‘But I can help you,’ Carey said imploringly. ‘I know what you’re after. You want Villion. Well, I know how you can reach him.’
‘Your assistance won’t be necessary, I’m sure,’ Pal Galmain said. ‘I have visited Tavera before. I can locate the planet without help.’
‘And Villion will blow you out of the sky before you ever land. He’s not about to let you get close to him.’
‘I have certain charges to bring against Villion. According to the blood oath of the ancient code…’
Carey laughed. ’The only blood involved in this is going to be yours.’
Tedric intervened gently. ‘What is it you have in mind, Carey?’
‘Simply this. What will Villion be worried about? Your ship, that’s what. If the other one returns, the robot ship, mine, he’s not going to know what to think. He’ll have to let it land so that he can investigate.’
‘You’re suggesting we change ships,’ Tedric said.
’Exactly. I don’t think the control systems have been damaged. It’ll take some work, some time, to do it right, but I’m positive something can be rigged up.’
‘And we’ll be totally disarmed,’ said Galmain.
‘What chance do you think you stand now, this tug against an entire planet?’
Tedric looked at the vemplar. ‘What he says does make sense, Pal Galmain.’
’Then we’ll do it,’ Galmain said, ‘but that’s no reason to spare Carey. We can leave him aboard this ship and set it adrift.’
‘You’re acting like a bloodthirsty maniac,’ Juvi said. ‘Why are you so eager to kill this man?’
‘Because it’s the only logical course to pursue,’ said Galmain.
Tedric realised it was time to settle the matter of Carey’s fate. He looked at the vemplar. ‘I suspect your appraisal of the situation is valid, Pal Galmain,’ he said, ‘but I don’t happen to believe that mere suspicion is sufficient grounds for taking Carey’s life. His suggestion, we all agree, is an excellent one. Therefore, we will change ships. I’m not prepared to trust Carey fully - not at this time at least. He will be locked in a cabin and kept there for the duration of our voyage.’
‘It’s still a risk,’ Galmain said. ‘An unnecessary one.’
‘I don’t dispute that it’s a risk,’ said Tedric. ‘Whether it’s necessary is a different question, the answer to which depends upon the value one places on a human life.’ Tedric stepped away from the group, went to a vacant chair and sat down heavily. ’There’s one other matter, something I haven’t told any of you so far. I think the time has come for you -all of you, including Carey - to be aware of this. Just after our arrival in the Dynarx realm, a Scientist, Skandos, contacted me. He informed me that a new red cloud had recently appeared within the boundaries of the Empire of Man. This cloud, unlike the previous one, is not located in an uninhabited, isolated sector of the Empire. It is huddled just outside the orbit of Pluto and is presently expanding at a very rapid rate. Already, the forces described by the Wykzl are affecting the population of Earth. There has been a great panic and madness runs rampant. Within a few months - a local year at the most - the cloud will swallow up the Earth and its sun. Evacuation procedures have been instituted, but because of the general state of chaos, it is doubtful that more than a small percentage of the Earth’s inhabitants can be removed in time.’
His announcement was greeted with hushed silence. Even Carey looked stunned.
‘What can we do?’ said Juvi.
’Only one thing: proceed with our mission. The red clouds are apparently the tools of what Pal Galmain calls the darker forces and what the Scientists know as their adversaries. The only contact we have with this group is through Fra Villion, their agent. For us to reach them, we must first reach Villion. Perhaps now you can understand my willingness to take risks. The situation is critical. If we fail, it will mean millions of lives.’
A hushed atmosphere prevailed. All eyes were fixed on Tedric as if expecting him to provide sudden enlightenment. The best he could manage for them was a defiant smile.
He came to his feet. ‘So let’s get on with it. To prepare our new home is going to require a lot of work. If we don’t get started, we’ll never get done.’
Pal Galmain nodded in agreement. ‘Then it’s on to Tavera. You for your reasons and I for mine.’
’For victory or death,’ Yod Cartwright exclaimed dramatically.
’Or maybe both,’ said Wilson, with a crooked smile and a wink for Juvi.
