Peter Hamilton - The Evolutionary Void

Tomansio was in the middle of the starship’s cabin as the three of them rose up through the airlock. The floor solidified underneath them. Oscar couldn’t help the vast grin on his face. He jabbed a finger at Tomansio. “I told you so!”

“Yes,” Tomansio said softly.

That was when Oscar’s biononics told him Tomansio was executing an extremely thorough field scan of Araminta-two. He almost protested, then realized he should have done it back in the restaurant.

“Clear,” Tomansio declared. “In fact, very clear. You don’t have biononics; even your macrocellular clusters are basic.”

“Mr. Bovey is multiple,” Araminta-two said. “He doesn’t depend on the technocentric systems other Commonwealth cultures revolve around.”

Tomansio dipped his head. “Of course. But you do understand what you’re saying is difficult to accept without proof.”

“I know. Watch through me.”

The Dreamer’s gifting to the gaiafield revealed her view through the front of the Lady’s Light . From her position she could see the curvature of the planet starting to fall away below as the starship rose ponderously out of the atmosphere. The dawn terminator line was etched by a gold corona that skittered off ocean and clouds alike. The Dreamer’s mouth opened. “Trust me, Tomansio, I am very real,” she said.

Across the gaiafield, those billions of Living Dream members watching in envy as the Pilgrimage began reaffirmed their devotion to her. Tens of millions wondered who Tomansio was.

Araminta-two lifted an eyebrow at Tomansio. “So?”

“Okay, that was pretty convincing. A multiple of two. Who’d have guessed?”

“Not you,” Araminta-two said.

“Let’s hope I’m not alone.”

Oscar grinned again. “I was right. She didn’t betray us.”

“Oscar, I love you dearly,” Tomansio said. “But if you don’t shut up about that, I will shove you headfirst into-”

Oscar chuckled. “Yeah, yeah.” The smartcore showed him two capsules arriving in the warehouse. Beckia and Cheriton came sprinting out. It took the edge off his humor slightly. He ordered the smartcore to launch as soon as the other two were in the airlock.

Tomansio gave him a startled look as the Elvin’s Payback punched clean through the warehouse roof and accelerated vertically at twenty gees. The internal gravity countered some of the force, but they all had to sit down quickly on the couches extruded by the cabin floor.

“A little drastic,” Tomansio mused.

“Tactically smart. Up here we can run if we have to.”

“You’re the boss.”

Beckia and Cheriton emerged from the airlock and gave Araminta-two incredulous looks as they lumbered over to their acceleration couches.

Oscar’s initial jubilation was draining away. Viotia spaceflight control was directing a lot of queries and warnings at them, but nothing appeared to be in pursuit. Space above the planet was relatively clear; none of the starships the sensors could detect were threatening. “All right,” he said to Araminta-two. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I was running out of options,” Araminta-two replied. “Becoming the Dreamer is a diversion.” His confidence faltered for a moment. “I hope. That’s where you come in.”

“I wasn’t lying,” Oscar said. “We’re here to help in any way we can.”

“Why? I know who you are. I checked. But I’d like to know who’s backing you.”

“Fair enough; it was ANA, but now we’re just hanging on by ourselves. Hoping for something to turn up. And … you did.”

“What do you need?” Tomansio asked. “Are you going to crash the Pilgrimage fleet into the boundary or something?”

Araminta-two’s dignified face produced a sad smile, making him look even older. “There are twenty-four million people on those starships. Idiots, yes, but still people. There is no way I will slaughter them as an example to the rest of the galaxy not to go in. No, if they arrive at the Void boundary before we can stop them, then I’ll have to get the Skylord to open the way for them. So you see, I really need help.”

“Name it,” Oscar said.

“Bradley suggested I find Ozzie. He said Ozzie is a real genius, and if anyone can come up with a solution, it will be us in combination.”

Oscar’s skin chilled right down. “Bradley?” he asked lightly. The others gave him a curious look; it must have been because of what his emotions revealed.

“Bradley Johansson,” Araminta-two said. “I met him on the Silfen paths.”

“Bradley Johansson is alive?”

“Bradley is a Silfen now.”

“Holy crap.”

“Do you speak the truth of this?” Tomansio demanded almost in anger.

Araminta-two faced him down. “I speak the truth.” He turned back to Oscar. “Bradley told me you and he fought together in the Starflyer War. He said I could trust you, Oscar. And you did help me back at Bodant Park.”

“Bradley a Silfen,” Oscar said in wonder. “How about that. We both survived the Planet’s Revenge in our own ways.”

“He lives,” an incredulous Beckia murmured. “The greatest of us all, our founder, humanity’s liberator. He lives! Do you realize what-” She broke off, too overwhelmed to speak.

“I don’t wish to disappoint,” Araminta-two said. “But he’s not coming to help. I’m afraid the best he could do was send me.”

“And he wanted you and Ozzie to team up?” Oscar queried.

“Yes. Um, he was also worried about the Ilanthe-thing and what it is now. Even the Silfen are concerned about that, as much as they are about anything.”

“Nobody knows much about Ilanthe,” Oscar said. “So let’s concentrate on what we can achieve.” He opened a secure link to Paula.

“Take her to Ozzie,” Paula said as soon as he’d finished explaining.

“Really?”

“Bradley is right. The Dreamer and Ozzie together would make a formidable combination.”

“All right, then.”

“And … Araminta really met Bradley?”

“Yeah, so she says. Something, huh?”

“Indeed.”

“So where’s Ozzie these days?”

“The Spike.”

“No shit, Paula. That’s seven thousand light-years away.”

“I know. But face it, what else have we got? We’re that desperate now.”

“Okay.” The Elvin’s Payback had finished its initial acceleration. It was curving into a wide elliptical orbit above Viotia. Oscar grinned at Araminta-two. “Ozzie’s in the Spike. It’ll take five days to get there.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Great.” He gave a relieved smile.

“A word of caution,” Paula said, which brought Oscar back down fast.

“Yeah?”

“I believe someone called Aaron has possibly taken Inigo to the Spike for exactly the same reason you’re going, to link up with Ozzie.”

“Oh, crap.” He glanced around to see the team members all giving him a vaguely accusatory stare. “Inigo? They found Inigo?”

“Yes. Which I’m hoping is good. If you can bring together the First and Second Dreamers along with Ozzie, that may really give us the kind of edge we’re going to need to-”

“Take out the Void? Blow up the Pilgrimage fleet? Eliminate Ilanthe?”

“I’d settle for any one of those right now.”

“So who is this Aaron character, and who is he working for?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. But logically he belongs to a faction inimical to Pilgrimage. And be careful. He can be very trigger-happy, and he’s known to be somewhat aggressive with it. Your team should be able to protect Araminta from him if he turns hostile.”

“Okay. What about you, Paula? What are you doing?”

“Working on a couple of leads, as always.”

Feeling slightly let down by her reply, Oscar ordered the smartcore to go FTL and take them to the Spike. Then he and the others started questioning Araminta-two in earnest.