The Chaos Chronicles

by Jeffrey A. Carver

  "John Bandicut?"

  He could scarcely distinguish Antares' voice from Ik's. And then with a long, slow shiver, he felt the fog lift and blow away.

  /// They've made the transition, ///

  the quarx whispered.

  "I'm . . . okay," he said, with a little gasp—and if his voice didn't work too well, the words did. Ik hrrm'd in satisfaction, and Antares squeezed his hand, sending waves of relief; and Li-Jared, his electric-blue eyes blinking like a lighthouse, was bonging in relief and amazement, "John Bandicut, John Bandicut, can you hear me can you hear me can you understand?"

  And he laughed and nodded to Li-Jared, whispering thanks, and squeezed Antares' hand tightly before finally letting go.

  *

  The physical strength came back more slowly. His wheezing subsided, as the stones poured their effort into rebalancing his body chemistry and getting his breathing back to normal. After a few minutes, he could feel new strength start to flow back into his limbs. He sat up straighter, held his head up, watching the others.

  Their attention had shifted back to the lander, once they were satisfied that Bandicut was safe. Harding was obviously having some trouble getting used to yet another abrupt change. He kept shaking his head, like a dog with something in its ear. But he did not seem angry. Bandicut understood, perhaps from his own stones, that Harding had agreed to the change, had willingly let the stones return to their original host, to make room for new daughters from Li-Jared. And now he was struggling to incorporate the new in place of the old.

  "I—" hroff "—don't—I think I can—" He shook his head with a jerk.

  Bwong. "Can you understand what I'm saying? Are the words clear?" Li-Jared was shifting his weight back and forth, left to right, peering nervously at the lander.

  "Yes—" hrrrr "—yes, I begin to understand. Li-Jared. Yes, I—yes. I am beginning to." Harding blinked his eyes, the concentric rings of his irises seeming to spin. He rubbed the side of his head with his pincer-fingered hand. "I was very—" hmmm "—dizzy. But I think we can speak now. Yes."

  "Harding," Bandicut whispered.

  The lander turned his head, fixing his bull's-eye gaze on Bandicut. For several heartbeats, they simply stared at each other, with locked gazes. Then, at the same moment, they both whispered, "Thank you."

  "John Bandicut," said L'Kell, interrupting. "I don't know if you were able to understand a few minutes ago. But there are swimmers inside who need you, desperately. They are dying, John. Do you think you could . . ." His voice trailed off, perhaps because he had suddenly realized the intensity of the exchange he had interrupted. "I am very sorry to ask."

  Bandicut wanted very badly to talk to Harding. But he swallowed and closed his eyes. /Can we do it? Can we do some more healing?/

  The quarx seemed to share his unutterable weariness as she replied,

  /// If we have to, then we can, I guess. ///

  Bandicut glanced at Ik and nodded. "All right," he said, through a throat that felt like sandpaper. "Let's go."

  *

  Compressed air bled rapidly into the airlock, taking them to ambient pressure. When he stepped out into the sub hangar, Bandicut felt such a powerful feeling of homecoming that it stunned him to realize that he had been gone for less than two days, as he reckoned time. Led by Hargel, he and Ik walked through the habitat to the place where the sick had been brought—not the healing center, which was far too small, but the open meeting area where they had first met Askelanda. They paused at the entrance, horrified by the sight of Neri laid out on cots, on cushions, on the floor before them. Inside the shipwreck, it had been dark—and they had never seen all of the radiation victims gathered together. There, it had been a desperate first-aid station; here they faced a full hospital floor, just as desperate.

  "My God," Bandicut whispered.

  "Moon and stars," Ik murmured in the same breath.

  Hargel strode forward, calling out, "Corono! The aliens are here! Where shall they start?"

  The healer was on the far side of the room. But at Hargel's call, many of the Neri lying on cots turned their heads to look. Some peered at them with large, cloudy eyes. Others ignored them completely. Even before Corono came to join them, the answer to the question was almost obvious: start just about anywhere. Many of the Neri they had not yet helped at all; many of those whom they had helped were failing again. Corono quickly identified the most urgent cases. Without a further word, they began.

