Time War by Andreas Brandhorst

Author:Andreas Brandhorst [Brandhorst, Andreas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: A7L Thrilling Books Ltd.
Published: 2024-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Shifting Thoughts

INDIGO: TRANS-SPACE, 7 NOVEMBER 5521

"This is terrible," Diamond said.

"Cordoban will keep trying to push Project Human Power." Valdorian didn't mention that he had also authorized a Project Double-M in his own reality. "You should see to it that all Kantaki pilots are warned."

Diamond shook her head, not quite believing it. "We're all to be assimilated?"

Valdorian nodded gravely.

"What would happen to us? To our... personalities, I mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect that when a metamorph takes over, the original personality is erased, while all memories and individual abilities are retained. The metamorph in question would have your form, your knowledge, your memories, and your piloting abilities, but it would only be it. You would no longer exist. I saw what happened to Viktor. And it almost got me, too."

Diamond stood and walked to the pentagonal window of the peripheral segment they were in. Earlier, she had connected the ship to the right thread from the pilot's dome and started it on its journey through trans-space. The destination was Munghar, the homeworld of the Kantaki.

"I... we... are in your debt," she said.

Valdorian rose as well, experiencing another distortion of perspective, though not as severe as deeper inside the ship. It was a thoughtful gesture that Father Jorrn had placed him here, and Valdorian certainly appreciated it.

He didn't want to get carried away and try to capitalize on Lidia's gratitude right away. The next steps on this new path led over quicksand and black ice and required great attention; any mistake could prove fatal.

"As important as the Human Power Project may be, especially for the Kantaki pilots..." he said slowly. "Even more important are the two Bleaks who turned out to be Temporals. Their presence affects this whole line of reality."

"I know," Diamond said quietly.

Valdorian stepped to her side - not too close, but not too far away either - and looked out into trans-space as she did. This time, the Kantaki ship wasn't dragging a transport bubble with cargo and habitat modules behind it. It flew alone, a black mountain moving at many times the speed of light in relation to normal space. A certain fascination could not be denied, and Valdorian tried hard to hold on to this feeling, to push back the old aversion to the Kantaki and all things related to them. He knew that if he could convince Lidia - Diamond - to actually accept him as her confidant, it would become a large part of his life. Then, like her, he would stand outside the time stream, as he was now, here on board this ship, and could live for a thousand years or more. Timelessness ... like aboard the orbital station and yet completely different. He thought briefly about how time was different for the body than for the mind - the mystery of the relative immortality of the Kantaki pilots was hidden in this question - but he put the question aside almost immediately. Other things were more important.

"I can see them even without being connected to the ship's systems," Diamond said, gazing into the darkness.

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