Read Online The Dark Imbalance by Sean Williams, Shane Dix - Free Book Online
Authors: Sean Williams, Shane Dix
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any other member of the enemy’s number you have encountered.”
Maii did so, conveying as best she could a number of conflicting visions. Cane possessed a mental shield that was difficult to penetrate, but did allow him to communicate with her by epsense and occasionally offered strange glimpses of what lay beyond. Sometimes, Cane’s mind seemed to spin like a top; at other times it was as still and clear as a lake, or a mirror. The irikeii had imagined him as a glowing light-source with a speck of black at its heart, and also as a snake coiling and uncoiling around itself.
“What sense do you make of these impressions?” she was asked.
“None of them are necessarily true representations of his mind,” she said. “They’re like the different reflections you get off the facets of a diamond, or the different meanings one collection of sounds has in different languages. I’m not seeing the underlying reality, just the secondary effects.”
She shrugged, and the heavy shoulders of the suit magnified the gesture. She sent an image, via the relay, of a crystal turned inside out: smooth and spherical outside, facets crossing and tangling inside.
“It’s hard to find words for this,” she said.
“Evidently,” said Murnane. “But if you had to choose just one word to describe him... ?”
“I’m not sure. ‘Complex’ isn’t enough. ‘Incipient,’ perhaps? ‘Numinous’ has too many spiritual overtones, and I don’t believe ‘unknowable’ applies to anything. There’s a great potential within him. I don’t know what for, but it’s there.”
Murnane waited a moment, to see if she would add anything else—or perhaps to confer mentally with the reaves surrounding them. After a moment he said: “And what of the irikeii ? What did he think of you?”
Maii was silent so long, Roche thought she wouldn’t answer. Finally, she said: “He disapproved of me.”
“We thought as much,” said Murnane, nodding. “The Olmahoi Caste petitioned strongly for your capture prior to your arrival—as did your own government. Somehow the word of your existence has spread, although exactly how has yet to be determined. We decided not to become involved, for very good reasons; there are enough inter-Caste tensions as it is without the council seeming to take sides—and what happens in non-Pristine Castes is, ultimately, none of our concern.” Murnane stopped and took a deep breath. “Still, it is clear that the events that occurred within Palasian System have had far-reaching repercussions—many, perhaps, still to be felt. Morgan Roche, would you care to explain to us what happened there?”
Roche did so, outlining the exploration of the system after it had been ransacked by the clone warrior, her disastrous attempts to cooperate with Linegar Rufo, and her clash with the Kesh. Later, she hoped, she would be able to discuss things in more detail, but for the time being she contented herself with an overview.
“You say that the name of the enemy in this case was Jelena Heidik?” someone asked when she reached the aftermath of the destruction of Palasian System.
“Yes. It’s one of a list of names we... found in an old archive. The others included Vani Wehr, Sadoc Lleshi, Ralf Dreher—”
“Do you know who they refer to?” Murnane interrupted. “Was there any other information in that archive, apart from the names?”
“No,” she said. She would give them the rest of the names later.
“And where is this Jelena Heidik now?”
“I don’t know,” Roche admitted. “We came here looking for her, but she’s managed to get away.”
“But you do think she’s still somewhere in Sol System?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you believe that?”
“Well, this seems to be where it’s all coming to a head. She would hardly leave so soon.”
Murnane leaned forward, his hands on each side of the font supporting him. “But why Sol
Maii did so, conveying as best she could a number of conflicting visions. Cane possessed a mental shield that was difficult to penetrate, but did allow him to communicate with her by epsense and occasionally offered strange glimpses of what lay beyond. Sometimes, Cane’s mind seemed to spin like a top; at other times it was as still and clear as a lake, or a mirror. The irikeii had imagined him as a glowing light-source with a speck of black at its heart, and also as a snake coiling and uncoiling around itself.
“What sense do you make of these impressions?” she was asked.
“None of them are necessarily true representations of his mind,” she said. “They’re like the different reflections you get off the facets of a diamond, or the different meanings one collection of sounds has in different languages. I’m not seeing the underlying reality, just the secondary effects.”
She shrugged, and the heavy shoulders of the suit magnified the gesture. She sent an image, via the relay, of a crystal turned inside out: smooth and spherical outside, facets crossing and tangling inside.
“It’s hard to find words for this,” she said.
“Evidently,” said Murnane. “But if you had to choose just one word to describe him... ?”
“I’m not sure. ‘Complex’ isn’t enough. ‘Incipient,’ perhaps? ‘Numinous’ has too many spiritual overtones, and I don’t believe ‘unknowable’ applies to anything. There’s a great potential within him. I don’t know what for, but it’s there.”
Murnane waited a moment, to see if she would add anything else—or perhaps to confer mentally with the reaves surrounding them. After a moment he said: “And what of the irikeii ? What did he think of you?”
Maii was silent so long, Roche thought she wouldn’t answer. Finally, she said: “He disapproved of me.”
“We thought as much,” said Murnane, nodding. “The Olmahoi Caste petitioned strongly for your capture prior to your arrival—as did your own government. Somehow the word of your existence has spread, although exactly how has yet to be determined. We decided not to become involved, for very good reasons; there are enough inter-Caste tensions as it is without the council seeming to take sides—and what happens in non-Pristine Castes is, ultimately, none of our concern.” Murnane stopped and took a deep breath. “Still, it is clear that the events that occurred within Palasian System have had far-reaching repercussions—many, perhaps, still to be felt. Morgan Roche, would you care to explain to us what happened there?”
Roche did so, outlining the exploration of the system after it had been ransacked by the clone warrior, her disastrous attempts to cooperate with Linegar Rufo, and her clash with the Kesh. Later, she hoped, she would be able to discuss things in more detail, but for the time being she contented herself with an overview.
“You say that the name of the enemy in this case was Jelena Heidik?” someone asked when she reached the aftermath of the destruction of Palasian System.
“Yes. It’s one of a list of names we... found in an old archive. The others included Vani Wehr, Sadoc Lleshi, Ralf Dreher—”
“Do you know who they refer to?” Murnane interrupted. “Was there any other information in that archive, apart from the names?”
“No,” she said. She would give them the rest of the names later.
“And where is this Jelena Heidik now?”
“I don’t know,” Roche admitted. “We came here looking for her, but she’s managed to get away.”
“But you do think she’s still somewhere in Sol System?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you believe that?”
“Well, this seems to be where it’s all coming to a head. She would hardly leave so soon.”
Murnane leaned forward, his hands on each side of the font supporting him. “But why Sol
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