Several seconds passed before Calidore said, “You’re a crafty lad, as much brain as brawn. I keep forgetting your odd Wolf Clan heritage. Instead of ignorant barbarians, you’re a bunch of scholar-athlete wannabes.”
“That’s avoiding the question,” I said.
“Very well then, yes, I’m a computer slate. But once, I was a man. Do you know how maddening that is?”
“More emotions, Doctor?”
“No…” he said after a moment. “I suppose you’ll find out eventually, but mentalists learn to control their emotions, at least at the most fundamental level they do. In order to achieve true brilliance, we learn over time to mute our emotions. They get in the way far too often. Our emotions atrophy—use it or lose it also applies to us. Later, as advanced mentalists, we learn to mimic emotions in order to move more easily among the common ruck of society. I suppose old habits die hard. Even as a computer entity, I mimic emotions out of habit, but you are correct. I do not feel as I used to—even to the limited extent that mentalists do feel.”
“All right, that’s settled,” I said. “Back to our problem. Let’s assume one municipality of mentalists learns about us, the one that has Ra in its membership. Would it be correct to assume the others would soon know about us as well?”
“Yes, as our appearance is a fantastic event. It shows that the Avantis still live, and that is incredible.”
“That means Ra must die.”
“To hide our existence from the others?” asked Calidore.
I nodded.
“That is a logical assessment,” Calidore said. “Are you bloodthirsty enough to attempt it?”
I thought about Terra; how I had to win no matter what in order to save an entire planet. It wasn’t a matter of being bloodthirsty, but of whether I had the balls to do my job. I liked to think I did, which meant I would kill Ra if I had to or if I got the chance.
I sighed.
“What’s the matter now?” Calidore asked.
“This…” I said, indicating everything. “It’s too huge, too vast. How am I supposed to stop the mentalists?”
“What?”
“That’s what the Avanti ordered me to do,” I said. “You’re my helper. Turns out, though, that you’re a secret mentalist sympathizer. You’re not on Terra’s side, you’re on its enemies’ side.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Calidore said. “First and foremost, I’m on my side. Show me my self-interest, and I’ll side with you every time.”
Self-interest, the Avanti recording had spoken about my self-interest. Did that have any bearing here?
As Schaine piloted, I sat cross-legged near her. I fingered my chin as I stared at the nearing Kurgech Mountains. I was missing something. I needed to think, to use my head, as Elder Paris Roan would have told me. I chewed my lower lip, frowning, trying to shove pieces together into a coherent puzzle that made sense.
“Calidore,” I said.
“Yes?”
“Why did the Avanti send us here to Aiello first?”
“I have no idea.”
“Why did she send us to the spot she did?”
“You have me,” Calidore said.
I began to nod.
“Have you thought of something?” Calidore asked.
I climbed to my feet and began giving Schaine directions as to where exactly I wanted to go.
-39-
The wind blew our hair, making Schaine even more beautiful. Had Calidore forged her sick personality, or had events and decisions in her life made her into the hateful person she had become? How could someone so beautiful be so evil? Yes. She was easy on the eyes. Yes. She was a wildcat. Yes. I probably shouldn’t have gone into the hut with her after killing her former lover, and yet the prospect of doing so again…
Did she feel my scrutiny? She turned and gave me a searching look and then smiled as if pretending to be shy.
“You are a rare warrior,” she said. “I have never met anyone like you, Jason. Take me with you wherever you go.”
“We’ll see,” I said.
“I love you, Jason. You’re a warrior that could tame me. I sense it.”
“She speaks from the heart,” Calidore said.
“No one asked you,” I told him.
“I have the heart of a mentalist,” he said. “I know about such things.”
I snorted. “Right,” I said. “A mind of a mentalist I can appreciate. But you already told me mentalists pride themselves on being emotionless. In other words, in having no heart.”
“Remember what I have said, Jason,” Schaine said. “You have stolen my heart.”
I nodded. She put it on too thick, maybe because she had no idea what love was, or maybe because putting it on thick usually worked with a lust-driven man.
“What are you trying to achieve?” Calidore asked me. “We’re stranded on Aiello, at the mercy of the starmenters—”
“Not necessarily,” I said, interrupting. “An Oladahn patrol might show up at any time.”
“You know about the Oladahn Confederacy?” he asked. “I had not realized. That changes the complexion of the situation. Let me reanalyze.”
I waited, and it didn’t take long.
“You are one man accompanied by an unscrupulous but gorgeous woman and a brilliant computer doctor,” Calidore said. “That is not enough to defeat Mentalist Ra, his engineers, neutraloids and starmenter allies. Ra can also force Fighting Hunge to wage war for him. In other words, we are doomed before we begin.”
“The Avanti wouldn’t have sent us here if she thought we couldn’t win.”
“That is poorly considered,” Calidore said. “She is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. She’s a frightened alien waking up in a new era, trying to make sense of things.”
“She didn’t seem too frightened to me.”
“You have no scale of reference for such a judgment,” Calidore said.
“I’ve seen her make uncanny guesses,” I said. “She dissected you and likely drained your mind of everything. If nothing else, she would know the general parameters of a mentalist archeological expedition. She gave us the tools to win—to defeat the mentalists.”
