Charles Sheffield - The Spheres of Heaven

Chan thought, Forgive me if I’m wrong , aimed the cane right at Friday, and squeezed.

Nothing happened. Indigo did not fall paralyzed or dead. He continued to stare with calm interest at the black cane pointed at his heart.

“That is adequate proof,” he said. “And it was accomplished without the waste of still-valuable material. The cane was of course deactivated. Answer one more question correctly, and we will be ready to proceed. If The One were to call you directly into her service, as I was called, you would gladly tell everything including the correct invocation sequence for Link transfer to the human universe. Prove to The One that it would be a mistake for her to follow such a course of action.”

Again the tendrils were poised at the entrance to Chan’s ears. He had to swallow before he could speak. “I cannot offer such a proof. All I can say is that conversion of me to The One’s direct service might interfere with my ability to assist in the Link transition, should unforeseen circumstances arise. And there is absolutely no risk to The One in leaving me unconverted.”

“That is true.” To Chan’s relief, the black tentacles lifted free of his body and slowly withdrew into the body of The One. Once again he was facing a dull black rock.

Friday Indigo continued, “The Malacostracans will prepare a ship for Link transfer and a first exploration of the human universe. Soon after daybreak tomorrow, you will be taken aboard that ship with The One, and by midday you will assist in initiating that Link transfer. Until morning you are free to stay here and eat, drink, and rest.”

“Very good. But one other thing is necessary.” Chan cursed his own stupidity. He had not realized that the Malacostracans would want to move so fast.

“What is that?”

“Not knowing how this meeting would turn out, I did not bring with me the full protocol needed for Link transition to the human universe. I request that I be allowed to go to the Hero’s Return , prepare that protocol, and return here.”

“When?”

“I will be back by morning.”

“General Korin is by your own admission senior to you. How can you be sure that he will allow you to return?”

“I will tell him that our discussions here remain unfinished. He will not try to prevent my departure.”

After a long, agonizing silence, Friday Indigo nodded. “It is approved. Be sure that you return by daybreak. To encourage you to do so, I will mention that we plan to destroy the Hero’s Return soon after first light. Do you have any problem with this?”

“No problem.” Just the death of Deb and Danny and everyone else.

“Then you have permission to leave the presence of The One. It is The One’s introspection time.”

Leaving was easier said than done. The lights in the chamber suddenly turned off, leaving Chan unable to see The One or anything else. He heard the uneven sound of Friday Indigo’s boots, one foot dragging across the hard floor, and turned in that direction. He saw, very faintly, the outline of the chamber entrance. There were no lights in the next room, but a faint trace of daylight bled in from the tunnel at its far end.

Chan hurried along after Friday, through the archway, past the little Malacostracan seated on its flat dais, finally out into open air. The overcast had cleared, the sun was blazing. He caught the sulfurous odor of black rock baking in early afternoon heat, and felt that he had never smelled anything so good. Half an hour ago he would have taken odds against his smelling anything ever again of his own free will. He could still feel those questing tentacles at his ears.

Friday Indigo, a few feet in front of Chan, paused by the group of big Malacostracans guarding the entrance to the building. He rattled off an outlandish sequence of whistles and clicks. Two of the creatures reared up on their back legs, so that their waving eyestalks and purple-black carapaces loomed over Chan.

“I told them to escort you to the shore,” Friday said. “You must go directly to the beach, and straight into the water. If you seek to do anything other than that, they will stun you and drag you back here for their further instructions. After you leave, they will remain on the shore until you emerge from the water in your suit at dawn tomorrow morning. They will then escort you here. If you seek to linger on the beach tomorrow, they will stun you and drag you back for further instructions. Do you have any questions before I hand you over to them?”

“Suppose that the waves are too rough for me to go into the sea?”

“That will be your misfortune. It is useless for you to try to communicate with them, because they are Level Fours and of limited intelligence. Your failure to enter the water will be considered a deviation from instructions, and they will stun you—”

“ — and drag me back here for further instructions. I get it. I’ll see you tomorrow — right on time.”

The two Malacostracan guards placed themselves one ahead of and one behind Chan and moved away across the burned rock. They took a different path from the one that Friday Indigo had used, angling away to the right. Soon they were at the edge of the bare area and moving into waist-high scrub. They went forward confidently along a trail marked by flattened plants. They passed through a small clearing. Chan wanted to pause there, but he was too aware of the black canes. He kept walking, taking a quick glance at the open supply cases and the cans and boxes scattered on the ground next to them. The earth was scuffled and marked by the imprint of many clawed feet.

This was where Deb and the others had made their camp. If Chrissie and Tarb came here when they escaped, they had been too smart to linger. But where had they gone? Not back into the water. The breakers during the night would have been enormous.

Chan moved his hand up to close his helmet. The Malacostracan guards took no notice. To them, a human without a suit probably looked naked and unnatural, a shell-less version of a proper animal.

He flicked a switch on his gauntlet controls. Again the guards ignored him. Provided that he kept moving, that seemed to be all that they cared about. He adjusted the radio to the general communication frequency and increased the reception volume. He heard a background hiss and that was all. If Chrissie and Tarb were able to broadcast — if they had even escaped with their suits — they were not doing so. But that also made sense. A distress signal or any other form of message was also a beacon, advertising the location of its source.

Chan kept walking and listening, and heard nothing. They were emerging from the shelter of the vegetation. He saw the shore with its line of breakers, smaller and less threatening now, maybe fifty meters ahead.

It was time for him to take a chance. If his signal was picked up, the Malacostracans should think it came from the sea and the sunken Hero’s Return .

He added a transmission circuit. “Chrissie and Tarb. Can you hear this?”

Still the bland hiss, and the beach was within thirty meters.

“If you are receiving, stay in hiding. The part of the shoreline near your camp is guarded by the Malacostracans. Everyone on the Hero’s Return is alive and well” — true at the moment, presumably, but not for long unless Chan did something about it — “and we will be in touch with you as soon as we can. Repeat: stay hidden. If you are caught, the Malacostracans will execute you.”

Chan saw no reason to add that the deaths would be drawn-out and agonizing. In any case, he was at the edge of the shore and there was no time for more words. Again he tried to do what he had seen Deb do earlier. He marched straight ahead until the water lapped about his waist, then dived forward into the approaching wave.