Dante's Equation Part 47

She stood obediently and began to move back the way she had come. She didn't feel the alien brush past her, but in a few minutes she heard the door up ahead of her open and saw the light of the outer chamber. The alien was at the door, holding it open. She slipped through, anxious to keep her distance from the thing, and she didn't turn around until she was a good twenty feet away. When she did turn, the alien was standing at the machine with his arms at his sides, face blank.

He was tall and stick-thin, as all the males were. It was startling to have those huge gelatinous black eyes actually focusedon her. He spoke: "The probability is low that you would be able to start the machine, but I prefer that you not enter it again."

"You can see me," Jill said.

"Obviously."

It was spoken in such a dry, factual way that it was almost funny. The weirdness of the situation- actually talking to one of these creatures-suddenly impressed itself on Jill and for a moment pushed everything else from her mind, even the machine.

"Most of the aliens on this planet don't seem to be able to see us. At least, they have not acknowledged us in any way."

"They do not see you because they do not expect you to be there. I, myself, saw you and the male some days ago. I have been a.n.a.lyzing the benefit of contact and had decided against it. It was only to ask you to leave the machine that I spoke."

"What do you mean, they do not expect us to be there?"

He answered patiently, as if talking to a moron, "The brains of most species are designed to interpret energy patterns into three-dimensional solid matter. If an energy pattern is not antic.i.p.ated it may be discarded by the filter as random noise."

Jill gave this some thought. She herself was certainly capable of filtering out an awful lot when she was preoccupied, even large expected things, like, say, d.i.c.k Chalmers. "But we sawyou . Are your brains so different from ours?"

The alien did a slow double blink before answering. "Your brain specifically is much like ours. You were in a strange place and therefore were expecting to receive unusual patterns. The same is not true for the ones who live here. I, myself, was able to see you because of the nature of my work. I have been programmed to think about other species. I have diagrams of many species and that is why my brain is familiar with the concept."

"Oh." Jill thought it could take the rest of her life just to understand everything he'd just said. "However, one thing of interest I have observed while studying you: the male's brain is more different from ours. When you and the male separated I made the calculation to follow you for this reason. I do not understand the brain of the male. Youare female-this is true?" "Yes." "Curious," the alien said flatly. Despite his choice of vocabulary, there seemed to be no emotion in him, not surprise and not much curiosity. He stood motionless, staring at her, his translucent lids rising and falling over that jelly coating on his eyes. It was a little gross. "You don't have many females, do you?" Jill tried. "Is that what's wrong with your planet?" "Wrong?"

"The City is almost deserted." "You refer to the fact that our species will soon cease to exist. We have come to see this as an inevitability. As machines become obsolete, so do species. I am a postspecies specialist. It is my job to prepare for our extinction, for those who may come."

He said it so matter-of-factly. It was depressing, but Jill couldn't help thinking that if they were expecting someone, there would be s.p.a.ce travel, perhaps even rescue. "Who are 'those who may come'?"

"Unknown. The statistics are high that others will come in time. Your appearance was far sooner than predicted. However, I have reached the conclusion that you are not proper recipients. Someday someone will come who will be the appropriate vessels for our legacy."

"Your legacy? You mean your technology? Your knowledge?" "Yes." "But I'd like very much to learn what you know!" "Are you and the male breeders? Can you repopulate this planet?" "No," she admitted. "Our gene pool couldn't survive without other human beings to breed with." "Then you can make no use of our legacy. I must go back to work now. Please return to the surface and never go inside the machine again." The alien walked toward the stairs, apparently with every

intention of ending contact.

Jill went after him. "Wait! You have s.p.a.ce technology. If you can help us get back to our planet, our people would be very interested in your legacy."

The alien stopped and gave this brief consideration. "I have noted your interest in the s.p.a.ceport. Perhaps you are considering that as a means of transportation. It is impossible. I have detected from your physical makeup that you are from a dark universe. Our intergalactic s.p.a.ce travel functionality was shut down four hundred years ago. Our interuniversal was shut down one thousand years ago."

