only the remaining Parviis could be separated from the Eye of the Swarm and his influences, many of the race might be rehabilitated. For that matter, while Noah had seen the survivors through a Timeweb vision, and they had been hovering near the bolt hole on the other side, he wasn’t at all certain if Woldn remained with them. For security purposes, he had to assume they still had the same leader, and that he remained a danger.
Noah stopped as something small scurried past his feet and disappeared around a corner. He’d gotten a good look at it, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. A dark brown roachrat.
“On a podship?” he murmured. Then, considering it more, he felt confident that the podship could selectively kill the rodent if desired. The sentient spacecraft must be aware of its presence (and perhaps others), just as it was aware of the pilot and passengers aboard.
Continuing down the corridor, Noah entered the passenger compartment, which was filled MPA and Red Beret soldiers and the noise of conversations among them. He nodded to Doge Anton, who was conversing with one of his officers.
Finding a chair by a porthole, Noah sat down and gazed outside, at large and small stones tumbling by in the Asteroid Funnel, obstacles that Tesh eluded skillfully. Previously the stones had only tumbled in one direction. Now Noah noticed them coming from both ends of the funnel, at varying speeds. Many of them bounced off the hull, transmitting dull thuds to the interior, but Tesh kept the ship going. Finally, the huge fleet was getting underway.
When Noah’s ship reached open space, he felt a slight vibration in the chair and in the deck, which meant they were on a rough section of podway, where the strands of the paranormal infrastructure were frayed. Ahead, he saw other Aopoddae ships veering onto a side podway, and presently Tesh followed.
Sitting by the porthole, Noah ran a finger up his left forearm, beneath the long sleeve of the tunic. Feeling the rough skin on the arm, he still didn’t want anyone to know about it yet, perhaps never. The gray-and-black streak ran from his wrist all the way up his arm to the shoulder, and down the front of his torso. Grayness now covered the spot beside his belly button where his sister had stabbed the dermex into him, but the vein had not started there. In his questing mind, this did not necessarily mean that she was not the cause of his strange physical changes. In fact, he strongly suspected that she had something to do with the phenomenon, perhaps as a catalyst.
But beyond anything Francella might have had to do with his metamorphosis, it was as if …
He took a deep breath before continuing the thought.
Noah feared thinking about it, and couldn’t imagine it really being true, but his skin definitely looked like that of a podship hull. On a much smaller scale, of course, but the colors and texture were remarkably alike.
Now, as he had done previously, he touched the actual podship skin, the interior of the wall. This time the creature did not tremble in fear.
A note of progress , Noah thought.
He made an attempt to connect with Timeweb again, but after several moments he realized it was to no avail, perhaps because the vessel was not nudging up against a galactic membrane like the last time. Apparently, the linkage to podway strands was not enough, perhaps due to breakages in the infrastructure. But as Noah withdrew his hand and stood straight, he realized that he was developing a headache, and it was quickly growing intense.
He heard the voices of fellow passengers around him. Motioning to a tall Red Beret soldier, Noah asked if he had anything to help his headache.
“I have just the thing, sir,” he said. “Acupuncture robotics.”
Noah nodded. He’d tried the technique once, and it had worked.
The soldier activated a small acu-robot—the size of a freckle—that scampered over Noah’s skull and through his hair, along the scalp. He barely felt the needle
Noah stopped as something small scurried past his feet and disappeared around a corner. He’d gotten a good look at it, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. A dark brown roachrat.
“On a podship?” he murmured. Then, considering it more, he felt confident that the podship could selectively kill the rodent if desired. The sentient spacecraft must be aware of its presence (and perhaps others), just as it was aware of the pilot and passengers aboard.
Continuing down the corridor, Noah entered the passenger compartment, which was filled MPA and Red Beret soldiers and the noise of conversations among them. He nodded to Doge Anton, who was conversing with one of his officers.
Finding a chair by a porthole, Noah sat down and gazed outside, at large and small stones tumbling by in the Asteroid Funnel, obstacles that Tesh eluded skillfully. Previously the stones had only tumbled in one direction. Now Noah noticed them coming from both ends of the funnel, at varying speeds. Many of them bounced off the hull, transmitting dull thuds to the interior, but Tesh kept the ship going. Finally, the huge fleet was getting underway.
When Noah’s ship reached open space, he felt a slight vibration in the chair and in the deck, which meant they were on a rough section of podway, where the strands of the paranormal infrastructure were frayed. Ahead, he saw other Aopoddae ships veering onto a side podway, and presently Tesh followed.
Sitting by the porthole, Noah ran a finger up his left forearm, beneath the long sleeve of the tunic. Feeling the rough skin on the arm, he still didn’t want anyone to know about it yet, perhaps never. The gray-and-black streak ran from his wrist all the way up his arm to the shoulder, and down the front of his torso. Grayness now covered the spot beside his belly button where his sister had stabbed the dermex into him, but the vein had not started there. In his questing mind, this did not necessarily mean that she was not the cause of his strange physical changes. In fact, he strongly suspected that she had something to do with the phenomenon, perhaps as a catalyst.
But beyond anything Francella might have had to do with his metamorphosis, it was as if …
He took a deep breath before continuing the thought.
Noah feared thinking about it, and couldn’t imagine it really being true, but his skin definitely looked like that of a podship hull. On a much smaller scale, of course, but the colors and texture were remarkably alike.
Now, as he had done previously, he touched the actual podship skin, the interior of the wall. This time the creature did not tremble in fear.
A note of progress , Noah thought.
He made an attempt to connect with Timeweb again, but after several moments he realized it was to no avail, perhaps because the vessel was not nudging up against a galactic membrane like the last time. Apparently, the linkage to podway strands was not enough, perhaps due to breakages in the infrastructure. But as Noah withdrew his hand and stood straight, he realized that he was developing a headache, and it was quickly growing intense.
He heard the voices of fellow passengers around him. Motioning to a tall Red Beret soldier, Noah asked if he had anything to help his headache.
“I have just the thing, sir,” he said. “Acupuncture robotics.”
Noah nodded. He’d tried the technique once, and it had worked.
The soldier activated a small acu-robot—the size of a freckle—that scampered over Noah’s skull and through his hair, along the scalp. He barely felt the needle
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