Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 8

Onboard The Endless Sunrise - Now...

The Traveller looks up at me as though he was expecting someone else, and I am the last person in the multiverse he was hoping to see. "Traveller, I have need of your services", I tell him. "An urgent need..."

"Welcome aboard, My Lady", he calls up to me. "This is, I hope you understand, quite out of the ordinary."

I'm already striding down the curving walkway to the platform at the very centre of the spherical space contained within the stained glass hull of The Traveller's vessel, The Endless Sunrise. "From what I've read, 'out of the ordinary' is your speciality."

"Very much so", says the explorer, coming to meet me at the point where the walkway merges with the main platform. "So, for exactly what am I so urgently needed?"

He's not in awe of me, as a Mistress of Dominion. Good - I don't want him stumbling over himself, trying to impress or please me because I sit at Darkhawk's right hand. "I read your report about 'Fortain's World'", I explain, getting straight to the point. "You will take me there at once."

"You couldn't have picked a worse destination", he replies. "The... 'gentleman' after whom I named that particular world made it abundantly clear, in unmistakable terms, that I was never to return..."

I glare at him, psi-energy seeping from my eyes and piercing into the very core of his being. This isn't a good time to test my patience. "Not. My. Problem."

"I beg to differ", he responds, quite calmly, as though my psionic intrusion is of little concern to him. "I am quite sure that, as we approach that world, Mister Fortain will make it your problem, in the most spectacular fashion. Unless, of course, you wouldn't be put to too much trouble flying the last few million miles under your own power, in a cloud of molecular wreckage."

"That would hardly be ideal", I tell him. "Had I intended to make such a direct, overt approach, I would have brought half the Dominion Fleet, and I wouldn't have needed to call upon your services. The less trouble we stir up, the better - I want to get in, and clear out, as quickly and quietly as possible, with as few complications as your considerable talents can achieve."

"My talents may be considerable, but don't expect a completely smooth ride", warns The Traveller. "A thousand years old I may be, but I can still make mistakes, and be caught by surprise."

"Try not to", I advise him. "I would very much appreciate it."

"I will do my best", he says, in return, "but it would help to know just what we're hoping to achieve..."

I hadn't actually given any thought about what I was going to say, and scant little consideration as to exactly what we were going to do. It takes me a second or two to get my thoughts into any sort of order, and offer a reply. "What do you know about my first visit to this world?"

"You had some difficulties with local law enforcement, and an agent of the organisation most commonly known as 'The Darkening'", replies The Traveller. "One of the locals was killed..."

He's in possession of the basic facts, but he doesn't know it all. A little clarification is needed, however. "Killed because of her interaction with me", I continue for him. "Now tell me, Master Traveller - have you ever wanted to turn back time, to change events - undo a great wrong?"

"Many times", says The Traveller solemnly, "but it's inadvisable. Those things rarely work out as you'd hope, doing a whole lot more harm than you'd expected to undo. It's part of the reason I avoid time travel."

Common sense, that I won't dispute. That isn't what I had in mind, however. "But what if you could go back after the event, and perhaps salvage some good out of all the harm that'd been done?"

"Sounds like the honourable thing to do", answers The Traveller. "If it weren't for the warning from Fortain, I would've gone back to his 'Earth' and done something to help his captives."

"I'm giving you the chance to do just that", I tell him. "Your return may be prohibited, but I imagine it won't be prevented unless this 'Fortain' knows you're coming..."

"You can shield us?", the explorer enquires.

"From what I've heard about Fortain, I believe it shouldn't be that great a challenge", I reply. "Even if he's a more capable psionicist than your report suggested, surely a lot of his attention will be on his 'masterpiece' - there'll be gaps in his defences which we can exploit."

"And then there's the Zeta-Men", reminds The Traveller. "You've studied my reports on them, I hope."

"Artificial beings, comprised of a shell of sensory 'cells', surrounding a volume of liquid memory medium", I almost recite. "Organic, but containing zero naturally-occurring material; hence 'Zeta-Men'. You said the planet had a substantial population of those entities."

"I'm not sure of their exact numbers", says The Traveller, "but a substantial population of them equals a substantial population of extra eyes and ears for Fortain. They're under his command, and he delighted in explaining how easily manipulated they were - some of them were modified to fill certain roles, like actors..."

