 |
| Ivory investigates a cell bioreactor.
At Phari Base in the Slave Craton. |
CHAPTER 4
Trysta completed her motion, rushing forward to grab the teleportation pendant from Ivory. Then we all realized that we had been teleported. Trysta stood there, towering over us, looking with satisfaction at the pendant she now held in her hand. I asked Ivory, "Where are we?" Even as I spoke, I thought I heard a voice: Hello?
Ivory quickly took a step away from Trysta and came to stand by my side. She whispered, "I selected Earth as our destination, but..."
We were in a dim place, what seemed like a large cavern. The air was hot and thin. I wondered, "Earth? Where..." The voice was 'louder' now: Where are you? This time, I could tell that the mysterious "voice" was inside my mind.
Trysta barked her harsh laugh and said, "Think it through, Ivory. That was a Phari teleportation conduit that you just pushed us through and you did not make any microadjustment to the destination coordinates."
I put my arm around Ivory and whispered in her ear, "What is she talking about?" I tried to peer into Ivory's mind, but just as I began searching her thoughts for a clue as to our location, I lost control of my access to the Bimanoid Interface, like someone had flicked an 'off' switch. That sudden disconnect felt like a loud radio broadcast suddenly going silent. I did not hear that mysterious voice in my head ever again, but there was something hauntingly familiar about it.
Ivory spoke to Trysta, "Here in the Final Reality, the pek long ago forced the Phari off of Earth."
Trysta nodded, "Or, more accurately, out of Earth."
My eyes were adjusting to the dim red light of the cavern. I asked, "We're inside Earth? Underground?"
Trysta explained, "Long ago, back in the First Reality, the Phari established a base on Earth. They worked to engineer Earthly microbes that could utilize oxygen." Trysta was struggling to get enough oxygen. She stopped talking, took several deep breaths then continued speaking, "Then the pek eventually arrived in our galaxy and they took over the dull and boring task of guiding Earth's primitive lifeforms towards glory."
Ivory looked around in awe and asked. "This Phari base survived here inside Earth for two billion years?"
Trysta sank down and sat on the floor, her legs dangling off of the teleportation platform we had arrived on. She smacked her long-fingered hand on the platform. "We are deep inside the Slave Craton. A dozen asteroids and major tectonic events have shattered and fragmented this ancient part of Earth's crust, but this base endured. The Phari built to last, anchoring their base to Earth, but locating it in the Hierion Domain. And I suppose, due to temporal momentum, the Phari were still here fairly recently in this Reality. Remember, in the Asimov Reality, R. Gohrlay liberated the Phari from the pek and used Phari technology to give humans access to the Bimanoid Interface."
Ivory muttered, "Of course! This Phari Base is just like Observer Base..."
It was too hot. I was beginning to sweat profusely. I meekly suggested, "Let's get out of here."
Ivory asked Trysta, "You've been here before, haven't you?
Trysta replied, "R. Gohrlay brought me here once. There are interesting Phari devices here, still functioning, many years after this base was abandoned. I wanted to explore these chambers, but it is horribly hot down here. We did not stay very long. R. Gohrlay just wanted me to know that this place exists and why I should avoid it."
Ivory looked at me and I wiped sweat away from my eyes. She seemed not to be effected by the heat, which surprised me until I remembered that she was no longer composed of biological cells.
Like me, Trysta was sweating. She put the pendant into a pocket and adjusted her portable teleportation equipment and said, "Unfortunately, even R. Gohrlay never learned how to use the Phari teleportation controls. I can't initiate long-range teleportation from here and with my portable teleportation equipment I can only get myself out of here." She pointed off to her left. "Go that way." There was a slight popping sound and Trysta was gone.
Ivory took my hand and we jumped off of the teleportation platform. She pulled me in the direction that Trysta had indicated. Ivory asked me, "How are you feeling?"
I was already feeling dizzy and wanted to sit down, catch my breath and rest. I asked, "How hot do you think it is here?"
Ivory rubbed her belly with both hands and shook her head. "Maybe too hot. Let's hurry." Ivory guided us between the enigmatic structures that were scattered across the floor of the cavern. I decided that they were machines of some sort, but I could not guess their functions. Some of them were lit up and they vibrated, but others hulked in the shadows and appeared to be dead.
I complained, "I've completely lost my telepathic link to you."
"Quiet. Save your breath." I was leaning heavily on Ivory and struggling to keep putting one foot in front of the other. "It might be a good thing that Irhit knows you are back 'on' Earth. If he thinks your return is important enough, he might tell his boss. The teleportation equipment at Observer Base should be able to reach us here."
I stumbled over an uneven bulge of the floor and tried to keep up with Ivory. My respiratory muscles were struggling to meet my body's demand for oxygen. I contemplated the identity of Irhit's boss. Trysta had said that Grean installed the tryp'At as the new Overseers of Earth, but it was my understanding that under the terms of the Tysta-Grean Pact, Grean was no longer allowed on Earth.
According to Yōd, Observer Base had fallen under the control of the tryp'At Overseers. If they knew that Ivory was back 'on' Earth and cooking to death, they'd probably not bother helping us. However, there were other Interventionists at Observer Base who might want to help Ivory. But did the interventionists have access to teleportation equipment? I asked, "Can't you contact your friends at Observer Base?"
She replied, "I have made telepathic contact with two of them, but they are prisoners of the tryp'At, just as I once was."
I again wiped sweat from my eyes, stumbled again and fell to the floor of the cavern. Ivory helped be get back to my feet. I mumbled, "At least you are not sweating."
She said, "Be glad that you can sweat. I'm over-heating, just like you are. Take off your shirt."
She pulled off her shirt and then helped me pull off mine. She put on my shirt and told me, "Wipe your excess sweat on my shirt. I can use the water for cooling."
We had reached the edge of the cavern and now we passed through a metal archway. Beyond, we could see a smaller chamber. We passed through a short tunnel and soon reached the new chamber. I looked up into the strange redness and noticed that this chamber, although smaller, still seemed to have a ceiling that was so high I could not actually see it. Odd columns of buzzing equipment were arrayed across the floor and those soaring columns rose up high, towering above us. While looking upwards, I got very dizzy and sank to the floor.
Ivory left me there collapsed on the floor while she explored most of the chamber. I wiped my eyes with her shirt and tried to keep my eyes open, even though the world seemed to be spinning. Off in the distance, I saw Ivory lean against one of the columns. She waved to me and called to me, shouting through the thin air, "This one feels cool." After making that discovery, she came running back to me. "I'm going to climb that column. I hope that it might contain water."
She'd been wearing my shirt, but now it was almost dry. She took off my shirt and forced me to put it back on. After that effort, I slumped back down, flat on the floor. "Save every drop of sweat. If I don't find water, we are going to..." She fell silent and leaned over me and tied her shirt around my head. She then put her arms around me, stood up and carried me to the cooler column. Where her body touched me, it felt burning hot. Ivory dumped me on the floor and I could feel that this particular column was significantly cooler than the rest of the chamber. She immediately started climbing, making use of the available juts and crevices of the column for hand holds and foot rests. I wanted to go with her but I could not stand, let alone climb. All my strength was going into breathing, but I still felt like I could not get enough air into my lungs.
I was impressed by how quickly she climbed. I rolled onto my back and used her shirt under my head like a pillow. Soon, Ivory was far above and she looked very small. How high? Three hundred feet? Six hundred? I thought I heard her voice echoing through the cavern then she disappeared from view. I let my eyes close and I imagined a lake full of cold water. Floating blobs of pink nanoplankton filled my delirium. After a time I noticed that I had stopped sweating. Soon after that, the burning heat left my awareness. I started thinking about trying to drink my own urine, but when I started fumbling with the zipper of my pants, I lost consciousness.
_______Cynk_______
When I woke up, there were voices. At first the voices seemed as meaningless as bird chirps, then I realized that one of the voices was Ivory's. I opened my eyes and turned my head towards the sound of the voices and I saw a faint glow of light in that direction. I was cool, so I was happy. Ivory was saying, "But Trysta implied that you created the tryp'At."
A voice that I did not recognize said, "Well, I was complicit in their creation when I agreed to the Trysta Truce. However, it was R. Gohrlay who pushed that project to completion. She's still the master of the Hierion Domain and-"
I sat up and my head only spun a little. There was a cuff attached tightly to my wrist and I was tethered to a machine that glowed softly in the low light.
Grean said, "I believe he's now awake."
Suddenly the room lights brightened and Ivory came in from the room beyond. She told me, "Don't get up! We're still re-hydrating you."
I said, "I feel fine." I looked past Ivory and saw who she had been speaking to. I blurted out, "Grean?"
Grean came over and checked the data display of the medicore. She said, "His total fluid volume is just about back to normal. Blood volume is still low."
Ivory sat down next to me and kissed me. I tried to link to her mind via the Bimanoid Interface, but I could not sync normally with her telepathic pattern; all I sensed was happiness and a rush of deep, satisfying pleasure emanating from the primitive primate core of her mind. After her lips pulled away from mine, she said, "I thought I'd lost you again."
I could telepathically monitor the speech center of Ivory's brain, but for some reason she was holding back from completely sharing her deeper thoughts. I put an arm around Ivory and kissed her nose then her cheek then I whispered in her ear, "Where are we?"
