Whatever Gods May Be (25 page)

Yet there was nothing more the Rover could do.  It watched Zolan now; and could see that the man was in some kind of semi-hysterical dream state, perhaps induced by the inordinately high, and getting higher, cabin temperature.  But the Rover had no time to analyze Zolan's peculiar behavior further.

The Rover had a landing to perform.  And it realized that after this none-to-easy task, it might never awaken again.

TWENTY-NINE

Blackness surrounded him, and for a moment, Zolan thought that he was dead.  If it was death, though, it was more horrible than he had ever feared or imagined, because his conscious was still alive.  An eternity of never-ending nothingness lay before him, and he was trapped inside of it.  It was cold here and very empty and he wanted to scream.  Yet he knew he could not, for somehow he was now a disembodied presence without form or feeling.  There was still sensation of sorts, and one of these included panic, but even this was deprived a suitable outlet.  For here, there was no place to run, no place to hide from some unseen danger or fear.

But then, very suddenly, all despair vanished.  He was aware now that he was moving, and though darkness still surrounded him, he was grateful that he was no longer bound to an interminable stay of motionlessness.  After a moment, there was an enjoyable sensation to his travel, and shortly afterwards all initial fears and agonies were replaced by a euphoric sense of freedom.

Where am I? Zolan heard himself ask aloud, though there was no sensation of speech from a physical mouth or throat.  This was much more than a dream, he thought; perhaps, he really was dead after all.  But, somehow, Zolan doubted this - he was feeling too...alive! But if he was not dead than what had happened to him? Was this all some kind of bizarre nightmare?

Suddenly, the darkness began to lift.  A gray, patchy fog glowed around him, and somewhere there was a light source, though Zolan could not tell where it was.  He had stopped moving again, and just for a second, he began to feel fear.

Don't be afraid, a voice said from someplace distant.  Immediately, his uneasiness vanished.  It was lighter now, though everything around him was still misty and indistinct.  Presently, a figure appeared before him.

Zolan stared at the girl standing ahead.  She seemed very close to him, though Zolan was not sure how 'close' could be defined in this alien environment.  She could be inches or miles away, he thought somewhat abstractly, possibly even light years, though this was a bit fantastic for even Zolan to accept.  Still…

The girl extended her hand out to him, and amazingly, he, too, now had a hand again.  She was warm to touch, though Zolan suspected that even this detail was somehow illusory; he was not really here in physical form and neither was the girl.  Zolan was about to question his companion on this point when she spoke first - or he thought she did, anyway.

Who are you? she asked in a baffled voice.  Was it even a voice, Zolan wondered.  The girl didn't move her lips, yet he could understand her thoughts.           Telepathy, he deduced a moment later.

Zolan answered the question.

"My name is Rzzdik.  What are you called?"

"Valry," the voice answered softly, then paused; "Rzzdik; strange name.  Sounds funny."

Zolan didn't say anything this time.

"You're from far away," Valry continued, staring at Zolan in fascination, "A traveler.  Like Thalick."

How much could she know about him, Zolan wondered silently.  Quite a bit, obviously, from only a few moments of contact; substantially more than he knew about her.

"Yes," he said cautiously, "A traveler," he continued, realizing at once that he didn't have a clue where he actually was at all.  "Who's Thalick?"

"My friend," she said sweetly, then cajoled: "Don't be afraid, Rzzdik," Valry said softly. "We're safe here.  This is a place where we can talk."

"Where is…here?" Zolan asked with just a touch of mounting frustration in his voice/thought.

The girl holding his hand seemed to reflect his confusion for just an instant.  Then she smiled with an understanding that was still dismally bereft from his own.

"I...don't know for sure," she said in slight awe, "but as long as we're here together, nothing can hurt us."

Now, for the first time, Zolan was actually listening to what Valry was saying to him.  His curiosity replaced a mounting dread.

