The Temporal Void

Justine: Year Four

Dreaming still. Mellow images of her true love. His scent. His laughter. His pleasure. Those two days kept stretching out and out—

Justine sat up in the medical chamber and glanced round the Silverbird's cabin. Everything was exactly the same as when she went in to suspension. No alarms sounding this time. They'd reached the star system, and the starship's log reported a thoroughly uneventful voyage. The Silverbird was already decelerating.

She swung her legs out, wincing at the stiffness in her limbs. Neck muscles were knotted and tight. What she needed was a good massage. Maybe at the Hulluba resort on Fasal Island. Yes, she could certainly picture herself lying on a bed on the spa veranda, overlooking the white beaches and absurdly clear turquoise water. The spa had some very handsome masseur, talented fit young men who knew how to kneed her muscles and tendons into complete submission. Very handsome. And the drinks they served in long glasses full of crushed ice, with exotic fruits — delicious. Hot blue-white star a pinprick of intense light atop the indigo sky. Handsome and eager.

Lordie, this is what dreaming about those two days does to me. Hulluba was a thousand years ago.

Justine sighed in regret and her third hand pulled a robe out of the replicator module. The culinary unit produced a big glass of carrot juice with vitamin supplements. It brought a grimace to her face as she dutifully swallowed it all down.

Maybe there'll be some beaches on a planet here somewhere.

She sat on the floor and started stretching exercises. Already she was looking forward to a very hot shower with powerful jets, a forcefully applied heat that would rid her neck of those abysmal kinks.

'What have we got outside? she asked the smartcore.

The star appeared in her exovision. Justine frowned. 'I know this. It was the star system which was projected on to the ceiling of the Orchard Palace's Upper Council chamber. A copper star that shone warmly at the centre of an accretion disc. Comets with moon-sized nuclei prowled the outer edges of the disc in high-inclination orbits, their tails streaming out for millions of kilometres, fluorescing a glorious scarlet. But what she was seeing outside now was older, the accretion disc had thinned out from the time of Edeard's tenure. Nine distinct bands had formed within it, each one shepherded by dense curlicues of asteroids as proto-planets started to congeal. The tails of the fireball comets were smaller, less volatile than before. Long braids of white vapour corrupted their once-pure scarlet efflux.

Translucent data displays overlaid the astronomy image. Justine's secondary thought routines sampled the information, compiling summaries, and her focus immediately shifted to a tiny white crescent that circled the tenuous rim of the disc. 'No way! It was an H-congruent planet.

The Silverbird was still seven AUs out from the star. It gave her plenty of time to observe the planet as they approached. In the real universe outside the Void it wouldn't exist. Even if the accretion disc had produced an amalgamation of rock and minerals that built up to planet-size there wouldn't have been time for life to evolve. The Silverbird's spectral analysis filters identified water and chlorophyll, along with a lot of nitrogen in the atmosphere. Wherever the world had come from, it had oceans and recognisable plant-life covering the landmasses.

One AU out. It was small for a H-congruent planet; Mars-size. The atmosphere was thick, at the surface it would be a standard pressure. Temperature was typical. A magnetic field warped solar wind into characteristic Van Allen belts around it. There were no electromagnetic emissions. But she kept checking for that the whole way in.

An implausible world in an impossible place. Only in the Void. She knew full well the amount of mass energy the boundary had consumed during that short dreadful expansion phase was enough to create a thousand solar systems, let alone one small planet. I shouldn't be surprised at anything here. Edeard only scratched the surface of the Void's potential, as Living Dream keep emphasising.

Ten million kilometres out, and the Silverbird was decelerating at five gees, shedding the last of the colossal velocity that had carried her across three lightyears. Five gees was the best it could reliably maintain. The glitches were back with a vengeance. Sensor degradation was acute on some of the higher-function scans. But simple optical lenses were showing continents and ice caps. Whorl patterns in the clouds were becoming apparent. She saw one hurricane that was somehow splitting in two as it hit the coast, its leading edge separating as if a knife was cutting it. A very big knife. The phenomena triggered some uncertainty deep in her subconscious — an ancient memory that struggled to resolve. What cuts a storm in half?