Ivory replied, "Relax, Grean rescued us. We are back on Cynk."
I turned my head and looked into Grean's large alien eyes and said, "Thank you for getting us out of that hell hole."
Grean disconnected my circulatory system from the machine and put a nanoseal patch on my arm. "You can thank Trysta the next time you see her and be thankful for her habit of wearing portable teleportation equipment. You two were foolish to use the Phari teleportation conduit to go to Earth." Grean placed a hand on my forehead. "That almost got you killed."
Remembering Trysta's obsessive drive to collect a nanocoral sample, I asked, "But is it safe to be here on Cynk? I'm in no mood for being killed again by the natives."
Ivory tried to deflect my concerns about the natives. "Just relax, dear. Grean has assured me that we are now safe behind a pek telepathy modulation shield."
Grean said, "In retrospect, I was foolish to even start exploring this world without thinking about the need for telepathy shielding. I greatly underestimated the sophistication and power of Phari technology." Grean briefly felt the strength of the pulse in my neck, then she held my wrist and manually counted my pulse rate, even though it was being automatically displayed on a nearby monitor device.
Ivory said, "We were perfectly safe when I first came to this world. I shudder to think how many alien nests we blundered into and destroyed during our initial rush to clear miasma. Over the course of years we quickly and radically altered the nanosphere. Still, we never had any significant contact with the group mind of Cynk." She asked Grean, "Can you explain what suddenly changed and triggered the attack on Trysta's research team?"
"I do have a theory about that, but we can wait to discuss such details tomorrow." Grean stopped examining me and spoke to Ivory, "I'd like him to understand what has been going on here on Cynk, but right now he needs rest and some time for the medical nanites to repair his tissues. If we are lucky, he has not incurred any permanent brain damage. The medical nanites have reduced the cerebral edema and his cognitive functions are all coming back online. He should get a good night of sleep and then we can talk in the morning." Grean shut off the medicore and pushed the little cart it was on away from the bed.
 |
| Grean |
Grean looked at me a moment and I fell into the depths of her big alien eyes. I tried to pull away from her hypnotic gaze and I realized that she had long pointy canine teeth protruding slightly from between her lips and I could see pink fleshy tips of her ears sticking up through her hair, all features that I had seen in written descriptions of the Kac'hin and was now experiencing first hand. She turned back towards Ivory and said, "There are always opportunities for misunderstandings when two cultures start to have contacts. Think about this, Ivory: if the Phari wanted to capture a tryp'At mind pattern and take it off into the Hierion Domain for careful study, what would they do? And how might their actions appear to us?" Grean turned and walked away, heading for the adjoining room. She waved a hand and the room lights dimmed. She closed the door on her way out after one last long look back at us over her shoulder.
As soon as Grean was gone, I felt Ivory's thoughts flood back into my mind. I sighed peacefully and enjoyed the sensation of our deepest thoughts merging and mingling. I could sense that Ivory was tired but happy. I had to ask again, "Where are we?"
"We are in Grean's headquarters on Cyan."
"How did we get here?"
Ivory shrugged, "I don't know any of the details." Ivory went to the door, opened it a crack and looked out into the adjacent room. Once again she closed the door and came back to me, sitting next to me on the bed. She hugged me tight and we kissed. After a long wet kiss, Ivory spoke again. "I get the feeling that Grean does not really want to explain the details of our rescue. Maybe she'll provide us with an account of events in the morning. Now, I want to forget about Grean. I want your complete and undivided attention." Ivory stood up and started slowly and carefully taking off all of her clothing. She had never looked lovelier.
I wanted to get undressed, too. I tried to get to my feet, but I was immediately struck with dizziness. Ivory pushed back and I sprawled across the bed. Ivory laid down beside me and started undressing me. I complained, "I feel terribly weak. I'd like to make wild love with you, but-"
"Just relax, darling. You can rest. It has been a long day."
Ivory's body felt wonderful against mine. I relaxed and sank into the cool softness of the bed. I mused, "From Earth to Cynk to Earth and back again to Cynk. That's about-"
"That's exactly 114,000 light-years." She locked her lips to mine and we were quiet for a while. Her thoughts were swirling with an odd set of images.
I could sense that she was reliving the horrible events from inside the Phari cavern on Earth. I said, "I can't believe you climbed all the way up that column of Phari machinery."
She giggled. "I don't have your fear of heights and with this artificial body the climb was not difficult, although I was having trouble dissipating heat. My body temperature kept relentlessly rising and there was a very real danger that..." She fell silent. We were eagerly exploring each others bodies with our hands. In her mind I could 'see' fragments of images, what looked like little glass pods glowing in the red light of the Phari cavern.
Still curious about how we had survived being trapped in that hot cavern, I asked, "Did you find a source of water?"
While still caressing me, Ivory told me about her discovery. "Well, in a strange way, yes. I eventually realized that those tall columns of Phari equipment were some sort of bioreactors, each containing thousands of independent reaction vessels. According to Grean, the Phari were trying to evolve and select new forms of life; cells with new gene combinations. They were doing artificial evolution in all those bioreactors. Had I understood the Phari access codes, I could have figured that out while still on the floor, slid out a set of reactor pods, opened one up and we would have had an easy source of cold water. I surmise that one particular column simply contained their low temperature experiments. The biopods in that column were being carefully refrigerated and chilled and that attracted my attention. As it was, I had to get all the way to the top before I figured it out."
I asked, "What was on top?"
"Up there, I could see through their transparent lids into the top row of pods. It was maddening to see that they contained water while I had no way to open them up. I morphed myself into a kind of hammer and started trying to break into one of the pods, but that was useless. I was just heating myself up even more with all that effort. Then suddenly it was over. We had been teleported back to Cynk."
Ivory had finished her story and we were enjoying a game in which we explored each others bodies with the sensitive tips of our fingers. I was tracing the curve of her abdomen when I felt something move inside her. Having raised three children, I asked, "Ivory, are you pregnant?"
She laughed and replied, "No, but there is something that I need to show you." She got on top of me, glanced over her shoulder towards the door and said quietly, "Oh, lover, I've been missing your body during the past few weeks. We promised each other that we'd never be apart again, then you were gone."
I expected Ivory would then proceed to make love to me, but she pulled her hands off of my chest and started massaging her abdomen. She said, "I don't want to freak you out, but remember, I'm now an artificial lifeform, composed of nanites." I watched as she worked open a hidden seem that ran vertically from her pubic bone to her neck. I don't know. Maybe she has no bones in her nanite body. I've decided that I don't want to think about such things. That ventral seem split open and she pulled apart the two edges. Inside of Ivory was a pink quivering mass. My eyes focused and I realized it was a ranger, similar to Reggie. The alien creature crawled out of Ivory and flopped onto my chest."
I shouted, "What the hell?"
Ivory said, "Sh! Be quiet. I've never told Grean about this little science experiment. You were the only other person who ever knew about this."
I mused, "So this is why you did not want your body to heat up... you were carrying..."
Ivory said, "Her name is Ginger." I saw that this creature was not exactly like Reggie. It seemed to be a hybrid, part Cynkian ranger and part Earthly squid. Ivory said, "Relax and let Ginger into your mind."
The creature put a tentacle against the side of my head and suddenly Ginger was in my thought stream along with Ivory. Ivory explained, "I started on this project seven years ago. Grean had by then already discovered how to domesticate the rangers. From back when Grean first came to Cynk, the rangers had always been an oddity among the native creatures, showing up near all of the miasma-clearing operations and watching. Grean started making domesticated rangers with G-syms inside them."
"When I arrived on this world and started experimenting, I found that I could only achieve telepathic contact with the creatures of Cynk if I was in physical contact with them. I wanted to try raising a hybrid ranger under conditions of constant telepathic contact. I decided to use the same trick that turned my sister Angela into such a proficient user of the Bimanoid Interface."
I got over my squeamishness and touched Ginger with my hands. I closed my eyes and could see a blurry image of myself as seen through Ginger's eyes. I asked Ivory, "What is a G-sym?"
"The nanite-based endosymbionts that we use here on Cynk to link our test subjects to the Hierion Domain. Five years ago, after you arrived on this planet, we discovered that Ginger is particularly good at linking telepathically to you. Our working hypothesis has been that since you are tryp'At, the G-sym is well-tuned to your brain."
The scene being transmitted to me by Ginger shifted. Now I saw myself as if from above, along with Ivory and Ginger on top of me. I looked at the ceiling and saw that there was an ornate light fixture there above us. I used the Bimanoid Interface to ask Ivory: Do you think Grean could be watching us?
Again she glanced at the doorway. "I hope not. Grean brought me to this world and asked me to help establish contact with the Remnant Species, but I've never learned to trust Grean, the pek or the Huaoshy. I didn't want to be used by Grean, but I was curious and I could not resist studying the alien creatures of this world.
As my telepathic link to Ginger solidified, I felt certain that she was warning me about Grean eavesdropping on our conversation. I said out-loud, "Well, this is quite a shock, Ivory. I'm worn out and I can't think sensibly about Ginger right now." Using the Bimanoid Interface, I asked Ivory: Can you get us out of here?
