Ammonite Stars (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #4-5 (12 page)

Then they were weaving their way as fast as they could in the direction of the starboard wall of the facility. They hoped they would find some exit tubes there; that Six had not been wrong in his estimation of the lay-out of the island.

At last they reached the side of the chamber, and were very thankful to see that there were some exit tubes set into the wall. Six raced up to the first and began to tug the metal rods out of place.

“Come on, Diva, get in!”

She pursed her mouth. “How are we going to open the other end?” she demanded.

“We’ll just have to … oh!”

“One of us will have to go in head first, the other feet first. That would be you.”

Six shook his head. “No. I am physically stronger than you are. I will open the outside hatch. You can close the inner one. It doesn’t matter so much if you can’t close all the rods – in fact it will be better to sabotage this side too. That way the Dessites might be too busy to think about whether the visitor is still in his cell. We are still going to need a lot of time to get the shuttle off the planet, even if Arcan can pick us up as soon as we are off the ground.”

Diva wasn’t too happy about going feet first into the tube, but finally agreed, letting Six help her up with only a small complaint. In a moment Six was inside the tube and they were both busy closing and opening hatches.

At last the welcome rush of water told Diva that she was about to find the relative freedom of the ocean. She propelled herself backwards, not wanting the ignominy of being pulled out by Six, and they both began to shoot upwards towards the surface. Six had pulled out the flask, and he was glad, for he saw two Dessites almost immediately, and it was needed. The compound with titanium oxide covered their withdrawal, blocking out their retreat with pure colour, and they were long gone by the time the Dessites might realize that there had been any life-forms there in the first place.

When they stopped for their first decompression, Six put his hand inside the bag, and drew out a sorry-looking visitor. He made signs to it, and the bimorph managed a lack-lustre shimmer. Six asked it if he could transport away now, and the bimorph gave a weak mental nod.

“Then leave now, please. Arcan and the trimorphs are waiting for you in the Independence, behind one of the moons. You should be able to feel the trimorphs. You are only increasing our danger here. If they get hold of you again, we would never get you out. We have only managed it this time because they weren’t expecting us. Please go. Go!”

The visitor wobbled, winked momentarily out of and then back into existence, and then obediently disappeared. Six stared at the empty microcubits of water he had left behind, and hoped fervently that he still had enough energy to reach Arcan safely. Then he turned back to Diva. They changed mask packs again, before continuing their ascent.

WHEN DIVA AND Six finally got to the surface of the ocean, they still had quite a distance to go. They had to get to the other side of the island, and then scale the porous cliffs up to the ledge where the shuttle was waiting. They got their bearings for a moment, swimming on the spot, and then made their way to the shore.

Six knew that their chances of discovery were far greater in the water. It was the native element of the Dessites, and so they would have a much greater advantage. And if the Dessites were mainly in the water it stood to reason that they would not be examining the lower reaches of the crag with very much interest. That, together with the red colour of the new bodywraps, should keep them safe.

But the way along the shore was not going to be easy. After the first, smooth overhang which marked the shore line, there were multiple boulders, and the rocky surface was pitted with sharp points and holes. Their boots were solid, but even so the going was very rough.

At last they came to the beginning of the ledge, and Six motioned to Diva to start the climb. She stared up at the sharp rock and grimaced. Lacerating her hands on knife-sharp rock was not her favourite pastime. But she knew there was nothing else to be done. With a glare at Six, as if to make it all his fault, she started the ascent.

Six gave a hurt shrug, proclaiming his innocence, and then followed.

It took them two hours to make their way back to the shuttle, and when they got there it was to find the pod empty. There was no sign of Ledin and Grace.

WHEN THEY GOT to the surface of the ocean, Ledin suddenly realized that he had another problem. There was no way that Grace was going to be able to climb all the way up to the shuttle. It was even further than the original ascent had been, since the rocky shelf was over halfway up the cliff. He stopped, dismayed.

Grace followed the way his eyes had run up the rock, and her spirits sank. Now she even had an extra broken finger; she was going to need a strong rope to make it up there. And they had left the rope right at the top of the cliff, in case they hadn’t been able to get into the island facility. She didn’t think there was a spare in the shuttle. She sat down, choosing a rock which was still in sporadic contact with the sea, and therefore worn smooth enough not to hurt.

