Time of the Stones

by Fred Rothganger

  A handful of men had collapsed to the ground. Susan realized with horror that the vines could have hurt them or forced them into awkward arrangements with their weapons. The glory of her victory faded to shame.

  She sent a message to the medical students: Get ready. I’m sending you casualties.

  She searched the field with infrared vision and ran to the nearest downed man. Still breathing! She summoned nearby swarm to run the patient side of the clinic program. It swelled into a small cocoon that surrounded the man and linked to one of the control rooms in Birik. She ran to the next man, and the next.

  In total there were 17 fallen men dotted across the battlefield. Running fast, it took almost an hour to reach them all. Susan sighed in relief, switched back to normal vision and took a more leisurely look around. The rebels were streaming back to the city; the imperialists were breaking camp; and it wasn’t even noon yet.

  One of the first cases woke as his cocoon withdrew. He stood, looked around in confusion, then headed back to his own side. Soon the other cases would wake too. These armies would remember that she did no harm, despite their worst intentions.

  Susan opened a conference call with the students and helped triage the cases. Most were injuries that could be repaired in a few hours. One man was ‘dead’ by primitive standards: no heartbeat and no brain activity. He required more careful intervention.

  Under her supervision they cooled his body to a few degrees above freezing and restored circulation. Then they added various chemical messages to keep it from self-destructing. By late afternoon he too stood. The imperialists had already marched downriver, so he ran to catch up.

  Susan sent a message to the students: Take a holiday tomorrow. You deserve it.

  The camp was nothing but trammeled ground now, the moist alluvial soil turned to bland mud. In the middle was a fresh mound of dirt. A stick poked up at one end, bearing the emblem of their religion.

  With horror Susan ran to the spot and dug. About a meter down was the body of a man wrapped in a sheet. All signs indicated he had died earlier that day.

  No! There would be no deaths on her account.

  She extracted the body and wrapped it in a clinic cocoon. His blood had long since coagulated, so she sent swarm in to clear his vessels. His metabolic state was another matter. Certain chemical breakdown sequences were well underway. It would require swarm in every cell of his body, doing complex molecular interventions. It would almost be simpler to rebuild him from scratch ...

  The most important thing was to save his mind.

  The Ancients who made the Sacred Cylinders argued endlessly about such things. During that age she had spent her vast mental powers engineering a machine to scan the human brain into a computer, hoping to retrieve her mother from cryonic suspension. Ancient civilization crumbled before it could be built.

  The molecules of the man’s brain had to stop moving now. Chemicals to do that were toxic to living things, including the swarm. Working desperately fast, Susan constructed metal reaction chambers and plastic tubing to mix the ingredients.

  The swarm withdrew from the blood vessels of his brain. Susan attached the tubing to circulate fluids. The rest of the process could run on automatic for a few hours.

  She switched back to Birik for breakfast with her children. Pinar sat curled next to the window, reading on a tablet and soaking in the glorious mid-morning sun. Oggie sulked on the floor next to Kitty. The breakfast tray held only crumbs and one last pastry.

  Susan got on the floor and fidgeted with some of Oggie’s toys. “What’s the matter?”

  “You gone so long, you smell.”

  “I just need some food and a trip to the potty.”

  “Sister won’t let me wake you.”

  “I’m sorry this is hard for you, Oggie. Tell you what, this is a nice day for a walk in the garden. Let’s all go.”

  * * *

  Susan reburied the man’s body and took his preserved head to higher ground a few kilometers away. There she constructed a swarm grove. Dendroids supplied power to a small domed-shaped building with thick walls. Inside, the man’s head rested top-down on a pedestal. The cupped upper surface gradually stripped away layers of molecules from him and sent data to storage.

  By Ancient standards, the machine worked at unimaginable speed. The heat had to be wicked away and radiated through cooling fins outside the building. Susan had the advantage of knowing which molecules were important and which could be safely approximated. Still, it would take several months to finish.

  * * *

  Susan stood in the shadows of the council chamber at Sanat.

  Gamaliel wandered the floor and spoke as if to himself. “With the defeat of the religious police, the hand of the moderates has grown stronger in the council. They are ready to accept help.”

  “Some of your northern tributaries have already agreed to the Treaty of Limitations.”

  “A new alliance?”

  “The opposite of alliance. Each region agrees to live within its own means, and not seek power beyond its borders.”

  “What about trade?”

  “When you join the Treaty, you receive technology that makes trade meaningless.”

  “So each nation lives in isolation.”

  “We share friendship, art, literature, all the beautiful things of life.”

  “And travel? Can a man see the world?”

  “Of course. As long as population stays in balance, people can move around.”

  “You limit births.”

  “Yes, that is the most important stipulation, but you can choose how to distribute birthrights. The simplest method is random, with priority given to young women with no children. In the Long River Basin, only those who wish for a child are included in the lottery. It’s all done via mobile devices.”

  “Mobile devices are an avenue for foreign ideas. My people must not be forced to accept them.”

  “You should be free to live as you wish and practice your own beliefs.”

