by Moulton, CD
*The time differential in TTH nineteen would mean it could wait a couple of years there and we would all be dead and gone here. I doubt it'll ever give up its plans for free energy.*
"That's what I'm afraid might happen so I have more questions about something," Z replied. "Does that thing have to come through TTH nine?"
*If there's a point there ... yes. That's how it can come without being destroyed by the energy flow. It comes in stages, I'd say. Thing?*
[ That was a major puzzle. I didn't know how it shielded the heat. It doesn't have to. TTH nineteen to ... TTH eleven. It stops to equalize in eleven. Do you have the plane charted, Maita? What's there? ]
*Just amorphous rock. Large planet. There isn't any life in that part of eleven. The star's dead. It's not Tlorg, but an angular offshoot. That's where the second black hole comes in.*
"The Targs are from eleven," Ehrak argued.
*Yes. Here in eleven, not there. A plazi here might be a different galaxy there.*
[ So. Nineteen to eleven to nine to here. No serious energy problems. It all figures. ]
"What can we do in nine?" Z asked. "Would we be likely to cause serious damage if we did something there?"
*Probably. We can't manipulate energy fields for any permanent time there. It's all in relative motion.*
"Eleven's already a dead world so I guess all we could do there is to put up a manned outpost – which might not work," Z replied slowly. "Any suggestions?"
"If it's already a dead world we don't have to worry about people or populations," Kurk said. "I admit I don't know that much about interplanal physics but, well, does that putting the ship inside of a point thing work there, too?"
[ It should. With a different.... It could still be swung through eleven. ]
"Then it seems simple to me," Kurk replied. "If the world's already dead why not shoot a point at it? I'd say the Prlnth would really get a surprise if they showed up on the surface of a black hole!"
There was complete silence for a minute, then Z let out a barking laugh and turned to hug the big demon.
"Maita! Is there anything in that area that would be damaged by a small black hole?" he asked.
*It's a part of a dying galaxy. There's nothing within a billion plazsis. It will work! It will only form a pure neutron mass, but that will do it, I'd say.*
"What if the Prlnth decide to come in friendship? Just to make contact?" Z asked innocently, looking concerned.
"Don't start that!" Ehrak exclaimed.
[ Z! ]
*Oh, groan! Knock it the hell off!*
"No way! They already forfeited any rights of consideration in that area," Kurk snapped. "WE didn't come to hijack THEIR ship or to make hostages of THEIR people or to so de-energize THEIR planet it would kill them off! There's such a thing as going too far with this silliness!"
Z broke out laughing. "If you could see your own faces! Do you really think I could be serious?
"Let's get this thing done! I have a proposal that has to wait until we finish this job to be made."
[ I vote for and, in answer to the question, yes! YOU could be serious about something like that! We have experience! ]
Thing sprang to wrap around Z's head and face. Z spluttered and mumbled, then Thing sat on his shoulder to pound his head with a tentacle. Z grabbed for it, but it sprang back to Kurk's shoulder.
[ Help! I'm being attacked! ]
*Somebody help Z attack Thing. On this one we don't need a vote.*
"Vote?" Kurk asked.
"Welcome aboard the Maita as a full crew member!" Z cried. "I assume you wouldn't insult us by refusing?"
Kurk felt weak in the knees. He couldn't say anything. It had happened!
[ For your information, as a full member of this crew you are entitled to know a secret or two – such as the fact that Maita is the ship. That's a secret only we who travel with it know. And Joe's People. And the Tendd. And the Parf. – And, of course, the Zulians. Say, Maita? That's one hell of a poorly kept secret! ]
*You're the one with the blabbermouth!*
They were all feeling good. They played for awhile then got into character to go into Teeme to meet with the people. They would have to get everything in order. They would leave soon – but they were going to have a bit of a vacation first – AFTER they took care of a little detail in TTH11!