“That is unknown,” Calidore said, “as we have not yet won and may just as likely fail.”
“She also relies on our self-interest,” I said. “In fact, I bet she counted on that.”
“The Avantis were not gods.”
“I didn’t say they were. I’m merely extrapolating data from what I’ve seen so far.”
“And you’re doing a terrible job of it.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Eh?”
“The proof is in our success or failure, which has yet to occur.”
“Your passion is getting the better of your judgment,” Calidore said.
“Bear with me for a moment,” I said. “Surely, you realize that I read Ammon’s mind.”
“How?”
I explained what had happened.
The computer slate became quiet afterward. “A strange episode,” Calidore admitted. “Perhaps you have a point regarding the Avanti. She obviously armed your mind for engaging a mentalist with modern techniques. It’s possible you really did gain data from Ammon as you claim. Yes. How else did you negotiate the tunnels so easily? You practically zeroed in on Schaine’s apartment—and you knew she had me. Such precise data most likely came from Ammon’s mind. That is ironic. Instead of purging you of data, you reversed the process. Or, as you might suggest, the Avanti planned for the eventuality. The idea is daunting. If true, she is a formidable foe.”
“That’s the key, isn’t it?” I asked. “I gained what I needed from Ammon. Now, I probably know what to do, I simply haven’t articulated it yet.”
“Are you suggesting that you’re a mere pawn of the Avanti?”
“Not at all,” I said. “I think she predicated her plan on my self-interest, on what I would want to do for my own reasons instead of hers.”
“What is
your ultimate plan?”
“Freeing Terra from stasis,” I said; “protecting Terra from all predators, including the mentalists.”
“I understand that,” Calidore said. “How does our hijacking a sky-raft and escaping the compound help us achieve the goal?”
“Let me see,” I said, beginning to pace back and forth. I didn’t want to get too close to one of the edges, as I didn’t want Schaine suddenly tipping the raft to rid herself of me.
“The Avanti wants us stopping mentalists from taking or learning anything from ancient ruins,” I said. “That presumably means Avanti or Master ruins.”
“Agreed,” Calidore said.
“The ruins on Aiello are deep underwater, deep in subterranean chambers. For the moment, Ra is stymied. He needs a submersible to even reach the ruin. Likely, it is under tons of water pressure.”
“So far, you have said nothing to help us achieve our goal,” Calidore said.
“At least I’m trying,” I said. “You’re my aid, my data computer and supposedly superior at logical thinking.”
“Not supposedly, but clearly superior,” Calidore said.
“Whatever,” I said. “The Avanti put a Lorelai worm in me as subterfuge, rebuilt my body and strengthened my mind, changing it in some way, ready to trigger into action if a mentalist attempted mind control.”
“What is your point?”
“The Avanti’s actions have strategic meaning,” I said. “That would mean…” I snapped my fingers several times, hoping that would help stir my mind.
“Ah,” Calidore said. “How amazing. But, your assumption is correct. I should have already seen this.”
I faced him, itching to ask him what he’d discovered, but certain he would clam up if I did.
“Don’t you see?” Calidore asked. “The Avanti’s method of transport had meaning. Our touchdown location on Aiello was critically important. I believe the Avanti knew more than we realized she did. Now, if I can—I have it. I know what to do.”
I nodded.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Calidore said. “But you were right after a fashion. Ah. I suspect you already know that, given the coordinates you gave Schaine earlier.”
I made an offhanded gesture.
Calidore laughed, and it was an ugly laugh. Was that a signal to Schaine? I assumed it had to be, for at that instant, Schaine wrenched the controls and the sky-raft tilted dangerously to the left.
Calidore was secured in place. Schaine was belted to the controls. I? I staggered in the direction the raft tilted, heading for the lowest edge…
-40-
I leapt upward and grasped a stanchion. Then I dug the tiny control device from my belt. “Schaine!” I shouted. “Right the raft or you’re dead.”
She stared at me as if daring me to do it.
That gave me an inkling about what was really going on. So, I depressed the switch, and nothing happened, as I’d expected.
“Damn you, Calidore,” I shouted.
Schaine’s eyes went wide, and one of her hands flew to the torc on her choker. “You would have killed me,” she shrieked.
“What are you doing to me?” I shouted back.
“Toss her the laser pistol,” Calidore said. “Do it fast or I’ll have Schaine make the raft buck until you lose hold and fall to your death.”
“Why are you such a treacherous little bastard?” I yelled.
“I deal in realities, my emotional young friend. Lord Ra isn’t the fool you take him to be. Naturally, almost as soon as you fled the dead Ammon, the alarm spread throughout the base. Ra improvised a brilliant plan and has executed it flawlessly. He wanted to know what you knew, and what better way than for me to act as your accomplice.”
“Ra isn’t going to give you your robot body.”
“Of course he is,” Calidore said. “I trust him implicitly. He has acted in good faith throughout the proceedings.”
I couldn’t believe it, but as Calidore spoke, tears welled in Schaine’s eyes and dripped down her face. “You tried to kill me—me! How could you, Jason? I treated you like a champion. I loved you.”
