Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [110]
‘Ride with me, lad.’
‘Yes, sir.’ He urged the mare forward, buttoning his coat against the north wind.
When they camped that night Xane found the ground cold and hard to sleep on. He shivered in his blankets for hours before moving closer to the banked fire. The sound of mountain bears roaring in the distant valleys filled his dreams and a near panic took him. Again the creatures dwelling in the depths of his mind tried to claw their way up to the rim of his awareness. Heart pounding, he watched their struggle, paralysed against any action to aid or thwart. It has to be the hemlock. The poison’s still in me. But his conviction didn’t ring true. Something else was going on and he needed to discover what it was. I feel like I have to warn someone.
Whom did he want to warn? Temple Dumarka? And warn them of what? Dumarka was the enemy. No wonder Willem and the Stable Master had their doubts about him. He was starting to sound like a traitor even to himself. Could there be a spell on him? Some witch’s glamour? He shut his eyes against the thought and slowly the demons in his mind slid back down into the abyss, disappearing from sight like rain down the side of a well. Xane exhaled long and slow, curled up into a ball and finally fell asleep.
Kreshkali opened her eyes, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. ‘This isn’t how I envisioned it.’
‘What is it, love?’ An’ Lawrence put his arms around her and for a brief moment she allowed herself the comfort. He held her until she stiffened, moving away. His hands fell to his sides. ‘Let’s hear it,’ he said. ‘It can’t be worse than what I’m imagining right now.’
She lifted her eyes. ‘It is.’
He pulled out a chair for her and took the one next to it. ‘Then tell me quickly so I can share the burden.’
She nodded, re-reading the translation aloud: ‘My daughter, my daughter’s daughter. I trust there was no difficulty in accessing these notes? You understand the need for concealment?’
‘So well concealed we nearly couldn’t get to them. Did she think her technology would last forever?’ An’ Lawrence interrupted.
‘She hoped our magic would, and it did.’ Kreshkali read on: ‘The re-boot sequence for the juxta-quantum-arranged RAD RAM operating determinant is laid out below. Realise it has never been done before—these are conceptualised, untried notions that so far operate in theory only. If you’re reading this, it’s about to be put to the test. I wish I were there to see the results.
‘I’m the only one who has successfully linked with the quantum computers thus far, though that was easy enough once the nano-devices were in place. For you it is a matter of re-visualising the unlocking of the quantum keys. Below is the image you’ll need to focus on and the mantra that will take you to a theta brainwave cycle. I trust you meditate regularly? If you are going to do this, be aware of the inherent risks. I don’t know what will happen to your consciousness when the JARROD comes back online.’
‘What does she mean—comes online?’ An’ Lawrence asked. ‘And, computers?’
‘It does sound like she’d made more than one. I think she means when the spell is activated, when the backup CPU is engaged, Jarrod effectively boots up on the spot.’
‘On the spot?’
‘In the body.’
‘You mean in Rosette’s body?’
She nodded, pinching the notes in her hand, reading the rest of the translation. ‘This is a labour of love, my daughter. A sacrifice. You’re giving up your body for JARROD. When you make the decision to do this, there is no going back.’
‘What?’ An’ Lawrence said. ‘You’re saying Grayson’s right? To recover Jarrod we lose Rosette?’
She let the page slide from her hand. ‘If I’d known this, I would not have passed the spell on.’
‘You had to,’ he said, his voice flat.
‘Eventually, of course, but I could have