[Laughter.] Fat lot of good it does 'em we were out of there slickerthanhogs.h.i.t before the HawaiianWitch arrived.

I tried to deflect the two boys on the sailboards from rescuing her but the kahuna's compulsion was too strong. If we are to dispose of the Girl by nonfeeding means we'll have to use more conservative tactics and pick the next time&place of attack with the utmost care.

No kahunas ready to ride to the rescue! And have all Hydraunits on board and cooking.

It's safe for her to travel? I mean won't the cops be watching traffic from Okanagon to Earth? Fury ... do we still have the watts to snuff the Girl even with Celine's input? [Doubt.]

She won't be much longer. Not after the Lylmik get hold of her. ...Maddy?Yes.I really got the w.i.l.l.i.e.s about this new act. ExQuint. KnowwhatImean?It's understandable Parni. We're all shaken by his death. Celine nearly went to pieces. You know she had fixated on him s.e.xually in the last year or so [bitterness] the thieving little b.i.t.c.h.Hey sweetheart you started it giving her the boot don't come crying to me ... But delete that and listen: There are some things that have really p.i.s.sed me off lately. You know Fury would have installed that Scotcht.w.a.t over us if she hadn't put her foot in it.Yes.And poor old Quint! Had to fall on his sword just because Fury told him to. Maximum b.u.mmer.He was happy to sacrifice himself in the cause.Oh right. And we're left threeheaded! What happens if Fury digs up another BabyParamount and starts the same s.h.i.t all over? You remember how Fury went after Marc.Yes ...It tried for Jack in utero too. Might have got him if the HawaiianWitch hadn't stepped in and taught him to shut Fury out. And then there was that Remillard woman! Four times Fury's made it perfectly clear that WE'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO LEAD THE SECOND MILIEU. How thickheaded do we have to be to figure?Fury ... knows best.Maddybaby Fury can't do zilch without us. What is Fury anyhow? A G.o.dd.a.m.n syndrome! A sicko persona hiding f.u.c.kknowswhere. You ever stop to think what we could do working on our own?IMBECILEs.h.i.tFORBRAINS! Parni don't you understand? Without Fury we're nothing. Without Fury WE DIE.Panic. No-I don't believe it that's total bulls.h.i.t! ...Fury created us Fury can destroy us! And we'd go happily. Just like Quint.Denial. Terror. WrongwrongnoIdon'tbuyit!Exasperated resignation. Never mind sweetheart. It's all going to work out. No ParamountBabies anywhere else in the HumanPolity. Not yet. All Fury has to work with is US. Love you BigLug! What say we go have a mondomojo twoheaded feed&f.u.c.k?Kaleidoscopic.20.SECTOR 15: STAR 15-OOO-00 [TELONIS].PLANET 1 [CONCILIUM ORB].GALACTIC YEAR: LA PRIME 1-385-969.[15 DECEMBER 2072].Paul Remillard didn't much like the new Lylmik enclave. When the Supervisors required vis-a-vis encounters with human magnates in the earlier days of the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt, they would simply summon them to a quiet section of the Administrative Sphere, more or less materialize in a severe golden room, speak what was on their wispy minds, and then disappear. It was a direct, no-nonsense approach that the First Magnate had appreciated.That had changed, perhaps because the Galactic Overlords had become concerned about the negative psychosocial effect their otherness might be having on skittish humans. They decided to mend their image, creating a Lylmik enclave in Orb where visiting was encouraged-even though the inhabitants were rarely perceptible to ordinary senses or to ultrafaculties. The artificial environment called Syrel supposedly reproduced conditions on the prehistoric Lylmik home world. (The actual planet, a barren rock orbiting the strange star Nodyt more than 27,000 lightyears from Earth, was deemed too aesthetically forbidding-and lethal to air-breathers-to be re-created.) Paul exited the Syrel tube station into a world of crystalline pastels and elusive herbal scents. A thin opaline mist filled the superoxygenated air, and only in his immediate vicinity was the landscape clearly visible. It was as though he were the princ.i.p.al light source, illuminating the enclave as he walked along, while a violet scrim obscured details more than a few meters away.Most of the ground was covered by a yielding turf of what seemed to be cellophane gra.s.s, in which transparent, feathery organisms continually sprouted and grew rapidly to heights of a dozen centimeters or so. After producing pale, gla.s.sy fruits that exploded soundlessly and released glittering spores, the things crumpled and seemed to vanish, only to begin their brief life cycle again a few minutes later.Paul went along a pathway made of rose-quartz flagstones that pa.s.sed through a patch of larger, faintly glowing, sessile lifeforms. Some were like living pla.s.s umbrellas flecked with dew; others resembled plump terrestrial jellyfish with sparkling fringes. Tall, stalked ribbon-bearers reminiscent of white or pale-pink kelp undulated languorously, now and then reaching out a gentle tendril as if to inspect the exotic pa.s.serby.Stepping-stones led across a brook that flowed over tinted pebbles. Moon-colored little water-creatures with shining eyes zipped evasively among rock-crystal boulders at the