"Yes. We discussed this yesterday morning. I also understood her reasons for keeping her mission a secret until it was completed. Go on, Irina, give them all the details."
Irina sighed, leaning back against the wall as if her energy had abruptly drained. "What was needed were the physical tests," she said. "So I went forward and reported. We needed Valentin and Elizaveta for that; I went back to the First Team and found Katarina, and explained." Her voice suddenly went uneven. She pressed her lips together, hard, then continued, her voice harshening.
"Katarina understood. Together we went forward to the present-day timeline, and there Valentin and Elizaveta performed tests on us. The key one was bone density. The other molecular in nature. I don"t understand it even now, but there is this to know: the spore interaction on the molecular level is so subtle that we do not really have instruments to measure it. But the fact is that Katarina"s bone density was so dangerously altered that there was no returning. The changes had gone too far. Even removal from the spores would not restore the team to health. The changes were such that any of the First Team who returned would be forever crippled-if they survived long enough to shed the effect of the spores."
"Then we"re doomed as well," Eveleen said, not even thinking. Horror seized her.
Irina glanced at her, compa.s.sion clear in her gaze. Tears gleamed along her lower lids, but she went on, "No. For they tested me as well. Our bone density is not yet at this danger point. For this we either have Vera to thank-"
Eyes turned Vera"s way.
Irina said, "It is she who took responsibility for the food a.n.a.lysis. When we all began to sicken, the headache and joint-ache required calcium, or as near as we could find, this she decided, and she found the foods that would provide the supplement. That is in the cheese dish we all came to rely on, for it also carried a complex protein that again slowed the damage."
Zina spoke now, for the first time. "Valentin does not wish to rob Vera of credit that is due her, but there is the possibility that the spores affecting us are different than those that affected Katarina and the First Team."
Irina sighed again, a shuddering sigh that seemed completely uncharacteristic, and she said, "So when this news was complete-last night-Katarina and I went back. I knew where most were, from Viktor"s findings, and Katarina knew the rest. Together we found each team member, and told them. They left their things exactly as we found them. She did not go back to her archive, but left it buried as she had when we first went forward. I showed them the transport, and they went as a group to the island to await the changes there. It was peaceful, it was not bad. They knew that they would have children. They knew that their children would fly. And they knew that someday, their descendants would see us."
Silence met this news.
Irina swiped at her eyes, then she turned to Misha. "You are not the only one to leave someone important. Katarina and I, we were in the university together. We served two missions together. We were close-we were sisters-" Her voice suspended, and she shook her head, hard.
No one spoke.
Irina then dug into her pocket. "As for Svetlana, she chose to go to the island. She did write to you: I brought it with me, so there would be no alteration in time. Here it is."
She handed Misha a paper. He took it, then thrust it into a pocket in his shirt.
Zina said, "Valentin urges us to leave now. He says daily the damage does worsen, and he does not know when the point of nonrecovery would be, but does not want to risk finding out after the fact."
Gordon stepped forward then. "It is time for my report. You probably saw the ma.s.s movements toward the House of Knowledge?"
"Is that what"s going on?" Ross asked. "All we know is, everyone who could get in our way was out on the streets, just when we were trying to hurry." He cast an amused glance at Misha, who gave him a sardonic smile. Misha"s eyes, though, were still somber.
"There is a ma.s.s meeting being held right now, for everyone who can cram into the Yilayil caverns. Basically the word is what we already figured out, but not the scale. Apparently the key sentience on this planet is the plant life, a vast interconnected awareness that is trying to heal itself by altering us. It"s been trying for centuries to communicate; the Yilayil language and music kept evolving in the direction needed, but none of them, for whatever reason, could make the mental leap outside of time and sensory awareness that it required for even as limited a contact as Saba made last night. A being named Zhot was the closest, but he had only reached the awareness of this other ent.i.ty. A Virigu, and some of the Yilayil as well. They knew of the ent.i.ty, but had never been able to communicate."
"And Saba did?" Eveleen asked.
"Yes," Gordon said. "She made the breakthrough. Her musical sense, apparently, was the last link needed, the catalyst. She feels that she is obligated to inform every being on the planet about the genetic alterations. What they do is up to them."
