Flinx Transcendent Part 8

"If you had come into contact with the ssame monsstroussness as did I, you would undersstand," he informed his offspring gravely. "You would ha.s.sten to my ssupport and not think to challenge it. But you sstood outsside the dire. For thiss I am grateful. For thiss you you sshould be grateful. Revel in your continued ignorance and be glad our vissitor ha.s.s chossen not to convey to you the full force of hiss knowledge." Off to one side, Kiijeem eyed Flinx meaningfully as Lord Eiipul turned back to the softskin. sshould be grateful. Revel in your continued ignorance and be glad our vissitor ha.s.s chossen not to convey to you the full force of hiss knowledge." Off to one side, Kiijeem eyed Flinx meaningfully as Lord Eiipul turned back to the softskin.

"You musst do as I ssuggesst." The n.o.ble's tail flicked sharply to the right. "Otherwisse, I will not help you."

There it was. Whatever happened from now on, Flinx could consider himself absolved. The decision had been forced on him. Decision, and opportunity. Still...

"I don't know if I can do what you request, Lord Eiipul. I've never tried, at least not intentionally, to share the experience with more than one other sentient at a time."

"You sshared with me." From the dispenser at his side the AAnn n.o.ble drew forth a fresh libation. "You will find the Emperor an admirable ent.i.ty, and there are many in the Gathering who are wiser and more knowledgeable than mysself. None, I think, will be immune to the importance of what you musst reveal to them."

"Speaking of immunity," Flinx reminded his host, "there is danger involved. You now know that."

"Better than I would wissh to," Eiipul admitted. "Yet all knowledge concealss within it danger to a greater or lesser degree." He gestured third-degree amus.e.m.e.nt. "If it did not, governmentss would not be sso anxiouss to regulate it." Coming closer, he lowered his voice.

"I give you, Flinx of the Commonwealth, Flinx LLVVRXX of the Tier Ssaiinn, a chance to interact with the ssupreme leaderss of the Empire. It iss an opportunity no human ha.s.s ever been offered before. Not the head of your government, not the La.s.st Ressort of your United Church, not the mosst eminent among your sscientissts, not the resspected leaderss of your military. You musst sshow my own kind what iss at sstake." He stepped back. "Only then will you be a.s.sured of a ssafe departure from thiss world, and the chance to carry on your essential work."

Flinx found himself pondering what was at once an offer and a command. If he refused Eiipul's request, his options would be seriously limited. If he agreed, and could bring it off, there could be ancillary benefits. Thinking back to his time on Jast among the Tier of Ssaiinn inevitably led him to fond remembrances of one exceptional AAnn: the female, Chraluuc, who had looked after and taken a special interest in him. She had wanted him to be a bridge between humans and her kind. Here was an opportunity to do so on a scale neither of them could ever have foreseen.

Of course, if he failed in the effort not only would humans and AAnn not be drawn closer together, but he could quite easily end up dead.

He refocused his attention on the n.o.ble nye waiting in front of him. His emotions elevated but under control, Eiipul awaited his answer.

"If you can really get me that kind of audience," Flinx sighed, "I'll try to do what you ask. I'll try as I've never tried before."

"Excellent, my illicit friend! I will sstart work immediately." Eiipul gestured to his left. "Meanwhile, you are my guesst. We will enssconce you in a part of the ressidence that iss clossed to vissitorss, even to family. There you can resst and recover your sstrength. You will need it all, I think," he concluded solemnly.

"Honored ssire," his daughter protested. "Thiss iss madness! If the ssoftsskin iss found out, if it becomess known we are harboring a human illegally arrived on Blasussarr, that will be the end of our family sstatuss as ssurely as if all of uss perisshed at the human'ss handss!"

"Then," Lord Eiipul told his protesting offspring firmly, "it will behoove you and your brother and your friend to enssure that that eventuality doess not come to pa.s.s. Azzissn?" Azzissn?"

