Eternity's Mind (40 page)

After his cold experience among the clan traders, he realized that if that was what the Roamers had become, then he no longer identified with that heritage. He decided right there to liquidate his Roamer bank accounts and transfer most of the funds into Londa's and Arden's names, which would protect them and their future. Lee Iswander was a wealthy man, but after the many accidents and accusations, he feared that some bureaucrat would try to seize his assets. He had to make sure his wife and son were protected.

After what he had experienced here today, Iswander would leave Newstation, maybe for good.

 

CHAPTER

69

SHAREEN FITZKELLUM

At Fireheart Station, the silence from Kotto Okiah seemed as empty and unending as the mysterious void itself. Shareen spent two days, wondering and hoping, distracted from her other work. Even Howard was flustered. The two didn't discuss their worries, although Shareen desperately wanted to. But she had an almost superstitious anxiety that speaking her fears aloud might make them come true.

“We should concentrate on the greenhouse fix,” she said, even though Howard hadn't said anything. They were finishing the designs. Per Kotto's orders, they occupied themselves with figuring out how to build a bigger dome around the strained terrarium. When they had presented the idea to Celli and Solimar, just hours after Kotto's departure, the green priests had been delighted.

“It will save them for now,” Solimar said with obvious relief.

“The trees will keep growing, but your new dome will buy us years,” Celli said.

With just a glance at the proposal, Chief Alu had authorized the expenditure and effort, though he seemed discouraged to be adding a nonprofitable project when his work crews were so far behind already. The trees could not wait, however; they already pressed and strained against the confining dome. Once given the green light, Shareen and Howard exchanged ideas in a rapid-fire brainstorming session, elaborating on each other's sketches and calculations.

Within a day they presented the first stage of their plans for the dome expansion, and the engineering crews began work extending the base. In a week, they could begin building up the curved walls of the expanded hemisphere.

“Kotto will be happy to see this once he comes back,” Howard said.

Shareen, concerned at how long the scientist had been gone, made a point of keeping busy, which was much better than sitting around and worrying about him.

Chief Alu came to see them, just as anxious. “I sure hope Kotto's collecting a lot of data out there. How much nothingness can he look at?”

“Maybe he found something, sir,” said Howard.

Alu's face twisted in a fearful scowl. “That's what I'm afraid of. But we've checked—the sun bombs are still there at the threshold.”

“I
meant
he may have found something of scientific interest,” Howard explained.

“We can hope,” Shareen said. “Speaking of which, I hope he doesn't accidentally trip on the sun bombs on his way out. He did accidentally tear a hole into another dimension. Who knows what he might do next?”

She looked out the laboratory's viewing wall, remembering when the Big Ring had hung out there. Now the gaping sinkhole in the universe brought a lump to her throat. That yawning void seemed so dangerous, and Kotto had to be so far away.…

*   *   *

On the third day, the survey craft returned. The tear in space did not convulse or twitch, and the small ship slipped back out without any fanfare. Once back in realspace, the compies began transmitting a distress signal.

“We require immediate assistance. Kotto Okiah is in urgent need of medical attention. Please prepare for our arrival.”

Fireheart Station went to full alert. Shareen and Howard raced to the landing bay.

Roamer industrial pods escorted the scout craft to the main hub. Their pilots transmitted questions and encouragement, anxious to help. The compies answered crisply. “Kotto Okiah is not responding to stimuli.”

When the survey craft landed inside the bay, Shareen and Howard pushed forward. The hatch opened, and the compies emerged, looking lost. “Please help him,” said GU. “He hasn't moved during our entire return journey.”

The medical techs were first aboard, but Shareen and Howard followed them into the cramped cockpit. Kotto Okiah sat in the pilot seat, his arms limp on the armrests, jaw slack, eyes open. He didn't react.

One of the techs touched his neck, leaned close. “He's alive. He's breathing. I'm getting a pulse.”

Shareen turned to the compies. “What happened to him? Report.”