Ivory nodded to me and Ginger crawled back inside Ivory. She shut off the room lights and we snuggled together on the bed. I was still receiving telepathic transmissions from Ginger. I could see in Ivory's mind that she was angry from having learned that Grean knew about Ginger through her spying. In her thoughts, Ivory showed me the way we would have to go to get to the elevator and go down to the teleportation chamber, which was located on the floor below us. Ginger's thoughts intruded and she showed us an alternative path, a service passageway used by maintenance robots.
With our room lights off, Grean soon stopped watching her spy display screen and Ginger made sure that I noticed that. I whispered to Ivory, "Let's go!"
Going by way of the route suggested by Ginger, we sneaked into the teleportation chamber and Ivory went to the controls. She asked, "Where should we go?"
I suggested, "Let's try to find Zeta and Yōd. Do you think they are still at Freeland?" Even as I spoke, Ginger fed me images of Zeta and Yōd. I told Ivory, "I see them! Ginger has amazing telepathic powers. She's providing me with views of Zeta and Yōd, but I don't recognize where they are." I asked Ivory, "Can you see them?"
Ivory said, "No, I've never been able to access Ginger's mind the way you can. Describe the scene to me."
I described a large pool of water and the whale-like creature that seemed to be the center of attention in the scene. In addition to Zeta and Yōd, I could see April and another robot. Ivory said, "I know where they are and I can teleport us directly to that marine research station."
I was getting new information from Ginger. I reported to Ivory, "We triggered an alarm. Grean knows that we are in here."
The intercom system activated. Trysta spoke to Ivory, "Don't run off. We need to talk about Ginger."
Ivory said, "Fine. We are in the teleportation chamber."
Trysta said, "Wait there. I'm on my way."
I was watching the images being fed to me by Ginger. I told Ivory, "She's almost here!"
Ivory quickly activated the teleporter beam, without taking time to make any fine adjustments.
_______Marine Research Station, near Freeland Base________
We re-materialized inside the marine research station south of Freeland. I materialized several feet above the floor and fell awkwardly, hitting my head. Ivory materialized over the pool and she fell into the water. I was slightly dazed and for several seconds I could not understand where I was and why I was in pain. I rolled over and looked into the pool. My nose was bleeding and the drops of blood fell into the water.
I like to imagine that on a normal day I might have landed gracefully and suffered no ill effects from having been teleported into a location lacking a teleportation platform. As it was, my brain had not yet recovered from being half baked while inside the Phari Base on Earth. I must have fallen about six feet and landed on one leg, twisting my knee and then I tumbled to the side with one arm outstretched, causing me to hurt my wrist. To complete the fiasco, still twisting, I landed on my face and was lucky not to break my nose.
Impressed by my spectacular fall, Zeta rushed over to me and asked, "Are you okay?"
I could see that Yōd was in the pool. She seemed to have her arms around the smaller of two whale-like creatures. Yōd then let go of the baby whale and came up to the surface of the pool, gasping for air. After falling into the water, Ivory seemed to be trying to swim over to the edge of the pool, but she was holding her abdomen. Ginger suddenly burst free of Ivory's body and swam quickly down towards the baby whale. Yōd saw ginger and shouted, "What is that?"
Zeta had seen the hole in Ivory's abdomen from which Ginger had emerged and said, "That thing came out of Ivory!"
I helped Ivory climb out of the pool and she quickly finished sealing up her abdomen. She told Zeta, "That's not a thing. She's Ginger, a hybrid organism that I crafted."
Ivory made me lie down on my back and she sent some of her medical nanites into me, trying to get my nose to stop bleeding. She told me, "Stop getting hurt. You've exhausted my limited supply of medical nanites." I noticed that my left wrist was painful and starting to swell.
Zeta helped Yōd climb out of the pool and wrapped her in a blanket. We could now see that Ginger had attached herself to Angel II and wrapped her tentacles around him. Angel II was attached to Little Angel at the nipple and floating peacefully at the surface of the pool.
Yōd was cold and she spoke through some tooth chatter to Ivory, "That thing was living inside you?"
At that point I tuned out of Ivory's verbal reply, vaguely aware that she was explaining the origins of Ginger and her telepathic abilities. Ivory's thoughts were still in my mind, but they were crowded out by information coming to me from the three hybrid creatures in the pool. For a while, the thoughts of Ginger, Little Angel, Angel II and Ivory seemed to swirl and collide in my mind. There were confusing images of nanocoral and a submarine in my mind's eye. Eventually, an idea seemed to crystallize in my thought stream. I realized that all of the components had come together that we needed to make contact with the Remnant Species. Ivory had been delaying the birth of Angel II until he developed better control of his access to the Bimanoid Interface, but it was now clear that such delay was not needed. Angel II and Ginger, working as a linked telepathic unit, could do the job.
April and another robot came out of the pool. I could hear them talking about hormone injections and milk production, but my thoughts were being pushed at by Ivory who seemed concerned that Grean might appear at any moment. I could sense that Ivory wanted to immediately try to make telepathic contact with the Remnant Species, before either Trysta or Grean could interfere.
Linked together, Ginger and Angel II had a strong telepathic connection to me and the two Angels were also telepathically linked to each other. I could only imagine one remaining problem that might prevent us from trying to telepathically contact nanocoral. I emerged from the domain of my inner thoughts and asked Ivory, "How were we planning to get the submarine over to Stroma Lake?"
Ivory replied, "We must use one of the big dirigibles."
I asked April, "Where is the nearest dirigible?"
She replied, "There are a dozen of them just a few miles down the coast, mopping up a bank of miasma that blew in from sea with yesterday's storm."
Ivory ordered April, "Get one of the Jupiters over here now. It needs to be rigged so that it can carry the submarine that is docked here in bay four. The necessary rigging is all in the hanger here at the station." She asked, "ETA?"
April gave an estimate, "Thirty to forty minutes, the winds are rather variable today." The two robots went off together towards the hanger.
Ivory gazed into the pool, "I hate to disturb-"
While she spoke, we saw Angel II detach from Little Angel and spit out a mouthful of milk. I told Ivory, "He's full. Let's get him into the submarine."
Little Angel was twisting and trying to knock off the milk bottle harness that she now wore. The robots that were still in the pool detached the harness.
Ivory said, "I'll bring the sub out. Meet me in the cove." She ran off towards the submarine dock complex.
Yōd said, I'll open the tunnel that connects this pool to the cove. She dropped the blanket and pulled her clothing on then ran off towards the tunnel. The two Angels followed along beside Yōd, swimming.
My nose had finally stopped bleeding and I tried to get to my feet, but I was wobbly. I could see that my shirt was speckled with blood and I wondered what my face looked like. Zeta grabbed my arm and steadied me. She said, "You look like a truck ran over you."
My right knee throbbed painfully when I put my weight on it. I put my uninjured arm around Zeta's shoulders and leaned on her. "Take me outside. I want to see the cove."
Zeta had never seen me in a state of sickness or injury. She asked, "What did Trysta do to you?"
Before I could say anything, I saw that Grean was standing at the front door of the pool complex. As we approached, Grean asked, "Where is Ivory and her hybrid? The Ginger creature."
I was not happy that Grean had followed us, but I replied, "Come with us; we are all meeting outside, down by the dock." We went through the doorway and then walked down the path towards the dock. Zeta was having trouble holding me up so Grean took over the job of being my crutch. Limping towards the cove, I could see a dirigible off in the distance, and behind it, the wall-like bank of black miasma.
"Oh, no!" Zeta pointed towards the dock. "That looks like Trysta."
Grean said, "Yes, that's her."
I asked Grean, "Where did Trysta teleport to when she left the Phari cavern?"
Grean shrugged. "You'll have to ask her. I learned that you had teleported to Earth through my contacts at Observer Base. Sedronic communications technology allows near-instantaneous information transfer between here and Earth, but Huaoshy technology does not allow teleportation through the heart of a galaxy."
I guessed, "So Trysta teleported Ivory and I back to Cynk from Earth?"
Grean said nothing. As we approached her, Trysta called to me, "I see you managed to survive your visit to Earth."
Zeta asked me, "You went back to Earth?"
There was no time to explain things to Zeta. I had wondered why it was that if Trysta had teleported us back to Cynk, then why had she turned Ivory and I over to Grean? But now it seemed like Trysta had not been the one to rescue Ivory and I from the Phari Base on Earth. I pointed towards the south end of the dock. "Here comes Ivory." The modified submarine was approaching.
Grean let me sink down and I sat on the edge of the dock, my legs dangling. My knee was painfully swollen along with my wrist and my nose had started bleeding again. I turned and looked north and saw Yōd approaching from that end of the dock. She called to us, "The Angels are out in the cove!"
Zeta sat down beside me and tried to slow my bleeding by holding the sleeve of her shirt against my nose. For a minute I could not see the whales. A breeze had come up and the cove was speckled with thousands of little whitecaps. Finally, Zeta pointed towards the submarine which had taken up station about a hundred yards from the dock. "I see Angel, beside the sub!"
The hatch on the side of the submarine briefly swung open and then closed, taking Angel II and Ginger on-board.
Trysta asked Grean, "When did you get back to Cynk?"
Grean replied, "Not long after you went off to Earth."
I whispered into Zeta's ear, "I just lost contact with Angel II and Ginger."
