The Evolutionary Void (93 page)

Sometimes basic human flesh and blood was far too painful.

“You did a great job out there,” he said. “Not everyone operating in a
meat body would hold it together under that kind of emotional stress. Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” she said weakly.

“So how about that—my original body finally gets fried up in a nova.
Goddamn Marius, he’s actually worse than Ilanthe in his own pathetically petty
way. Funny thing, I didn’t imagine I’d get nostalgic, but I think I’m going to
miss it. The damn thing was like a psychological final safety net. I suppose I
ought to clone another. Not that I’ll ever use one again.”

“Good idea.”

“And I’m going to have to have a long talk with the Delivery Man; he can
fill in the missing details. I accessed the kubes in Ozzie’s asteroid as soon
as ANA brought me out of suspension storage; they updated me back to the point
I left on the
Last Throw
. But there’s no accurate
record of what happened on the Anomine homeworld between then and when that old
Tyzak guy switched on the elevation mechanism. The way it played out, I’m
guessing there had to be some serious problems back there.”

“Yeah, that’s how I read it, too.”

“Right. Well, you wouldn’t believe the fuss the Radical Darwinist Faction
is kicking up in here. Conniving little shits. I could do with some help
slapping them down. Are you coming back home now?”

Justine draped an arm around a very silent Kazimir’s shoulders and gave
the golden man a defiant look. “Not just yet, Dad. There’re a few things I have
to finish off out here. They might take awhile.”

The ultradrive starship hung in transdimensional suspension five million
kilometers out from the Leo Twins. Marius wasn’t quite sure why he’d chosen
this as his destination. Presumably, his subconscious had identified it as the
last place anyone would suspect him of fleeing to.

As to what he should do now, he had no idea. The one time scrutineers
he’d inserted into the unisphere were supplying a comprehensive picture of the
political fallout from the Void’s elevation and the fall of the Sol barrier.

ANA had carried out its threat and suspended the Accelerator Faction.
Instructions were being issued to ANA representatives to locate and arrest the
remaining Accelerator agents. The list was very comprehensive. He was at the
top, charged with genocide. That wasn’t something the authorities would quietly
downgrade and forget after a couple of decades or even centuries, certainly not
if Paula Myo was involved. That meant he would have to leave the Commonwealth
entirely.

His options weren’t good. He didn’t know where any of the colonies were
or what kind of societies they’d developed. Conceivably, he could start
rescuing the other Accelerators on the list, form some kind of resistance. It
would be dangerous, but he was more than capable of working in such an
environment.

Alarms flared—

His ship was wrenched back into spacetime before even his accelerated
thought routines had truly grasped what was happening. Sensors revealed nothing
except a minuscule spatial anomaly directly in front of the fuselage. Then they
failed, along with the drive. The starship’s network crashed. Gravity cut out,
leaving him in free fall. Cabin lights died. He couldn’t access his u-shadow. A
biononic field scan revealed that the life-support system was off line.

A link opened to his macrocellular clusters. “You’re under arrest,”
Admiral Kazimir informed him.

“For now,” Marius retorted. “She’ll be back.”

“She won’t. None of them ever come back.”

As Araminta landed the big passenger capsule outside the sprawling white
house, her confidence suddenly deserted her. Even the little surprise she’d
prepared for him seemed feeble. There was absolutely no way of knowing how he’d
react. Sure, he’d helped her before, but that was when the Living Dream maniacs
threatened his homeworld and his lives.

They were gone now, thanks to her and the deception he’d helped her with.
Now Ellezelin would be paying compensation for all the physical damage its
troops had caused during the invasion. Inigo had promised that as he went back
there to assume the presidency she’d abdicated. It was going to take a long
while to dismantle the Living Dream movement, but he was the best—the
only—candidate for the job. After the Void’s elevation, he was the person
everybody trusted to do it right.

Two of hers stepped out onto the grass: her original body and Araminta-two.
She looked around with all four eyes, relishing the familiarity.

Mr. Bovey had been busy since she’d left. The house had been repaired and
painted. But then, if anybody could do a fast, quality refurbishment, it was
going to be he with all his contacts in the business.

Several of hims were coming out of the house, running toward her, and
they were all smiling, which brought a lump to her throats.
He does care still!
Now that she thought everything might
be all right, after all, she thought she might cry—that would be a lot of
tears. The gaiafield was abruptly full of the relief hes were broadcasting loud
and clear into the gaiafield.