Irina nodded slowly. After a moment, Zina opened her hands. "It is right," she said.
No one else spoke.
"So what can we do to speed it along?" Ross asked. "About all I can contact is the Jecc."
"And I the Moova," Vera chimed in.
Gordon nodded. "Do it. The rest of us will remain here and stay in contact. Saba"s colleagues in the House are telling those who came in person. Saba and one of their computer experts are busy on the communications system, letting everyone else know. They should be done about the time we finish here, for it"s enough to let each enclave and race know, and spread the news in the way they think best."
Ross turned to Eveleen, who felt adrenaline-the old call for action-suffuse her body. With a clear goal, she found she could move again.
ONCE MORE THEY found themselves following their customary route to the transport station, but once they reached it, not surprisingly they found it completely empty. Even the Virigu was gone; the place was like a vast hangar, completely deserted.
"Jecc city," Ross said. "Up to it?"
"Of course," she replied.
They scarcely spoke as they made their way once again to the ancient transport. Eveleen realized they probably could have taken one of the rail-skimmers-but even after all this time working on them, they never had learned how to operate them. The rail-skimmers might not even reach the Jecc city.
The flat cars whooshed them speedily to the southernmost point of the island. Together she and Ross walked up to the Jecc caves, hand in hand.
They were soon sighted, and a swarm of Jecc came running out to surround them.
At first Eveleen felt a twinge of alarm; too late she realized that the Jecc might consider them interlopers or even enemies.
But the tweets and calls as the Jecc tumbled about Ross rea.s.sured her. They largely ignored her-all their attention was on Ross.
At one point one of them must have put a question, for Ross responded in Yilayil, pointing to Eveleen, "My mate."
Shrill tweets rose from all sides. The Jecc obviously found the notion of "mates" an exotic concept.
Eveleen did not try to comprehend all the various Jecc reactions, but Ross seemed to know who to listen to, for again he responded in Yilayil. "Yes, it requires one of each of us to pa.s.s on genetic material. One offspring results-rarely two or more-but we can repeat the process, just as you Jecc do..."
Eveleen felt a sense of unreality seize her; the biology lesson lasted until they reached the outer caves.
Here, abruptly, they entered civilization-but for totally different beings.
Beautiful colors were everywhere. The catwalks and pathways, the furnishings, everything was child-sized. Jecc swarmed everywhere, on all levels-for Eveleen saw, tipping her head back, that catwalks and cave tunnels were located at several levels. At the very top, she saw tiny faces peeping timidly down-Jecc children?
Then she lost sight of them as they were led beyond, into an even greater cave. Cool air swirled gently across her face as she gazed up at row on row of great murals painted in realistic, glowing colors all round the stone walls. This was what she had glimpsed from the upper vent-but it was far vaster, and more beautiful, than she had conceived.
Sudden silence brought her attention downward.
The Jecc had settled into rings, with old wrinkly Jecc closer at hand, and others outward in widening circles.
One of the Jecc greeted Ross formally, using all the Yilayil deferences.
Ross said back, "I have come to make certain you were aware of the new people recently discovered."
The old Jecc trilled, "We know of the world-being. We know now why we have changed."
A weird, sighing whistle went through the ranks of Jecc; Eveleen felt hairs p.r.i.c.kling on the back of her neck. The emotions caused by the sound were intense-loss, isolation.
"Then you can decide what you want to do," Ross said. "This is why I came."
"What do you do, Ross of Fire Mountain?"
"We have a ship, we will go back to our world," Ross said.
Again a sound swept through the Jecc, this time a susurrus of high-voiced whispers.
"We have a ship," the old Jecc said at last. "At Harbeast Teeth Island. It is secret all these generations."
"One ship?" Ross repeated.
Rapidly the Jecc explained-and Eveleen began to understand. That sense of unreality still pervaded her mind. She seemed to be watching from somewhere else, observing this exchange between two utterly different races, using the language of a third race, to talk about s.p.a.ceships from the past- a technology not yet attained by Earth civilizations.
Comprehension worked its way slowly into her head. The ship the Jecc had was a kind of shuttle, h.o.a.rded against the day when they would return to normal. Apparently they had a great ship up in s.p.a.ce, circling around. Eveleen nodded to herself; of course it would be unmolested. The mysterious plant ent.i.ty only controlled what was on the surface.
