Flinx Transcendent Part 26

Flinx cut it off. He knew how the Teacher Teacher could go on. Especially when it was concerned about him. "You can recite all the statistics when I'm back on board. In order to conduct the philosoph's experiment appropriately, I should be left in silence." could go on. Especially when it was concerned about him. "You can recite all the statistics when I'm back on board. In order to conduct the philosoph's experiment appropriately, I should be left in silence."

Another voice reached him: Clarity. "I know you're supposed to be reaching out for a Tar-Aiym contact or something like that, Flinx, but-just watch what you wish for."

"I'm wishing I was back on the ship," he offered by way of reply. "I'm wishing I..."

"Flinx ..." Truzenzuzex's perfectly modulated terranglo was both stern and suggestive.

"I know, I know. Try to think like a Xunca. Going to silence," he muttered.

The Teacher Teacher began, very carefully, to move away. The acceleration was extremely measured. Activating his suit's propulsion unit, Flinx headed off in the opposite direction. The sensation of weight dropped off quickly until, once clear of the ship's artificial gravity field, he felt himself floating, falling, adrift among the asteroid belt. began, very carefully, to move away. The acceleration was extremely measured. Activating his suit's propulsion unit, Flinx headed off in the opposite direction. The sensation of weight dropped off quickly until, once clear of the ship's artificial gravity field, he felt himself floating, falling, adrift among the asteroid belt.

He chugged past his first planetoid some ten minutes later. It was about the size of the chair he had been sitting on during the early meal. The lump of dark flinty material looked comparatively solid. Not an aggregate, then, he decided. Utilizing the suit's propulsion system, he pivoted-and experienced a moment of mild panic. The Teacher Teacher was nowhere to be seen. was nowhere to be seen.

It took him a moment to find it-a point of light moving away at an angle to all the other drifting shapes. How much distance would Truzenzuzex think was necessary to put between it and him? He had not been boasting when he had told the philosoph that he was not afraid of being out in deep s.p.a.ce by himself. The Teacher Teacher knew where he was every nanosecond. It would not, could not, lose track of his position. knew where he was every nanosecond. It would not, could not, lose track of his position.

Could it?

Could he, despite every precaution, end up lost and alone, doomed to drift forever among the shattered shards of an alien planetary system, floating free until his suit's air could no longer be satisfactorily recycled, dying forgotten among ...

Stop it, he scolded himself. The Teacher knows where you are at all times. It's right over there, just over that way. Distant now yet continuously aware of your presence, your location. You are not isolated. You are not abandoned The Teacher knows where you are at all times. It's right over there, just over that way. Distant now yet continuously aware of your presence, your location. You are not isolated. You are not abandoned.

You are not fulfilling your mentor's straightforward request by wasting your focus on such nonsense, either, he reminded himself.

Settling down, calming himself, doing his best to transmit rea.s.suring readings of his blood pressure and all other relevant biological indicators to a concerned Teacher Teacher, he forced himself to start concentrating on the reason for the solo excursion. He projected outward as best he was able, trying to recall and offer up the same state of mind he entered when he was lying beneath receptive Tar-Aiym contact domes. Unfortunately, the unidentified whatever that he was trying to make contact with was not of Tar-Aiym origin. Very little was known about the Xunca other than the fact that they had existed. Nothing whatsoever was known of their works except what little had been learned from study of the alarm complex on Horseye.

As his body drifted, so, inevitably, did his thoughts. He found himself looking away from the larger asteroids, away from the Jovian giant, and outward toward the stars. Stunning they were in their own right, joyous in what they represented. It was horrifying to think of them disappearing, snuffed out one by one like so many candles as they were sucked down and absorbed by the malevolent immensity that was even now rushing this way.