stream's margin. Further up the banks grew lucent fungoid shapes with diamond spikes, vitreous "reeds" topped with gauzy plumes, and organisms that mimicked exquisitely carved white-jade flowers.The residence of the Supervisory Body stood in a twilit grove of many-branched "willow trees" that seemed to be formed of twisted, milky gla.s.s. Their lanceolate, hanging foliage was also gla.s.sy, clashing and tinkling faintly in the vapor-laden breeze. The house might have been an enormous gold nugget with a brushed finish. Its shape was irregular and no door or windows were immediately evident.The First Magnate had visited the place many times now, doing his best to respond cordially to the awkward Lylmik attempts at sociability. These often took the form of annoying inquiries into his intimate affairs. Lylmik notions of privacy did not equate with Paul's own, and he also disliked being reminded that the ent.i.ties possessed the G.o.dlike ability to oversee anything and anyone in the galaxy if they felt like it. Fortunately (and occasionally unfortunately), they were usually disinclined to do so.Paul followed the path to its termination before a featureless golden wall and announced: I am here.Immediately an iris doorway opened in the nugget's side. He stepped over the threshold into a single softly lit room where all surfaces were subtly curved and formed from some transparent substance. The walls were slick but the floor was ribbed for comfortable walking. Within and behind them flowed currents of deep green and indigo liquid shot through with whorls of bubbles. In the center of the room stood a golden armchair of human design. Before it, formed from extensions of the floor-ribbing, was a low dais. The metaconcerted voice of the Lylmik Supervisors spoke: Welcome and high thoughts to you, First Magnate. Please be seated.As Paul sat down five faintly visible whirlwinds formed in the air above the dais, making the familiar Quincunx pattern-one at each corner and one in the center of a squared diamond shape. The aerial phenomena quickly materialized into five near-humanoid heads of amiable aspect that trailed ectoplasmic filaments from the occipital region.The central ent.i.ty, the Lylmik leader called Atoning Unifex, had eyes of luminous gray and seemed to be much older than the others, even though Its illusory appearance was almost identical to theirs. It rarely spoke, apparently preferring to leave intercourse with vulgar humanity to Its a.s.sociates. The eyes of the other four Supervisors were the color of backlit aquamarines.Although they manifested a similar appearance, Paul had discovered early on that the Lylmik personalities were quite distinctive. The one called h.o.m.ologous Trend was a slightly ponderous, avuncular logician, while Noetic Concordance had a serene character and was p.r.o.ne to mystical digressions. Asymptotic Essence was an incisive critic who did not bother to hide a biased view of humanity. Eupathic Impulse played the gadfly, had a rather slangy manner, and was not above twitting the other four-even the awesome leader-for perceived flaws in judgment, absentmindedness, or conversational vagaries. Paul rather liked Eupathic Impulse.Ominously, it was the gray-eyed Unifex who addressed the First Magnate in a soft voice: "We must confer with you on matters of the utmost gravity, Paul, and so you must forgive us if we forgo the usual pleasantries and get right down to bra.s.s tacks.""Right," said the First Magnate aloud. And to himself: Oh, s.h.i.t."My colleagues and I," Atoning Unifex continued, "have been discussing the advisability of condemning the so-called Rebel movement and requiring an oath of loyalty to the Milieu from all Human Magnates of the Concilium. Please tell us your reaction to this proposal.""I think it would be a tragic mistake," Paul said immediately."Even though I myself once cosponsored a bill that would have forbidden debates about Unity in the Concilium, I now believe that such gag-rule legislation would be futile-possibly ruinous to Human Polity discipline. It would be even more disastrous to label anti-Unity sentiment treasonous.""You believe that your race values free discussion so highly?" Noetic Concordance asked."Yes," Paul replied. And then: "What penalty do you propose for refusing to take the oath?""One would have a choice," said h.o.m.ologous Trend. "Redaction of the magnate to the latent state and expulsion from the Concilium ... or euthanasia.""You would very likely lose nearly a quarter of the two hundred human magnates," Paul said, "including some of the most brilliant and influential. A significant percentage of the others would be so scandalized by the draconian action that their own loyalty to the Milieu might waver. I know my own would. I've undergone a change of heart about this business-""By the Prime Entelechy!" Eupathic Impulse exclaimed. "Does one mean to say that one has converted to the Rebel point of view?""Certainly not," said Paul sharply. "I'm more committed to Unity than ever. But I firmly believe that it is impossible to force the Human Mind to accept the Unity of the Coadunate Milieu. Humans must be persuaded-shown that Unity does not pose a danger to their free will or mental integrity. This is the purpose behind the recent establishment of the Panpolity