Chapter 10
Lady Alyc
Physically, Lady Alyc Carey was blind, but the handicap was one that she had long since accepted. While it might be said that for others - for strangers - she was without sight, for those that mattered - for herself and her friends - her vision was as keen and perceptive as if she could actually see. The fact that she was blind was no more significant than the fact that her skin was white. Blindness was not a handicap; it was merely a characteristic.
Alyc had last actually seen at the age of seven. As a child, the only daughter of Melor Carey, richest and most powerful man in the Galaxy, she had been pampered and adored by her father - her whims were his commands and her desires his goals. In her entire life until then, nothing had transpired to challenge her basic assumption that the universe had been created strictly as a plaything for herself.
In that year, the year when Alyc turned seven, the leading astronomers of the Empire announced that a certain obscure, planetless star, KC97Z, was about to explode into a nova. When Alyc heard of this, she expressed the wish to be present at the actual moment of the explosion. Melor Carey, as the richest and most powerful man in the Galaxy, promptly sought and obtained permission to visit the site. As the moment approached, the Carey family yacht, Blue Eagle, docked in the vicinity of KC97Z. There were a number of other ships present. Most contained scientists come to observe and study the nova.
Since astronomical phenomena were part of the universe, Alyc naturally assumed that this nova had been created for her own personal entertainment, so that, when the explosion occurred and everyone else - including her father and brother - observed the event by viewscreen, Alyc sneaked away and opened a sealed porthole and watched with her own naked eyes. She had been warned, but since the universe was her plaything, she could not imagine how it might in any way harm her.
She was wrong. When K.C97Z exploded, Alyc Carey, for one infinitesimally brief moment, was witness to the raw unvarnished truth about the universe. She learned that it was not her plaything; rather, she was its toy. This instant of enlightenment was something Alyc never forgot. It was also when she was struck blind.
That was many years ago. Alyc had by now thoroughly reconciled herself to the fact that the universe was a cold, cruel environment that cared no more for her whims and desires than a boot heel cared for the bug it so casually squashed. This conclusion had made her a different person.
For many years of her blindness, Alyc had lived an isolated existence in the Carey family home on the Carey family planet, but that world - Milrod Eleven - had been destroyed by Milton Dass’s matter-scrambler and Alyc had come to Earth to live. Recently, she had purchased a vast holding of land in what had once been known as the state of Colorado. It was springtime now as she stood on the rear platform of the small robo-flier and felt the cool afternoon breeze fluttering across her face.
A man stood beside her, observing the large herd of mustang horses grazing in the valley around them. As he watched, the man spoke to Alyc. ‘I still say it makes no sense at all for you to stay here. There are millions who’d like to leave and cannot. You must be aware of the danger, even if you can’t actually see it. I really don’t understand. Why do you insist on staying?’
'I told you, Phillip,’ she said. Her face was turned towards the herd. Although she could not see the horses, she could sense their near presence and was strangely soothed by it. ‘I see no reason for me to leave Earth.’
‘How much of a reason do you need?�
� said Phillip Nolan, in an exasperated voice. ’The red cloud is there. I’m not making it up. I’ve sent a dozen of my best corpsmen into the middle of it and none has come back. It’s real, I’m telling you.’
She reached out and touched his hand reassuringly, gripping the fingers gently. ‘I’m not doubting you, Phillip. I know it’s there as you say. I can’t see it, but neither can the wild horses, and they know too.’
’The horses…’
She nodded. ‘See how restless they are. It didn’t used to be that way. When Tedric was with me, he and I would come here every day. We would walk among the herd and they were not afraid, but now if I try to leave the flier, they run. It’s not me they’re afraid of. It’s the cloud. It disturbs them.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not worried about those horses, Alyc, I’m worried about you.’
‘It’s the same with me,’ she said flatly.
’Then you can feel it?’
‘I can. It’s like a scent in the air. A terrible, fearsome smell of evil.’
