Essasu RRGVB looked around the meeting room. Piarai was present, along with the two ranking survivors of the ill-fated expedition to Torrelau. The memory of that failure still burned in his mind, as he knew it must in theirs.
Since returning, he'd immersed himself in everything the staff xenologists had been able to find about the sacred stones of the Parramati. Taken together, this constituted a singularly uninformative and inadequate body of work.
"You've all seen the latest report from our native contacts on Torrelau. What do you make of this talk of the male human using stones to take a journey to far-off places?"
The assembled underlings exchanged glances and gestures. It was Yaarinda who spoke. "We now know that certain so-called sacred stones, when manipulated by those Parramati trained in their use, can displace individuals in space. What the extent of this displacement may be we still do not know, but it is real." Her hands gestured second-degree importance colored with danger. "Several of us saw this happen."
Piarai continued. "It appears that at some unknown time in the past, historic Parramati acquired the use of advanced technology whose origins remain for us to discover. I admit that these stones do not look like much, but in this instance it clearly is dangerous to confuse appearance with function. Through the use of these `stones,' two companions were significantly displaced. If this new information is true, then it appears that the human was similarly transported but was able to return."
"There is a greatness to be learned here," Essasu proclaimed. "We must find the truth of it. All our other work now becomes secondary. Energies must be redirected." He turned his gaze on each of them in turn. " Our first priority must be to acquire as many of these stones as possible for detailed study."
"According to our, information from Torrelau, there are dangers involved in such acquisition." Requesting permission with a gesture, Vuikak settled into a resting lounge.
Essasu glanced at him. "According.to the same information, only if certain stones are allowed to come in contact with one another. Apparently the human was careless. We are not careless. We will not repeat his mistake."
"The natives who have charge of the stones, these so called stone masters, will not surrender their possessions freely," Piarai pointed out.
Essasu executed a curt gesture of indifference. "Then we will shoot a few. That should persuade the others. If we keep our distance from the stones that cause spatial displacement, they cannot harm us."
"What kind of stones do you wish us to obtain first?" Yaarinda leaned back in her lounge, her long tail tracing abstract patterns on the sand-carpeted floor.
"Anything that hints of real power. After these transportation stones, weather stones would be an excellent next choice. Now that we are aware of the stones' true nature, I would be interested to discover if there is any connection between the native weather stones and these fascinating and damnable mastorms."
Piarai blinked both eyelids. "You think the aboriginals may use the stones to control the weather?"
Essasu showed many teeth. "If certain stones can displace individuals in space, it is not so great a reach to imagine that others may displace clouds and rain. After what we witnessed on Torrelau, I believe nothing can be ruled out."
Yaarinda looked thoughtful. "I wonder where the human was displaced to. The report does not specify. It says only that he was unconscious when he was found."
"Even if it was from one side of a room to another, that is enough," Essasu observed impatiently. "It is the fact of the displacement that is important. The technology to accomplish such a feat has been a dream of imperial scientists since the dawn of modern physics."
Piarai rose. "With your consent then, Commander, I will organize a group to obtain several stones. With the natives' consent if possible, by other means if they prove recalcitrant. How many do you wish us to acquire?"
"As many as possible, obviously. Half a dozen would make a nice beginning. We don't wish to leave the Mallatyahans stone-poor. Employ everyone who can be spared. This supersedes all other research, and a show of strength may make it easier to deal peacefully with the locals."
"We could request reinforcements from Chraara," Vuikak suggested.
"No. The humanx monitor all comings and goings from headquarters, just as we record their activities around Ophhlia. We do not want to give the impression that any unusual or extraordinary activity is taking place here. We will do this as quietly and quickly as possible."
Yaarinda contemplated the ceiling. "Perhaps the natives can be persuaded to cooperate and the need to employ less flexible means of persuasion will be obviated."
"It is to be hoped." Essasu added a gesture indicative of third-degree amusement. "We have one advantage already. We have not tried to `borrow' any of the sacred stones, so the Mallatyahans do not regard us as potential thieves. For this moral preeminence, however temporary, we have the male human to thank."
"Assuming we are successful in obtaining several of the stones," Vuikak commented, "what do we do when the Mallatyahans come seeking their return?"
