Chronicles of the Aeons War, page 22
part #3 of The Omniverse Series
PART TWO: RETAKING THE FUTURE
Interlude
The Return of the Queen
As they began evacuating from the Ship to Midian, Allison stood on a hill near the settlement and watched the ships descend from orbit. The Ship was visible in the nighttime sky; a yellowish monochrome silhouette projected against the far brighter surface of Heruba, the Lord of the heavens above. Her eyes were so different by then she’d been able to pick out details of the Ship’s broken hull from high orbit. She watched the smaller vehicles turn into fire balls in the upper atmosphere as the sun rose slowly in the North behind them. She watched the ships vector in on the Landing Zone as they came free of the re-entry burn. She watched from that hill as the first shelters were erected and the first of the castaways were processed into the camp. She only realized as the sun made its way back North at the end of the day that she’d been rooted to the spot the whole time.
Her body offered no complaint; She didn’t even feel tired. Before returning to the camp, Allison looked back up at the Ship, watching its crippled bulk holding shadowy station overhead in the night as two lines of support ships made the journey to and from the ancient behemoth. Before she knew it Allison watched the sun rise in the North again, so rapt had She been on the convoy shimmering in the sky. She could reach out with Her mind to any of the Bugs – as their pilots referred to them – and the occupants within. Similarly Allison could find anyone, anywhere in the Settlement. She no longer saw Her Mind as a ballooning sphere of consciousness, but as the heart of a vast web of Minds, each connected and interconnected back to Hers. She could call on one or all of them whenever She wished. Still watching the evacuation convoy Allison quickly understood that fewer Bugs were returning to the Ship than were leaving; the mission was nearly complete. She’d been standing on the spot for more than fifty hours. She waited until the only presences She could sense aboard the Ship were Colonel Bloom and the dull semiconscious animal that was all that was left of the once-mighty Ship Control Entity.
It had not survived staying merged to Allison when She entered the focusing chamber. Mapping the circuits necessary to blow the Ship’s higher cognition centers – and keep the Ship Control Entity from understanding She was doing it until it was too late – had been far easier than She’d imagined. It had been an act of revenge. A simple murder for what had been done to Her and to the women who’d died before Her. Allison hated the Ship Control Entity and She chose to use Her newfound powers to end its millions-year-old existence. Its last thought was one of surprise, astonished that She had done this. Allison felt no remorse, only satisfaction.
Now She watched as the final transport left the Ship, the senior officers grieving for their Commander as they dropped towards the Landing Field. She waited until the Ship vanished into time warp, until She felt Bloom fall away to a remote, lifeless star system to wait for the Zohor to be led into their trap. She waited until, from across the darkness and stars, She felt Margaret Bloom die.
“I will Remember you,” She whispered, as She at last began to walk back down toward the settlement.
♦♦♦
As the hard, early days of the colony progressed, Allison could sense a growing unease among the castaways. She walked the same packed-mud streets as them, Her boots and pants as spattered and dirty as theirs. She did Her share of work, toiling in the kitchens of the shelter’s mess, helping dig irrigation channels and latrine pits, but the way people looked at Her reminded Allison that though She dwelled among them, though She had saved them and healed them aboard the Ship, though She had guided them here, She was not one of them...not anymore. They were becoming suspicious and afraid of Her, even as Juan Carlos Rejas continued his fool’s errand of organizing a religion around Her. There seemed to be no medium between the two extremes; people either revered or feared Her. And so, Allison kept to the remotest corner of the Settlement as much as She could.
As days turned into weeks, Allison became more and more aware of the Life growing inside of Her. The baby’s mind was a bright star, a presence within Her, not yet formed but growing. She knew Her Daughter’s name was Gabrielle as it had been told to her by a man pulled out of time, Grandmaster Jack Benedict. And somehow Allison knew that Gabrielle was just as aware of Her. She understood that Her Child’s mind was still forming, that only as the brain grew would Gabrielle gain the capacities that Allison had. But Allison realized something else: Gabrielle would be far greater even than She, given enough time. Her baby would not have the disadvantage of having been born Human and evolved; she would begin life at the apex. Late at night when the world was asleep, Allison could sense Gabrielle within Her belly, heart and mind. She loved the Child like no one She had ever loved; though the baby was barely formed into something recognizably Human, Allison had a sense of Her presence and placement, and the Light of Her Being shone within Allison like a second soul.
And knowing what was to come, remembering what the Grandmaster had told Her, Allison was afraid for Her Daughter’s future. The Aeons War was coming, and Gabrielle would not escape its passing; Allison knew Her Daughter would be as pivotal to its conclusion as She would. But what frightened Her was the conversation She’d had with the Grandmaster aboard the crippled Ship:
“...I only have one last thing to ask you,” Benedict said.
“What is it?”
