Homesmind (17 page)

TEN

The shuttles drifted toward the Wanderer. Anra's home was now only a distant blue globe. She stared at Earth through the shuttle's dome, too stunned to feel anything. Messages had traveled from shuttle to shuttle; voices had been calling out names and uttering their own. Marellon had spoken to Lydee, but after she had told him Daiya and Reiho were safe, he had been forced to tell her that Leito and Etey were not. Anra had listened, keeping a tally. Olin had shouted his joy when he discovered she was alive and then had murmured awkward comfort to Fiella when she was told of her parents. Deene and Vasen were dead; Mila was gone. Paeter had seen Jen and Areli die; old Jen had been swigging wine at the end, mocking his murderers with obscene gestures. Ede had forced Barla and Jaan into a craft and had hurled his last angry thoughts at a band who were rushing to attack it; the shuttle had escaped because of that. Barla had wailed her grief, babbling of how unkind she had been to the old man who had given his life to save her and Jaan.

"You mustn't weep," Marellon said.

Anra lifted a hand to her face, surprised to find that her cheeks were wet; she had not felt the tears. She wiped her eyes with a sleeve.

"Most of the old ones didn't want to leave Earth. I suspected that, in the end, they would refuse to go. They realized that we'd have to face what will come without their fears holding us back."

"Etey's dead, too," Anra whispered.

"She would have told you that she's had a long life— maybe too long. She'd be happy that younger ones are safe."

"But we're not safe. You know what probably awaits us, Marellon. The oldest skydwellers must fear it more than we do. Maybe Etey believed that we would all be lost anyway."

The black vacuum around them, studded with stars, was marred by the long streak of the Visitor. Even at this distance, the comet's head was as large as the full moon appeared to be when in Earth's sky. The Visitor would be upon them before long, and they could do nothing but wait.

The shuttles ahead of them began to drop toward Homesmind's world. Beyond the Wanderer, she could see the second comet, the one that was to be the new home of the Minds. It seemed much smaller than the Wanderer, only a tiny seed sprouting leaves and vines, but she had no way of gauging how far away that comet was, having no familiar object against which to measure it.

The Wanderer floated on a black sea, drifting toward them. The transparent protective field enclosing the comet rippled as the first shuttles passed through it. Anra gazed out at the trees; each leaf was as large as several shuttles. The jungle soon hid space from them as they dropped past the massive tree trunks.

The shuttles, looking like beetles in a vast garden, continued to fall toward the roots of the comet world. A tiny speck of light on one root swelled as they approached, revealing itself to be a lighted corridor. The shuttles drifted inside, floated through the lighted hall, and came to rest on a plain of grass covered with other craft.

At the edge of the field, a crowd was waiting for the exiles. A few were skydwellers dressed in colorful bands of cloth; Anra thought she saw Jerod among them. But most were the Earthfolk who had left Earth a few days earlier. Tents had been pitched behind them in a flower garden.

Anra and Marellon climbed out of their craft. Near them, Olin was looking around uncertainly. Other villagers huddled near their craft, as if afraid to go any farther.

Jerod walked toward them as the villagers began to move away from their vessels. Lydee went to meet the bald man; Anra caught a few words of the skydwellers' tongue as the two spoke. Lydee was telling Jerod about Etey. Jerod made a violent motion with one arm, then turned to the assembled exiles.

"Your home is here now," he said in a loud voice, speaking Earth's tongue. "You'll be given everything you need. The Minds are too far away to touch your thoughts directly, but you'll be able to use your mindpowers here if you have links—Homesmind can channel some of the Minds' energy to you. Some of you can share your thoughts, at least." Anra glanced at Olin as he came to her side; she would be cut off from him, for he had no link as she did. "We'll do our best to provide links for those who want them, but it may take some time."

"Then I'll be the first to ask for one," Olin muttered.

"Are you sure?" Anra whispered. "Don't you fear it?"

"If a link is the only way I can share your thoughts here, then I want one."

She was silent. She had already seen that Rulek was not with the people by the tents. She was no longer so sure that she wanted Olin to see her thoughts.

"I want no link," Daiya said. "I'll stay as I am. Being a solitary is better than sharing the grief in the minds of others, or hearing that Voice."