Essasu displayed indifference. "They cannot penetrate compound security. We will tell them that the stones are not being harmed and will be returned to them when we have concluded our tests. If they are unhappy with those conditions, that is unfortunate. What can they do? If they come bearing the stones that cause displacement, we will keep them at a distance with weapons. If they send bad weather against us, assuming they are capable of such a feat, this installation has survived the worst of many mastorms. Along with imperial power, we will teach them that futility leads to patience.
"When we have finished with the stones, they will be returned undamaged."
"Can we guarantee that?" Yaarinda wanted to know.
The station commander eyed her evenly. "I am Essasu RRGVB. I do not give guarantees to aboriginals." His attention returned to his second-in-command.
"Now then. What do we know of stone types, of their locations, and of the potential malleability of their masters?"
Piarai looked to Yaarinda, who responded. "We have some information, though evidently not as much as the humans. This can be increased."
"We do not need to know the location of every sacred stone on Mallatyah," Essasu declared. "Only sufficient for our purposes."
"We could make a few stone masters our 'guests,"' Vuikak suggested, "until they have told us all that they know about the workings of their stones."
"Only if necessary. I have more confidence in our own specialists." Essasu turned to gaze out a narrow groundlevel window. "Besides, I grow tired of sly natives and their devious mannerisms. They delight in utilizing their kusum for obfuscation. I prefer the language and response of advanced instrumentation." He turned back to his subordinates.
"We will proceed with or without their cooperation, and expend no special efforts to secure the latter. I will brook no delay in revelation." His eyes flashed. "My fellow nye, I feel that we are on the brink of discoveries that could alter the balance of power between the Empire and the Commonwealth." Seeing the looks in their eyes, he realized that his explication was teetering on the grandiose, and moderated his ensuing rhetoric accordingly.
"Stones first, then speculation."
"Yes," Yaarinda agreed. "Let us embark with modest expectations."
The AAnn force was prepared to kill to acquire the requisite stones, but this proved unnecessary. Advanced search-and-detection technology allowed them to bypass occupied buildings and concentrate on those whose inhabitants were elsewhere.
From a nondescript house in a temporarily deserted village situated high up on the north flank of Mallatyah's tallest peak, they plucked a fine big weather stone. No one leaped out of the forest to challenge the camouflaged tech-soldiers. A storage but on the edge of terraced fields lying fallow yielded a nice growing stone. Again they were not confronted.
By the time Essasu was satisfied, the sun had long since set. In addition to the weather and growing stone, they had accumulated a pair of healing stones, a fishing stone, and three transportation or traveling stones. Or so their information insisted. All were carefully packed in thickly padded individual containers and distributed among the members of the group. Essasu was taking no chances on having two stones come together accidentally.
"It was almost too easy." Vuikak shouldered his own pack effortlessly. "I think we could have seized half the stones on the island."
Essasu's mood was decidedly upbeat, all the more so because everything had gone so well compared to the earlier disaster at Torrelau. "Yes. I suspect that word of the human male's transgression has yet to reach here. Consequently, the locals cannot conceive of someone ignorant of the relevant roads helping themselves to a sacred stone. So they remain unguarded."
Yaarinda had three stones in her pack, a carefully chosen mix. In a further effort to avoid incidents of the kind that supposedly had befallen the human, no member of the group carried two stones of any one type. Her camouflage suit kept the pack from chafing against her scales. The stones were sizable and heavy, but she strode along uncomplainingly under the burden. Working in the field, she and her colleagues frequently returned to the station carrying prodigious loads of specimens.
"We must take care not to repeat the human's mistake," Piarai was reminding everyone for the tenth time.
"If what was told to us is true, he was clumsy-as is the nature of humans." Essasu was unconcerned. "Proper care will be used. If these primitives can make them work, surely their operation cannot be so difficult to divine."
"That is so," the base's second-in-command conceded.
"I think there may actually be less here than meets the eye," Essasu continued. "Operation may be no more than a matter of shoving two stones together and giving them room. Certainly they exhibit nothing in the way of visible switches, controls, or touch-sensitive contact points."
