Clete grinned at the expression on his face. Dutch and Lane managed to keep from laughing, just. They drove out of the yard and stopped by the bank of a stream. Dutch climbed down and removed the keys from the harness.
"What do we do with the horses, Lane? If we set them free, they'll just be captured again."
"Clete, just how much did you tell Sare?"
"Just what I told him to, Lane. Everything."
"That's where we take the horses. It's not far. Let's go. Professor, watch for berry bushes. We'll talk Sare out of one more meal. Wait'll you taste her pie."
They had one more meal with Sare and Billy and left the horses in the barn. They carried their tack into Melissa and laughed at the professor's expression when he stepped into Lissa. He started toward the bridge and they redirected him. Clete held him up when he stepped into their living room.
"This is... is... "
"Melissa, our ship. Make yourself comfortable while we stow this."
"Here, Dutch. I'll take yours too. You stick with him. Show him the kitchen and fix him a cup of tea. He needs it."
"Thanks, Clete. Come on, Professor. This way."
"This isn't possible!"
"Neither are we. Well, Lane and Clete insist I am, but since my father doesn't exist in this universe, I have my doubts. Here. Sit down and drink this. I'll tell you why we're here. And why we're not sure why you are. Lane says we... interrupted the paradox, or shorted the loop."
"I don't understand."
"What you did here would have left your world a radioactive cinder in fifty years. Of course, you wouldn't have been born, so it wouldn't have happened. But then, you would have and it would, and round and round. We're new at this and still trying to figure that part out. Or we found it because we were supposed to change it. Dad says just fix and don't worry."
"Dutch, you're confusing him."
"I figured he might as well be as confused as we are, Lane."
"Help. I've set course for your world's future, Professor. I know you need to see it to truly believe it will change soon enough without changing the past. We're interested too. I know, but I want to see. We'll be landing soon."
"How soon, Lane? Does the professor have time for a tour?"
"No, but we'll give him one anyway. Melissa loves to be shown off. Just the apartments though. We'll skip the ship proper. It would take years to explain finite infinity."
"Finite infinity is a self-contradictory statement."
"See what I mean? Come on. We'll start with the gym."
They showed him Melissa, then his rich, green, and peaceful world. He promised to work to better his own time in his own time and they left him in his workshop mulling over the concept of finite infinity. They didn't return the rare element that made time travel possible. They 'forgot' to mention they had it. Dutch dropped onto a couch in the living room as Lane put them in flight.
"Lane, let's take a vacation."
"Exactly, Dutch. We're on our way, but I think you should know vacation runs right into work."
"Then we'd better start getting back in shape. The gym. Now."
Dutch and Lane groaned, but followed Clete to the gym. They knew he was right. They had weight to regain and strength to rebuild. Vacations were more fun if they could show off.
Chapter Five
A vacation on a lovely Fed planet was a nice surprise, but Clete knew Lane was right about it turning into work and they weren't in good condition yet. He glanced over at Dutch and grabbed a shirt.
"Dutch, you're turning pink. You didn't use screen again. Put this on."
"Uh, oh. Thanks, Clete. I didn't expect to be in the sun this much or I'd have remembered."
"Sure you would."
"Lane's over there someplace."
"Yeah, and very relaxed, near somnolent. At least he'll have screen with him. That shirt's too big. We're still underweight."
"Muscle mass takes time to rebuild."
"I know. I'm worried about how much time we'll have. There's something wrong here. A nervous undercurrent. Tense. That ought to wake Lane up. Thought so."
"What did you do?"
"Decided we go on a full ten-day training schedule tomorrow."
"Oh, Clete! We're supposed to be on vacation!"
"Lane said it was going to turn into work. It just did. Ten/five/ten run. Dawn tomorrow. Dutch, I really believe it's necessary. I doubt we'll get in the full ten days. Feel like doing a few katas?"
"No, but I will. Odds on how long before Lane shows up?"
