As Darius pumped himself up, he saw the gray machines taking aim again, and the platform falling, in alternate Modes. Then he broke through and caught a glimpse of a new green world, its surface barely under him. He could not quite stop at it; he needed one more good swing. But those swings were dangerous!
Then hands caught his feet. Provos had tackled his legs, trying to hold him there. But if he dragged her back with him—
She managed to hold him long enough so that he could pitch his upper body forward and brace against the ground. He struggled out of the harness.
Provos caught the harness, quickly undid it, and let go of one rope. She pulled, and the other rope disappeared. Soon the length of it had been hauled in. They had made it, with their equipment.
LATER, several more Modes away from the pit and at a suitable camping site, they talked. Provos no longer remembered the business with the tower and rope, but he told her of it, and she told him that nothing dangerous was to occur during their stay in this particular Mode.
“Provos come why?” he asked her. Now he was sure that she was an asset to his journey, and wanted to know what she was getting from it. Was she along for the duration, or would she be deserting him when she found what she wanted?
She tried to convey a confusing concept, and it seemed that she had forgotten part of it, because it was in the past. But his memory of their meeting, and her memory of what he was to tell her in the future, enabled him finally to put it together. Her memory of future events was hazy or null, but she did have memories of him, because he was to be a constant part of her next few days.
Provos suffered from amnesia. She had been able to remember her future perfectly, in as much detail as she desired, right up until a mysterious blank. As it approached, she viewed it with increasing trepidation, until she realized that it was not necessarily the end. Perhaps it was better viewed as a great new adventure occurring after some mishap such as a blow to the head. Since she could not avoid it, she decided to approach it positively. So she had packed her things, as for a long journey, and told her friends she was going to another region. That way they were not concerned about the future absence of her presence in their lives.
Now she was in that adventure, and enjoying it. She still suffered amnesia of the future, but not as badly. She understood the reason: because she had no future experience in most of the Modes they were crossing.
She had no plans for the future. She would know the future when she remembered it, and she was content to wait for that memory. It was actually rather exciting, being unable to tell what she was doing tomorrow, in contrast to the deadly dull existence she suspected she had been having in the past. She was not concerned about Darius’ convenience, as she did not remember him telling her he disliked her company. When he preferred to move on alone, she would know it before the time came, and they would part.
Indeed, Darius realized that he did not object to her company. He was not looking for any personal complications along the way, and she presented few, which were more than compensated for by her brief insights of mischief forthcoming. She was a good companion for this treacherous journey.
“But how do you feel about your own death?” he asked. “Will you see it coming?”
She certainly hoped so! She was not at all disturbed by his question. It turned out that she feared her death no more than he feared his birth. It was merely one end of a person’s existence. But that part of her life she could not remember, which was in the past, she preferred not to think about, for it was filled with unkind mystery and foreboding, as well as with hopeful speculation. Exactly as was his future for him.
“But now you have a taste of what my perspective is like,” he told her. “Because you can not anticipate most of your future either.”
She agreed that was frightening, but she would bear up under the challenge of it, knowing that it was bound to be alleviated one way or another before too long. She put her hand on his, with pity and comfort for his misfortune to be locked always in the past.
“Thank you,” he said, moving in mixed manner. But she had already lost the dialogue, and proceeded in a businesslike manner to settling in for the night.
CHAPTER 9—DDWNG
THERE were more realities than Colene had dreamed of. Some were inhabited by what were probably human beings or the equivalent; most were not. They passed quickly through the inhabited ones, which tended to cluster, and lingered in the wilderness ones. Wild creatures, as a general class, were not as dangerous as civilized ones. Seqiro was able to stun any creature who threatened, or simply to change its mind. In fact, she discovered, he could generate a mental field around them that discouraged insects, so that mosquitoes and biting flies did not come close. The first time she had slapped at a mosquito he had inquired, and then sent out the no-insect thought. Just like that, no problem. He had been satisfied to use his tail to flick away pests, until then.
She had liked him from the start. Each new thing she learned about him enhanced the feeling.
They walked for another day and slept another night. She kept no count of the number of realities they crossed, but judged that such a day’s travel should represent about five thousand of them. The calculation was simple enough: ten feet per reality, if they crossed it at right angles as they usually did. Ten miles in the day, because they walked maybe ten hours at maybe three miles an hour, taking time for eating and rest. The tens canceled out, and the number of feet in a mile—about five thousand—was the number of realities. But it didn’t matter. What counted was that they were making progress toward Darius. She knew they were; she felt the strengthening rightness of the route.
Most realities were overgrown with vegetation, but they did encounter a series of them with rocky sections, and she was able to ride her bicycle through these. Otherwise she would have been dead tired, because this was a whole lot more walking than she had done in a long time. She was lucky that her camping experience had prepared her somewhat; she knew how to conserve her strength and not push her limits.
Seqiro, in contrast, seemed indefatigable. He had evidently made it a point to maintain his health and stamina, and it showed.
I could carry you, he thought. It would not represent a burden to me, as you weigh little.
“I just don’t think of you as a riding horse,” she said. “You’re my companion.”
Granted. But a companion may walk or be carried.
She smiled briefly. “If it comes to the point where we really need to get somewhere, and I’m really holding us back, then you carry me. Until then, I feel more equal afoot.”
Because in your home reality horses are beasts of burden.
“Never to me!” she protested.
But your mind indicates that the association is there. You are concerned with what others will think, though none are here to see.
“Never argue cases with a mind reader!” she said ruefully. “Or with someone smarter than you.”
I am quite stupid compared to you.
“No way! Everything I tell you, you understand right away, better than I do. So you’re smarter or older or both, or just plain have more experience.”
None of these. I am your age in years: fourteen. That is mature for my kind but my experience of my reality is less than yours of yours. I depend on your mind.
“Do you, Seqiro? Maybe you needed me to fetch your supplies and load them on you, and to open your gate. But once you got out of your reality, I became superfluous. You have just remained with me out of sympathy.”