  *

  The passage of time was something almost outside of Bandicut's awareness, as they worked. It might have been another day, or another century, when they were joined by L'Kell and Kailan, who interrupted them to ask for instruction in using their own stones for healing. Bandicut stared at them in weary disbelief, too tired to be really surprised, but wondering why no one had thought of it before. It wouldn't be easy, he told them, without a quarx, and without the experience of neurolinking to help them get started. But the need was great, and the Neri were willing; and they pressed their stones close, L'Kell to Bandicut's, and Kailan to Ik's. And soon the two Neri were working alongside their alien friends, coaxing their people back toward life.

  Bandicut was scarcely conscious by the time he was escorted to his sleeping room and given some food and drink. He was soon joined by Ik, but they were too tired to talk much. Ik sank into a deep meditation, and Bandicut lay down with a thick blanket wrapped around him. His mind was crowded with the events of the day. Without Char's help, he might have tossed and turned for hours. But the quarx touched him in the right places, and he slipped off quickly into a leaden sleep.

  *

  He awoke, hours later, reverberating from intense dreams in which the stones took on the forms of dancing brooms, scattering great clouds of dust in the air, then vanishing into a murky darkness, only to reappear swinging overflowing buckets of water, water in which he began to drown.

  /// That came from somewhere

  deep down in the memory stores. ///

  /Yeah./ He rubbed his temples, and then his wrists. There were two almost imperceptible bumps where the stones resided. He heard voices in the next room. That was probably what woke him up. Ik was nowhere to be seen. /I wonder how long I slept./

  /// A long time.

  You were tired, guy. ///

  /Yah. So how'd you pass the night?/

  /// With catnaps.

  I don't need sleep the same way you do.

  I worked on my studies of the history

  of John Bandicut. ///

  /Oh. I hope you enjoyed it./

  /// I did. What's next? ///

  Bandicut stretched slowly. /I dunno. More healing, maybe./

  /// What I thought.

  I wonder what they're talking about

  in the other room. ///

  /Let's go see./ Bandicut stood, wobbling.

  He went next door and was greeted by Hargel, who was pacing with three other Neri. "Corono says most of the swimmers you worked with will probably recover," Hargel said. "L'Kell and Kailan were able to keep going while you and Ik slept."

  "That's good. I notice you said most, not all."

  Hargel's voice became gravelly. "We lost one coming back on the sub, and two more last night. There will be mourning about that. But it could have been a lot worse. Askelanda wants to see you as soon as you're ready."

  "Fine. Where's Ik?"

  "He's with Corono and the sick. Want to stop there first?" Hargel beckoned to him to follow.

  They found Ik walking back and forth among the Neri patients like a priest murmuring inaudible prayers and sprinkling holy water over everyone in sight. Instead of Hail Marys, Ik was hrrrm'ing and hrah'ing under his breath. He wasn't really saying anything, Bandicut thought, just voicing sounds of reassurance. When he saw Bandicut, he gave a wide-fingered wave, but did not cease his patrol. Bandicut began his own walk among the Neri, touching arms, gripping hands, murmuring encouragement.

  "They weren't doing this well when we left last night, were
they?" asked Ik, drawing near.

  Bandicut shook his head. "L'Kell and Kailan must have been very busy."

  "Hrahh." Ik peered around in satisfaction.

  "Where are they? Sleeping? And have you seen Antares or Li-Jared?"

  "L'Kell and Kailan are sleeping. Li-Jared stayed with the lander, I understand. And Antares . . . is with Askelanda. Shall we join her?"

  They followed Hargel through the Neri maze to the same domed room where they had once stood and watched the habitat break free, shaken from its moorings by the Maw. They found Antares and the Neri leader seated on cushions on the floor, in the midst of a discussion about when the next eruption might occur. Hargel brought more cushions, and they formed a circle of four, while Hargel waited by the door. Antares peered at Bandicut with questioning eyes, and he whispered, "I'm fine." Antares touched his hand in relief, before turning back to Askelanda.

  "We owe you a debt," Askelanda said, leaning forward. "I thank you for the lives of my people."

