any rational listener would undoubtedly discount their assertions, knowing how insular the Tulyans tended to be. There could not possibly have been so many galactic VIPs present at one time. But Acey and Dux, while having the good sense to avoid making any contact with the other visitors, had fun imagining who they might be. The boys also enjoyed picking out the various alien races they could identify, and marveling at those they had never seen until now. It only whetted their appetites for traveling more throughout the galaxy.

Acey kept saying he was anxious to leave for more adventures, and he’d been developing all sorts of plans about other star systems he wanted to see, and how he would get there. Every day he expressed his increasing restlessness to Dux, and to Eshaz whenever he looked in on them every few days. The Tulyan was performing important work for the Council of Elders, though he would not provide them with details. Whenever the teenagers asked him why they had to stay there, Eshaz said he felt responsible for their safety, and that he would be able to spend more time with them soon.

Soon.

Even Dux, who enjoyed the Visitor’s Center far more than Acey, was growing suspicious of that promise. Eshaz’s focus seemed to be elsewhere.

As time passed, Acey went to increasing lengths to avoid the comforts of the orbital center. Seeming to make a game out of it, he not only slept on the carpet instead of the bed; he refused to eat in the gourmet dining room, accepting only leftovers or slightly stale food. In addition, he wouldn’t go anywhere near the very tempting amenities of the center, not the pools, spas, game rooms, or performing arts chambers.

At first Dux thought his cousin was going too far, but then he began to understand. The two of them would have to leave soon, and Acey’s way of handling the overabundance of luxury was easiest for him. In contrast, Dux fully accepted the fact that their stay would not endure, but he went for the full treatment anyway, to “broaden his life experiences.” For him, this made complete sense. So, each day Dux luxuriated in the pools and spas, permitting a beautiful
Jimlat
masseuse to give him treatments. He gorged himself on fine foods, and gained two kilos a day.

One afternoon as he headed for the main performance hall, Dux saw Eshaz approaching, lumbering along the corridor with his heavy strides. “Where is Acey?” the Tulyan asked. His scaly bronze skin glistened. He wore a tan cloak with a circle design on the lapel, which seemed to be his formal attire when working on important matters with the Council.

“Hey, Eshaz,” the teenager called out, cheerily. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s walking on nails somewhere.” He spoke of Acey’s behavior in a humorous way, then noticed that the big reptilian looked upset about something.

Eshaz wouldn’t tell him anything until they located Acey, who was sitting in the back of the main kitchen, eating with the workers. Acey, in a large chair at the head of a long opawood table, had been spinning grand yarns, embellishing stories of his adventures on board a treasure ship, taking his listeners to distant, exotic lands in their imaginations. The workers, all of whom were Tulyan, nodded their heads politely, but did not look that impressed. Acey, not seeming to notice their reactions, rambled on, looking like a child propped up on pillows in the Tulyan chair. He stopped when his cousin and Eshaz entered the room.

Seeing Eshaz, one of the most honored web caretakers, the kitchen helpers all stood and bowed respectfully. Eshaz bowed in return, then led the boys to a private dining room, where he ordered tea. When the beverages were delivered and the doors closed, he peered at the pair through slitted eyes, and said, “You young men are in my safekeeping for the moment. I trust you are being treated well here?”