  Gamaliel breathed a sigh of relief.

  “But if someone is curious about the outside world, let them learn. You must not punish those who want change. Either give them space or let them move away.”

  “How many of our women would choose to stay if they could live like you?”

  Susan laughed. “That’s a question you should keep asking yourself.”

  Khaldun

  Year 19, Day 338

  Khaldun woke on the field of battle. Despite the terror of a moment ago, he felt perfectly at peace. He could lay there a thousand years. It felt like he had lain there a thousand years.

  He sat up. Everyone was gone. The whole army of his companions, vanished. Was he abandoned on the field? No, they wouldn’t leave him behind, unless it were a terrible defeat.

  The earth beneath him, the air, the sun and clouds, they all seemed less than real. Maybe this was only a dream. Soon he would wake in the tent of his friends, and ask them what it meant. Perhaps they would laugh at his overwrought imagination.

  Gradually he became aware of the woman in gray cloak kneeling near him, like a servant waiting for orders. A veil hid her face. Maybe she was one of those rare women who must cover fully, lest her great beauty cause men to stumble. He asked, “Who are you?”

  “Susan.”

  “Why are you here, on a battlefield?”

  “The battle is over.”

  “Where are my comrades?”

  “They returned home. You were too ill to travel, so I cared for you.”

  Khaldun focused on his mouth and his stomach. He felt neither hunger nor thirst. In fact, he felt no pain whatsoever. A suspicion grew. “Are you one of the virgins assigned to me?”

  Susan stifled a laugh.

  “Don’t trifle with me, woman! Is this Paradise?”

  “I fear the answer will not please you.”

  “Then is this Hell?”

  “You are still on Earth.”

  Khaldun breathed a sigh of relief—i
f this woman could be trusted.

  She said, “You should not exert yourself. Sleep now ...”

  * * *

  Khaldun woke on the battlefield. Susan was still there, kneeling at his side. The sky seemed the same as before. “How long did I sleep?”

  “Time takes many paths. Yours lasted eight hours. Mine lasted several days.”

  “Why are you speaking in mysteries, woman?”

  “Last we spoke, you surmised that you were dead. The truth is not so simple.”

  “You said I was on Earth!”

  “Your mind is still part of the material world, but your body has failed you.”

  “You mean this all a dream as I lie dying?”

  “Uh, this is a dream world of sorts. Shall we return to the real one?”

  Would returning to the real world mean he finished dying? Why rush to that? On the other hand, he would have to face it sometime. “OK.”

  “Lie down and close your eyes. This will feel a little funny.”

  Suddenly his limbs moved to new positions. A warm breeze blew across his face, and scents of soil filled the air. He opened his eyes and sat up. Everything felt more real than before. Every blade of grass stood in sharp contrast, filled with subtle variation. The clouds had more puff and wisp. The soil seemed more friable and dirty.

  He stood and took a few unsteady steps.

  Susan jumped to his side and offered an arm. “I have helped people mourn their own death, but it was always a death in the future. This is all new to me.”

  He shook his head in confusion.

  “Sometimes seeing the body helps a person move on.”

  “You said we left the dream. How can I see my own body?”

  “The body you are in now is a temporary substitute, called an avatar.”

  They walked a hundred meters, coming to a mound of dirt. A stick in the ground held the symbol of his religion. Beneath was a wood plaque with his name carved on it. He sunk to his knees and stared in disbelief.

  “Your comrades thought you were dead and buried you here. I saved you, but your body was too far gone. That was several months—”

  “Agh! Get away from me!” Khaldun ran blindly. It did not matter which direction, as long as it was away. He stumbled in the dirt and fell on his face. “Please,” he moaned, “let me die.”

  * * *

  Khaldun woke on a couch in a strange house. A woman sat nearby, embracing knees to her chest, bare feet resting on the edge of the chair. Glorious red hair flowed down to the floor. Dark skin, large golden-brown eyes and full lips made her the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen. “Are you one of the virgins assigned to me?”

  “Yes.”

  It was Susan’s voice. He moaned and dropped his head back on the couch.

  She said, “If I ever do this again, I will definitely answer yes to that question.”

  “If my destiny is Paradise, then you have put me in Hell.”

  “You are still a part of life on this Earth, just in a form you don’t understand.”

  “If we are still on Earth, then I want to return to my family.”

  Susan’s eyes brightened. “Yes, of course. You had a life that was cut short. You should go complete it with the ones you love.”

  Khaldun sat up.

  Susan gestured around the room. “I was going to show you my home and explain how the virtual world works, but let’s skip all that.” She stood and stepped over to a strange table that was tilted over. “Come here and show me where you live.”

  He got up and looked at the table. There were moving pictures on it. Susan brushed her fingers over the surface, and a city appeared. It was, he imagined, what a bird would see from a great height.

  She asked, “Do you live in Sanat?”

  “No. I’m from a village along the west tributary.”

  “How far?”

  “A three-day walk.”

  Susan brushed the surface again. The picture moved with her finger as if a bird were flying above the river. They came to a village, and she made it grow to fill the entire table. “Is this it?”

