'D'Arcy doesn't understand what Julie is doing here.'
'You said that—'
'Julie believes that Aleph will control everything now,' Ruth said. 'D'Arcy thinks of it as just an elaborate computer program.'
Gideon nodded and knelt down. He felt around the floor of the office. Like the rest of this half of the barn, the floor here had been raised above the dirt floor of the barn so cables could be run underneath. Gideon felt until he found a panel he could move. 'And Julia believes it's more than that.'
Ruth knelt next to him and helped him with the panel.
Gideon began to understand what Aleph might mean for Julia. They had created this being out of the pure mathematical world that Julia worshiped. It was an entity wholly of that world. So, to Julia's point of view, it was always there, somewhere, since the -human mind couldn't invent mathematical entities, only discover them. If the universe was an objectified form of some mathematical object, then Aleph, by definition, would predate the universe. Aleph would perceive directly, and be wholly of, a world Julia thought of as divine.
God? Gideon thought. Damn close in Julia’s theology.
Between the two of them they worried the panel loose and saw about two feet below, down to the dirt. 'Get moving. I don't know how long they're going to be distracted.'
Gideon helped Ruth down first, then followed her into the darkness below.
The space under the platform was cramped, and seemed to magnify the pains in his leg. He whispered to Ruth, 'Follow the cables in front of us. Some should go to the wall and the uplink.'
'Do we know what the hell we're doing?'
Gideon was honest. 'No.' He carefully replaced the floor panel above him, plunging the two of them into near pitch-darkness. Two bright spots seen through the shadows were the only break in the dark. One was behind them, which led to the central area where the generators sat on a dirt floor.
The other end was much dimmer than the leaking florescent light of the barn, that was where they needed to go. 'That way,' Gideon whispered, 'Straight ahead and to your left.'
Ruth grunted, and he heard her crawl forward. In moments her body blocked out the dim glow of their destination. Gideon forced himself forward, following his sense of Ruth's presence. He could barely hear what was going on above him, muffled voices and footsteps, nothing intelligible. The flooring above him made good soundproofing.
It seemed as if they crawled for hours before Ruth whispered back, 'The floor's gone.'
It was a little brighter here, now that Gideon's eyes had adjusted. He crawled up next to Ruth and looked at what she was talking about.
She was right, the floor—the raised platform above them—stopped about six feet shy of the far wall. Gideon could see the cables snaking across the dirt floor toward a door that had the lower twelve inches sawn out of its bottom to accommodate them. It had to be the door to what was left of the adjoining shed where the uplink was.
There were three Kalishnikov-wielding guards there. Two were making their way through to the uplink, while one remained at the door.
Gideon could hear D'Arcy saying something about shutting off the uplink manually. Gideon could hear people milling around above him, Mike Gribaldi and the other computer scientists were watching their keepers trying to shut down their project.
No one moved forward to stop the guards making for the uplink. Then Gideon heard D'Arcy say, 'Where are Malcolm and the woman? Find them!'
Gideon knew that there'd be little question about where the two of them went. There was only one place they could have gone. As if in response to his fear, a light burst into the space under the floor, throwing their shadows on the wall in front of them. Someone was lifting up the floor panels and shining a flashlight toward them.
Six feet. It seemed endless.
He didn't have much of a choice.
The one guard was left behind at the door. He was still focusing on the crowd facing him, straining to see the commotion beyond the people looking at him. He carried his rifle loosely in his hands, the barrel pointed away from Gideon.
Gideon took the opportunity to roll out into the dirt no-man's land between the raised floor and the barn wall. He chose a time when the guard wasn't looking quite in his direction. Gideon pushed himself to his feet, next to the guard, just as the guard was turning to see the disturbance. Gideon was in a half crouch next to the guard and brought his fist up into the man's groin.
The guard's eyes widened, and his cheeks puffed out with an exhaled breath. He still raised the Kalishnikov to bring the butt down on Gideon's head. Gideon dove up, under the blow. The stock slammed into his left shoulder as he grappled the man's waist. There was a flare of pain that paralyzed his left arm as they both slammed into the doorframe.
Gideon slammed his right fist into the man's kidney as he tried to force his legs to push himself fully upright. There was yelling from the spectators, and Gideon could hear movement from beyond the door next to him.
The stock came down again, this time on his back with an impact that felt as if it should crack his spine. The guard said nothing, his voice was coming out as inarticulate, painful grunts. He sounded a lot like Gideon felt at the moment.
Gideon brought up his forearm as he finally got to his feet and slammed it across the guard's neck. For a moment they were face-to-face, and Gideon stared into the guard's wide eyes, and his breath came out in a strangled gasp.
The guard finally let go of the rifle to grab Gideon and push him away. The maneuver was effective, Gideon stumbled on his weakened leg and fell backward. His breath was blown out of him as he fell across the cables that snaked under the door.
The guard folded forward and, gasping, jumped down on Gideon. Gideon grabbed for the man's face, and the guard grabbed for Gideon's neck. Gideon tore into the man's cheek ineffectively as the guard put crushing pressure on his trachea.
Gideon could feel the side of the door slamming into both of them. They had fallen across the entrance, and the other two guards outside were trying to get back in.
Gideon gasped for breath, feeling light-headed, when the stock of the Kalishnikov came down on the back of the guard's head. The guard's grip loosened, and he turned toward the direction of the blow, a stunned expression on his face. Then the stock came again, swinging like a baseball bat across the man's face.
Blood spattered Gideon from a smashed nose and a busted lip as the guard tumbled off him, falling into the small space between him and the door. The two guards outside were still trying to push the door open against the dead weight.
Gideon scrambled to his feet and saw Ruth standing next to him, holding the guard's Kalishnikov. As soon as he was upright, she pushed the gun into his hands. From her expression, he didn't know if it was distaste, or if she just didn't know how to use the thing.
He backed up, hunting maniacally for the safety. He found two switches, and he hit both of them. The crowd of spectators were backing up, and the guards deeper inside the barn had realized that there was something wrong by the uplink.
Gideon edged along the rear wall, facing where the shed door would open. He motioned Ruth with his head; she needed to get away from him. He hoped that he could provide enough of a distraction that she could get away, or at least hide back under the floor. God only knew what was going to happen in the next minute or so.
The door pushed open, one of the guards leading with his shoulder through the doorway. Gideon was prepared this time, and he brought the stock up to connect with the man's chin. Between Gideon's swing, and the guard's momentum, the impact was enough to drop him.
Behind him, Gideon heard a commotion. He didn't need to see what was happening to realize what the sound was. The other guards were pushing through the onlookers who crowded the end of the barn.
Gideon stepped over the two fallen guards, bringing the rifle barrel to bear on the last guard, outside.
Gideon was through the door, and he didn't see anyone. All he saw was the purple sky, a plain of blue, moonlit snow, and the blocky form of the uplink antenna.