The contrast with the dreary rocks among which he was drifting was striking. Dull and lifeless, these precessed uneventfully in their primordial orbits. Making slight adjustments to his velocity, he fell in among them so that he was now drifting at the same speed as the majority. Several came quite close. Carefully extending an arm in the zero gravity, he reached out and wrapped his fingers around the nearest. His fingers caused the particulate matter that had collected on the hard surface to float away from the stone's minuscule gravitational field. A little of it clung to his gloved hand.

Using his other hand he flicked the dust away, then idly brushed at the fist-sized rock itself. More dust floated off, adding to the number of orbiting objects without altering their collective ma.s.s. Blinking, he brought the potato-shaped rock closer to his face. Was that a hint of color there? Murmuring a command, he activated the external light that encircled the suit's faceplate.

There was unquestionably some color there, he decided. Where he had brushed the dust away the stone showed a distinct shade of green. Well, the mineral olivine was a known component of many asteroids and meteors. Its presence here was not surprising. Releasing the stone and letting it drift free, he plucked another from its...o...b..t. This one was the size of a melon. Finger-swept, it too revealed the same dark greenish tint. As he was examining it more closely, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

The first stone was coming back to him.

Startled, he let go of the rock he had been examining and put up a hand to ward off the first stone, but his intervention wasn't necessary. It turned out that the rock was not moving in his direction, but toward the second, larger piece of rubble he had been holding. Coming together in total silence, the two stones seemed to fuse. In the process green sparks flared briefly, illuminating the borders. Fascinated, Flinx would have studied the two rocks in more detail if he had not been distracted by another unexpected phenomenon. Looking around, he saw that other stones untouched by him were now also beginning to move in his direction. As they approached, some changed course away from him to intersect the vector of another, resulting in a melding luminously similar to the first two.

Adjusting his position, he commenced a slow pirouette. What he saw caused his jaw to drop in amazement. It looked as if every pebble, every stone, every planetoid within range of his vision, was now in motion.

Some of those that had already merged had begun to glow with a pale green efflorescence.

Hurriedly, he addressed the suit's communit. "Ship, I think you'd better come and pick me up. There's something happening here. Some of these stones around me, they're moving. A number of them are starting to commingle, or fuse-I'm not sure of the methodology involved."

The Teacher Teacher responded immediately. "I am already on my way, Flinx. I have detected initiation of the same unidentified processes here. I will arrive at your location as rapidly as is feasible and safe." responded immediately. "I am already on my way, Flinx. I have detected initiation of the same unidentified processes here. I will arrive at your location as rapidly as is feasible and safe."

"I don't think there's a need for any special hurry as long as you're on your way." Flinx looked on enchanted as more and more of the stony matter around him began to come together. The process seemed to be accelerating. "I don't see any danger. While a great deal of the material is in motion, it also seems to be avoiding me."

"Best not to take any unnecessary chances, Flinx," the ship told him. "While you have not yet been impacted, it is not possible to a.s.sure that all of the many orbiting objects will continue to steer clear of you."

"I'm not concerned." Inside the suit, Flinx smiled. "You're pretty good at predicting the movement of objects."

"That is so," the Teacher Teacher replied. "However, the number of orbiting fragmentational objects that are currently in motion exceeds my capacity to keep track of them." replied. "However, the number of orbiting fragmentational objects that are currently in motion exceeds my capacity to keep track of them."

Flinx's smile gave way to a frown. The Teacher's Teacher's computational and predictive abilities were exceptional. "I don't understand." He looked around again. "How many of the stony objects are moving toward me?" computational and predictive abilities were exceptional. "I don't understand." He looked around again. "How many of the stony objects are moving toward me?"

"All of them."

He was silent for a moment, uncertain he had heard correctly. "I'm not sure I understand, ship. All of the objects in my vicinity are moving toward me?"