KR said, “Kotto Okiah said we had encountered an entity called Eternity's Mind. After that, Kotto no longer responded. Our systems were functional, but his brain was not.”

“We decided to return here without instructions. KR and I had to pilot the ship ourselves. Was that the correct decision?” GU asked.

“You bet it was,” Shareen said. “What's Eternity's Mind? Were you attacked?”

“We can share the complete log recordings. We don't have any clear explanations. We did not understand what Kotto was saying.”

The medical techs tested Kotto's pupil response, pulse, blood pressure. “Pupils dilated. Slow heart rate. He does not respond to painful stimuli.” The woman shook her head as they hooked up life-support equipment and prepared to remove him to the medical center.

Together, they pulled Kotto out of the pilot seat. Shareen and Howard helped. At the exit hatch they handed him off to a team that put him on a gurney in the landing bay.

GU explained, “Deep inside the void, we found indications of a Shana Rei presence. There appeared to be changes in the fabric of the universe, geometrical scars.”

“Are you saying Kotto was attacked by the Shana Rei then? Did they do this?” Shareen asked.

“No. The Shana Rei did not respond to our presence,” KR said.

“This happened when Kotto encountered Eternity's Mind,” GU said.

“You said that before.” Shareen was growing frustrated. “But what are you talking about?”

“We better look at the complete logs,” Howard said.

“Maybe later.” Shareen followed the med techs, desperate to know what was wrong with Kotto. “Anything? Can you revive him?”

“We don't know what's wrong yet. Still more tests to run. So far … nothing.”

The two compies scurried after them as they all moved to the medical center. GU continued, “Beyond the lair of the Shana Rei, we found bright manifestations, a kind of network. Kotto initiated communication with it, and it spoke back.”

KR said, “But we could not hear it. Kotto claimed he received a complete understanding of the universe. He seemed quite happy, just before he went into a coma.”

“The understanding of the universe? That's a broad statement,” Shareen said.

“Yes. It must be why he was overjoyed,” GU said.

The compies were clearly agitated. “We did not know what medical aid he required. When Kotto gave us no further orders we consulted with each other and decided to fly back. We had placed breadcrumb buoys along our flight path through the void. Many had failed due to residual entropy, but we found enough to retrace our way. We knew Fireheart Station could give him the medical attention he needs.”

“We'll do our damnedest,” said one of the techs as they entered the medical center.

*   *   *

A crowd formed as staff members from the Fireheart admin center came to see Kotto, but there was no change. The doctors combed over his body and found no injury, no reason for his waking coma. They hooked up a network of neural sensors to his scalp, further rumpling his curly hair. Kotto didn't flinch.

Shareen watched with deep concern.

The doctor stared at Kotto, then studied readings, astonished. “There is … nothing. No brain activity except for autonomic functions. I detect no consciousness, almost as if his mind was wiped clean.”

Shareen said, “All the knowledge of the universe … He always was prone to hyperbole. Maybe even Kotto couldn't handle that much.”

“What if he meant it?” Howard asked. “He learned everything, and then the knowledge took
him
along with it. What if his physical body simply couldn't hold so much knowledge, so his mind decided not to limit itself by his brain's capacity?”

Shareen's brow wrinkled. “Are you suggesting that Kotto's mind left his body behind?”

Howard shrugged. “It's a hypothesis. If he was
really
offered access to everything, he might have chosen the knowledge over his body, rather than give up the chance to learn it all.”

“We need to study his logs,” Shareen said uncertainly. “Maybe we'll find some answers there.”

They both looked down at Kotto's placid, content expression. Even though he was otherwise unresponsive, the great scientist wore a deeply satisfied smile on his face.

 

CHAPTER

70

TASIA TAMBLYN

They had a hell of a fight getting away from the black robot swarms and the Shana Rei at Earth. During the escape, she and Robb worked together like a well-coordinated machine, using skills they had developed during countless dogfights in the Elemental War.

