As before, he found himself hanging in darkness. Somewhere-somehow-suspended in space. Able to observe the stars and galaxies, but not really part of that universe.
And, as before, he saw a point of light erupt, and come before him in the form of a Great One. Only, this time, it was many points of light and many Great Ones. He seemed to be facing a three-dimensional phalanx of the beings.
One of the Great Ones swirled and moved closer. OF COURSE, GRANDFATHER. BUT AT WHAT COST? THE QUESTION WAS NEVER THAT OF THE FATE OF THE NEW GODS. ONCE THEY DESTROYED THEIR PLANET, THEY WERE AT OUR MERCY. WE COULD HAVE ERASED THEM FROM EXISTENCE AT ANY TIME-AS, INDEED, WE SHALL DO NOW. BUT ONLY AT THE COST OF CONDEMNING AIDE'S NOT-YET-PEOPLE TO PERPETUAL SLAVERY.
AIDE JUST TOLD YOU HIMSELF. HE ONLY BECAME AIDE WITH
A second Great One looped above, now speaking also. TELL US, BELISARIUS. HOW DO YOU MANUMIT A SLAVE WHO DOES NOT THINK HE IS A HUMAN? IN FACT,
The huge, glowing creature completed the loop and began spinning slowly. WE DID NOT SEND AIDE TO YOU SO THAT HE MIGHT DIE. WE SENT HIM SO THAT HE MIGHT LIVE, AND BE BORN, AND BECOME SOMETHING WITH A NAME OF HIS OWN. WHICH, WITH YOUR HELP, HE DID. AND NOW, HAVING DONE SO, MUST NATURALLY DIE. JUST AS YOU WILL DIE. JUST AS WE WILL DIE. JUST AS ALL HUMANS DIE.
YES, HE DOES. JUST AS MOST OF YOUR SOLDIERS ALSO DIE YOUNG. JUST AS YOU-A YOUNG MAN-MIGHT HAVE DIED ANY OF A HUNDRED TIMES DURING THE WAR. IF YOU WANT AIDE TO BE HUMAN- TRULY HUMAN AND NO LONGER A SLAVE TO ANYONE-THEN YOU HAVE TO GIVE HIM THAT CHOICE.
FINALLY. AFTER MILLENNIA WHEN THE CRYSTALS COULD NOT ACCEPT THAT CHOICE-THE SIMPLE ABILITY TO CHOOSE-WAS THEIRS ALSO. JUST AS IT IS OURS, AND YOURS, AND THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY MEMBER OF EVERY BRANCH AND FORM OF HUMANKIND. THIS TIME, THEY WERE BOLD ENOUGH TO TRY. THEY TRIED, AND THEY TRIUMPHED. WOULD YOU NOW, AT THE END, DENY AIDE AND HIS PEOPLE THAT GREAT VICTORY?
Belisarius felt as if he were reeling, though he simply hung in space. He tried to come up with an answer, but. .
Couldn't.
Aide's voice came then, almost timidly. I am content, Belisarius. Really, I am. I will be the first crystal in history who had a name. And whose name will be remembered.
MORE THAN REMEMBERED! That voice came roaring, just as the point of light from which it emanated also came roaring forward. A moment later, a new Great One hung in space before Belisarius.
This one. . was immense. Truly immense. It dwarfed its companions.
Yet, despite its gargantuan size, it seemed somehow frail. As if it were shredded both at the edges and within its core.
'IT,' the Great One said, somehow sounding sarcastic. I AM ONE OF YOUR GRANDDAUGHTERS, OLD MAN. MANY, MANY TIMES REMOVED, OF COURSE.
AND, NOW, VERY OLD MYSELF.
Belisarius wondered how such strange beings could be male or female. He could see no. .
There came the sense of laughter, from many voices.
IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS TO
The huge, ancient female kept spinning in place. AIDE MADE HIS CHOICE, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE. HE WILL NOT SIMPLY BE REMEMBERED. FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, ALL THE CRYSTALS IN THE UNIVERSE ARE CHANGING. EACH AND EVERY ONE HAS JOINED THE HUMAN CLAN-AND EACH AND EVERY ONE KNOWS AIDE TO BE THE FOUNDER OF THEIR LINE.
THINK OF HIM, BELISARIUS, AS THEIR ALEXANDER. OR BETTER STILL, THEIR ACHILLES. THE SHORT BUT GLORIOUS LIFE THAT BREATHED LIFE INTO ALL OF THEM.
BUT ENOUGH! I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS TO KEEP.
A quick half-spin, and the shining leviathan was speeding off, with most of the others following.
WOULD YOU CARE TO WATCH? asked one of the remaining Great Ones.
Yes, Aide replied, before Belisarius could speak. I would.
They were somewhere else, in an instant. Still hanging in the void, or seeming to, but there was more than just stars and galaxies to see. Below them-in front of them, perhaps-hung a dark, very ugly. .
Something. A moon?
It's an asteroid, Aide explained. A pretty big one. Big enough for gravity to have pulled it into a sphere.
Nothing you are seeing is happening according to the time frame you are accustomed to. It is much faster-or much slower. In a way, it's already happened, in the far future.
Somewhat plaintively: Time is a lot more slippery than it looks.
Either they moved forward or Belisarius' eyesight became more acute. He could now see that the asteroid was covered with what looked to be machines of some sort.
Yes. The last-the only remaining-fortress of the new gods. Where they retreated, to await what they thought would be their Armageddon. Which, in fact, it is about to become-but not the way they planned.
Suddenly, the surface of the asteroid erupted. Dazzling beams of light sprang up, intermixed with odd flashes.
The Great Ones are coming. Those are weapons firing. Don't ask me how they work. I don't know, exactly, and I couldn't explain even if I did. They're very powerful, though. If they still had the resources of a planet to draw on, the Great Ones could do nothing but die here.
Some of them will probably die anyway.
Belisarius could feel himself taking a deep breath, even though there seemed to be nothing he could actually breathe.
You're not really here. You're still sitting on a bench outside the imperial palace in Kausambi, staring at nothing. A familiar tone of humor came: People would think you were crazy-might lock you up-except it'll only last for a split-second. Back there. What we're watching here is actually taking several years to happen.
Now Belisarius could see the phalanx of the Great Ones approaching. Except, as it neared, he realized it wasn't so much a phalanx as a three-dimensional version of the old Roman maniples. There was fluidity, here.
Tactics, in fact.
Several of the Great Ones veered off, then back, racing toward the asteroid. The light beams and flashes concentrated on them. If Belisarius was interpreting what he saw correctly, they were being hit.
Pretty badly, in fact. But they can absorb a lot of punishment, before-
Aide seemed to take a deep breath himself. This is
The Great One nearest the asteroid seemed to brush its surface. Scrape along it, rather, for almost a quarter