Taking a respectful step backward, she dropped her eyes and mumbled reluctantly, "Azzissn." In this unhappy acquiescence she was joined by her brother and also by the attentive Kiijeem.

"It iss decided." Turning back to his unforeseen guest, Lord Eiipul started to extend a welcoming tail tip. Remembering that his visitor was conspicuously deficient in that department, the n.o.ble quickly subst.i.tuted a proffered hand instead. Four scaly fingers gripped five decidedly softer ones.

"Now then, can you eat proper food?"

"I find most AAnn cuisine quite agreeable, as does my companion." Flinx added a slight nod in the direction of the minidrag riding comfortably on his left shoulder. "Though after a while a steady regimen of meat and its synthetic derivatives does become tiresome."

His host responded with a visible shudder. "I undersstand. I am familiar with the human diet. At lea.s.st you are not thranx. We will try to sscrounge ssome 'edible' plant matter sso you can vary your intake. Meanwhile, I would have you tell me everything you can about thiss horror that sspeedss toward uss and threatenss all of exisstence." He sucked in a deep, whistling breath. "Though I have but infinitessimally ssenssed it for mysself, I would sstill know more. If there iss more to know." Taking Flinx's hand, he led the taller human toward a lift. His offspring and their friend trailed obediently behind.

"Well," Flinx began, "it's manifestly the largest life-form that's ever been identified-if it can be called a life-form in the usual sense."

Lord Eiipul gestured second-degree ignorance. "The universse iss far too va.s.st to be comprehended by beingss as inssignificant as oursselvess. We can look, we can sspeculate, we can even mea.s.sure, but we cannot comprehend. Who can ssay but that there may exisst larger ent.i.tiess sstill, perhapss even thosse capable of feeding on such an immenssity as threatenss uss now?"

Struggling to imagine something vast enough to threaten the Great Evil that was racing toward the outskirts of the Milky Way, Flinx found that he agreed unhesitatingly with his host. Nothing "living" could be as large as the Great Evil, yet it patently existed. Why could there not exist something greater still? The attempt to envision anything so immense simply overwhelmed the rudimentary network of neurons that comprised an ordinary mind. Even mathematics was overwhelmed. At such times it helped enormously to have an anchor, a grounding. Something solid and real and true to hold on to.

It was at such times that he invariably thought of Clarity Held.

They settled Flinx in a small storage area, aboveground and safely away from pa.s.sing eyes both AAnn and electronic. Unlike the large subterranean chamber where he had previously been hidden, this one had lights, a heated sand sleeping basin, access to AAnn entertainment, even a window. Lord Eiipul a.s.sured Flinx that the likelihood of him being discovered was virtually nil. In the absence of a direct reference or reason, Krra.s.sin Security would never stoop to quizzing the members of an important family about a possible sighting of an offworlder wanted for something as insignificant as credit forgery.

Time proved that the n.o.ble Eiipul knew whereof he spoke. Visitors and members of the extended family came and went without coming anywhere near Flinx's isolated chamber. Safe and secure, he was able at last to rest and relax.

The only interruptions to his daily routine arrived in the form of the still wary Eiipul offspring. When not occupied with daily studies, tasks, or family business, they joined Kiijeem in frequenting the softskin's hideaway, peppering him with questions about everything from daily life in the reviled Commonwealth to the nature of the colorful scaled flying creature that was the human's constant companion. Flinx answered them all readily. Ignorance breeds hatred, while conversely, education slays ignorance. Knowledge, he knew from a lifetime of personal experience, is a more effective weapon than a gun. As Truzenzuzex had once pointed out, it's hard to convince an enemy of the rightness of your cause while you're blowing his head off.

He would have been happy to stay in the storeroom awaiting the return of the reconfigured Teacher Teacher. Such a simplistic solution to his situation was not to be, however. Converted to a greater reality by what Flinx had shared with him, Lord Eiipul was convinced the attempt had to be made to sway the entire Imperial Gathering. If it could be done, a reluctant Flinx knew, it would be a milestone not only in the history of the Empire but in AAnn-human relations as well.