"You say nothing can hurt us here, wherever we are.  Is something trying to hurt you? Some kind of danger nearby?"

Zolan could see the image of Valry's face grow sad and frightened.  She nodded very slowly.

"What is it? Is it something outside of this place?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what it is?" Zolan persisted.

Valry closed her eyes, as if trying to remember something that was just out of reach of memory.  A name formed on her lips.

"Re...Resistor!" she whispered.

Zolan could suddenly feel the girl's touch grow cold, and all at once he perceived movement.  Valry looked around herself and clutching his hand together as she did so.  Abruptly, she looked at him again, though this time he could see a small tear forming in her eyes.

"Help me," she pleaded "I don't have much time."

Zolan took her hands in his, shaking his head in confusion.  There was something about the girl that made him want to extend sympathy and comfort to her; a disturbing and exciting sensation that he could not recall having felt for anyone or anything before in his life.  Suddenly, he wanted to hold her, to touch her again, to tell her how much he wanted to help.

"Wh..how, how can I help you? Where are we?"

Valry's eyes grew wider and more desperate.  Then, without warning, the girl released his hand and floated away from him.  He could hear her crying and see her reaching out to him, but something was preventing her from coming back.  Then, he too, felt a strange tugging sensation from behind.  He was moving again, though very slowly.

"Please help me...Zolan," the girl cried again.

"Wait: Come back:" Zolan yelled, reaching out his hands to her, realizing suddenly that she had called him by his first name without him having told her.  All at once, he found himself back in the intolerable black void being pulled from behind like a kitten by the scruff of the neck.  He was not afraid anymore; the pained, beautiful eyes of the girl haunted him as he raced backwards, and the only thing he felt now was frustration...  and something else; something - wonderful...  and terrifying..

Such turbulent emotions, however, fizzled out instantly as he was blinded by a bright light.  A second later, and Zolan recognized the ceiling of the Rover's flight deck, sparking and smoking above.

* * *

She had been daydreaming.  That had to be it.

Valry shook her head and closed her eyes.  She felt better immediately.

Thalick had stopped dead in his tracks.  He had anticipated the girl collapsing on top of him; his senses had, for the first time ever, detected an energy drain in his small charge that was both disturbing -- and by Stinger standards, unbelievable.

For just a few seconds, all brainwave activity had come to a halt in Valry.  Impossible, Thalick admitted -- but in Valry's case, perhaps not as surprising as would be suspected.  He monitored Valry silently as she seemed to recover; he would question her later about the matter.  For now, he was happy that everything was functioning normally.

But Valry was way ahead of him.

"I'm fine.  Just tired, I guess."

Neither one of them believed this explanation for a moment, but the subject was dropped before it was even raised.  Something else took its place for priority and attention.

Even before she could see it, Valry knew that the ocean was very near.  Her heart beat excitedly as Thalick crawled out of the crater and onto flat ground again.  Immediately, the smell of wet, salty sod on a crisp breeze lapped

deliciously at her face.  She had not seen an ocean in many years, since Thalick had kept the tribe inland near snow-capped mountains for more than a decade.  Many of the rivers that flowed into or from the oceans were hopelessly polluted, so the Stingers had wisely decided to stay far away from the great, useless bodies of water, and stay close to the fresh-water producing ice of the higher elevations.

As Thalick approached the cliff edge overlooking the sea, the ancient calls of a dead heritage tugged at Valry's soul.  The sounds of gulls shrieking overhead, or the drone of a watchful foghorn were all absent here, as was an orange sun preparing to dip under the watery horizon with the approach of dusk.  No ships could be seen entering a welcome port, and no rocky peninsula supported an elegant lighthouse.  Even the beach far below was deprived of a drooping palm tree that had long ago been famous for giving shade to lazy lovers.  The sea of this world was a thing stripped of a wondrous past, still churning in agony from a rape perpetrated on it a million years earlier.  But like a seductive, wanton thing, it stretched itself out before Valry and made itself appealing, arousing within her the same lust that had been aroused in her ancestors eons ago.  And though she would never know the joy of walking barefoot in the surf, collecting seashells, or receiving a salty kiss of love on the beach by moonlight, Valry need only look out to the waves and imagine the beauty of it all, as if it were a world she had always known, and could never live without.  The dreams of the sea would give to her what the sea had always given Man: a sense of freedom that had once made his spirit bold and adventurous, and which had eventually driven him to the stars.

