The Abyss Beyond Dreams (84 page)

‘I think so. There’s been secondary system component degradation, of course, but then we knew we’d have to deal with that. The systems
Skylady
has synthesized should
be adequate to initiate the warhead. We’ll start a rebuild as soon as we get home. But the real trick is going to be modifying the effect itself. I won’t be able to determine the final
program until I’m inside the Forest; once I’m there, I can run an accurate analysis on its quantum distortion field signature.’

‘And, as the old quote goes: what science can analyse, science can duplicate,’ Fergus said.

‘Let’s hope so,’ Nigel muttered. ‘Or we’re going to need a bigger boat.’

Kysandra nodded apprehensively. ‘Okay.’

Nigel looked up for a moment and winked at her. ‘Don’t worry, it’s all worked out so far, hasn’t it?’

She grinned despairingly. ‘Oh, yes. But that’s only because you know everything.’

‘One more week,’ he promised. ‘Maybe less.’

‘Really? How long to rebuild the warhead?’

‘I’m thinking a day, maybe two at the most. Some of that can be done en route.’

‘So all we really have to do is launch?’

‘Yeah. Marek should have the booster stack assembled by now.’

‘So will you land again before you detonate the quantumbuster? That’ll be safer than being in space. Won’t it?’

The two ANAdroids became very still. Nigel’s gaze remained steady. His lopsided smile was no longer teasing. ‘Kysandra,’ he began awkwardly, ‘I need to be there in case
anything goes wrong.’

‘There? There where?’

‘I’ve got to see this through. I’m sorry, I thought you understood that.’

‘No! No, you can’t,’ she cried. ‘Send one of the ANAdroids. They can do it.’

‘They can, if nothing goes wrong. Possibly if something does go wrong, too. But I can’t take that chance; there’s too much at stake here. A whole world of people, Kysandra. If
there’s something unexpected up there, if we have to change the mission for whatever reason, I’ll need to innovate.’

‘But . . . But, they can do that!’ She was mortified that her throat was tightening up, tears building behind her eyes. Any moment now, if this conversation continued, she might
burst out crying.

‘They can do a great deal, including work through logical options. Their bioprocessor brains are the best we can make. But if we need a non-logical solution – that’s where I
come in. I can’t leave it to chance, Kysandra. It has to be me in the
Skylady
.’

‘No!’

‘If I can remote detonate, then I will. Of course I will. But we have to be prepared, and certain.’

‘You’ll die. It’ll be permanent. If the quantumbuster rips the Void apart, there will be no Giu left to reach, no Heart to accept your soul.’ She heard what she was
saying and hated it; her old ingrained belief hadn’t been eradicated by the knowledge he’d given her so freely, just suppressed.
I am rational, really I am. It’s just . .
.

Nigel walked over to her and put his arms round her, exactly the way he had at their wedding ceremony. This time he stroked her back instead of patting it. ‘I won’t die,’ he
said quietly. ‘I haven’t told you this before, I didn’t want you upset or confused, but this body, it’s actually a clone loaded with my memories and personality. The
original me is still out there, Kysandra. Right now, I’m also alive in the real universe. I’m out there. Waiting.’

‘What? You can’t be.’

‘I am. True.’

‘You mean you’re not really you?’

‘Of course I am,’ he chortled. ‘But you know my ego: I’m far too important to actually die, so I sent this me into the Void to do my own dirty work. I never expected to
make it back, although I never expected the mission would be like this, either. Kysandra, I never expected to meet you. Strange, the things fate throws at us.’

She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything.

‘We’ll meet again someday, somewhere,’ Nigel said. ‘I promise you that. And it will be the happiest day I’ve had for a thousand years, because I’ll get to see
you live as you deserve to. That’s what this is about, that’s why this version of me exists. Let me fulfil my destiny, so I can watch you achieve yours.’

‘I don’t want another you. I want this one.’

‘The other one is the original, the best. You’ll see. Just don’t ever tell him I said that, okay? Keep it between us.’

‘Do you always have to be right?’

‘It’s what I am.’

‘I want to be right, too, just for once.’

‘That’s my girl.’

