Chalker, Jack L. – Well of Souls 05 – Twilight at the Well of Souls

Bache, near the Dahir Border

GYPSY PULLED DEEPLY ON A CIGARETTE, THE GLOW lighting up his face in an odd, supernatural effect. The only other light came from the reddish glow that ema­nated from Marquoz’s alien eyes.

Nathan Brazil lit a small torch and studied the scene. “I think it’s safe enough right here,” he told the others, and they agreed.

The Gedemondans had called Mavra “sort of” a cow, but to Brazil there was very little qualification. Spotted brown and white, she had all the bovine fea­tures, and despite being a little shaggy-haired and having two small horns, twisted like the hakak’s, into conchlike spirals, she was the same sort of animal as before. He sympathized with her, and by the light of the torch she turned her massive head to study them with eyes that were, he knew, weak, very near-sighted, and color-blind.

She had been less shocked by the transfer than most people would have been; she had been through trans­formations several times before, not all deliberate or painless. She had waited, then, until they had come at dawn to let the cows out to pasture, and had found it very easy to just go with the herd, let the cow part of her take control, and get out into the hills. From that point she had something of an internal struggle with the cow mind as she tried to assume con­trol and force it away, while doing it as slowly and naturally as possible.

The Gedemondans had met her at a predetermined spot, a small pool used by cows and other livestock out of sight of the ranch house, and had gone with her, breaching the fence when they came to it and continu­ing down an isolated route to the border.

The Gedemondans, she had noticed, seemed weak and somewhat disoriented and had to stop often. At first she had thought it was just the night’s tension catching up to them, but then she realized it was far more than that. Whatever they had done to get her into this body took enormous power and concentra­tion. They all looked much older, somehow, than they had before their efforts on her behalf.

Their condition did not improve in the post-midnight darkness. Even Brazil and the others, who had had no previous experience with Gedemondans and there­fore no direct method of comparison, could see the change. Brazil thought back to the Murnies, so long ago, and recalled now that the elders who could do the transference spent half their lives learning the skill that was enough to do them in when used only once or twice. Still, there was an idea in the back of his mind that had started with a tiny glimmer of devious light when he had first heard of Mavra’s transference. Though well worth trying, he just wished he felt bet­ter asking it, for he now knew the price.

“How many of your people are around?” he asked the Gedemondan communicator.

“Twelve total,” the white creature responded, “in­cluding myself and the other communicator there.”

“And it takes a minimum of three of you to do this transference?”

The Gedemondan nodded. “Yes, three.”

He looked over at the weary Gedemondan party, now slumped against the trees. “Would using more of you in such an operation lessen the, ah, impact?”

The communicator saw where he was leading. “No, I don’t think so. Which of you are you consider­ing for this?”

His eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. “You mean she could be transferred again? I thought the strain would be too much.”

“Actually, it would be somewhat easier,” the Gede­mondan told him. “She is not a natural part of the body, nor has she been in it long enough to get to­tally entwined. Part of the problem is identifying and gathering together all of the soul—much easier with a body alien to it than with one of which it is a part.”

He nodded, but hesitated, looking again at the tired, worn Gedemondans who had given so much of themselves in the rescue. He didn’t like to ask others to go through that.

The communicator understood. “It is all right,” he consoled gently. “You see, we believe in what you are doing. It is necessary, it is important. We’ve kept apart from the rest of the Well World, true, and would still if all were going smoothly. It is not, though. Even at that, we might have been tempted to stay re­moved from this as we have from all other conflicts, but there is an overriding consideration here that im­pels us to do anything and everything to make certain you succeed.”

Brazil looked up at the creature in puzzlement. “Overriding consideration?”

The Gedemondan nodded. “You see, Captain, we have devoted the entire energy of our race to ex­ploring the ways of the universe, the ways of the Well, and, most important, exploring the innermost part of every sentient being, the soul. We have learned much, but we have also learned that there are things beyond us, bound as we are here on the Well World. An en­tire world of our own, a huge race that could know and understand struggle, hardships, and the reality of the rest of the universe beyond this tiny artificial bub­ble—that is the only way to progress, to get to the real truths about ourselves.”

“Well, you have one, somewhere,” Brazil pointed out.

“We do not,” the Gedemondan told him sadly. “There was an error, something, some factor that was overlooked in our preparation here for a real existence out there. We died out—quickly. There does not even seem to have been a second generation.”

“How do you know all that?” Brazil asked him. “I mean, even I don’t know that, and wouldn’t without getting deep into the machinery. You couldn’t pos­sibly know.”