Cross Your Fingers
It was something that would probably work, it was something that harmed no one in the plane involved, it solved the problem in a way that wasn't too likely to involve the innocent to any extent. Maita felt the first and second points were by far the most important ones. It was vaguely possible that someone in ... not really. The portal had to be opened from the "low" end, or from N plane. Nrkll must have some way to open the portal from the TTH19 plane, though. That was something Maita was steering around. It was sure that closing the path in TTH11 would solve the problem so there was no reason to complicate it – still, there was a nagging doubt. Something also wasn't right about it.
[ So, Maita. Give. When you get this quiet you're worried about something and you're trying to keep it from us. ]
So much for the plan. *Okay. You did the math. There ain't no way Nrkll opened that portal from TTH nineteen. It ain't gonna just open again when the Prlnth want to come back. They ain't about to have any....*
[ I get the point! There's some device here to keep it open or that will re-open it at a given time. I'm not sure it'll make any real difference if there's a neutron mass between here and there. ]
"I can see a problem," Ehrak said. "If a portal's opened from here that's directly onto a neutron star it could start absorbing this planet, pulling it into another plane and end up causing the same thing we're trying to avoid."
[ It's at an sharply oblique angle, dimensionally speaking. It would possibly draw through some atmosphere and the portal devices, then would stop. The problem .... It would barely possibly disrupt TTH nine. Oh. That's not a serious problem. I see. ]
"Well, it would seem to me the basic problem is that there's someone on this end involved so there's someone here who might find another way to open another portal with someone else on Prlnth," Kurk said.
"Or there's a small leader portal, a microscopic one, that some wizard might accidentally expand while innocently working on something else," Z added.
*It wouldn't be microscopic, but it's there. Either that or someone who could open another. This could start again. Someone thinks there's personal power out there that's far beyond their wildest dreams.*
"That's right!" Ehrak exclaimed. "Nrkll was convinced we all had insatiable personal greed as a basic motive of all our actions!"
[ We'll still solve the problem for a long time if we close TTH eleven, then we can work on this end. Maybe whoever's on this end will try to go to TTH eleven to find another one on that end to broker some power through and will end up smeared over the surface of a neutron mass. ]
"Why not go to eleven, make the black hole and let some of us investigate this part of it?" Kurk suggested. "It doesn't seem important to me that we wait to do the entire thing at once. If we close the portal for all practical reasons we have a long time to do the rest."
*Leaving you to handle this end while we're gone? You've figured it out, have you?*
"Haven't we all?" Kurk asked. "Isn't it about as obvious as things can be?"
[ The obvious in these situations is usually nowhere near the truth. Believe me, we know. We can't act until we know. This is experience speaking. ]
"So that'll be easy enough to find out," Kurk argued. "Give me a floater. You go to handle the black hole and I'll investigate this end and we can do whatever we decide when you return. I can take Fale with me."
*I see! Take a Targ, too!*
"I take it the rest of us are out of this?" Ehrak said.
*The rest of us are going to make a black hole! It'll be the first time in history – of this galaxy, at least – that an artificial means was used to do that even if i
t IS in another plane!*
"I'll stay here with Kurk," Z decided. "You can handle that without me."
Maita and Thing began to object, but Kurk said that would be fine with him. No one could read his expression, but Thing studied him a moment, then agreed.
*
Maita, Thing and Ehrak left as soon as it was dark enough that no one would be likely to see the large ship rise into the atmosphere. Fale, Kurk and Z took the clamshell earlier for Loosta where they would try to talk Linx into going with them. Thing hung onto Ehrak's shoulder as they went into the pilot's dome.
There was an extra angle or two in TTH11, but it wasn't the kind of thing that would do any psychological or other damage to anyone from the N plane. Energy exchange was a different matter, but not critical. Thing wasn't at all sure it had been a good idea to leave Kurk and Z together for this. Kurk could – and would – handle what must be done while Z would raise all kinds of silly objections. It was good the Frome and a Targ, probably Linx, would be going. There was an excellent chance the otherplaners could see or otherwise sense where the portal was being held open. That would lead directly to the major culprit in this. It would also give Kurk a chance to visit the children of the farmer, which was a promise the Pluton meant to keep. Period.