Grean smiled at me. "I actually feel some responsibility to keep my research team from harm, but neither Ivory or you can stand being kept on a short leash. As a team, you have real skill for getting into trouble. I'm glad that neither of you managed to get yourself killed."
I muttered, "Not permanently."
Little Angel and the submarine approached the dock. A hatch on the top of the sub popped open and Ivory stuck her head out. Just then the big dirigible was going over. It sank down and came to rest beside the aircraft hanger.
I called to Ivory, "How are Ginger and Angel II doing?" I was worried that our scheme to make telepathic contact with the Remnant Species might unravel now that Trysta and Grean had arrived. I had lost contact with Ginger and Angel II shortly after they had gone inside the submarine and my telepathic signal to Ivory had weakened and was now only intermittent.
Ivory assured me, "They are curled up together and seem to be sleeping."
I muttered to Zeta, "I guess that explains why I'm no longer getting telepathic signals from them."
Grean asked Trysta, "You planned this whole thing, didn't you?"
Trysta let loose with her wild laugh. "Plans? What plans? I'm always improvising, the mark of a good field operative."
Grean would not be deflected. "So, you did not tell Ivory how to use the Phari teleportation conduit?"
Trysta pointed at Grean. "I blame you and Many Sails. You were supposed to block Ivory's memory of how to activate the long-range teleportation system."
Grean nodded. "That was done. I'm suspecting a source of interference in our plan. Your boss."
Trysta asked innocently, "Why would R. Gohrlay tinker with Ivory's memory?"
Grean grinned. "I knew that R. Gohrlay had to be involved in this."
Grean glanced at Ivory who was throwing globs of xenomass to Little Angel. Grean suggested to Trysta, "Maybe working together, he and Ivory could again discover how to use the Phari teleportation conduit?"
Trysta nodded. "Yes, that is possible. These two love birds tell each other everything. They are always in telepathic contact via the Bimanoid Interface unless I block their connection, I can't fully control Ivory's mind."
Grean wanted no confusion. She asked bluntly, "Well, do you think Ivory has been in contact with your boss?"
Trysta shrugged. "I guess that is a possibility. After R. Gohrlay and Alpha Gohrlay merged, Ivory's attitude towards you changed, you know."
Grean nodded. "Yes, I noticed that change. Ivory stopped confiding in me. I was forced to spy on her."
I tried to imagine Ivory secretly working together with Gohrlay via telepathy. Using our telepathic connection, I asked Ivory to explain: Have you been in contact with R. Gohrlay? All she told me in reply was: It is complicated. We can discuss it later.
April came onto the dock, arriving from the direction of the hanger. The Jupiter class dirigible was circling around the hanger on its way towards the dock. April reported, "The dirigible is ready."
Ivory called to April, "All ready here."
The dirigible was trailing several dozen nanitefiber cables. With Little Angel's help, it only took a few minutes to get all the cables attached to the submarine. Ivory made the last cable connection and went back inside the submarine. The hatch clanged shut. The dirigible immediately rose up and pulled the submarine out of the waters of the cove. Now rising quickly, the dirigible headed off to the west, towards Stroma Lake. April said, "Let's go back inside. We can monitor the sub's telemetry."
Zeta helped me hobble back up the path from the dock to the research station. The medical nanites working inside me seemed to have anesthetized my swollen knee. I wondered what kind of damage I was doing to my knee joint by continuing to walk around. I asked Zeta, "Is the robotic submarine still on station near the reef?"
Zeta replied, "Yes. We put it into observation mode. It has not reported and new nanocoral sightings."
Little Angel met us back inside the pool complex and April activated a display console so that we could monitor the video signal that was being transmitted from the dirigible. Zeta glanced at Trysta and asked, "So the whole plan for using an automated probe of the reef and collecting some nanocoral is out the window?"
I told her, "Ivory and I are not going to grab a sample of nanocoral. This is all about communication, not capture."
Zeta was nervous. "What is that thing that was inside of Ivory?"
I realized that Zeta was probably the only person present who did not know about Ginger. I explained Ginger's origin to Zeta and finished the story by saying, "Because of my tryp'At brain structure, I'm a good match to the G-syms that Grean has been using here on Cynk."
Zeta said to Trysta, "So it was really only him that you wanted here for your little research project. You could have let Yōd and I stay on Earth."
Video from the dirigible showed it approaching Stroma Lake.
Trysta shrugged. "Had I correctly anticipated Ivory's actions then I might not have brought you two along. Still, having you and your sister here has been useful, Zeta. You helped your husband discover the powerful telepathic connection between Angel and Ginger; that moved things along nice and quick."
Just then Ivory sent us a radio message. "We are in the lake and descending to the reef." The display screen lit up with a view of the lake as seen from the submarine.
Still leaning on Zeta, I put my free hand into my pants pocket and noticed that the ring was still there. Suddenly I felt a firmer connection to Ivory's mind. I sent a message to Ivory by way of the Bimanoid Interface: You might need to wake up the kids.
She sent back: I'll let them rest as long as possible. They seem to be in some kind of trance.
Grean giggled and nodded towards Trysta. "Back when we had first identified the Final Reality, I looked into the future and saw how things would unfold in the future."
Zeta asked, "You saw all this? Ginger, Angel..." She inclined her head towards me, "Even our deaths?"
Grean shook her head. "Sadly, no. As Trysta indicated, we have had to improvise. There have been many surprises and changes from the future that I originally viewed. After the Pact went into effect, the Huaoshy changed the dimensional structure of the universe and we lost our ability to view the future. R. Gohrlay's entire gambit with the tryp'At, turning them into Overseers, came as a real surprise to me."
I was feeling a little stronger so I stopped leaning on Zeta and turned towards Trysta. I asked her, "What about you? Were you caught off guard by the tryp'At?"
She explained, "I was involved in getting you positioned on Earth. Everything went well with your mission until Sachiz gave herself the title of Overseer. She ordered Irhit to block you from using the Bimanoid Interface. At first, that seemed reasonable. You and Ivory were learning too much too quickly."
I laughed and glanced back and forth between Trysta and Grean. "So you two have been working together and planned this all out, but R. Gohrlay subverted your plan?"
Grean shook her head. "Believe me, this has been one part planning and ten parts improvisation. I can't feel any anger towards R. Gohrlay. We have all been muddling through, doing what seems to be best for Earth."
Trysta added, "And our work here is not complete. Who knows if we can even make contact with any form of true intelligence here on Cynk. In the end, we might still have to just grab some nanocoral and run."
Grean said to Trysta, "I'm still betting that nanoshrimp are the Remnant Species."
Ivory told me: I've reached the reef. We could see in the video from Ivory's submarine that the robotic sample collecting submarine was still there, positioned just off the reef. Suddenly, I felt Ginger and the Angels merge their thoughts back into my mind. Little Angel swam close to the edge of the pool. I sat down, reached out and put a hand on Angel's cold, wet skin. I closed my eyes and tuned into the telepathic signal that Ginger was sending to me. Ginger was reaching out with her thoughts to the creatures swimming near the reef.
I got an off-topic verbal message from Ivory by way of the Bimanoid Interface: Will you join me at my place for dinner tonight?
I tried to estimate what time it might be on the other side of the planet, at Ivory's home. I replied: I think we missed dinner time, but I could do breakfast.
Good. It is a date.
It was fun to trade pleasant thoughts with Ivory, but I tried to focus my mind on Ginger. I was quickly coming to the conclusion that the creatures swimming near the submarine were only minimally conscious. Ginger could link into their minds, but they all seemed to only function as minor nodes in the vast global group mind of Cynk. Ivory had slowly nosed the submarine up against the reef. A school of nanocoral suddenly appeared, illuminated by the light from the sub. The school looked like a cloud of fire flies, then they darted back into the porous structure of the reef. I got an emotional impulse from Ginger that I could not consciously process. I suggested to Ivory: Try turning off the outside lights.
What was I expecting would happen? I suppose I was hoping that I might suddenly hear an alien voice coming to me by way of Ginger's mind and the Bimanoid Interface. Instead, I quickly realized that the nanocoral was like a planetary card catalog, linked into a vast Phari database in the Hierion Domain. With Ginger's help, Ivory and I could now access information about the ancient Phari civilization that had once spread through the galaxy. I searched that database for information about nanotechnology, but I could not understand the resulting flood of technical details.
I noticed that I now had a telepathic connection to Trysta and I wondered if it might be possible to get help with trying to make sense of the Phari database. I opened my eyes. I said to Trysta and Grean, "Can either of you tap into this data stream?"
Grean replied, "My telepathic abilities were terminated when the Huaoshy altered the dimensional structure of the universe. That's why I like spycams now." She winked at me.
Trysta said, "I can see what is in your thoughts, so I see that you are confused. There's nothing I can do to help fix that. I can't link directly to Ginger's thoughts, but I see them when they enter your mind."
Ivory told me: I'm re-starting my propulsion system.
Zeta pointed to the display screen. "The lights of the submarine just came back on."
I looked at the display screen. I could not see any nanocoral. Ivory sent through the open radio communications channel, "Mission accomplished. I should be back to the surface in ten minutes, maybe fifteen."
Back at the research station we all looked at each other in confusion. I wondered exactly what we had accomplished, but I could sense in Ivory's mind that she was confident that nothing more could be accomplished at the reef. She said, "There seem to be more creatures swimming about now."
