Terra's World (15 page)

3.6

Colonel Hardison had his eyes on Professor Steinberg’s holographic star-chart and his Pktk-adapted field radio in his hand. I know some extremely clever people, he thought to himself. He spoke into the radio, in English.

‘It hasn’t changed course, Preceptor. Still headed this way. Professor Steinberg says – what? Oh, for—! Professor Steinberg says
HELLO
. There, I said it, happy now? He also says it’s definitely being guided, it’s not drifting. And according to his projections, it’ll pass right by us – inside the orbit of the six moons – in another two days’ time.’

Preceptor Shm’s voice came through the radio; Professor Steinberg’s cube, sitting on the desk in front of Hardison, translated as Shm spoke.

- It all fits with the legends. The Black Planet was said to pass close to inhabited worlds, there would be some sort of transfer of matter or energy and the inhabited world would be left scoured and lifeless.

Hardison nodded grimly, then remembered that Shm couldn’t see him, and replied, ‘I know. I’ve told Grand Marshal Zst’kh. I’ve never seen him so happy.’

- Happy?
said Shm, then, thoughtfully,
Yes, I suppose he must be. Do you have any idea what he has in mind?

Hardison glanced around the command centre. The Grand Marshal himself was elsewhere (working on who-knew-what), but a few drone officers were milling around. He lifted the radio close to his face and went on in a lowered voice, ‘Not so far. He’s just told me the matter’s in hand. I think he reckons this is his chance to fulfil his destiny or something.’

Preceptor Shm’s sigh was audible over the radio.
- You know, I do wish people would stop worrying about their ‘destinies’ for a while and just get on with living in the present . . .
Well, see what you can find out. There’s not much I can do about anything from here, I’m afraid. Oh, that reminds me. I don’t suppose you’ve heard from the Ymn girl again, have you?

‘Terra?’ asked Colonel Hardison. ‘No, why?’

Another audible sigh from Preceptor Shm.
- She and her little band of friends have gone missing. I’ve a horrible feeling I know where they’ve gone. Everyone here is more than a little concerned, as you can imagine. In particular I’m getting all sorts of complaints from young Pktk’s parents.

Hardison smiled. He’d met Pktk’s parents. Shm went on:

- If you hear from her, tell her . . .

A pause.

‘Tell her what?’

- Tell her to be careful, that’s all.

‘I will,’ said Colonel Hardison, and put the radio down on the desk.

‘What was that all about?’ asked Professor Steinberg, looking up from his calculations.

‘Terra and her pals are missing. Think she’s gonna try to liberate Mlml on her own,’ said Hardison, with a knowing smile.

‘Best news I’ve heard all day.’ Steinberg smiled. ‘If anyone can do it, she can.’ He looked up at his star-chart and his face fell. The Black Planet was now clearly visible, a circle of pure darkness. ‘I wish I knew what Zst’kh was cooking up,’ he muttered.

‘Me too,’ said Hardison.

3.7

Terra shrugged.
- I did warn you,
she said.

Fthfth was gazing round the Preceptorate in utter despair. Terra had never seen her so distressed. Looking at Fthfth’s face, she wouldn’t have been surprised if her Fnrrn friend had spontaneously evolved tear ducts just in order to have tears in her eyes.

- But . . .
Fthfth began,
but who would DO this? Why? What’s the point?

They stood in front of the pile of smashed interfaces. Pktk put an arm round Fthfth’s shoulders, and said thoughtfully:

- All dictators need to control access to information. First thing you do when you take over. Also, if you’re basing your claim to power on some sort of supernatural authority, a prophecy or divine commandment or something, you need to clamp down on anything which might be able to disprove your claim. Close down the libraries, round up the scientists . . .

- Burn the books,
muttered Billy.

- Books?
asked Pktk.

- Never mind,
said Billy.

They’d landed the sphere, still cloaked in invisibility, next to the statue that wasn’t of Tnk any more. Terra had forced herself not to look up at the statue’s face; to see that grinning idiot’s visage where Tnk’s noble expression belonged would have so consumed her with indignation that she wouldn’t have been able to think about anything else. She needed her wits about her now.

Foolishly, they’d left the two white New Believer robes aboard Strannit Zek’s dinghy; they were lost somewhere inside Lsh-Lff now, along with the dinghy itself. Terra and Billy felt horribly exposed – the only Ymns in Hrrng – but fortunately the Preceptorate was every bit as deserted as they’d left it.