Directorate for Unity, in which my son Jon and my sister Anne are prominent.""But the Rebel movement is spreading apace-especially amongst nonoperants in the human colonies," said Asymptotic Essence. "Never before in the history of the Galactic Milieu has a precoadunate race presumed to question the value of Unity.""Humans are unique," said Atoning Unifex. "I warned you about that at the time of the Great Intervention.""One remembers." The voice of Noetic Concordance was soothing. "These were your words concerning Earth: This small planet occupies a critical place in the probability lattices. From it may emerge a Mind that will exceed all others in metapsychic potential. It is known to us that this Mind will be capable of destroying our beloved Galactic Milieu. It is further known to us that this Mind will also be capable of magnifying the Milieu immensely, accelerating the Unification of all the inhabited star systems. For this reason we have directed this extraordinary attempt at Intervention ..."Unifex inclined Its head. "I said further that the step involved great risk. But all evolutionary leaps are hazardous, and without risk-taking there can only be stagnation, the triumph of entropy, and eventual death."Asymptotic Essence said, "Nevertheless, there remains the dire new resultant of the latest probability a.n.a.lysis, which prompted one to offer the drastic remedy: If the Rebel movement continues to grow at its present rate amongst operant and nonoperant humans, the Unification of that race may never take place. Instead of merging with our Coadunate Galactic Milieu, humanity will be constrained to declare war upon it.""Nonsense!" Paul exclaimed. "Not even the most xenophobic of the anti-Unity faction advocates that course. At the worst, they'd simply drop out of the confederation to go their own way-""Even if we would allow it, this is not likely," said h.o.m.ologous Trend. "Why does one think the Great Intervention eradicated the last vestiges of the old nationalism on Earth before enfranchising its populace? Why does one think the Simbiari Proctorship suppressed-sometimes ruthlessly-those Earth sects and political movements that had bigoted mind-sets or advocated so-called holy or preventive wars to eliminate opposing points of view? Why has the Milieu been obliged to forbid certain types of commercial activity by human entrepreneurs even now? Why does it severely limit governmental autonomy of human colonial planets, and control their operant/nonoperant population mix?"Calmly, Paul said, "In order to prevent the kinds of b.l.o.o.d.y conflict that traditionally prevailed among human beings in pre-Intervention years. If humanity wasn't restrained, the probability is that we'd fight for what we perceived to be our self-interest. Asymptotic Essence's calculations are correct." He fixed his gaze on the gray-eyed Lylmik Overlord. "But there's a paradox here. Don't tell me you don't see it, Unifex.""Certainly I do: In order to protect itself from humanity while the race is still immature and dangerous, the Milieu has behaved in a despotic fashion. By limiting human freedom, it has provoked the very kind of behavior it sought to prevent. The Milieu took a great risk in admitting humanity. It may have overreached itself.""I don't think so." Paul's mental aspect shone with stubborn hope. "Aside from the Unity issue, there are only minor pockets of human discontent. If Unity can be proved to be the right and proper goal of human mental evolution, the Rebel movement will most likely evaporate. The new Directorate will bring together the best minds from all six racial Polities to discuss every aspect of Unity and deal with legitimate Rebel objections to it. Forget the notion of outlawing the Rebels-at least until you've given the more conservative course a chance."Unifex said, "This is my recommendation also, colleagues. My reasoning is perhaps not the same as Paul's-but I say again that without risk there can be no evolution, only torpidity and finally extinction. Our own Lylmik race is a melancholy exemplar of that truth. We believe we have reached the pinnacle of our evolution, and there we stand, most of our number now content to think their own grand and unutterable thoughts, alone and self-sufficient. The excitement engendered by my original Protocol of Unification has long since dwindled to ennui in all except a handful of Lylmik minds. We do not reproduce. Except for this small Quincunx, we do not create. The Twenty-One Worlds each send a single delegate to the Concilium but there is little genuine interest in Milieu affairs remaining amongst us. Shall I tell you the true reason why the Galactic Milieu needs the Human Mind? ... It is because the Lylmik Mind is dying, as I am dying Myself. When I go, our race will retreat into aloof senescence and will perish inside of a single millenary. But by then I foresee that the Human Mind, fully coadunate and Unified, will have taken our place. The magnification of the inhabited star systems in the Milky Way will continue under Human Polity direction until all thinking beings within it are loving siblings, as they are in the Duat Galaxy from which I originally came. And then, if it pleases the Cosmic All, another Unifex may move on to a younger whirlpool of stars and begin again."Paul