And all he had wanted to do was spend a few days on Blasusarr to prove to himself that that that could be done. Was he fated, he wondered, to never be allowed to do anything small and simple? could be done. Was he fated, he wondered, to never be allowed to do anything small and simple?

When the day arrived to escort Flinx into the very heart of Krra.s.sin there was no need to hide him. Sealed securely in his simsuit he was such the figure of an ordinary AAnn that the twins found themselves once more taken aback by the perfection of the illusion. Once his guest had again donned the eye-averting ijkk, Lord Eiipul accompanied him out into the characteristically harsh Blasusarrian light of early morning. The integrated polarizing lenses that camouflaged Flinx's eyes immediately darkened to protect his more sensitive human retinas. He felt his eyes watering anyway. He had not stepped outside since entering the Eiipul compound.

He remembered to fold his tail as Eiipul preceded him into the private family vehicle. The interior was far more luxurious than that of the various public transports he had ridden in the course of his stay on Blasusarr. Rare woods and l.u.s.trous concaves of tactile gla.s.s lined the walls. Powerfully rhythmic AAnn music, all drums and bells and atonal electronics, emanated discreetly from an unseen source.

As the automated craft rose, rotated, and smoothly accelerated through a waiting gap in the residence's security barrier, Flinx stared out the tinted canopy at the surrounding synthetic desert. After a while, the expensive pseudo-canyons and faux b.u.t.tes gave way to more utilitarian structures of poured and molded walls and domes. These prosaic edifices jumped through no aesthetic hoops in expensive attempts to disguise their function.

Though traveling at maximum alt.i.tude on a level reserved for VIPs, the AAnn aircar still had to negotiate a bevy of traffic. This was Krra.s.sin, after all. The capital, the economic and military hub, the heart of the AAnn interstellar Empire. The homeworld of the Commonwealth's most dynamic and cunning adversaries.

Flinx felt no anxiety, experienced no discomfort at this knowledge. Having never felt quite at home anywhere, not even on Moth, he was therefore equally at ease everywhere in the galaxy. Vagabond and chameleon that he was, home was wherever he happened to be at the moment.

That realization did not entirely squelch the rising trepidation he felt as the nearly silent vehicle drew within sight of the central administrative compound. Here decisions were made that affected not only Krra.s.sin, but Blasusarr and all the worlds of the Empire. The lives, the futures of billions of intelligent beings ebbed and flowed according to judgments rendered within the complex by a hundred or so of the most n.o.ble AAnn. Actual choices and preferences were discussed, debated, fought over, and finally voted upon within a single structure known as The Eye of the Nye.

That impressive ma.s.s now loomed directly ahead. a.n.a.logous constructions on Earth consisted of cl.u.s.ters of needle-like towers or immense domes. On Hivehom, several substantial artificial caverns had been deftly hollowed out of the ground to serve the needs of the greater hive.

In contrast to both, The Eye of the Nye took the form of a single immense rock several square kilometers in extent. Rust red in hue, it had been skillfully shot through with ornamental streaks of azure and silver. In keeping with the traditions of those it had been built to accommodate, it was only five stories high. As always and especially in this sacrosanct place, the AAnn had built outward and not upward. If tradition held true throughout, Flinx knew, the hall would have an internal configuration like an iceberg, with the preponderance of its extensive chambers and corridors situated belowground.

Matte-flat in the morning sun, the red roof was perfectly level and utterly unadorned; devoid of antennae, signs, drifting decorations, spires, or any kind of architectural fillip. In contrast, the building's streaks of silver and slashes of bright blue exploded against his retinas.

