'The Dance of the Stars was a sight to destroy all but the noblest of watchers, for the weaving patterns depicted the Two Truths Which Bear the Third, so that while the galaxy reformed itself to begin a fresh cycle through its particular Time and Space, it also cleansed its sister galaxies of petty spirits and those who thought ignoble thoughts.
'For millions of years, The Dance of the Galaxy progressed - ordered creation, a sight so pleasing to intelligent beings. It gave us much in the way of sensory experiences and also enabled us to develop our philosophy. Please do not ask us to explain it further, for the sight of a galaxy dancing can be defined in no terms possessed by either of us.
'When at last the Dance was over, the Hub began to spin, setting the pattern for the new Cycle. And slowly, from the hub outwards to the Rim, the suns and planets began to turn again in a course that would be unchanged for eons.
'So it began, and so - after time had passed - did its denizens begin to hammer out its marvellous history.
'They came, at length, to our galaxy and, because they were impatient of the philosophical conclusions we had drawn about the nature of the multiverse, set about destroying our ancient race. A few of us fled here, since we abhor violence or knowledge of violence.'
'You witnessed a galaxy re-order itself by its own volition!' Renark sensed at last that his most important question was close to being answered.
'Not, we feel, by its own volition. Our logic has led us, inescapably, to believe that there is a greater force at work - one which created the multiverse for its own purposes. This is not a metaphysical conclusion - we are materialists. But the facts are such that they point to the existence of beings who are, in the true sense, supernatural.'
'And the multiverse - what of that? Does it consist of an infinite number of layers, or…?'
'The multiverse is finite. Vast as it is, it has limitations. And beyond those limitations exist - other realities, perhaps.'
Renark was silent. All his life he had accepted the concept of infinity, but even his rapidly developing mind could not quite contain the new concept hovering at the edge of his consciousness.
'We believe,' said the metazoa gently, 'that life as we know it is in an undeveloped, crude state - that you and we represent perhaps the first stage in the creation of entities designed, at length, to transcend the limitations of the multi-verse. It has been our function, all of us, to have created some sort of order out of original chaos. There is no such thing, even now, as cause and effect - there is still only cause and coincidence; coincidence and effect. There is no such thing, and this, of course, is obvious to any intelligence. There is no such thing as free will - there is only limited choice. We are limited not only by our environment, but by our psychological condition, by our physical needs - everywhere we turn we are limited. The Ekiversh believe that, though this is true, we can conceive of a condition in which this is not so - and perhaps, in time, conceive that condition.'
'I agree, Renark nodded. 'It is possible to overcome all restrictions if the will is strong enough.'
'That may be so. You have certainly come through more than any other entity - and it has been your spirit which has been the only thing to keep your mind and body co-ordinated for so long. But, if you wish to continue your quest for as far as you can go in a finite universe, you have the worst experience to come.'
'What do you mean?'
'You must go to the lattice planet. There you will meet the dwellers in the Abyss of Reality. Perhaps you have heard of the place as the Hole.'
Yes, Renark had heard the name. He remembered where. Mary had told him about it.
'What exactly is this planet?'
'It does not move through the multiverse in the same way as the rest of the planets in this system, yet in a sense it exists in all of them. Pieces of it move in different dimensions, all shifting independently. Sometimes the planet may be fairly complete on random occasions. At other times the planet is full of… gaps… where parts of it have ceased to exist according to the dimensional laws operating in whichever continua the Shifter is in. It is believed that there exists somewhere in this planet a gateway through to a mythical race called The Originators.
'Since you have nowhere else to go, we would suggest that you risk a visit to this planet and attempt to find the gateway, if it exists.'
'Yes, we shall try,' said Renark softly. Then another thought came to him. 'Why isn't this planet, Ekiversh, subject to the same chaotic conditions existing elsewhere?' he asked.
'That is because, before we fled our home universe, we prepared for the conditions which we expected to meet, and we used our skill and knowledge to create a very special organism.'
The glutinous giant seemed to heave its shining body before the next thought came.
'We call it a Conservator. The conservator is simply an object, but an object of a peculiar kind which can only exist under a certain set of laws. In order to maintain its own existence, it conserves these laws for a distance around it. These laws, of course, are those under which we exist and under which you, for the most part, exist also. with a conservator in your ship, you will not experience your earlier difficulties in traversing interplanetary space and, also, you will be less likely to lose your way on the lattice planet which, incidentally, you know of as Roth, or Ragged Ruth.'
'I am grateful,' Renark said. 'The conservator will be of great assistance.' Then another thought occurred to him. 'You are aware of my reason for coming here - because the universe where I belong is contracting. Could not a number of these conservators be built in order to stop the course which my universe is taking?'
'Impossible. Your universe is not contravening any natural laws. The laws which apply to it are bringing about this change. You must discover why this is happening - for everything has a purpose - and discover what part your race is to play in this reorganisation.'
'Very well,' said Renark humbly.
Several of the metazoa detached themselves from the main body and disappeared in the direction of a line of hills, travelling rapidly. 'We go to fetch a conservator,' the pseudo-giant told him. '
Renark used the wait to explore his own state of mind. Strangely, without any great strain, he could now accept the enormity of the realisation which had been dawning in him ever since he first came to the Shifter. And he knew now, unquestioningly, that his whole journey, his trials and endeavours, had had, from the beginning, a definite purpose - there was logic in the multiverse. The Ekiversh had convinced him. And that purpose, he thought with dawning clarity, transcended his original one - transcended it and yet was part of it!
But there was much more, he felt, to undergo before this new need in him would be consummated. For now he was to undergo the worst part of the journey - to the planet that had sent Mary the Maze insane. Ruth - Ragged Ruth - the Lattice Planet.
The metazoa returned bearing a small globe of a dull ochre colouring. This they placed on the ground, near the airlock of the spaceship.
'We shall leave you now,' the metazoa telepathed, 'but let us wish you knowledge. You Renark and Asquiol are the messengers for the multiverse - you must represent us all if you succeed in reaching the Originators - presuming they exist. You go further towards reality than any other intelligent beings, apart from the dwellers of The Hole, have done before Asquiol got into a suit and went outside to collect the conservator. Renark watched him, his gaze unblinking, his thoughts distant, as he returned and placed the globe on the chart desk beside Renark.