(eng) Michael Moorcock - Travelling to Utopia 01 by The Wrecks of Time (aka The Rituals of Infinity)

Author:The Wrecks of Time (aka The Rituals of Infinity) [Time, The Wrecks of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

ten - Escape from E-l

Faustaff and Doctor May watched as men and equipment were hurried through the tunnel which had been made to E-3. The expression on May's face was one of hopelessness. The bombs had already started to drop and the last report they had seen had told them that Britain had been totally destroyed, as had half of Europe.

They had given themselves an hour to evacuate everything and everyone they could. Doctor May checked his watch and glanced at Faustaff.

"Time's up, professor."

Faustaff nodded and followed May into the tunnel. It took a great deal to depress him, but to see the organization he and his father had built up crumbling, forced to abandon its main center, made him miserable and unable to think clear-ly.

The trip through the gray tunnel to the familiar gilt and plush dance hall of The Golden Gate, which was their main transceiving station on E-3, was easily made. When they arrived, the men just stood around, murmuring to one another and glancing at Faustaff; he knew that he was expected to cheer them up. He forced himself out of his mood and smiled.

"We all need a drink," was the only thing he could think of to say as he walked toward the dusty bar. He leaned across it and reached under, finding bottles and glasses and setting them on the counter. The men moved forward and took the glasses he filled for them.

Faustaff hauled himself up so that he was sitting on the bar.

"We're in a pretty desperate situation," he told them. "The enemy—I've hardly any better idea of them than you have—have for some reason decided to launch an all-out attack on the subspacial worlds. It's plain now that all their previous attacks, using the D-squaders, have hardly been serious. We underestimated the opposition, if you like. Frankly my own opinion is that it won't be long before they succeed in breaking up all the subspacial alternates—that's what thev want."

"Then there's nothing we can do," Doctor May said wearily.

"Only one thing occurs to me," Faustaff said. "We know that the enemy considers these worlds as something to be destroved. But what about E-Zero? This has just been created —either bv them or by someone else like them—and I gather they aren't normally willing to destroy a recently created world. Our only chance is in getting a big tunnel through to E-Zero and setting up our headquarters there. From then on we can evacuate people from these worlds to E-Zero."

"But what if E-Zero can't support so many?" a man said.

"It will have to." Faustaff drained his glass. "As far as I can see our only course of action is to concentrate everything on getting a tunnel through to E-Zero."

Doctor May shook his head, staring at the floor.

"I don't see the point," he said. "We're beaten. We're going to die sooner or later with everyone else. Why don't we rust give up now?"

Faustaff nodded sympathetically. "I understand—but we've got our responsibilities. We all took those on when we joined the organization.

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