Fthfth took a moment to collect herself, then stood up very straight and announced in a clear voice,
- Right! I need to access the Extrapolator. What’s the best way of doing it?

Pktk thought.
- Well, in every instance I’ve ever heard of when the Extrapolator actually responded to someone, they were standing in the main council chamber. So that seems like a good place to start.

- Well, off we go, then!
said Fthfth, striding off towards the quartz dome. She’d gone a few steps before she realised that Terra and Billy hadn’t moved at all. She looked back and saw Terra, standing stock-still and ashen-faced, a worried-looking Billy by her side. Fthfth was about to ask what the matter was, when it dawned on her.

- Oh, Terra,
she said,
I’m so sorry. I forgot . . . You don’t have to.

- What’s the matter?
Billy’s question was directed more at Fthfth than at Terra, but it was Pktk who answered him.

- The last time Terra was in the council chamber, it . . . it wasn’t . . .

Terra looked up at Billy, tearful and trembling. Billy didn’t know what they were referring to specifically, but he got the idea. Something terrible had happened to Terra in that place. Fthfth took both of Terra’s hands and looked her in the eyes.

- Terra, don’t think of that day. Think of the first day we saw the inside of the dome. Our first day at the Lyceum . . . Remember Preceptor’s Shm’s speech? You nearly dozed off, remember? I definitely heard you snoring.

Terra laughed in spite of herself, a smile breaking through her fear.

- Well, Preceptor Shm’s bored another two classes half-asleep since then in that dome, and it’s all thanks to you,
said Fthfth, grasping Terra’s hands tightly.
Terra, that dome isn’t the place where you nearly died, it’s the place where you saved us all.

Terra grimaced a smile and sniffed. Fthfth was the kind of friend you only found once in a galaxy, she thought to herself.

Fthfth grinned.
- Now let’s get in there, ’cos it’s MY turn to save everybody,
she said. She turned and marched off towards the dome. Terra took Billy’s hand and set off after her.

3.8

This is actually pretty good fun, thought Colonel Hardison. Maybe I should apply for some black ops assignments if I ever get home.

Nah, he reminded himself, you’ve always been a full uniform stand up and salute kind of guy. Not the sneaking around type.

Still, he thought to himself, looks like you might be pretty good at sneaking around anyhow.

He’d made it unnoticed out of the command centre barracks in the dead of night. He’d waited for the Grand Marshal to emerge from his private quarters, accompanied by his personal bodyguards, and followed him to the barn-sized building which stood at the far end of the complex. He’d remained outside, unseen, for at least an hour, while Zst’kh did . . . whatever he was doing in there.

Hardison watched from the shadows as, Zst’kh and his guards emerged, marching back towards the Grand Marshal’s quarters, but he did not follow them. He wasn’t interested in the Grand Marshal’s movements. He was intensely interested in seeing what was inside that barn-sized building.

A single G’grk drone stood guard in front of the building’s entrance. Hardison looked around on the ground for something heavy. Finding a rock about the size of his fist, he picked it up and, thoughts of high school baseball flashing through his mind, hurled it into the darkness. It landed with a clattering noise about fifty yards away. The drone, hearing it, ran off to investigate.

I can
NOT
believe he fell for that, thought Hardison. Hasn’t he seen
ANY
old prisoner-of-war movies?

No, of course he hasn’t, Hardison told himself, as he tried the door. Finding it unlocked, he slid it open, slipped inside and closed it firmly but silently behind him.

The interior of the building was in darkness. Hardison took a moment while his eyes adjusted.

There was something there; a single vast object occupying the whole length of the building. Shiny, cylindrical, lying on its side, the end nearest him tapering to a point, the far end – he could just about make it out – finned and flared. He’d been an Air Force officer long enough to know exactly what he was looking at.

The room was flooded with light. A familiar voice came from behind him.

- If you wanted to know what we were building, Ymn, you should have asked us,
said Grand Marshal Zst’kh.

- I
DID
ask,
responded Hardison,
many times over. You said you’d tell me when the time was right, remember?

- Indeed I did,
said the Grand Marshal, gesturing to his guards to lower their pulse-orbs.
And now you have finally taken the initiative and found out for yourself, the right time has arrived. Keeping secrets,
Zst’kh said, with a dismissive sneer,
is not the G’grk way.

