The Star Plume (6 page)

*******

The Time Fiend stood on the edge of a
far-flung Star Plume and inhaled, pulling in the amalgam of
elements floating in the vacuum. Its massive hairy tongue touched
the roof of its mouth, tasting the universal particles as they
passed over his unrefined palate. Light tasted faintly of
clover. The Time Fiend could sniff it out when it was hiding.
And he’d found it. The last of it.

The Time Fiend edged carefully around a
strong black hole in front of him, feeling its pull. Those black
holes were nasty beings, with a penchant for time.

Ahhh, there. The Time Fiend slowed down as he
gazed at the sight before him. Several Stars, one of them much
larger than the others.

This large Star had shone in this edge of the
universe for eons. During this time, it had gently warmed several
planets that revolved around its light. It had morphed and aged, as
stars do, and was now busy condensing and cooling in its golden
years.

The Time Fiend prepped its gun. No time to
waste. The Dark Spectrum waited.

The Fiend blasted its gun, blasting the Stars
into a cold death, and the revolving planets with them.

*******

The light Packet escaped just ahead of the
Time Fiend’s blast. The largest Star had released it only moments
before.

The Packet slid assuredly through the
darkness, seeking a safer zone. It landed on a passing frozen
comet. There, it shuttered itself deep in an icy crevice filled
with dust and gas, pushed itself up against the farthest wall, lest
it shine around the corner and give itself away. Cold methane and
ammonia swirled around the miniscule light source, attracted by its
tiny warmth.

The Packet shivered, uncertain. Before the
Time Fiend appeared, it had been planning to jump out for a long
journey to wherever light might go. The Packet knew nothing of Time
Fiends. It could not imagine why any creature would destroy a Star.
It peeked out from its corner and watched as the Time Fiend
approached the cold Star that had been the Packet’s home, watched
the Time Fiend scoop the Star into a large bag. The Packet could
see other dead Stars in the bag. Then the Time Fiend turned and all
the Packet could see was the Time Fiend’s hulking backside.

The Packet thought about consequences and
likelihood, about probabilities and percentages. Then putting all
that aside, it leapt. In a burst, it slid under the oily scales of
the Time Fiend and hitched a ride to the Nothing.

*******

Before the Senti developed the Nothing, they
studied the Dark Spectrum, its properties, its abilities, and its
tendencies. From that, they engineered a holding cell so vast and
so complex, it exceeded their own expectations and hopes.

The Nothing was designed to hold the Dark
Spectrum forever. Importantly, the Dark Spectrum would be slowed
down to almost a crawl. The density was critical.

The Senti built redundancy into the Nothing,
to avoid material failure.

In the testing phase, a Nothing prototype had
been developed using only a single material. Unfortunately, every
substance has a weakness, be it stability, reactivity, or
radioactivity.

The prototype had deteriorated when subjected
to extreme time.

A few adjustments were made, further
expertise called in. The completion of the final Nothing was a
marvel.

Before the Dark Spectrum was launched into
it, the Nothing was available for viewing by high-ranking
dignitaries from all participating systems.

It was lauded as self-perpetuating.
Impenetrable. Eternal.

That was when all the Night Prisms had been
collected and locked away, their usage banned. Too risky.

Nothing was left to chance. Everything had
been carefully thought out. Each detail addressed. All
contingencies considered.

But something always slips through the
cracks.

*******

Chapter 10

Aglaje reached the Wayeer before its moons
had passed the Sidestream. The Star Plume dropped off precipitously
here, as few travelers visited this forlorn place.

Flyer had worked up a sweat from the long
ride and the quickly dropping temperatures had frozen his coat into
thick salty clumps. Aglaje bed the tired horse down in a vast stone
stall built deep into the side of a cliff. Several other riding
animals were in residence and Aglaje could see they had recently
been fed and watered. This was a good sign that someone was tending
after things daily, as she’d hoped. She’d taken a risk coming all
this way.