Then she had more to worry about as cabin gravity started to fluctuate. Secondary systems were dropping out as fluctuations beset the power network. Back-up supplies didn't always compensate properly. She ordered the cabin to return to a neutral status, retracting everything except for her acceleration couch. At least her biononics remained fully functional. She activated her integral force field as the Silverbird flew across the remaining million kilometres. Ahead of her, the planet's upper atmosphere sparked constantly with contrails as meteorites from the fringe of the accretion disc impacted on the ionosphere. The Silverbird's force fields reported a build up of micro-particle strikes. Dust density outside was thickening rapidly.

Justine went and put her armour suit on.

Ingrav efficiency was twenty per cent down, and becoming erratic. Justine had already abandoned any idea of breaking into orbit. They were going to have to head for a direct landing. Hopefully the regrav drives would kick in once they were inside the planet's gravity field. Judging by the way the rest of the systems were behaving she wasn't placing any bets.

A thousand kilometres above the ionosphere and the smart-core began shutting down peripheral routines in order to concentrate on core functions. The ship curved round the bulk of the planet. Regrav was becoming active — just. They would make it down okay. Probably.

That was when the three gigantic rocky cones sticking up through the atmosphere slipped into view. Silverbird was heading straight for them, trajectory projections giving their landing site just beyond.

Shock set in as she focused the cameras on the astonishingly familiar profile of the three volcanoes. 'You have got to be fucking kidding me, she said out loud.

The Silverbird was approaching near-perfect replicas of Far Away's Grand Triad at mach thirty. She fought to quash her surprise. It can happen. Here in the Void, it can happen.

Terminating a voyage three lightyears long at the exact point corresponding to her hyperglider landing twelve hundred years ago was not random chance. It was purpose.

The dream. Oh my God, the dream.

Which left a possibility that was almost too much to contemplate.

No. That cannot happen.

The Silverbird hit the atmosphere. Tenuous air molecules screamed as it hurtled downwards, soaring round the side of the tallest volcano with its flat summit and dead twin calderas. Churning superheated air blazed in the starship's wake. Regrav units applied what force they could muster.

Acceleration pushed Justine down into the couch. Her chest was compressed as her weight quadrupled. Biononics reinforced her body, enabling her to breathe normally. The regrav wouldn't alter the starship's vector. Her landing point was predetermined.

Ordained?

The Silverbird plunged down through a light cirrus layer, its speed dropping to subsonic. The volcano's mid-slopes were beneath her, rocky crags and cliffs strewn with patches of lichen and moss, streaked with snow. Then she was flying over the volcano's upper meadows, undulating grassland that formed a wide verdant belt just above the treeline. Icy waterfalls tumbled down rocky outcrops, birthing a lacework of silver streams.

Another mind impinged on the starship's gaiafield. The person's thoughts curious and enthusiastic.

'Oh no. No no no. He can't be here. You can't do this to me.

A long glade opened up in the forest below. Silverbird descended fast. Its landing struts bulged out of the fuselage. Justine gritted her teeth. The bump wasn't too bad. The cabin shook and a crunching sound tremored through the superstructure. Gravity fell below a standard one gee. Some of the ship status icons turned amber briefly, then flicked back to green. Whole sections faded to neutral as the drive units ceased to operate. The starship wasn't going to be flying anywhere soon.

But she was down, and intact. That was something.

The mind was still there; waiting with a hint of impatience. She was sensing its emotional state directly through farsight rather than via her gaiamotes. Presumably then, he could sense her thoughts.