The ship went into the TTH drive, but Maita had to find the proper area of the plane. They first stopped on Frome where Maita was already known. They couldn't see or hear at all well and would soon become physically exhausted as the dimensional angularity in the atoms there would fail to transfer what they needed in the way they would need it. Maita made the pilot's dome into a stasis chamber much like the one Nrkll had used on the Jornian ship.
Soon they were again underway, but Thing and Ehrak weren't really aware of the passage of time. The coordinates of the dead target world, a large part of the galaxy away, were found, then checked by dropping back into N space there, then returning to the eleventh plane. Maita produced a moder module of the type needed, but dropped back into N space before using it.
*We have a problem.*
"What kind of problem?" Ekrak asked.
[ If this thing is used as planned it could end up in the middle of a black hole. Maita's wondering what will happen if the thing dephases before it's destroyed. ]
"I see. That would cause the same thing?" Ehrak asked. "End of the omniverse?"
*No, but it could destroy the world here and in other planes much as the nova machines did.*
[ Do you have any psiltripium aboard? ]
*The focus is psiltripium. I see what you suggest. I'll make the feedback diode and the stabilizer control out of psiltripium.*
"I know psiltripium is awfully heavy," Ehrak said. "Is that what makes it important?"
[ Vital. Psiltripium is the only neutron-heavy particular mass that remains atomically reactive. It's a malleable metal so it can be used. This will give us perhaps a full second more before the likelihood of dephasing. By then it wouldn't much matter. The black hole would absorb the results. ]
"That fast?!" Ehrak cried.
*The collapse of matter into a null zi-structure mode is instantaneous. Structure is shifted into null space then into compacted mass. Once the stabilized core forms the dephase in that area can't overcome the core of gravitic force.*
[ In other words it will collapse before it can dephase. The means isn't important.]
They spent the extra time for Maita to build the moder, attach a power supply and encase it in a sphere to act as a carrier. They dropped into TTH11 again, made one quick dry run, then decided there was no time like the present. Maita set the moder on course, turned it on and waited while the timers acted. Thing and Ehrak spent the moment from the release until the conclusion of the experiment in real time. It wasn't long enough to do any lasting harm. They watched the big magnified screen, not knowing what to expect. It was disappointing in one way and exciting in another.
"That was IT?!" Ehrak asked.
*It appears so.*
[ I'm as underwhelmed as I ever.... ]
Suddenly the planet, which had merely shown a flash of light at the time the reaction took place, simply wasn't there anymore.
*WHOA! That's better! The mass is still all there, but the volume is only about eight meters in diameter!*
"But ... what happened?" Ehrak asked.
[ I would deduce that the core of the planet collapsed instantly, but the field of the moder wasn't large enough to encompass the entire volume of the planet. It was suddenly hollow, but the gravity was still there so it finally collapsed inward. Imploded. We were successful. I'm greatly tired, Maita. ]
*We're on our way home, or to Tlorg, anyway.*
They were soon waiting in orbit for darkness to come so they could land unobserved.
*
Kurk found Linx soon after they landed the clamshell floater in Loosta. Fale and Z were already aboard, but he wanted one of each kind of being for the search they would have to make. Linx agreed to come along to aid them in any way he could.
The group then called on King Dihn, told him most of what had happened already from a point of view that left it seeming to be magic. The scientific parts were excluded completely.
They had decided to land on the dark continent after sunset. Kurk believed the Targ and Frome – and he – could probably detect the portal more easily then, but none of them thought it was going to be easy. They scanned the entire area from the floater for the entire night, but could find nothing.