"That depends on how you choose to define 'vicinity,' Flinx." The Teacher's Teacher's voice was dry and dispa.s.sionate "They are voice was dry and dispa.s.sionate "They are all all moving in your direction. The entire asteroid belt, billions and billions of individual objects, is now in motion and giving every indication of commencing a slow but accelerating collapse. You are in the approximate center of it." moving in your direction. The entire asteroid belt, billions and billions of individual objects, is now in motion and giving every indication of commencing a slow but accelerating collapse. You are in the approximate center of it."

Flinx looked around uneasily. It did not unsettle him that as far as he could see into the void, rocks and stones of every size and shape were rushing in his direction. It did not bother him that as more and more of them slammed into one another and melded together, a great green glowing shape was taking on contour and character not far from where he floated. Emerald sparks flew in all directions, lighting the darkness. It was as if he were drifting across the top of Vulcan's anvil.

It was only when a trio of asteroids each of which was at least fifty kilometers across appeared out of the dark and came tumbling toward him at high speed that he finally comprehended the enormity of what the Teacher Teacher had told him. had told him.

Once back on the ship Flinx could hardly wait for the lock to cycle shut to begin struggling out of the survival suit. Clarity and Sylzenzuzex were waiting for him on the other side. They had to wait their turn until a brilliant pink and blue winged shape finished caressing him with her pointed tongue.

"Flinx, you're all right? You didn't get hit?" An anxious Clarity was looking him up and down as if unable to believe he had not been crushed or otherwise injured.

He shook his head as Pip settled down on his shoulder. "I'm fine, Clarity, fine. Not so much as a scratch. There was stuff all around me, yes, and some of it was starting to move really, really really fast by the time you arrived. But not one of them touched me. Not one." fast by the time you arrived. But not one of them touched me. Not one."

Sylzenzuzex was staring at him. "You activated something while you were out there, Flinx. Something that responded to your presence while also deliberately avoiding it. Truzenzuzex was right."

He nodded as he started for the control room. "I'm beginning to think so. But right about what?" what?"

Truzenzuzex and Tse-Mallory barely acknowledged his arrival. They were far too absorbed in the view out the foreport. Around them, images projected by the Teacher Teacher provided various views with the ship as its locus. No matter which direction one studied, the spectacle was the same. provided various views with the ship as its locus. No matter which direction one studied, the spectacle was the same.

From planetoids the size of cities to gravel splinters no bigger than a fingernail, the entire asteroid belt that ringed the outer reaches of the Senisran system was collapsing toward a single point. Not one of the incoming objects had hit Flinx. Not one struck the Teacher Teacher. Those that looked as if they might do so swerved over, under, and around the ship as they sped toward rendezvous. Tse-Mallory was quick to comment on the seemingly conscientious evasion.

"Something is not as it appears. Chondrites don't have built-in avoidance systems," he muttered.

"These do." Truzenzuzex was studying a floating image close by his right shoulder that supplied a view astern. "They'd better."

Bearing down on them was a rectangular cliff face twice the size of the Teacher Teacher. Even if Flinx had given a command to do so, there was no time to move out of the oncoming monster's course. A moment later, when it was less than a dozen ship-lengths distant, it changed course. They could follow its progress easily as it shot past. Braking at the last possible instant, it rotated forty degrees and with incomparable delicacy slipped into a notch in another drifting planetoid even bigger than itself. The hurtling cliff face fit the empty notch as perfectly as a tooth fit its socket. The ma.s.sive merge was accompanied by a blinding but brief burst of intense greenish lightning.

Only when exhaustion finally overcame fascination did they withdraw, one by one, to their cabins to rest.

When Clarity awoke, Flinx was no longer beside her. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she gathered up Sc.r.a.p and tracked him back to Control. Sylzenzuzex was standing nearby. For the most ephemeral of instants Clarity recognized and shamefacedly cast aside a flicker of irrational jealousy.

"Where are your mentors?" she asked as she came up beside him.

"In the lounge," he told her, "noisily disputing statistics while toying with irreconcilable data among the ornamental flora." He nodded forward. "Have a look."