Jerod started. "You've heard it?"

"I heard it when the village began to die. It spoke of merging, and swallowing souls. It won't leave us until it's swallowed us all. It's swallowed millions and yet remains unsatisfied—it's heavy with the minds it holds imprisoned and yet it still hungers. It would swallow all of space if it could."

"We must refuse to listen," Lydee said.

Daiya's eyes widened. "You cannot refuse for long. The dying on Earth were the first to hear it because their minds were completely open. Homesmind and the Minds were deaf to the Voice because Theirs were not. I heard the Voice clearly, through the minds of those dying around me. The closer the Visitor draws, the louder its Voice will become until we'll all be forced to hear it." Reiho took Daiya's arm; she shook it away. "And let me tell you this. We huddle here praying that we won't die, but I would rather die than have that Voice surround me forever."

The villagers were silent; the crowd near the tents was still. "Homesmind may find a way to save us," Lydee said at last.

Daiya clearly wanted to say more, but did not reply.

"We shall wait," Jerod said.

Homesmind's robots cared for the exiles. More tents were set up in the garden and on the edge of the shuttle field; globes bearing trays carried food to each tent and lingered, waiting for commands.

A few Earthfolk, Olin among them, had been given links, but most of them rarely shared thoughts. Anra had shared some thoughts with Olin as he accustomed himself to his link, unused to the feeling of thoughts flowing through one point to the rest of his mind instead of entering through a web of channels at different spots. They had both sensed the Voice. It was a steady, fearful roar in the background, still muted but growing stronger. Anra would block the roar and yet feel the Visitor tugging at the edges of her mind. Soon she and Olin no longer mindspoke.

The exiles lost track of time. They rose when they awakened, ate when they were hungry, slept when they were tired, and waited.

Paeter and Fiella were curled up in one corner of the tent, still sleeping, as Anra got up. Gennon muttered something in his sleep; Jaan mumbled a few incoherent words that sounded like a reply. Anra tiptoed past Viya and Barla toward the tent flap.

Olin was sitting outside, eating a piece of fruit. Anra selected some grapes and pastry; Olin waved the globe away. Their tent was near a rosebush; the fragrance of the flowers sweetened the air.

"It's so peaceful here," she said. "I can almost forget." She thought of the villagers she would never see again.

"This world has made them weak," Olin said. "It'll weaken us, too. How will we fight?"

"We can't fight."

"We'll rest and gather our strength. I'll resist that cursed Voice as long as I can—I won't be swallowed without a fight."

"Even Homesmind can't fight it—how can we?"

"However we can." He stood up. "I want to explore this world."

She followed him along a stone path. The Wanderer could hold few dangers. Its animals were tame, its robots would feed them wherever they went, and if they got lost, Homesmind would guide them back to the garden. They passed Jerod, who was sitting on a bench watching his friend Nara gather flowers. Nara gestured at the two young people with her bouquet; her hair was white, but her face was as youthful as a girl's. Anra nodded back.

"We're going to explore your world," Olin said. "Your Mind has told me there are over a million people here, yet only a few hundred at most have come here to see us."

Jerod gazed at Olin with unhappy eyes. Anra took the boy by the arm and led him away toward the trees. "You shouldn't have said that to Jerod," she murmured. "You've only reminded him of his failure. He wanted his people to be braver."

"They have no courage. I've watched the ones who remain with us. They'll surrender to the Visitor without a struggle."

"My friend Etey didn't," she said angrily. "She was one who couldn't even watch an animal die, and yet she stood with Leito at the end helping to shield our village." Her voice broke on the last word; she had many to mourn now.

"You are right," Olin said. "It's hard enough for us to have courage. For these people, it must be harder."

The stone path came to an end at a fountain; a parasol of water flowed steadily into a marble basin. They walked deeper into the woods. The trees resembled maples, but their branches seemed oddly symmetrical and the shrubs and grass around them had been carefully pruned.

At last the two came to a clearing overlooking a sandy shore. Below, a small lake lapped against the white sand as a few large, white birds soared overhead. Two people were flying with the birds; the couple swooped toward the beach and landed. They were tall and thin. The man wore a red loincloth, the woman two slender red bands. Both also wore the belts Anra had seen on other comet-dwellers; the belts gave them the power of flight and could pilot them as well.