“We know,” the creature assured him. “Each con­struct in the universe has its own intricate mathematical codes. We can sense those codes, read them, so to speak. We know the codes are consistent, and we can trace individual races out there from their counter­parts on the Well World, even identify a large number of races no longer on the Well World at all, at least in a mathematical sense. And when the race is no longer in existence, there is a gap, a noticeable dis­continuity.”

Brazil was fascinated. “You mean you can actually read the Well’s code?”

“To an extent, yes,” the Gedemondan admitted. “It is due to that ability that we can use some of the Well’s potential ourselves, more or less in the Mar­kovian manner. It’s how we can sometimes foretell future trends, spot key people, do such things as the transfer and blind others’ minds. You can see the frustration. To be so close to the Markovian abilities and understanding—yet, that close and no closer, for we can not expand, grow, or get into a position where we can look at the situation from the other end, from the universe itself. And that, of course, is why we must help you in any way possible.”

Nathan Brazil considered what the creature was saying, then broke into a slight smile. He shook his head slowly and pointed an accusatory finger at the communicator. “You want me to start over,” he said with a mixture of amazement and amusement. “You want to try it again.” So much for altruism, he thought sourly. The same old self-centered elitist bastards were still in charge. He wondered idly how different the so­ciety and culture of Gedemondas was from some of the old Com worlds. Still, it made things even easier.

“Look,” he explained, “we have two problems here. One is that Mavra is in no current condition to travel and is likely, if she stays this way, to wind up as some­body’s barbecue. The second is that Gunit Sangh will be looking for me to make a break now and he’ll have patrols and everything he can think of waiting for me. Had things not unraveled when they did, I probably could have done it with few problems. The original plan, as far as it goes, is still sound. The only way in is to fly.”

“So you want to get made up as an Agitar, maybe, and then make Mavra your pegasus?” Gypsy guessed. “It’s not a bad idea, if she’s agreeable.”

Mavra’s head turned and she gave out a very cow-like “Moo,” which was indecipherable.

“Well, that would have been a good idea if we were still following the original script, but I think they’re on to that kind of thing now. I don’t have the advantages of the Com here, particularly not out here in the mid­dle of nowhere. No costume we could come up with would stand close inspection, and Sangh’s no dummy. He’ll force down any creature even remotely resem­bling me, just for insurance. No, let’s be a little bit trickier than that. Let’s make both Mavra and me pegasuses.”

“But you won’t be able to speak,” Marquoz noted. “To everyone else you’ll be just dumb animals.”

“Then they—we’ll—have to have riders,” Brazil replied.

“The few such creatures we have were mostly stolen,” the Hakazit pointed out. “I’m not sure how much we can trust the Agitar riders.”

“Not Agitar,” he told them. “A Gedemondan, for sure, since we have to have some method, no matter how basic, to communicate if necessary.” He looked at the communicator. “I assume something of that sort is possible?”

The communicator nodded. “By laying of hands, in a basic way,” he replied slowly, “the Gedemondan would then become the conduit for both conversa­tions—but it would work, I think. Still, why not two of us?”

“You’re useful, but you’re not fighters,” he told the great creature realistically. “Somebody ought to be along who can shoot a variety of things.”

“We are not defenseless, but it is true that we can act only in self-defense where a sentient life is con­cerned,” the Gedemondan admitted.

“I think I’m a little too big and heavy for one of those,” Marquoz noted ruefully. “Although, truthfully, if there were some way to do it I would love to be there at the end.”

Brazil nodded. “All right, then, we’ll have to trust one of the Agitar. Pick the best you can and get him and two of the creatures here as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll do it,” Gypsy said, and vanished.

They all stared at the spot where he had just been, and it was Brazil who shook his head in amazement. “How does he do that?” he wondered aloud.

“He tells the Well what he wants and it does it for him,” the Gedemondan communicator replied.

They all looked at the creature. “You mean it re­sponds to his will?” Brazil pressed.

The communicator nodded. “In effect he is a Mar­kovian,” he said flatly.

Brazil shook his head. “No, not that. Markovians on the Well World had no access to the main compu­ter. That would have destroyed the point of the ex­periment.”

“Nevertheless, that is what he does,” the creature maintained. “I could feel it, almost see it.”

Brazil stared off into the darkness. “Now who the hell could have learned that—and how?” he mused aloud.

The Agitar was an Entry named Prola, a former Olympian with a lot of self-confidence who was hon­ored to be chosen for this mission. As an Agitar male the former Amazon was somewhat uncomfortable, but now saw this as a heaven-sent opportunity.

“I regret I am not very good at riding the beasts, though,” Prola said apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” Brazil told the satyrlike creature. “You just hold on and let me do the fly­ing. I hope,” he added under his breath.

