“It’s so pretty here,” Louise sighed as they reached the shore of the lake. The water-plants had balloon-like flowers that
hung an inch below the surface; green fish nibbled at the tuft of stamen coming from their crowns. “This must have been a
wonderful place to grow up in.”
“It was. But don’t tell Ione, all I ever wanted to do was fly away.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
He held her closer. “Not as beautiful as you.”
“Don’t,” she said, troubled.
“I can kiss my fiancÉe if I want. Even Norfolk permits that.”
“I’m not your fiancÉe, Joshua. I just kept saying that because of the baby. I was ashamed. Which is so stupid. Having a baby
is a wonderful thing, the best thing any two people can do. Fancy being prejudiced against it. I’ll always love my home, but
so much of it is wrong.”
He dropped down on one knee, and held her hand. “Marry me.”
From the expression on her face she could have been in agony. “That’s very kind, Joshua, and if you’d asked that day you left
Cricklade I’d even have eloped with you. But, really, you don’t know anything about me. It wouldn’t work; you’re a starship
captain and unutterably famous, I’m a landowner’s daughter. All we ever were was a beautiful dream I had once.”
“I know everything there is to know about you. Thanks to the singularity, I’ve lived every second of your life. And don’t
you ever call yourself someone else’s daughter again. You’re Louise Kavanagh, nothing else. I had one exciting flight, which
was the result of thousands of people backing me up behind the scenes. You walked right up to Quinn Dexter and tried to stop
him. It is not possible to possess more courage than that, Louise. You were astonishing. Those drunken buffoons in Harkey’s
Bar look up at me. I stand in awe at what you did.”
“You saw everything I did?” she enquired.
“Yes,” he said firmly. “Including last night.”
“Oh.”
He gently pulled at her hand, making her kneel beside him. “I don’t think I could marry a saint, Louise. And you already know
I’ve never been one.”
“Do you really want to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“But we’d never be together.”
“Starship captains are a thing of the past now, just like landowner daughters. There’s so much we have to do in our lives.”
“You don’t mind living on Norfolk?”
“We’ll change it together, Louise. You and me.”
She kissed him, then smiled demurely. “Do we have to go back to the party?” she murmured.
“No.”
Her smile widened, and she stood up. Joshua stayed on one knee.
“I haven’t had my answer yet. And this classic routine is killing my leg muscle.”
“I was taught to always keep a man waiting,” she said imperiously. “But your answer is yes.”
______
“Anastasia, is that really you?”
“Hello, Dariat, of course it’s me. I waited for you. I knew you’d come eventually.”
“I very nearly didn’t. There was a spot of trouble back there.”
“Lady Chi-ri has always smiled upon you, Dariat. Right from the start.”
“You know, this isn’t what I expected to find on the other side of the beyond.”
“I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Can we see it together?”
“I’d like that.”
______
It was the last time Joshua would use the ability, and strictly speaking it wasn’t necessary, but there was absolutely no
way he was going to miss out on seeing the Kiint home system in person just for the sake of virtue and dignified restraint.
He materialized on the white-sand beach not far from Tracy’s chalet. The coast was exquisite, of course. Then he looked up.
Silvery planet crescents curved away through the deep-turquoise sky.
“Now I’ve seen it all,” he said quietly.
Five white spheres erupted in the air around him. The same size as providers, but with a very different function.
Joshua held his arms up. “I am unarmed. Take me to your leader.”
The spheres winked out of existence. Joshua laughed.
Jay and Haile were racing over the sands to him.
“Joshua!”
He managed to catch her as she jumped at him. Swung her round full circle.
“Joshua!” she shrieked happily. “What are you doing here?”
“Come to take you home.”
“Really?” Her eyes were rounded with optimism. “Back to the Confederation?”
“Yep, go pack your bags.”
Greetings, Joshua Calvert. This day is filled with much joyfulness. I am much content.
“Hi, Haile. You’ve grown.”
And you have strengthened.
He put Jay down. “Well what do you know, there’s hope for all of us.”