He was going in there. Essentially alone, to try to influence an entire alien polity. One that would regard him, as Lord Eiipul originally had, with ingrained suspicion or worse. The Teacher Teacher was right: surely he was mentally unbalanced. Pip stirred uneasily against his side in the suit's internal pouch. He struggled to prepare himself mentally. Maybe it was better if he was right: surely he was mentally unbalanced. Pip stirred uneasily against his side in the suit's internal pouch. He struggled to prepare himself mentally. Maybe it was better if he was was a little crazy. a little crazy.

Madness is always the best armor against reality.

It was also a cheap out. He knew he wasn't mad. Retreating into psychosis would have been easy, especially in light of all that he knew and had experienced. Holding on to sanity was always the more difficult course for any sentient being.

The true immensity of the structure did not really hit home until the aircar cleared Security and proceeded deeper into the complex. The Great Hall was a city unto itself, frantic with activity and invested with purpose. Other vehicles darted in all directions, usually at a greater velocity than their own. When his host ordered the transport to turn down a narrower corridor, they found themselves traveling among a swarm of workers riding personalized vehicles.

After what seemed like half an hour they arrived at a parking area. As they disembarked, Eiipul told Flinx it was safe to remove the ijkk and leave it behind.

"No one will be looking for a common criminal in here," he explained confidently. "The kind of antissocial figure repressented by your falsse AAnn ident.i.ty would never make it pa.s.st the firsst ssecurity checkpoint."

Taking extra care with his servo-a.s.sisted AAnn gait, Flinx loped alongside Lord Eiipul as they made their way through crowds of busy, intent AAnn. Focused on their individual tasks, hardly any of the workers glanced in the direction of the two nye. Flinx was unusually tall for an AAnn, but not to the point of drawing impolite (and potentially challenge-triggering) stares. The only interruptions came from the occasional pa.s.serby who would pause long enough to salute the status of the important n.o.ble who was Flinx's host and guide.

The final corridor they entered was different from any that had preceded it. Longer than most and devoid of doorways or branching pa.s.sages, it had been machined from a single tube of some pale golden-brown metal. It reminded Flinx of translucent bronze. The hordes of workers had thinned here as well. Only a few AAnn strode the impressive span. Though their voices were kept to a respectful hiss, they still echoed off the flawless, seamless curved walls and ceiling.

"We are very closse now." Flinx noted that in this place even Lord Eiipul had lowered his voice. "Make no eye contact with anyone we meet, resspond to no queriess. As my guesst, you are protected from challenge within The Eye. But I am not omnipotent. Even my influence ha.s.s itss limitss."

Flinx gestured third-degree understanding. It was enough. Ahead, the light was growing brighter. The tunnel corridor was opening out into a larger s.p.a.ce. How much larger he could not imagine until he and his host entered the chamber at the end of the bronze-colored corridor. He did not gasp for breath: in his short life he had seen far too much to be overawed by a mere room. But while he was not overawed, he was certainly impressed.

He had stood in chambers with higher ceilings. The core of a faraway structure that housed a certain ancient weapon/musical instrument, for example, rose to a greater peak. He had wandered through more extensive artificial voids, such as the interior of an ancient construct that appeared from the outside to be a methane dwarf but was in reality an unimaginably ma.s.sive alien starship. But he had never before entered into one that was at once so expansive, so alien, and so beautiful.

The AAnn artisans who comprised the Tier of Ssaiinn would have approved, he decided as he admired his surroundings. For all he knew, some of them might have contributed to the decoration.

The inner sanctum known as The Eye of the Nye ran almost the entire width of the building. A full five stories high, it was crowned by an immense shallow dome of synthetic quartz that had been treated to change color at predetermined intervals. One moment it was a deep, rich amethyst purple, the next a golden citrine yellow, then transparent as crystal, followed by a tinting of sapphire blue, after which it appeared shot through with simulated rutile-the material of which the dome was composed progressively traversing every color of the visible spectrum.