Jill tried to comprehend what he was saying. One thousand years ago they had had the technology to travel between universes. One thousand years ago-but no more. "But . . . if you had the technology once, surely it can be resurrected!"

"Reinstatedis a more accurate word in your language. At this time most of our power grid has been redirected to our maintenance program. We cannot spare the energy. Also, our s.p.a.ce program shutdown program was not designed to be reversible."

Jill felt that news sink in. The s.p.a.ceport was a bust, just as Nate had feared.

"Furthermore, a species from a dark universe would not be suitable recipients for our legacy."

"What do you mean by 'dark universe'?"

"A 'dark universe' is any universe with a greater than forty percentile negative force. It is difficult to believe, but we once came from one ourselves. Before that." He pointed at the machine and shuddered, his face showing dislike, though Jill couldn't have said how. "But that was over two hundred thousand years ago. We have few records left of what it was like on the dark world."

Jill stared at the machine and back at him. She was struck anew, first by the unbelievable time frame he was talking about,two hundred thousand years,then by the picture that was slowly forming in her mind.

"Your people came from a universe like mine? In that . . . that disaster? How? How did that happen?"

"That is not my area of expertise."

"But thosewere your people in there, your ancestors? On the video?"

The alien blinked slowly, processing this. "They were dark people. Yes, they were our progenitors, but many species evolve from lesser things. It is the way of it."

Jill turned and looked at the machine again, hand over her mouth. She had known it was ancient, but two hundred thousand years? Early Egypt had existed only three thousand years ago. The computer had been around for sixty.

"The machine manipulates the one-minus-one . . . I mean, the universal wave?"

"Yes. It was bad technology. This place was left here, never to be touched. I learned of this through the legacy. I repeat my request that you do not go inside the machine again. At this moment, I must return to the surface."

The alien began once again for the stairs. Jill followed him. "Are there records of what the machine did, of whathappened ?"

"Our records are excellent, but you would be wasting your time. It was bad technology."

But what Jill wanted to know, and badly, was why, why it was bad.

Nate was right-he had always been right. If she had remained on Earth she would have gone to work for the DoD and she might well have made a machine just like that one. And maybe what she had seen on that tape would have happened to Earth. There was a branding iron in the pit of her stomach, an anchor in her chest. It was like having a terrible nightmare that one had committed murder only to wake and realize with relief that one had not. Only she wasn't sure if she had really escaped her destiny or not.

By the time they pushed open the bunker door the alien was worn out from the long climb. He was a frail thing, and his body heaved with the effort. He looked even more insubstantial than he had before.

"I must return to my work," he said between gasps. "Good-bye."

"I'm going with you."

As if too depleted to argue with her, the alien only waved his fingers in the air and went to his car.

19.2. Sixty-Forty Denton Wyle

Denton and Eyanna traveled for another three days. After the night of the . . . the incident, he got sick. It was probably some horrible local virus, but he was sick to his stomach, shaky, and the thing in his throat burned like a lump of radioactive coal. And he was afraid that at any moment Eyanna was going to leave him.

Between that and the constant worrying aboutskalkits he was a basket case on two legs. Trying to make himself feel a little better, he bombarded Eyanna with apologies, sticking to the "I was asleep" story. He picked their fruit, made their fire, tried to help her over obstacles (which she wouldn't allow), and in general was the picture of abject misery around her. He did not touch her or sleep close to her again.

At first she would not speak to him. But finally his persistence wore her down. On the morning of the third day she commented with amazement on how big the mountains were now that they were close to them, and he felt reprieved. Maybe, in her own way, Eyanna needed company, too. Even a yellow bellied bunny like him.

