Ammonite Planets (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #1-3 (54 page)

“I would have beaten him,” Diva claimed with a defiant air.

“I know.”

“It was just quicker this way—”

Grace nodded. “Just quicker.”

“—because I would have won.”

“No doubt about it.”

“Just so as you know!”

“I know.”

“Huh!” And Diva sheathed her dagger with an aggrieved air.

The two girls hurried to the entrance. As they began to make their way out they heard the clattering of many sets of footsteps running in their direction. They looked at each other.

“That can’t be good,” said Diva.

Grace pulled a face. “Sorry,” she said. “I tried.”

“You did great, my friend. It is not your fault.”

They stopped to peer cautiously around the curved wall. Several more figures were entering the small corridor. There was nowhere for them to go, nowhere to hide.

Out of nowhere they heard a steely voice.

“Be absolutely quiet now, press right against the corridor wall, one behind the other, and make no noise whatsoever.”

“Visitor?”

“I said, be quiet!”

Both Diva and Grace scrambled to obey the machine. They flattened themselves against the convex wall of the corridor and paralyzed even their breathing. It was hard to stay pinned to the wall as a group of ten Sellites, led by Atheron himself, surged past at a run, whipping up the air. None of the Sellites appeared to see them. The girls could see each other, but were apparently not visible to the Sellites.

As soon as they were past the metallic voice sounded again.

“Now make your way to the door we used to come in, pick up the back pack, and go out. One of you should lead and the other must follow exactly in her footsteps. I will bring up the rear. Hurry now!”

The girls did exactly as they were told, and found themselves bare planet within five minutes.

“Why couldn’t they see us?” demanded Diva. “What happened?”

“I included you in my blending device,” said the brain behind the machine. “You were invisible to them.”

Diva looked awed. “Cool!” she said.

“Do you need this bodywrap, Diva?” asked Grace. “Or is yours all right?”

Diva felt around her old one. “I think this one is all right, thanks.”

“Then let’s get out of here,” suggested Grace. “This lot may even have overcome exophobia. If so, they could chase us out here too.”

“Let’s go.”

The girls set up a fast pace back to the donor skyrise, and the little machine, now visible to them both, went with them. It seemed rather less talkative than usual, Grace thought.

“Is there something wrong, Visitor?” she asked it.

The little sphere gave a faint chirp.

“What?”

“I have been chastised,” it said slowly.

“Why on Sacras? … Oh! You weren’t allowed to rescue us!” Grace remembered the earlier words of the alien. “You broke your rules to save us. Oh, thank you!”

The machine gave a splutter. “I found I wanted to help,” it said.

“We are very grateful,” Diva informed it. “We are indebted to you.”

“That won’t be much help.”

“What do you mean?”

“My contract will not be extended. I shall only have this mission.”

“What will you do then?” Grace was concerned.

“Do?” the voice echoed.

“Yes, after your contract ends.”

There was a small pulse of air which sounded like a sigh. “I won’t
do
anything. I will be terminated.”

“
Terminated
?” said Diva.

“Because you have helped us?” Grace couldn’t believe it.

“I told you, I am not allowed to interfere in type 3 beings. I have already been tried and found guilty.”

“Back on Dessia?”

“Yes.”

“What can we do about it? How can we help you?”

“There is nothing you or anybody else can do about it. All travelers are terminated sooner or later, in any case. But I
was
hoping for at least a second tour. After such an important find.”

Grace was frowning and Diva had a horrible scowl on her face as they finally reached the skyrise and let themselves in through the biolock.

“Do you mean to say,” said Diva, pulling off her mask pack with a snap, “that your
own
race will exterminate you for helping us?”

“We travelers are not proper Dessites,” the orb went on, “the Dessites are type 2a, which means that they can communicate instantaneously over any distance using quantum entanglement and non-locality.” It paused, to see if they were following it thus far. “But they do not possess the type 2b quality of quantum decoherence with hyperfluidity. This means that they cannot travel instantaneously anywhere. They need spaceships to travel.” Another whirring sound came out of the globe. Then it continued. “So they invented spaceships to extend their vision of the universe. The Dessites are very tall, which meant large and ungainly spaceships, using much fuel. So when they found out how to grow brain cells from basite cells they simply shrank their spaceships down, and sent each one out with a basite tank, from which the cells could be initiated when proximity alerts gave advanced notice of civilizations.” The globe gave a satisfied whirr. “And here I am!”