As Flyer settled in, the animals shifted
nervously in Aglaje’s presence, one of them at the back of the vast
stall screeching in protest. Wishing to avoid alerting a caretaker
who might not be interested in her story, Aglaje stepped outside
and rolled the heavy metal door closed. It had not been locked when
she arrived, so she left it as it was.

Outside the stall, in the faint light cast by
her neck lantern, Aglaje looked around. The area was mostly
wasteland, just bluish scrubby brush and grey rock. The Wayeer was
a hard place, with ruthless winds post moon-phase. Aglaje knew she
needed to get inside before full night if she were to survive. If
she found the door and they did not let her in, she would take
shelter with the animals and be on her way.

The darkness was eerie. She had always loved
darkness, especially traveling by starlight. But of that, there was
none tonight. She had only a faint glow from her compass to steer
by.

Aglaje had bought the Wayeer coordinates from
a Trader named Gost who she’d met on her travels. The existence of
the Wayeer was known to only a few, its location known to fewer
still. How Gost had come by the information was a mystery still to
Aglaje.

She’d bartered hard with him - she carried
Liquid for such purposes. But Gost had not wanted Liquid. They were
both hard Traders who knew what they wanted and aimed to get it.
After he’d taken a good long look at her, Gost had promised her the
coordinates and named his price. In the end, they had both enjoyed
the night. Aglaje wasn’t ever one to look backward. She’d gotten
hold of the information she wanted. That was all that mattered.

Now, she followed the compass down a faint
path in the dirt. The brush on each side of her was dry and
unforgiving, filled with bramble and nasty prickers. She walked
forward, careful to stick to the path.

After a long time - time always passed more
slowly in the dark - Aglaje noticed the terrain was changing. Flat
scrubby plans had given way first to gentle hills, then more
steeply sloping stone. Now, high walls of shale rock swept up
around the slim path.

Aglaje stopped walking. She was tired and she
could hear the winds coming.

She shone her light in a slow circle, looking
for any sign. Surely she was close.

Her light caught on something. There. A door
marked with a half moon circle.

She knew they moved each night and that this
was the mark of the current residence. News of the Time Fiend’s
deeds had traveled widely. Helpfully, Time Fiends could not see
writing.

She knocked and heard the sound echo inside
the deep metal tunnel, the sound reaching into the depths of the
barren planet. A moment later, the door opened and she stepped into
the welcoming darkness.

Chapter 11

The guard Koe hurried to the Confine. He
could hear distant music, the Dark Spectrum singing to itself. The
breathy female voice filled the Confine.

“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to
you. Happy Birthday Mr. President, Happy Birthday to you…”

Over and over it sang this. Koe found the
repetition irritating but it was not his place to express opinions.
He doubted that would be well received.

The singing stopped. The Dark Spectrum wove
toward the viewing platform, where he stood.

Koe cleared his throat and began his
report.

“Sir, two intruders have been detected. They
have entered as sound waves.”

He sensed the Dark Spectrum slowly circle
within the Confine, rising and falling, its spectral darkness
leaving a tunnel-like impression in the material as it passed
through it.

Koe was relieved to have good news. He could
feel his pulse racing.

A long monotone sound came from the confine.
It continued for fifteen seconds and stretched to thirty. Then it
stopped.

The Dark Spectrum continued, “
This has
been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test.
In the case of a real emergency, this would be followed by
instructions from your local police station...”

Koe had not heard this one before. Odd, he
thought. He was sure he’d listened to all the tapes. He waited,
uncertain of the meaning. The Dark Spectrum would continue. It
liked an audience.

“
Oh well uh well uh, unh. Tell me more,
tell me more, didja get very far, tell me more, tell me more, like
does he have a car, uh huh…”

Back on familiar ground, Koe replied, “A male
and female, based on their Amplitudes.”

The Dark Spectrum slowed down, as if
thinking. A very different tune filled the Confine.