At first she thought the object floating in front of the Teacher Teacher was nothing more than the consequence of a great many stones large and small coming together to make one big one. Peering harder, she saw that the fused rocky debris now formed a shape with a distinctly regular silhouette. Vaguely conical in shape, it flaunted an enormous dark maw at one end while the other tapered to a blunt, somewhat indistinct tip. Though more and more rocky detritus continued to arrive and add additional bulk to the drifting ma.s.s, the surge of material had markedly diminished. She found herself gazing at a ma.s.sive, stark, simplistic configuration that radiated a subdued but steady green light from somewhere deep within. A tapering cone large enough to accommodate every starship in the Commonwealth. Simultaneously. was nothing more than the consequence of a great many stones large and small coming together to make one big one. Peering harder, she saw that the fused rocky debris now formed a shape with a distinctly regular silhouette. Vaguely conical in shape, it flaunted an enormous dark maw at one end while the other tapered to a blunt, somewhat indistinct tip. Though more and more rocky detritus continued to arrive and add additional bulk to the drifting ma.s.s, the surge of material had markedly diminished. She found herself gazing at a ma.s.sive, stark, simplistic configuration that radiated a subdued but steady green light from somewhere deep within. A tapering cone large enough to accommodate every starship in the Commonwealth. Simultaneously.

"Okay," she heard herself murmuring softly to the man standing beside her, "as Syl said yesterday, you've definitely gone and activated something something. It was made aware of your presence, and it's aware of our our presence. But what is it?" presence. But what is it?"

"That's one of the things Bran and Tru are arguing about." He put his arm around her, forcing both minidrags to shift position. "It's beautiful, though, isn't it?"

Though glad of the comforting arm, its gentle grasp did not change her opinion of the enormous unidentifiable structure. "I don't know if I'd go that far. Dark green's not my favorite color, anyway."

Voices sounded behind them, coming closer and growing louder. Tse-Mallory made himself heard before he and the philosoph entered the bridge.

"Tru and I have spent hours pondering the possible nature and function of the object. We think we know what it is."

Flinx turned immediately. "What is it, then? What does it do?"

Truzenzuzex flicked the tip of one antenna in his direction. "Bran said that we know what it is. He said nothing about knowing what it does."

"We believe that it is," the sociologist-soldier declaimed importantly, "the receptor of the occasional transmission from Horseye. Your ship has checked and rechecked the relevant readings for us. There is no mistaking the confluence. The signals pa.s.s directly through the point in s.p.a.ce now occupied by the a.s.sembled contrivance."

"That's most interesting, esteemed Eighth," Sylzenzuzex observed. "I confess, however, that I'm unable to see how this discovery has any practical ramification."

Looking over at her, he switched to Low Thranx. "That's because we remain ignorant of it. But both Bran and I are convinced there must be one." With his right truhands and foothands he gestured toward the port. "Otherwise, all the intriguing activity that we have been witness to here represents nothing more than a grandiose expenditure of energy in the service of no purpose."

Flinx had a sudden thought. "The Krang is both a weapon and a musical instrument. Could this be a work of art?"

Tse-Mallory frowned at him. "Why beam intermittent signals all the way from the Horseye system to here just to identify the location of a piece of art? Though I have to admit that I, personally, certainly find it pleasing from an aesthetic as well as an engineering point of view."

Truzenzuzex was not about to be sidetracked. "We have already had this argument, Bran. It must must do something! And furthermore, do something! And furthermore, fss!is!kk fss!is!kk, it must do something of significance. It is too big, too impressive, and too joined to the Xunca alarm system to be nothing more than a diversion."

"That's your opinion." Tse-Mallory continued to play devil's advocate. "A Xunca might view the arrangement differently."

"How do we find out?" Flinx looked down at the philosoph.

