feeling the Ashrai would respond only to the dramatic. I needed to know their answer.'
'And now you do,' said Carrion. 'I hope you think that raising their anger was worth it.'
'Someone translate,' snapped Silence. 'All I heard was music that damn near blew out my eardrums. What did they say?'
'They know about the Mater Mundi,' said Diana. 'And they're scared. Her existence… disturbs them. They've agreed to come when I call, but I'm not sure anymore how much use they'll be. They're much diminished without their forest, and their world.'
'Don't underestimate them,' said Carrion. 'Dying was just another journey for them, a transition to another state. They are still very powerful.'
'But they've been dead a long time,' said Diana. 'You're all that holds them to the worlds of the living now, Carrion.'
'Yes, well,' said Silence. 'I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea of ghosts anyway. The dead should stay dead.'
'I'm not comfortable with the thought that the Mater Mundi could be so powerful that she frightens even the dead,' said Diana. 'It would appear I'm going to need even more allies. Which brings me back you, Daddy.'
'What do you mean?' said Silence. 'As you so kindly pointed out, what few powers I have aren't even in the same league as the Mater Mundi. I'll be there for you when I can, but I'm just another Captain in the Imperial Fleet, and I have to go where my orders send me. Right now I'm heading into the Darkvoid. No idea when I'll be back. Or even if I'll be coming back.'
'You'll be back,' said Diana. 'You're a survivor. And you do have powers, though you've chosen not to use or develop them. There's no reason why you couldn't become as powerful as all the other Maze survivors in time. I didn't want to involve you in my troubles, but I may not have any choice. How much do you love me, Daddy? Enough to become something other than human for my sake, to protect me?'
'I failed you before,' Silence said steadily. 'I won't fail you again. But I don't—'
'The Maze changed you,' said Diana. 'It rebuilt you. Don't be afraid of your potential. Tell me about the Maze. What it did to you.'
'I don't know!' said Silence, almost angrily. 'I don't know what I am anymore. I don't know what I'm becoming. All I know is that whatever change the Maze started in me, it isn't over yet. Sometimes I see things in my dreams. I hear voices telling me things. And once Frost came to me. She was trying to warn me about the Maze, what it was doing to me, but I couldn't understand her.'
'Tell me about the Maze,' said Diana. 'What was it like inside? What did it feel like?'
'It was… alien,' said Silence slowly. 'Like nothing I'd ever encountered before. And I think that it might have been alive in some way that we could never have comprehended. Being inside the Maze was like walking in visions. Like one of those dreams where you know the answer to everything until you wake up, and it's all gone. But these answers were real. They were too much for some of those who went into the Maze with me. They died horribly. Their minds weren't… flexible enough for the changes the Maze wanted to make in them.'
'Why did you leave the Maze?' said Diana. 'Why didn't you go all the way through, like Owen and his people?'
'I was scared,' said Silence. 'I wasn't worthy. And it was killing Frost. I grabbed her and got us both out. It wasn't until much later that the changes started appearing in us.'
'What do you think the Maze was?' said Diana. 'What was its purpose?'
Silence snorted derisively. 'Better men than I have tried to answer that and failed. Ask an ant what it feels about the statue it's crawling over. No one's ever found anything like the Maze before or since, on any of the thousands of planets we've visited or colonized. Its purpose was an alien purpose, possibly quite beyond our human capability to understand.'
'But you felt its touch,' said Diana. 'What do you think it was?'
'Perhaps… a teaching machine,' Silence said quietly. 'For those capable of learning. But none of this matters anymore. I destroyed it, blew it away with disrupter cannon till there was nothing left of it. The only one of its kind, possibly unique in the universe, and I destroyed it. And if I had to do it all over again, I'd give the same damned order without the slightest hesitation.'
'You never change, Captain,' said Carrion.
'Have you had any contact with the other Maze survivors since the rebellion?' said Diana. 'Have you discussed your opinions with them?'
'No,' said Silence shortly. 'It wasn't that long ago we were trying to kill each other. A part of me still wants to kill them for what they've done. Besides… I don't think we'd have much in common to talk about. They're… different from me. From everyone. They're spooky. Almost inhuman. Sometimes almost alien. If there's a path they and I are walking, they're much further along it than me. From where I am, they're almost out of sight. The poor bastards. All their new powers and abilities don't seem to have made them any happier. They're becoming something. Something else. Something other than human.'
'Like me perhaps?' said Carrion.
'No, Sean. You're just weird. I can still understand you, what moves you. I haven't a clue what's going on in the heads of Owen and his friends anymore. I think they're moving away from merely human concerns. That makes them dangerous—perhaps not just to the Empire but to all Humanity. That's one of the reasons why the Maze people weren't informed of this mission. Parliament didn't trust them not to interfere, to try to stop us.'
'What do you expect to find in the Darkvoid?' said Diana.
'Damned if I know. But just possibly something strong enough to stop or control the Maze people if they go bad.'
'And you think that's necessary?' said Carrion. 'You feel a need to destroy them? Like you destroyed the Ashrai and the Madness Maze?'
'Good example,' said Silence. 'My duty is to the Empire, and Humanity. To protect them from any and all dangers. Look, the Maze people aren't answerable to anyone but themselves. There's no one strong enough to say no if they say yes. And they're getting stronger all the time. What if one or more of them decided that Parliament's decisions were taking the Empire in a direction they didn't approve of? What if they were to decide that mere humans couldn't be trusted with their own destiny, and they decided to take over and rule us, for our own good, of course. Who could stop them?'
'Or just possibly you could be turning paranoid,' said Diana. 'There are only four of them.'
'How many gods does it take to rule Humanity?' said Silence. 'And just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get me. You of all people should appreciate that.'
'Good point,' said Diana, smiling for the first time. She got to her feet and nodded briefly to her father and Carrion. 'It's time I was going. I don't think I'm going to learn any more here. I'll talk to you again when you get back. Don't bother to see me out.'
And just like that she vanished. One moment there, the next gone. Silence and Carrion looked at each other.
'Well,' said Carrion finally. 'She's definitely your daughter, Captain.'
'And she always did know how to make an exit,' said Silence. He shook his head. 'Time is running out, and I still haven't finished briefing you. What was I going to… ah, yes. The insect ships. Have you finished the files I let you have?'
'Of course,' said Carrion. 'Fascinating material. You do know the insects have to be artificial, don't you?'
'That's what Frost said. She said they had to have been gengineered, because insects don't get that big naturally. Which implies there's another player in the game that we don't know about yet, the insects' creator.'
'Do we really need to assume it's an unknown?' said Carrion. 'Surely there are enough suspects already—the Hadenmen, Shub, even rogue human scientists funded by Families desperate for power? And then, there's always the Recreated. Whatever they turn out to be.'
'I said as much to Admiral Beckett,' said Silence slowly. 'I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover the insects come out of the Darkvoid. Their attacks have always been concentrated on the Rim, and where else could they be disappearing to afterward? And then… there's the voices.' Silence looked steadily at Carrion. 'The files I gave you on that are strictly restricted. You are not to discuss their contents with anyone else without my express permission in advance. My crew are spooked enough about going back into the Darkvoid as it is. So… what do you make of the voices? Any ideas?'