Justine took her time removing her armour suit. After all, she didn't want to frighten him and it would look fearsome to anyone unfamiliar with Greater Commonwealth technology. She unwound an emergency rope ladder from the airlock, not trusting the gravity manipulation function to lower her down. When she started down she realized the beige one-piece she'd put on was remarkably similar to the leathery grey-blue flightsuit she'd worn in the hyperglider. Only the helmet was missing.

'Didn't get that right, did you? she mocked the Void.

The rope ladder swung about alarmingly as she neared the bottom, Its pendulum motion sending her swaying over the grassy ground. She jumped the last two rungs.

Gravity was low, just like Far Away. The scent of pine trees was strong in the humid air. Her farsight swept out, producing a mildly disorientating effect. Then she began to interpret the foggy shapes, correlating them to what her eyes could see. Besides, her biononic field scan function was working unimpaired, providing solid interpretations of the surrounding landscape.

He was standing ten yards away, waiting courteously for her to notice him. Justine turned round very slowly, still half believing she'd open her eyes to see the Silverbird's cabin around her as she rose from suspension. But no, it was real. He was real.

Justine smiled, too numb for any emotion to triumph. 'Hello, Kazimir, she said.

His face was perfect, healthy dark skin and shining white teeth in lips that could smile so wide; rich black hair tied back with a red band. As were the clothes, a leather waistcoat open to show off a nicely muscled torso, and his McFoster clan's emerald and copper check kilt. He even carried the correct small backpack.

'You know me? he asked.

The voice was right, too. But then it should be, he was her creation after all. Her smile shifted from welcome to sympathy. 'I'm aware of who you think you are. That's my fault.

He frowned. 'Are you all right? Your craft came down fast…

Finally, she laughed. That concern was so Kazimir. 'A little shaken up, that's all. My name is Justine, by the way.

'I'm pleased to meet you, Justine. Is that really a spaceship?

'It really is.

Justine couldn't be cruel, that was the hardest part. She couldn't just tell him to go away, or ignore him. That would have been so much easier for her. But he was a seventeen year old human being with feelings; just like everyone else he never asked to be born—no matter the strange nature of his birth. He deserved to be treated with consideration and respect.

Curiously, he had no clear recollections of where he came from.

They sat beside a stream that gurgled along the side of the clearing. Both weary of the other, yet he was powerfully attracted to her, and not just physically, she could sense that.

'I am on my groundwalk, he told her when she asked where he'd come from.

'To prove you can survive out here by yourself, she said, recalling this very same conversation from so long ago. 'Once you return to your clan you can become a fully fledged warrior and fight the Starflyer.

'You know of the Starflyer?

'Kazimir, I know this must be hard to believe, but the Commonwealth defeated the Starflyer a very long time ago. You're not who you think you are.

He grinned delightedly. 'Then who am I?

'You are a dream I had. This place makes you real.

His face produced a thrilled expression while his mind registered a brisk amusement. 'What are you saying, that I have died and this place is the Dreaming Heavens?

'Oh my God! Justine stared at him in complete astonishment. 'I'd forgotten that part of the Guardians' ideology. Well, consciously, anyway.

'So are you my spirit guide? You are what I imagine an angel would look like.

'You called me that before, she said quietly.

'I did what?

'You used to call me your angel.

'Back when we were alive? His mind was starting to show uncertainty — a joke wearing thin.

Justine cursed her stupid old biological body for its crippling emotional weakness. 'You are alive. Again. It's complicated.

'You thought I was dead?

I watched you die. 'Tell me where you were before you started your groundwalk? Who your friends are? What did you spend last year doing? In fact, what were you doing this time yesterday?

'I… His thoughts churned desperately. 'It is difficult. I don't remember much. No wait, Bruce! Bruce is my friend.

'Kazimir, I'm sorry. Bruce was the one who killed you.

He recoiled. 'This is the Dreaming Heavens!

'I suppose in a manner of speaking, yes it is.

'Bruce would never kill me.

'He was captured by the Starflyer, who turned him against the Guardians of Selfhood. He became their agent.