- But building giant missiles behind closed doors is?
challenged Hardison.
How long have you been working on this thing? Steinberg only detected the Black Planet yesterday. There’s no way you put this monstrosity together overnight.
He approached the Grand Marshal and looked him right in the face.
So who were you going to use this thing on? Dskt? Mlml?

- Hopefully, neither,
said Zst’kh.
This –
he gestured toward the missile –
was Marshal Sk’shk’s creation. He had our Dsktn hosts work on this weapon during the occupation. If Dskt had rebelled against us, or Mlml had proved impossible to subdue, then an example would have been made of the unruly nation, in order to pacify the other. Don’t look so shocked, Hrrd’s-nn,
he said,
registering the Colonel’s disgust,
your planet’s history is full of instances of such actions being taken by conquerors against the conquered. Was it not your own people,
he said, fixing Hardison with a stare,
who vaporised two whole cities full of civilians in order to offer just such an example? Even in our own history, there is nothing so . . . uncompromising.

Hardison’s jaw clenched.
- That was different,
he said, although if pressed, he wasn’t sure he could explain exactly how at that moment. Fortunately, Zst’kh went on.

- But then, the . . . curious events . . . in Hrrng unfolded, and the war . . . ended,
he said uncomfortably.
All work on this project was suspended. Few even know of this weapon’s existence. I was only informed myself upon my investiture. So when St’nn-brkhh warned us of the Black Planet’s approach – and the Mlmln scientist identified it as the dreaded destroyer of legend – I ordered the missile to be completed. The warhead is almost prepared. If St’nn-brkhh is correct about the time of the Black Planet’s arrival, then the weapon will be ready to fire with just moments to spare.

Colonel Hardison studied the gleaming rocket; it certainly looked powerful. Would it be accurate enough? Did the G’grks even understand the technology that had gone into creating it? Might they destroy Fnrr in their attempt to save it?

Grand Marshal Zst’kh, it seemed, harboured no such doubts.
- So you see, Hrrd’s-nn, the Occluded Ones are indeed wise.
He smiled.
They have denied us our place as Fnrr’s rulers in order that we might become its
SAVIOURS
.

Hardison hoped the Grand Marshal was right.

3.9

‘Are you all right?’ asked Billy quietly.

Terra breathed hard and nodded.

She’d clenched her eyes shut as she’d passed into the domed chamber but opened them soon after. There was something so distinctive about the way sound reflected off those curved quartz walls that there was no mistaking where she was, even without looking.

With a deep breath, she’d opened her eyes. The dome looked more like the way it had the first time she’d seen it, on that first day at the Lyceum. The holographic portraits of long-dead Preceptors had been restored, the damage done during the invasion repaired. There were no blue G’grk banners fluttering from the ceiling, although her mind’s eye was treacherously painting them back in.

Fthfth was looking at her slate. -
There,
she said,
I’ve loaded all the files I could gather about the Black Planet up onto the Source.

Terra was surprised.
- You managed to get onto the Source?

Pktk held his own slate up.
- The Source is still accepting submissions of information; it’s just blocking requests to
READ
information. I suppose the Gfjk didn’t think there’d be any danger in people telling him things, just in them finding stuff out. But it means I can figure out what he’s done and maybe even how to undo it
.
Pktk smiled quietly.
Idiot,
he muttered.
I would have totally thought of that.

Fthfth coughed and went on.
- I’ve
ALSO
loaded an astroscopic plan of the trajectory of the Black Planet. Hopefully the Extrapolator will . . . well, extrapolate something.

Billy looked around. The dome reminded him of the circular reading room in the big Central Library back home, only shinier. He remembered being told about a curious acoustic feature of the reading room whereby the tiniest sound would travel diametrically across the room, so you could have a whispered conversation from a great distance as long as you sat directly opposite each other. He and Lydia – sorry,
TERRA
– had tried this once and it had worked, much to their amusement. He thought about suggesting trying it out in this room but decided against it. It wouldn’t have gone down well, he suspected, and he wasn’t sure how Terra would react to being reminded of home.

No, not home; Earth. He could tell that Earth wasn’t really home for her any more and at that moment, he realised, it didn’t feel
THAT
much like home to him either. . .

There was a moment’s silence.

- So now what?
asked Billy.

- We wait,
said Fthfth, staring at her slate.

Another moment’s silence.

And another.

- For how long?
pursued Billy.
I mean I don’t want to hassle you or anything, but between the mad dictator and the planet of doom up there, we’re kind of against the clock here.