Mammoth metallic bas-reliefs moving slowly across the walls depicted the history of the AAnn, from the race's humble beginnings as small nomadic bands struggling to survive the harsh landscape of Blasusarr, to the great internecine wars of unification finally won by Keisscha the Firsst, to the rapid rise of technology and the eventual expansion of the Empire to other worlds. Gaps in this hovering history were filled with dazzling knife-edge mosaics fashioned of gemstones and rare metals. Formed from a single continuous viscous pour of bonding chemicals infused with tons of finely ground synthetic corundum, the artfully sculpted floor glistened as if paved with a trillion trillion minuscule jewels.

In addition to the traditional spiral glowlamps, natural light pouring in through the immense dome provided not only plenty of illumination but additional heat. Without the simsuit's integral climate control, heatstroke would have felled Flinx an hour ago.

Hovering in sharp contrast to the long-established and time-honored conventional ornamentation, contemporary no-nonsense AAnn infolos drifted everywhere. Their presence const.i.tuted an exorbitant waste of energy whose purpose was not only to supply information but to celebrate the importance of The Eye and those who were allowed to work therein. As he and his host made their way forward through the cavernous chamber, Flinx saw numerous nye gathered around one or more of the highly responsive migratory knowledge-base projections. Many of the most important decisions involving the course of the Empire were hotly debated in front of those infolos, Eiipul informed him, with the results to be voted on later.

Though the discussions were frequently loud and seemingly hostile, Flinx knew that such voluble acrimony was characteristic of the AAnn. Surprisingly, physical confrontations seemed to be lacking. When queried about this, Lord Eiipul responded with a gesture of second-degree amus.e.m.e.nt. The highly knowledgeable human was apparently ignorant of something that was a well-known fact to every AAnn.

"Challengess are forbidden in The Eye of the Nye. With sso much high sstatuss at sstake, if confrontationss were allowed here they would take up too much of the time essential to actually making crucial decissionss." Extending one arm in a broad, sweeping gesture, he indicated the vast, crowded, noisy s.p.a.ce in which they stood. "For the ssake of the Empire, argumentss made in here can only be contessted with verbal violence."

Flinx started to nod, caught himself just in time, and responded instead with the appropriate gesture. "What happens when disagreements unresolved inside find their way outside?"

"On ssuch occa.s.sionss," his guide informed him matter-of-factly, "it iss not uncommon for vacanciess to appear in the body politic. Thiss iss not a problem. For every n.o.ble or technocrat who perisshess in a challenge, ten eagerly await to take their place."

Flinx was hardly surprised by the n.o.ble's explanation. "I'd always heard that AAnn affairs of state were a b.l.o.o.d.y business."

Eiipul took no umbrage at his guest's remark. "Toughness iss forged in conflict. I mysself have taken and ssurvived many physsical as well as verbal blowss, and have prevailed in as many combatss as debatess." Holding up his left arm and turning sideways, he showed Flinx a depression that ran lengthwise from elbow to shoulder. "You mark where musscle and connective tissue iss missing and was not resstored? The result of a ssomewhat heated disspute involving continental economicss." He lowered the permanently scarred arm.

Flinx was at once appalled and impressed. Personally, he could not recall having read or heard of an instance where a human economist had resolved a disagreement with a fellow academician by ripping out the other's tendons and ligaments. Clearly, Lord Eiipul regarded the disfigurement as a mark of honor. AAnn medical science was more than advanced enough for him to have had the muscle repaired or restored, had he so desired.

The great expanse of The Eye had a practical as well as ceremonial purpose. Its extent and the specific design of the highly embellished walls served to mute the volume of ongoing AAnn political deliberations. Apparently there was no such thing as a quiet debate among the AAnn. Flinx felt that the sometimes petty bickering he overheard as he loped onward alongside Eiipul was unworthy of the grand surroundings. Nevertheless, in the course of all the ancillary hissing and screaming it seemed that necessary decisions were eventually arrived at, consensus was periodically reached, and the resultant resolutions were set down to form new policy throughout the Empire. Though each n.o.ble was first and foremost out to advance the cause of him or herself and their extended families, it was clear that the raucous alien process still managed the work of successfully governing the Empire.