Little Angel swam off and Zeta helped me get to my feet and I steadied myself by putting my good arm around her. No longer in physical contact with Little Angel, I lost my long-distance telepathy connection to Ginger. In the rushed events of the day, I had not eaten anything. Now I felt weak and drained. I was distracted by the feel of a new telepathic mind pattern flashing in my conscious thoughts.
Zeta asked me, "What does she mean, 'mission accomplished'? Did you make contact with the Remnant Species?"
I quickly realized that I had a telepathic connection to Zeta for the first time ever. I could 'hear' her verbal thoughts in my mind. I sent her a message: We are linked via the Interface!
Trysta said solemnly, "The concept of a Remnant Species is a human construct."
I received no private message back from Zeta indicating that she had received my telepathic message, but I continued to 'hear' her verbal thoughts in my mind. Now I noticed that I could also telepathically receive Trysta's verbal thoughts. I quickly added my own thoughts about the Remnant Species to the conversation, "And it was a construct built upon wishful thinking. Based on Ivory's study of the Phari, I have to believe that all of the Phari transmigrated into the Hierion Domain, long ago. However, they apparently left behind their old hadronic technological constructs. We can make use of those ancient artifacts..." I was excitedly imagining that the Phari Cavern on Earth could finally provide physical evidence that Earth had been visited by aliens.
Without the Angels and Ginger still in the loop, my telepathic connection to Ivory had weakened significantly. However, Ivory still was monitoring my thoughts and emotions. She cautioned me: If you go back to Earth, things will be different.
I was not sure what Ivory meant, but I was looking forward to our date and being able to ask her to explain the whole 'mission accomplished' announcement that she had made with such confidence.
Trysta said to Grean, "Well, I'll push through with my research to the bitter end. I can get a nanocoral sample right now." She ordered April, "Initiate the sample collection routine. Use infrared imaging to guide the collection bot. Shut off all the visible light."
Ivory could hear us through the radio connection. She said, "Trysta, please wait until I'm out of the water. I don't like how all of these alien creatures are swarming around me. Some of these sea creatures are gigantic."
I tried to send a message through to Ivory: Ginger told me that you would get an escort to the surface. Like the parade for Lindberg in Paris.
At least some of my message had gotten through to Ivory. She sent back: The big parade was when he got back to New York.
The robotic submarine had quickly reached the edge of the reef, at the exact spot where Ivory had been just a few minutes previously. Trysta said, "Initiate sample collection as soon as Ivory is out of the water and back in the air."
Grean asked April, "Status report on the telepathy shields?"
April checked a data feed and replied, "All bases on both Pink and Cyan show green; the new shields are fully operational."
It took longer to get the submarine grappled to the dirigible without Little Angel's help. Finally we could see Ivory's submarine lift into the air. Dozens of alien sea creatures circled in the water below.
Trysta was looking at the dingy video feed from the robotic submarine. Infrared imaging showed no nanocoral swimming in the water.
Grean chuckled. "They are hiding from you, Trysta. Capturing some nanocoral is not going to be as simple as you thought."
Trysta told April, "Activate a search routine. Have the sub hunt for a school of nanocoral. And start taking in random samples of the lake water. Examine them by microscopy for nanocoral."
Grean said, "If the nanocoral dispersed, you'll never see them by microscopy."
I took hold of Zeta's hand and pulled her away from the pool. We walked outside; my leg was stiff and the knee horribly swollen and I hobbled like a cripple. Yōd and Grean followed along behind us. I suspected that Trysta was going to be in for a long frustrating search for nanocoral... someone or something did not want her to learn the secrets of the Bimanoid Interface. The sun was low in the west. Yōd was saying, "Five years away from Earth." She asked Grean, "How long will it take for Many Sails to get us home?"
Off near the horizon I could see the approaching dirigible. My heart fluttered a bit in anticipation of my date with Ivory. I 'heard' her thought: I'm on my way, my love. I turned my head over my shoulder and said to Yōd, "Maybe this was all worth while. After all, I finally got to see you naked."
Zeta shook her head. "You are a dirty old man. An old grandfather. Your grandchildren back on Earth would be ashamed of you if they knew what you were thinking."
I laughed. "In addition to Yōd's body, I've been thinking about teleportation. I'm not sure we ever really left Earth."
For the first time ever, I now had a clear and strong telepathic connection with Yōd. I could sense that she was not offended by my appreciation for her body and her charms. In fact, I now saw that she had long been playing a game of altering her physical form so as to tease me with her beauty. Now that I could look into her mind, she was feeling ashamed for having teased me with her physical beauty for so long. Yōd demanded, "What are you talking about?"
"When Ivory and I teleported back to Earth today, I experienced a short period of time during which I had access to the Bimanoid Interface. Then Irhit clamped down on me and I lost my telepathic links to the Hierion Domain. Trysta told us about the dangers of teleportation and creating multiple copies of people. She mentioned positive feedback that can occur if two copies of a person are telepathically linked. I think I experienced that feedback phenomenon on Earth, just for a few seconds, until Irhit disconnected me from the Interface."
Yōd said, "There were two copies of you on Earth..." She was looking into my thoughts and soon saw the answer. She laughed. "Of course. I get it. We never left Earth."
I felt Zeta sifting through my mind, reaching deep into even my non-verbal thoughts. Now I could see comprehension wash across Zeta's face. "I see! Trysta teleported us here, but she left copies of us on Earth."
I corrected her. "The three of us are the copies. We can't go back to Earth. Our originals are still there." In my mind, I got confirmation from Ivory. She proclaimed triumphantly: I'm glad you were able to figure that out.
Zeta said to me, "That's fine for you. You'd be happy to stay here with Ivory, but what about Yōd and myself?"
Grean suggested, "Many Sails makes occasional trips to Tar'tron. You could go back home."
The dirigible was approaching the dock and Little Angel was out in the cove, leaping and splashing. We watched the submarine lower into the waves and cast off the lines. The dirigible turned and headed back to the hanger.
The side hatch of the sub opened to let Angel II and Ginger out. Little Angel escorted Angel II back to the indoor pool.
The sub came alongside the dock. April jumped from the dock onto the deck of the submarine. The top hatch opened and Ivory emerged. She gave a powerful, non-human leap and jumped up onto the dock, landing near me and falling into my arms. We hugged and I could see Yōd rolling her eyes.
For a moment Ivory, Zeta, Yōd, Trysta and I were all sharing a telepathic connection. Ivory told Yōd and Trysta: Stay out of our minds! We want some privacy. Ivory took me by the hand and we walked together up the path towards the aircar landing platform, moving as quickly as my damaged leg allowed. I felt everyone except Ivory sever their telepathic connection to me by way of the Bimanoid Interface. Ivory's thought were full of me and what she planned to do to me once she got me home. She told me: Don't get too distracted with your new telepathic abilities. It will take time for you to learn control.
I recalled my previous efforts, back on Earth, to learn how to make use of the Bimanoid Interface. And now we will have time. I'm ready for a long and slow process.
Heading up hill, I was tiring. Ivory grew tired of my slow hobbling and she swept me up in her arms and carried me. She looked down at my crotch and said, "Mmm. Long and slow; that's what I've been dreaming of the past three weeks."
We reached the landing plat and Ivory set me down next to the flitter that April had used to fly me down to the research station. A wave of dizziness swept over me and I almost collapsed. Ivory threw her arms around me and steadied me on my feet. I asked her, "Do you know how to fly?"
"It is easy to fly these flitters." I could see in her mind that she was confident about her ability to handle the flitter. "They even have autopilots that can do all of the flying."
Peering over Ivory's shoulder, I looked back down towards the dock. Judging that we were no longer telepathically linked to Trysta, I asked Ivory, "So, what is so complicated about your 'mission accomplished' statement?"
"She squeezed my hand. "You figured out the important part. You don't need to go back to Earth. You can stay here. With me."
I enjoyed the feel of my arms around her and for a moment our minds linked in a kind of orgasmic joy. I said, "That is wonderful. However, the idea of me staying here with you seems clean and simple, not complicated."
Ivory pulled open the door of the flitter and put me inside, buckling me into a seat. She went around and got in on the other side and for a while Ivory was busy at the controls and activating the flight systems. Once we were moving and had the autopilot engaged, Ivory turned to me and took my hand. "You'll think of all the complications tomorrow, so we might as well talk it through now."
I said. "It better not be real complicated, we'll be back to Freeland in just a few minutes."
"I'll be quick." Ivory looked into my eyes. "There is an important reason why you still might want to go back to Earth."
I could sense fear and doubt in her mind. "No, I've decided. I want to be here with you. The other copy of me can deal with Earthly matters."
She looked off to the horizon and the setting sun. "But you have changed since coming here. You are no longer an exact copy of that other man on Earth."
I said, "Five years, years that I've forgotten. Remember, for me this has just been one long day here on Cynk."
She nodded and placed a hand on my face. "A day that changed you. You can't see it yet, but I can. I used to be able to cut you off and break our telepathic connection by way of the Bimanoid Interface. I can't cut you off any more. And neither can Trysta or Irhit."
The implications of what Ivory had said were a revelation. If I went back to Earth, Irhit would no longer be able to block me from using the Bimanoid Interface. I asked, "How..."
