Chapter Seventy-Four

No matter the excellence of your skills, no matter how superior you think you are, there is always someone who surpasses you, and there is always someone to outdo him as well. It is this way across the entire galaxy, and throughout every eon of time. Most of us think there is only one zenith of attainment, in God Almighty. But is he the supreme being of only one galaxy? Or are there other galaxies, and superior gods?

—Scienscroll Apocrypha

Probing with his mind, Noah determined that someone had sealed the entrance to the navigation chamber, undoubtedly the mysterious, barely discernible adversary who had taken control of the podship away from him. He remembered being inside the core room, and now his memory scanned over every feature he had seen in there earlier, the glowing, pale green walls, with veins of gray and black, and a small, bright green patch high on one wall.

During the struggle for control of the vessel, his tiny opponent had moved with blurring speed, climbing a wall to the bright green section, and had done something there to take control away from him. But what had been done there?

As he continued to probe now, he could not see that section, or anything at all inside the navigation chamber. His thoughts moved around the outside of the sealed enclosure and he noted how it was connected by a thick membrane to the rest of the sentient spaceship. Finally, he noticed that a small portion of the mottled gray exterior of the chamber was a slightly different color, a shade of bright green.

Could this be the other side of the green patch on the other side? He wasn’t certain. Previously, the spot had been high on a wall, and this was lower. But could it have shifted position?

Focusing all of his energy on the bright green section, he tried to use it as an entrance to the chamber. He visualized penetrating it and going through, as if his thoughts were a laser cutting device.

Moments passed, with no apparent effect.

Then, abruptly, the thick flesh began to pulse and throb, and Noah heard a squeal, as if from a yelping animal. The flesh quivered, and parted to reveal an opening. Noah shot through, into the interior of the navigation chamber.

I’m in! he thought.

But looking back at the patch, which was also bright green on this side, Noah saw to his dismay that he had injured the creature. The flesh was torn and oozed clear liquid, giving the surface a sickly sheen. Cautiously, Noah’s shadowy, remote-controlled form floated back to the spot and placed a hand over the wound. He felt moisture, a bit of warmth, and the agitation of the podship.

I’m sorry, Noah thought.

The creature shuddered. Then, as if able to read the intruder’s thoughts, the podship grew calmer. In a few seconds, the wound began to heal, and the injured tissue faded, closing the opening.

Cautiously, Noah withdrew his ghostlike touch, and drifted back to the center of the chamber. There could be no more exotic control center in the entire galaxy than the one he occupied now. All his life he had wondered how these sentient space vessels operated, and now he felt the mystery revealing itself to him, opening up like the petals of a magnificent flower.

Physically, he knew he wasn’t really inside the navigation chamber at all, that he still stood beside Anton and Tesh in the cargo hold of the podship. He had extended himself to the chamber by what he could only call mental projection, an expansion of his mind that permitted him to travel telepathically, just as he had previously journeyed across vast stretches of the galaxy. All of it had all been very real, not a dream at all.

The days when Noah had performed ecological recovery operations with his Guardians seemed like long ago to him, but they weren’t, really; only a matter of weeks, or perhaps months. He had lost track of time, at least the way he had measured it previously. That all seemed like a prior incarnation to him, operating under different, less meaningful, parameters.

He sensed something around him now, the powerful psychic presence of very alien creatures who had been inside this chamber before him; commanding the mysterious podship, piloting it across the galaxy. Then a powerful thought projected itself into his awareness, overwhelming all others.

I am the first of my race to accomplish this.

He found the realization exhilarating, and something else, even more so. He didn’t understand how he knew it, but he had an eerie, undeniable sensation that his power to command podships was greater than that of any other pilot in history. For a while—as he developed his extrasensory ability—an unknown adversary had been able to keep him at bay and maintain control of the vessel, but that time was gone. No one could ever do it to him again.

The sensation gave him pause. He needed to use his new power well, and carefully.

His vision clouded over, then cleared. In his mind he held the image of the podship’s interior, from bow to stern, as if he could see through the creature’s tough skin. He felt his power and dominance permeating the entire vessel, entering every cell of the sentient creature.

He saw Tesh running across the cargo hold, then into a passageway.

What is she doing? he wondered.

Abruptly, she seemed to disappear.

Refocusing, he saw her in a much smaller form, climbing walls like an insect, frantically looking for something she could no longer find: the entrance to the navigation chamber. Now he knew the identity of his adversary.