'Not Bruce.

'Not the Bruce who was your friend, the Starflyer destroyed that part of him. Kazimir, you don't have any memories of your past because I don't know it, not as fully as I should do, not the details. We didn't spend enough time together to talk of such things in depth. The time we did have was too precious. I always regretted that, I'm so sorry. She looked away, trying to get her emotions under control. This is so painful. I don't have to put myself through this. I should just walk away. Then she glanced at him, seeing the hurt and confusion on his face, and she knew she couldn't do that to him, not her Kazimir, not even a shadow of him.

He reached out tentatively, fingers touching her shoulder, as if he was the one who should be offering comfort. 'We were… together?

'Yes, Kazimir. We were lovers.

A wide smile split his youthful face, and the universe wasn't so bad after all.

'I'm doing this really badly, she confessed. 'I wish I could be gentler to you.

'So I am what you dream of?

'Yes.

His smile was triumphant now. 'I am glad you dream of me. I am glad I am here for you.

Oh no. We're not going down that wad. It's not… right. 'I'm glad you're here, too; but I have a duty to perform.

Kazimir nodded seriously. 'What duty?

She pulled a face. 'Save the galaxy.

'How?

'Don't know, actually. Where we are, this place, it's wrong. I have to get to… whoever's in charge, try and convince them to stop their expansion. I'm sorry if that doesn't make much sense.

Kazimir's gaze turned to the Silverbird; there was a flash of longing in his mind. 'Will we fly there in your spaceship?

The first drops of rain began to fall out of the darkening sky as the stormhead found its way round the volcano. 'I'd like to, but I need to figure out how to make it fly again. And I don't know where the nucleus is or how to get there.

'Oh. His disappointment was tangible, shining through a weakly shielded mind.

Justine grinned. 'Would you like to look inside?

'Yes please!

He shot up the rope ladder with ease. But then, Justine recalled, Kazimir had always been very agile. That would account for why her own heart was racing as she clambered up after him. The airlock was small with the two of them in it. She told the smartcore to open the inner door, and led the way up the narrow companionway into the cabin.

Kazimir tried to be polite as he stared round the circular compartment, but he clearly wasn't adept at shielding his thoughts. Fortunately, she recalled several techniques Edeard had employed in Inigo's dreams.

'You travel in this? he asked cautiously.

Justine clicked her fingers as she told the smartcore to extrude a couple of chairs.

'Ah! Kazimir watched them rise up, happy again. She switched on a holographic projection, displaying status graphics in the air in front of him.

Seventeen is such an easy age, she thought with a pang of resentment at his fascination. 'I'd like to run some scans on you, she said. 'It might help me understand more about this place.

'Of course.

She used her biononic field function to examine him in detail, shunting the results into the smartcore. He was human, every organ where it should be. When she touched a sampler module to his skin he smiled at her again, emitting a strong sense of longing, of willingness.

Out of those two days an awful lot of the time had been spent in bed making love.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise as the sequencing results rose up into the holographic display. 'Your DNA is… Real? Proper? Fully human? 'Okay, she concluded. And how did the Void pull that stunt?

'I'm glad, he said simply.

The smartcore ran a comparison against a medical file she carried: her son's DNA. This Kazimir didn't share any genetic markers with the man whose child she'd borne twelve hundred years ago. She didn't know if she was disappointed by that or not. So it's not omnipotent, then.

'Shall we see if the culinary unit is working? she asked.

She didn't really have to ask what he wanted. Cheeseburger with bacon, fries, sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. Chocolates and champagne. All part of the decadent life she'd corrupted him with first time round.

The culinary unit managed to produce them, though she thought some of the tastes were a bit strange.

It was all strange and good to Kazimir's palate, he wolfed the lot down.

'Have you seen anyone else here? she asked as she sipped her own champagne.

'I thought you said I didn't exist before today, he said, only half teasing.