“It’s been fab here,” Jay said. “The providers give you everything you want, and that includes ice cream. You don’t need money.”
Two adult Kiint appeared on the black teleport circle. Tracy was coming down the steps from her chalet. Joshua eyed them all
cautiously.
“And I’ve been to loads of planets in the arc. And met hundreds and hundreds of people.” Jay paused, sucking on her lower
lip. “Is Mummy all right?”
“Uh, yeah. This is the hard part, Jay. She’s going to need a day or two before she can see you. Okay? So I’m going to take
you back to Tranquillity, and then you can go back to Lalonde with all the others in a little while.”
She pouted. “And Father Horst?”
“And Father Horst,” he promised.
“Right. And you’re sure Mummy’s fine?”
“She is. She’s really looking forward to seeing you, too.”
Tracy stood behind Jay, and patted her on the head. “I’ve told you to wear a hat when you play out here.”
“Yes, Tracy.” The little girl pulled a face at Joshua.
He grinned back. “You go and pack. I just need to talk to Tracy for a moment. Then we’ll be off.”
“Come on, Haile.” Jay grabbed one of the Kiint’s tractamorphic limbs, and they hurried off towards the chalet.
Joshua’s grin faded when the youngsters were out of hearing. “Thanks for nothing,” he said to Tracy.
“We did what we could,” she said fiercely. “Don’t you judge us, Joshua Calvert.”
“The Corpus judges us, decides our fate.”
“None of us asked to be born. We’re more sinned against than sinners. And Richard Keaton saved your arse, as I recall.”
“So he did.”
“We would have made sure something survived. Humanity would have carried on.”
“But in whose image?”
“You’re proud of your current one, are you?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
She rubbed a white hand over her forehead. “I keep running comparisons. What the human race is compared to so many others.”
“Well don’t, it’s not your concern any more. We can find our own way now.” He turned to the adult Kiint.
Hello Nang, Lieria.
Greetings, Joshua Calvert. And congratulations.
Thank you. Though this isn’t quite how I thought I’d spend my wedding night. I’d like Corpus to remove your observers and
the data acquisition systems from the Confederation, please. Our future contact should be conducted on a more honest basis.
Corpus agrees. They will be removed.
And the medical help. We need that badly, right away.
Of course. It will be provided.
You could have helped us before.
Every race has the right, and obligation, to control its own destiny. The two cannot be separated.
I know, reap what you sow. We might be too aggressive, and not progress as fast as we ought, but I want Corpus to know I am
immensely proud of our compassion. No matter how fabulous your technology is, what counts is how it’s used.
We acknowledge your criticism. It is one that is levelled at us constantly. Given our position it is inevitable.
He sighed and looked up at the arc again.
We’ll get here eventually.
Of that we are sure. After all, you have already made a start.
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery,
Joshua said.
So I guess that means you’re not all bad after all.
Jay appeared on the chalet veranda carrying a bulging shoulder bag. She shouted and waved, then charged down the steps.
“Is her mother all right?” Tracy asked urgently.
“She’s treatable,” Joshua said. “That’s all I can say. I’ve stopped intervening now. It’s just too damn tempting. Not that
the singularity would permit much more.”
“It doesn’t need any more. Corpus analysed what you’ve done. You made some smart moves. The current economic structure won’t
survive.”
“I provided the opportunity for change, plus one small active measure. What happens after… well, let’s just say, I have faith.”
______
Jed and Beth stayed with Marie in the hospital waiting room. Beth wasn’t exactly overjoyed about that, she would have loved
to see Tranquillity’s park. But Gari, Navar, and Webster were settled in the paediatric wing which wasn’t far away. She didn’t
know what was going to happen to any of them next, but then right now that applied to a lot of the human race. There were
worse places to be cast ashore.
The doctor who’d met the bus came out of the emergency treatment centre. “Marie?”
“Yes?” She looked up at him, bright with hope.
“I’m terribly sorry, there was nothing we could do.”
Marie’s mouth parted silently, she covered her face with her hands and started sobbing.
“What happened to him?” Beth said.