“Find a way to change things! Find a way to help us change our fates! You have over a thousand years to think about it, to figure it out. And like I told your future self not so long ago: Find a way to save me and I’ll find a way to save her!”
She could still keep part of Her mind hidden from Her Child. That, too would change as the baby inside Her grew. But for now, Allison hid the mortal terror She felt at the thought of the Grandmaster’s words and what they implied.
♦♦♦
During Her second trimester, Her absences from the Settlement became longer and longer. Juan still laboured among the people, working with them to build the colony, conducting his ministry and gathering more and more followers to Her every day—in spite of how he knew She felt. She hadn’t yet told him about Gabrielle. It was painfully easy for Allison to hide the pregnancy from him when they did see each other, which was not often. She couldn’t understand Her own hesitation; although Allison couldn’t yet see into the future exactly, She recognised enough of the strange visions that would sometimes flare through Her mind to know that Juan Carlos would love and cherish the baby but still Allison balked. There was something...an image She couldn’t quite see, but it was there in Her mind like a half-remembered dream. She knew it was from the future; She knew it was important, but She couldn’t quite wrap Her mind around it.
Looking at the future was looking at a vibrating guitar string woven from slices of time. Each vibration led down a different path, but it was never long before the path split again or changed altogether; even the past, She discovered, was mutable. It made Allison feel ill when She tried to look for too long. The farther ahead She strained to see the more the future vibrated and split, vibrated and split. But in some places She could clearly see things ahead; things that She was sure would come to pass. Allison didn’t always understand what She saw, for they were static images; still photographs without context; and what She did understand frightened Her.
By the time She left the settlement for good, the people casually referred to it as Landing. Allison went out to explore the foothills of the Blue Mountains; She was drawn to them. Eventually Allison made Her home in a secluded cave not far up into the range. She had no need of food; water was taken merely as refreshment. Even with the child growing inside Her, Allison produced all that their bodies needed, pulling energy along the very resonant bonds that held their components together. She understood that She was no longer Human. She had yet to understand what Gabrielle would be. Already the child was attempting to form thoughts, attenuating Her Mind to Her Mother’s. They would soon be able to dialogue, and Allison already felt the complex instincts within Gabrielle that would evolve first into emotion, then thought and then into imagination. In no way could Allison have conceived of what happened next.
The barrier to full communication between their Minds broke one morning in Cold Winter. The rains fell in sheets across the valley of Landing. Riverbanks overflowed and the ground turned boggy. People stayed indoors as the hard-packed paths of the Landing’s roads turned to deep, foot-trapping mud. It was chilly, dark and damp; the clouds over the valley the colour of slate. Hypothermia took many victims during that first Cold Winter. The rain turned to snow in the higher regions and from the icy vantage of the cave, the Valley looked to be a vast lake of mist.
Father must join us, because you will go get him, because I told you that Father must join us.
It wasn’t so much a voice in Her mind as it was a thought, blossoming from her womb. There could be no doubt it was Gabrielle, and Allison felt a mix of surprise and a joy unlike anything She’d thought Herself capable of feeling.
“You...you’re not due for...”
There was a pause, a hesitation as the burgeoning consciousness struggled to understand the question. Then, Allison felt the baby stretch its senses out to its surroundings, the amniotic fluid and uterine walls of her world.
Not very soon but soon,
Again, not so much words as thoughts; Allison knew Her body as well; Gabrielle was still several weeks away from being due, but the Time was coming. Gabrielle’s concept of Her pending birth seemed full of anticipation and sadness.
It’s easier in here, and I am in you. Out there it’s complicated and so many things will happen.
Allison Shifted Herself to the Settlement, appearing under the membranous awning directly outside Juan Carlos’ Church. There was an audible crack; air and rain momentarily displaced by her arrival. The building was constructed from welded-together cargo containers from the Old Ship; inside, labourers worked to make the space welcoming. There was already a communal feeling to the room, and a ceremonial one as well. Rows of chairs faced a raised platform at the back of the building and crude-yet-beautiful iconography had been spray-painted against the back wall. Allison didn’t like the place, didn’t like the knowledge that it was built so that followers could revere Her. Juan Carlos found her almost as soon as She entered; the sudden break in the work around this place, the gasps of the few worshippers there at that hour announced Her well enough.
It was the same everywhere: whether the people were followers of Juan Carlos’ new ministry or devotees of any of the dozen-plus religions that had followed Humanity from Earth to Midian, everyone knew who She was and what She had done. It was incredible; She was connected to over a hundred and forty-four thousand Minds, but she was utterly alone. Some were in awe of Her; some adored Her; some hated Her. All of them feared Her.
All of them but Juan Carlos; above all others, he adored her. He’d always loved Her and always idealized Her. Sometimes it all made Allison want to weep. Sometimes She was disgusted by him, by all of them, and sometimes she found Herself lost among their many minds.