Reflecting on how closely the system reminded him of certain less savory aspects of human political discourse, Flinx found himself wondering not for the first time how the soft-spoken, conciliatory thranx had ever succeeded in establishing a functional political union with his own far more fractious species.

At the touch of a clawed hand on the forearm of his suit, he leaned to his left, the better to hear his guide's whispered hiss.

"Ssay nothing. Leave everything to me. You do not know the proper protocolss. We musst work our way through the cusstomary Sspiral that Sswirlss. Within it you encounter a politeness that exisstss nowhere elsse in Krra.s.sin, or for that matter anywhere the length and breadth of the Empire. As I have told you, we will not face challenge in the traditional ssensse. Here all battless are fought with wordss and phra.s.sess, with gessturess and eye contact. It iss a ssign of resspect."

"Respect?" Flinx murmured in response. "Respect for what?"

"For the eminence of the Emperor, of coursse." Raising a hand, Eiipul gestured toward the center of the crowd immediately in front of them. It was composed of stylish AAnn strolling in an ever-tightening spiral. "He iss there, at the nexuss. The loci of Empire. We musst reach him. It will not be a ssimple matter."

Flinx had already surmised as much. Making personal contact with a head of government was never easy. Ignoring the sporadic interrogatories that were lobbed in his direction, Flinx kept his jaws shut and stayed close to Eiipul, marveling as his host demonstrated exquisite skill with both language and gesticulation. With proficiency born of long experience the AAnn n.o.ble replied to, deflected, or disregarded each and every query that came his way, including those that were intended for his tall companion. In this manner they worked their way deeper and deeper into the eddying throng of n.o.bles, bureaucrats, and advisers.

It was amazing to see so many commanding, combative AAnn functioning in such close quarters with nary a knife or claw being unleashed. Occasionally Flinx was nudged sharply by a pa.s.sing nye or accidentally found himself b.u.mping up against a crowding individual he could not avoid. Out on the street any of these contacts would have been sufficient reason for the offended to initiate personal combat. Here in The Eye of the Nye, at the hub of Empire, an atypical civility governed everything that was said, gestured, or done.

"There!" Raising one hand, Eiipul pointed with two of his four fingers. A modest open s.p.a.ce loomed not far ahead of them, a circle of deference. Leaning against a resting post at its center, an elderly nye crouched low. Unpretentious, functional, and formal, his garb suggested nothing about his ident.i.ty or his station. His attire contrasted powerfully with the far more costly, elegant apparel of those who swirled around him. At the moment he was conversing with a high-level government functionary from offworld. The latter's gestures were filled with fawning, while his tone dripped supplication. Both nye were flanked by two discreetly armed guards nearly as tall as Flinx.

"Jira.s.st, human! Before uss sstandss the Beloved, the Wisse, the Clear-thinking and Ssharp-of-wit, Highesst Prince-of-the-Circle Navvur W, Emperor of all the AAnn." Breathy reverence was absent from Lord Eiipul's voice. In its place there was a wealth of genuine respect. "In hiss persson iss embodied all the hisstory of my kind and all itss hopess for a bountiful and prossperouss future. We sstand here at the heart of the Empire." Once more he glanced over at Flinx, his voice low. "No human ha.s.s ever sstood sso near to the Imperial Pressence. Whatever happenss from now on, whatever your fate, know that you are the recipient of a ssingular honor."

"I don't feel honored," Flinx replied in his usual self-possessed tone. "I feel hot and itchy. No matter how hard it tries to keep me comfortable and how much I work with the interior lining, some part of this simsuit always grates."

Lord Eiipul gestured second-degree exasperation. "Truly, you are an uncla.s.sifiable example of your ssad, ill-fated sspeciess. Desspite having sshared the dreadful experience you promissed and having thereby become convinced of the truth of your outrageouss a.s.sertionss, a part of me sstill findss you to be afflicted with a deep and dissturbing madness."