The woman chased the man toward the water; he lifted his arms, splashing her. She laughed and danced on the shore. The two made Anra think of children.

As she and Olin walked down to the beach, the comet-dwellers turned to look at them. The woman's eyes widened. "You're not cometdwellers," she called out in her own tongue as she stared at their clothes.

"We're from Earth," Anra replied.

The woman hid her face in her hands. "I had forgotten," she wailed. "Now Earthfolk flee to our world. We're lost."

The man went to his friend's side. "We had blotted that unhappy knowledge from our minds," he said. "Now you've brought it all back. Leave us, so we can forget again."

"Come on," Olin said. He rose, flying out over the lake. Opening her channel a bit, Anra lifted herself and flew after him. Flying was more difficult here; the weakened Homesmind was feeding her only a little of the minds' power, and she could not rise too far, yet she refused to widen her channel, knowing she would only hear the Voice more clearly.

They passed three sailboats; sleeping cometdwellers lay on their decks. She supposed that they were dreaming.

Another beach was ahead of them. Olin dipped toward the ground, alighting on the sand; she landed next to him.

The trees bordering this shore had slender trunks; their long, thin leaves were almost like strands of hair. Two silver-furred wolves suddenly emerged from the forest and raced toward them. Olin tensed as they came near, and reached for his knife.

"It's all right," Anra said. "They're tame here." One of the wolves licked her hand, then trotted off with its companion.

They walked up to a mossy spot and sat down. Even the moss looked tended, more like a green carpet than a growing plant. A globe floated toward them with a flask and two goblets; Anra poured the wine.

"It's a beautiful world," Olin said. "But it's not Earth. Is the other world like this one?"

"A little. Homesmind will show it to you if you like."

Olin shook his head. "If the Visitor spares us, I suppose I'll see it soon enough, and if it doesn't ..."

"The Visitor might pass us by," Anra said, not believing it. "It might spit us out when it's tasted our thoughts." Her mouth twisted. "How hungry it is. Someday it'll swallow something it can't hold."

Olin finished his wine; his dark eyes were thoughtful. "That boy who left Earth, the one who sometimes troubles your thoughts—he must be here somewhere."

"I know. He was clinging to skydweller dreams when he left. Maybe in peaceful times, he would have been able to give them up eventually, but now even skydwellers don't turn away from dreaming. I can sense how many must be lost in dreams now. I wonder if he can give them up." Her mouth twisted. "He wanted to dream of a girl he loved who is dead."

"Your words are hard, Anra. Can't you understand the pain of that loss?"

"Of course I can. Too many people whom I loved are gone. But we can't keep mourning. There would be no end to our tears. I had to learn that when my great-grandfather died. I won't run to a dream where he still seems alive."

"I don't know that boy," Olin said, "and yet I can understand why he acted as he did." He paused. "We should look for him. Maybe we can give him back his courage somehow. He may be dreaming with others, and we could rouse them, too."

"Do you really think we could?" She shook her head. "You don't know the power such dreaming can have."

"We have to try. If we can awaken even a few dreamers, they might rouse others. You told me that you and those like you were meant to be a bridge. The skydwellers will need you now."

She dropped her goblet, then rose. "We'll try, then," she said. "But they may not listen. We have no hope to offer them." She opened her link to Homesmind.

Rulek is not far away
, Homesmind whispered faintly. Anra and Olin, guided by Homesmind, were flying over treetops toward a wide, deep ravine. Two high cliffs, covered with vines and striped by glassy streaks, stood on either side of the chasm; below, the blue ribbon of a river snaked through another forest.

They dropped between the cliffs. As they fell, the small figures of sleeping people became visible. Many lay along the riverbanks, while others were stretched out under the trees. There had to be hundreds of them; Anra could not count them all.

Anra alighted next to a dark-haired woman clad in two gold bands of cloth. A small white cat sat near the woman, nuzzling her blue-black hair; it looked up and meowed as Olin landed. The people near her slept on; they were dreaming. Anra felt sick.