It was easy,Oenone said modestly.
You handled it superbly,she said. That needs to be said.
Thank you.
Syrinx made an effort to compress her sadness. But you do realize we probably won’t get to go there.
I understand. We need to keep the hellhawks at bay.
I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted to go.
So did you. We must not be selfish, though. There is more at stake than our feelings. And we have explored further than anyone else.
Oh yes!
Joshua will do well.
I know.amusement lifted her spirits. A year ago I wouldn’t have been saying that.
It is not just you who has changed.
You always did like him, didn’t you?
He was what you feared to become. Your envy became disdain. You should never be scared of what you are, Syrinx. I will always love you.
And I you.she sighed contentedly. “joshua, swantic-li found the Sleeping God at an F-class star three hundred and twenty light years from here. Coordinates coming over.” She ordered the bridge processors to datavise the file over to Lady Mac ’s flight computer.
“Hey, good work, Oenone .”
“Thank you, Joshua.”
“Okay, how do you want to break up the stand-off? If I launch a combat wasp salvo from here, they’ll be forced to swallow out. We can combine to protect the cylinder. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll wipe each other out before they come back for it.”
“No, Joshua. We can handle the stand-off. You take off now.”
“Jesus, you’re kidding.”
“We can’t waste the time which protecting the cylinder is going to take; it’ll be days most likely. And we certainly can’t take the risk that we might both get damaged or killed in a fight with the hellhawks. You have to leave. Once the stand-off’s over, we’ll follow.”
“That’s very cold and logical.”
“It’s very rational, Joshua. I am an Edenist after all.”
“All right. If you’re sure?”
“Who better?” She relaxed serenely on her acceleration couch, sharing Oenone ’s perception of local space. Waiting. Lady Macbeth ’s jump registered as a sharp twist in spacetime, gone in a nanosecond.
Syrinx looked round at her crew, reaching out to them so their thoughts and regrets could mingle with hers. Sharing herself to achieve that cherished equipoise of their culture. It must have worked; for eventually she asked: “Anyone bring a pack of cards?”
Chapter 13
The two friends walked together along the top of Ketton island’s cliff, taking a few minutes alone together to say goodbye. Their parting would be permanent. Choma had chosen to join with Tinkerbell, sharing that entity’s voyage across eternity; while Sinon, almost uniquely among the serjeants, had decided to go back to Mortonridge.
I promised my wife I would return, that I would rejoin the multiplicity once more,he said. I will keep my word to her, for we believed in Edenism together. By doing this I will strengthen our culture. Not by much, I will be the first to admit, but my conviction in us and the path we have chosen will contribute to the overall conviction of the multiplicity and Consensus. We must believe in ourselves. To doubt now would be admitting we should never have existed.
And yet what we are doing is the pinnacle of Edenism,choma said. By transferring ourselves into Tinkerbell’s version of the multiplicity we are evolving the human condition, moving on from our origin with confidence and wonder. This is evolution, a constant learning curve, there is no limit to what we can find in this realm.
But you will be alone, isolated from the rest of us. What is the point of knowledge if you cannot share it? If it cannot be used to help everyone? The beyond is something the human race must face in union, we must know and accept our answer as one. If Mortonridge taught us nothing else, it was that. Towards the end I had nothing but sympathy for the possessed.
We are both right. The universe is big enough to allow us that.
It is. Though I regret what you are doing. An unusual development. I think I have become more than I was supposed to in this body. I believed such emotions would be impossible when I volunteered to join the Liberation.
Their development was inevitable,choma said. We carry the seeds of humanity with us no matter what vessel our minds travel in. They were bound to flourish, to find their own route forward.
Then I am no longer the Sinon who emerged from the multiplicity.
No. Any sentient entity who has lived, has changed.
I will have a soul then. A new soul, one that is different to the Sinon I remember.
You do. All of us do.
Then once again I will have to die before I transfer myself back to the multiplicity. What I bring to the habitat is only such wisdom as I can muster. My soul doesn’t follow my memories, so the Kiint say.
Do you fear that day?
I don’t believe so. The beyond is not for everyone, knowing there is a way through, or round, as Laton claims, is enough to give me confidence. Though there is some trepidation stirring within me.
You will overcome, I am sure. Never forget it is possible to succeed. That thought alone should guide you.
I will remember.
They stopped on the crest of a mound and looked out over the island. Long lines of people were picking their way over the cracked earth, the last refugees from the buried town heading towards the cliff top where Tinkerbell was pressed against the rock. The giant crystal’s opalescent light sent ripples of gentle colour slithering over the drab ground. Air had coiled into a topaz nimbus all around it.
How apt,sinon said. It looks as though they are walking off into the sunset.
If I have a regret, it is that I won’t know how their lives finish. They will make a strange group, these souls who are going to occupy serjeant bodies, their complete humanity always beyond their grasp.
When they came out of the beyond, they claimed all they wanted was sensation again. They have that now.
But they are genderless. Not to mention sexless. They can never know love.
Physical love, perhaps. But that certainly isn’t all the love there is. As with you and I, they will become whole in their own way.
I feel their disquiet already, and they haven’t even reached Mortonridge yet.
They can learn to adapt to what lies ahead. The habitats will welcome them.
Nobody has ever become an Edenist against their will before. Now you have twelve thousand bewildered, angry strangers grumbling away into the general affinity band. Most of them with a cultural background that will act against easy acceptance.
With patience and kindness they will find themselves again. Think what they have been through.
At last we come to the true difference between ourselves. I am restless and eager for the future, a voyager. You are ruled by compassion, a healer of souls. Now you see why we have to part.
Of course, and I wish you well on your splendid voyage.
Likewise. I hope you find the peace you search for.
They turned, and walked back slowly along the rocky line of the cliff. Tiny crystalline entities whisked about overhead, never pausing in one place for more than a moment. They had covered the whole island, making sure that every possessed knew there was now a way back, and what staying here meant. It was the end of Ekelund’s rule. Her troops had abandoned her, banding together defiantly to walk out of Ketton. Her threats and fury only hastened their departure.