Terra stared daggers at Billy, but Pktk spoke up.
- No, he’s right,
he said,
we can’t just wait for the Extrapolator to respond. We have to try to contact it directly.

- But no one knows how!
protested Fthfth.

- Wait a minute,
said Billy.
You said that this room had some sort of connection with the Extrapowhatsit, didn’t you? That it replied to people who were standing in this room? Wasn’t that why we had to come in here and scare the p’zk out of Terra?
Interesting, thought Billy, I’m even swearing in Mlmln.

- Well, yes, but—
began Fthfth.

-
HELLO
?
bellowed Billy towards the ceiling.
Are you listening? Can you hear us? Only this planet’s in trouble, and if I’ve got it right, if the planet goes, you go with it, so
ARE YOU RECEIVING US
?

Billy’s voice echoed around the dome for what seemed to Terra like about half an hour.
- Brilliant,
she snarled at
him.
Just brilliant. You remember we’re supposed to be sneaking around unnoticed, right? I don’t know if the Extrapolator heard you, but I bet somebody did!

- No . . . wait,
said Pktk.
Look!
He held up his slate.

The symbols meant nothing to Billy, but Terra read them instantly.
- ‘Yes, I hear you.’ I don’t believe it!

Billy smiled.

- I think we have the Extrapolator’s attention,
explained Fthfth, looking delighted.

Pktk’s fingers hovered over his slate.
-
What do we say?

- Ask it if it’s seen the Black Planet and if it understands the threat,
said Terra. Pktk tapped away on his slate.

- Well?
asked Fthfth. Pktk peered at the slate.

- It says ‘I am aware’,
he said.

- What can we do?
asked Fthfth.

There was a pause. Pktk stared at the slate as if in disbelief.
- It says ‘Survive. Consume. Reproduce.’
He stared blankly at his companions.

Billy coughed.
-
I think,
he ventured,
that might be a computery way of telling organic life forms to go about their usual business.

Terra was furious.
- But we can’t go about our usual business! If the Black Planet reaches our space, we
WON’T
survive. Does it know that?

Pktk tapped, then read.
- It says ‘I am aware’ again,
he said.

Fthfth had another thought.
- Ask it if it knows what’s going to happen. Not
WHAT’S
going to happen – it’ll never tell us – just if it
KNOWS
what’s going to happen.

Pktk tapped. A longer pause, then,
-
It says, ‘The outcome has been predicted.’

This seemed to animate Fthfth.
- So if it
KNOWS
what’s going to happen, and it’s not willing to intervene or tell us what to do, that must mean it’s confident that everything will be okay, mustn’t it?

- Maybe not everything,
corrected Pktk,
it might just
mean it thinks
IT
’s going to be okay. We don’t really know how bothered it is about what happens to
US
.

Terra decided to cut to the chase.
- If the outcome has been predicted, does that mean everything will be okay whatever we do, or do we still have to think of doing whatever it is it thinks we’re going to think of doing?

Everyone stared at Terra blankly.
- I don’t know if the Extrapolator would understand that, but I certainly didn’t,
said Pktk.

- I did,
said Billy.
Will everything sort itself out, or is it still up to us to save everyone?

- Thank you,
said Terra.

Pktk was about to tap this simpler version of the question into his slate, when he paused.
- It’s already answering,
he said.

- Told you it could hear us.
Billy beamed.

Pktk looked up apologetically.
- It just says, ‘All events are proceeding as anticipated.’ I don’t think we’re going to get anything out of it, do you?

Terra thought.
- If the Extrapolator’s right, we’ve got nothing to lose by
TRYING
to figure out how to stop the Black Planet. If it all turns out okay without us, then fair enough, but I don’t think we can
ASSUME
that’s going to happen.

Fthfth sighed.
- So where do we start?

Terra pondered a moment, then spoke,
- The Black Planet should be close enough now to get a proper look at it. If we can figure out what it’s made of, or what’s controlling it, we might be able to think of a way to stop it.

- The astroscopy lab, then,
said Pktk.
Or whatever’s left of it.

They turned to go. At the doorway, Fthfth turned and shouted,
- You’re about as much use as the FaZoon, you know that?
She left, slamming the door.

If Pktk had been looking at his slate as he hurried towards the astroscopy lab, he would have noticed that it displayed, yet again, ‘I am aware.’