  He studied the buildings, trying to match the point of view to something familiar. “No. That’s is our neighboring village.”

  Susan moved the picture again.

  “There’s my home.” He pointed to a building.

  Susan tapped something in the corner of the table, and parts of the picture took a reddish hue. “The swarm at your village has been deployed for food production, but we should be able to spare enough for one avatar.”

  * * *

  Khaldun woke standing inside the hollow of a tree. He stepped out into a grove of these strange trees, each with one enormous square leaf and fruit hanging underneath. Susan stood there waiting. He said, “I thought you weren’t going to make an avatar for yourself.”

  “I didn’t. You’re seeing into the virtual world as well as the real one.”

  He walked toward the village, with Susan following about 30 paces behind. Some people in the street gasped when they saw him. Some stared in disbelief. He raised his hand in feeble greeting, then entered his own house.

  Jannah screamed and dropped a wicker tray of food. She put a hand to her open mouth and stared wide-eyed. “No, it can’t be. They said you were dead.”

  “I ... they ... were wrong.” He held out his arms to embrace her.

  She stepped back. “What are you, a ghost?”

  “Give me something to eat.”

  She leaned down, retrieved a fruit-like object from the floor and held it at arm’s-length toward him.

  He received it, took a bite, then screwed his face up. “Ugh! Merciful Creator. You eat this stuff?”

  “It beats starving.”

  “May the Lord send us dry weather next year, so we can grow proper food.”

  “Amen.” Jannah looked up with tears welling in her eyes. “Where have you been all this time?”

  “On the battlefield, I think. Susan brought me back from the gates of death.”

  “Susan? Did you take another wife?”

  “No. Atiqa saved me.”

  “They said Atiqa killed you.”

  “It was an accident. She never meant to hurt anyone.”

  “You sound very personal with this Atiqa.”

  He pointed both index fingers to the door. “She’s right outside, if you’d like to meet her.”

  Jannah stormed to the door and poked her head out. “No one’s here.”

  “What?” Khaldun joined his wife.

  Susan was leaning against the wall with one foot kicked up and arms crossed. “Should I make another avatar now?”

  Khaldun rubbed his eyes.

  Jannah said, “I’m fetching your friends, and the Minister. I want an answer to all this.”

  * * *

  Khaldun walked back to the grove and sat on the ground next to Susan. “Can you die in the virtual world?”

  “Yes, if you choose to.”

  “They’re convinced that my spirit has already departed for Paradise, and all that remains is a shadow. I remember everything, but it’s not really me.”

  “So nothing I said penetrated their thick skulls.”

  “They still believe a man’s spirit is tied to his body rather than his mind.”

  “What do you believe?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I can’t be with the ones I love, so I want to move on.”

  “That’s your right, but I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Because you feel guilty for my death?”

  She nodded. “And because you’re the first human to join me in the virtual world. It will be empty again without you.”

  “You would have made a good Virgin of Paradise, but I do not love you like my own family.”

  “I know. Did you say goodbye?”

  “They have already said goodbye to me in their hearts.”

  Susan muttered an incantation. A jolt came as their avatars fell away and melted into the roots of the grove. She handed him a sm
all box with something like a red mushroom on one face. “I can’t bear to take your life, so you must do it yourself. If you press this button, your mind will be erased. By the laws of my kind, I cannot save any part of you, or ever do anything to bring you back again. This is the true death.”

  Khaldun stared at the box with his thumbs on the button. A thousand years passed in that moment. Like a will of its own, an impulse traveled into his hands and——

  The kill switch fell through empty space. Somewhere in the swarm at Stonehill, a program wiped every byte that had been Khaldun.

  * * *

  Susan woke with Oggie tugging on her forearm. “Mommy, why you crying?”

  “Your mommy did something bad, and now she’s paying for her sins.” Susan sat up and wiped her face. “When you have a lot of power it’s easy to hurt people, even if you want to do good. Someday when you have power, think carefully about how people feel.”

  “OK mommy.”

  “Everybody should have the same amount of power. That way, our mistakes are all small.”

  * * *

  Susan wore her very best silk gown, the silver one with double buttons up the front. A silver band circled her head, with strings of pearls hanging down each temple. The Stone at Birik rippled and flashed in the background as she simulcast to graduating classes at the Abbey and the Sacred Cylinders. Temujin stood nearby, lending the gravity of state to the occasion.

  “Those of you who made it to the end have shown yourselves worthy to bear the Star of Life.” She held up a chain necklace. The gold pendant dangling from it consisted of six thick bars radiating from the center. Engraved across the vertical bars was a snake wrapped around a rod.

  “This is more than a symbol of your profession. Take it in your thumb and forefinger, and it will call nearby swarm to form a clinic. You now wield power that your ancestors only dreamed of. Don’t set yourself up as a god, and never accept payment for your work. The swarm will feed and shelter you.

  “Take a lover or family with you and travel into the world. Find a place where people are in need. Pass on what you’ve learned, and share new insights with fellow physicians.”