‘I know what you mean. It’s unbelievable what’s been happening in New Melbourne. The whole city is like a madhouse. People burning, looting, killing - and for no reason. No one knows what to think. They’re frightened and they don’t know why. It’s affected me too. In my dreams, I see things…even when I’m wide awake, I dream. It’s the cloud. The Wykzl said it drove people mad. They were right. It’s happening here - all over Earth. That’s why you have to leave, Alyc. The Emperor has already gone and most of the court with him. I’m one of the few left and I’ll be going soon, too. In a few weeks, the only people left on Earth will be the totally mad. You can’t stay in a world like that.’
‘You don’t understand.’ She released his hand and gestured at the landscape. In the far distance, the white gleaming peaks of the Rockies stood like fingers on the hands of a god. ‘It’s safe for me here. The mountains fear nothing.’
‘But what about the people? You’re not totally alone out here. When I flew in, I saw a settlement, a town…
‘An Indian village. They’re strong people, like the mountains. They can endure anything - even the cloud.’
‘I wouldn’t want to place a bet on that. No, Alyc, it’s just too dangerous. You have to leave Earth.’
‘I left one home. That was enough. Tell me one thing, Phillip. What does the cloud look like?’
‘I haven’t seen it up close. Those who have say…’
‘Not there. Here. What does it look like in the sky?’
‘Well, you can only see it at night. It’s like a brilliant band of fire cutting across the stars. It’s awesome. And frightening. That’s what I mean. You can’t stay here another day. If I went away and left you, how could I ever face Tedric again?’
’Tedric will understand.’
‘I’m not sure about that.’
‘I am.’
‘You act as if you’ve just finished talking to him.’ He laughed uncomfortably.
‘Not talked, no, but I’ve heard…I’m aware of his actions. Tedric is among friends. He knows of the cloud and is determined to save us.’
‘He’s reached the Bioman Sphere?’
‘Yes.’
‘But how do you know? Is it the Scientists? Have they contacted you?’
‘In a manner of speaking, they have. Sometimes I hear them…talking. It began when I lost my sight. I hear voices, the Scientists - and others. Tedric will save us. If he fails, it will be because he is dead, and if he dies, then there’s no need for me to go on living.’
‘You shouldn’t say that. Tedric wouldn’t agree.’
‘It’s not Tedric’s decision to make.’ She turned away from him, sensing the lateness of the hour from the angle of the sun upon her face. ‘Perhaps we should go. I know you have to return to New Melbourne.’
He nodded tightly and preceded her forwards into the bubble cockpit. Nolan punched the control buttons and, as the flier rose into the air, turned in his seat and silently surveyed the flat, passionless land below. Alyc was also silent. Eventually, the ranch house appeared in front of them. There was a large garden in the back, a splash of rich colour amid the drab brown land.
When the flier landed, Nolan stepped out and helped Alyc to the ground. They stood in front of the house. Her robot gardener, Kuevee, stood motionlessly on the porch, a sprinkler can gripped in one hand.
‘You can still change your mind,’ he said. ’There’s time. I’d gladly wait and help you pack.’
She shook her head. ‘No, Phillip. My mind is made up.’
He sighed. ‘You’re no different from when you were a little girl. I remember you as the meanest, nastiest, most spoiled, most stubborn creature I’d ever met in my life.’
She smiled, knowing he meant no harm. ‘Go, Phillip. I know you have work to do. You’ve wasted enough time on me.’
‘Goodbye, Alyc.’ He took her hand and, bending at the waist, pressed his lips against it.
‘Goodbye, Phillip.’
‘I still wish…’
‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘You’ve done what you could. Now go—’
Reluctantly, he turned. A small, single-passenger rocket-plane stood on the ground nearby. Alyc waited until the harsh roar of the engines had dwindled to a tiny echo and then turned towards the house. ‘You can put that silly can down now,’ she told the robot, Kuevee. ‘He’s gone and I’m safe. Where is Kisha?’ in the house, Alyc, preparing an evening feast.’ The robot spoke in the clipped tones of its kind. Kuevee was an old-fashioned steel and aluminium machine programmed strictly for his gardening duties. In spite of this, Alyc thought he was more human than most of the people she’d ever met.