'I don't know how long you've been here, actually. It took the Void four years to create this world. I think.

He sat back in the chair and thought hard. 'I have memories, or notions of my life before today. That life I had back with my clan isn't real, I see that now, nothing about that time is substantial. It is a notion of what should have been. And yet I remember setting out on my groundwalk a couple of weeks ago.

I'm sure the last few days were real. Today is. Today has you in it. I remember waking and enjoying the clear sky.

'So you didn't see anyone on your groundwalk?

'No. But the idea of the groundwalk is to be on your own.

'Of course.

He shivered, looking round the cabin again. Apprehension was creeping into his thoughts. 'I am nothing. I am a toy some alien has built to amuse you. What kind of being has such power?

'Hey, she said soothingly. 'You're certainly not nothing. You're you. It doesn't matter why you are, only that you're here now. Life is to be lived, I told you that the first time we met.

Kazimir sniffed suspiciously. 'Did I believe you?

'You took some convincing. You were just as stubborn then.

That seemed to satisfy him.

'What are you going to do now? he asked.

'I'm not sure. I came here to try and talk to the nucleus. That's looking quite difficult now. It thinks I want to be here with you instead. She reviewed the Silverbird's status again. None of the drives were operational, and the smartcore didn't know why. The generator was producing some power, enough to maintain basic life support. A majority of cabin functions were running, though she wasn't sure she'd want to use the medical cabinet. What vexed her most was the reason for the failures and glitches. There wasn't one.

Willpower, she thought, that's the governing factor in this universe. The power of mind over matter. Thoughts can affect reality. So the Void doesn't want the Silverbird to fly. It's as simple as that.

'And you don't want to be here with me? he asked.

'It's enjoyable, she told him. 'But it's not why I'm here. His face was so crestfallen she immediately felt guilty. 'Kazimir, I apologise, but there is an awful lot at stake. More than I expect you to believe. I have to do whatever I can to help.

'I understand, he said gravely. 'It is an honourable thing that

you do. My mind may be false, but I believe in honour. It is a universal truth.

'You're very sweet, she said. 'I remembered that part of you perfectly. She yawned. 'I'm going to try and get some rest, it's been a long stressful flight and that champagne has gone straight to my head.

'I will keep watch outside, he announced gravely. 'If this is a whole real planet there might be something hostile out there.

'Thank you. Damn, my memory's a dangerous thing. The cabin extended a large bed as Justine stripped off the one-piece suit; then the replicator produced a thin duvet. It had peculiar hard lumps in it, but she shrugged and pulled it up anyway. She fell asleep straight away.

And dreamed. Dreamed of her own bed in her own home, where she was warm and safe and life was comfortable.

Someone pulled the drapes back, and sunlight streamed in through the tall windows. Justine yawned and stretched. It was cosy under the duvet.

'Hello, darling.

'Dad, she said drowsily, and smiled at the gold-face looming above her. 'Is it time to get up?

'It's time you and I had a talk.

Full awareness hit her like a plunge into ice water. Justine yelped and sat up straight. It was her room in the Tulip mansion, the one she'd spent her adolescence in, therefore ridiculously purple and black as she merrily ploughed her way through her retro-Goth phase mainly to annoy her parents. Her T-shirt and baggy flannel pyjama trousers were black cotton. Toe- and fingernails were black, with embossed blood gems. She looked at them, mortified by the fashion. Fingers heavy with silver skull rings hurriedly pulled a string of hair in front of her face to check: yes, black.

'Jesus, she muttered.

'You always looked cute no matter how bad the fashion, Core said. He was standing at the foot of the bed, arms folded as he leaned against the post. (Four-poster with black gauze drapes — of course.) His handsome gold face grinned down.

'What? I… Am… Is this the Void?

'You're still in the Void, Gore said. 'I'm back in the Commonwealth thinking up cosy environments to amplify our rapport. And there's nothing cosier than a childhood room.