  "You're welcome," Ik murmured, and Bandicut said, "I think L'Kell and Kailan deserve as much thanks as we do."

  "So I understand," said Askelanda. "But they could not have done it without your help, and your stones." He hesitated, and for a moment Bandicut thought that the elder Neri was going to ask for his own set of stones. Askelanda rubbed the side of his dusty-grey head, as though in contemplation. Then he said, "But we now have other problems to solve. If you would care to offer your thoughts . . ."

  Bandicut inclined his head. Perhaps the Neri was too polite to ask for stones—or too afraid of what they might do to him. Just as well, since he had none to offer. "If we can help, we will, of course. May I ask, have you spoken yet with the lander—with Harding?"

  "The captive is resting quietly, I am told," Askelanda replied, not quite answering the question. His large-eyed gaze seemed very somber. "I understand he has been making demands. We will speak with him, perhaps, when L'Kell and some of the others are with us."

  Bandicut nodded silently.

  Askelanda gestured to Antares. "Your friend was just describing their efforts to study the thing that awaits us . . . below. I confess I am uncertain what to make of their work. Perhaps your friend could explain."

  "We think," Antares said, "that the Devourer—the Maw—might be on the verge of a major eruption. Li-Jared and Kailan have studied certain patterns of activity that have preceded quakes in the past, and they think the signs point to another one approaching. But we don't know how soon."

  "Rakh," Ik muttered in dismay. "Do you have any idea what the Maw is yet?"

  Antares made a soft clicking sound. "No. But Li-Jared believes that it functions by opening channels in space-time, much as a . . ." She hesitated.

  "Stardrive would?" Bandicut asked.

  "Exactly," said Antares. "How did you know? Have you spoken with Li-Jared?"

  Bandicut shook his head. "No, but in the sunken ship—"

  "You reported an encounter—and Li-Jared found activity around the Maw, at the same time." Antares was beginning to stir with excitement. "Please tell us what happened?"

  "Of course. But finish what you were saying," Bandicut urged her.

  Antares pushed her fingers back through her hair. "I cannot explain much more, because I frankly do not understand it—but we know that the Maw's functions are somehow connected to the sunken ship. Is it in fact—?"

  "A spaceship?" Bandicut said. "Yes. I met its . . . stardrive . . . in person. I was lucky to get out alive, with Harding." He had the attention of everyone now, especially Askelanda, who fixed him with an intense gaze. "I don't know exactly how they are connected, but I am certain that it was the Maw that caused the starship to crash." He hesitated a moment, then decided he might as well tell it all. "And I believe it was through that crash that the people you call the landers came to this world."

  He could hear the Neri's breathing sharpen. In surprise, or dismay? Askelanda gazed at him with an expression he could not quite decipher. "We have had certain legends . . ." the Neri began, speaking with difficulty. He paused in thought, then seemed to decide something. "They are not from our world, then?"

  Bandicut took a deep breath. "They are now," he said. And he realized with a start that his knowledge of the landers was far deeper now than it had been just hours ago. His stones had been busy learning, while they were in Harding's care.

  "What do you mean?" Askelanda asked sharply.

  Bandicut turned his hands up. "The landers—the Astari, they call themselves—are not native to this world, no. But they have been here for several generations now. And they have no other place to call home."

  "Home?" Askelanda cried, raising his hands. "They call it home, but they poison it, and poison our people?"

  "I think," Bandicut said softly, "that they have been unaware of the poisoning. I believe their actions have been more thoughtless than malicious. But yes, the spaceship is theirs. Or their ancestors'."

  The Neri leader's eyes focused on him for a few heartbeats, as if trying to decide if this was the same John Bandicut who had healed his people. Finally he said, "So the ship is connected to our great Devourer. What are we to make of that? Do they control it? Will they let it keep erupting until it destroys us?"

  "They don't control it," Bandicut answered. "How could they, if it was the Maw that caused them to crash on this world in the first place? They too have been at the mercy of the Maw and its quakes."

  "How can that be, if they are safe on the land?"