And he smiled to himself.

O O O

Noah’s mind controlled his body.

In itself, this was not a revolutionary concept, since the minds of all creatures controlled their bodily movements. But in Noah’s case, his cognitive center could roam great distances beyond his corporal form, and still move the body by remote control. After Tesh ran off he sent a telepathic command causing his physical self to walk calmly to the grid-plane and climb the short staircase into the craft. It was a peculiar sensation, like a puppet master operating strings.

Then, filling the navigation chamber with his mental energy, he set the podship into motion. Following his thought commands the vessel hyper-accelerated onto the podways.

O O O

Another extraordinary event was about to occur.

Thinking back on it afterward, Noah would not recall being aware of the crisis beforehand. Perhaps the temporary fusion of his mind with the consciousness of the podship had caused a state of hyper-awareness, an ability to see something far away and react to it in a fraction of a second. Maybe time stood still and permitted it all to happe;, something to do with the vast galactic web and the space-time continuum. In his mind, the possibilities were as limitless as the stars in the sky.

Anyone looking at a chart of the galaxy would see that the remote region where Tesh had taken the podship was a long way from the scene of the crisis. But podships could cross great distances in little more than the blink of an eye, so the customary ways of thinking were not always useful. Alternate thought processes were required; different ways of looking at things.

Certainly, all was not as it appeared to be, and Noah was not the only one to notice it and wonder at the possibilities.

According to Eshaz, Noah Watanabe was the most remarkable human being ever born, and his life had been well worth the risk the web caretaker had taken in saving it. Only a short time after receiving the mysterious healing treatment administered by the Tulyan, Noah had been able to take a fantastic mental journey across the galaxy—and perhaps that continuing ability—combined with his innate sense of goodness, led to the remarkable events that took place in the hazy atmosphere over a remote planet: Ovinegg.

A world where the inhabitants used to wait for treasure hunters to fall out of the sky and save them with nets, had become a ghost planet, its population devastated by plagues. But many of those facts would not surface until later. Still, on some level Noah, and perhaps the podship to which he was linked, might have had this information, at some level of consciousness.

Or, in a universe of chance, that’s exactly what it was: mere happenstance.

But no matter the reasons, which were always debatable, the reality could not be denied. Only seconds after three people tumbled out of a spacefaring vessel that had entered the lower atmosphere of Ovinegg, a flash of green split the sky beneath them, and the daredevils never reached the ground.

The podship absorbed them into its skin and dropped them gently into its passenger compartment. Then it continued on its way, leaping back onto the podways and accelerating.

O O O

Noah could not explain what had happened, but in the moments after the rescue he felt that he again had control of the vessel. With uncertainties and questions swimming through his mind, he directed the podship across space to the pod station orbiting Canopa—a cross-space journey of only a few more minutes.

Inside the grid-plane, Noah sat in one of the passenger seats with his eyes closed. He felt an odd sensation as his thoughts occupied two places at once, and he sensed that even more was possible. The idea amazed and frightened him. In the passenger compartment of the podship, he saw two young men leaning over a gray-bearded man who lay on the deck, tending to him. Something seemed to be wrong. The image faded.

Opening his eyes, Noah saw Tesh seated beside him. She was saying something to him but he only saw her lips moving, and didn’t hear her voice. She seemed upset. Something clicked in his ears, like a pressure change, and he heard her.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” she demanded.

“What?”

“What do you know about this?”

“About the trip to Canopa, you mean?”

“That’s where we are?”

“We’ll discuss it later,” he said. Then, looking at Dr. Bichette, he said, “Go to the passenger compartment of the podship and see what you can do. A man needs your attention.”

Bichette frowned. “But all of us are aboard this grid-plane, in the cargo hold.”

“It’s someone else. Go! Now!”

Looking perplexed, the doctor hurried away.

Turning to his rotund adjutant, Noah said, “When Bichette returns, Subi, I want you to off-load this grid-plane from the podship.”

“Are we going down to Canopa, sir?” The big man slipped into the command chair, began checking the controls.

“That is my intent,” Noah said.

“But it’s too dangerous down there,” Tesh sputtered.

“I need to check on the Guardians,” Noah said. “They’re at risk because of me, and I need to go to them. The Doge and my sister have captured some, and others have taken refuge in the forests near our compound.”