'Rapport?

'I'm hugely embarrassed to say I've become the Third Dreamer. And guess whose life in the Void I'm dreaming.

'Oh shit.

Gore produced an evil grin. 'Could be worse, you could have slept with him. And I'd be the one relaying it into the gaiafield.

'Shit!

'That nobility of yours will get you into real trouble one day.

Justine stood up carefully. 'What's been happening out there? Did the Pilgrimage make it through?

'You mean in the four days you've been inside?

'Four days? she asked incredulously.

'Coming up on five.

'But it's been…

'Four years. Including the interlude with the Skylord.

'You got that part?

'Oh yes. That little shit Ethan is making a lot of capital out of its refusal to take you to the nucleus. A real big boost to the cause. The Clerics from his jumped up Council have been all over the Unisphere ever since, ranting about destiny. It's almost enough to counter the fuck-up they've made on Viotia.

'Viotia? she asked in a daze.

'They're turning the planet upside down looking for the Second Dreamer. Don't worry about it. We've got to concentrate on your problem.

'Kazimir?

'In a manner of speaking. Damn, I never realized you were still so fixated. You really ballsed that one up, didn't you?

'What do you mean?

'So far all Living Dream has been promising is the chance to put your life straight, just like their precious Waterwalker did every time he made his many mistakes. Screwed up again? Never mind. Bang, he thinks back to the moment he went wrong and rearranges the whole Void to that instant. That's what sold it to them, all the sheep bleating to be taken on the Pilgrimage fleet.

'I know, time travel is everyone's wish fulfilment made true. Going back to correct your life's blunders is the ultimate fantasy.

'Time travel is pure bullshit, impossible; nobody can defeat causality or entropy. All the Void does is press the reset button. That's what that goddamn memory layer is, a template of every instant inside there. And how does it fucking power that?

'Dad.

'Every planet, every person, every Skylord, every star has to have its entropy reversed to the point in time Edeard fancied going back to. Every star! Every single atom in every star in the Void has to have its energy level pumped back up so he can begin again. Dear God, what arrogance. And where does it get the energy from to do that? From us. From eating our galaxy. That's what feeds the reset. Mass to energy, good old E equals MC squared.

'Dad, calm down, you're ranting to the converted.

'Oh am I? If they were converted, the stupid dumb shits wouldn't be going on their Pilgrimage, would they? Sometimes I think the Ocisens are quite right, they should just wipe us out because any species thick enough to produce a Living Dream doesn't deserve to live.

'Dad! she said, shocked.

'Yeah yeah. He grinned round savagely. 'You like this dream, Ethan? You like what's coming at you from the Void now? Or is this too much truth for you? Because it's not just going to be your dumbass Waterwalker skipping back through his life any more, is it? I could just about live with him being the saviour of a bunch of shipwrecked medieval cretins. But that was never enough for you, was it? You are so fucking stupid you want to take everyone in there. Millions of you resetting your lives every time you get a drop of shampoo in your fucking eye. Are you so fucking pitifully weak you can't face living your life properly? Learn from your mistake and move on. That's what makes you human. Not condemning the rest of us to extinction because of your personal goddamn failure of an existence. Grow some balls, for fuck's sake.

Justine put her arm around Gore, startled to find he was shaking with rage. 'It's okay, she told him. 'We'll find a solution.

'Oh yeah. That's right. Because now it's not just the integral memory function that the Void can use as a template for creation. It can delve into any old hang-up you care to take in there with you. The Living Dream bastards aren't going to be content with going to Makkathran and screwing themselves stupid with Ranalee. Not any more. Not now they can recreate anything from their own past. People, cities, civilizations, worlds. Bring anything you want back to life, anything from history, from fiction. Doesn't matter, we'll just suck down a couple of thousand new stars into the boundary to power it up. Jesus H Christ.

'Are you blaming me for this?

