"Dude, I could ask. There's no guarantee ..."

"Ask."

"What's the point? You want to get inside the Void. Qatux is heading in the opposite direction. A long, long way in the opposite direction."

"The Raiel are the only known species able to break through the Void boundary. They can get us inside."

"Can but won't. Don't even have to ask."

"Humor me."

Ozzie gave Inigo a frozen help-me-out smile. The ex-messiah just shrugged his shoulders and said: "Welcome to my world."

"It's not easy to make contact," Ozzie said. It was lame. This was a losing battle, and he knew it.

"For someone with his own private TD channel to the Commonwealth?" Aaron queried lightly.

"Ain't going to work," Ozzie said.

"I'm almighty pleased for you about that. You deserve a moral victory over me around about now. Maybe I'll shut up and leave you alone afterward."

Ozzie gave him an evil stare and told his u-shadow to open a link to the High Angel High Angel.

"Expand this end of the link to include us, please," Aaron told him.

Ozzie couldn't remember being quite this p.i.s.sed off for some centuries. It wasn't that he didn't want to help get Inigo inside the Void. But that he might have to actually accompany him was deeply worrying, and Qatux might not agree to lend them the High Angel High Angel unless he came along. Ozzie did not want to go into the Void for the simple reason that no one had ever been known to get out. unless he came along. Ozzie did not want to go into the Void for the simple reason that no one had ever been known to get out.

The link was accepted by High Angel High Angel.

"Ozzie," Qatux said. "It has been many years."

"Yeah. Listen, we'll do the old buddy-buddy catch-up c.r.a.p later; I've got a couple of people here on my end of the link who need to get into the Void before the Pilgrimage. Any chance you or your species can make that happen?"

"Ozzie, as always you are never what I expect. This is why I always delight in knowing you. Is Aaron with you?"

"I am here," Aaron said. "How did you know that?"

"This link stretches over seven thousand light-years; it also pa.s.ses through many nodes within the unisphere. I do not believe it to be totally secure. Please remember that. However, I am glad you have survived. Our mutual friend Paula Myo has been keeping me informed of your travels."

"Ah. Right."

"And the other person with you; this is the man you were searching for when we met?"

"Yes."

"That is excellent news."

"I'm glad you think so. I hope you understand that this third person may be able to neutralize this whole situation if you can get them into the Void ahead of the Pilgrimage. Can you or the warrior Raiel do that?"

"No."

"I am making a sincere offer. What harm will it do getting us through the boundary? Two people, when there are now twenty-four million en route."

"I regret we are not able to help. It is a physical impossibility. Even our ships do not have the speed to perform such a task. However, I do have an alternative for you to consider."

"Yes?"

"Someone else is on their way to meet Ozzie. Someone who is possibly more important than the person already with you. They will be with you in three days. I urge you to wait for them."

"I'm not sure I can do that. I have a mission."

"That is a great shame."

"I'll wait for them," Ozzie said.

"Thank you, Ozzie. They are accompanied by an old friend of mine, Oscar Monroe. He will act as guarantor for what you will hear."

"Holy s.h.i.t. Oscar? Really? Is he out of the slammer already? d.a.m.n, I so lose track of time."

"He is very much out. I hope that together you will be able to find a solution to this terrible situation. Please convince Aaron's companion to wait."

"Do my best, dude."

The link closed. Ozzie gave Inigo a pensive grin. "Someone more important than you, huh? Now who could that be?" He couldn't figure it out for himself, which was hugely annoying. Qatux wouldn't lie, so ... someone more important than the Dreamer with regard to the Void. There wasn't even a list.

"We have been compromised," Aaron said. He stood up and activated a low-level integral force field, creating a tiny purple nimbus around his stolen navy tunic.

Ozzie chuckled. "Something you need to know about Paula Myo. Apart from being able to freeze your b.a.l.l.s off at ten paces with a single look, that chick seriously rocks. Wouldn't be surprised if she's your secretive boss. She's done groovier things in her time."

"I cannot allow my mission to be terminated."

"Relax. If Paula wanted you stopped, you wouldn't be here. Qatux was telling me to chill. The old big-Q, he's not stupid. We need to wait for Oscar. Man, fancy him still kicking around. Tell you, my confidence just went up like ten notches."

"Who in Honious is Oscar Monroe?" Inigo asked.

"Oscar the Martyr," Aaron said quietly. "He sacrificed himself so Wilson Kime could steer the Planet's Revenge and save the human race from corruption and extinction. If it truly is Oscar coming here ..." He hesitated, which was something Ozzie hadn't seen him do before.