“Allison,” Juan said, always pleased for her company.
“Juan, it’s time that I told you something,” Allison said, “Please, come with me.”
It wasn’t really a request; before She even sensed a positive response forming in his synapses, Allison Shifted them back to the cave.
Juan staggered, losing his balance slightly as the world changed around him. The air was cooler and smelled of snow and ice instead of rain and metal. He coughed at the sudden change of temperature and pressure in his chest.
“God! How do you do that?”
Allison ignored the question; he wouldn’t understand or even really believe the answer. No one ever did.
“Juan, do you remember that night, before the Ship took me and violated me?” Juan still wasn’t comfortable with Her description of events; few tried to imagine the suffering of their saviour; fewer wanted to hear their Saviour say how much they suffered.
“Our date,” Juan answered. Allison knew that in his mind, he had divorced who she had been from who She had became. Juan smiled, “I remember it well.”
Allison smiled back; part of her wished desperately that he would see her, instead of the Queen of Light and Sorrow. She knew it was pointless; he was neither willing nor able to see Allison McQuire; only his sacred Queen existed for him now. No matter what She said nothing would change that. There was one simple way to remind him that She was still at least somewhat Human:
“Juan, when we went back to my place and made love...Juan, we conceived a child that night. I’m pregnant with Her; with your daughter, Gabrielle.”
As unprepared as She had been for Gabrielle to begin speaking to Her Mind to Mind, Allison was even more astounded when Juan first fell to his knees, then fell over, passed out.
♦♦♦
Juan awoke to warmth and a flickering, golden-red light. He sat up, gathering his mind together. Allison’s bed was in an alcove separated from the main chamber of the small cave by a heavy curtain. Between the curtain and the craggy ceiling was a gap to let air pass. The light reflected above him was coming from the fire pit in the center of the main cave.
“Hello, Juan,” Allison said, before he finished rising from bed and stepping into the main room. He felt sheepish, She knew, and it made Her happy to know that his religious fervour hadn’t been enough to spare him the shock of learning just who was carrying his baby. But having recovered from the initial shock, She could tell he was already appraising her surroundings.
“This cave is so primitive,” he said, “Is it wise for you to make this place your home?”
Allison nodded. “Humankind lived like this for a lot longer than they ever lived in steel-frame apartment complexes; or inside makeshift shelters on an alien world.”
“You have a point, but...”
“Do you honestly think there’s anything out there that can harm Me or our baby? We are safe here, and more importantly, we are alone.”
“And do you think that being alone is so wise?”
“I can Shift anywhere I have been to.” Allison said, “And if anything were to happen to either Me or Gabrielle, one would be able to heal the other. She already possesses a consciousness...a presence of Self that I can’t describe. She is beautiful, Juan. And in time She will be more powerful even than Me.”
“I don’t know what to say,”
“You can’t hear Her,” Allison told him, “Which is a shame. If you could, Juan, you would understand. But because you can’t, She says to say ‘hello’ to you.”
“Uh...hello...” Juan stammered, “Hello, Gabrielle,”
Allison knew, as did Gabrielle, that he couldn’t have been happier. Both Mother and Child also knew that he was equally afraid. Juan cleared his throat. He was standing near Her, pacing nervously. It was the first time that Allison could remember him ever being afraid of Her. She decided that She preferred when he wasn’t.
“I’m...not going back to the Settlement, am I?” Juan asked.
Allison shook her head. “I need you here; so does your daughter.”
There was a large metal pot in the fire. Aware of it now for the first time, Juan could smell herbs and vegetables boiling in a rich broth.
“I don’t need food,” Allison said, “Nor does Gabrielle. We’ve evolved beyond such necessity. But every now and again, it is nice to eat something. It’s comforting. I take it you’re hungry?”
“Yes,” Juan said, “But...Allison, what about my ministry? What about my work?”
“They’ll continue on without you,” Allison said, the regret deliberate in Her voice, “And when the time comes, you’ll return to them. Likely, we all will. And in time, we will all play our parts in the Aeons War.”
♦♦♦
Gabrielle’s Mind grew umbilically from Allison’s and from the stored and collected Minds and memories She’d mapped within. Likewise the Child developed according to the changes made to Allison by the Ship. The baby would develop the same advanced metabolism, neurology and neurophysiology that had been inflicted upon Allison. Unlike Her mother, Gabrielle would never know the suffering that Allison had survived and for this Mother was relieved. Allison locked those memories away within Herself so that Gabrielle would never even know it in memory. Although Gabrielle’s Mind had grown exponentially, there were inevitable physical limits to what the developing child’s body could contain. The baby spent most of her time asleep in Allison’s womb, waking occasionally to commune with Her. And as the weeks progressed Gabrielle slept more, in preparation for her delivery.
