Barrington Bayley - Barrington Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus - The Soul of the Robot, The Knights of the Limits, The Fall of Chronopolis

It would have to be left to some future generation, he told himself, to carry out the great task of exploring the universe.

He did not immediately convey the news to his colleagues in the project. Instead he felt in need of some different kind of comfort, and when the relaxation period arrived he made his way to the dwelling of Ergrad’s family, to call on his betrothed, Fanaleen.

The thought of facing his future father-in-law so soon after his humiliation partly at his hands caused Erled a slight degree of trepidation, but he reassured himself that on such visits Ergrad usually put in only a brief appearance or none at all. However, as he approached Ergrad’s well-appointed dwelling through a low-ceilinged passage, the tall, hooded figure of the Proctor Enforcer suddenly appeared from nowhere and barred his way.

This section of the passageway was dimly lit. Erled felt menaced by the looming form. Dark black eyes flashed at him from beneath the cowl.

‘Proctor Ergrad,’ he stuttered. ‘I have come to see Fanaleen—’

‘Turn round, Erled, and go home. You’re not welcome here.’

Erled was astounded. ‘But – Proctor—’

Ergrad clenched his fist in exasperation. ‘Can you be so thick-headed?’ he growled. ‘Didn’t you see what went on in the Chamber today? You’re finished , Erled, you’ll be a nobody for the rest of your life. Not the sort of man I’ll allow to marry into my family. You’ll never see Fanaleen again.’

Abruptly the Proctor turned and strode towards his dwelling. For nearly a minute Erled stared after his retreating back, the finality of what had happened slowly seeping into him.

Never see Fanaleen again.

There could be no revision of that sentence. It was a strict law that the union between a couple must be agreeable to the parents. And the word of a Proctor was inviolate.

Dazed, Erled allowed his feet to carry him to the only place where he was likely to find understanding: the Inn of Vacuous Happiness, the haunt of his friends and colleagues in the solidity ship project. As he anticipated, they were all busy drinking there, and Ereton, with whom he shared co-leadership of the project, greeted him eagerly. So, in their favourite room where the ceiling beams touched one’s head if one stood erect, he explained the double disaster.

Ereton squeezed his shoulder consolingly. ‘It appears that we chose the wrong time,’ he said sombrely.

‘There’ll never be a right time in this generation,’ Erled exclaimed heatedly. ‘And we’ll never get a chance to search for other worlds. What right have the Proctors to dictate to our consciences like this? It’s tyranny!’

The others agreed fervidly, after which Erled retired to a corner and brooded. His resentment was building up like a burning fire, and as with so many men before him, the tragedy of thwarted love turned his mind to lofty sentiments, so that he began to think again about his lifelong dream: the existence of other cavities. As if hypnotised, he returned to the cosmological questions that at various times had haunted him. Was the rock really infinite? It had to be – for, if at some extreme it ended, what lay beyond that end? An infinity of emptiness, as Ereton, in a fit of brilliant extravagance, had once suggested? Erled soon pushed the idea aside. Baffling though the concept of infinity itself was, an empty infinity was something the mind simply could not grasp, and besides the notion was needlessly artificial.

He had expected to get drunk, but two hours later he found that he was still completely sober, having drunk but little. Ereton, too, did not seem to be in a mood for drinking. All seven others, however, drank heavily, and as their intoxication increased so did their indignation at the Proctors’ decision. Erled found himself aggravated by the noise and he was about to suggest to Ereton that they leave when there was the sound of a disturbance and the flimsy screen door burst open.

Ergrad, at the head of four or five other enforcers, entered the inn and stood surveying the room, his head slightly bent beneath the big black beams.

‘Looks like the whole pack is here, eh?’ he barked. ‘All right, Erled, the Council has just now ordered that your solidity ship be destroyed, so lead us to it so that we may get on with the good work.’

‘Do you need us for that?’ Erled retorted. ‘Do the job yourselves.’

Ergrad looked at him thoughtfully. ‘Don’t try to be obstructive, Erled, or it will go all the worse for you. It seems that you’ve managed to keep the site of your workshop to yourselves, at any rate Erkarn found himself unable to locate it for some reason or other, which looks damned peculiar to me. Well, anyway, we knew you people came here for relaxation and I’ll thank you for the information.’

A chain of thoughts flashed through Erled’s mind. For a workshop, or any other site for that matter, to be unlocated by the Proctor of Emptiness Utilisation was not only peculiar, it was downright incredible. Only one explanation came to Erled. Since the machines and workspace had originally been allocated by Ergurur, who was sympathetic to them, then somehow he must have concealed this legally obligatory information from Erkarn! An ecstatic hope accelerated Erled’s heart. Even in the Council there was dissension! Ergurur was trying to help them!

Around him the others were crying ‘Shame!’ and protesting to the law enforcers. Ergrad rounded on them, his face livid.

‘To your homes, all of you, or you’ll learn what it means to cross the law!’

Threateningly, he brandished his truncheon and his followers produced theirs. There was a moment’s pause.

Then a heavy glass came sailing through the air and struck Ergrad on the temple. He staggered, while the glass fell to the floor and shattered. With a howl of rage Ergrad ordered his men to attack and in seconds the inn was the scene of an unsightly brawl.

Erled and Ereton, already made nervous by the tense situation, had backed to the far end of the room. They looked on the brawl appalled. Then a cry floated through to them, from Ervane, Erled believed.

That cry prompted Erled into action. Surreptitiously he eased open the rear exit and beckoned to Ereton. Together they slipped away. Minutes later they were headed for the perimeter, having changed direction several times on the public conveyor system to elude pursuit.

‘This is terrible!’ Ereton said, although he had obeyed Erled as if he had no will of his own. ‘Do you think we should go back, Erled, and apologise to Proctor Ergrad? Otherwise everyone will be punished severely.’

‘Our friends would never have dared to attack the enforcers if they hadn’t been both drunk and angry,’ Erled admitted. ‘Perhaps that will count in their favour when they come to trial. As for us, a wild intention has entered my mind of which I think the others would approve, Ereton.’

They spoke no more during the rest of the journey, aware that anyone sitting near them on the transporter chairs might be eavesdropping on their conversation. Before long they came to the workshop on the edge of the Cavity where the solidity ship was housed.

The area was deserted, no residences being nearby and this being the rest period. Erled opened the gate and they crept inside. Before them the solidity ship stood on a short ramp, its snout facing the bare rock of infinity but a few yards away.

The ship had the form of a fluted cylinder, either end being squarely blunt and intricated with drive machinery. ‘To destroy this ship would be a crime,’ Erled said. His mouth curled in disgust. ‘They talk of faith. But isn’t our effort a matter of faith? – faith that the universe contains more than just our one cavity? That there are other worlds if only we will look?’