“How do you know all that?”

Without answering her, not telling her what he had overheard Francella and the Doge say during Noah’s own fantastic mental journey through the galaxy, he said instead, “Maybe I can find enough of our people to organize a resistance movement. This may be too dangerous for the rest of you, so you can leave anytime you wish.”

Noah’s companions fell silent, as his comments sank in.

Presently, Noah took Tesh and Anton aside, and said to them, “Remember, you told me the Diggers had made a tunnel system that honeycombed much of my compound? Could you draw me a map, using the ship’s computer system?”

“Maybe,” Anton said. “We’ve been in those tunnels chasing the Diggers and shutting them down, but they were just burrowing in all directions, without any organized plan.”

“If you could recall the main passageways, including any beneath my old administration buildings, that would be a big help.” It occurred to Noah that he might journey there mentally, but he did not feel entirely comfortable—or safe—in that realm yet. The rapid growth of his paranormal powers opened up an exciting new realm to him, but it was also terrifying, like walking a tightrope between extreme mental clarity and complete lunacy. For now, he preferred to obtain the information this way.

“I think we could do that,” Tesh said, “between the two of us.”

“All right,” Noah said. “Get to work on it.”

Presently, Dr. Bichette returned to the grid-plane, accompanied by two teenage boys. “We’ve got a dead man in the passenger compartment,” the doctor said. “These young people were with him, and are telling a fantastic story, that they were plucked out of thin air and taken aboard. It sounds like a lot of gibberish to me, but I want you to hear it for yourself.”

Gazing beyond the doctor, Noah met the gazes of the two youths he had previously remote-viewed in the passenger compartment. They appeared to be confused, and were obviously quite upset at the death of their companion. They exchanged introductions with Noah and the others, then repeated their story for Noah, adding details.

After listening intently, Noah had little to say in response. He decided privately that the matter would require more thought and analysis, in a manner that he could best do on his own.

“You’re free to go,” Noah said to the boys, “or we can take you into our organization.” He identified himself and provided them with basic information about the Guardians and their ecological mission, but didn’t mention what he had in mind yet, an attempt to reestablish his operations on Canopa.

Acey Zelk described again how he and his cousin had jumped out of the treasure ship with the captain, and asked what had happened to them, how they had been pulled out of the air.

“We’re not sure,” Noah said, and this was mostly true. He saw no benefit in speculation, or in saying anything more about the matter.

“We’re treasure hunters,” Dux Hannah said, “but I’d say we’re out of a job now. Speaking for Acey here—and he’s gotten me into trouble by speaking for me—I’d say you have two new recruits, Mr. Watanabe.”

“First I need to tell you more about what you’re getting into,” Noah said. “I’m heading into real danger, going after the people who stole my property and killed the Guardians who worked for me. Our enemies are powerful, the Doge Lorenzo himself, and my own turncoat sister.”

Acey whistled. “Sounds worse than jumping out of a ship with no parachute.”

“Could be,” Noah said. He looked around the compartment, at the others. “I think I know what Subi’s answer is, but I’m giving all of you, including him, the opportunity to leave right now. If necessary, I’ll proceed without any of you. I can fly this grid-plane myself, maybe not as well as Subi, but I can get it down to the surface, and the on-board scanning system should enable me elude the Doge’s surveillance grid. The risk is obvious, but it’s critical for me to get down there and rally the Guardians against the schemes of Lorenzo and my sister.”

“I’m with you, Master Noah,” Subi said, without any hesitation.

“So am I,” Anton said, from a chair at the computer terminal.

“We are, too,” Dux said. Beside him, Acey nodded.

Looking at Eshaz and seeing him nod his large, scaly head, Noah didn’t need to hear him speak to know he would risk his own life with theirs. The two of them had an affinity that transcended galactic races and star systems, and even time itself. Noah felt like they had been friends forever, though he knew that could not possibly be the case. The Guardian leader sensed extreme dangers ahead of him—it could be a suicide mission—but he had to face these particular enemies himself and not flee or send in surrogates to do his bidding.

“I’m not getting off this ride yet,” Tesh said. She made an adjustment to the tunnel map that Anton was drawing on the computer.

Staring at Dr. Bichette, whose silence had been palpable, Noah said, “We have no real need for your services any more, so I wish I could allow you to return to your home on Canopa. Unfortunately, I can’t do that, though, because you’re a security risk. Even if you tried to keep your mouth shut, the Doge would take you in for questioning in his notorious Gaol of Brimrock.”