Near the rear of the column, Vuikak was considering many of the very same points. Once back at the station, the stones would be turned over to the base specialists for detailed study. As an administrator, he would be left out of the excitement. The stones must be simple to use. Why not try two of them out and be the one to receive the credit for discovering their function?
He would avoid the potentially dangerous transport stones in favor of something simple, domestic. Already he felt he'd been passed over twice for promotion. At his present rate of advancement, with eleven clan-family designates following his given name, he would die of old age long before achieving a five-designate level like Commander Essasu.
Unless he did something dramatic to merit exceptional notice.
He broached the idea to Prenkip, the lowest-ranking member of the expedition. The technician was hesitant.
"I do not know, Vuikak. The stones are dangerous. Better they be examined under controlled conditions."
"What controlled conditions?" Vuikak was not to be denied. "The natives make use of them openly, with nothing in the way of visible safeguards."
"What about what is said to have happened to the human?"
Vuikak performed a gesture of first-degree dismissal coupled with overtones of disgust. "The human was stupid. We are not. Surely we can abort any reaction if it appears to be getting out of hand."
Prenkip's resistance weakened. Like Vuikak, he would not be counted among those charged with learning the stones' secrets, and he badly wanted to see a demonstration of these rumored powers.
His fellow tech pressed him. "What if the stones do nothing? What if they are no more than what they appear to be-the inert talismans of a primitive alien species? Suppose the tale of the transported human is only a fiction, designed to confuse and trouble us?"
"Two members of the commanders' expedition to Torrelau did not return," Prenkip mumbled. "Talk is that they were killed by stones."
Vuikak snorted in disgust. "No one believes that. The commander committed fatal errors. Blaming two deaths on the natives is a way of deflecting responsibility from himself. No doubt the missing ones drowned during the storm, or were struck by one of the many poisonous creatures that inhabit these islands.
"Consider! If this is all a clever ploy by the humans, they will even as we speak be readying themselves to benefit from our theft of these stones. If we can prove that they are incapable of anything save the reflection of green light, we will have performed a valuable service. If not, we will be the first nye to descry one of their true functions."
Prenkip pondered the possibilities. "You really think all this stone business may be nothing more than a human ruse to discredit us with the Mallatyahans?"
"It makes more sense to me than tales of green rocks disappearing troopers and humans," Vuikak replied with fervor. "Why should we not find out for ourselves?"
"Why not, indeed?"
Vuikak pushed the argument home. "What is the harm in placing, say, two of the designated `growing' stones together? That if this is not all fiction we will be overwhelmed by a surfeit of fresh vegetables?"
Finally persuaded, Prenkip gestured consent. "We should do this here, away from the base." Already bringing up the rear of the column, they purposely let themselves fall farther behind. In the fading light of evening, no one took notice.
To further ensure that they would be able to carry out their experiment unimpeded, Vuikak unwrapped the first stone from Prenkip's pack as they walked. Falling behind his companion, the technician returned the favor. Shielding the stones from sight of their comrades with their bodies, the two AAnn examined the specimens.
"See? Lumps of green glass is all they are," Vuikak insisted. "Volcanic slag, static and harmless."
Prenkip had noted the labels on the respective wrappings. "You were right. These are growing stones. It will be fascinating to observe if they do anything and comparatively harmless if they do."
"The procedure is to bring them together carefully to see if they merge. At least, that is what is supposed to happen."
Prenkip turned the uneven olivine mass over in his scaly fingers. "None of the exposed faces appears shaped to fit into any other. I suppose we just push them against each other?"
"That is the rumor." Vuikak made eye contact with the technician. "If any kind of reaction ensues, we pull them apart. Agreed?" Prenkip gestured understanding and assent.
Out of sight of the rest of the group, they brought both masses together. A soft click ensued. That was all. No blinding flash of light, no aural implosion, no surreal distortion of reality just an ordinary-sounding click. It was exactly what one would expect to hear from knocking two rocks together.
Vuikak was at once disappointed, angry, and relieved. "See?" he told his partner in experimentation. "I was right. This whole business of the sacred stones having mysterious powers is nonsense, a product of the perverse human imagination. They have deceived us." He lifted his gaze to the rest of the troop, marching stolidly along just ahead. "We must inform the commander."