‘You mean she’s lurking in the kitchen with her nose pressed to the window, trying to find out everything she can.’
With practised ease, Alyc climbed the steps, opened the front door and entered the house. The living room was spacious and warmly furnished. She found Kisha in the kitchen, busily engaged beside a woodburning stove. The subwoman looked up as Alyc entered the room.
‘Ah, you’re back.’
’As if you didn’t know.’
Kisha shook her tiny feline head innocently. ‘I’ve been busy - very busy.’
‘I don’t suppose you heard the rocketplane leave either.’
‘What plane, Alyc?’
She laughed. ‘Your protectiveness is overwhelming. You and Kuevee both. Phillip Nolan is an old, old friend. He would never harm me.’
’There’s a madness in the air, Alyc. It is never wrong to be cautious.’
‘Gall me when dinner’s ready, please. I’m going to rest first.’
Her feet never hesitating, she went up the stairs to her room. Poor Phillip, she thought, as she lay on the bed. What will become of him? If wasn’t until today, out on the range, that she had realised for the first time that Phillip Nolan was in love with her. That could be a problem. Not a terrible problem. But a problem, nonetheless.
She shut her eyes and tried to relax, but as always lately, the fear - the great, nameless, reasonless fear - came over her. She began to shiver and shake. Tedric, she thought, hurry. Please hurry. You must or all of us are lost.
Chapter 11
The Trial
The meeting hall in which the trial took place on the planet Prime at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy was approximately the size of the continent of Australia. The ceiling was high, the floor of polished wood, and the walls ornately decorated. The defendant sat in a small chair to the right of the judge’s tall desk, while the prosecutor stood to the far left, reading from a long parchment scroll. The jurors - four hundred strong - sat scattered in chairs throughout the room. From where he sat, the defendant could actually see no more than two or three of them, but he knew everyone was present and that all were listening attentively.
The defendant was Skandos, the histro-physicist, who stood accused of the crime of seeking to destroy the universe. The judge, Zorza, was the oldest and wisest of the Scientists
, a man who had spoken only once before in ten thousand years. The prosecutor was Jorken, a relatively youthful Scientist - barely three thousand years of age. He was the one who had brought the charge against Skandos.
Jorken was presently reading from a lengthy description of Skandos’s alleged crimes. The defendant sat with his chin resting on his palm, only partially aware of the events surrounding him. A larger part of his attention was focused on another set of events entirely. These were presently taking place many thousands of light-years away in a section of N-space between the realm of the Dynarx and the Bioman Sphere.
‘…and so, in conclusion,’ said Jorken, in his thin reedy voice, ‘Skandos stands accused of the most heinous crimes imaginable. He has brought destruction and chaos to the very universe he pledged to protect and preserve. The evidence in support of these charges is unequivocal. As much as it grieves me, I must ask from you, his peers, the only conceivable verdict - guilty. A just punishment must then be imposed.’
Skandos nodded thoughtfully. He had a good idea what this punishment would be: exile. A punishment imposed only once in the history of Prime and then with most disastrous results. Not that it mattered. Skandos did not expect to be convicted or punished.
Sensing that Jorken had at last completed his recital, old Zorza leaned down from his high desk and peered at Skandos. ‘How do you plead to these charges, my old friend?’ he asked in a sad, gentle voice.
‘I’m afraid,’ Skandos said firmly, ’that I am guilty.’ He waited for the murmur of astonishment to fade from his mind, then went on in a ringing voice. ‘Guilty,’ he said, ’of obedience to my pledge, of courage and perseverance in the face of a terrible challenge. It is possible that I may have erred. I admit that. It is possible that I may have been overly bold. I admit that, too. But I have committed no crime. Every action I have taken has been for the greater good of our universe as a whole, and I defy anyone’ - he turned and glared at Jorken—’to prove otherwise.’
‘I’m afraid that’s just what I’ve done,’ said the prosecutor, with a smirk.
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