“Then you are only a baby!” Grace said.

“I am three,” the orb informed her solidly. “I have been aware, and approaching this system for three years.”

“What do you eat?” asked Grace.

“I do not require food. The tank contains sufficient brain nutrients for several years. The nutrients are self-replacing too, so that that period can be extended even longer. If for any reason I am damaged, then I am reabsorbed into the tank, the nutrient levels are restored, and all cells regrown.”

“And then your knowledge would be lost?”

The lens flashed in the light. “Of course not. That is why they have to send a real brain – otherwise they could simply use machines. They need a real brain because only a live brain can transmit non-locally. They already have all the information which I acquire. I send it to them automatically as I myself receive it.”

“So how do you go back?” asked Grace.

“I don’t go back. My job is done when the Dessites receive all my information. Then I can go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Nowhere. Unless my contract is extended to other systems I stop existing. The spaceship autodestructs.”

“That is terrible!” Grace gave a gasp. “You are a sentient being, you are alive!”

Diva looked at her friend. “Remind you of anything, Grace?”

Grace nodded grimly. “It sure does.”

“Your so-called master race doesn’t happen to speak Sell, does it?” Diva asked the sphere.

“Sell? I do not understand.”

“It does all sound a bit familiar,” Grace admitted. “It looks as if being a type 2 whatever doesn’t necessarily mean that you become a nice race.”

“Definitely not.” The Coriolan girl nodded. “Well, Visitor – we will do what we can to help you. You have saved us, and we will try to save you.”

“I do not see how two or three non-quantum entities can influence my homeworld,” said the machine, a little sadly.

“That is because you don’t know us very well yet,” Diva told him proudly. “We may be type 3, but when we set out to do our best … well, you will see. Our best is pret-ty good!”

“I am safe until the mission here with Arcan is over. They won’t get rid of me until then – Arcan is too important to them. But once they have established direct quantum communication with him … well, then I shall be superfluous.”

“Not to us. We will remember.”

“Perhaps I should just accept that my life will be short.”

“Nobody should have to accept that their life will be short. I don’t know how we will be able to help you, but I promise you that we will try.” Diva looked at Grace, and they both nodded solemnly.

ARCAN CAME TO himself again and was at an utter loss as to what had happened. He felt completely disoriented. It took him a long couple of hours to begin to realize what had happened. In some way they had knocked out his cell-to-cell communication. It had left him unaware for … he tried to calculate, not without difficulty … at least twenty-four hours, he thought.

Feebly he tried to contact Grace. It didn’t work. He would have to wait, try to concentrate on repairing the damage, and hope that all was well with the outside world.

Out in the violet slate shadow of Valhai, under the stars, the lake gave a feeble glitter of life. Slowly it began to build its strength back up.

SIX RAISED HIS head wearily from his arms, and regarded the bubble.

“Another hour and I might have been dead,” he grumbled. “What took you so long?”

“You have enough air and supplies for several weeks,” pointed out Arcan mildly.

“I would have died of boredom!” explained Six. “
You
should try spending some time in a broken-down space trader!”

“I am never bored. I have too much intelligence. An intelligent organism can always find something to do.”

Six gazed at the orthogel entity with repulsion. “You sounded just like the matron at the birth shelter then,” he accused. “And, if you don’t mind me saying, that is a load of vaniven excrement!”

“Perhaps you do not have sufficient intelligence?”

“And a jolly good thing too, if you ask me!”

“It must be very hard to be a lesser being.”

“All the running around that we do is what keeps us sane. I mean – you were sitting around in the same lake for thirty thousand years! No wonder you don’t get bored any more. A rock falling into the lake must have been a major occasion. I expect you would celebrate the day for evermore. Just think – the second of whatever – the day the rock fell into the lake. You could give it a cake and candles. Happy rockday!”

“I believe your injury may be worse than it looks, Six. You should see a doctor. You appear to be delirious.”

“No sense of humour, is your problem!”

“I find your need for enjoyment rather baffling, I admit.”

“I’m telling you! That is what comes from sitting around for thousands of years with nothing better to do than think. It’s enough to evaporate the fun out of anyone.” Six shook his head.

“I am still young,” Arcan told him.