"I can feel how close he is. Tai chi. Begin."
"You knew I was coming. You could have waited for me."
"Get in line, Lane. Too fast, Dutch. From the beginning."
Clete moved them into the shade. They could cure sunburn, but avoiding it was always first choice. He seldom forgot sunscreen and Lane would be severely teased if he did, but Dutch never seemed to remember it. By the time they finished three hours of what should have been light exercise, they knew they were in worse condition than they'd realized. Clete designed a diet for them. They'd been starved. They had used some of their body mass to stay alive.
Dutch added a bit to their schedule, a meditation routine. He wanted to see if they could increase their ability to distance their minds from their bodies. If they could, they would never go through the kind of pain they had suffered again. He nearly gave up the idea in panic when Lane went under and he spent an hour trying to bring him back, but both Lane and Clete believed they should go on. They trained their bodies and began to learn to control them to the deepest physiological function. An 'accident' taught them how well they'd learned.
"DUTCH! Lane! Come on! He's hurt!"
Lane followed Clete into the sea. Dutch was in real trouble. How had he missed it? Why hadn't he seen it? The sudden shift in current had pulled Dutch against the wreck he had been exploring. His snorkeling partner was struggling to free him from the entangling weeds.
Riss was hanging on against the panic she felt as she swam in the cloud of blood at his side. She swam to the surface and took him a lung full of air. Then started working to free him again. Suddenly his brothers were there. She got him another lung full of air and he smiled and motioned her up. They brought him up and began floating him to shore. Clete felt her fear and pulled her in.
"He'll be all right, Riss. He's in a state of trance. It slows his metabolism and reduces the blood loss. You saved his life. You did well."
"Oh, Clete, it came so sudden. It pushed him into the wreck and tangled him in weeds. I didn't have anything to cut him loose with and there was so much blood and I just--"
"Easy, easy. It looked like a lot of blood because it dispersed so fast. He's not hurt as bad as you think he is."
"Clete, I know how bad it is. It was the first thing I checked."
"Riss... Oh, damn. We're not human, or not completely anyway. We're half something else."
"I know. He has two hearts. I like the double beat."
"Well, we've been learning to control our bodies. Dutch is the best. He's healing already. Go look."
"That's not possible!"
"Clete, what did you tell her? Damn! Clete, she's right. It's not possible. The wound's closing. Healing as I watch it. In... twenty minutes it'll be gone."
"WHAT?!"
"Come on. Let's get him above the tide line."
"Hello. Thanks, Riss. You saved... Why are you all staring at me?"
"We're going to move you into the shade, Dutch. Go back into trance and finish healing yourself."
"What are you talking about, Clete?"
"Just go back under. We'll talk about it when you wake up. Lane, I'm going to buy Riss and I a drink. We'll be back. Come on, Riss. You look like you need one as bad as I do. Hot cocoa with something minty."
"I'm with you."
Lane watched them walk off and smiled. Clete didn't need a drink, but he must have thought Riss did, or at least that she needed the walk and something warm. Somehow Dutch had learned to put himself in
a healing trance. The injury wasn't really bad, not much more than a nasty gash. The entangling weeds, blood loss and shock had been the real danger. He worked to get rid of the guilt he had missed the incident in his memory and put it in perspective. They had learned something invaluable from it and that was what was most important.
Dutch came out of his trance after a very few minutes, looked at his side, grinned at Lane and went to sleep. Lane noted the sleep. It told him the healing trance required an energy expenditure. Normal trance conserved energy and revitalized. He had timed the trance. He would time the sleep. If it was about equal, they could assume at least Dutch had inherited another of their father's physical attributes.
He thought about missing the memory of the incident and wondered if he hadn't been intended to. The fact he hadn't become dizzy... Clete looked slightly disgusted when they came back. He hadn't been extremely successful getting rid of the guilt.
"How is he?"
"Asleep, Clete. Just grinned at me and went to sleep."
"Oh, I see."
"Well I don't."