"So I guess we wait, then?" Ozzie said, curious to see what reaction that would trigger. For someone who didn't have many memories, it was strange in the extreme that Aaron (or his boss) had room to include a fact that obscure. Yet knowing Oscar was on his way actually seemed able to divert his otherwise rigid fixation on the mission.

There was a noticeable pause before Aaron said: "We must continue to consider methods of getting Inigo into the Void. That cannot stop."

"But we can do that sitting here, right?" Ozzie insisted.

Again Aaron hesitated. "That is permissible."

"Cool. But you can forget getting inside the Void. If the Raiel can't get here, pick you up, then overtake the Pilgrimage fleet, no one can."

"Qatux said the link was suspect."

"Dude! There's caution and there's paranoia. I think we all know which road you walk down."

"All right." Aaron turned to Inigo. "Ethan told Araminta that Living Dream hoped the Void would open a gateway within the Commonwealth for the rest of the followers."

"It was an idea we were kicking around before I left, certainly," Inigo replied. "I never gave it a lot of credit."

"If you can contact a Skylord, you must ask it to reach for you."

"Oh, Lady, come on ..."

"Every option must be examined. If physical flight to the boundary is now denied us, then we must try this method or at the very least see if it is possible. You have to dream the Void again. How could it possibly make the situation worse?"

Corrie-Lyn appeared in the kitchen doorway. Ozzie was fairly sure she'd been hovering outside for some time.

"I will be with you if you try that," she said to Inigo, and walked over to embrace him. "For now and evermore."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "Thank you. For everything. For understanding."

"You were right. Their lives were futile, worthless. They were blessed beyond our wildest aspirations, yet they never thought to look outward. Their bodies flew, but their souls were moribund. That's so sad. We can't let such a fate befall our followers. They will be lost, and the galaxy will fall." She took his hands in her own. "Lead us away from that, Dreamer. Don't allow the Void to destroy our spirit."

"My love." Inigo gave her a tender kiss.

It was so intimate, Ozzie was almost embarra.s.sed to be a witness. Almost. The two lovers were staring longingly at each other, smiling with happiness and relief. No one else existed.

"Dude?"

Inigo's smile widened. Corrie-Lyn laughed.

"Yes, Ozzie?"

"Just a suggestion: Give your followers the Last Dream."

"What?"

"Corrie-Lyn's right; you've got to start fighting back. So do it; show them how their dream of the Void is going to go horribly wrong, that they're going to condemn their children to emptiness and extinction. What is it your guy was always saying? Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to do the right? Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to do the right? It'll devastate all your loyal followers; they may understand, they may not. Who gives a s.h.i.t, man? You were never going to get them all back on your side, anyway. At the very least you'll give Ethan and Ilanthe a seriously bad day. And if you're lucky, you might even spark a mutiny amid the fleet." It'll devastate all your loyal followers; they may understand, they may not. Who gives a s.h.i.t, man? You were never going to get them all back on your side, anyway. At the very least you'll give Ethan and Ilanthe a seriously bad day. And if you're lucky, you might even spark a mutiny amid the fleet."

"Yes," Corrie-Lyn said, suddenly animated. "They deserve to know. They have waited so long to know you again. Give them their true hope back. It is what Edeard would have wanted."

"Yes." Inigo rose to his feet. His gaiamotes opened, and the Dreamer gifted his thoughts once more. All of them.

If Tyzak had been human, he and the Delivery Man would have been best friends by the time they reached the abandoned city at the end of the valley. Two days hiking together through the countryside was a superb bonding opportunity. The well-tended fields and pastures cl.u.s.tered around the village had given way to wild meadowland after the first three hours. With few animals grazing, the coiling gra.s.s-equivalent grew thick and tall, curling blades tangling to produce a difficult carpet to traverse. Tough plants as tall as a human knee were common, their spiky leaves containing a mild toxin that made Tyzak steer well clear. That made their path less straight than the Delivery Man wanted. He stuck with it, telling Tyzak about his life, his family.

"It sounds as if your kind are diverging as our ancestors once did," the old Anomine said.

"Our story has similarities with yours, certainly. From what we know of your story, you were a lot less antagonistic. That is admirable. I wish we would strive for that."

"There are stories that tell of conflict among our ancestors. Some believe they have lost their power as they are told with a grudging voice. It would be strange indeed if our past was completely without strife."

"That may also be common ground. So many of us like to talk about the good old days from a thousand years ago. Those I've met who actually lived through such times say the years between always distort reality."

"Who would wish disdain upon their ancestors? They did deliver us to the present day."

As well as the stinging plants, the streams caused an irritating degree of diversion. Tyzak weighed a great deal more than a human. He had to be careful of the mud; many an incautious traveler had been trapped in some treacherous patch of marshland, he explained as they tramped along a gurgling rivulet, searching for a stony stretch to cross.