"That makes two of us," Flinx told him.

Eiipul looked up sharply. "Thiss iss not the time or place to tell me ssuch a thing."

Flinx had to smile. Recognizing the expression as one that had no proper AAnn a.n.a.log, the simsuit's programming and mouth-servos did not try to reproduce it.

"I'm waxing sarcastic." He hastened to rea.s.sure his already nervous host. "Madness would be too easy an excuse for my actions and some of the things I've done in my life. Repeated excursions into idiosyncrasy and the inexplicable sometimes mark me as eccentric but-I'm not mad. It would be too painless an excuse."

His host relaxed-slightly. "Plea.s.se remember if you would, trazzakk trazzakk, that more than jusst your expendable ssoftsskin life iss at sstake here."

"That's true," Flinx agreed. "The lives of everyone are at stake here." Able to see over the heads of the majority of swarming, deliberating AAnn, he strained for a better view of the Emperor. "How do we present ourselves?"

A much-relieved Eiipul was able to turn thoughtful again. "We are very near, truly. From here on we musst take our time and proceed with caution. Every etiquette musst be obsserved. Converssations cannot be ignored." He nodded forward. "As iss normal, otherss will try to engage uss in debate with an eye toward denying uss access. Attemptss will be made to divert uss from our preferred coursse. I will do my besst to facilitate our final approach, employing all of my sskillss at missdirection and eva.s.sion. With time and patience we will be able to ..." He broke off to gape at the visitor. "What are you doing?" "What are you doing?"

"Saving time," Flinx told him calmly. "Mother Mastiff always did scold me about never having any patience."

In the center of The Eye of the Nye, within shouting range of the greatly beloved and most exalted Emperor Navvur W and surrounded by hundreds of the most eminent representatives of the AAnn Empire, any one of whom would be eager to acquire immediate status by tearing a presumptuous softskin to pieces, Flinx systematically began to disrobe....

While it was a certainty that in the course of its belligerent history and aggressive expansion the Empire of the AAnn had suffered shocks greater and more debilitating, surely none were more intimate than the one that rippled through the great hall called The Eye of the Nye on that fine third-season morning. A horrified Lord Eiipul IX edged away from Flinx, though he was all too aware that no matter what he did, in such close confines and subject to such intense scrutiny he did not have time or distance to edge far enough away. Halting in his retreat, eyes flashing, he drew himself up to his full height. He had cast in his lot with this softskin no matter what the creature did and no matter how outrageous its behavior.

Flinx's straightforward strip accomplished its intended purpose. As he exposed himself he quickly drew the attention of every double-lidded eye within range of his naked, incontestably human form. It required barely a moment longer for his presence to become known to every one of the hundreds of notable nye circulating in the chamber, as his image was flashed to every individual's personal information device.

Emerging from the resting pouch of the collapsing simsuit, Pip unfurled her brilliantly hued wings and took to the air of The Eye, relieved as always to be free of the confines of the simsuit. The presence below of hundreds of gesticulating, pointing, shouting AAnn disturbed her not in the least. As long as her master evinced no concern she was quite content, and the vast interior s.p.a.ce of The Eye presented agreeable opportunities for soaring.

Though they were among the most honored and accomplished soldiers in the Imperial military, it still took the two tall AAnn flanking the Emperor more than a moment to draw their weapons. The idea that a human might suddenly appear unannounced in the midst of the Spiral at the center of The Eye was a.n.a.logous to an AAnn abruptly materializing next to the President of the Commonwealth while he was enjoying breakfast with his family. As something that could not be imagined, the reality was difficult for even the most well trained to accept.