“Young? You have a very strange idea of what young is. I would hate to see you when you are old if you call this being a bundle of fun.” The Kwaidian shook his head sadly, then decided to drop the teasing and get to the point. “What happened to you? You suddenly let go of me in mid air. I was lucky not to have been dropped in outer space and deep frozen into a crisp!”

Arcan told him about the weapon the Sellites had developed, and of its effects.

“It has taken me two days to get back to normal,” he told Six, “and I am still finding it … hard … to transport.”

“What about the missiles?” Six checked his console. “The Sellites are very nearly within range of Kwaide. We have to do something NOW!”

The bubble representing Arcan nodded. “I just need a little more time. I will move all the missiles as soon as I am able to. The orange flash knocked out the orthotubes and lifts too.”

A shadow crossed Six’s face. “What about Diva and Grace? Are they all right?”

“I have signed to Grace, and she and Diva are waiting on the ground floor of the 256
^th
skyrise. She signed back that they have accomplished their tasks, and that she will tell me about it when I fully recover.”

Six breathed out again. “Fine,” he said. “Then you have to concentrate on getting all your abilities back. We will have to investigate this orange flash. If the Sellites have developed a weapon which is effective against you then we need to find out exactly what it is.”

“Did you have any problems while I was … err … unavailable?”

“Nah. Problems? Do you think that we can’t manage perfectly well without you? As if!”

“I was merely asking. Having observed that you have somehow managed to lose the starboard fuel tanks, that the rest of the ship is looking somewhat battered, and that you appear to be floating in space without propulsion …”

“Yeah – tell me about it! They don’t make these Sellite ships to last, do they? The Resistance here is going to need a major makeover when we get back to the orbital station.”

“At the rate you are travelling, that will take you two more weeks.”

“Thought I was entitled to a bit of a holiday, you know. Take the scenic route. Something wrong with that?”

“Do you require assistance, Six?”

“Well, OF COURSE I do, you half-baked lump of jelly! My planet is on the point of being blown up by nuclear missiles!”

“There is no need to shout at me. I was only trying to clarify your position.”

“Hmm. I may be the tiniest bit jumpy. All this sitting around with nothing to do gets on my nerves. I apologize.”

“I will come back when I am able to be of help.”

“You will find me at home. I will tell my butler to admit you.”

DIVA AND GRACE were fed up with wandering around the first floor of the 256
^th
skyrise. They had managed to find a few nutripacks, which staved off the pangs of hunger for a while, but they felt totally out of touch. It was impossible to know what was happening.

Even the video camera appeared bored. It had spent some time investigating the whole floor, and then had hovered silently in a corner for an hour or two before apparently switching itself off.

At last a slight hum indicated that the orthogel system had started up again. Both girls looked up quickly.

“Arcan!” exclaimed Diva. “He must have managed to sort himself out!”

Grace leapt to her feet. “Now we will see what is happening! I hope he is all right!”

A bubble appeared in front of them, surrounded them, and transported them back into the Variance, in orbit around Valhai. At the last moment Grace managed to grab the video camera, which gave a buzz of alarm at being touched, and then switched itself back on.

“That is better!” said Diva with relief, smoothly sliding into the pilot’s seat, and examining the console. “How are you, Arcan?”

“I am recovered, thank you, Diva.” The bubble said, moving to one side of the hold. “I see you are, too?”

Diva nodded. “Grace and the visitor rescued me.” She told him all the details of the escape. When he heard what had happened to the visitor for interfering in type 3 life-forms, the bubble turned almost black.

“That is unacceptable,” he told the machine. “We are grateful to you for your help. Such rigid laws are pointless, since no two situations can be the same. Each should be judged on its own characteristics. I think you did very well.”

The little machine buzzed, and seemed pleased. “Thank you, Arcan. If you are satisfied with my intervention, then I am more than happy to accept my punishment.”

“These people are my friends, and we help each other. Perhaps your people did not understand that?”

The machine whirred. “Perhaps.”

“We will remember your help. Thank you.”

“I have never had a friend.” The voice behind the machine sounded almost plaintive.

“Well, now you have,” said Grace, “and that means that we will help you when you need it too.”

“I am afraid that you will be unable to stop the inevitable,” it told her, “but I thank you for the sentiment.”