*

They changed tracks at Fosbury, switching the branch-line train onto the main Southern City Line. Nobody challenged Slvasta’s bodyguard troops as the comrades swarmed
into the signal box to pull the big iron levers which moved the points over, even though the revolution hadn’t even been acknowledged this far from Varlan. Bethaneve curled up on one of the
long bench seats and fell asleep as the carriage rocked about.

Javier woke her as dawn was breaking. A pale gold light was streaming in through the windows facing east. The only nebula left in the sky was Uracus itself – a venomous russet mist, twined
with topaz fronds as if the interstellar dust storms were two kinds of giant space weed writhing round each other. For some reason, the empty gulf along its centre seemed larger today. Below it,
fog lay across the land, meandering through the hollows like a lake of sluggish oil, with trees and the roofs of farm buildings poking through. Hills rumpled the horizon.

‘Where are we?’ she asked. Every limb ached from the cramped bench as she stretched laboriously. But – thank Giu – the worst of the exhaustion had left her.

‘Five hours out from Dios,’ Javier said. ‘Apparently we just passed through a place called Normanton.’

‘No idea where that is.’ She massaged the base of her neck, which was badly kinked from being pressed up against the armrest. ‘You know I’ve never been out of the city
before?’

‘I lived in Sigen for a couple of years, but that’s all.’

She glanced down the carriage. Most of the bodyguard troops seemed to be sleeping, but those who were awake were vigilant. Slvasta was sitting on a bench at the far end, flanked by Andricea and
Yannrith. Bethaneve did her best to keep a scowl from her face.

‘She can’t replace you,’ he said softly.

‘He probably thinks I’m a . . . Oh, crud, Javier, what in Uracus was Coulan?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said, shell hardening to veil his emotions. ‘But not a Faller, that’s for sure.’

She lowered her voice. ‘He said he was a machine. He wasn’t human, not proper human.’

‘He cared about us, that’s all I know. Whatever he was doing, it’s bigger than the revolution. A lot bigger.’

‘“Take you back into the real universe”, that’s what he said. What in Giu’s name did he mean?’

‘I’ve no idea. I guess he must have been talking about the universe outside the Void, the one Captain Cornelius came from.’

‘But . . . going back there? That’s crazy.’

‘I know. But he certainly wasn’t like you and me, anyway. I’ve been thinking about that. I believe he was a better kind of human. That he came to the Void to help
us.’

‘You could be right,’ she said hurriedly. ‘He was better.’ She could see how badly he was suffering.

‘So, it’s not impossible, is it? Not completely?’

‘Maybe not. I wonder if Nigel is a part of whatever they’re planning?’

‘I suppose so.’

Bethaneve looked down the carriage again, still perturbed to see Captain Philious sitting opposite Slvasta. ‘Did Slvasta sleep?’

‘Yes. He woke up a few minutes ago. That’s why I got you up.’

‘Good. If he slept, he will have calmed down. We can try and talk some sense into him.’

‘He won’t listen to me. Not after yesterday. Coulan and I were together. I can’t be trusted. It’s got to be you.’

She put her hand on top of his. ‘He fooled everybody.’

‘Maybe I wanted to be fooled. He was . . . perfection.’

‘I know. I remember. So perfect I wasn’t even jealous when he left me for you. I was just glad he was happy. Can you imagine that?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said in a shaky voice. ‘It just hurts.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘I’ll go talk to Slvasta.’

Andricea eyed her warily as she walked down the aisle between the benches. There was clearly a private ’path exchange between her and Slvasta. She got up and gave Bethaneve a neutral
smile. ‘I’ll go and see if there’s anything to eat. There’s got to be some tea, at least.’

‘Thanks.’ Bethaneve looked down expectantly at Slvasta.

When he returned her gaze he was actually sheepish. ‘Please,’ he said, and half stood.

She sat beside him, and couldn’t quite bring herself to look at the Captain sitting on the bench opposite.

‘I’m sorry about yesterday,’ he said. ‘I said things I just didn’t mean. Forgive me.’

She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. ‘We were all under a lot of stress, and Ingmar didn’t help.’

‘Crudding right!’ He exhaled loudly. ‘I didn’t understand what was happening.’

‘And do you now?’

‘Not really.’

‘So what are we doing?’

‘Stopping them. I know where Nigel lives. I’ve been to his nest.’

‘Who is
them
, my love?’

‘The Fallers.’

‘I’m not sure Coulan was a Faller. He said he was a machine.’