The doctor shot a lingering look at his old girlfriend, then scowled and asked, “How old are you, anyway? You’ve never told me.”

“And I never will,” she answered, with a sly smile.

Noah thought about her broken relationships with Dr. Hurk Bichette and the shaky subsequent relationship with Anton Glavine. He didn’t want to be the next victim on her trail of broken hearts, but couldn’t help the feelings of attraction that he felt for her.

Standing in front of Noah with her hands on her hips, Tesh said, “The only reason I’m sticking around is because you have some explaining to do.”

“I see it the other way around,” he snapped.

She bit her lip and muttered to herself. A mixture of emotions played across her face: shock, anger, and confusion.

As Noah saw the situation, the two of them were growing farther and farther apart. In one respect, he thought this was a shame, since he was attracted to her, though he would never admit his feelings to anyone, or act on them. Honoring Anton’s obvious love for her, Noah wanted to keep his distance from any entanglement. In the past she had been flirtatious toward him, but he couldn’t imagine having any relationship with her.

“So, you’re with me, Tesh?” Noah asked.

“I just said I was.” Angrily, she looked away.

With an exasperated sigh, Noah gave instructions for Anton and the boys to bring the dead captain on board the grid-plane so that they could make proper arrangements for his body.

O O O

Half an hour later, Subi guided the grid-plane out of the cargo hold and into a docking berth of the pod station, where they connected and awaited their turn to depart. There were other grid-planes in the berths of this busy facility, and larger merchant vessels. Four large podships loomed in the central docking bay, including their own craft.

“Uh oh,” Subi said. He pointed through the front window, and Noah saw around a dozen Red Beret officers on a nearby platform, looking at Noah’s grid-plane and talking among themselves.

“Our ship is still painted Guardian colors,” Anton said.

The Red Beret commander did not take long to make his decision. He and his men hurried to board their own ship, several berths away.

Subi activated his weapons system, causing panels to slide open on the side of the grid-plane, revealing high caliber puissant guns. The barrels glowed blue. At a nod from Noah, Subi backed out into the airless vacuum of the docking bay. Just as the Red Beret vessel attempted to do the same, Subi opened fire on it, riddling the hull with holes.

A weapons panel opened on the Red Beret craft, but too late. Subi’s shots struck their mark, and the vessel exploded in a ball of blue and orange. Debris and the bodies of the Doge’s soldiers floated in the docking bay.

One of the nearby merchant vessels was hit by the explosion, and within seconds small robots scurried onto the hull, making repairs. The damage appeared to be superficial, and not near the engines. Then an odd assortment of sentient machines streamed out of that craft and others moored by it; scurrying through airlocks onto the walkway. The machines were dented, scuffed, and dull. They looked like refugees from a scrap pile, but were moving efficiently, and took positions on the walkway.

Just then, more Red Beret soldiers appeared on the walkway, running toward empty airlocks, including the one where Noah’s grid-plane had been berthed. The men wore breather shields over their faces, which would permit them to open the airlocks and fire through them.

But the sentient machines lifted their robotic arms in synchronization, and their hands became an assortment of glistening weapons: guns, mini-crossbows, and dart shooters. They opened fire on the Red Berets, cutting them down on the walkway and in the airlocks.

“We have unexpected allies,” Noah said. He and Subi scanned the ships and walkways, looking for more opponents. None appeared. The machines mopped up the rest of the soldiers, killing them to the last, while only losing a couple from their own ranks.

“Who are those guys?” Anton said.

“I don’t know,” Noah responded. The engines of several machine vessels were firing, glowing orange in their exhaust tubes.

Then he recalled the fantastic mental excursion he had taken, when he saw podships crossing the galaxy, and one of them was filled with robot ships journeying from the Inn of the White Sun to Canopa. These must be the same sentient machines, a small army of them. And they had come to his aid. But he kept the information to himself for the moment.

Now most of the armed robots reboarded their ships, but some stayed on the body-strewn walkway. One of the machines became apparent now, the flat-bodied robot that Noah remembered seeing in his earlier vision. The others gathered around him and waved their mechanical hands—no longer showing weapons—in the direction of Noah’s grid-plane.

“Pull back into the dock,” Noah ordered. “Let’s see why they helped us.”