Jeffrey Carver - Eternity's End

Just as a rigger’s thoughts forced the uncertainty of the Flux to transmute into the desired form…

That’s it, Palagren thought. We must see ourselves holding the net together… finding our way through …

*

Around Legroeder, the net was twanging out of tune as it shredded. He was aware of the thoughts of the other riggers, but all in a jangling chaos. He was in a sea of consciousness, struggling to pick out the voices closest to him. He had to; only they , together, could hold the net together…

Was it even possible to contest infinity this way?

Why shouldn’t they? If quantum events could link across spacetime—why not their own thoughts reaching out to critical points in this zigzag ribbon of spacetime? Perhaps they could even steer themselves through a window of their choosing in this cosmic chaos.

It came to him in a rush of understanding as he gathered the net around him like an enormous billowing bubble, and pulled it in close… and peered down and out through the beautiful and mysterious ribbon of fire, looking for the place to fall through… first riggers to sail the quantum flaw…

Alongside him, Palagren did likewise… and at last, following their lead, Cantha and Ker’sell.

*

And fire blossomed around them, filling the net with a cosmic glare…

It was the damnedest thing.

With the other riggers and crew on KM/C Hunter , Jakus Bark had been keeping an eye on the intermittent signs of the snark, Impris —mostly just the occasional ghostly glimmer on the deep-layer instrumentation. Every once in a great while the riggers in Hunter ’s net caught the even more ghostly glimmer of the actual ship, or heard the low, mournful trill of its distress beacon. They followed it relentlessly as it wandered on its erratic course, presently taking it back toward Golen Space. But lately, the readings just hadn’t seemed right. It was as though something were disturbing it in its ghostly flight. And now…

Jakus strained to focus into the distance. What the hell is that over there? he asked his co-riggers, pointing down through the gauzy layers of the Flux. There was something in those layers that looked like a ship. But it didn’t look like Impris .

Another ship? said Cranshaw. It looks like another ship!

Don’t it just, Jakus breathed. What’s another ship doing down there? That was not a layer of the Flux where any other ship should be. How would it even get there? Jakus called on the bridge com, What are you guys gettin’ on the deep-layer, thirty down and twenty t’ port? Do you see what we see?

As he waited for an answer, Jakus tried to adjust the image. Now the ship was gone, like a puff of vapor. But there was no question he’d seen it. Right in the fold haunted by Impris . And so had Cranshaw and the others.

This is really strange, said Nockey, from the bridge instrumentation crew. We’ve lost it now, but there was definitely another ship there for a few seconds. Not in our layer. Down there with the snark. Someone call Captain Hyutu .

Yah, said Jakus. I wonder if someone else got lost like Snarkie. Maybe we’ve got two of them now . He chuckled at the thought. Even as one who thought this was a pretty wimpy way to snatch targets, it was amusing to think of another lure just dropping into their laps.

We’re trying to refine the signal, said Nockey. Maybe we can get some kind of an ident on the thing. The captain will love it .

Yah, said Jakus, settling back into watchful mode. He checked the time. He’d be going off shift soon. If the normal pattern of sightings held true, that was all the excitement they could expect for a while.

By all accounts, nothing new had happened in the meantime, but when Jakus stepped into Captain Benadir Hyutu’s office before his next shift, Hyutu was scowling. That in itself didn’t mean much, since Hyutu had generally the disposition of a Kargan rattler; but it didn’t take long to deduce that the captain was even more displeased with life than usual.

“What’s wrong, Ben?” Jakus asked, dropping into a seat across from the captain. Having known Hyutu since the old days on the L.A ., he allowed himself more familiarity than most of the crew.

Hyutu’s right eyebrow twitched fiercely. The old man was a stiff prig, anyway—and under strain, his augments tended to go a little flaky. Jakus was sure it was some kind of a malf, but Hyutu refused to have them looked at. “You see the report on that sighting?” Hyutu said sharply.

Jakus shrugged. “I’ve been off duty. Why, is there something new?”

Hyutu’s face tightened with disdain, which was a good trick with that eyebrow still going. He muttered something under his breath that Jakus couldn’t quite hear, then grunted, “Bark, that’s why you’re never going to get ahead in this organization. An ambitious man is never ‘off duty.’ ”

Jakus shrugged at the rebuke. He hated it when Hyutu got on his high horse. He’d been like that even back on the L.A ., before any of them were pirates. But it had gotten worse since Hyutu’d become an augmented captain in the KM/C navy. Still, the man was a powerhouse, and Jakus had good reason to stay loyal to him. “Okay, okay—so what did they find out?”

“You tell me. They got some readings on that ship you saw.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s Kyber , Hyutu said impatiently.

Jakus stared at him, stunned. “Kyber?”

“Not just Kyber.” Hyutu turned away for a minute, rubbing his eyebrow. He swiveled back. “It looks like it’s one of Ivan’s.”

Jakus whistled.

“I presume that means something to you? You’ve paid that much attention, anyway?”

“Of course it means something,” Jakus said defensively. He didn’t actually know much about Ivan, but he knew KM/C and Ivan together spelled bad blood. Not that anyone ever briefed him on this stuff. “I work to find out these things,” he added. “We and Ivan don’t like each other. At all.”

Hyutu almost smiled for the first time. “Don’t like each other. That’s one way to put it. How about, what other Kyber boss’d be—if I may be vulgar for a moment— asshole enough to mess with Impris when it’s not his turn.” Hyutu paused, and for a moment actually broke into a grin. “And I can’t think of anything that would make Carlotta smile more than for Ivan to get caught out here with his genitalia where they don’t belong.” He chuckled, and his other eyebrow started twitching.

Jakus frowned. “What d’you think they’re up to? Some kind of sabotage? Maybe they got caught by accident.”

“Well, what do you think? Why else would they be sneaking around out there? Of course, they’re probably regretting it now. They’ll never get out, any more than Impris did. But if they do…”

Jakus waited.

For a moment, Hyutu looked like a cruise ship captain getting ready to make nice with the passengers. “If he does come out again?” Hyutu’s phony smile broadened. “I’ll put a flux-torpedo up his shiny ass.”

Jakus grinned.

Hyutu’s sharp black eyes focused inward in contemplation. “Because I think it’s time,” he said, “that we made an example of people who interfere with the rightful order of things in the Kyber Republic. Wouldn’t you agree, Rigger?” He nodded decisively, not waiting for a reply. “Of course you agree. Now, let’s go to work, shall we?”

Jakus got up and followed Hyutu out of the office.