"Perhaps we performed the procedure incorrectly." Having taken so long to be persuaded, Prenkip wasn't quite ready to give up. "Let us try once more."
A disgruntled Vuikak reluctantly agreed. "Very well. But it is evident that we have been wasting our time."
Turning the stones so that different sides faced each other, they brought them into contact a second time. The result was-another click.
"Rocks." A thoroughly disgusted Vuikak eyed the specimen he was holding. "Utilizing native mythology and a little imagination, the humans have fooled us badly. But you and I have discovered the subterfuge in time. We will tell the commander, and the stones can be returned to their holding places before any serious harm is done to our diplomatic efforts among the Parramati." He extended a hand to the technician. "Here-give me that useless thing!"
So saying, and before Prenkip thought to object, Vuikak took the second stone and whacked it angrily against the one he already held. The resulting noise sounded exactly like two lumps of volcanic glass striking one another: a click magnified. Disdainfully he dumped both of them by the side of the narrow trail, onto a patch of short grassy growth.
"I still think we may be doing something wrong." Having had promotion and glory waved wildly in front of him, Prenkip was now reluctant to surrender the vision.
"What? What could we possibly be doing wrong?" Vuikak was deeply disheartened. "Look at these things."
He kicked one of the stones. It rolled up against the- second and lay there, motionless and inert. "It is time to inform the commander." So saying, he raised his voice and hissed importantly.
"Perhaps the only stones that generate unexpected effects lie on Torrelau," Prenkip suggested.
Vuikak watched as those at the rear of the column turned. "If that is the case, then it is up to the commander to find a means of dealing with them. Regardless, it does not alter our situation here. These useless rocks must still be returned to their owners and our status among them preserved."
As the other members of the expedition gathered around the two unauthorized experimenters, Vuikak told them what had occurred. Essasu listened gravely, waiting until the technician had finished before commenting.
"I should have you downgraded in rank and transferred, but it seems you have saved all of us a great embarrassment." He nodded in the direction of the two stones lying by the side of the trail. "Show me."
Vuikak nodded. Bending, he picked up the two growing stones and brought them together. He did this repeatedly, without visible consequence.
"If among the Parramati only the stones of Torrelau have the kind of hidden power we witnessed firsthand," Piarai whispered to his superior, "then we will have to obtain specimens from that island."
Essasu nodded resignedly. "A far more difficult proposition, but not an impossible one. After we have returned these stones to their `masters,' we will return to base. Tomorrow I will consider proposals for a surreptitious collecting expedition to Torrelau. Now I am tired, and greatly frustrated." Stepping forward, he put a clawed hand on Vuikak's shoulder.
"I will not downgrade or otherwise censor you." He glanced at Prenkip. "Either of you. But I cannot promote you for disobeying orders. The most I can offer is my personal gratitude." He withdrew the hand and turned to address the others.
"Me stones in our possession must be taken back. We will claim they were stolen by agents of the humansthe agenting species needn't be identified. In gaining the gratefulness of the locals for their return, we may yet see some profit from this day's work."
Piarai was properly admiring. "An astute turning of a regretful situation, Commander."
"Thank you," Essasu hissed. "It may be that the events that unfolded before us that night on Torrelau had nothing to do with so-called sacred stones and were the result of some action or activity the source of which is still unknown to us. There is much we do not know about this world. From now on I will be most reluctant to jump to excitable conclusions about anything having to do with native mythology."
Piarai was dutifully supportive. "The history of imperial exploration among aboriginal cultures is fraught with research that yielded little that was useful at first but that proved highly salutary later."
Essasu made a casual gesture of agreement and turned away, muttering to himself. "Why did I not see it earlier? Some other mechanism was responsible for the debacle outside the human station. The humans themselves may even have been involved. I can imagine them enjoying a diversion at our expense. Well, we will uncover the truth, and then will come the reckoning." Removing the weather stone he was carrying, he let it fall by his feet. It bounced once, struck the two growing stones, and rolled to a stop.
"Thanks to the enterprise of these two," he declared, indicating the attentive Prenkip and Vuikak, "we have learned something valuable and been spared much trouble."
Yaarinda considered the onset of night. "Could we not wait until tomorrow to return the stones, Commander?"