In return for his selectively edited life story, the Delivery Man was finally told the tale of Gazuk on the collapsing bridge, and Razul and Dozul and Fazku, and a dozen other terrifically boring incidents all too characteristic of a pastoral society. Finally the story of Fozif was forthcoming, which was a great deal more lyrical than the others. The Delivery Man was amused that the first rocket flight to another world remained so revered, whereas all the Anomine had accomplished afterward as a starfaring race was delivered in a few short sentences. But it did allow him to respond appropriately with the story of the Cold War s.p.a.ce program and Neil Armstrong, which kept Tyzak quiet for a good forty minutes.

That first night they made camp on the edge of a small forest of tall trees with broad weeping branches. The Delivery Man took a hand-size cylindrical condenser unit from his belt, which whirred quietly as it propelled air along its short length. Its water sac slowly expanded out from one end like a sallow tumor as it extracted moisture from the air. When it was full, he pumped the clean water into flat packets of food concentrate. It didn't taste too bad, though he would have preferred something hot. Tyzak just gulped down a couple more potfuls of the cold gloop he'd carried in a backpack.

As the dark fell, night animals began their calls. The Delivery Man expanded his tent up and out from a square of plastic. Tyzak thanked him for the offer of sharing the tough little shelter but refused, saying he preferred to rest outdoors. The Anomine didn't sleep as deeply as humans; instead, they spent the night in a mild doze. They certainly didn't dream.

Secondary routines woke the Delivery Man a little after midnight local time. His biononic field scan had detected three largish animals approaching. Outside, the city at the end of the valley glimmered with a vivid iridescence, as if the buildings were now made from stained gla.s.s wrapped around a fissure of daylight. It was a stark contrast to the black cliff of the forest beside him, animated with rustling wind and sharp warbles. He faced the trees and reconfigured his biononics to produce a complex low-level energy pulse. The approaching animals chittered frantically when he fired it at them, thrashing about in the darkness before rushing off, snapping low branches and tearing up the gra.s.s in their hurry to flee. He had no idea what Tyzak felt about killing local creatures, so the shot would have been the equivalent of giving them a d.a.m.n good smack on the nose, with a modest electric shock thrown in to emphasize the point.

"I thank you," Tyzak said, rising from the gra.s.s where he'd lain. "Three >no direct translation: night beasts< would="" have="" presented="" even="" me="" with="" a="" problem="" defending="">

"You see, machines can be useful occasionally."

"I have my >no direct translation: cudgel ax< to="" aid="" me,"="" the="" anomine="" said,="" holding="" up="" a="" length="" of="" wood="" with="" a="" couple="" of="" spiral="" carvings="" along="" its="" length="" and="" a="" wicked="" curved="" spike="" on="" the="" top.="" "it="" has="" never="" failed="" me="">

The Delivery Man turned back to the radiant city and opened a link to Gore. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"Partly. The d.a.m.n thing is stabilizing a zero-width wormhole, but it's currently not extended. The Last Throw Last Throw's sensors are starting to examine its quantum composition, but that's not easy in a collapsed state. I should have an idea where the wormhole used to lead in a few hours or so."

"So it's not the elevation mechanism, then?"

"Not unless it leads directly to Anomine heaven, no."

"If it is zero-width, then nothing physical travels along it."

"I know. But it's early days. I'm probably overlooking something. How are you doing?"

"Oh, great. I'm in the middle of a boy's own wilderness adventure. Should be with you in another day." With that he bid Tyzak good night and went back to the wonderfully soft mattress in the tent.

They started off again soon after first light. Thin tendrils of mist slithered along the floor of the valley, mirroring the river course in the early light until the sun cleared the hills and burned it off. A constant wind blew in over the city, which now gleamed in the morning light.

It was a long way, but the Delivery Man was confident they'd make it before nightfall.

"Do you have a story which tells where the planet will take your kind?" he asked the old Anomine.

"We still live within the story. From there the ending cannot be seen."

"Surely you have some notion. It must be a powerful belief which caused you to stay behind when your ancestors left to become something else."

"There were many stories of hope told at the parting that will endure forever. Some believe that we will eventually sink back to the more simple-minded creatures which we evolved out of and the planet will bring another mind forward."

"Isn't that the opposite of evolution?"

"Only from a single-species perspective. A planet's life is paramount. It is such a fragile rare event, it should be treasured and nurtured for the potential it brings forth. If that means abdicating our physical dominance for our successors, then that is what we will accept. Such a time is a long way in our future. In terms of evolution, we have only just begun such a journey."

"How do you know if you've reached your pinnacle? That you should already be making way?"