Gateways 07_ What Lay Beyond - Diane Carey [89]
“More or less, yes.”
She took that in for a moment, and then threw her arms wide as if blocking a football pass and cried out, “Are you insane?!”
“I don’t think so,” he said, trying to sound reasonable.
“Mac, the gateways take people through space and, occasionally, time! They don’t transport you to mythical places! Places like…”
“Tuscaloosa?” he suggested.
She moaned. “No, that’s a real place,” she said, sagging back against a boulder.
“Really? Where?”
“Arizona, or maybe Alabama… some damned state. I don’t remember.”
“The point is, Eppy, that this place is Kaz’hera. The big guy who came out of the tent I was in… that’s my father.”
She was silent for a moment when he told her that. Then, very softly, she said, “Mac… I know your losing your father at a young age was traumatic for you… but…”
“But what? What are you implying? That I’m imagining it? I’m having a dream, and you’re in it with me?”
“Believe it or not, Mac,” she said, folding her arms, “I find that easier to believe than what you’re suggesting.”
“Eppy… Kaz’hera is where Xenexian heroes, cut down in battle, go to die. When you first arrive,” he said, as if reciting a beloved bedtime story, “you have to survive to see your first sunset in Kaz’hera. If you don’t, you keep going back to the point where you left off. And once you’ve done that, you awaken every morning to a day of warfare and battle. And it doesn’t matter if you get hurt, or if you die, because come the sunset, the day ends and the next morning you wake up and it’s a new day. And the only thing you remember from the day before is anything that you’ve learned that’s of immediate use. Otherwise you continually, blissfully spend every day for the rest of eternity engaged in pleasant and endless mayhem.”
“I see. I see.” She smiled in a way that looked, to Calhoun, like it was just shy of patronizing. “And why just out of curiosity did all those men attack you? I mean, you were their warlord once upon a time, right? Of at least some of them, I mean. And you obtained freedom for their world. So one would think they’d have some loyalty to you.”
“Taking a guess,” he said ruefully, scratching his chin, “they’re probably carrying grudges. I mean, yes, I led Xenex to freedom, ultimately. But I also led a lot of men to their deaths. They may take pride in the manner of their death, but no one is going to be enthused about the actuality of dying. After all, that means they didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. I recognized a good number of the men there, in that crowd. They looked angry with me. So I suppose they took the opportunity to avenge themselves on me. But I doubt they’ll carry grudges. Carrying a grudge for eternity is simply too much work.”
Having said that, he waited for her reaction, and found it to be exactly what he suspected it was going to be: an amused shaking of her head. She was dismissing it out of hand. He supposed he couldn’t entirely blame her. “Mac, it’s ridiculous. We can’t be someplace that’s not real.”
“I agree with you. Which leads us to one conclusion…”
She stared at him, the amused smile slowly vanishing from her face.
“You’re saying that this… this…”
“Kaz’hera.”
“This Kaz’hera… that it’s real.”
“As real as Tuscaloosa.”
“And… we’re dead, is what you’re saying.”
“I’m not sure about that one,” he admitted. “I mean, it’s possible that we simply froze to death… but if that’s the case, then I’m not sure why you’d be here, since you’re not Xenexian. So far more likely that we came through the gateway”
“Straight to the eternal playground of your youth. And what’s next, Mac? Hmmm?” She put her hands on her hips and gave him a defiant look. “Maybe we’ll find our way back to the gateway, jump through, and find ourselves in heaven, face-to-face with God.”
“Is that what this is about, Eppy?” he demanded. “You have trouble believing in higher powers, and as a consequence, all this is too much for you to cope with?”
“I cope with being your wife, Calhoun.