Rosanne was staring at him and shaking her head. “Sy, I worked with you on the Planetfest trials, and I know you’re pretty much all right — but you’re certainly weird. The galactic center!”
He grinned back at her. “So? Let’s hear from somebody normal, then. Where do you want to go?”
“Well…” She hesitated. “I like the Cass system, and I liked Pentecost. But I agree with Elissa, they wouldn’t let us go back there for a long time. So forget that. I’d certainly like to see Earth — who wouldn’t? Apart from that I suppose I’m a lot like Lum. I want to see lots of other places, wander around the colonies and the habitable planets, see what’s there…”
Elissa winked at Peron. I told you so, said her look. I win that bet. Rosanne’s a lot more interested in Lum than she’ll ever admit.
“What about you, Peron?” she said loudly.
Peron looked as perplexed as he felt. “I’m not at all sure, and I just wish I knew. I want it all — to be back home on Pentecost, to travel, and to take a really close look at the Immortals.”
“You’re not much help!”
“I know. I suppose the best answer is that I can’t say for the long term. But for the moment I want to know more about S-space, and the only way to do that is to move there for a while. Olivia Ferranti makes me feel like a child in the cradle. She didn’t exactly say it, but she must think we’re upstart babies. When I think of all that she has seen and done, and the things she told us about…”
“Not to mention all the things she has seen and done, and not told us about,” said Sy drily. “Kallen, it’s your turn.”
The tall youth nodded. He stood silent for a while, as though organizing his words.
“Rosanne told Sy he was strange,” he said at last. He smiled shyly. “I am afraid that she will judge me even more so.” He cleared his throat, and spoke louder than any of them had heard before. “Back on Pentecost, I lay awake at night with my own dreams. I wondered what we are, as a species, and what in time we might become. It has always seemed to me that humans are best regarded as a transitional stage, something between animals and what may come after. I speculated. What will that next phase be? The question always seemed an unanswerable one; but no longer. I want to see the future — the far future. And like Sy, I will be happy to return to cold sleep in order to accomplish that.” He smiled again. “After I have had a good look at S-space, but not before.” “I always told the others you were the dreamer,” said Elissa. “The far future? You’re worse than Sy. Let’s see, what conclusions do we have? We’re quite a mixed bag. We’ve got two votes for the colonies, and for taking the grand tour; one for science and the galactic center; one for the future; and one who’s not sure just what he wants. What else? We all think we’re not getting the whole story, and that Olivia Ferranti knows things about S-space life that she hasn’t told us. Nobody relishes the notion of spending a long time at local Headquarters, but we know we’ll have to start there. And I gather we’re all itching to take a trip to Earth if we can find a way to do it. That’s my summary. Anything missing?”
“At least one thing,” said Peron. “There’s still one person we’ve not heard from. What about you, Elissa — what do you want to do?”
She gave him a peculiar stare. “You mean, where will I go? Peron, you’re a bone-headed idiot and a blind tardy. Are you trying to embarrass me?” To Peron’s surprise there was a burst of laughter and incoherent comments from the other four.
“You name it, Peron!” said Lum.
“Name it. Name what?”
“Anything you like.”
“Lum’s right,” said Elissa. She moved across to Peron and hugged him, while the others cheered.
“You name it.” She ran her knuckles along his ribs. “Shake me loose — if you can. I’m going where you’re going, and it would be kind of nice if you’d make up your mind and tell me where that is. But you don’t have to do it now, because it looks like we all agree on the next step. We go to S-space, then to Earth. Think it’s feasible?”
“We’ll have to do some arm-twisting,” said Lum. “But we have an awful lot of power so long as one of us is here in normal space. Do you realize that a tiny boost from the engines of this ship, one we wouldn’t notice, would make it impossible for anyone in S-space to stand up? You can bet that they all know it — they must be wondering what we might do next.”
“So let’s tell them we’re ready for the next round of bargaining,” said Peron. “And let’s insist that it be done here, not in S-space. That’s going to make any of them uncomfortable, and eager to get back to their usual environment. Agreed?”
The others nodded.
“I can hardly wait to see S-space,” added Rosanne. “I hope that Kallen and Sy changed the control program correctly. I like the idea of all my wishes being granted.
“Or at least.” She did not look at Lum. “Most of them.”
PART THREE:
THE PATH TO GULF CITY
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Peron was drowsing when the alert sounded. For a couple of minutes he struggled against awakening, trying to merge the soft, blurred tones into the fabric of his dreams.
roomb… roomb… roomb… roomb…
He had been back on Pentecost, back when the idea of competition in the Planetfest had itself been like a dream. Twelve years old; the first tests, part of the State-wide evaluation of every adolescent. The blindfold maze was presented to them as no more than a game, something that they could all enjoy. He had scrupulously obeyed the rules, mapping his path by ears alone, following the soft, purring will-o’-the-wisp tone of the muted bell.
It was seven more years before he understood the hidden purpose of the maze test. Sense of direction, yes. But more than that. Memory, courage, honesty, and a willingness to cooperate with other competitors when single talents could not provide a solution. It was direct preparation for Planetfest, though no one ever admitted it.
So how was Sy performing in the maze? That was a mystery. Sy was a loner. He didn’t seek partners, even when the task looked impossible for a solo performer. Peron, hauled back to full consciousness, realized that he had been confusing past and present. Sy was here, now, on the ship. When Peron took the maze test, he had never heard of Sy.
But it was still a good question. How had Sy found his way through the preliminaries for Planetfest? That was a puzzle to be filed away and addressed later. Meanwhile, that insistent tone was continuing, summoning Peron to action.… roomb… roomb… roomb.
He sighed. So much for sleep. He had been trying to push the S-space sleep requirement down to its lower limit, to less than one hour in twenty-four. But he had been overdoing it. He stood up unsteadily, noticing that Elissa had already left their living quarters, and made his way to the central control chamber.
Olivia Ferranti was already there, gazing out of the port. Elissa and Sy were at her side, staring out into the formless sea of milky-white that sat outside the ship in S-space.
Except that it was no longer formless. Dark, complex shapes were there, drifting past the window. Peron saw a tracery of wispy rectangles, joined by braided lines of silver. Attendant on them, although not connected to them, were veined doublet wings like giant sycamore seeds.
Olivia Ferranti acknowledged Peron’s arrival with no more than a brief nod. “Remember what I told you when we were heading for Sector Headquarters?” she said. “I’m not sure you believed me. There’s one of the reasons why Rinker didn’t want you messing with his ship. Look at the power drain.”