‘He controlled us,’ Slvasta said. ‘Humans and other Fallers; the one from Eynsham Square had something odd in its brain, Captain Philious told me. So he controlled us without
us even knowing. Controlled us as if we were his mods, all running round doing what he wanted. Thinking it was what we wanted.’

She stared across at Captain Philious. ‘I still want justice and democracy for everyone. I wanted that before I met him. That will never change.’

‘Whereas all he wanted were the quantumbusters from my palace,’ the Captain said.

‘I don’t know what they are.’

‘A bomb. A bomb my ancestor brought with him to the Void, rightly or wrongly. A bomb powerful enough to blow up Bienvenido itself. How does that bring anyone justice?’

‘Do you think he was a Faller?’

‘I don’t see what else he could have been. Maybe one of their ruling class. Their equivalent to me.’

She shook her head. ‘If there are Fallers like that, then we would all have Fallen a thousand years ago. Coulan and Nigel, they’re different.’

‘They want to destroy us. How is that different?’

Bethaneve tipped her head back, resting it on the thin cushioning. It was no use; she knew Slvasta could never be argued round when it came to Fallers. She suspected the Captain was playing him,
exploiting his weakness to gain advantage.

Uracus, am I paranoid? If I protest, if I argue against this now, Slvasta will never trust me again. I have to stay with him, to help him before he is ruined by this. If he Falls, so does
the revolution.

‘I don’t suppose it is,’ she said. ‘So what’s the plan?’

*

It was still dark when the express arrived at the outskirts of Dios, with just a hint of dawn’s coronal blaze in the eastern sky. The delicate gossamer nebulas were
retreating back into night, shying away from the sunlight. The big engine came to a halt amid bursts of steam and a drawn-out clanking of brakes, ending with the pistons reversing and spinning the
wheels backwards. Two hundred metres ahead, the pale orange lights of the main station signal box shone weakly down onto the maze of tracks. Inside the box, the signalman obediently pulled several
long levers, changing the points. Madeline removed her carbine’s muzzle from his crotch.

‘Branch line is open,’ she ’pathed to the express.

It began to move forward again, switching across tracks until it was heading down the line to Erond. Once it was clear of the junction, it began to pick up speed again.

Three and a half hours later, with the sun now well above the horizon, it slipped into the small marshalling yard at the side of Erond’s station. Merchants and wholesalers who were waiting
for their morning deliveries watched the unscheduled arrival with interest. They didn’t get too close, though; Russell and others from Ma’s organization were standing round in their
long drosilk coats, carbines held prominently, making sure there was plenty of space for the two steam cars to back up to the carriage.

Kysandra followed Nigel out of the carriage. The fresh morning air was tainted with the smell of coal smoke and hot oil. She perceived a lot of ex-sight gliding over her and the cars, mainly
from all the merchants. But there were no curious sheriffs, no authorities. Nigel had infiltrated the county administration very effectively.

Marek was in charge of the yard crew and quickly orchestrated everyone to create a strong shell around the carriage carrying the quantumbusters. Inside its protective shroud, the warheads were
loaded onto trailers towed by the steam cars. Once they were secured, Marek’s people mounted up on horses, and the cars drove out of the yard.

Within twenty minutes, the cavalcade had driven through the outskirts and reached the new river road to Adeone. With a screech of fast-moving metal, the steam cars started to accelerate.

*

Slvasta’s train pulled in at Dios station just before midday. The station manager himself came out onto the platform to meet the second unscheduled train of the morning.
His indignation was exuded as a badge of authority, but it began to falter as his ex-sight picked up the three armed men in the engine’s cab along with the driver and fireman. Strangely,
there were no mod-dwarfs to help shovel coal.

What was left of his bluster vanished altogether as the bodyguard troop began to pile out of the first carriage. Dios knew all about the carbines which the revolutionaries used. Then Slvasta
himself came striding down the platform, the self-proclaimed prime minister of the new People’s Interim Congress. Fright began to leak out of the station manager’s mind. If Slvasta was
here, Dios was going to suffer as Varlan had. Fear gave way to outright astonishment as he saw Captain Philious walking beside Slvasta.

Hundreds of local people were absorbing the station manager’s involuntary gifting as Slvasta came up to him. ‘Did the express from Varlan stop here?’