"Bran and I have been debating that all day." The subdued light of the control room gleamed mirror-like from the dozens of individual lenses that comprised the venerable thranx's compound eyes. "Your physical and/or mental interaction with the orbiting matter galvanized, provoked, or otherwise set in motion the extraordinary orbital a.s.sembly process that has resulted in the new astronomical object we now see before us." He did not hesitate. "It follows that if anything is likely to stimulate further activity on the part of the object, it will be your presence."

Flinx swallowed. "You want me to put the suit on again and go out there-into there?" This time it was Clarity who put a protective arm around him. there?" This time it was Clarity who put a protective arm around him.

Tse-Mallory nodded firmly. "Not alone, though. At least, not initially. We'll enter together. Then, if nothing happens and we can't come up with a better idea, that's when we will ask you to continue by yourself."

Clarity blinked at the old soldier-scientists. "'Enter'?"

Human and thranx nodded in tandem, though it was Truzenzuzex who spoke. "Bran and I have concluded that we should take the Teacher Teacher into the large opening." He gestured in the direction of the enigmatic alien construct. "There's certainly more than enough room. It may be that an apparatus that encloses such a considerable volume is in fact intended to act upon a single individual-but it seems, even for the Xunca, unnecessarily profligate in terms of expenditure. There is no reason not to take the whole ship inside. Unless"-and he executed a broad gesture of deference in Flinx's direction-"you choose not to. It is, after all, your vessel, and therefore your decision." into the large opening." He gestured in the direction of the enigmatic alien construct. "There's certainly more than enough room. It may be that an apparatus that encloses such a considerable volume is in fact intended to act upon a single individual-but it seems, even for the Xunca, unnecessarily profligate in terms of expenditure. There is no reason not to take the whole ship inside. Unless"-and he executed a broad gesture of deference in Flinx's direction-"you choose not to. It is, after all, your vessel, and therefore your decision."

Flinx considered his mentors' words carefully. He hated the thought of risking the Teacher Teacher. On the other hand, he told himself, if he chose to enter in a suit, alone, and something untoward happened, of what use would be his wonderful ship? Bran and Tru were watching him closely, Sylzenzuzex was watching her Eighth, and Clarity-Clarity at that particular moment looked as if she would rather be anywhere else in the universe, as long as it was with him. In fact, of all those present, only one had not yet ventured an opinion regarding the philosoph's request.

Twisting his head down and to his right, he murmured, "Well, Pip? What do you think? Do we take a dive into the alien well or do we try something else?"

Raising her gaze, the minidrag looked up at him and blinked. Then she yawned, dropped her head back into her upper coil, and went back to sleep.

"That's what I thought you'd say." He turned back to the patient Truzenzuzex. "If you and Bran think it's something we should try, then I suppose we ought to go ahead and try it."

"Sure," an unhappy Clarity muttered, "just plunge ahead and hang the consequences."

"What?" He looked over at her. "If you object, Clarity, or think we should try something else first..."

She sighed and shook her head. "Don't listen to me. I'm just tired, that's all." She offered a wan smile. "My area of expertise is cosmetics, remember? Not of much use when it comes to trying to save civilization. As far as deciding how and when to experiment with alien artifacts, I'll be the first to admit I don't have any qualifications."

"Sure you do," he contradicted her. "I'm an alien artifact, and you've experimented with me."

She gaped at him. Figuratively, he gaped at himself in self-inflicted shock.

I-I made a joke, he thought numbly. A joke about my genesis A joke about my genesis. Try as he might, he could not remember having done anything of the sort ever before. His origins had always been a matter, to himself and to others, of utmost seriousness. Unsurprisingly, it had been left to Clarity to extract for the first time a sc.r.a.p of absurdity from it.

Experiment, he thought dazedly to himself. That was the origin of Philip Lynx. Serious, somber, stern, severe-and if you looked at it a certain way, from a particular angle, just possibly also a little-silly?

They were all staring at him. As much to his surprise as that of everyone else, he smiled. "All right. Let's go see what's inside the big glowing green stone thing. Maybe it's a Xunca surprise."

