Divergence

A full AI would have been able to multitask, but Constantine could only think about one thing at a time. He had to slow his mind back to human speed in order to rejoin their world.

“Easy, Saskia,” Maurice was saying. “I’ve got the last piece now.” He drew a final splinter from Saskia’s pale cheek.

“I can see patterns in the floor,” Judy said, staring down at the white tiles. “Reflections of things that aren’t there. The Dark Plants are getting hold of our minds.”

“What did you do to that great big box?” Edward asked Constantine. “I saw you point at it and it vanished.”

“No time for that.” Constantine raised his hands in the air. “Listen to me!”

The crew quieted down immediately. Behind them, the two kittens were criss-crossing the floor in stop-frame motion. They seemed to go from position to position without actually moving. What were they?

Constantine spoke. “It’s time. I can see the Earth system ahead; I can see the source of a pattern of intelligence that is swirling out from Earth and reaching into the galaxy. The Watcher. Its senses are everywhere, fixing the flux of Dark Seeds as it passes through the solar system. What’s the matter, Judy?”

“Nothing,” Judy said.

“I know what she’s thinking,” Maurice said. “Everything is coming together. Look at the venumbs, the kittens. All helping to get Judy to Earth. There’s no escaping it. We’re taking you to the Watcher, aren’t we Judy? We’re taking you all the way, whether we like it or not.”

“I guess so,” Judy said. “And then, if what Chris told me was true, I will want to destroy it.”

“ Do you want to destroy the Watcher?” Constantine asked.

“No. Never. Why should I wish to do that?”

“Okay,” said Constantine, “we have twenty-seven minutes left before we hit trouble. Go to your quarters and collect anything you need, then return here to the shuttle. I’ll go and fetch Miss Rose.”

“No, I’ll get her,” Saskia said.

“Fine,” said Constantine. “This is the arrangement. We fly to Earth with the Eva Rye safely inside the Bailero . Any Dark Seed or BVB will have to make its way through the observation sphere of both of those ships. We should therefore be as safe as we can be inside the shuttle.”

“What about Kevin?” Edward asked.

“What about him?” Judy replied.

“Will he be safe?”

“I hope not,” Judy said coldly.

Constantine continued: “We’ll fly to Earth inside the shuttle, that way we have three ships’ hulls between us and anything the Watcher cares to throw at us. If necessary, we’ll ram the Bailero straight onto the surface of the Earth itself.”

“Why are we all acting as if this is going to be such a problem?” Edward asked. “What’s waiting for us down there?”

Constantine saw Judy shiver.

“Worse things than you can possibly imagine, Edward,” she said. “A selfless world of love and happiness.”

Maurice was looking across at the crippled venumb, still dragging its splintering foot across the white tiles.

“First the active suits, then the kittens, then the venumbs,” he murmured. “You know, when you look at it, maybe we haven’t been so badly stiffed after all. Everything that we’ve taken on board this ship seems to have helped us along on our journey. Or to be more precise, helped Judy get a little closer to Earth.”

He gave a ghoulish smile. “I wonder when we’ll find out what our part in the delivery process is going to be?”

interlude: 2249