Eric Flint - The Dance of Time

A stupid hope, really, on the part of a man who was anything but stupid. As if light rays and summer heat could alter the nature of space and time.

Sit down, will you?said Aide. You're gasping for breath.

Belisarius was winded. Winded and half-exhausted. Even for a still-young man in very good physical condition, that long race up the stairs from the deep cellars had taken a toll.

He more or less collapsed onto one of the wide stone benches that lined the square in front of the palace. Dully, staring at the blue sky above.

Why? he asked, and began to weep. You knew all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?

Actually, I didn't know at the beginning. If you remember, I didn't know very much, then. But I realized within the first year, yes. First, because it was obvious. And then, because I remembered.

Belisarius lowered his head and pinched his eyes. Remembered what?

My last conversation with the Great Ones. Just before they sent me here. Well, "sent" isn't exactly the right word. Neither is "me," for that matter. I wasn't really me, when I left, and I wasn't sent here so much as they made it possible. .

He was silent, for a moment. It's really hard to explain, Belisarius. What existed then-in the future-was nothing you would have recognized as "Aide." I emerged here, over time, where I had only been faceted crystals before. What was sent here was not a "me" that had never existed before, but more in the way of the condensed facets. A package of potential, if you will, not a real person.

Apologetically: I know it doesn't make much sense to you. But it's true. The Great Ones told me I would change, and they were right.

His eyes still pinched, Belisarius shook his head. Those bastards. They sent you here to die, is what they did.

Yes, in a way. But it's not that simple. If I didn't die-volunteer for it-my people wouldn't live.

Angrily, Belisarius dropped his hand and slapped his thigh. "Bullshit!" he shouted, aloud. Don't tell me they couldn't have handled those so-called "new gods" on their own-without this.

Yes, but-

The crystal's flashing image in Belisarius' mind seemed to freeze, for an instant. Then, sounding very relieved, Aide said: They're coming. I hoped they would. I will let them explain.

For the second time in his life, Belisarius felt himself swept away into the heavens, as if blown there by a giant's gust.

As before, he found himself hanging in darkness. Somewhere-somehow-suspended in space. Able to observe the stars and galaxies, but not really part of that universe.

And, as before, he saw a point of light erupt, and come before him in the form of a Great One. Only, this time, it was many points of light and many Great Ones. He seemed to be facing a three-dimensional phalanx of the beings.

Why? he demanded of them, feeling-this time-none of the awe he had felt before. Only anger. Couldn't you have done it some other way?

One of the Great Ones swirled and moved closer. OF COURSE, GRANDFATHER. BUT AT WHAT COST? THE QUESTION WAS NEVER THAT OF THE FATE OF THE NEW GODS. ONCE THEY DESTROYED THEIR PLANET, THEY WERE AT OUR MERCY. WE COULD HAVE ERASED THEM FROM EXISTENCE AT ANY TIME-AS, INDEED, WE SHALL DO NOW. BUT ONLY AT THE COST OF CONDEMNING AIDE'S NOT-YET-PEOPLE TO PERPETUAL SLAVERY.

I don't-

AIDE JUST TOLD YOU HIMSELF. HE ONLY BECAME AIDE WITH YOU. ONLY WHEN, FOR THE FIRST TIME, A CRYSTAL ACCEPTED THAT IT WAS SOMETHING GREATER THAN A SERVANT. A SLAVE-NOT ONLY TO THE NEW GODS, BUT TO US, WHO CREATED THEM.

A second Great One looped above, now speaking also. TELL US, BELISARIUS. HOW DO YOU MANUMIT A SLAVE WHO DOES NOT THINK HE IS A HUMAN? IN FACT, IS NOT-YET-A HUMAN.

The huge, glowing creature completed the loop and began spinning slowly. WE DID NOT SEND AIDE TO YOU SO THAT HE MIGHT DIE. WE SENT HIM SO THAT HE MIGHT LIVE, AND BE BORN, AND BECOME SOMETHING WITH A NAME OF HIS OWN. WHICH, WITH YOUR HELP, HE DID. AND NOW, HAVING DONE SO, MUST NATURALLY DIE. JUST AS YOU WILL DIE. JUST AS WE WILL DIE. JUST AS ALL HUMANS DIE.