They gathered around the torchlight one last time and Brazil took out a map and spread it on the ground. “Now, Sangh’s almost certainly going to at­tack this morning. I don’t want you to fight. Gypsy, you tell Asam as soon as we’re off to pack up every­body and everything he can and start moving directly for the Ellerbanta-Verkm Avenue. Sangh will be snap­ping at your heels, but fight only rearguard actions. Marquoz, I think your people could do that effectively. The faster you can go, the less threat from the rear, since the enemy expects you to stand and fight here, not run, and won’t have prepared logistically for a chase. If you can, Gypsy, then get down to Yua and tell her the same thing.”

“But that will run her right into Khutir’s army,” the strange, dark man protested. “It’ll be a slaughter. Khutir’s got her outnumbered and out-experienced.”

“But he’s going to get word real quick that the main force is moving on the Avenue from his flank. I’m betting he’ll set up the best defense line he can over the broad front and try and hold until Sangh can come up behind your army. He has to block both forces with his army, remember, and that’s putting him on the extreme defensive, outnumbered and out­gunned.”

“While, in the meantime, you’ll fly right over his head,” Marquoz chuckled. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

“And not as easy as it sounds,” Brazil cautioned. “You might yet have to bail us out of enemy hands, but it’s the best try we have. If either force can cut through Khutir’s lines, well and good. Get to the Avenue, pick the best position, and fight a rearguard action if necessary.”

“How . . . how will we know when you’ve made it?” Gypsy wanted to know.

Brazil chuckled. “Well, the few Gedemondans ought to be able to tell you, but there will be an easier way, particularly if it’s dark.”

“Huh?”

“If Mavra tells me to, I’ll pull the plug,” he told them. “And the stars will go out.”

Gypsy gulped nervously.

Bache, near Dawn the Same Day

mavra chang had had very little chance to say anything in all that was now going on, but she had little choice, either, she reflected ruefully. Still, anything beat living out your life as a cow, certainly, and now events had forced her to the Well of Souls whether she wanted to go or not. She would rather have died than be paralyzed her whole life as a Dil­lian, rather have been a cow than dead, rather a flying horse, of all things, than a cow, and rather any­thing else but a domesticated animal. That meant going to the Well with Brazil and being there when he worked his magic.

She wasn’t really sure, now, how she felt about Brazil, but the news of Asam’s betrayal of the cause, dropped in matter-of-fact conversation between Mar­quoz and Brazil, had almost crushed her. She couldn’t understand or imagine such a thing, and to be con­templated in her name and on her behalf made her feel slightly dirty. Another illusion crashed, another something good turning suddenly foul and flawed, hideous. She wondered somehow if she didn’t carry some sort of curse with her, something that corrupted or destroyed all those to whom she felt close.

The transfer had been like the last; the animal had been brought up next to her and one Gedemon­dan had placed its pads on her head, a second on the head of the pegasus, and the third one hand on the head of each of its fellows. Then she had fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

It was more difficult for her this time, mostly be­cause the brain of the pegasus seemed more complex, more aware than that of the cow’s. Its own initial shock and fear she overcame not by ruthless mental pressure as she had the cow’s, but more of a gentle reassurance, an offer, somehow, of partnership. After some early resistance and the resurgence of some of the fear confusion brought, the great winged horse seemed to settle down, accept the idea. Once it ac­cepted her, there seemed a moment of dizziness, of double thought and double vision which settled into comfortable accommodation. She was the creature, and the creature was she, yet there was no extinction, no pushing back.

Brazil, too, had this far different experience and it surprised him even more than she. In a sense, his beast won a greater victory, since he was more con­cerned with what it could do for him than in becom­ing the pegasus for any length of time.

Yet another surprise was the vision the winged horses had. They saw in brilliant color, far sharper and better resolved than either person had known, and there was additionally an almost incredible sense of depth. With a simple voluntary action, both found they could focus with incredible clarity on an object roughly four or so meters in front of them all the way to infinity. Only close objects were hard to see; the eyes were set a bit too far back along the snout for that sort of resolution, although by closing one eye, a fair two-dimensional picture could be perceived.

In the distance the army was already on the move. The noise could be heard here, to the south, and they could already see in the predawn light large numbers of flying creatures standing guard as the force moved and probing ahead into the northwest.

Prola made some adjustments on Brazil, who, having just gotten over the shock of the transfer and still settling into the new body, was now trying to adjust to the fact that he was a vivid pastel pink while Mavra was light blue. Agitarian pegasuses came in all colors. Although a blow to Brazil’s experimental spirit, both winged horses were neutered females.

“Ready for your flight test?” the Agitar asked nerv­ously. He hadn’t really had much experience on the beasts and had depended on the horses’s good training to do most of the work. Now, with Brazil in there, both were green.