"It's no more than the truth." The Caitian is almost vibrating with anger. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Vansittaert doesn't realize that.
"I gave you the opportunity to speak freely, without coercion -" Vansittaert draws in another deep breath. Actually, the bare little anteroom has me, M'eioi and T'Shal on one side; behind Vansittaert, on the other side, are the remaining academics, plus three armed security guards and the unlovely bulk of Mr. Premaratne, so there is a fair amount of coercion on display. "You know what my goals are -"
"Better than you," M'eioi snaps.
Vansittaert's hands drop to his sides as he stares at her. I am trying to judge the angles, to see what chance we stand - not a good one, even against the security guards and their stunners; with Premaratne lurking in the background, no chance at all. If Vansittaert comes within reach - but he won't. Not unless M'eioi can tempt him over, and I doubt her Starfleet mentality has that much deviousness.
It is hard to think. The psi field is a constant, low-level, nagging pressure on my brain. Just knowing it's there gives us some ability to resist it - but it's a continual, wearing effort. It has to be telling on the person producing it, too. I steal a glance at Vansittaert's cronies. Shemosh looks bland and calm, the picture of a Deltan academic; Tarul looks apprehensive, sneaking doubtful glances at T'Shal; Karabadian looks angry and confused, but not stressed - though his "assistant", in her metallic gold figure-hugging minidress, appears worried about something. Probably concerned she's going to lose her privileged position.
"I don't understand," Vansittaert is saying. "Are you saying you know more about the Deep Gate than I do? I assure you, you're quite wrong."
"We have proof," says T'Shal. Her hands are shaking as she holds up the PADD. She has no training in combat - real or psychic - and she has had to do the lion's share of the intellectual work, too; the strain is telling on her. "You left me with enough computational power to complete a preliminary analysis -"
A chime sounds. Vansittaert touches his wrist comm. "Madagascar is moving," a voice says. "Intercept course."
Vansittaert pulls a face. "Contingency six," he says.
"Acknowledged," the voice replies.
"Madagascar and her frigates are quite capable of dealing with your ship," says M'eioi. "And they will take my orders seriously."
"They will try a peaceful solution first," says Vansittaert. "They are Starfleet, after all."
"They will open fire and disable your ship soon enough," says M'eioi.
Vansittaert smiles. "No," he says, "not soon enough. We will engage the ship's particle generators and synchronize with the anomaly's emissions. It will be quite adequate to block any directed energy weapons, and scramble any exotic waveforms you might try to generate. I realize that your dreadnought is an impressive vessel, Admiral, but I have the full power of the anomaly on tap."
"You can't keep it up forever," says M'eioi.
"I don't have to. The Deep Gate will reach full alignment inside a day. I need less than twenty-four hours. And I'll have them."
"Alignment with what?" I ask. Vansittaert turns towards me, surprise on his long face. "Not the Nexus. You don't have anything like the power levels you would need to break through the energy gradients around the Nexus."
"It's not a question of power," says Vansittaert. "It's a question of finesse."
I meet his gaze and hold it. "Finesse," I say, and I let my voice drip scorn. "Yes, you've been finessed, all right."
"You practiced a deception upon me," says T'Shal, "and it was reinforced by the constant presence of a psionic field. You have erred, however, in supposing that a similar deception could not be practiced upon you."
"You've been used, Vansittaert," adds M'eioi.
"This is absurd," says Vansittaert. "Psionic field? I never asked for any psionic field -"
He stops. He turns. His accusing gaze focuses on Karabadian.
The portly human's face turns the colour of uncooked dough. "You think I -? You believe them?"
"You are my resident expert on psi effects," says Vansittaert.
"I - I am a theoretician!" Karabadian sputters. "I am a scientist! Not some, some mind-controlling mountebank!"
"We have proof." T'Shal's voice is desperately tired, now.
"You have proof of nothing!" cries Karabadian. "I am a genuine scientist, a visionary! And I am dedicated to this project and its aims! You have no right to accuse me!" He shakes a fat finger at T'Shal.
"Professor T'Shal has always been a reliable source of information for the project," says Vansittaert slowly. "I think I would like to hear what she has to say."
"Well, I do not!" snarls Karabadian. "I will not stay to be accused and insulted!" And he stumps off towards the doorway. A guard makes a move to stop him, is checked by a motion of Vansittaert's hand. He reaches the door, turns, and says, "Come, Natalia." Khoklova glances around, her drawn face uncertain. "Come, Natalia," Karabadian repeats, more forcefully. Reluctantly, Khoklova slinks out behind him. The door hisses shut.
"If he is attempting mental influence," says Vansittaert, "then removing him from our proximity will help."
Has the pressure in my skull lessened? I'm not sure I can tell.
"Galactic Object 4704 is a fascinating thing," says T'Shal. "Now we know what it really is.... It must have formed at a very early stage of this galaxy's life, a standing wave in the gravitational field of the central supermassive black hole. In a sense, you are correct - its employment is a matter of finesse. Essentially, it is an antichroniton reservoir, a node which collects and stores quantum particles from other timestreams. It is a point of balance between multiple alternative states of existence."
"I've seen your mission pod," says M'eioi. "We figured out how it must work. You place someone inside the anomaly, at the centre of the stressed-space field. Your pod must contain psi amplifiers that broadcast the impulses of a sentient mind into the anomaly. We know you've sensitized it to psi fields."
"And, once it reaches a certain critical limit," says T'Shal, "once the antichroniton reservoir is sufficiently full, as it were, and the anomaly's interaction with normal space is correctly configured -"
"Something less than a day from now," I put in.
"- then the sentient mind inside the psi amplifiers will be able to resolve the anomaly's power into a new quantum state. One of its own choosing."
"Yes," says Vansittaert, "yes, I know. That's how we're going to bridge the energy gradient to the Nexus -"
"No," says M'eioi. "No, the Nexus is an anomaly itself, there is no possible timeline you can use to bring it into the real universe. But whoever's operating that device will be in a position to choose any timeline that is possible. And it's not going to be you, is it, Vansittaert? I'm sure Karabadian fed you a very plausible line, about how you shouldn't risk your precious brain inside those untested psi amplifiers, how he would gladly brave the danger in your place. Because the antichroniton reservoir is depleted when it's used. In fact, the subspace shock will unravel GO4704 completely, it will be gone for good. It is a wishing machine, Vansittaert. But it only grants one wish. And it's not going to be yours."
Vansittaert blinks, slowly. "You do sound very convinced," he says. "Almost convincing, in fact. But you're wrong. It wasn't Karabadian who volunteered to take control of the device. It was -"
We all turn as one.
Shemosh's face is paper-white, twisted with emotion, and the naked emotional need is radiating from him. "Please." His voice is hoarse. "Please - you must let me - you must -"
"You?" says T'Shal. "This is... this is illogical."
"Please." The word is backed by the full force of his Deltan pheromones, and it is awful to hear.
"You," says Vansittaert blankly. "You wanted to use me -"
He stops. He shuts his eyes, and his lips move for a moment, rapidly and soundlessly.
Then he opens his eyes again. "It changes nothing," he says.
"What?" says M'eioi.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." He waves an imperious hand at the guards. "Take them to the mission pod. Collect that idiot Karabadian, bring him too." There is anger on his long face, and madness in his eyes. "I'll make sure you all have ringside seats. One chance? To change the universe for the better? I'll take that chance. I can do it. I can make the right choice, the right choice for everyone. You can watch me do it. I'll show you. I'll show you all."
No comments:
Post a Comment