"Riss, I can't explain it, but what he did made him tired."
"What are you besides human? Your blood's red. You look like us. That's not extremely unusual, but this is."
"Our father is... Well, he's from an older species, more physically advanced. He thinks most of his people are boring. Spends most of his time with humans. Prefers their company. Spent several years with Clete's mom."
"Lane, are you telling me you had a different mother than Clete?"
"Oh, I'd say she was different. Wouldn't you, Clete?"
"Very."
"The longer I'm around you guys, the more confused I get."
Dutch lifted himself to his elbows and smiled.
"That's why you're with me. I'm a much simpler person."
He looked from his two brothers to the pert little brunette he really liked and wondered why they were all laughing.
They continued with the meditation routine and began to notice it was having more effects on them than expected. Lane answered the question in Dutch's eyes when he sat down across the counter from him in the kitchen.
"We're changing. Our temperatures are lower. Our resting pulse rates are slower. Our entire metabolisms have slowed."
"I get cold easily, Lane. I had to come back to Melissa for a sweater last night."
"You can speed up your metabolism to compensate, Dutch, probably to a much higher rate. With sufficient fuel, you'd probably barely notice sub-zero."
"I'm not sure I like it."
"Remember how easily Dad got chilled? We'd be broiling and he'd be wearing a jacket. Well, that's about where we are. Not quite that extreme, but moving that direction."
"I don't understand about you, Lane. We're half human. You're not. Why are you... Why weren't you like this before?"
"You, Dutch."
"Duh."
"I spent my entire childhood waiting for you. Wanting to be with you. Wanting to be... more than just your half-brother."
"I never think of you that way. I never have."
"I know. Just goes to show how tight the bond of our father's heritage is. You didn't think of us as half-brothers from the moment you met Dad."
"Maybe more than even just brothers, the triplets everyone thought we were."
"Aren't we? Aren't we one who became three?"
"Or are we three becoming one?"
"Does it matter? Would you change it?"
"What a silly question. And I can't say I mind becoming more like Dad either. In fact, I've decided I'm going to be rather smug about it."
"You look even more like him than we do, Goldilocks. Let's find Clete. I've remembered something."
They found Clete, relieved him of his barbell, and pushed him toward the spa. He had regained nearly all the mass he'd lost and he pulled both of them in with him. He was pleased with the success of the training program and their timing was, if anything, better. They laughed and played a bit, then settled into quiet relaxation. Lane began to tell them of the images and the change that was needed.
"The current that caught Dutch is a fairly common occurrence. Ten years ago it was an occasional one; twenty, nonexistent. The entangling weeds weren't a result of the current. They caused it."
"I felt it! I didn't recognize it, but when I was trying to free him, I was feeling an... anger that wasn't my own. It wasn't focused. Just a formless anger."
"That's right, Clete, a formless anger. It's growing stronger."
"Lane, there's… evil here. Deep and ugly. A cold malevolence. A power of destruction. Strongest near the sea. I want to do something about it."
"That's the decision that gave me memories, Dutch. We find an island. It's in the southern ocean. It's the source of the hate. We feel the malevolence. It's not natural to this world. The island is volcanic. It hasn't been active for thousands of years. That changes abruptly."
"And?"
"That's it, Dutch."
"All right, we know what you mean. How do we get to the island?"
"By boat."
"I want to take Melissa."
"Changing. No good."
"I think we should start at the beginning. Twenty years ago."
"Good idea, Clete. Well, Lane?"
"Changing. No. Same result."
"That's it then. We don't go to the island."
"What?"
"The island's a trap. We refuse to spring it. We battle from here. We mock it in our thoughts and-- Well, we know it changes things. Let's get him out of the water."
"Dutch it's not the same! He's not unfocused! He's not there!"
Dutch grabbed Clete's mind with his and began the search for Lane. He poured his love and Clete's, their desperate need to find the one who was more than brother, into it. He felt an echo and found another who searched. He felt strength pour into his call. He smiled as he recognized the mind that searched with them. Another joined, gathered into the search by love and need. They found him and battle was joined.