Eight of hims surrounded the two of her. The young blond one gave her a
tentative look. “You came back.”

His uncertainty was too much. She just flung her arms around him. Then
they were kissing.

“What you did was unbelievable,” the Asian him was saying to
Araminta-two. “You never backed down, not for a second. Ellezelin, the
Lady’s Light
—you kept on and on. It was awesome.”

“They made me do it,” she told him. “It was the only way I could
survive.”

“I was frantic when the Raiel blew up the link. Then Gore started
dreaming, and you were on Makkathran. It was …” All of hims on the lawn started
laughing in amazement. “Ozzie, you were unbelievable. For a while there you
were in charge of the whole universe.”

Araminta gave him a demure smirk. “Did you think that was hot?”

The blond youngster cleared his throat. “Could have been.”

“Let me give you back. Hang on.” She closed her eyes, concentrating on
the way her thoughts were spread out through the gaiafield. Slowly and
carefully she withdrew herself from the body she’d borrowed. When she opened
her eyes, he was right in front of her, that oh so familiar smile on his face.
Then he looked down at himself. “Thank you; you took good care of him.”

“Certainly did.” Araminta let go of the blond youngster one and went over
to the original—she could never stop thinking of him in those terms. It was
only slightly weird kissing the body she’d been a few seconds earlier. “It was
interesting being a man for a while,” she said in a teasingly husky voice.

“Really? Why?”

“I learned about … reflexes.” She was still pressed up against him.
“Specifically, the involuntary ones.”

“Uh huh.” His voice had become hoarse.

“And I was bad, too, while I was away.”

“That’s always been one of your best qualities.”

“You don’t understand. Once you learned how to use it, the Void could
make all your wishes come true. It really could.
Anything
.
And I wasn’t strong enough to resist temptation. Mind you, I wasn’t alone. Most
of us were at it at the end there. It was quite the little fantasyfest we had
going on in the Sampalok mansion.”

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “Well, you had just saved us all. I
suppose that entitled you.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Araminta had forgotten how much fun it was to
tease Mr. Bovey. But the poor man was suffering, which he didn’t really
deserve; he was far too noble for that. “I watched Justine and Edeard and
Troblum all pulling lost loves out of the creation layer like rabbits from a
hat.”

Mr. Bovey frowned. “Er …”

“So I thought: I haven’t lost anyone I love, but someone I love might
appreciate a lot more of me.” She gave him a wicked smirk and glanced over at
the capsule. The rest of hers were emerging.

Mr. Bovey watched with incredulous delight as fifteen identical Aramintas
walked across the garden to hims.

“That conversation we had about what types of mes I’d have when I was
multiple?” she said. “I decided there’s not much wrong with this one.”

“This one is absolutely perfect.”

“Good. So now all of yous can take all of mes to bed.”

“Oh, yes!”

“Now, please.”

Last Throw
fell smoothly through the miserable
winter weather to land at the house in Holland Park. The Delivery Man didn’t waste
time walking; he teleported straight into the lounge.

“Dadeeeeie!” The girls flew at him. Small arms clung with surprising
strength. Wet sticky kisses smudged his face. Little Rosa was bouncing around,
yelling for attention as her elder sisters wouldn’t get out of the way. He
scooped her up for big cuddles.

Lizzie was standing in the door, her eyes damp as she smiled at him.

“I’m back,” he told her.

“Yes,” she said. “And boy, have you got some explaining to do. Don’t you
ever,
ever
—”

The Delivery Man kissed his wife.

Inevitably, the world was a pleasant one. The temperate zones where
Araminta walked had vast rolling grasslands, tall snow-cloaked mountains, and
extensive forests.

The three of them had been there for a couple of days, making leisurely progress
along the narrow path before she heard the singing. “They’re here,” Araminta
told Aaron. He didn’t react. Tomansio gently urged him forward toward the
haunting nonhuman melodies. Aaron didn’t protest, just went with his guides as
he’d done ever since they’d left Makkathran, saying nothing. He didn’t have
nightmares anymore. He didn’t have anything; his mind had shut down of its own
accord.

The Knights Guardian had wanted to take him back to Far Away, where there
would be the best clinics and doctors and medical modules and memory edits.
Lennox the Mutineer would be reassembled, they said. Araminta had said no,
Aaron had suffered enough technology; he needed real healing. And she would
take him to the one person who would grant that. Tomansio had been startled by
the suggestion and very quick to agree.