L Modesitt - Empress of Eternity

The functionality of the doors bothered him. They had from the beginning. According to the older records, they didn?t respond to animals, only to people, and that included children, and generally only to bare skin. Did the "windows," doors, and ducts respond as much to mental intent as to human touch? Did the windows admit light if no people were present? How could he easily test the effect of presence or intent?

"You have the oddest look on your face, Maertyn…"

"I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

"The station." He paused. "Would you do me a favor, dearest?"

"If I can." Her voice was puzzled.

"I?d like you to touch parts of the station wall as we walk back, but I want you to close your eyes after the first touch, take several steps, and touch the station wall again. You remember when I was doing that? I didn?t think about doing it with my eyes closed when I couldn?t see the wall."

"Would that make a difference?"

He laughed softly. "I don?t know. I just never thought of it."

"If you think it will help," she offered, smiling.

"One way or the other, it will," he promised.

As they walked back toward the station, she grasped his arm with her left hand a trace more firmly than usual.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Right at the corner, here. Then you close your eyes and take several steps. I?ll tell you when to touch the wall again. Keep your eyes closed, but reach out and touch the stone. Then, we?ll do it once more…several times more."

Maarlyna reached out and touched the rounded square corner of the stone, then closed her eyes. "How many steps?"

"Try three."

Maertyn let her lead him.

"Here?" she asked.

"That?s good."

At the third stop, where, on the inside, Maertyn thought there was a window, there was no change in the opacity of the stone. Maertyn hadn?t expected there would be, but the confirmation was slightly satisfying.

After the fourth stop, he said, "Just two steps this time."

Maarlyna took the two steps, then stretched her arm and touched the smooth gray stone.

Maertyn watched intently. For a long moment, nothing happened. He counted silently. One, two, three.

Then the door opened, the stone sliding/folding into itself as it always did.

He almost nodded. "You can open your eyes."

"We?re back. What did you find out?"

He gestured for her to enter the study, following her inside, before replying. "The door opened more slowly when you weren?t thinking of it as a door."

Behind them, the door re-formed into the smooth stone wall.

She nodded. "I can?t say that surprises me. I couldn?t tell you why, though." She smiled.

"I wonder if it would refuse to open if someone hostile tried."

"I?d rather not have to try that experiment." He returned the smile. "I need to think about some things before dinner."

"I?ll just read in here, if it won?t disturb you."

"You never do." Maertyn returned to his workroom through the open archway and settled into the swivel, thinking.

Had that long hesitation meant what he thought? Exactly what else could he do? He nodded. He should have thought about it earlier. He could certainly measure the light levels in the main rooms just by leaving a recording photometer behind. That would tell him about the windows. He leaned forward and began to list the equipment he needed. He?d have to modify some of it to get the accuracy he desired, but it wouldn?t take that much work.

When he finished, some time later, he straightened and considered the situation.

The first and most obvious question was why had others not discovered what he had. The first thought that came to mind was that they might well have, but how would he know, given the fragmentary nature of the records remaining? If they had discovered only what he had observed so far, then the results would only have been a curiosity. To discover more would have required higher-level technology, and human records tended to become more and more impermanent with such technology, not to mention that humans seemed to have great difficulty hanging on to civilization-and records-once technology reached a high level.

Maarlyna?s question raised another line of thought. Determining hostile intent suggested more than mere mechanical response. Could the stone hold an entire intelligence of some sort?

Yet, if it did, why had it remained detached, or at least passive, over all the years? Was there some sort of test involved? Or was the test simply to discover what the canal truly was and how to best use it?

He frowned. Then again…could anything as enigmatic as the canal truly be "used" by anyone?

As always, what he discovered was raising more questions than answers, and he needed some sort of answers to keep the Ministry off his back…and to keep Maarlyna away from Caelaarn-indeed anywhere near Unity spies and functionaries-for as long as possible.

10 Quad 2471 R.E.

Outside the station, the late-spring midmorning temperature hovered around 39°

Standard. The wind speed was negligible. That lack of meteorological instability allowed Eltyn to return to evaluating the results of the latest attempt to delve into the unseen and unknown systems controlling the station. His virties scanned the records of the device?s attempts, but only confirmed what the very first attempts had revealed-that the DNA-infused pressure probe was effective in opening conduit covers, but not in operating doors and windows.

Pressure[DNA] novel (8) ineffective in gaining interior/exterior access.

Suggests [system?] awareness of consciousness/intelligence? Faelyna pulsed back from her work space.

Interrogative possibility of incorporating replica brain-wave patterns?

Would estimate probability of failure to approach unity.

Interrogative integration/facsimile of higher functions? pressed Eltyn.

Equivalent result probable. ????

Your earlier observations. Windows only pass light when humans present/awake.Suggests that full-body-brain construct required. Clone offers theoretical possibility, but to whatend? [disgust] Replica human equivalent to FFH.

Eltyn considered her point…and the associated probabilities. Even before a rational and quick calcjection, he knew she was right. Agree/accept. Interrogative your basis forapproach(9)? [polite inquiry, non-intrusive]

Replication of sensorium… ?????

Basis for reception…[observe]…

Eltyn appreciated the easy access to her protocols, even as he marveled at the ingenuity involved. Then he paused. Interrogative access to polariton generator/imager?

Loan from IPS. ETA on fourday.

She?d wrangled that from the Institute for Physical Science? Excellent. [marvelingadmiration] Duration of loan?

Two months. Maintenance while restructuring fusion laboratory.

Probability of shadow/dark energy imaging?

Real time/space interfaces fully examined. What remains?

Faelyna definitely had a point. The stone doors and windows reacted to human presence and acts, and intent. Yet under a complete range of observable energies, no form of radiation passed the stone?s surface, nor was there any diminution of energy upon impact, nor any observable reaction from the stone. Shadow entanglement?

One possibility.

Interrogative follow-up approaches? he pulsed.

Possibilities…Assistance appreciated.

[grateful thanks] Eltyn had the feeling she was being kind. He could accept that. They?d succeed or fail as a team, and he?d not been that successful.

You spurred thought.

Had he unconsciously private-pulsed her? Or she understood what he was feeling? Frommy failure…your success?

Unsuccessful efforts leading to success are not failure. Our success.

[apprehension/hopefulness]

At that moment came a white pulse, followed by, MCC Met Station(W). Request b/updata, confirming sandstorm intensities, past year. Absent from report. ?????, Eltyn private-pulsed to Faelyna. Idiots 5! [contempt]