listened, stunned into speechlessness. Nothing of this had ever been hinted at during his long years as a Milieu official. Each Polity had its own legends and speculations of Lylmik origins and destiny. Each had debated why the nonconformist humans were declared to be necessary to Milieu survival. None had suspected this rationale."You can't tell a soul, Paul." Atoning Unifex was smiling, almost playfully apologetic. "Not until I give you permission. But you, of all people, have a right to know."The other four Supervisors exuded resignation."One must trust Unifex," said Noetic Concordance. "The decision is made: there will be no further attempts to outlaw or restrict the Rebel faction of the Human Polity.""Even when the probability of a successful human Unification seems to grow more and more remote," said h.o.m.ologous Trend, sighing."This does not mean, however, that the First Magnate should diminish his efforts to bring the Rebels into conformity." Asymptotic Essence spoke sternly.Eupathic Impulse delivered the kicker. "Most particularly, the First Magnate and his family must restrain the malevolent persona called Fury and its execrable servant, Hydra, from using the anti-Unity faction for their own evil ends. The obliteration of one Hydra-unit is a cause for rejoicing. But the other three-and Fury itself-are more dangerous to the Milieu than ever.""But who the h.e.l.l is Fury?" Paul cried. "I can't believe you Lylmik don't know!"The Quincunx only stared at him sadly."Is it Marc? Is it me? Isn't there anything you can do to help us find this-this family devil?" Paul had sprung up from his chair and stood with his fists clenched at his sides. Sweat dampened his hair and he thrust a graying lock impatiently out of his eyes as he glared at the silent exotic heads.Unifex said, "Go talk to your sister Anne. An ancient sin lies at the heart of Fury's generation and a terrible moral dilemma attends the monster's destruction. Perhaps a priest can help you with the problems,""Very well." Paul spoke wearily. "Is there anything else you require of me now?"The heads were beginning to fade away. The eyes, as always, remained visible longest. The Quincunx spoke in metaconcert: No. May the All sustain you, First Magnate, and bring you success.Unifex made a sudden capricious decision to go to Earth and performed hyperspatial translation without even bidding Its colleagues goodbye. There were still matters to discuss, and so the four remaining members of the Supervisory Body convened out by the brook, wafting in and out of the dew-dripping "willow" leaves to gather the occasional molecule for sustenance.Asymptotic Essence ventured a mild complaint. "Unifex might have stayed with us to consider the matter of young Illusio.""It's probably gone to keep an eye on her," Trend observed."That girl is surely cooking up another mad scheme to entice Hydra. She has a right to do so, but if she dies in the process some very important nodalities will have to be sc.r.a.pped.""If Hydra kills her," Essence noted astringently, "we certainly can't appoint her Deputy Dirigent of Caledonia.""She's almost as much of a wild-card factor as Jack," said Impulse. "A pity she seems to loathe him so. He might have been a useful ally in her quest against Hydra.""One suspects Jack might not scruple at acting without her knowledge or permission," Concordance remarked. "His starship has left Orb, you know.""No!" said the other three ent.i.ties.They all thought about the anomalous young human magnate for a time, speculating upon what he might do to help Dorothea Macdonald. Thanks to Dorothea's probing at the Halloween party, Jack now knew the Hydra metaconcert configuration; but he did not know the ident.i.ties and whereabouts of the Hydra-units, as the Supervisors did. It was most likely that his only option was following the girl, either mentally or physically, in hopes of coming to her a.s.sistance if he was needed."One wishes one could intervene personally in this matter," Noetic Concordance said, with regret. "Jack could dispose of the Hydra-units in a trice if we pointed them out to him.""Unifex's prohibition must take into account factors that one is unaware of," said Trend."One has been mulling it over," Eupathic Impulse said. "There may be more to this situation than the simple survival of the girl and the apprehension of Hydra. One should also consider Jack's relation to Illusio, and vice versa.""She can't stand him," Asymptotic Essence said. "She finds his mutation repulsive and his manner cheeky and superior. He thinks that she is rash and immature. One may recall that Jack, while an estimable person in many ways, does have certain unfortunate mannerisms. His great success on Satsuma, saving the life of his brother Marc when their metaconcert faltered, bolstered his self-esteem higher than ever. Now he is determined to become Unity's greatest champion. One fears Jack is in some danger of becoming a wise guy."Reluctantly, Noetic Concordance agreed."One suspects Illusio would bitterly resent any well-intentioned interference on Jack's part," Trend said. "Perhaps it is necessary to her spiritual maturation that she face the Hydra monster alone, and either vanquish it or die in the attempt.""One has it in a nutsh.e.l.l," Essence said. "We shall so instruct Jack."