The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [25]
‘Interesting,’ said the semiorganic. ‘Just to be clear, all this took place while the Robert-sim and the Rosa-sim infiltrated the Achorga nestworld and retrieved the Zyradin.’
‘Correct.’
‘And Robert-sim was unaware of his sim nature, is that true?’
‘Indeed – it was a valuable opportunity to gauge the mind-state reactions without that knowledge.’
The semiorganic nodded. ‘So, to resume.’
‘Robert followed the Shyntanil renegade’s course data, made the jump, and on arrival, the Ship told him that they were underwater.’
‘Large bodies of water are rare, especially in the mid-level hyperspace tiers and below.’
‘Rare and inevitably artificial,’ the Construct said. ‘The water filled a winding cavernous tunnel under zero-gee conditions. Horst’s ship navigated a way along with external illumination for his benefit, till the tunnel opened out to an immense mega-ocean. Which is where he found a planet.’
On the screen the recording resumed. Horst was now leaning forward, his face intense with recall and his hands making emphatic gestures as he spoke.
‘It was … unexpected, and weirdly beautiful, a glowing blue orb. Moments after we came upon it the Ship told me that it was detecting almost no mass or local gravitational effects, therefore we were seeing a mirage or projection of some kind. I ordered a magnification of the surface and saw the details of coastlines and islands, then mountains and forests, then the unmistakable patterns of habitation and cultivated land. I could see the webs of transport routes, the dark regularities of towns and cities. Even powered aircraft flying above the clouds. I remember wondering who would go to such trouble to create an image of something like this, and moments later the Ship reported something approaching.’
Next to the image of Horst, another frame was showing vid excerpts from the Ship’s own archives, the looming vastness of that world, its detailed surface visible in shades of blue. Then there was an object rising quickly from the surface, a speck that grew into a creature’s form. Its upper half was vaguely humanoid, a torso with a head and arms, while the lower part spread out in tentacle limbs. It too was blue, its form opaque.
On screen, Horst shook his head. ‘It was identical to the Intercessor, the being we encountered in the Urcudrel Seam on Tier 92.’
‘Where you were sent by the Bargalil mystic, Sunflow Oscillant?’
The Human nodded. ‘That was where the first Rosa-sim sacrificed herself to destroy a Legion Knight cyborg.’ Horst gave a bleak smile. ‘And all we got from the Intercessor was course data that led us into a trap … anyway, as the immense figure drew near, the Ship told me that this too was a projection, then said it was picking up strange energy readings just before the creature spoke.
‘It said, “You intrude upon the dead” in a voice I heard in my head. As it approached I realised that it was huge, several times the size of my ship.’
The screen showed the immense tentacular being – or projection – hovering before the Construct ship. Then the recording showed a sequence of shots taken from different angles, from sensors on the hull.
‘I didn’t know what to say,’ Horst went on. ‘The strangest silence held sway for a few moments, then it said, “Forgive me but I must discern the tides of your truths.” Then everything froze.
‘Afterwards, the Ship assured me that there had been no lag, no break in time. But in that instant I sensed a force moving through me like a million needles of light, prying, exposing, studying, moving on, as if I and the ship had become translucent … ’ Horst frowned, pursing his lips. ‘Then it was over and my breathing was back. I was angry but the