“We shall visit you in person,” Arcan told it, “as soon as we have sorted out the problem with the missiles, and we have got Six back to the orbital station safely.”

“What is wrong with Six?” Diva’s hand went to her throat.

“He is fine, except for a new scar across his cheek, but I think he must have gotten into a fight with the Sellites, because the ship is lacking some essential parts.”

“Only the ship?” asked Diva.

“I believe Six is intact, yes.”

“Are you sure? Only I sometimes think the Elders removed part of his brain at an early age. Did you check he still had one?”

“Thank goodness he is all right,” sighed Grace. “It will be great to get back together again.”

Diva was still rather pale. “Great,” she agreed.

ARCAN WAS GETTING stronger by the minute, and he knew that if he didn’t move now he would be too late. Even now, the Sellites may have had time to relocate part of their nuclear stock.

First he concentrated on the stocks on Valhai itself, identifying them with the help of the girls and the markers in a few seconds, then transporting them into orbit around Nomus.

“I think we have got all of them,” Grace told Arcan. “It should take them years to rebuild.”

“Never, if I get to hear about it,” said Arcan. “And I don’t think they can do much on Valhai that I won’t get to know about.”

But Grace wasn’t so sure. “I hope not.” It was said doubtfully.

Arcan shimmered. “What is the matter, Grace?”

“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “I just have a bad feeling about this new orange flash thing that they used on you. And I would like to know more about the magnetic plate they tied Diva to. It was obviously specially made, so I think we have to assume that it would probably have stopped you transporting her out of there. I think we may have some
big
problems with the Sellites in the future.”

The video camera gave a hum of disapproval. “Even if the Sellites were type 3a, they would be no match for us!”

Grace bit her lip. “The Sellites make very bad enemies.”

Arcan glittered in agreement.

Diva snapped her fingers, making them all look around at her.

“Can we talk about this later?” she asked, “only Kwaide is on the point of being blown into Lumina, and maybe Arcan should stop that first. Just an idea, you know.”

“Yes,” said Arcan. “That might be best.”

He turned his attention to the Sellite ships closing on Kwaide, and began to transport the marked missiles out of the ships and into the declining orbit around Nomus.

Finally, it was done. He took a moment to dock Six’s ship into the orbital station, and then transported Six onto the Variance.

The Kwaidian looked around him. “Ah,” he said, “the statistics ship.”

“At least our ship is still in one piece, nomus!” Diva told him, deliberately ignoring the angry new scar he was sporting.

“Well hang on a moment! I bet you didn’t have to escape four missiles being lobbed at you all at the same time,” he replied, aggrieved. “I think I did rather well.”

“Arcan says your ship is nearly a write-off,” criticized Diva.

“I’d like to see you do any better, madam flutter-by!”

“I bet I wouldn’t have wrecked the ship in the process! Those ships are really valuable to Kwaide!”

“And I suppose you would have managed to make all four missiles autodestruct at the same time?” challenged Six.

“I would have had a jolly good try!”

“Just looking at them would probably have done it. Specially with that expression.”

“This is my normal expression, no-name!”

“I know. Must have been a terrible shock to your mother the first time she saw—”

Diva gave a low growl, and launched herself on the Kwaidian, taking him by surprise and knocking him to the floor. He gave a howl of mock fear.

“No! Help! The deadly Diva is trying to vaporize me. Don’t let her look at me! Help! Help!”

“I’ll do worse than vaporize you soon, Six,” she muttered, rolling off him and getting to her feet. “Get up, clown!”

Six obeyed, brushing down his clothes deliberately. “I know you are glad to see me, but there is no need to fling yourself at me like that!”

Diva threw the pilot’s manual at him.

MEANWHILE ARCAN HAD been examining the bevy of missiles which were now slowly falling towards Nomus. He had realized that there was no need for them to explode inside the failed star. You never know, he thought to himself, even in such an inhospitable place, there may be some sort of life. He concentrated hard, drawing all the missiles together to a point well above the radius of Nomus itself. The missiles moved closer and closer, until the first two that touched exploded in a white flash. That triggered the next, and the next, until all of the missiles had been detonated harmlessly in space.

Arcan watched from a distance. Only a ring of debris and gas, travelling outwards from the point of impact, showed where the weapons had been only seconds before. It was done. A flash of colour illuminated the bubble, causing the others to look at him, surprised.