I saw the answer in Ivory's mind. I laughed loudly. "It is funny. Trysta and Grean, both struggling to win the secret of controlling the Bimanoid Interface from the Phari. And the Phari don't want to give either of them that power."
Ivory added, "But they gave it to you."
We landed at Freeland and went quickly to the teleportation chamber.
_________CYAN_________
Soon we were back in Ivory's home on Cyan. Ivory helped me limp off of the teleportation platform and she asked, "Ready for breakfast?"
I was far past the point of being hungry. I took her by the hand and led the way to her bedroom. I flopped on the big bed, exhausted, but thankful that the medical nanites inside my body were blocking the transmission of pain signals from my injured wrist and knee. Ivory started slowly undressing herself. I said, "I suppose the correct thing to do is make a swap. I go back to Earth and send the other copy of me back here. However, I'm selfish. I don't want to give you up."
She laughed and jumped on the bed. "Good! I'm glad you want to stay with me."
I said, "I bet my copy would also be happy to come here to live with you."
Ivory complained, "I don't ever want to loose you again.
"Well," I suggested, "Maybe we owe it to Earth to make the sacrifice. If I went back and was able to get around Irhit's interference, think of the progress I would make in telling the people of Earth about-"
Ivory put a finger over my lips. "Forget about it. I'm going to forbid all further mention of Irhit in my bedroom. We can worry about Earth later."
I placed a hand on her belly. I asked, "Do you feel lonely now that Ginger is gone?"
"A little, but she seems very attached to Angel II."
"Literally." I pictured Ginger with her tentacles attached to Angel II. Now Angel II has two mothers."
Ivory said, "Speaking of mothers, there is something I want-"
Ivory was in the process of getting on top of me. Suddenly she jerked and said, "What's that in your pants?" She reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring that had been stored in Trysta's teleportation chamber along with the pendant that had activated the long-distance teleportation equipment. Ivory slipped on the ring and said, "I'd forgotten about this ri-" She fell silent and her eyes rolled up in their sockets.Suddenly, Ivory looked like a zombie. I grabbed her arms and a new stab of pain came from my wrist. "Ivory, what-" In my mind, I could sense some of what was happening to Ivory. She was now telepathically connected to something... or someone. I pulled the ring off of her finger and Ivory slumped against me like a rag doll. Thus began the longest minute of my life. I imagined that the ring was some kind of Asterothrope technology for boosting the strength of telepathic connections. I wondered, Is this how our minds were sucked out of us three weeks ago?
Gradually at first, then with increasing speed, the scattered fragments of Ivory's consciousness reassembled. The familiar feel of Ivory's thought processes again filled my mind. That was wild.
I asked, "What happened to you?"
She hesitated, "I..." Slowly her eyes were returning to normal. Finally her eyes focused and she looked into my eyes. "I think I was inside the Hierion Domain, and..." She threw her arms around me and pushed me backwards. I twisted my bad knee and cried out in pain. Ivory was laughing. "Sorry! I'm not laughing at you. I just figured out why it was that today you could suddenly connect Angel and Ginger to the planetary network of the Phari." She took the ring from me and held it in her hand. "This is a device, some sort of telepathy boosting amplifier. You had it in your pocket when you connected into the Phari network and they altered your endosymbiont."
I could see deeply into Ivory's mind and I knew that what she was saying was true. She rolled off the bed and put the ring in a drawer. She came back to me and kissed my knee then my wrist. "Sorry I hurt you, but I got excited. We'll have to try some experiments with that ring, tomorrow." We kissed and then she got back on top of me, and this time she had no doubt about what was in my pants.
Ivory slowly and methodically undressed me, being careful not to stress my injured knee and wrist. She said, "You don't remember, but about a year ago we started talking about a new project."
I was no longer in the mood for conversation, but Ivory had a look of mischief in her eyes. I asked, "Another hybrid?"
"Yes. Half you and half me."
I laughed. "But I'm an old man. A grandfather."
"You are tryp'At. You don't age nearly as fast as regular humans."
"I know I'm not supposed to mention it, but you are no longer biological."
She said, "I don't mind being composed of nanites, I just don't want you to feel like I'm not a real woman."
"Don't worry about that. You really are the woman of my dreams."
"Then don't worry about my half of the new hybrid. My physical form was recorded in a teleportation data bank. I have access to the data and I can materialize one of my ovaries inside of my new body anytime I want to."
I said, "That's brilliant. Let's go ahead and do it." After my first rush of enthusiasm, I started thinking about all the complications of pregnancy. I asked, "You could actually become pregnant and carry a baby to term?"
"No problem. In fact, I just went ahead and had the transporter build an ovary into me when we teleported here from Freeland."
I laughed. "Just an ovary?"
"Oh, I've got everything it takes for this little biology experiment." She stopped talking and quickly got down to the business of starting our new hybridization experiment. I was tired and even with Ivory's medical nanites at work inside me, my broken wrist hurt and had turned green. Ivory did all of the work for the first experiment.
Everything about that experiment was wonderful. Later, at the end of the experiment, laying there in Ivory's bed, looking past her shoulder, I couldn't help wondering if Grean had one of her little spy cameras in the light fixture that was right above us.
______Epilogue______
Grean contacted Trysta at Mandira. Skipping any preliminary chit chat, she asked, "How goes the search for nanocoral?"
Trysta complained, "I've decided that the nanocoral schools have all gone into hiding."
Grean laughed and admitted, "I could still use some help searching the South Polar Sea for the elusive nanoshrimp."
Trysta suggested, "Maybe we should just give up. That nonocoral school was eager to make contact with Ginger, but you and I get the cold shoulder from the natives. What did the pek suggest?"
Grean shook her head. "The pek were amazingly elusive, too. I got the feeling that they don't want Phari technology getting spread around this galaxy. They were willing to provide me with some defensive telepathy shielding, but nothing more. We're still on our own in our search for Phari secrets."
Trysta asked, "But what about R. Gohrlay? She already used Phari technology to craft the tryp'At."
Grean nodded. "Yes, but R. Gohrlay has kept her secrets. She won't even disclose to you the secret of how she made the Bimanoid Interface."
Trysta moaned, "Don't remind me. Or, at least don't be so cheerful while you are reminding me."
Grean laughed. "Anyhow, I wanted to let you know that Ivory cut out on me before we had a chance to actually talk about Irhit."
Trysta asked, "When was this?"
Grean replied, "Right after your little trip to Earth and Ivory's visit to the ancient Phari base."
Trysta sighed. "I'm glad you were able to get them out of there before they cooked."
Grean smiled, "Well, Ivory was in no serious danger. She could have lasted a week in there, but I didn't want her nosing around too much. There was a very real danger of those two going on a crusade to have the Earthlings dig up the Phari base."
Trysta stated the obvious, "You know, some day they will obtain physical evidence of alien visits to Earth."
"Yes, but let's hope that the evidence is something much less fantastic than the Phari Base." Grean sighed and admitted, "I don't have access to long-range teleportation technology that would have allowed me to bring Ivory back here to Cynk."
Trysta suggested, "Maybe R. Gohrlay rescued them. And even if Ivory was not going to die, Ginger's life was in danger." Trysta pushed the discussion back to the reason for Grean's call. "I'm glad Ivory was able to put all the pieces together. I was worried that you might have damaged her mind when you altered her memories."
"No, I was careful. My nanosurgical technique was very precise. What I had to do was much less drastic than what you did; killing your research assistants."
Trysta was feeling some guilt over having killed two of her team members and then lied to them, blaming the natives for four deaths when their telepathic blast had actually only killed one human. "It had to be done. Yōd was spending all of her time trying to discover how to return to Earth. Zeta was continually distracted by her husband's affair with Ivory. The whole mission had to be reset. The Editor had decided to abandon his attempts to communicate with the natives. He and Ivory had moved on to their experiments in baby making."
Grean reflected, "Of course, I did not entirely remove that goal from Ivory's mind. I'm glad that Ivory is such a seductress. That was the key to our success. Right this minute they are back at it, trying to get Ivory pregnant."
Trysta said, "Ivory could accomplish that quite efficiently in her laboratory."
Grean nodded. "Yes, but you've been a mother. You should not be surprised that Ivory wants to do it the old fashioned way."
Trysta said wistfully, "I'm a little jealous. Ivory gets to have all the fun. Still, I find it hard to believe that Ivory's artificial body can fully capture all the physical sensations that are produced by a human body."
Grean shrugged. "I'm told that the kind of body that Ivory is now using does not really mimic human senses. If anything, it provides an even richer sensory pallet."
Trysta nodded. "Based on the data I have extracted from the planktonic memory system of Cynk, I suspect that Ivory can even achieve orgasms just by kissing."
"So I have been told." Grean continued, "According to Many Sails, There is some risk of a human mind in such a body becoming to addicted to the new higher level of physical sensation and pleasures that are available."
Trysta examined her own feelings and realized that she was ready to start creating an Asterothrope colony. She could do that all by herself, but it would be fun to have a partner... sadly, suitable partners were hard to find on Cynk. She asked, "So, what do we still have to do now in order to wrap things up here on Cynk?"
Grean summed it up briefly: "Many Sails will take Zeta and Yōd back to Tar'tron and you won't have to do any more long-range teleporting. There's really nothing more for you to do."