Valry squinted against the cool wind that even so far above the sea here on the cliff edge, was sprinkled with a light spray.  Far away, on the edge of the world, she could see a forest of waterspouts lining up along side of one another.  Like the land twisters that ravaged the plain and desert regions, the monstrous storms of the sea bludgeoned the waters into a hellish foam.  In a few hours, there would be great tidal waves approaching inland that would crash into the cliffs with devastating force.

Thalick saw the storm warnings the ocean offered, and he quickly turned to analyze the skies above and behind him.  As he had feared, the Dark's schizophrenic behavior of a few hours before had turned the atmosphere inside out.  He was already regretting having come this far to look for the flying fireball that had dropped from the Dark.  There was still time, though, before the land and ocean storms converged together and unleashed the hundred mile winds, and Thalick increased his crawl to a trot along the cliff edge.

"Look;" Valry yelled out a few minutes later, pointing to a place where the beach began to curve inland.  "On no, Thalick-" she began, almost choking on her words and unable to finish what she was saying.

WE NEED GET CLOSER Thalick interrupted, and broke into a run.  The breeze that only a short while ago Valry had enjoyed was rapidly becoming stronger and more biting, and by the time Thalick stopped again to look out at the beach, Valry was finding it difficult to stay aboard the Stinger.

"Do you see anything?" Valry asked, holding her hair out so it wouldn't fly into her mouth.

Thalick stared disgustedly ahead.  All thoughts of the mysterious fireball dropping from the Dark had vanished.  A far more pressing problem lay before him.

THERE, he hissed.

Valry saw the enormous Jumper leap from the building top into the street.  A second later, and the rat disappeared into the surrounding rubble.  Valry groaned in despair, realizing what the appearance of the grotesque creature implied.

"Jumpers" That means Redeyes; A lot of them, I'll bet." she said coldly.  "Do you think they know about the tribe?"

TRIBE FAR AWAY.  BUT STILL, TRIBE MUST MOVE.  TOO CLOSE TO REDEYE.  NO CAN STAY           

Valry was suddenly not feeling very well, and the wind was feeling cold against her skin.

"But they're so tired, Thalick.  We can't leave yet." she pointed out desperately.  She could not imagine her sick tribe moving another foot from where it had come to rest in the crescent valley.

Thalick transmitted nothing further.  He studied the city below him.  It was the largest one extant that he had come across on the planet.  Most of it lay submerged, and tall towers creaking against the growing winds could be seen several miles out at sea.  A large section of what had once been a massive bridge lay chopped in two at its center point, leaving a single, enormous tower still vertical and anchored to the seabed.  Most of the ruins were the crumbling skeletons of the steel constructed skyscrapers.  The concrete buildings were more mounds of decaying limestone near the beach, and the rest of the city that extended inland stopped abruptly at a point which seemed to suggest the earth just swallowed everything else up.  A mile and a half away, a large, badly rusted plaque hung from a pole which read: SAN FRANCISCO - CITY BY THE BAY.

A large waterspout was weaving itself towards shore, smashing into a few imperious skyscrapers still above water.  The whine of million year old metal echoed on the wind, making Valry chill even worse than before.  She wanted to continue searching for the fireball she had seen, but her constitution was quickly rejecting the idea.

"Do you want to go on, Thalick?" she asked the Stinger, who was now backing away from the cliff edge as he spotted the ocean twister.