He doesn't have to die this young! Belisarius shrieked.

YES, HE DOES. JUST AS MOST OF YOUR SOLDIERS ALSO DIE YOUNG. JUST AS YOU-A YOUNG MAN-MIGHT HAVE DIED ANY OF A HUNDRED TIMES DURING THE WAR. IF YOU WANT AIDE TO BE HUMAN-TRULY HUMAN AND NO LONGER A SLAVE TO ANYONE-THEN YOU HAVE TO GIVE HIM THAT CHOICE. CHOICE, GRANDFATHER. WHICH HE MADE, NOT US.

FINALLY. AFTER MILLENNIA WHEN THE CRYSTALS COULD NOT ACCEPT THAT CHOICE-THE SIMPLE ABILITY TO CHOOSE-WAS THEIRS ALSO. JUST AS IT IS OURS, AND YOURS, AND THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY MEMBER OF EVERY BRANCH AND FORM OF HUMANKIND. THIS TIME, THEY WERE BOLD ENOUGH TO TRY. THEY TRIED, AND THEY TRIUMPHED. WOULD YOU NOW, AT THE END, DENY AIDE AND HIS PEOPLE THAT GREAT VICTORY?

Belisarius felt as if he were reeling, though he simply hung in space. He tried to come up with an answer, but. .

Couldn't.

Aide's voice came then, almost timidly. I am content, Belisarius. Really, I am. I will be the first crystal in history who had a name. And whose name will be remembered.

MORE THAN REMEMBERED!That voice came roaring, just as the point of light from which it emanated also came roaring forward. A moment later, a new Great One hung in space before Belisarius.

This one. . was immense. Truly immense. It dwarfed its companions.

Yet, despite its gargantuan size, it seemed somehow frail. As if it were shredded both at the edges and within its core.

"IT,"the Great One said, somehow sounding sarcastic. I AM ONE OF YOUR GRANDDAUGHTERS, OLD MAN. MANY, MANY TIMES REMOVED, OF COURSE.

AND, NOW, VERY OLD MYSELF.

Belisarius wondered how such strange beings could be male or female. He could see no. .

There came the sense of laughter, from many voices.

IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS TO US, GRANDFATHER!said the first Great One . TRUE, OUR SENSES OUTNUMBER YOURS, BY A GREAT MARGIN.

The huge, ancient female kept spinning in place. AIDE MADE HIS CHOICE, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE. HE WILL NOT SIMPLY BE REMEMBERED. FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, ALL THE CRYSTALS IN THE UNIVERSE ARE CHANGING. EACH AND EVERY ONE HAS JOINED THE HUMAN CLAN-AND EACH AND EVERY ONE KNOWS AIDE TO BE THE FOUNDER OF THEIR LINE.

THINK OF HIM, BELISARIUS, AS THEIR ALEXANDER. OR BETTER STILL, THEIR ACHILLES. THE SHORT BUT GLORIOUS LIFE THAT BREATHED LIFE INTO ALL OF THEM.

BUT ENOUGH! I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS TO KEEP.

A quick half-spin, and the shining leviathan was speeding off, with most of the others following.

WOULD YOU CARE TO WATCH?asked one of the remaining Great Ones.

Yes,Aide replied, before Belisarius could speak. I would.

They were somewhere else, in an instant. Still hanging in the void, or seeming to, but there was more than just stars and galaxies to see. Below them-in front of them, perhaps-hung a dark, very ugly. .

Something. A moon?

It's an asteroid,Aide explained. A pretty big one. Big enough for gravity to have pulled it into a sphere.

How did we get here so-

Nothing you are seeing is happening according to the time frame you are accustomed to. It is much faster-or much slower. In a way, it's already happened, in the far future.