‘Sure looks that way.’ Sol grinned. ‘So, shall we go and see the Eich?’
‘You’re coming too?’
‘Certainly am. You can get me through that barrier, can’t you?’
‘I can.’ Tao stared at him as if with a new set of eyes. ‘Doesn’t look like I can keep you away, does it?’ She glanced at Deira and raised her eyebrows. ‘Is he always as forceful as this, Deira?’
‘Don’t look at me – I don’t recognise the man. He’s usually such a pussycat.’
The two women grinned at each other, leaving Sol to look at Gary and shrug.’
‘You see how it is with women?’ he said in a resigned tone. ‘Just be on your guard when you’re round my daughter.’
‘Dad!’ Juliette looked horrified.
‘Come on then,’ Tao chuckled. ‘We’d better go before you cause any more ructions.’
‘Me?’ Sol looked so innocent that everyone laughed, including Gary. That was the signal for Tao to form a time-space portal and, after some necessarily swift farewells, she and Sol stepped through into the Eich enclave.
Deira watched the portal disappear and turned back to Gary and Juliette. They’d been holding hands but let each other go as she turned. Now, they were looking acutely embarrassed. Deira bit her tongue a moment before she could say something she might regret later. She knew Juliette was an independent young woman of seventeen, but to her she was still a child, and she wasn’t at all sure about developing signs of intimacy. On the other hand, Juliette was away from home and out of her control for most of the time. Clearly, she needed to rethink her attitudes.
‘I guess we should get you two back to England for now,’ she said, pretending she hadn’t seen the hand-holding. ‘Gary, I might have to call on your services again sometime in the next three days. Could hold yourself in readiness?’
‘Absolutely,’ Gary said. ‘This is all so … wonderful.’
Juliette smiled at him and mouthed ‘Well done!’ and Deira couldn’t help smiling. They were really both a couple of innocents.
Juliette and Gary collected their things and presented themselves back in the sitting room at the favoured folding site.
‘Ready?’ Deira said.
Gary nodded, so she opened a portal and they all stepped through into Chayka’s lab, next to Juliette’s workstation. Deira didn’t prolong things and, after a quick visit to Chyka to deliver the El data, folded straight back home. She stood for a moment, gazing round at the familiar sitting room that seemed strangely silent now after all the recent activity. She wasn’t at all sure how she was going to occupy herself while the assault on the El was underway, but some further mentalic exploration was probably the best antidote to the guilt and misery she still felt regarding Josh 2.
With a deep sigh, she made her way to the kitchen to fix herself a hot drink.
Chapter 33
Tao was becoming pretty slick at time-space-folds by now and folded expeditiously into the Eich settlement. She wasn’t surprised to find the new Speaker waiting for them.
‘Welcome back, Tao,’ he said. ‘And Sol, I haven’t previously had the pleasure of meeting you in person, though I’ve always followed your exploits by mentalic meld.’
‘Yeah. Good to meet you too.’
In fact, Sol wasn’t at all sure what he felt about the new Eich frontman. Tao had previously used the word “shifty” about him and Sol thought that fit the bill perfectly, though how you could say somebody with that sort of face could be shifty he couldn’t say. He was wondering whether to follow up his greeting when he had a sudden communication from Chard.
‘Jiao has just asked me to pass on a message from Tao. She says to remain quiet and let her do the talking. There appears to be a differential breakdown in the Eich conditioning.’
‘Copy that,’ Sol returned.
He could have kicked himself. He’d been quite proud of the thought he’d put into devising their mission parameters, and yet he’d completely forgotten one essential factor. He hadn’t given any consideration to the internal problems the Eich might be experiencing – must be experiencing if they’d erected a folded-space barrier – and that would have a major bearing on whether they’d be able to access the data they required. He waited to see how Tao would handle it.
‘How may I be of assistance,’ The Speaker asked.