"...including the law enforcement personnel I encountered", I sigh. "I thought there was something too familiar about them, but I got caught up in the moment."

"All the more reason to stay sharp now", advises The Traveller. "Our destination is known, but what, exactly, is our objective, then?"

"The girl who died... she's been given what you could call a second chance", I try to explain. "Her mental pattern was retrieved, and installed in an artificial body. If the truth is discovered, she could be in serious danger. I let that happen once - never again."

"This is all for one girl?", asks The Traveller, with thinly disguised incredulity.

"I don't expect you to understand", I respond flatly. "I expect you to obey."

It's time to stop talking, and do something. Mariella has been "in the wild" for several days now, and - and it could already be too late...

The Traveller stands in silence for the best part of a minute, now and then looking as though he's about to nod, or speak, but never quite getting round to completing the action. His mind is hard at work, that I don't need to be telepathic to realise, and I allow him to go through the whole process without interruption. If his record is anything to go by, he will find a way.

"I think", he eventually says, "that we need to save your powers until we absolutely need them, My Lady..."

"'Mane-of-Night' will suffice", I intervene - and then wish I hadn't, fearing that I've broken his train of precious thought.

The Traveller continues without acknowledging my intrusion, or missing a beat: "...and to do that, we need to approach our destination in another way that foils all attempts to detect us. A way that would have to be the very last thing any sane person would attempt..."

The explorer turns to his vessel's controls. "Hold on tight", he advises me. "The only thing I can guarantee about this is that it's going to be exciting...!"

Irinati had been keeping herself out of the way ever since Pratisha had made the decision to go home, the whole matter clearly upsetting The Traveller greatly, but for Irinati, it was confusing, as though there was something in the interaction between the adventurer and his companion that was beyond her understanding. In surrendering her shard of the fractured entity, Jaceel, she'd regained memories, freedom of thought, even some aspects of personality, but not all of it presently felt as though it was properly set in place - were anything to come along to upset the already precarious mental balance, Irinati did not know what might shake loose, and be lost.

Curiosity was one of those elements of personality that had re-emerged, and despite her anxieties, Irinati couldn't stop herself from peeping out of her hiding place when, just moments after returning to the ship, his sad task completed, The Traveller started talking to someone else. It was a voice the girl had heard before, back when she was carrying the shard, and which, despite its demanding tones, Irinati found oddly reassuring.

Mane-of-Night...

As Irinati crept down the walkway to the central chamber of The Endless Sunrise, she started to feel the deck vibrating under her feet, then the outer shell of the ship started to rotate; all signs that The Traveller's incredible vessel was getting underway. Not entirely comfortable with having the wall sweep past, an arm's length away from her, the girl hurried down onto the platform that had the ship's control chamber at its centre, and sought shelter inside with The Traveller and his magnificent guest.

Rather than have her mind come apart at the seams, Irinati found that the presence of others brought her mind into sharper focus, their conversation, their thoughts and views steering and keeping her thoughts away from her own inadequacies. She tried to stay in the background, a passive observer absorbing their discourse without entirely understanding it, but it wasn't long before her presence was acknowledged, and she was drawn fully into events as they unfolded...

"I had a feeling we weren't alone", said Mane-of-Night. "There's no point in hiding, you know - nothing can hide from me for long."

"I wasn't hiding...", Irinati began, but Mane-of-Night had already returned her attention to The Traveller, and the task she had just asked of him.

"Hmmm", murmured the adventurer, deep in thought as he examined the device the elegant female had just unclipped from the front of her jacket - to Irinati, it looked to be little more than a large, and rather excessive piece of jewellery. "I'm familiar with the technology, and I'm sure I can bring this back to fully operational condition, but it'll take time, and that we don't exactly have in abundance right now."

Mane-of-Night sighed, in a way that made her sound simultaneously irritated and tired. "I'll just have to make sure no-one gets close enough to touch me. I barely had time to catch my breath, let alone rearm, but I do have something..."

"We're going somewhere?", interrupted Irinati. "But I haven't located any more shards..."

"Looks like our mission is going to have to wait", replied The Traveller, an apologetic half-smile on his face as he glanced over his shoulder at the girl. "There are some things one doesn't do, and you just don't turn your back on a rescue mission."

