The Cthulhu Encryption (31 page)

“No,” said Dupin, “and that is why we must strive to live as best we can, within the laws of nature as we find them.”

* * * *

M
UCH LATER, LONG
after our return to Paris, I had a dream. In the dream, I was back on the ghost-ship, with Angria and Jack Taylor. We were all three standing on the bridge, with the skull and crossbones fluttering overhead, looking toward the prow, where the misty figure of Ysolde—the beautiful Ysolde, not the wreck—was standing in company with a ghost that I knew to be the Tristan de Léonais of her dream. I could not see the expressions on their faces, for I could only see them in profile, but I knew that they felt serene as they looked out over the infinite ocean.

It was only a dream. It meant nothing. I can’t help hoping, though, that when I am dead and gone, somewhere in the world, someone else will still be capable of dreaming the same dream, uncomprehendingly but accurately, thus preserving and protecting it from its ultimate decay into oblivion. I have done my part by writing it down, albeit in a language that will one day stand in need of deciphering before it can be understood, if it ever is, by other-than-human eyes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Stableford was born in Yorkshire in 1948. He taught at the University of Reading for several years, but is now a full-time writer. He has written many science-fiction and fantasy novels, including
The Empire of Fear
,
The Werewolves of London
,
Year Zero
,
The Curse of the Coral Bride
,
The Stones of Camelot
, and
Prelude to Eternity
. Collections of his short stories include a long series of
Tales of the Biotech Revolution
, and such idiosyncratic items as
Sheena and Other Gothic Tales
and
The Innsmouth Heritage and Other Sequels
. He has written numerous nonfiction books, including
Scientific Romance in Britain, 1890-1950
;
Glorious Perversity: The Decline and Fall of Literary Decadence
;
Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia
; and
The Devil’s Party: A Brief History of Satanic Abuse
. He has contributed hundreds of biographical and critical articles to reference books, and has also translated numerous novels from the French language, including books by Paul Féval, Albert Robida, Maurice Renard, and J. H. Rosny the Elder.