In the morning they went to the farmhouse where the reunion of Kurk with the children was beautiful to Z and the watching otherplaners. They were all invited inside where the Frome and the Targ soon also became close friends with the farmer and his family. Z always got along well with children so was playing along with the games from the first. They later rested for the next phase of the plan. That night they were again in the floater, the otherplaners scanning for any signs of the portal. Kurk was in charge while Z slept.
Linx and Fale concentrated on noting anything that seemed particularly unusual to them. They didn't expect any strong signs or sudden ability to "see" the portal. Perhaps only an unsubstantial uneasiness or something.... Anything. Both of the otherplaners noted there was something slightly undecipherably wrong in a small green valley not too very far from the place where the Jornian ship had been, but closer to the sea. When dawn came that was still the only likely spot. It would have to do. That strange feeling both Fale and Linx had, a slightly repulsed feeling, all of them noticed, even Kurk, who wasn't very sensitive to these things.
An hour past dawn Kurk left Z at the little seaport town then took Linx and Fale to Loosta.
"What's to happen here mustn't be witnessed by more than is absolutely necessary," he explained to the two demons. "There's going to be a war of sorcerers between Boss and the evil person who would sell Tlorg and its people into slavery or worse. None of us must be there. It's far too dangerous to any but the sorcerers. I'll wait in the town where I left Boss until he returns. I'm personally sure he'll know success, but that isn't a definite thing. He stands against fantastic powers."
"I am zhure Boss will be zafe!" Fale replied confidently. "Boss haz good on hiz zide! Id izzn'd always drue, bud good zhenerally wins."
Kurk smiled, then bid the two otherplaners good fortune. He was personally sure of the name of the person he would find in that valley. The sorceress, Zaft, hadn't been an innocent bystander by any criterium. Logic told him the original portal was opened from Tlorg – had to have been – so it took someone right here on Tlorg to set up any of it. It also took someone on Tlorg to handle all of this since the opening of that portal. Nrkll knew nothing of the language and couldn't leave the chamber in the Jornian ship. It couldn't have been done from the other end. Period! There was the likelihood Zaft and Nrkll had met on TTH11 where they could survive for long enough to work out a deal. It was also true she probably didn't know the portal they planned would actually kill off everything on Tlorg – in her very slight
favor – but she knew there would be a large area on the dark continent where all life would be destroyed. She'd let that much slip.
She had probably set this up so the Prlnth would give her power over the whole world of Tlorg. That seemed to be the kind of thing these types wanted. The fact she had been lied to about what would happen on the world made no least difference whatever. She sold out her people. She was as guilty as all the hells!
He flew directly back to the pretty valley, then searched it at low level until he found a small cabin hidden close under tall spreading trees at the stream's edge. It would be the only occupied place in the area. Zaft would be inside.
Kurk reviewed all the facts as he knew them. He had a very simple way of looking at these things: Zaft had betrayed her own race, her own world and everything that ever meant anything to anyone here. If she hadn't known what could happen or had been somehow forced to cooperate with Nrkll she could be forgiven. She had known there was at least a good chance Tlorg would be robbed of energy, resulting in many deaths. She still worked with and for those who would do this to the world.
Had she dropped her plans, whatever they were, when the Prlnth left there would be no real need of further action, but she was holding that portal in place for one reason and for one reason only: She intended to use it again. Her guilt was an ongoing thing. That settled that!
Kurk went to the door, knocked and moved to one side. After a few minutes Zaft opened it with a heat laser in her hand. He grabbed the weapon before she could swing it around to point at him, crushing her hand into it, which probably saved his life. The pain stopped her from using the spell to stop his heartbeat. He then simply reached up to break her neck. She had been a thing, not a person. Kurk felt nothing but utter contempt for her. He tossed her body to the side, entered the cabin, searched it thoroughly, then went back to the floater and to the seaport town. Z was staying at the inn there. Kurk marched into the room, pushed a surprised Z to one side of the bed, climbed in and went to sleep. In the morning he was going to have to explain his actions to Z – not an easy thing.