Ledin changed his mask pack and thought quickly. There was really only one thing to be done. He gave Grace a reassuring smile.

“I’ll go up first,” he said. “There’s another rope in the shuttle.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t see one. I thought they were all left in the other shuttle?”

“I’m sure. Just sit quiet, and try not to move. We don’t want you spotted now we have got this far.”

Grace pointed to a group of nearby rocks. “I’ll sit behind that group over there. That should make me invisible from the sea.”

Ledin checked it out. “Good.” He paused, squinting down at her through eyes narrowed against the drizzle. “Well, then. I won’t be long.”

She nodded, and watched as he began the climb. It was much tougher than the last one, with several overhangs that taxed his strength to the utmost. She followed his progress until he disappeared into the fog. Then she made her way as promised to the spot she had seen, and sat down in the interminable rain. The only thing she could see was the black foamy striping in the rock. She traced its outlines with one of her little fingers. It was absolutely beautiful, by far the nicest thing she had seen on a planet which, so far, hadn’t impressed her too much at all.

Ledin made his way up the cliff as fast as he dared, and then to the shuttle. But a quick look around was enough to confirm what he already suspected – there was no spare coil of rope. He deposited the used mask packs, changed his own, taking only one spare, and then looked upwards. He would just have to go up the cliff and get the rope. Once there he would throw the rope down and hope that the free descent wouldn’t be any harder than the ascent.

He ran to the base of the rock and began to climb again. He had to hurry. Not only did he suspect that the alarm would be given any moment, but Grace only had one mask pack left. That was why he hadn’t taken any extra for himself from the shuttle. If she had to die, he would have no reason to live on without her.

The rain driving downwards made no difference to him, but the gloves he was wearing were soaked with salt water, and although they still protected him, their ability to hold on slippery rock was severely compromised. He nearly fell twice, and had to force himself to rest. Grace was depending on him; he couldn’t let her down. Not now, not ever. He clamped his teeth together and pressed on, now hardly able to see an arm’s length in front of him. His muscles were groaning at him and the future was looking suddenly bleak. He gave his head a tiny shake. He had to do this. He simply could not afford to fail.

At last he reached the top of the cliff, and it was a second’s work to recover the rope. At least this way the Dessites would never find it. Perhaps, one day, it might be useful to come in by the same route. He wondered idly if Six had thought to leave the key he had taken lying somewhere inside the complex. He dragged the rope to the edge of the cliff, and peered over. Sure enough, he could just see Six and Diva, who were approaching the shuttle from the other side of the ledge. He paused for a brief moment, before tipping the rope over. Then he peered over the edge again. Six had seen the rope, and through a rare opening in the mist they could see each other. Ledin pointed downwards, and Six waved a hand to show that he had understood. Already he was dragging the rope to the edge, and Diva was running over to join him there.

Ledin gave a long sigh of relief. They would get Grace up, between the two of them. She would be safe. He let himself over the side of the cliff, weary, but happy. All he had to do now was get safely down again himself. Gingerly he began to swing himself down, hand over hand, choosing the placement of his feet with the utmost care. His concentration was fading now, and he knew from bitter experience how dangerous that could be. He muttered to himself as he climbed down, forcing his disobedient mind back to the matter in hand.

The momentary gap in the rain had passed and, without warning, the heavens opened. This time the rain was so strong that he felt it was nearly penetrating the bodywrap, and there were flashes of lightning. That got his attention. The electric storm was right on top of them, and both he and Grace were very exposed. He thought back to what had happened on Xiantha, and knew that Grace would be reliving some very nasty moments.

Grace was nearly a quarter of the way up the cliff when the first lightning struck close to her. She faltered, and nearly slipped. She knew that she was in danger, and that the best thing she could do was to get up the cliff as fast as she could, but her past experience had her paralyzed for quite two minutes before she could manage to get her muscles working again. She thought back to the Xianthes, and remembered what had happened there. But she couldn’t dwell on that. She had to concentrate on getting up the cliff. The sooner she was up the cliff, the sooner Diva and Six would be safe inside the shuttle too. They were just as exposed as she was. She couldn’t just lie here waiting to be pulled up as a dead weight. She struggled on, ignoring the pain in her left hand. It was manageable. She would just pretend it wasn’t there. She let her thoughts turn to Ledin and sent him a silent, fierce message. Be safe.

