Gravity Dreams

Shutdown and postflight were mostly silent, because I was silent except as necessary, thinking about the meeting ahead. And I'd asked for it, not that I'd had much choice, not if I wanted to remain honest

In the gray-walled casern of operations, there were three people waiting - Erelya, commander Krigisa, and Aleyaisha. There was also a complete diagnostic console, also gray, a shinier newer gray. The air was cool, dry, like that in a casern or a desert crypt. That Aleyaisha was there meant more trouble, not for me but for needle ships in general, because they couldn't have gotten her up from Runswi in the time since I'd requested a conference.

I didn't even bother to ask the procedure, just nodded at the red-clad Aleyaisha and eased myself over beside the console. Any time you're ready.'

She lifted the diagnostic spray, and the silver mist wafted over me and into and through me, then began to reform on the receiving screen. I watched as the sandy-haired medical type studied the screen.

'He's in perfect physical health,' Aleyaisha finally noted. 'He has been before every run. Even his muscle tone is at the top.'

'Nothing out of the ordinary?' asked Krigisa, worrying the forefinger and thumb of her right hand together. 'Not that the diagnostics show.'

The three of them looked at me as though I might be human once more. Then Krigisa nodded at Aleyaisha, who eased back to the other side of the console, effectively leaving me with the two senior officers.

'I presume you had some sort of contact,' Krigisa began.

'I did.' I glanced in the direction of Aleyaisha. 'I presume I'm not the first, lately, either.'

'Three others, but we've only lost one more ship.'

One ... on top of the others? I nodded politely, but the reason for Aleyaisha's presence was clear.

'Any more ... dialogues?' inquired the commander.

'Nothing on the outbound, but a fairly elaborate set of ... observations coming back.'

'What?'

I smiled, if nervously. 'A general observation on entropy ... so to speak ... and then a solution that might explain the puzzle Astlyn outlined to me years ago.'

'Go on.'

'If it's Engee, he ... it ... is tapping a reverse universe somewhere, one that runs backwards from ours, using its high-energy entropy as a power source to build his system. That's if I understood what he was trying to convey. He calls it the only way to create more information than is being destroyed by the information creation process, a way to avoid losing the memory of the universe ... or something.'

'Avoid losing the memory of the universe? Odd,' murmured

Erelya. 'That's his concern with all that power?' She frowned.

'He says he's pumping energy from another universe into that Anomalous system? The theory says that wouldn't work,' said Krigisa.

'Something's pumping energy there,' pointed out Erelya. And if he has that kind of power ...'

'I don't know. I'm certainly not an expert on universal physics. It might not work. He might just be throwing words, or I might be imagining them, but that was what I heard. I listened, but I kept my mind on the ship.'

'If Tyndel heard them, he heard them,' Aleyaisha confirmed from the other side of the console.

'It doesn't mean this ... creature is telling the truth.'

'Why would it lie?' asked Erelya. 'Something is creating matter and energy in the Anomaly, seemingly from nowhere. This provides an explanation.'

'Why would it tell the truth? Why would it tell us - or Tyndel - why?'

'Because it wants something and because greater power demands greater honesty for survival, and it has greater power, and it's survived,' I suggested.

For a moment, the casern that operations had become, at least in comparison to overspace, was silent.

'Did it say what it wanted?'

'No. That's just an impression,' I had to admit.

'Are you sure this wasn't because of Thesalle ... its impact?' asked Krigisa, still worrying forefinger and thumb together.

'Outside of visual disorientation ... no.' I offered a grin. 'I never did figure out how many sides the mountain over Machedd had.'

'No dizziness? Nausea? Physical weakness?'

I shook my head.

'He's telling the truth on that, too,' Aleyaisha confirmed.

'You say we've lost another needle - just one?' I asked, watching Krigisa. 'Just one.'

'You're doing this with all pilots?'

'Have you a better idea?'

Find out what Engee wants and give it to him, except you don't know what he wants. 'Not right now.' Aleyaisha nodded once more.

'How can you take this so calmly, Tyndel?' asked Krigisa, her voice carrying both interest and a tinge of exasperation and anger, as if she felt I didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

'You forget, commander, that I've already had to learn this once before.' She frowned for a moment.

'Rykashans have abilities far superior to those of Dorchans. Finding another being of superior abilities isn't so frightening to me. You all forced me to learn.' I smiled rather than continue. And it's amusing to see how you all face it.

'And you think that makes you different?' asked Krigisa.

'He has made three separate returns after hearing discrete messages. No one else has managed one,' added Erelya.

'It could be that I'm not tied to either God or no god. I'm a former Dzin master, one who's never been quite at home in any belief system.'

'That's not a physical explanation,' pointed out the commander.

'State of mind determines the physical ability to master overspace,' countered Erelya.

I wanted to smile at her almost feisty response. Aleyaisha did, but erased the expression quickly.

'The universe exists independent of the anthropic principle ... so does overspace,' continued Krigisa.

There was a significant difference between existence and understanding, between reaction and proaction - or were intelligence and planning merely illusions? Were we genetically programmed to respond, merely rationalizing our actions after the facts? I didn't think so, but even my assessment could have been an illusion of sorts.

That's not the question,' Erelya responded. 'It's why Tyndel can keep making runs after contact by Engee. It's possibly also why no other former Dzin masters have had a problem.'

'We don't know that Dzin is the reason.'

'It will do for now.'

Krigisa turned to me. 'What about the color of overspace? Has it changed?'

'It's slightly brighter now, more of a lighter deep purple-green ...'

'Have you noticed any changes in the perceptual gradients ...'

The technical questions went on for what seemed more than a standard hour, until the room drifted into another silence. 'Can I answer any more questions?' I asked politely.

'Not unless you have some other factual or data-based input,' answered Krigisa.

'I've told you what I know.'

'You'd better go, Tyndel. You're suspended from active flight status pending the results of a complete medical evaluation in Runswi as soon as you arrive.' Krigisa's voice was tight when she finally dismissed me. 'And I'd appreciate it if you would restrict your speculations.'

'Yes, ser.'

The debate was still going on when I left, for yet another indepth medical evaluation in Runswi, but I had no doubts. In time, I'd fly at least one more insertion, and probably many more.

Once out of operations, I used my mental links to access the shuttle schedule board directly. Then I began to hurry, not wanting to spend another eight hours on Orbit Two.

As I slipped toward the handful of people lined by the lock, the shuttle's second - they had but two officers - caught sight of my greens.