‘A couple of things,’ Tao said. ‘I know the other young agents are in training, but we need their help on a mission. I’d be grateful if you’d let them know we’re here, so I can fold them out.’
‘And the other thing?’
‘It’d make life a lot easier if you’d drop the folded-space barrier. I know last time we met you said the consensus was that it should remain up. Why is that? What are you hiding from?’
‘I … excuse me … I am receiving conflicting views.’
The Speaker turned and walked away a few metres before coming to a stop and standing perfectly still. Tao looked at Sol.
‘They’re experiencing severe problems,’ she whispered. ‘It’s leaking through from the Speaker, as if his mentalic barriers are in shreds. They’re still not aware of their true history, but their conditioning is breaking down, and many of them perceive a threat necessitating the folded-space barrier.’
‘Are they scared of the El?’ Sol whispered back.
‘They aren’t currently aware of the El. All they know is there’s a threat of some kind out there. Wait – he’s coming back.’
The Speaker turned and walked slowly back to them.
‘My apologies for that. I have been asked to enquire why you need the young agents? We have not authorised a mission that might require all of them at once.’
‘No, you haven’t.’ Tao hesitated and looked at Sol.
‘Tao thinks we should tell them what’s going on,’ Chard said in Sol’s head. ‘What do you think?’
Sol tried to think that through but soon realised he’d need far more time then he’d got to get a sensible answer.
‘If that’s Tao’s hunch, tell her to go with it,’ he said.
Tao nodded as the message was passed back to her and Sol waited to see what would happen next.
‘Speaker,’ she said, ‘we’ve worked tirelessly with the Eich for many years now, even facilitating your relocation from Titan to prevent your destruction. Do you acknowledge that?’
‘Of course. What are you trying to say?’
‘Do you trust us?’ Tao looked up into the leering face, trying to extract something from it – some feedback that would help her through this. Except for the garbled stuff leaking through his mentalic barriers, there was nothing.
‘Of course. Why wouldn’t we?’
‘Okay. I’m only asking because I know you’re experiencing some … discord. I think you’re all finding events confusing right now. Am I correct?’
‘You are. How do you know this?’
‘I believe the answer would be for me to show you mentalically. It might help you through this period of crisis.’
The Speaker hesitated again, presumably conferring with his colleagues.
‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Sol said to Tao via the AIs.
‘I’m trying to cut through all this crap,’ Tao replied the same way. ‘We haven’t got time for niceties. We need the young agents and we need the Eich data. I’m hoping this is the fastest way to get it. If I’m wrong, well …’ She shrugged.
‘We are willing to undergo a mentalic meld,’ the Speaker said. ‘When you join with me, you will be joined with the entire community. You understand there can be no dissembling using mentalics?’
Tao looked surprised. ‘Why would I try to lie to you?’
‘Then let us begin.’
Tao closed her eyes and waited for the usual mentalic channel to open between them. She was very familiar with this, having done it many times with the old Speaker, though the information flow had previously always been in her direction. This time, she would act as the educator – and inform the Eich of th
eir true history. It wasn’t difficult, but the thought of all those individuals listening to her was daunting.
She began with the Founders, and the common view that their presence in sub-quantal space was vital for the continued existence of the universe. She mentioned the El as part of a massive organisation charged with keeping these entities confined, and the Cthon as agents of the El in this segment of space. She went on to describe how the Eich had developed from a group of scientists who had either interpreted the underlying data differently or had found more data that implied it was essential for the safety of the universe that the Founders be freed. Then she mentioned the war between the El and the Eich.
Finally, she explained what the current situation was, and how important it was to get to the bottom of the question of whether the Founders should be freed or not. She also told of the El rebellion and their development of a weapon that would sterilise sub-quantal space and achieve their aim at the same time – regardless of whether this was the correct solution.
This was all conveyed in milliseconds and, when it was done, she put the question she’d come here to ask.
‘Will you give us access to the data you originally used to determine that the Founders should be freed? We’ve already acquired the data the El use, and we’d like to compare the two sets before we categorically come down on one side or the other.’