Gore stood still, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to calm down. 'No. It's not your fault. I'm not blaming you. This is all down to the bastard Firstlives who built the fucking abomination in the first place. The Raiel were right to try and destroy it. I wish they goddamn had, I really do.

'I can use the Silverbird to study as much as it can.

'No no, that's not the answer to anything. We can't go in there with ray-guns blazing. I thought you'd realized that. You were right earlier, the mind is the key in the Void. It is geared up to manifest every thought. The physical environment can only be a tiny part of it. Think of it as an eight-dimensional onion.

Justine straightened her back and gave her father an exasperated look. 'Thanks, Dad. That's helpful. I always think in those terms, it really helps a lot.

Gore gave her a gruff smile. 'All right, forget the eight dimensions, just picture the layers. They're interlinked dimensionally, not figuratively, but you get the drift. Every layer has a different function. There's the memory layer which captures everything that goes on in there. There's the creator layer, which must organize the reset. There's the interaction layer which formats thoughts for the creator layer, which is what makes telepathy and all the rest of that mental shit happen.

'A layer to make souls work, Justine said thoughtfully.

'Yeah. This is all built around rationality and its evolution, the fulfilment your retard Skylord is fixated on. So maybe another layer which handles thought processes — maybe that's the soul one, maybe not. That's not the point. There's a whole ton of layers, ones we can deduce from observation and stuff we can't even guess at. And Christ knows what the nebulas are and why they're singing. Doesn't matter. What we have here is an enormously complex construction. But the nucleus is the centre — again, not physically.

'So the nucleus does control it all.

'Who knows what the hierarchy is? What we have to do is find a route in, something we can rationalize and engage, just like you wanted.

'Why would the nucleus create Kazimir for me?

'It didn't. I don't believe you can think big enough to attract its attention. That confluence nest you have on board probably imprinted the Kazimir dream on to the creator layer. It was a thought more powerful than it's accustomed to. Most of the layers don't operate at a conscious sentient level, they just perform their task. And nobody ever took a confluence nest inside before. The one thing a confluence nest does above all else is hold a memory and repeat it ad infinitum. Your dream was the only one it received and that warped reality. The creator layer simply responded in the way it was designed. Nothing personal.

Justine sat on the bed, trying to fit together what he was saying. 'If my thoughts aren't powerful enough, what's the point of me trying to find the nucleus?

'This dream is being received by everyone who has a gaiafield connection. Understand?

'Ah.

'Don't try and find the nucleus, it's a waste of time.

'But, you just said—

Gore knelt in front of her, his hands gripping her upper arms. His eyes peered out intently from the gold skin mask that was his face. 'You have to get to Makkathran.

'There's nobody left there. The Skylord said the humans had all gone to the nucleus.

'I don't give a shit. Get to Makkathran. It's important. That's where humans are centred in the Void.

'How? The Silverbird can't fly.

'Wrong. Gore grinned right at her. 'You're in the Void. You've got telepathic powers. The Silverbird can't fly now.

'Oh. She worked out what he was proposing. 'Oh!

'That's my girl; as smart as you are beautiful.

'But, Dad, Kazimir won't exist then. I'll have killed him.

Gore let go of her arms. 'I'm sorry, run that by me again.

'If I go back to then, he won't exist.

'Oh, Jesus wept, Gore slapped a hand theatrically across his brow. 'Don't you go all liberal on me now. Not now.

'I can't wipe him out of existence. He's real now for better or worse. I have a responsibility.

'He is the equivalent of a re-life clone, one that has been stuffed with your recollections of his memories. How pitiful is that?

'He's alive, she said firmly.

'And you've got the hots for him.

'I have not.

'Your own DNA test showed you he's not Kazimir; just some poor doppelganger the memory layer had in storage.

'Exactly. He's human. I can't do this to him.