"I know that everyone is tired. I believe that I am more tired than most," Essasu replied. "But I wish to put an end to this. We have lights and adequate instrumentation to allow us to find our way and retrace our steps. I will sleep better knowing that relations between ourselves and the people of this island have been maintained."
Yaarinda bowed her head deferentially. "It shall be as you desire, Commander."
Essasu turned away. "Piarai, you and I will return to base. There is real work to be done. The others can take back the stones. Yaarinda, you will take charge of the returning. Remember our story: they were stolen by unknown agents of the humans on Torrelau and we, at some danger to ourselves, succeeded in recovering them for our friends the Mallatyahans. We can expect them to be grateful."
Removing the remaining two stones he carried from his pack, Essasu tossed them on the ground next to the three already there. The other members of the party could redistribute them as they saw fit. Piarai removed the pair of stones he carried and added them to the accumulated mass.
When the last stone made contact with the small pile, the agglomeration fused instantly. A rush of green radiance brighter than the noonday sun burst violently forth, shocking Essasu's pupils into temporary blindness.
When he was able to focus again he saw that the island had vanished, along with the evening sky of slate blueblack, jungle and trail, clouds and grass. All that remained of the familiar were his equally dazed subordinates-and the stones.
They had melted together into a single misshapen mass that pulsed with energy the hue of newfound emeralds. It had a faint brown tint to it and hovered an arm's length above the ground, rotating slowly like a miniature green sun. Like angular, deformed planets, the helpless and bewildered members of the expedition orbited the consequence of their own accidental creation.
Barely visible within the agglutinated mass was an incredibly dense network of interwoven black filaments and other ... things. Some of them seemed to be alive, or at least conveyed the illusion of life.
"What happened?" That sounded like technician Vuikak, shouting but oddly muffled.
"The stones." Piarai rotated listlessly nearby. "The stones do work, do have power. Everything depends on how they are combined. Sequence may be as important as type."
"Roads," observed Yaarinda softly. " One needs to know the right roads."
"There is great significance in all this." Essasu felt fight as a feather, free and alive. The last lingering effects of the light burst had faded and he found that he could see clearly all around him. Ire just wasn't sure what he was seeing.
They appeared to be drifting in a vast swirling void, a silent three-dimensional maelstrom of green and black cloud. In the distance, prickly flashes of light took on peculiar shapes, like sculpted lightning. It was not true weightlessness, but something else. Something other.
An obsidian coil showed itself and darted toward the lightning. One by one it enveloped and consumed the darting spikes, which gave every evidence of attempting to escape. When it was through, it gave the unmistakable impression of turning to face the bewildered travelers. Essasu's tongue caught in his throat.
The coil twisted fiercely in upon itself and vanished into a vortex of its own making.
They were not alone here, he thought to himself. Wherever here was. It did not feel friendly, and he was not comfortable.
"Where are we?" One of the other technicians had begun to moan. Within her slow precession, her posture was indicative of grave concern.
"We have to find our way back from this place, wherever it is." Essasu used his most commanding inflections, but in that place the words seemed lost and lonely. "We have made a mistake in judgment. It is clear that we have been transported by the stones. Therefore we must make use of the stones to find our way back."
"According to the information we received," Piarai put in, "the human twisted the conjoined stones to activate the transport function." He spoke with some assurance, but this was not reflected in his expression. After all, both he and Essasu knew that the human had not succeeded in returning through his own efforts, but that he had somehow been tracked down and assisted by the stone masters of Torrelau.
Nevertheless, according to the information they had acquired, exerting force on the melded stones had produced a reaction. But they had mingled many stones, Essasu knew. The human had employed only two. Might that complicate returning or recovery by anxious stone masters seeking the missing stones?
He was struck by a terrible thought. According to the report, the human had been seen taking one of the stones. No one had observed the careful AAnn at their work. Could questing stone masters track the stones by themselves, or did they have to know who had made off with them? And if they found out, would they exert the efforts necessary for recovery? Would the number of individuals as well as the number of stones involved make recovery and return easier--or more difficult?