How many other races might have motherships circling around in orbit?
No way of knowing.
Suddenly the conversation ceased. Ross turned to Eveleen. "Come on, we"re done," he said.
In silence they walked past the ranks, and out of the caves.
Neither spoke until they reached the transport.
"So are they going back home?" Eveleen asked. "I confess I didn"t follow it all."
"They don"t know," Ross said. "Some want to, some don"t. Others want to stay-and a fourth group wants to find another world."
"That same debate must be going on all over the world," Eveleen commented.
Ross sat back. "I don"t know why, but the whole d.a.m.n mess makes me sad."
He activated the control, and the flat car zoomed forward, relieving Eveleen of having to think of anything to say.
"LET"S GET OUT of here," Ross said when they reached the Nurayil dorm for the last time, and found everyone gathered-Misha having also just returned from an unnamed errand.
"I am going to need help transporting Saba," Gordon replied, looking relieved that they were safely back. "She"s by far the weakest of us all. Her body has-we believe-been resisting the changes, and her immune system is at a dangerously low ebb."
Eveleen watched Ross"s face brighten. Now he had orders, impending action-a clear need, one that he could meet, even if it was just to carry a sick woman on a stretcher.
"There"s a transport near the House of Knowledge," Misha began.
"Found it," Gordon said. "Everyone needs to get their gear, and meet at the transport near this dorm. Come on, let"s move."
Under cover of the sudden springs of conversation, Eveleen heard Misha address Gordon. "So it was a false trail you sent us on-the island, the Field-of-Vagabonds."
"I needed to keep you busy," Gordon said. He hesitated, then added, "You"ll have to admit even a needless trip is better than sitting with nothing one can do, counting off the seconds."
"Ah." Misha shrugged. "So you claim empathy as your reason?"
Gordon only laughed. "Go. Get your gear."
Eveleen watched Misha vanish through the open door.
She knew that whatever Svetlana had said in her letter was not going to be shared with anyone; nor would Misha permit anyone to see him reading it. She thought about being separated forever from Ross, and even though the Russians" relationship might not have even remotely been like what she and Ross shared, for the first time, she felt pity for the blond agent.
She kept her thoughts to herself as she packed her few belongings. To her surprise her emotions were mixed at the thought of abandoning forever the little cell.
Ross and she were alone. She was not aware she"d sighed until he said, "You can"t be wanting to stay."
"No," she said. "But I hate feeling that I could have done better. That this mission was so strange, so..."
"Nightmarish? Long? Boring?" Ross prompted, looking amused.
"Oh, I don"t know," Eveleen said. "Confusing, I guess is the best term. Is it only going to get harder, Ross? Suddenly I feel, well, old old."
"You"re sick. I"m sick. We"re going home," he reminded her. "C"mon, help me get our sticker off the door. I hope the next inmate has a better time-"
"If there is one," Eveleen said. "How weird. It could be that we are the ones who caused the evacuation."
"Except we still have three races down the timeline, two of them nothing anyone would want to be," Ross reminded her.
They laid their palms on the screen, then pressed the control that they had learned meant vacate vacate.
"Uh oh, we forgot to check our credit rating," Ross joked.
"Oh, I"m sure we had enough for half a ride," Eveleen joked back, trying for lightness.
They kept up the banter as they threaded their way through the crowded street.
This time there was a difference. Unasked, various beings offered them deference. Again and again the other races withdrew, permitting them to go first. No one spoke to them, and expressions were as impossible to read as ever, but somehow their status had changed.
Eveleen was still pondering this when they descended the ramp to find everyone waiting.
Everyone-even Saba, who looked so frail Eveleen felt her heart start pounding. But Saba"s dark eyes were clear and smiling, and she held her head at a proud angle as she leaned on Viktor"s and Gordon"s shoulders.
Together they all rode the last car to the station near the parkland.
Half an hour"s hike, through misting rain, and they reached the time apparatus.
Zina stepped forward and worked the controls.
Eveleen watched, waiting impatiently for the doors to open.
Lights flickered on the little console. Zina frowned, and punched the code more carefully.
Impatience turned to alarm.
"What now?" Ross asked, then he cursed under his breath.