Gore took her hands. 'Listen to me, darling. This is the fundamental catastrophe that is the Void. He was a stored memory. Everybody who was ever in the Void is exactly the same, everyone who crashed there in the colony ship was copied; everyone who was ever born. Owain is still there, for God's sake, still frozen in the memory layer at the moment the Waterwalker shot him — and for all the decades he lived before. In all the resets Edeard performed afterwards, he never went back past the point where he wiped out the conspirators. He could never bring himself to do that all over again, because that's what he would have had to do each time. This is what the Void throws at us. They lived in the time they were meant to live. You can't change that, Justine. You cannot allow rationality and ethics that evolved in this universe to apply where you are now.

'I know what you're saying; but, Dad, you haven't met him. He's so sweet. He doesn't deserve this.

'The galaxy doesn't deserve the Void, but we've got it. And I have met him, darling, I've felt your silly little heart beat faster at the sight of him. I tasted the chocolates you ate when you smiled and flirted with him. I know the urge you've been trying to ignore. I'm sorry. You have to do this. You have to go to Makkathran.

'Oh Goddamnit.

He kissed her brow. 'Look on the bright side, if we lose you get to stay and live in the Void, you can find him again.

'You are a thoroughly fucking useless coach, you know that.

'I know. Now go and wake up.

Justine nodded weakly, knowing she didn't really have a choice. For the first time she looked through the bedroom window. The land outside wasn't the grounds of the Tulip Mansion. Instead, her old home was sitting at the bottom of an impossibly huge valley, with mountains curving away through the sky like a monstrous green and brown wave about to break overhead. The sun was a long band of glaring light. 'What the hell is that?

Gore shrugged lightly. 'I had to make a few sacrifices so I could dream your dreams.

'Dad…

'I'm fine. He raised a hand, waving, his smile fond and proud. 'Go on. Wake up.

Justine's eyes opened wide, staring up at the cabin ceiling. Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them away angrily. 'Oh hell. And Kazimir would know something was wrong. No telepath had the strength to shield those emotions.

Sure enough, he was standing at the end of the rope ladder as she struggled her way down. He even held it steady for her.

'What's the matter? he asked.

'I have to go, she said flatly.

'I see. That's good, isn't it? You know how to reach the nucleus. You wanted to go there.

'I can't take you with me, she stammered.

'I understand.

'No. No you don't. She took a deep breath and kissed him. Delight banished the surprise from his face.

'Kazimir, I want you to know something. If there is a way back here, I will find it, I will find you. I promise that. Know my thoughts and know the truth in them.

He gave her that tentative worshipful gaze which just made her feel worse. She never thought she'd ever see that again.

'I see the honesty in your thoughts, he assured her. 'Now do what you know you must.

Justine sat on a rock a few metres from the Silverbird's landing leg. The warm late-afternoon sun was a pleasant pressure on her face and arms as she folded her legs into a yoga position. Kazimir was squatting down a little way past her, watching anxiously. She gave him one last smile and concentrated.

Her thoughts flowed into the confluence nest, using its routines to hold her mind steady. There were memories in there, the time where Edeard stood on top of the mountain and reached into the fabric of the Void, seeing the past. She followed what he did intently, and tried to shape her thoughts in the same fashion, pushing her farsight down into the nothingness that lay around her.

Her own body was there, a long multiple image winding back and forth across the ground, going up into the ship, talking to Kazimir, radiating such sorrow it threatened to resonate through her now. She pushed past it, saw the Silverbird swoop down from space. Further.

It was incredibly difficult, without the support of the confluence nest she would never have maintained focus. She couldn't believe the Waterwalker had ever done this unaided. There was a single distinctive moment in her life which she wanted to achieve. Her mind held it up, instinctively matching it to the moment contained within the Void's memory of everywhen. Then all she had to do was impel herself into it. There was a cry of desperation somewhere in the physical world as she attempted to force her thoughts into a pattern they were never intended for, calling upon the strength of the confluence nest to support her. The precious moment was there, linking present and past. Justine pushed. The Void reset itself-