"Let us hope it is is a Xunca surprise." Truzenzuzex whispered under his breath, his spiracles barely pulsing. "Otherwise we will be reduced to drifting mentally as well as physically while formulating hopeful hypotheses from nothing." a Xunca surprise." Truzenzuzex whispered under his breath, his spiracles barely pulsing. "Otherwise we will be reduced to drifting mentally as well as physically while formulating hopeful hypotheses from nothing."

Semisentient as it was, the Teacher Teacher might have been expected to raise an objection or two of its own to the scientists' proposal. It was sufficiently advanced, however, to recognize that the experiment was one that had to be tried. If its master and his fellow organic intelligences were willing to risk their continued existence in the service of such investigation, then as a properly programmed AI it could hardly do less. might have been expected to raise an objection or two of its own to the scientists' proposal. It was sufficiently advanced, however, to recognize that the experiment was one that had to be tried. If its master and his fellow organic intelligences were willing to risk their continued existence in the service of such investigation, then as a properly programmed AI it could hardly do less.

The vast chasm at the enlarged end of the asteroidal aggregate loomed even bigger as the Teacher Teacher approached it. Not a hint of the soft, almost comforting green glow was apparent within. A sequence of barely visible silvery striations lining the interior were all that interrupted the otherwise interminable starless dark. As the ship moved deeper and deeper inward, Flinx could not shake off the sensation of being swallowed. approached it. Not a hint of the soft, almost comforting green glow was apparent within. A sequence of barely visible silvery striations lining the interior were all that interrupted the otherwise interminable starless dark. As the ship moved deeper and deeper inward, Flinx could not shake off the sensation of being swallowed.

He forced it from his thoughts as the ship moved deeper. It was a foolish a.n.a.logy anyway. There was not the slightest suggestion of the macrobiotic about the alien a.s.sembly whose immense curving walls now fully engulfed them. It was cold, dead, and manifestly unalive.

Which led him to wonder at the source of the faint violet glow that appeared directly ahead.

At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks and that the purple was visual, not external. Standing beside him, however, Clarity raised an arm and pointed toward the same glimmering.

"Flinx, do you see that?"

He nodded. "There's some color there." He looked sharply to his left. "Bran, Tru?"

"Something there for sure." Tse-Mallory moved forward until he was leaning against the smooth surface of the main console, as if the additional bit of s.p.a.ce he had walked might bring him close enough to the flickering color to allow him to identify it.

Further reflection was interrupted by the Teacher Teacher. "Flinx, we are accelerating."

"I didn't give that order." He had not taken his eyes off the distant speck of profound purple. "Do you feel a need to or have evidence that suggests we need to increase our forward velocity?"

"It would not matter if I did," the ship replied uninformatively. "I note only that we have begun to accelerate. Rather dramatically, if I may say so."

Flinx and Clarity exchanged a glance, then looked across at the two scientists.

Tse-Mallory looked bemused. "I don't sense any increase in speed. Tru?"

The philosoph was likewise noncommittal. "I perceive nothing. Flinx, ask the ship to elaborate."

Flinx needed no prompting. Except in cases of obvious emergency it was unlike the Teacher Teacher to take such action on its own initiative. In response to his query the ship replied readily, though as far as a rationale was concerned its explanation was no more illuminating than its initial announcement. to take such action on its own initiative. In response to his query the ship replied readily, though as far as a rationale was concerned its explanation was no more illuminating than its initial announcement.

"What's our speed?" Flinx asked. "How much faster are we moving?" He continued to stare out the foreport. Had the splotch of purple refulgence grown slightly larger?

"We are not moving faster," the Teacher Teacher replied. "In fact, we are not moving at all. s.p.a.ce, however, is. As to our speed, by my instruments, it is zero." replied. "In fact, we are not moving at all. s.p.a.ce, however, is. As to our speed, by my instruments, it is zero."