“There was some kind of nanonic filament web in his brain,” the doctor said. “Its molecular structure had broken down. Disintegration
caused a massive amount of damage. In fact, I really don’t understand how he could have survived at all. You said he’s been
with you for weeks?”
“Yes.”
“Ah well, we’ll do a postmortem, of course. But I doubt we’ll learn much. I think it’s a symptom of the times.”
“Thanks.”
The doctor smiled briskly. “The counselor will be along in a moment. Marie will have the best help possible to overcome this.
Don’t you worry.”
“Great.” She saw the way Jed was looking at Marie, as though he wanted to be crying with her, or for her, sparing her the
burden.
“Jed, we’re done here,” Beth said.
“What do you mean?” he asked in puzzlement.
“It’s over. Are you coming?”
He looked from her to Marie. “But we can’t leave her.”
“Why, Jed? What is she to us?”
“She was Kiera, she was everything we dreamed of, Beth, a new start, somewhere decent.”
“This is Marie Skibbow, and she’ll hate Kiera for the rest of her life.”
“We can’t give up now. The three of us can start Dead-night again, for real this time. There were thousands of people just
like us who wanted what she promised. They’ll come again.”
“Right.” Beth turned and marched out of the waiting room, paying no heed to his braying calls behind her. She hurried for
the lift, her heart lifting at the prospect of finally seeing the lush parkland with its sparkling circumfluous sea.
I’m young, I’m free, I’m in Tranquillity, and I’m definitely not going back to bloody Koblat.
It was a great beginning.
______
The Assembly Chamber was deathly silent as the vote was taken. The ambassadors on the floor were first to register.
From his seat at the Polity Council table, Samual Aleksandrovich watched the tally rise. There were several abstentions, of
course, and the names were no surprise to him: Kulu, Oshanko, New Washington, Mazaliv, several of their close allies. No more
than twenty, though, which made the First Admiral smile contentedly. In diplomatic terms that was as good as a censure motion
in itself, a sharp warning to the larger powers.
The ambassadors of the Polity Council entered their vote. Samual Aleksandrovich was last, pressing the button in front of
him, and seeing the last digit click over on the big board. Ridiculous anachronism, he thought, though certainly dramatic
enough.
The Assembly speaker got to his feet and gave the President a nervous little bow. Olton Haaker stared straight ahead, not
meeting anyone’s gaze.
“The motion that this house has no confidence in the President is carried by seven hundred and ninety-eight votes, with none
against.”
______
Durringham had never recovered from the devastation wrought by Chas Paske. It was the docks and warehouse sector which had
born the brunt of the water’s impact. Not that they’d stopped the onrush. Debris from their disintegrating frames had formed
a black speckle crest on the wave as it surged on into the town’s main commercial district. The wooden buildings with their
minimal foundations had crumpled instantly. Three dumpers had been knocked over and pushed along.
A kilometre inland, the resistance offered by energistically reinforced walls managed to protect the buildings, though the
mud on which they lay was siphoned away, dragging them back towards the Juliffe as the waters retreated. When they’d drained
away, Durringham was left with a broad semicircle of destruction eating right into the heart of the town, a swamp with a million
filthy splinters sticking upwards. Bodies lay among them, caked in drying mud and slowly decomposing in the dreadful humidity.
Despite this, Durringham continued to function as an urban centre all the time Lalonde was hidden away in a realm outside
the universe. Like Norfolk’s, its essentially low tech nature allowed its inhabitants to carry on along virtually the same
lines as before. Boats continued to sail up and down the Juliffe, crops were sown and harvested, timber cut and sawn.
Now it was back in the universe. The humidity and daily rains returned with a vengeance. And with the thick carpet of weeds
chopped away from the metal grid runway, space-planes were arriving once again. They were complemented by Kiint craft, small
blunt ovoids that flew up and down the Juliffe and its myriad tributaries collecting people from the villages and delivering
them to Durringham. Over two thousand of them were performing ambulance duties, racing round at hypersonic velocity, scanning
the jungle for any remaining humans.