THEY PULLED GRACE over the edge of the cliff, and Diva hurried her into the shuttle, where they both forced themselves to go through the pre-flight sequence. Six went to the other side of the ledge, to check on Ledin’s progress. Unfortunately the weather had closed in almost completely, and he couldn’t make anything out beyond a couple of feet. He sighed. He didn’t envy Ledin, coming down that cliff in this weather. He went back to recover the rope. You never knew when a rope might come in useful; in any case it was wiser to leave no trace of their presence. He was glad that he had thought to leave the key he had taken inside the facility. One of the Dessites themselves could just as well have mislaid that.

Six stowed the rope safely in the shuttle, checked that the girls were ready for an instant take-off once Ledin was on board, and then climbed down the stairs to the shuttle again, and went back to the cliff face. There was still no sign of Ledin. He peered up into the torrential rain, and squinted, but it made no difference. There was still nothing to see.

Then two things happened almost at the same time. There was a huge flash of lighting, and then a dead weight tumbled off the rock and plunged down to the ledge, narrowly missing Six. With a gasp, he flung himself out of the way just in time.

He got to his feet, and bent over the body. Ledin was unconscious or dead. Six thought that his closed eyes might be a good sign, but this wasn’t the place to stop and look further. He slipped his hands under the shoulders, and dragged the inert body as fast as he could to the shuttle. Then he wedged the figure upright against the ladder and shouted to Diva to help. Between the two of them they manhandled the motionless Kwaidian inside the shuttle, and then Diva screamed at Grace to take off.

The next moment they were off the ground, the shuttle struggling valiently to free itself from the gravitational pull of Dessia. As soon as they were a couple of metres off the ground, Arcan latched onto them and transported them effortlessly away from danger. There was hardly time to blink before he brought the shuttle safely inside the Independence, and immediately afterwards transported the whole space trader and its contents more than 20,000 light years away, back into a high, but stable orbit around Pictoria.

THEY WERE CLUSTERED around a bunk in one of the individual cabins on the Independence, staring at a rather wan Ledin. He was smiling, though he couldn’t hear them. He had been left deaf by a nearby lightning strike, which had hit the rock face just above him. That had caused a blast wave, which had detached him from the cliff face, and sent him hurtling down to the ledge. He was lucky to be alive. The flash had caught him all of four metres above the ground, yet on a superficial examination they could only find severe bruising. Arcan had already checked some of the medical treatises on Valhai, which suggested that the deafness should only prove temporary, and that the pounding headache should dissipate shortly too, though he would need to be examined properly by a qualified doctor to make sure there were no complications.

Ledin looked over at them all and smiled, and then winced. Both the bruising and the headache were clearly very painful.

“We have to get him to a medical facility,” said Grace. “He needs immediate treatment. What if Arcan is wrong? He has only got his information from reading about it. We need a proper doctor. Why don’t you bring Vion over?”

“NO!” Both Six and Diva spoke at once, and then grinned at each other. Six gestured to encourage Diva to explain.

“Grace, we don’t know if Vion would tell the other Sellites about Pictoria. We have to protect this planet – there are the morphics to think about now. Pictoria is not our secret to share … it is theirs. Even if we did have to tell somebody else about the planet, they should never know exactly where it is. To other people we should always call it ‘the avifauna planet’. That way nobody will be able to guess its position.”

The Arcan trimorphs chattered amongst themselves, and then flashed around the room.

“We do not want anybody else to come here,” they said in unison. “If the ortholiquid is disturbed then our future becomes very bleak. There is nowhere else that can sustain us, as far as we know.”

“But Vion would never dream …” said Grace. “How can you think …?”

“I don’t think he would.” Diva nodded her head. “But it is just too risky. We should keep Pictoria’s secret between those of us present here. There are the canths to think about, too. The lost animas have been waiting millennia to find Pictoria again. How can we risk all that now?”

The twins iridesced in violet tones. There was no doubt how they felt about this.

Grace made a face. “All right,” she said. “But we have to get Ledin somewhere for treatment.”

