Iain Pears - Arcadia

‘Why shouldn’t I do it?’

‘Because it was my idea. And I’m bigger than you.’

At which she sniffed disapprovingly and he, realising how absurd he was, laughed. ‘I can’t get at my men and I can’t command yours,’ she pointed out, ‘and we may need them. Besides, I can frighten Gontal better than you. I know him. He will not dare kill me. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.’

He had agreed very reluctantly indeed, but he knew she was correct.

So she marched up to the men and spoke before they could apprehend her.

‘Go and tell your master, Scholar Gontal, that he must come here immediately, or the wrath of Esilio will be let loose on this place and the whole of Anterwold destroyed, in punishment for his disobedience.’

‘Have you noticed, Gontal, how the spirit operates?’ Catherine said when the fat scholar waddled towards them ten minutes later. They had stood uneasily with Gontal’s guards as one of their number ran off to find their master. No one had said a word; Pamarchon had seemed entirely relaxed, which made the soldiers even more nervous.

‘Prophecies are fulfilled by men,’ Catherine continued. ‘Judgements and decisions are carried out by men. There is no magic, no spells, no supernatural interventions. Just the acts of men and women. Esilio proclaimed that Pamarchon and I should present ourselves as candidates to the assembly. That was part of the judgement condemning Jaqui, and if it was broken then Anterwold would be destroyed in its entirety.’

‘If they are fulfilled by men then I have nothing to fear,’ Gontal replied. ‘No man could destroy Anterwold, and if the gods do not intervene, then it will continue.’

‘That is not true,’ Pamarchon said. ‘I can destroy it. I will do so.’

Gontal laughed. ‘You? With your little band of outlaws? What are you going to do? Tear up the mountains, stone by stone? Drink the rivers and the seas?’

‘Those are just rocks and water. They are not Anterwold. Anterwold is the people and the way they live. The things which bind them together and make them know who they are. Anterwold is the Story. And yes, I will destroy it, with my little band of outlaws.’

Gontal gestured to his men, who drew their swords. ‘No, you won’t. You will die first, and you will even give me a justification for killing you.’

‘Then you will destroy it, and you will be cursed for ever.’

The calm way that Pamarchon spoke made Gontal pause. The young man did not seem afraid, and he did not seem to be threatening. He seemed to be setting out the facts.

‘When I thought of retaking Willdon, I knew that it could only be done by force. I had enough men, and perhaps I could have succeeded. But many would have died, and I did not want that. Why should the people of Willdon suffer for what others had done to me? So I thought of a different way. Two days ago I talked to four of my best men, people who owe me everything, people I could trust to do what I asked without question. I sent them to Ossenfud with orders to conceal themselves inside the Story Hall. Catherine would be given the choice: resign her position, or the Story Hall would be burnt.

‘If I did not appear within five days they would know that I was dead and our hopes had gone. They would leave, setting it on fire. The entire building. The whole Story, every last roll and document, would burn.

‘You cannot possibly find them or intercept them in time. If I am not in Ossenfud within the next three days, they will carry out my orders. Everything Anterwold is, all its memories and knowledge, will be destroyed. So Anterwold will be destroyed, as the spirit promised. If you wish I can summon my closest companion, and he will confirm everything I say.’

Gontal studied Pamarchon as he spoke. Could he be serious? Was he, was anyone, that ruthless and depraved? He could not read him, could not tell. Catherine, standing slightly apart from them, tried to guess which one would break first. She had nothing to say here; this was not her contest.

‘Well, Gontal? I know you are wondering if this is a trick, whether I am lying. But I also know something of you. You are a man of learning. I know that the spirit gave you advice, even though I did not hear it. What did he say? Take Willdon for yourself? Brush aside all opposition whatever the consequences? Is that what he recommended?’

Catherine knew Pamarchon had won, even before Gontal did himself. She saw the hesitation, the way his body softened and folded as he realised that he did not dare take the risk. The Story was everything. He would die for it, if need be.

He nodded to his men. ‘Let them go,’ he said.

Pamarchon took Catherine by the arm. ‘Before he changes his mind...?’ he said quietly into her ear.

He led the way past Gontal, past the soldiers and into the assembly, where their entrance was greeted with an enormous cheer that could be heard far away, even by the occupants of the Shrine of Esilio.

‘Now, Mr Chang. I think we have a little time. The sun is getting lower in the sky, but there is a way to go until we get to dusk. Why don’t you explain a bit more? You see I fulfilled my side of the bargain. Perhaps you might start by telling me who Angela is, and how she did all this?’

‘She is a mathematician. She comes from what you would term the future. As do I.’

‘Oh, of course she is. If you say so.’

‘She developed a technology which is supposed to hop from universe to universe. In fact it seems to hop from time to time. There was a dispute over its use, and Angela went into hiding here, taking the data with her. I was sent to find her.’

‘Then what is this place?’

‘An experiment of hers. Just to see if it could be done, as far as I can tell.’

‘What is it? I mean, I know what it is, but... what is it?’

‘It is a very crude alternative version of the future. It’s only a prototype, and it’s not working very well. As I say, it is becoming dangerously unstable. It was meant to be isolated in time, simply a snapshot, if you like. Unchanging and fixed.’

‘It doesn’t seem to be that.’

‘No. As long as it was insulated, then the normal conditions of cause and effect were suspended. Nothing could happen, because there was no cause of anything happening. Similarly, without effects, there could be no causes. That was to ensure it could have no past or future.’

‘She got it wrong?’

‘No. That girl messed it up, and you don’t seem to have helped just now either.’

‘Rosie? How?’

‘She walked into it. You say hello, they say hello back, which they otherwise would not have done. Cause and effect, you see. Anyone who says hello must be real. They must have parents, grandparents, all the way back. That girl started this frozen experiment moving and developing, and that is causing it to join up to the past and future. When I arrived, the effects had already spread back that far. It is now clear the shock waves have spread very much further.

‘This Anterwold of yours was built to be an artificial, disconnected creation existing in a bubble, but it might not stay like that for much longer. If it continues to exist, the accumulation of causes will connect it back to the earliest moment in the universe, and the effects will also link it to the last moment of the universe. Then there will be two different futures, and according to Angela there can be only one. Others exist only as potential. So either this world exists, or mine does. If this one exists, ours cannot. It will be the worst catastrophe in the history of humanity.’

‘Really?’ Lytten said, looking around him. ‘Surely not? I designed it to be peaceful and quiet. It’s not as if they can do much harm with swords and arrows, you know.’