Convergence (hu-4) by Charles Sheffield

Author:Charles Sheffield [Sheffield, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sf_space
ISBN: 978-0-671-85823-0
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 1997-03-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Darya hated the idea of slavery, but now and again she could see some advantage to being a slave. For one thing, you didn’t have to make decisions.

J’merlia and Kallik had followed her — and sometimes led her — to the middle of nowhere. Now, floating in the innermost chamber of Labyrinth, they were patiently waiting until she told them what to do next.

As if she knew.

Darya stared around at the flat walls of the hexagonal chamber, seeking inspiration in their bland, marbled faces.

“We made it here safely, which is exactly what we wanted.” (Think positive!) “But eventually we must find a good way to return to our ship, and then back into free space.”

The two aliens indicated agreement but did not speak.

“So you, J’merlia.” Darya cleared her throat to gain thinking time. “I’d like you to take another look at the way we came. See if there’s some way to reach another interior, one that’s easier to travel. And J’merlia!” — the Lo’tfian was already nodding and ready to go — “Don’t take risks!”

J’merlia’s head turned, and the lemon eyes on their short stalks stared reproachfully at Darya. “Of course not. With respect, if I became damaged I would be of no further value to you.”

Except that his and Darya’s ideas of risk were unlikely to coincide. He was already zooming happily off toward the entry tunnel and the chamber filled with terrifying dark vortices.

“And don’t stay away too long!” Darya called after him. “No more than three or four hours.”

There was no reply, just a nod of the suit’s helmet.

“And I?” Kallik was staring at J’merlia’s vanishing form. Darya thought she could detect a wistfulness in her voice. There was nothing the little Hymenopt would have liked better than to go racing off with J’merlia.

“You and I will examine this chamber more closely. I know it seems as though there’s absolutely nothing of interest here, though Quintus Bloom said otherwise.”

Darya did not look at Kallik as she led the way to peer at the nearest wall. The multicolored, milky surface seemed to stare back at her. Close up, the wall showed a lot more detail. The pastel shades that Darya saw from a distance were not composed of flat washes of pale color, but were created by many narrow lines of bright color set in a uniform white background. It was as though someone had begun with a wall of plain white, then drawn on that surface with a very fine pen thousands of intersecting lines of different colors. And drawn them sequentially, because wherever two lines crossed, one of them was broken by the other.

But it was still nothing like a picture. Darya wondered again about Bloom’s term: polyglyphs. She glanced at Kallik. The Hymenopt was standing just a few feet from the wall. She was staring at it with bright black eyes, and swaying her head from side to side. After a few moments she began to do the same thing with her whole body, shifting first a couple of feet to the left and then moving back to the right.

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