“Stop that,” Calidore told her.
Schaine shook her head. “He tried to kill me.”
“He played a hunch,” Calidore said. “He knew the torc would not explode but he had to test his theory. You can see the truth of that in his actions. He’s already figured out what had to take place for us to reach this spot.”
“He knew it wouldn’t explode?” she asked in wonder.
“He was fairly certain, I would think.”
“Is that true, Jason?” she called.
“Yes,” I said, still hanging on, having tossed the little device away.
“You do not hate me?” she asked.
“No, Schaine,” I said. “You’re too beautiful to hate.”
She looked at me through tear-stained eyes. A tremulous smile broke out, and she manipulated the controls.
“What are you doing?” Calidore asked, as the raft righted.
“Jason loves me,” Schaine said.
“No,” Calidore said. “He’s using you, you stupid cow. Quickly now, put us back how we were. If you don’t—”
I drew my laser pistol and clicked the end against him—I’d hurried near. “If you explode her torc, I’m pulling the trigger and annihilating you.”
“If I explode the torc now,” Calidore said, “the fragments will likely kill you, too, Jason. You’re both in my power.”
“Unlock the torc, Calidore. This is your final chance.”
Seconds ticked by—a long time at computer analytical speeds—and something unsnapped. The torc fell from Schaine’s throat. I scooped it up and hurled it over the raft.
“You’ve ruined everything,” Calidore complained. “I would have gained my robot body—”
“Where’s the trace?” I asked, interrupting him.
“Oh, Jason,” Schaine said, as she wrapped her arms around me.
I put my free hand on my knife hilt, while keeping hold of the laser. I wasn’t sure about Schaine. She was a mixed-up woman with a tortured psychology. She was also a bundle of raw emotions as well as grim ambition. I’d tried to kill her. That had hit her hard. Then, realizing I hadn’t really meant to kill her—it might have unlocked something in her, at least for the moment. I did not think that would last.
I drew the computer slate from its holder and disengaged from Schaine.
“Keep piloting us, love,” I said.
“Yes, Jason,” she said, smiling at me, using the heel of her hand to rub dried tears from her cheeks.
I tapped the computer slate with the end of the laser barrel. “This is your last chance, Calidore. What am I thinking?” I holstered the laser and turned him around. “My, but what a nice little red button you have here.”
“Just a minute,” Calidore said.
I pressed the button and kept it down until he shouted endlessly.
“You’re going to break your speaker unit doing that,” I chided him, taking my thumb away.
“I’ve destroyed the trace,” he said.
“Where was it?”
“Embedded in the raft,” he said.
“Not in you, Schaine or me?”
“That would have been wiser, I admit, but remember I said that Ra improvised? The raft was the easiest place to quickly set a tracking device.”
“Ra can probably still track us,” I said. “In fact, I bet haulers are already airborne, coming to get us.”
“That is a remarkably astute estimate of the situation.”
“Which means we have even less time to figure this out and execute,” I said.
“Perhaps it’s time we spoke plainly.”
Nodding, I said, “The Avanti sent us to Aiello. We touched down at a strange place—in the past, you said before.”
“Correct,” Calidore said. “I call that fact one.”
“No one can presently search the ancient ruins of the Masters because they
’re underwater in subterranean caverns. I imagine the ruins will be difficult to reach even with submersibles.”
“That is fact two,” Calidore said. “However, how could the Avanti have known all that ahead of time? It is unreasonable to believe she would have.”
“I don’t claim to know how she could or can.”
“If she would have known, why didn’t she come herself?”
“That was probably too difficult,” I said. “Besides, I doubt she would willingly leave her Arch Ship. She must have sent us because, well… Logically, sending us must have been the easiest or most likely way to achieve the effect she desired. By the way, do you know what the ancient device does?”
“I have a good idea,” Calidore said.
So it was a particular device, despite everything Calidore had said to the contrary earlier. “Explain the device to me.”
“For the events to have taken place as they have, the device must be a temporal shifter. I’ve already determined how I would use the shifter if I possessed it.”
I nodded.
“I mean to take the shifter back to Titan, the moon of Saturn. With it, I’ll shift myself back to when the Arch Ship was still embedded inside the moon.”
“What?” I said.
“That’s where the Avanti hid her Arch Ship all this time, inside Titan. I didn’t tell you before, but sometime after the nuclear device demolished the ancient Titan buildings, the moon cracked like an egg, hatching the Arch Ship. My plan is a simple one. We go back to the Solar System, land on what remains of Titan and shift back in time to when the moon was whole and the Arch Ship was dormant inside. Then, using a deep driller, we reach the ship inside. I take over while the Avanti is in deep stasis. In this way, I’ll win before the Avanti could awaken and digitize me into this awful computer slate.”
I nodded again. “That’s a clever plan, given you’re right about this thing being a—what did you call it?”
“A temporal shifter,” Calidore said.
“Does Mentalist Ra also believe it’s a shifter?”
“I haven’t told him all the details, if that’s what you’re asking. But it won’t matter. We don’t need him if what you’re thinking is correct.”
The Imprisoned Earth Page 18