There was a considerable pause after her presentation while the assembled Eich assimilated the information.
‘We … we have been mentalically conditioned? By these El?’ The Speaker sounded profoundly shocked.
‘Well, strictly speaking it was the Cthon who did the conditioning, but on the instructions of the El.’
There was another long pause.
‘You speak the truth. Your revelation has started a process of mentalic unravelling and realignment that will persist for some time. We are greatly in your debt.’
‘Not so,’ Tao said. ‘We merely seek to repay some of the debt we owe you. However, time is of the essence. We badly need to determine what our course of action should be, and for that we require your data. Would you let me have it? And would you let me take the young agents?’
‘You may certainly take the young agents and try to prevent the El deploying their weapon.’ The speaker swayed slightly, as if he was having trouble accepting all the new information. ‘Unfortunately, we do not know where our original data is. We think it may have been removed at the same time we were conditioned.’
‘Shit,’ Sol said, unable to keep quiet any longer. ‘That’s quite possible – and it sure screws our mission. How do we decide what to do now?’
Tao looked thoughtful. ‘We’ll just have to use the Founders’ data.’
‘Is that reasonable? I mean, aren’t they likely to fix it to get themselves free?’
‘Not necessarily. If by freeing themselves they cause the destruction of the universe, they won’t exactly have gained anything, would they?’
‘Guess not. So, what do we do now then?’
‘I think we should return home and catch up with Deira. Then, I’ll go and see Josh. I’ll keep it short, but even so I expect I’ll need a few hours rest afterwards – and that’ll bring our available time down to three days. It’s all getting a bit tight.’
‘No kidding? What about the young agents?’
‘I think it’d be best if they stayed here until we’re ready to start the assault on the El ship.’ She looked up at the tall Eich. ‘Speaker, is there any chance of mentalic developmental breakthroughs in the next twenty-four hours?’
‘I would have said not. However, if we brief the young agents on what is occurring, the stress of the situation might have the desired effect.’
‘Will you do that for us, then?’
‘We would be pleased to. With the entire reason for our existence in doubt and the future of the universe at risk, we will help in any way we can.’
‘Excellent.’ Tao looked at Sol. ‘I think we’ve done our good deed for the day here. Now, we need to go.’
Without any attempt at farewell, she formed a portal and they stepped through, leaving the obviously struggling Eich to turn and walk slowly away.
§
Deira was sitting on the sofa with her coffee when they stepped into the MacMahon living room.
‘That was quick,’ she said. ‘I’ve only just got back from Cambridge. Have you got the data?’
‘Change of plan,’ Sol said, heading towards the kitchen, ‘Like a drink, Tao?’
‘Jasmine tea if the automat can manage it,’ Tao called after him. ‘Ordinary tea if it can’t.’ She sat on the sofa next to Deira.
‘What’s going on?’ Deira said, looking worried.
‘The Eich were going through a sort of deconditioning crisis. I think the confusion in their mentalics due to their crumbling conditioning would have taken a considerable time to resolve on its own, so I tried to speed-up the process by telling them the truth. Now they’re going through what they refer to as a realignment crisis. It’ll be quicker this way, but still not fast enough to enable them to be of any help to us within our very tight time-scale. Our main problem relates to their original data. They don’t have it.’
‘Shit. Now what do we do?’
‘I’m going to see Josh and get the data straight from the Founders. I know there are issues about that – hell, I’ve had issues myself – but I’m fairly convinced they’re on the level. After all, anything they give us mentalically must be the truth.’
Deira looked doubtful. ‘That’s obviously not the case,’ she said. ‘Our experience with the Eich tells another story. I think the truthfulness of mentalically-derived information depends on whether the “senders” believe it’s the truth. It’s a bit more fluid than we thought. Certainly not a guarantee.’
‘I confess I hadn’t thought of that.’ Tao frowned.