The impossibility went a long way toward explaining the absence of alarm. Since such a thing patently could not be, there had to be an alternative explanation. A clever prank of some kind, concocted by political allies to amuse the Emperor, or perhaps a test of a spectacularly convincing new projection device. Even those who found themselves standing close to the startling manifestation found themselves doubting its authenticity. In fact, of all those within striking distance of the revealed Flinx, only one exhibited any bona fide agitation. Lord Eiipul continued to stare at his guest in disbelief even as he struggled to decide what he could possibly do next.

Flinx saved him the trouble.

Naked, Flinx started toward the Emperor as Pip circled self-a.s.suredly overhead. Rousing themselves, it occurred to both highly honored bodyguards that perhaps it might be a good idea to place themselves between the apparition and the Emperor, even if what they were confronting was nothing more than an ingenious projection. Coming to a halt, the projection proceeded to speak. Its clear, perfectly comprehensible speech only served to further underlie its unreality.

"My name is Flinx LLVVRXX. Though a softskin, I am a full member of the Tier of Ssaiinn. To my knowledge, I am the only human to have been so honored." The Emperor Navvur W, he saw, was looking straight at him. The Imperial physique might be worn, but those dark blue eyes were not. They were penetrating. "I am not a holo, a tactile field, a simulation, or a mechanism. I am very real. I come to you without the knowledge of my government or my kind to share with you a danger that threatens all living beings, including every citizen of the Empire." He gestured to his nearby and presently paralyzed host. "I would spare you this knowledge, but my friend insists it must be made known to all in order to ensure my safe departure from Blasusarr and the continuation of my search for a possible means of dealing with this threat."

At this explanation a great many eyes turned as one to focus on Lord Eiipul, who was not at all thankful for the ma.s.sed attention. Hissing began to rise around him and around the softskin, a swelling sizzle like the foreshadowing of a thousand geysers about to erupt. Raising one hand sharply, Navvur W gestured for third-degree silence. Immediately, the dangerously escalating outrage ceased. The increasingly irate and angry glares, Flinx noted, remained locked on him and his host. In addition to the two honor guards, others nearby had also drawn weapons.

"A mosst imaginative disscoursse," the Emperor murmured into the ensuing silence. "But then, your kind iss known for itss flightss of imagination. It iss to be expected that one s...o...b..azen would think large. A danger that threatenss all living beingss'? Truly, I would expect no modessty from one who ha.s.s accomplisshed what you have done." His attention flicked briefly in the direction of Flinx's host. "Albeit with an as yet to be determined modic.u.m of outsside help."

Under that unblinking Imperial gaze, Lord Eiipul seemed to shrink in upon himself.

Fearlessly approaching Flinx, the Emperor stepped between his anxious bodyguards. Murmurs of concern rose from the inner circle of advisers and n.o.bles. A second time the Emperor gestured, and for a second time the center of The Eye was still.

"Can none of you ssee that the creature iss more than weaponless?" Navvur W looked back at Flinx. "Truly, ssoftsskin, what iss your purposse in coming to a place where none of your kind have sstood before? Iss it to kill me?" Stressed hisses rose from the a.s.sembled. The Emperor ignored them.

"I am no a.s.sa.s.sin." Flinx stared down at the unruffled reptilian figure standing curiously before him. "I spoke the truth." As he raised an arm to gesture, several dozen weapons drew down on his torso.

The Emperor irritably motioned them off. "Crissandd "Crissandd. If it wanted to kill me, the attempt would have been made sseveral time-partss ago. The time for murder ha.s.s already pa.s.sed." Muzzles and other lethal focal points were lowered. Navvur W turned back to the visitor.

"You will leave thiss chamber alive, but not thiss building. You know that, do you not? Bravery iss no guarantee of ssurvival. But before you die, quesstionss will be a.s.sked-and ansswered." He started to turn away. "Thiss ha.s.s been a more interessting diverssion than mosst. Now it iss a matter for the Ssecurity Sservicess. I have a full sschedule today and I have already wa.s.sted too much time on thiss fa.s.scinating but otherwisse irrelevant alien intrussion."