"I'm on something of a rescue mission myself", Irinati responded. "Where on the scale of right and wrong do you place postponing one rescue in preference for another?"

Mane-of-Night stiffened noticeably, and slowly turned to face the girl. Irinati expected a venomous reprimand for speaking out so openly, but the expression on the raven-haired woman's face was one of mild surprise, not outrage. "That's a very good question", said Mane-of-Night, quite softly. "Perhaps we can go somewhere and discuss it, while The Traveller gets on with his duties..."

"Don't go far", warned The Traveller. "It won't take us long to reach the point of no return!"

Not knowing how long they would have, Irinati and Mane-of-Night only went as far as the point on the edge of the main platform where the upward ramp began its gentle spiral, and Mane-of-Night took the lead before Irinati could even begin to think what to say. "I haven't had much of a chance to catch up with things", she said, "but I have familiarised myself with the key points of Ravani's report, particularly when I saw 'shards' mentioned. I would like to discuss the situation with you, when we have the time - even a second-hand account from a fellow Mystalornan is no substitute..."

"Jaceel is not another Bekalth", Irinati declared. "She is not evil - but she could become disillusioned if she feels no-one is taking her 'situation' seriously."

"You're certainly more outspoken without that piece of her embedded in your head", remarked the Mystalornan, "but then I imagine I'm different when I'm speaking to you through a dismembered crystal statue from millions of light years away."

"There's no comparison", Irinati admitted. "I... I feel something of her in you, somehow..."

"Part of her comes from the same place I do", Mane-of-Night told her. "That makes her one of my people, and I have a duty to her. I will help you help her become whole again - the very least I can do for getting in the way of your quest."

"I'm sure you are doing that for a good reason", said the girl. "You don't seem like the impulsive type..."

Mane-of-Night tried to hide it, but Irinati saw her tense slightly on hearing those words. She didn't get a chance to explore the reasons, for a heartbeat or two later, The Traveller called them back to the control centre. "Last stop!", he called out. "No turning back after this...!"

Irinati felt quite overwhelmed - but by exactly what, she couldn't quite decide - when she gazed upon the image on the main view-screen - a boundless sky filled with seething crimson chaos, and floating at the centre of it all, a bizarre "web" of dark metal rings, some circles, some ovals, others triangles, squares, all manner of shapes, bound together into a single great structure...

...and every ring seemed to be filled with such radiance, such raw energy, that it was as though each had been packed full of stars.

"Are those portals?", enquired Mane-of-Night. "Spatial gateways?"

"Indeed they are", confirmed The Traveller, not looking up from the controls. "They range from several thousand to several million years old; remnants of networks long fallen into disuse, or experiments abandoned - without closer study, no-one can be certain. What can't be disputed is what they're being used for now, and that's to collect stray energy and matter, drifting around in this 'hyperspace', and shunt it all the way to the Earth-simulation I've referred to in my reports as 'Fortain's World'..."

"And this 'Fortain' is powerful enough to set all this up?", Mane-of-Night asked, and Irinati found it rather startling to hear the Mystalornan sound so alarmed.

"He did none of this", assured The Traveller. "He just found the system, working on automatic - and he exploited it. And now, we're going to do just the same."

The Traveller looked up at the incredible sight on the screen. "Well, not exactly the same", he said, in rather light-hearted fashion. "Last time, we followed the matter-energy stream to its end-point. This time we're going to fly right down it!"

"You can't possibly be serious", exclaimed Mane-of-Night. "That's insane!"

"Maybe", admitted The Traveller, "and hopefully insane enough to not even be considered as an option. As promised, My Lady, your rough ride awaits."

Irinati glanced across at Mane-of-Night, expecting her to look horrified by the prospect, but instead, the Mystalornan looked more determined than anyone the girl could ever recall seeing before. The raven-haired woman drew a short, deep breath, then spoke, and all she said was...

"Do it."

...to be continued...

Posted at 13:39 on 02.11.2009


~ o O o ~


Previously...
Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 13 - 12.11.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 12 - 10.11.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 11 - 08.11.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 10 - 06.11.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child - Chapter 9 - 04.11.2009