Sol returned with the drinks, handed Tao the jasmine tea and settled himself in his favourite armchair with a coffee.
‘What’s up?’ he said, picking up on the mood.
‘Just something Deira said.’ Tao sipped her tea and looked thoughtful.
Sol looked questioningly at Deira.
‘I said that mentalic truth seems to depend on the senders believing it to be the truth,’ she said. ‘That could be a problem if we’re forced to rely on the Founders’ data.’
Tao frowned. ‘While I agree with your assessment of mentalically-delivered information,’ she said, ‘I’m still convinced the Founders are giving us a hard version of the truth. I don’t know why I feel this way – I certainly didn’t when I was down there in sub-quantal space – but now, I’m almost certain. It’s like a very strong hunch.’
‘Well, shit, if it’s one of those, I wouldn’t worry too much,’ Sol said. ‘In my experience, you ignore female hunches at your peril.’
‘So, who are all these females whose hunches you’ve had experience of?’ Deira said.
‘You know what I mean.’
Tao grinned. She was getting used to Sol and Deira’s sparring by now and found it both funny and encouraging. These guys had been together for more than twenty years and still enjoyed each other’s company. She wondered if she and Josh would be able to say the same if they ever had the chance.
‘I think I should get on, don’t you,’ she said, silencing the good-natured repartee.
‘Oh, sure.’ Deira seemed a little disconcerted, almost embarrassed. ‘Give my love to Josh and tell him it won’t be long before he’s out of there.’
‘Will do. See you soon. Oh, I was going to sort Adam out in his new body, wasn’t I?’
‘Yes, you were,’ Deira said. ‘It won’t take long and you’re going to need a rest afterwards in any case. I’ll watch his body for returning consciousness.’
‘Great. See you soon.’
Tao dived straight in and descended to the infra-low, sinking toward the hole and letting the automatic retrieval device take her through to sub-quantal space. Just l
ike last time, Josh appeared almost immediately.’
‘The doorbell’s still working, then?’ Tao flung her arms around him and kissed him.
Josh responded enthusiastically. ‘Yeah. Good, isn’t it?’ He would have liked to continue this somewhere a little more comfortable but could tell she had something on her mind. He wasn’t surprised when she pulled away again. ‘So, are you here about our bodies?’ he said.
Tao had already decided not to tell him about his doppelganger in the real world. ‘Part of my reason for being here is to re-house Adam in his new body.’ She said, frowning. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a little longer for yours.’
Josh noticed the frown but decided not to press her on this. ‘What’s the other part of your reason for you being here?’
‘We can’t get the original data from the Eich, so we need the Founders’ data – the data that’s supposed to prove they need to escape sub-quantal space.’
‘No problem. I’ve already had a good long look at it and I can’t find any problems. Here, I’ll transfer it.’
Whatever he did was effective, because Tao suddenly had a load of sub-quantal functions swimming through her brain.
‘That’s no good,’ she said. ‘I’ll never remember all that.’
‘Yes, you will. That’s the benefit of this kind of transfer. It’s like mentalic plus. Believe me, it’ll be there when you need it, and then you can download it to Jiao for onward transmission.’ He took her in his arms again and kissed her, running a hand over her belly at the same time. ‘How’s my son behaving?’
‘Oh Josh, I miss you so much. We’ll soon have a new body for you. Just a little longer.’ She returned his kiss but then pulled away, breathing heavily. ‘I can’t afford time out now. I need to get moving. Sorry, but I’ve lots to do and very little time to do it in.’
‘Copy that. Just don’t be too long with that body. I’ve got some really good ideas for it.’
Tao grinned wickedly. ‘You think I haven’t? Okay, enough of this. Where’s Adam?’
‘I’ll get him.’ Josh vanished briefly, then reappeared with Adam in tow. ‘Lucky you,’ he said. ‘Your body’s ready.’
Gods of Titan- The Cosmic Constants Page 27