On the evening of the seventh day after they'd left Sapphia, Denton and Eyanna found another village. They were at the foothills of the mountains, and there were strange small peaks in the land, like baby mountains or blips on a heart monitor. They were pa.s.sing one of these abrupt peaks when Eyanna stopped and pointed upward.

There were bright bits of color up there, like the dyes the Sapphians used in their native fabrics. And as Denton squinted he saw movement-tiny people. There was a village at the top of the hill.

Eyanna was nervous about approaching strangers. She also didn't like the looks of the place. "It is a bad place to live," she said with contempt. "Look how far they have to go to get food."

She was right. Even from the valley floor they could see that the top of the peak was rocky and barren. The inhabitants of the village would have to climb up and down a considerable distance to reach the jungle primordial and the food the Sapphians took for granted.

Denton studied the layout, hand s.h.i.+elding his eyes from the sun; then he grinned. "Yes, but that is good, Eyanna! Theskalkits cannot get up there! That is why they put the village on the hill!"

Eyanna looked unsure, but Denton was convinced he was right. With a little difficulty he talked her into checking out the place. He was tired and sick, and putting an end to their barrel-of-laughs journey sounded just fine.

It was a difficult climb. The hill was not so steep that it couldn't be walked, but it was close. About halfway up, the vegetation gave way almost entirely to rock. Denton had second thoughts as they neared the top. He had already been suckered once on this world. But this was exactly the kind of physical refuge he'd been searching for, and if it came with some people for company who were not playing nun like Eyanna and who also, by the way, didn't hand-feed their members to huge predators, then he'd be one happy camper.

The village at the top of the hill was small and modest. It consisted of no more than thirty huts around a single community circle. They were seen at once and were soon facing about forty or so staring inhabitants.

They were a more ragtag group than the Sapphians-not as elaborately groomed, not as uniformly attractive, and among them were several who looked very old. Denton was happy to see the old people. If he hadn't still been just a teensy bit wary, he would have hugged 'em.

An old male stepped forward. His abundant hair was white and his long, narrow face was wrinkled. He bobbed his head in greeting.

"This place is called Khashta. You are welcome. From where do you come?"

Eyanna looked at the ground. Denton answered, smiling for all he was worth, "We are from Sapphia."

The old man took in Eyanna's fading scratches knowingly. "Be at rest. You will not be harmed here."

Denton believed him. The old man had a sympathetic face and his eyes were warm. He seemed different from the Sapphians. He felt . . . sincere. Denton knew he could be seeing what he wanted to see,again, and, certainly, he would keep his guard up, but for the first time in days, things were looking up.

He squeezed Eyanna's hand. "I think this is a good place."

She still looked nervous, but she was a brave girl, G.o.d knew. She hesitantly made the Sapphian gesture for "yes."

That night they shared the community meal. There was meat, which they had not had since leaving Sapphia, fruit, grain, and a fermented beverage. Denton nodded and smiled at everyone, ingratiating himself. He decided to forgo the hard stuff until he was more sure of the place, but it warmed the c.o.c.kles of his heart to know it was there. The old man who had greeted them was named Yulehulha or something like that (Yule, Denton decided). He even offered them hand-rolled cigarettes. Denton pa.s.sed.

As the night wore on, his relief and grat.i.tude to have found a new place, which he expressed freely to anyone who would listen, was dampened a little. It was not exactly the party atmosphere he'd gotten used to in the gorge. There were a dozen or so attractive young females but not nearly the bounty the Sapphians had. And the licentiousness he had come to appreciate so fully as a perk of this interstellar voyage stuff was not at all apparent. The Khashtans were more subdued, which he supposed was due to trudging up and down the mountain all day carrying food and water, something he himself had to look forward to. Yippee.

He couldn't help but feel a spark of resentment toward the Sapphians.

After the meal, Yule got up. He reached behind his back and produced a small brown egg. He showed it to Denton and Eyanna solemnly.

"Khashtameans 'place of the egg.' Our people revere the egg because it shows the way of all creation."