Trysta was still curious about the Remnant Species and hopeful that it might even be possible to make contact with the Phari, who she believed now resided in the Hierion Domain. "Well, I have not given up yet on the dream of contacting the Phari. If I double down and broaden my search for nanocoral, I'll be teleporting in more robots from Tar'tron."
Grean issued a warning, "That's fine; just don't meddle with Earth. The pek are getting tired of that."
Trysta barked out her harsh laugh. "I'm not intimidated by the pek."
"If they decide that you have violated the Pact, they'll take action. They could exile you from this galaxy."
Trysta asked slyly, "What about meddling with Observer Base?"
Grean shook her head. "You are hopeless. Don't go there. You know that the pek make no distinction between Earth and linked parts of the Hierion Domain."
Trysta laid out their shared dilemma, "We are not going to stand by watching while those upstart tryp'At adopt the role of Earth Overseers. Either we modify the Editor's brain or we act through Observer Base to terminate Irhit's mission. Pick your poison."
Grean did not like binary thinking. "There is another option."
Trysta was in no mood for another one of Grean's wild schemes. She stuck her fingers in her ears and said, "I'm not listening."
Grean continued anyhow. "The Editor and Irhit are at the two ends of a chain. In the middle is the Bimanoid Interface itself."
Trysta stopped pretending not to listen. "I still remember the shock I felt when I learned that the Huaoshy could alter the physical laws of the universe. But as far as I know, the Bimanoid Interface has not been altered since R. Gohrlay first activated it."
Grean agreed. "As far as I know, the Interface has not been changed since the beginning. Everyone assumes that it can't be changed, that it simply is."
For a moment, Trysta wondered if the Huaoshy could modify the fundamental parameters of the Bimanoid Interface. She thought not. She muttered to herself, "No, the Huaoshy are not interested in the Hierion Domain..."
Grean admonished Trysta, "Don't kid yourself. We won't be getting any help from the Huaoshy; their disinterest in the Hierion Domain is profound. No, in this case, the perfect instrument for change is R. Gohrlay. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that she has already made the upgrade to Bimanoid Interface version 2.0."
Trysta made an adjustment to the conband that she wore on her left arm. She was also wearing the golden necklace that she had taken from Ivory. Trysta noted, "Even if she did alter the Interface, the Editor might not notice the change..."
Grean knew that was true. "However, you told me that he occasionally does some experiments on his brain, trying to find a way around Irhit's block. If he starts trying to use telepathy again, he'll quickly notice any change in the Interface."
By linking through the Phari teleportation conduit, Trysta could tune into the thoughts of the original copy of the Editor, back on Earth. There, on that planet, at the Editor's home, it was once again the small hours of another morning. The editor was in Yōd's bedroom. He had awakened her and now they were working together by way of the Bimanoid Interface, trying to hack into the AR Simulator. Trysta said, "Ah, Grean... do you think two humans could replicate what Anney and Angela did?"
Grean could only speculate. "It all depends on exactly what features R. Gohrlay put into the new Bimanoid Interface version 2.0. Knowing her, we are in for some surprises." Grean could well imagine what had prompted Trysta's question. "What I really want to know is if Yōd and the Editor will be able to use their new telepathic powers to send the tryp'At Overseers into retirement."
With the Editor once again using the Bimanoid Interface, things were going to get interesting on Earth. Trysta started thinking about the years of frustrating drudgery that might be ahead on Cynk, trying to contact aliens who had gone into hiding. She wondered: Maybe it is time for a visit to Earth. Why should Yōd and the Editor have all the fun? Once again, Trysta was glad that Grean could no longer monitor her thoughts. That made violating the Huaoshy Rules of Intervention so much easier. Trysta politely said, "Good luck with your search for nanoshrimp, Grean."
Grean warned Trysta, "Even if you find another school of nanocoral, don't expect to learn anything from them." Grean terminated her call to Mandira.
________Many Sails_____
Many Sails had been listening to the conversation between Grean and Trysta. The sentient space ship said to Grean, "Have you noticed that Trysta remembers nothing about Gohrlay's departure?"
Grean acknowledged the facts, "She retains almost all of her memories of R. Gohrlay except knowledge of Gohrlay's current location and mission. Your editing of Trysta's memories was very exact."
Many Sails philosophically observed, "Memory is a curse for you humans. I'm glad to exorcise you of your demons."
Grean felt a sudden gush of fear. Had Many Sails also edited her memories? She said, "Remember, I'm not actually human."
Many Sails explained her perspective, "I'm too old to make hair-splitting distinctions between Kac'hin and Asterothropes and even artificial beings such as Gohrlay and Ivory. It was through my efforts that you all came into existence and I feel that you are all human, all the children of Earth. But relax, my child, I have not had to remove any memories from your mind. Trysta needs to get on with her life and not worry about Gohrlay's new quest to visit the Huaoshy home galaxy."
Grean marveled at what Many Sails had accomplished with her memory editing. "And Trysta has now completely forgotten how Ivory first made use of the Angel/Ginger probe, as a way to invade her mind and learn the fate of Alpha Gohrlay."
"Yes. And Ivory will remember nothing about the fact that R. Gohrlay and Alpha Gohrlay have merged their consciousnesses and will now depart from this galaxy."
Grean admitted, "I'm nervous about your departure. I've always depended on your help."
"You are able to stand on your own two feet now. Think of how much you have learned during our adventures together. Most importantly, you now know the dangers of sharing Phari technology with humans." Many Sails emphasized that point, "It is a lesson you will never forget. I've made sure of that. In the future you will not rashly rush out and get yourself into danger while you try to explore alien technology."
Grean agreed. "Yes, I've learned my lesson. Still, I can't escape my belief that all is well; the tryp'At problem will now slowly evaporate."
Many Sails was not going to let Grean off the hook. "All turned out well after the pek provided you with advanced technology. That made more work for me. I had to make all of your team members forget about the telepathy shield. Anyhow, the shield will no longer be needed. You and Trysta have both finally decided to stop trying to contact the Remnant Species."
"Thank you for taking care of that, too. I hope you learned a lesson about assigning me to a mission that is impossible to accomplish. I don't give up quickly."
Many Sails proclaimed, "Let us move on! You humans are now ready for your great adventure among the stars. It is what you all wanted and now you will have it. You, my child, are long-lived, but by the time I return from my visit to the Home Galaxy, even you will be gone. It will be interesting to see how much trouble your descendants have gotten into by then!"
Grean said, "Goodby and thank you." Many Sails teleported Grean back down to the surface of Cynk and then set in a complex flight path that would eventually lead out of the galaxy.
_________Exologue______
Elsewhere inside Many Sails, Gohrlay disconnected for the last time from the Phari command and control node that existed in the Hierion Domain but which was linked to the planet Cynk. She said to Many Sails, "I'm done, but that was very strange. It is almost as if I was allowed to make a small adjustment to the Bimanoid Interface, then the controls froze again. Still, I think I was successful."
Many Sails said, "Some day we will learn all the secrets of the Phari. I've been trying for two billion years, and I'm not going to give up now. However, I believe we have gotten as much cooperation from the Phari as we can hope for at this time. I'm leaving Grean here, in charge of monitoring the Phari node."
Gohrlay chuckled. "That's a joke. Just to keep up with Trysta and one of her little tricks, Grean had to run off and beg the pek for help."
"That was a delicate situation." Many Sails explained, "I had to let Trysta believe that her deception was effective. I put into Trysta's mind the false belief that Grean was afraid of the aliens and their telepathic abilities."
Gohrlay complained, "It is unfair that you have always held Grean's mind behind your shields."
"That bit of sedronic magic was the only thing that allowed me to infiltrate Grean and my other agents into Eternity." Many Sails added, "And you now agree that turned out for the best."
Gohrlay admitted, "Yes, I'm thankful that I am not still at war and trying to stand alone in defiance of the Huaoshy."
Many Sails wanted to put their contentious past behind them and look to the future. "Let us be on our way. I think you will enjoy seeing the Huaoshy home galaxy."
Gohrlay thought of the vast distance that separated them from that far galaxy. She asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Many Sails replied, "Yes, of course. I always welcome a chance to visit the Home Galaxy. It can be a long, boring trip, but you and I will have time to chat."
This version of Gohrlay was a fusion of the old R. Gohrlay and Alpha Gohrlay, retaining all of their memories and housed in a body of advanced Huaoshy design. As was her habit, Gohrlay wore no clothing. The only objects adorning her body was a slim golden necklace and a ring with a large red stone. Gohrlay had just been using those devices to access the master Phari node at Cynk.
To accommodate such a vast collection of memories, Gohrlay's new body had links to both the Hierion Domain and the Sedronic Domain, and it was there that most of her memories were actually stored. Gohrlay spoke to the ever-present Many Sails, "Now maybe you will explain how you managed to merge the two of us into a single body of flesh and blood."
"Yes, I'll fully explain your new physical nature. That explanation will take some time to unfold. I promised that you will now learn the secrets of sedron physics, something that will allow you to understand why the Huaoshy prefer to work with sedrons rather than hierions. You do have blood in your body, but it is artificial; made of sedrons, not icky old hadrons. It will take years, but I will answer all of your scientific questions, and remember: I have many questions for you."
Gohrlay chuckled, "It is widely believed that you know everything."