How long were they doomed to drift impotently before the Parraxnati of Mallatyah decided to come looking for their missing stones? Planning to be gone from base for only a day, the AAnn had brought little in the way of food and drink. Certainly the prospects of scavenging any life support in this place were remote.
"Weocannot float like helpless bubbles while waiting for the Parramati to find us, as they did the human," he announced. "We must try to extricate ourselves." He found that by kicking he could swim toward the green mass. The intense inner luminescence showed no signs of dimming. "Piarai, can you reach it? Everyone, try to make contact!"
"To what end?" Vuikak was disconsolate and made no effort to hide it.
"The human was able to alter his locale by putting pressure on the ends of the affecting mass." Reaching the stone, Essasu grabbed hold with both hands, trying to dig his fingers into its substance. Sharpened claws slid off the glassy sides, but strong hands succeeded in obtaining a firm grip. On the opposite side, Piarai did the same.
"Try to twist the ends," he instructed his second-incommand. "Try to make them move." Canines sliding against one another, he strained against the unyielding material.
Something gave beneath his fingers. Green sparks overwhelmed his vision.
He was standing now, no longer floating free. Piarai stood nearby, the stone mass resting on the ground between them. The earlier feeling of well-being had been replaced by a growing lethargy. A consequence of stronger gravity, he told himself.
There was no sign of the other members of the expedition. Yaarinda, Vuikak-all gone.
He and Piarai stood on a fiat, gravelly plain composed of sparkling black rock like crushed hematite. In every direction around them the horizon stretched to an unbroken infinity. There were no footprints, no vehicle tracks, no signs of civilization of any kind. Or for that matter, save for themselves, of life.
A sun seemed to be setting off to the west. Also off to the north, south, and east, twilight fading to pale in every direction. Above was a black sky devoid of cloud or any other redeeming feature, including stars. Of one thing a stunned Essasu was certain.
They were a long ways from anywhere.
What was responsible for the strange and unprecedented sunset? Were there four suns, each setting behind a different point of the compass? Or was natural law as they knew it simply foreign to this place?
It was getting cold. He did not want to be standing where they were when the light went away because he had a desperate, gut feeling it might never return. In chat ultimate darkness things with senses better attuned to nothingness might arise and come seeking. The commander thanked every deity and ancestor he could think of that he was not completely alone.
"Physical contact with the mass must be necessary for transport." Piarai turned a slow circle, inspecting a land that offered nothing to see. "The others must be ... lost."
And if we are riot careful, we, too, will be lost-an our minds, Essasu thought. Where moments ago there had been many there were now only two. The others were… elsewhere. Drifting free, screaming forlornly perhaps, two of their comrades and their green nexus gone forever. Eventually the black coil might come for them, do unspeakable things, and put an end to it.
He stood there on the hematite plain and shuddered, waiting for the pale to dim or brighten. "We have to try again. If we do not find the others, maybe we will find our way back to Senisran."
"Try again?" A dejected Piarai eyed the glowing green mass with little in the way of hope. "Travel from noplace to nowhere?"
"We must," Essasu urged him. "Wherever we end up, it cannot be worse than here."
The eyes of his second-in-command were haunted. "I wish I shared your certitude."
Essasu walked over and shook him. "Get a hold of yourself. You are an officer of the Empire! Your only release is death. Until then, we strive on, in the name of the Emperor."
"Yes, the Emperor," Piarai muttered. "How I wish he were here instead of L"
This was hardly the time or place to chide a fellow officer for sacrilege, Essasu knew. It was important not to give up hope, to keep thinking, to keep trying. He said as much.
"We have no idea how to steer this thing." Piarai indicated the enigmatic stone agglomeration that was simultaneously their source of hope and despair. "We do not even know for certain that there exists a means of directing it." His expression twisted, thick with sardonic humor. "We do not know the right roads."
"We can try," Essasu argued. "We can look." He put his hands back on the stone and waited for his companion to do likewise.
For a long moment Piarai did nothing. Then a deep, slow, resigned hiss emerged from between his clenched teeth. "I wonder how many possible destinations our stone here can access? One would hope that the number is finite."
Reaching down, he grasped the other side of the mass and exerted pressure. So did Essasu. Emerald shards flew, the continuum contorted, and they went from where they were to a place where they were not.