Five
"Heads up. Incoming."
Jeremy Kael rejected Japher's proclamation out of
hand. "No way, no how," the young technician murmured. Japher, a
machine intelligence, had obviously misinterpreted subtle background disturbances for the
distortions created by moving spacecraft. Japher had a sense of humor,
but not while on duty, so Jeremy swung around to double-check Japher's
assigned half of the universe just to make sure.
And there it was in the far distance, something
churning the space-time terrain like unseen predators closing for the
kill. "Okay, I see it. A disturbance of some kind. I've never seen
anything like it before. So, what the hell is it?"
"Damned if I know," Japher said with his usual,
infuriating equanimity. "It's not Alazhir Alliance technology. Not
machine intelligence, at least not our infamous Chineen Hive. It sure as
hell isn't Covonian. Not that the Hive won't notice, and damn if it's not
headed our way as well."
Jeremy didn't think it at all likely that something
so far away could have a destination so precise as an obscure moon of an
insignificant planet of an undersized star among billions. The
disturbance was still above the galactic plane at one-quarter million
light-years. Covonia was a dust mote in an ill-defined arm of the galaxy
and of no particular importance to anyone. "Japher, you're dreaming," he
announced confidently. "Who said that a machine-based awareness can't
hallucinate now and then?"
Japher put a grid on the gently curving trajectory of
the incoming to show that he was not. Japher had no emotions to stand in
the way of a fact no matter what its consequence.
Jeremy squirmed uneasily. Something impossible was
happening, something that would have catastrophic consequences. "Do we
have to sound an alert?"
"Do we have a choice?"
Jeremy fought a losing battle to come up with an
exception to their general orders.
"Disengage and report," Japher suggested gently.
"I'll continue to monitor. It may alter its trajectory at any moment."
"And if it doesn't?" Jeremy battled a stab of
panic. "It's not going to route the colony, is it? Japher, we've been
here three hundred years. We can't route now."
"Speculation or conjecture is not appropriate at this
time," Japher said dispassionately. "It is not our decision regardless."
Embarrassed by his tendency to think of Japher as a
wise and mature mentor by virtue of his superior reasoning ability, Jeremy
flung off his neural interface. His magnificent view of the universe
collapsed and he opened his eyes to the pathetic view of his tiny
interface chamber.
He cleared his voice before keying the communications
channel. "Covonian eyes reporting incoming," he announced quietly, but
knowing a mellow tone of voice would do nothing to diminish the panic he
would cause. "Neural and sensory confirmatory data available for
immediate analysis. This is a possible route alert."
Someone, Executor General Gorlon Hague, or perhaps
Overlord Nome himself, perused the data and hesitated not a moment. In
the near distance, sirens went off. Jeremy switched on a conventional
two-dimensional view screen, his duty complete, and watched in silent awe
the maelstrom approach like a gathering storm.
As happened once or twice a day, he thought briefly
of Myla Rhodes and hoped that she was secure nearby within the confines of
Bolphan. It made his skin crawl to think of the fate of a stranded
Naturalist left behind in her own flesh and blood should the ten cities be
routed on short notice, especially a helpless and beautiful little girl
like Myla.
Of what use would his own life be without her?