Power fought power. Love and life battled hate and death. Fought for Lane, for his spirit. They were losing until a will refused to lose. Refused to be defeated. Refused to allow it. Dutch found his own 'stubborn streak'. He would not allow it! He would not let Lane be taken from him! Clete added his passion. The fire of his spirit. The driving need for Lane in his life. His rage at his being taken. It burned through the channel the searching minds had created and became relentless.
That which had taken Lane began to fear. Love, will and rage were forged into a weapon guided by Dutch's hand. A burning sword of power. Suddenly, Lane was with them, fighting with them to free himself. That which had held him fled into the darkness, mocked by their love and joy.
The strange union began to dissolve. The dissolution was gently tinged with sadness. Two had touched one they had thought to touch no more. Clete wept for the poignancy of their partings. Dutch gathered his brothers and returned them to themselves. Lane softly whispered, "Mother," in their minds.
"I'd say that changed things."
"Clete, you have an absolute gift for understatement. Lane, are you all right?"
"I... Yes. No. I'm not sure. I feel... unreal."
"No."
Clete reached out and pulled Lane to him. Wrapped him in his arms and held him. Dutch was a bit surprised, but trusted Clete's instincts. He joined in the embrace and they held him between them. Lane began to laugh.
"I know I'm real now. I'm being squished."
Clete and Dutch joined in his laughter, but they didn't let him go, not for quite some time. They needed to feel he was real as much as he did. He didn't know something was odd until the next morning. After two days, he knew he had to share his worry.
"Dutch, the images are gone."
"Which images?"
"My memories of the future. They're gone. That's why I felt unreal. I catch glimpses of near events. I know Clete is about to walk through that door, but nothing else."
"Sit down
, Clete. Explain."
"I can't. When we decided to take on a task, I'd see an abrupt end if something happened to us. As soon as we found a solution, the future became myriad possibilities. The possibilities increased with every change we made. I started with one for my life. It became several when Dad didn't send me away. They became many. The many became myriad. Now they're gone. I'm useless to us."
"That's ridiculous! Don't ever say it again!"
"I'm sorry, Clete. It's how I feel."
"I think it's ridiculous too, Lane. You knew Clete was coming in."
"Like I said. Near. Nothing that leads beyond the next moment. No memories beyond."
"Limbo. We all are."
"Your turn, Clete. Explain."
"We haven't made any plans. We haven't made any decisions. We haven't made any choices. Too delighted to have Lane with us to think beyond the moment. You're the key, Dutch. Have you made any decisions?"
"No. You're right. I've just been existing. Something took Lane right out of Melissa. It shouldn't have been able to do that. I haven't wanted to make any decisions. It happened when I made a change."
"You're afraid. You don't want him to have memories. You don't want the power to put him into... well, under the influence of his changing memories. You're afraid it'll happen again. Dutch, you can't hold your breath forever. Choice is a function of who you are, of what we are together. If you refuse to make choices, you cripple yourself and suspend him in limbo."
"I need time."
"No, you need to pull yourself together now. We don't have to ride out to battle, but you must choose to do something. Even doing nothing is a choice. It just leads to nothing. If we do nothing, the enemy has won. Entropy defeats us."
"I don't know what to choose."
"Choose to face your fear. It isn't of dying. It's of losing us. What we have. What we are. Choose!"
"I... choose to strengthen us. To learn more about us. To make what happened impossible."
"Yes. Yes! It's not the same, but it's there. A future. Not far. No splitting. To the point of another time of choice. Thank you."
"What's the first step, Dutch?"
"We've learned to use your passion and my will. Lane is our weak link. We have to learn to use his intellect. Blend your passion and my will to the use of his reason. Bring him fully in. I think the key is his insatiable curiosity."
Choice of the Gallant_Paradox Equation I Page 17