Overloaded with refugees, the
Curiosity
was unforgivably sluggish, but Tasia gave no thought to comfort or safety as she ripped through the air in erratic paths, dodging bugbot attacks, feeling the scrape of energy beams against the hull. She felt the throb of nearby explosions and watched the cockpit readout boards flare red, then go entirely dark. She couldn't bother to check the extent of the damage; they had only one chance to fly away from Earth, and that chance wasn't going to last long.

The robots were malicious, but she had known that all along. She and Robb had a deep personal horror of the black machines from when they had been held prisoner and tortured deep in the heart of hydrogue gas giants.

Robb didn't try to attack the robot ships, didn't waste time shooting unless absolutely necessary. The
Curiosity
's weapons were mainly for defense, and they just needed to cut a path out of the system. Using maximum power, Robb blasted through several black vessels that were in the way, while Tasia focused exclusively on hauling ass out of there.

Somehow, they got away. She doubted that many others had.

One of the lucky ones was Rlinda Kett, whose piloting skills matched theirs. The
Declan's Glory
joined them on the fringes of the system, far enough away that the enemy no longer bothered to chase them. After all, the Shana Rei had the rest of the Earth to slaughter, and that kept them busy for a while.

How could there possibly be anything left?

“Time to go,” Rlinda said. She had a load of refugees as well, all of them in shock, but alive. For now.

Green priests would have spread the news about the attack on Earth, but as they raced—or, more accurately, limped—to Newstation, Tasia knew that the battered
Voracious Curiosity
and the equally battered
Declan's Glory
would be the first ships to bring eyewitnesses. It was not news she looked forward to delivering.

They flew straight to the Roamer center, spreading the alarm and calling upon the clans to be on high alert. She hoped some Roamer genius could figure out an innovative way to fight—maybe some bizarre weapon against the shadows like the one Kotto Okiah had created against the hydrogues. Otherwise, they were all helpless targets.

After docking at the station, Tasia called for an immediate convocation of the Roamer clans, and a panicked Speaker Ricks allowed it. Rlinda reunited with Robb and Tasia, giving them an exuberant hug. Rlinda looked exhausted, her complexion dull, her normally hearty laugh replaced by a somber expression.

“Both of our ships are going to need repairs,” Rlinda said. “Where should we go next?”

“Theroc, I suppose,” Tasia suggested. “We're eyewitneeses. We need to tell King Peter and Queen Estarra.”

Rlinda sighed. “I still have my restaurant there—Arbor is the only one I have left. The other two were on Relleker and Earth.” Her voice hitched, and then she trembled and began to sob. Tasia and Robb folded her into a hug. The enormous embrace was comforting, but not nearly sufficient against the great darkness of the shadows.

Other planets had been devastated by the enemy, but now Earth was gone.
Earth.

Tasia wanted to get revenge at any cost, and she looked for her Guiding Star, knowing that the human race would persevere, hoping they would overcome even this great foe. “Come on, we need to speak to the clans.”

The three of them gathered outside the convocation chamber, and Roamers flooded in to hear the report. Typically, only assigned clan representatives had seats in the gallery, but every spot was filled. The proceedings would be broadcast throughout the station, and green priests would listen in and report through the verdani network.

Inside the hall, Speaker Ricks looked nauseated. Tasia didn't much like the man, but she hoped the crisis would draw out the best in him. Or it might make him fail utterly. “Bad news about Earth, as you may have heard,” Ricks said. “Tasia Tamblyn has a report for us.”

Tasia stepped up to the podium, accompanied by Rlinda and Robb. “The Shana Rei and the black robots attacked. Earth is destroyed. There's no one to rescue. There won't be any survivors, other than those who escaped like we did. I don't know if there's even a CDF left. I'll let the images speak for themselves.”

Rlinda had combined the
Declan
records with the
Curiosity
's, and now they played a horrifying and mind-numbing montage of all that had happened. As clan members watched, they gasped and sighed. Some wept openly. Even though the Roamers had left on a generation ship centuries earlier, Earth was still humanity's home. And now it was gone.