Masters of Flux & Anchor by Jack L. Chalker

Author:Jack L. Chalker [Chalker, Jack L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-03-13T05:00:00+00:00

More difficult was the discovery of just how much of the new area was water and not fresh water, but contaminated with salt to such a degree that it could not be used for agriculture. Estimates ranged between a third to more than half of the former void now being covered by water, which greatly raised the humidity of the entire region. Clearly the new climate was not only going to be far chillier, but also much wetter.

No one would ever be able to know how many thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands, of innocent people and their arrogant Fluxlords, not to mention stringers, duggers, and travelers of all sorts, were drowned in the massive transformation of Flux energy to water, but bodies washed up on shorelines after every storm for months.

After the terrible shock of the sight had lessened and the men on the platform had regained enough composure to leave, either to investigate this new place or to organize their commands for the aftermath, Adam Tilghman and four bodyguards remained, gazing out on the strange and terrifying landscape.

Matson. too. remained. He would have to travel that landscape soon enough, if he could. He took out a cigar and lit it, then approached Tilghman. The Judge didn’t turn his gaze from the new scene to see who it was, although from the whiffs of cigar smoke he certainly could surmise it.

“Well, Judge, that’s a right pretty trick,” the old stringer said. “Looks like everybody in New Eden’s gonna have to learn how to swim, and it’s gonna be another neat trick to string wires across that.”

“It’s so—huge,“Tilghman breathed. “It must be what the ancient writings call a ‘sea.’ I—I never thought of a sea as anything more than a lake. Nothing like—this.”

“You had all those nice programs and instruction manuals to do all this, but did anybody give you an instruction manual for how to live with it? Those ancient boys, they were smart ones, with smarter machines and a whole lot of experience, I bet. You got the basics all right, but I bet you don’t have any idea what’s supposed to be done next. What kind of fish could live in that stuff.” He sniffed the strong salt air. “You can tell it’s all contaminated water from here. Best that you can do with it is try to corner the salt market. Hell, Judge, didn’t you ever wonder, if they know how to do all this, why they didn’t?”

Tilghman could not turn away, but the question stung him. “What?”

“You know what we talked about. They came here to live, somebody got to chasing them, and they locked the doors but they kept all their machines and the power to do this. Why didn’t they? Why’d they leave it as Flux?”

“I—I thought the powers of Flux corrupted those who could use it. I—we, all of us, the scientists as well—thought that the first wizards moved to prevent it. It’s the only explanation of why it wasn’t done, and why the records, manuals, and programs were dispersed.

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