“Let Arcan transport us to Kwaide,” suggested Six. “We can take him down in a shuttle, and he can go into the medical facility they have just built by the black peak.”

“Ye-es, but will there be doctors?”

“Vion has trained up several of the no-names, and we can call him over from Coriolis if necessary. Arcan could always transport him to the orbital station, even though he promised the Elders never to transport anybody directly into New Kwaide.”

Grace had to be satisfied with that. Ledin, who hadn’t been able to follow any of the conversation, was still smiling rather inanely, so she shrugged and then gave a reluctant nod. “Very well.”

Arcan conversed silently with the visitor and the trimorph twins. There was much flashing and some darkening as they obviously argued about what was going to happen. Finally they all returned to their normal colours.

“It is agreed,” Arcan told them. “The morphics will all remain here. It is too dangerous for them to travel far away from Pictoria just now. We cannot be certain that the Dessites will not somehow attack the planet.”

Six frowned. “How on Sacras could they do that? Pictoria is thousands of light years away from Dessia, remember, and the Dessites don’t have quantum decoherent travel. How could they? We got the visitor out in time, didn’t we?”

The visitor flushed a strange reddish colour. “I am unsure, Six. It is … possible that they may have removed a small amount of ortholiquid from my outer layer. There were many moments when I was unconscious, and I was aware of a feeling of loss.”

“But … but … but surely they couldn’t use it for any practical purpose?” Six’s heart had started to pound inside his ribs. “They wouldn’t be able to get
here
would they?”

Arcan shimmered. “It doesn’t seem likely, does it? They would have to find a way to graft a Dessite brain onto the ortholiquid fragment, and it seems improbable that they removed enough ortholiquid for them to be able to transport over here. We should, however, be aware of the possibility. If the Dessites managed to get here physically, Pictoria would be finished.”

“They can send ships anyway,” pointed out Grace. “They must know that this is where the visitor was transformed. They are bound to come here one day.”

“True. But they can only send travelers like the visitor. Our visitor assures me that there are no travelers within 2000 light years distance at the moment, so Pictoria is safe for some time yet. We will have to deal with that when we come to it.”

“When
you
come to it, you mean,” said Six. “
We
will be long dead and gone by then.”

Grace felt a sudden pang. She would never know the outcome of all this.

Arcan nodded. “That is true, Six. Don’t worry – I hope to be here, and the morphics will all help to defend their home planet.”

The bimorph and trimorphs chattered their agreement, and the visitor raced around the hold in a show of enthusiasm. He was delighted to have been freed from the Dessites, and seemed to be nearly completely recovered from his ordeal.

“I would have liked to visit Kwaide again,” he said in a reminiscent tone. “Especially since I could see it now through my own eyes, as it were, and not via the video camera.”

“Never mind, Visitor. You can come on a visit another time. Arcan is right – our first priority has to be to defend Pictoria.”

“I hope Ledin recovers there, and that he has suffered no lasting harm,” the visitor flashed. “If not, you could always send him over here to become a trimorph.”

Six looked at Diva, who looked at Grace, who looked at Six. There was a very long silence as they took that in, and considered it. Ingredients: one central core ‘brain’, one canth ‘communicator’ spirit with its symbiont lost anima, one ortholiquid ‘transporter’. There was a collective gasp of breath as they realized the implications.

“Why hadn’t we thought of that before?” muttered Diva. “It was staring us in the face.”

“But that would mean that we … you and I and the others … would be practically immortal!” Grace’s eyes were huge. “I can’t believe it could be even a possibility. That is incredible!”

“Even I hadn’t reached that conclusion,” said Arcan, obviously rather cross with himself for not having thought of it first. “It is quite logical. You all have canths now, so you all have the potential to become trimorphs. I suppose we will have to wait and see if that potential is fulfilled.”

“And the trimorphs are immortal?” asked Grace hesitantly. “I can’t see why they should be.”

The twins flashed. “We don’t think we are, exactly. Not as such. But as long as the ortholiquid on Pictoria remains the same, we think that we can regenerate as many times as we like. That is what the amorphs do, anyway. The ortholiquid takes the core, and redistributes it inside a new ortholiquid container. They live that way for thousands and thousands of years. We have met amorphs who are over a million years old.”