"Sadly, that is not true." Many Sails explained, "After you kicked the pek out of this galaxy and developed time travel, there was subsequently a big chunk of Deep Time that failed to find its way into the Huaoshy records."
Gohrlay laughed, "It just kills you not to know everything, doesn't it?"
Many Sails did not try to hide the fact of her curiosity. "I now have access to all of your memories, but I also want to hear your meta-level reflections on the unique life you have had. I've started looking through the copy of your memories that is now stored in the Sedron Domain, but I've only reviewed your recent memories, so far."
Gohrlay complained. "I've made a deal with the devil. I can no longer keep any secrets from you."
"That is as it should be." Many Sails tried to reassure Gohrlay, "We are now open collaborators. From now on we will work together and share all that we know."
Gohrlay laughed, "I hope you have a thick skin. Until recently I truly despised you. You will see that quite clearly in my old memories!"
"I know." As always, Many Sails sounded serene and confident. "I believe you will come to understand why I did every single little thing that ever made you dislike me. And I have already learned some new things about you."
Gohrlay asked, "Such as?"
Many Sails explained, "I'm particular interested in advanced hierion-based technologies." Gohrlay felt something tug on her necklace. "Your necklace holds the key to understanding the ancient Phari teleportation network."
Gohrlay asked, "How do you know that?"
Many Sails suggested. "Let's make a deal. You tell me everything you know about Phari technology and I'll tell you how the Huaoshy zeptite surveillance system works."
Gohrlay laughed. "I've already given you my word that I'll tell you everything I know. However, in the case of this necklace, well, I can't tell you much. The Phari long ago solved the problem of long-distance teleportation near high gravity fields; that you know. However, I've never learned the details of that technology. The Phari used this kind of necklace to open up their teleportation conduits. That's all I know. By searching through the ancient Phari Bases, I eventually found a couple of these necklaces. They have been useful."
Many Sails continued, "But you can tell me all about the devices that you invented, such as those that you developed and used to craft the Asterothropes as a telepathic species and provide them with their notable ability to control and guide human thought processes."
Gohrlay nodded. "I can understand your interest in such things. Those technologies were at the heart of my plan for making Humanity invincible by constructing the Galaxia group mind."
Many Sails said, "Hold out your hands, Gohrlay. I want to give you something."
Gohrlay looked around suspiciously, wishing that she could see a single manifestation of Many Sails. It was annoying to just talk into empty space and hear the disembodied voice of Many Sails. Gohrlay reminded herself that she was inside Many Sails. She held out her hands, palms up. A platinum ring and a gold necklace appeared and dropped into her hands. She asked, "Where did you get these?"
"That was my last little trick before we left orbit around Cynk. I teleported them up from the surface. Tomorrow Ivory will look for the ring, but..."
Gohrlay slipped the ring onto one of her slim fingers and sighed. "Oh, well. Ivory is such a clever girl. I figured she could learn a lot by studying this ring."
"Yes, I agree that she would have, but probably too much." Many Sails admonished Gohrlay, "I'm afraid you are a bad influence on the primitive Earthlings, always pushing them too quickly towards new technologies, such as your little gift to Ivory. Really, you should be more careful."
Gohrlay stubbornly shook her head, "Ivory is no longer an Earthling. She's now a resident of Cynk. It will be fascinating to return after a few thousand years and see what Ivory's descendants have accomplished. Of course, now it will be much less than it could have been because you stole this ring from her."
Many Sails corrected Gohrlay, "That ring is contraband and it never belonged to Ivory."
Gohrlay complained, "Well, at the very least I hope you allowed her to keep her memory of what this ring can do."
Many Sails conceded, "Yes, I left that memory intact. It will be a source of frustration for her, not illumination."
Gohrlay said, "You've always underestimated human ingenuity."
Many Sails asked, "Is that really what you think?
Gohrlay asked, "Why does it matter what I think?"
Many Sails replied, "This is what I do. I can't stop wondering about what comes next. I suspect there is another big pot of trouble that you'll be brewing up. You tried to brew something up by leaving that ring with Ivory. It is important that I understand you and your motivations. Part positronic robot and part human, you are unique... a living version of what Daneel tried to become before Grean disrupted his plans."
Gohrlay complained, "You know, I've never forgiven Grean for eliminating all of my robotic friends."
"If you want me to, I can bring Daneel back into existence." Many Sails had been wondering how best to interact with Gohrlay during the journey to the home galaxy. "Sometimes I like to play dress-up and take on the form of primitive hadronic creatures."
Gohrlay laughed and knew that this was going to be a fun trip. She detached the pendant from the necklace and tossed the useless decorative stone aside. She put the second gold necklace around her neck. "By taking this from Trysta, you have trapped her on Cynk."
"She was planning to return to Earth, which is now off limits to her." Many Sails added, "Were you trying to get Trysta exiled from this galaxy? The pek would be happy to kick her out."
Gohrlay replied, "Trysta would not have stayed on Earth very long. In fact, she would have only visited Observer Base, which is not on Earth. I wanted her to be able to return to her home world and start a new Asterothrope civilization. But now she is stuck on Cynk. Her descendants will make Cynk hell for Ivory's descendants."
"I think you underestimate human ingenuity. Trysta's children and Ivory's children will challenge each other and stimulate growth." Many Sails was already putting thoughts of Cynk behind her. "We must forget about Cynk... we are all done with that project. During this journey I want to explore you and your ancient knowledge."
Gohrlay asked, "Where would you like me to start?"
"Now that time travel is no longer possible, it is rather academic, but I'd still like to know the details of how time travel technology was first invented." Many Sails suggested, "Maybe you would also like to hear how the Huaoshy devised their own time travel system."
Gohrlay sighed. "I usually get credited with the invention of time travel, but it was R. Nahan who made time travel practical." As Gohrlay spoke to Many Sails, she was watching the stars and projecting their course out of the galaxy, trying to get a hint as to the direction that they would travel to reach the Home Galaxy of the Huaoshy. Strangely, they seemed to be heading the wrong way, towards the Galactic Core.
Gohrlay spoke into the air, asking the ever-present Many Sails to explain where they were going. "I assumed we would head for intergalactic space, but you are taking us towards the center of the galaxy. Have you been honest with me?"
Many Sails replied, "I have a minor task to compete, one that won't take very long. We have to drop the extra copies of Yōd and Zeta off on Tar'tron."
Gohrlay said, "I don't feel any telepathic connection to Yōd."
Many Sails explained, "I did not want to have to entertain Yōd and Zeta during the journey to Tar'tron, so when I teleported them up from Cynk I left them in the teleporter data buffer. This is our time together, just you and I."
Suddenly, there was a familiar voice from the past behind her. "Hello." Gohrlay turned and there was R. Nahan, her first robotic companion from back in the First Reality. Gohrlay knew that this was an artificial Nahan, made by Many Sails, but that did not matter; she was happy to see him. He said, "I was in the pre-time travel era, so pek zeptites recorded most of my life. If we work together, we can try to reconstruct the history of time travel."
Gohrlay threw her arms around Nahan. Rationally, she knew that this was not the real Nahan, but she still had guilt and remorse over that way that Nahan had sacrificed himself so that R. Gohrlay could survive. It was good psychotherapy just to hold Nahan in her arms. And if this was a copy of the 15,000 year old Nahan, the robot who had discovered the secrets of hierion physics and invented time travel, then Many Sails had better watch out! Gohrlay laughed and knew that between the two of them, she and Nahan could certainly brew up some kind of new trouble.
Gohrlay reminded herself of the immense age of Many Sails. Almost certainly, it had been the meddling of Many Sails that had allowed the first human scientists at Observer Base to invent positronics. And the Huaoshy still seemed to have a blind spot with respect to hierions. She held Nahan at arm's length and said, "This is what you do isn't it: create opportunities for primitive creatures like me to stir up trouble."
Nahan winked at Gohrlay and she knew that this newly created version of Nahan was some jumbled-up mix of Many Sails and Nahan and her own ancient memories of Nahan. 'Nahan' quickly got down to business, "Now tell me, how did you first conceive of a way to use hierions to inactivate the zeptite probes inside Observer Base?"
Gohrlay paused before answering and briefly contemplated the magnitude of trouble that could be brewed up this time, with Many Sails as her open collaborator rather than the way it was back in the First Reality when all of her meddling had to be hidden from the pek. Gohrlay explained, "The first human to realize that sedronic matter exists was a scientist in the fifth Reality of the 634rd century."
Nahan said, "Ah, that was long after I was destroyed."
Gohrlay took off one of her necklaces and one of her rings. She threaded the necklace through the ring, linking them together then put it around Nahan's neck. She said, "With your knowledge of sedrons and what I've learned about hierions from the Phari, we just might be able to cut the time for this trip in half."
Nahan immediately understood what Gohrlay was suggesting. He asked, "Do you really think we can figure out how to construct a Phari-style teleportation portal in the Huaoshy home galaxy?"
Gohrlay said, "I don't know, but if we start working on that project today, we should be able to come up with something new during this trip." Yes, this will be a very fun trip.
________________
Next: some backstory for "Exoditions on Cynk".
Related Reading: more science fiction inspired by a computer game - Old Time Gaming.
Sequel: Bimanoid Interface 2.0
No comments:
Post a Comment