L Modesitt - Empress of Eternity

"Of course. Technology and biological sciences can affect more."

Maarlyna looked as if she might say something, but did not.

Maertyn waited.

"That?s true," she finally said, "but it goes beyond that. Universes, like individuals, seek meaning."

"You?re saying that a universe is alive?"

"I don?t think anyone knows that. The ancients didn?t. But universes progress from initial exploding chaos into structures that continue to evolve. Those that don?t…they collapse." She shook her head again. "I can?t make it clear, not in Laarnian. All I can say is that what they face is the negation of everything, and that if the Vanir defeat the Aesyr, if the Ruche can force back the negation they face, and you can halt the negativity Tauzn represents, the struggle…the evolution toward meaning…will continue…"

At that moment, Maertyn had no idea whether Maarlyna was mouthing nonsense, trying to translate the untranslatable…or whether he was incapable of understanding exactly what she was trying to convey to him.

"Maertyn…just let me have a moment…"

He could do that. Yet, as he sat back in the familiar comfort of the old family chair, a familiarity that no longer reassured him, he had to wonder if all the things he?d watched and heard were really just part of a grand delusion. He knew the canal existed…and the station. But what else was real? Did he know…for certain?

35 Quad 2471 R.E.

As Eltyn had suspected, before they had gone another twenty yards into the mountain, a half squad of techs armed with heavy long-barreled stunners appeared. All wore TechOversight singlesuits, and each stood ready to fire at an instant?s notice.

Relinquishing your weapons would be advisable, came the command from the redoubt pulse-net.

Eltyn looked at Faelyna, then at Rhyana. "They suggest that we leave our weapons."

"It?s not as if we?ve got much choice," pointed out the delivery woman. "Thought we?d get a warmer welcome."

Eltyn didn?t comment, not in the face of that many weapons. He handed the projectile rifle to the tech, but only after releasing and pocketing the magazine.

"You?re not exactly trusting," noted the tech.

"Stunners don?t kill. That does." Eltyn nodded at the rifle, noting that Rhyana had followed his example and stepped forward with her weapon. "I?d rather not have someone accidentally killed." Especially if it happened to be one of the three of them.

Faelyna surrendered her long-barreled stunner without a word.

"Good." The tech handed all three weapons to one of the squad members who had moved forward, then turned and began to walk, not looking back. That showed he was linked to the redoubt?s internal scanners as well as the pulse-net.

The three followed.

The metal-lined corridor still stretched more than a hundred yards farther westward when the tech turned into a small hallway that headed north. "This way."

Eltyn glanced back. The armed squad still followed, stunners at the ready.

Their escort stopped a few yards farther on. "Tech Eltyn…you go in there." He pointed to a featureless gray door.

Eltyn looked back at Faelyna, hoping it was not the last time he would see her-or remember seeing her. He smiled as warmly as he could, trying to convey more than concern. Then he turned and walked up to the door, pressing the lever and opening it. He stepped inside to find a woman standing there, clad in a gray-brown TechOversight singlesuit. Her oval face was not quite angular. Her brown eyes were flat, and her short brown hair was without highlights.

She did not smile. She closed the door behind him. "I?m Chief Interrogator Bernyt." She gestured to the heavy chair with the high headrest anchored to the floor in the middle of the small room. "Please take a seat."

"I?m not certain that?s in my best interests. We?ve had to survive a great deal to comply with Contingency Three, and when we get here, we?re treated like enemies."

"That?s because you could be." Bernyt?s smile was cool and professional. "Even with all the codes you have, it?s possible that you?re an RF plant. We intend to discover whether you are who you claim to be."

"What about DNA, gene maps, and the like?" asked Eltyn.

"If you?re a deep plant, they?ll match, because you?ll always have been in the system,"

Bernyt pointed out.

Eltyn suppressed a wry smile. TechOversight had used similar means to get Faelyna and him assigned to the MCC.

Do not make matters more unpleasant than they have to be.

Eltyn didn?t care for such reminders, especially from the pulse-net. He also didn?t have much choice. He settled into the heavy gray chair gingerly. He even managed not to wince as the restraining cuffs clamped his wrists.

"We?ll make this as painless and as quick as possible." Bernyt stepped back from the chair.

Eltyn had definite doubts about either aspect of that reassurance.

"Tell me your full name, your place of birth, and birth cohort."

"Eltyn CyanRed, Ascensia, Primia, Fal-233."

"Your occupation and current assignment."

"Senior Tech, MetOps, assigned to MCC MetStation (W), meteorological operations. Cover for TechOversight project CCS-3."

"Explain this project."

"The objective of the project was to determine, first, if higher-level technology was contained within the station and, second, if that technology could be accessed and developed…"

Eltyn continued by repeating, as he remembered it, the official description of the work he and Faelyna had been assigned to undertake.

Before he finished a burning jolt ran through his entire body. "All you?re doing is reciting. Explain the project in simple and direct terms."

"That was the description TechOversight provided-"

Another jolt burned through him, and his eyes watered.

"Stop stalling. Explain it without the jargon."

Eltyn swallowed, then began again. "No one?s been able ever to even make any impression on the stone of the canal or the station. The doors and windows slide into the stone itself without leaving any openings or traces-"

Thud! Eltyn?s head slammed into the back of the chair from the force of the nerve jolt.

"Do you expect anyone to believe that?"

"I?ve seen it," he replied groggily. "There…are books and monographs…describing it…Lasers have been fired at it…no effect." His entire head throbbed.

"How much progress did you make?"

"We?d been able to detect a response on the fermionic level-"

Another pulse of pain jolted him. "No jargon!"

"Not jargon…fermions are subatomic…have a detectable…shadow…with proper equipment…showed symbols…"

More pain slammed into him. "Symbols?"

He moistened his lips. "Symbols…when we duplicated them… before the coup…just before…we could open doors…windows…without touching them…no one…done that before…"

"What happened after The Twenty announced their taking control of Hururia?"

"They didn?t…announce it that way. First, there was an announcement demanding power reductions, and then an announcement on the emergency band saying The Twenty had superseded The Fifty in accord with some prime emergency directive…"

That brought another jolt. "Some emergency directive?"

"We?d never heard of it…thought it was an RF invention…"

Bit by bit, Bernyt led him through the attacks by the riffie inspectors, with only a few jolts, until he got to how they had "locked" the station.

Three stiff jolts in a row left him reeling in the chair.

"Explain that again. You?re not making any sense…"

He just let his head loll there against the headrest. "I can?t…not any better…could jolt me to death…but it?s physics, fermionic theory…practical application…and things…they got stranger after that…"