Stop. Stop now. He fought against the urge to end it, but the torment was too great. He was in terminal agony, hearing the whimper of protest from every cell. The limit of endurance had arrived; had passed. Pain intensified, sharpened, rose to levels that defied belief…
No more. Give in, or die.
And as that thought took firm possession of his mind, the pressure eased.
He sagged in the retaining straps of the tank, unable to move. Every nerve of mind and body was aflame. He sucked the pain deep inside him, grinning in triumph. He could hear his heartbeat.
It was over. No matter what came next, he had won this stage. He had the right final form; he knew it without looking. His tortured body had been cast up, twisted and misshapen, on a strange shore—and it was the destination he had chosen!
Bey Wolf had crossed the form-change ocean.
PART FOUR
Chapter 26
Live with a man for years—and then discover that you know nothing at all about him!
Sylvia had been convinced that at the very least Paul would listen to what she had to say. She had clung to that thought, all through the long journey and the docking at Ransome’s Hole, and then on through a maze of corridors and slideways that took her and her Roguards deep into the habitat interior. And finally, face to face with him, she realized her mistake.
“It was very foolish for you to come here.” His expression was cold, and he stared through her as though she did not exist. He was wearing the same drab uniform as all the others she had seen in Ransome’s Hole.
“Paul, I had to. Terrible things have been happening in the Cloud. Thousands of people have died, and all the time—”
“A mistake, and a total waste of time.” He turned to the machines standing beside her. “Take her to living quarters K-1-25, level 4.”
“Paul!”
But he was already turning, refusing to look her way. “You had your chance to work with us,” he said coldly as he walked out. “Ransome is a once-in-a-millennium genius, the best hope for the Solar System. You wouldn’t help when we needed it. Why should anyone listen to you now, when we don’t need help?”
And then he was gone. Sylvia tried to run after him and found the Roguards blocking her way. She pushed at them angrily, taking out her frustration on the resilient plastic. Endless weeks of travel to seek Paul Chu’s ear—and then dismissed in one minute, without any sign that the two of them had once been lovers and close friends!
It was such an anticlimax, Sylvia was ready to burst with frustration. The machines were moving her back the way they had come, holding her lightly with their jointed arms. She fought them at first, but it was pointless. The gentle touch disguised their strength, but they could apply many tons of force with each flexible limb.
After ten more minutes of slideway travel they brought her to an open door and guided her through it. As it slid closed behind her, she spun around and cursed the silent machines.
“Helps your feelings,” said a familiar and cynical voice from behind her. “Don’t do much good, though. Better save your breath.”
She turned. “Aybee! How in Eden did you get here?”
“Long tale—a long and sad tale, as old Lewie C. puts it. Turns out Ransome doesn’t trust me quite as much as I thought.” Aybee Smith was sitting cross-legged across a high table, long limbs dangling to each side. “Wait just a minute. I already did this two days ago, but let’s make sure nothing has changed.” He hopped off the table and circled the room, peering at ventilator grilles and under and on all free surfaces. Finally he nodded. “I’m pretty sure we’re safe to talk. No monitoring—or if there is, I can’t find it.”
He pointed to a chair and returned to sit again on the table. “All right, Sylv, let’s play catch up. Who first?”
His scowling face had made Sylvia feel better already. She described everything that had happened since she left the ruined space farm, then heard of Aybee’s own zigzag passage from there to Ransome’s Hole.
“At least you had no choice,” she said. “I’m the stupid one—I set out looking for trouble. And now the whole system’s ready to be blown apart, and neither of us can do a thing.”
“Not right now. But every day I’m here, I learn more about what makes this place tick.” Aybee was prowling the perimeter of the chamber. “They shouldn’t have put us together, and they ought to be monitoring us. Ransome is overconfident.”
“Overconfident! Right, and with plenty to be overconfident about. We’re in a mess. I don’t know why you’re looking so pleased with yourself.”
“Because we finally have a chance to learn what’s screwing up the Solar System.” Aybee squatted down and wrapped his arms around his crossed legs. “I’ll tell you one good thing your friend the Wolfman told me when we were on the space farm. He says you solve problems by getting into the middle of ’em. When we were out on the harvesters, we were sitting on the outside edge of things. We only felt Black Ransome’s effect at third hand. Now we’re right at the heart of his power.”
“And we’re totally powerless! Aybee, even if we got out of these rooms, I’m not sure we could do anything. Ransome controls everything. We couldn’t get a message to Bey Wolf or Cinnabar Baker.”
“We might get one to the Wolfman, but it wouldn’t help. Last time I saw Ransome he told me Wolf is here, too. He pointed out how convenient it was, all three of us coming to him.”
“Bey’s in Ransome’s Hole? However did he find his way?”
“Same as you and me, I’ll bet—a little bad luck and a big lump of stupidity. He came here on one of the superfast ships, same as I did. Ransome is hoping to make Wolf a convert to his cause, like he’s trying to convert me. You, too, if you let him.”
“Then Baker’s our only hope. Aybee, you’re the smart one. You have to find a way to let her know where we are.”
He was shaking his head. “Sorry, Sylv. It’s worse than that. When you said Ransome controls everything, you were closer than you realized. He controls Cinnabar Baker.”
“Never! The Cloud is her whole life. She’d never sell out to Ransome.”
“That’s what I’d have said two weeks ago. But Ransome showed me. When you get to meet with him he’ll show you, too. He has direct transmissions of meetings from inside Baker’s personal quarters. Secret papers and interviews, too, from the Opik and Marsden Harvesters. She must be running a portable recorder during her important meetings and transmitting ’em here by sealed hyperbeam.”
“Aybee, I think you’re crazy. But if you happen to be right it’s an absolute disaster. You tell me that, and still you don’t think that Ransome has everything under his control?”
“Maybe he does—for the moment. But he can’t have corrupted every person in the Outer System. And he’s been winning for too long. It’s time for our run of luck.”
“Aybee, if I said anything like that you’d tell me it’s statistical gibberish. According to Paul Chu—damn that man—Ransome has been winning because he’s a genius. Are you going to disagree with that, too?”
“Funny you should say that.” Aybee stood up and stretched. “I do disagree. I came to Ransome’s Hole in a hell of a ship, too advanced to be believed. New drive, new nav system, new technology all over it. First thing I asked when I got here: Who’s the genius? Ransome, everybody says. All the ideas come from him. He’s the one.”
“But you think not?” Sylvia knew Aybee’s weaknesses, and evaluating the abilities of others was not one of them.