“
Move yourself.
You always live your
life.
Never thinking of the future.
Prove yourself.
You are the
move you make.
Take your chances win or loser.

See yourself.
You
are the steps you take.
You and you - and that's the only
way.

Shake - shake yourself.
You're every move you make.
So the
story goes.”

Confused, Koe shook his head. His hands were
sweating and he felt a chill. This was not going as he
expected.

He stuttered. “S…Sir, I’m sorry, if, I’m not
certain exactly…please I don’t understand what you are asking.”

The Dark Spectrum slowed to a lazy wave,
rubbing up against the barrier that separated the massive Confine
from the viewing platform. Koe thought he could almost see a vast
mouth amidst the seething dark mass.

Growing larger in amplitude, occupying the
entire Confine, every curve and corner of the space, the Dark
Spectrum screamed:

“
Like the latest fashion

Like a spreading disease

The kids are strappin' on their way to the
classroom

Getting weapons with the greatest of ease

Hey man you talkin' back to me?

Take him out

You gotta keep 'em separated

Hey man you disrespecting me?

Take him out

You gotta keep 'em separated”

Koe braced himself against the thick metal
rebar that served to hold the Nothing together.

“Sir, please, I’m not sure…”

The Dark Spectrum began again, the single
voice now soaring in a question.

“
Can anybody…find meeeeee...somebody to
love?”

Other voices joined in, the repetitive sound
filling Koe’s head, the words reverberating through him, coming at
him from all sides.

“
Find me somebody to love, find me
somebody to love…”

Koe stepped back on the platform,
understanding spreading across his glistening pale face. He retched
once, wiped his mouth, and spoke.

“Yes, sir, at once. I will see it done.”

He scurried away, trying not to be sick
again.

The Dark Spectrum wound itself to the
Confine’s highest height and circled down to the deepest corners.
It shot back up. It repeated this. Up, up as high as it could go,
then releasing itself to the depths.

A woman. It had been a long time.

The Dark Spectrum began a slow tune, one of
the first it had intercepted and one of its favorites.

The voice carried well beyond the
Confine.

“
I am just a new boy,

Stranger in this town.

Where are all the good times?

Who's gonna show this stranger around?

Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.

Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.

Will some cold woman in this desert land

Make me feel like a real man?

Take this rock and roll refugee

Oooh, baby set me free.

Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.

Ooooh, I need a dirty girl…”

Chapter 12

Aglaje stepped into the dark tunnel,
reminding herself that she had no weapon. She had left her gun with
Flyer in the stables. They would have taken it from her anyway, out
of caution, and its mere possession would have sent the wrong
signal, one of menace rather than peace. That would have started
things off on the wrong foot.

The door closed behind her and there was the
sound of well-oiled metal bolts sliding into place, securing the
unit. Just in time, too, as Aglaje could hear the winds pick up
beyond the door. She hoped Flyer was ok.

She stepped forward, taking slow steps. The
floor seemed to be polished metal and the walls, which she could
touch on either side of her, were cut stone.

She’d walked forward about ten paces in the
dark when a loud voice screamed her, “Do not move further!”

Halting, she peered ahead and glanced behind
but did not see anyone, notr even the silhouette of a person.

The voice spoke again.

"Place your hand on the light." A square
panel had lit up on the wall next to her.

Aglaje did as she was told, placing her palm
flat on the screen. She held it there for 15 seconds. The screen
blinked white, then the color changed to a blue then a green. When
it went dark, Aglaje removed her hand, rubbing her palm, which felt
tingly and warm from the light. The reading had been quick, faster
than the Readers at the Plume Way Stations.

The next tests started immediately. Aglaje
braced herself. She’d known they would test her but she thought
perhaps they would speak with her first. Apparently, they needed to
know what she was.

Bright light filled the hallway. The
brightness increased in intensity until all she could see was a
wall of white. Momentarily blinded, Aglaje leaned against the wall.
She knew there was non-visible light as well, passing through
her.