  Antares answered, "Were your—ancestors—not safe on the land? And yet Kailan says that the Maw destroyed them."

  Askelanda's head jerked a little.

  "Your ancestors?" asked Ik. "They are all gone now?"

  Askelanda let out a raspy breath and closed his eyes for a moment, muttering some syllables that the translator-stones did not catch. When he spoke again, it was in a more distant-seeming voice. "There was a great convulsion, many generations ago—not long after the Neri came to the sea. There were quakes and tsunamis. Volcanic blasts. Storms above the sea. Our people only barely survived. But our ancestors died."

  "All of them?" Ik asked, his voice strained with the emotions of one who knew what it was like for a planetful of people to die.

  "As far as we know. Expeditions ashore never found survivors." Askelanda hesitated, before adding simply, "They are gone."

  "Destroyed by the arrival of the Maw," said Antares. In response to questioning looks from the others, she said, "That is is what Kailan believes caused the cataclysm—the arrival of the Maw, from space. It is still causing destruction—but probably nothing compared to the moment of its arrival."

  Bandicut suddenly realized something that had been staring him in the face. "The arrival of the Maw happened soon after the Neri went to live in the sea, didn't it? Was there a feeling—do the Neri fear that the Maw came because the Neri dared to move away from the land, into the sea?"

  Askelanda's expression froze. "That," he said stiffly, "is a historical and spiritual matter. It is something you would have to ask the obliq. Or Corono."

  Spiritual matter? Bandicut wondered. Antares glanced at him with an expression of affirmation, and he knew that he had touched on a point of difficult feelings among the Neri. He raised his hands pleadingly. "But is there any evidence of such a connection?" It seemed unlikely. His guess was that the Maw fell when it fell, and had nothing at all to do with the Neri coming to live in the sea.

  Askelanda gazed at him somberly, and started to answer.

  But he was interrupted by a call from Hargel, at the door. "Askelanda, the robots have returned from the factory!"

  *

  The robots entered, apparently having been hand-carried up through the passageways by the Neri. Napoleon walked to the edge of the discussion circle, Copernicus rolling along behind; Napoleon crouched in a rest position, his scanner-eyes swiveling to take in the entire group. "Captain, we've come back to report. We might have stayed longer, but our sub needed recha
rging and resupply."

  "We're glad to see you," Bandicut said. "What progress have you made?"

  Napoleon clicked softly. "We have established contact with the factory control system, and now have a basic understanding of the operating mechanisms. We think we know what went wrong."

  Askelanda leaned forward, thoughts of the Maw apparently forgotten.

  "And what went wrong?" prompted Bandicut.

  "It's complicated."

  "Okay, it's complicated. What was it?"

  The robot clicked again. "The breakdown apparently occurred in several distinct stages. The first stage was caused by a severe seismic disturbance, which damaged a number of internal control pathways, as well as manufacturing elements in the factory."

  "Seismic disturbance? You mean, caused by the Maw?" Bandicut demanded.

  "Probably, Captain. The factory head believes so, but has no direct record of the source of the seismic activity."

  "Factory head?"

  "The primary control system. It ordinarily would have been capable of self-repair, but the damage was too extensive. There may have been fragmentation of certain instructional subsets. In addition, a number of raw materials needed for completion of repairs were unavailable."

  "Materials? You mean chemical materials, like minerals, and so on?"

  "Affirmative. Minerals that are not present in the output of the volcanic vents, which constitute the primary source of raw materials as well as heat energy. Electrical energy is derived redundantly from radioisotopic generators, as well as from geothermal heat." Napoleon paused as though for breath and seemed to look to Copernicus for confirmation. Copernicus drumtapped.

  Bandicut glanced at Askelanda to see if he was following. It was impossible to tell. "So it was missing raw materials."

  "Yes, and that was a contributing cause of failure. But the factory might have survived, with a reduced level of productivity, if it had not been for the programming failure—which itself was likely a cascade effect caused by damaged components that were not properly repaired at the outset."

  Bandicut sensed that the explanation was beginning to get away from some of those listening. "What's the bottom line, Nappy? Were you able to do anything about it?"