Denton smiled and nodded, looking at Eyanna to make sure she was being polite. She was listening quietly.

"All of creation is like this egg when it is conceived inside the mother. The egg has life inside, but it is unformed and soft. As it grows, all that is bad and impure in the egg hardens out to the edges until it becomes the lifeless sh.e.l.l. And all that was good in the egg has become something else."

He cracked the egg with a flick of a fingernail and carefully pulled it apart. In the center was a baby bird, its feathers bright blue. It unfolded its wings and shook them, emitted a sharpcheep .

Eyanna smiled radiantly. The old man gave her the baby bird and Eyanna held it on her slender palm, smiling.

"And what kind of 'baby' does this world create?" Denton asked politely. He half expected some native legend about a giant fox or crow or something. But that was not the answer.

"The 'egg' is not just this world, but all of creation, all of the stars, all of the worlds, even the worlds beyond the worlds. And all of creation is still new. Even now, it is only a soft egg inside the womb. But someday, slowly, slowly, the bad will be separated from the good and will harden out to the edges, becoming like the sh.e.l.l. And inside the egg new life will be born."

"But what kind of life?" Denton asked again.

"Sahee," Yule answered. G.o.d.

That night in the hut, Denton was wired. Eyanna stood in the doorway looking out at the night as he paced, talking eagerly.

"This is good. We'll be safe here. The people are nice, and I believe them when they say they don't sacrifice to theskalkits . They're a little boring maybe, and it'll be hard work, but it is better than getting tied to trees. Don't you think so, Eyanna?"

He wanted her to admit it. In fact, it would be nice if she'd fall at his feet as her savior. More or less. Instead, she just gazed out into the night.

"Don't you think so?"

She turned to look at him. Her eyes were bright with what he thought were happy tears. That was better.

"I could bring my children here," she said in a full voice.

He hesitated, stopping in the middle of the floor. He was a little annoyed. They just got here, for G.o.d's sake. What the heck did she want from him? And, anyway, her children were in Sapphia- nice, faraway, never-going-near-there-again Sapphia.

"Maybe. Someday." He started pacing again. "For now, we have a place to live and I think we can be happy here. Especially if . . . if we're nice to each other. Do you not think so, Eyanna?"

She gave him a look that reminded him, oddly, of Dave Banks.

"Eyanna? I mean . . . Come on!"

"Yes, Denton. This is a good place."

He smiled at her, pleased.

The next morning, Eyanna was gone. Denton knew it as soon as he opened his eyes and saw that she was not in the hut. But still, he was not absolutely sure. He went outside and looked for her around the village, but it was not a big place and it was obvious that she was not there.

Some of the villagers, including Yule, were sitting at the fire in the center of the village and they watched him search without comment. He finally joined them.

"She has left," Yule observed as Denton sat down.

"Yes. She left."

Someone offered him a cup of water. He took it. His stomach growled.

"You will go after her?"

Denton thought about it. He had a hard time even knowing what he felt, much less expressing it. "Eyanna was not my woman. She can do what she likes." He meant it more politely than it sounded, supportive in a women's lib kind of way, but it came out wrong. "She will come back," he amended.

And she might. He thought she intended to. But then, he knew where she was going, and he thought her chances of grabbing those children and getting out of Sapphia alive were only slightly greater than his chances of having a cheeseburger, fries, and milk shake for dinner.

But anyway, he wasn't going after her. She didn't ask him to and it was none of his business. In fact . . . it was a bit harsh maybe, but it was not a totally bad thing that she was gone. He could start with a clean slate now. He would not have to be reminded of . . . of things that had not gone so well between them. And without her here, the Khashtan females might warm up to him and he might not have to live in a perpetual state of frustration. Eyanna was beautiful, but she definitely had some codependency issues.

It was a warm morning, but he suddenly got a bad chill. Yule watched him cough, a wracking, chunky one, and lit up a smoke.