Six’s jaw dropped. “A million years? Are you sure your tendrils haven’t got tied in a knot? Is that a one followed by six zeros?”

“It is. And they didn’t show any signs of ageing, either.”

Grace looked dismayed. “But I don’t want Ledin to be a trimorph!” she wailed. “—Not yet, at least!”

Arcan scintillated. “Don’t worry, Grace. I think he will be perfectly all right. Even though he was unconscious for nearly a day, it is unlikely that his heart was damaged. These Kwaidians are remarkably sturdy, you know.”

A hand covered Grace’s reassuringly. Even though Ledin couldn’t hear the discussion, he knew that she was upset. She smiled down at him, and found herself blinking away tears. He patted her hand, and exchanged a ‘women!’ look with Six, although they could all see that he was touched by Grace’s concern for him. He looked around at them all, and gave them a thumbs-up, causing general relief and laughter.

Arcan turned to Six. “Can you run the morphics back down to Pictoria in the shuttle then? We should be on our way as soon as possible.”

“Can they not transport themselves?” asked Diva.

“Yes, but we have agreed that they will not do so. We think that it might be unwise to leave a memory of direct tracks between myself and the ortholiquid. It seems unlikely that it is alive enough to attack me on purpose, but it seems to want to link with me, and that could pose a dire threat.”

Six stood up. “No problem. If we go now I should be able to get back on board before the winds start up on Pictoria. We can be in Kwaide by nightfall here.”

Diva examined her fingernails with assumed disinterest. “We could take the opportunity to go to Coriolis, after Kwaide,” she suggested. “If Ledin is all right, I mean.”

“Oh. Coriolis.” Six was clearly not very keen to step foot again on Diva’s planet. “I don’t suppose there will be time …”

“You promised.” There was a steely tone to her voice.

“Yes, but—”

“No buts, Six. A promise is a promise.”

“We will have to stay long enough to make sure Ledin is going to be all right.”

“Naturally. But when he is on the road to recovery …”

“Oh, all right. I suppose. —If you insist.”

Diva was all smiles. “You will love the investiture ceremony.”

Six looked doubtful. He didn’t think he would, somehow.

THEY CAME DOWN into the spaceport in Kwaide to freezing cold weather.

“Just like old times!” said Diva, looking around her with a shiver of distaste, and pulling her clothes up around her ears.

“Home!” said Six in a pleased tone, taking in a big breath of the icy air, and feeling it bite down into his lungs. “How I have missed it!”

Diva gave him a sideward glance. These Kwaidians were very strange sometimes.

They waited until a stretcher party arrived to move Ledin, and then followed them up to the base camp.

As they passed the wreckage of the shuttle destroyed in the war, they all stopped to pay their respects. Tears shone in Grace’s eyes as she remembered that day, and both Six and Diva bowed their heads as a mark of respect. Ledin watched Grace in silence; she felt his eyes on her, and knew what he was thinking. She closed her own eyes. What was past should remain there – he was right, there was nothing to be gained by dragging old wounds back into the present. She made an effort just to be grateful for Solian and Gerrant’s sacrifice, and not examine her own responsibility too much. Ledin was right about that, too: they would have been proud to be remembered as heroes of the revolution. After some moments, they moved on, on to the base camp.

They were three-quarters of the way there when a person disguised as a whirlwind descended upon them, and threw herself at them. Cimma was beside herself with emotion.

“How ARE you all? Is Ledin all right? Well, I see that at least he can put his thumbs up. What happened? What have you done to him? Have you been eating all right? Grace, you look too thin, and why have you got that splint on your finger? Diva you are still dragging that leg slightly. Six, I see that scar on your cheek is beginning to go now.” She hugged them all, first Grace and then the others, one by one.

“Maestra.” Grace hugged her mother back. “How are you?”

“We are doing rather well. The base camp is now nearly self-sufficient, and the black peak actually has a sort of university for those who show promise intellectually. There are over 300 students.”

Diva raised an eyebrow. “Who is teaching them?”

Cimma went pink. “Well, actually, I am one of the professors.” She looked at the ground. “They insisted,” she clarified. “It wasn’t my idea.”

Grace gave her another hug, reassuring her. “That sounds a great idea. They were quite right.”