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 Lights, then gestured for Jack to follow.  It s kind of like that, he said,
 when you first step through. All new places are full of wonder, New Man, and
there are wonders to be found here if you make the right choices.
Daman was gone, leaving his last words echoing in Jack s head, and in the
next instant the dream was gone.
He struggled back to consciousness full of a realization that he couldn t
possibly have had back then, in the time period that he d just dreamed. The
dream, the flashback back to the time when he d first met Billie and when he d
gone to Old to try to find her, had shown him something. That strange
young/old kid called Diamantis or Daman had been old beyond his apparent
years, and there was a reason for that. The kid had been through the jumps.
His words, his gestures, the way he had carried himself, had all been the
signs of a much older person trapped in a kid s body. He must have been a
subject in Outreach s early experiments.
That meant only one thing Outreach knew about the accumulation of temporal
energy.
That was why they had been so interested in locating the alien homeworld.
They had been looking for a solution to their problem. They had known about
the temporal accumulation, and they weren t stupid. They d rightly reasoned
that the aliens have to have a means of dealing with it. How else could the
creatures have traveled the great distances from their world to Mandala?
Even now, years later, Billie had been the key.
Just like Billie often turned out to be the key.
He tucked the information away and left his cabin, rubbing the sleep out of
his eyes with his knuckles, wanting to process what he d just learned, but
eager to join the others on the bridge for the moment so that he could be
occupied with something else while his mind went through and worked out the
connections.
It took nearly two days and one more jump before Jack tried to broach the
subject of his dream with Billie. By the time he d rejoined the others, it was
clear that Antille had managed to have his little chat with her, and she was
clearly pissed with him. Gone were the vague half smiles. Instead he was back
to narrowed eyes and set jaw. He decided to let her cool off before he tried
again.
When he finally did, she lifted one hand and pushed past him to stalk down
the corridor, saying just one thing back over her shoulder.
 You talk tome, Jack. Not Hervé. You talk tome. Haven t you screwed things up
enough?
 I am talking to you, Billie. I need to talk to you.Now. 
She stopped in the corridor, planted her fists on her hips, and waited.
He started telling her about Daman then, about his revelation and the
connection, but before he d even gotten to mentioning Outreach, she lifted her
hand again.
 Boring, Jack, she d said, then spun on her heel and disappeared down the
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corridor.
From that point on, she made a point of staying close by Dog, hanging on his
every word, and shooting meaningful looks in Jack s direction. By the time the
orbital and the jeweled curve of Utrecht started to grow in the front
viewscreens, his sense of relief was almost palpable.
It was almost over. They could get back and get out of there.
As they drew in to dock, Jack realized that he hadn t made any plans. He had
nowhere to stay and nothing apart from what he carried in his luggage. He
didn t know how long it would take Billie and Antille to sort things out, and
now, with the current mood, he had to rely on the archeologist to work on her
and try to convince her of the wisdom of what he d suggested. He was even
tempted to talk to Dog and try to get him to convince her, but he knew exactly
what Billie s reaction to that would be. Maybe later. Right now it wasn t
worth the risk.
It still left him with the problem.
He drew Dog to one side in a quiet moment.
 Dog, I need somewhere to hole up while Billie and Antille sort things out.
Dog grinned.  I was going to suggest it, Jack. You can stay at my place until
you re ready to leave. You are planning to leave, aren t you?
 Oh, yeah, said Jack.  There s no doubt about that. Not even a hint of
doubt.
Dog clapped him on the shoulder.  That s settled then. Good.
Dog looked genuinely pleased with his decision.
They rode down to the surface in Dog s other transport, amongst the rubbish
and the detritus and the stained seats. Neither Billie nor Antille seemed to
notice, and as they broke through the clouds and Balance City swung into view,
all other thoughts were swept away. It didn t matter whether Jack had begun to
hate the place; the city was magnificent, and the approach made it more so.
Once again, Jack was swept away by the majesty, craning in his seat to get a
better view of the spire and the clustered buildings spread across the upper
plateau and crawling, supported, down the sides. Even the color was
unimportant; whether it affected his sensibilities or not, the sight was still
something to inspire simple awe.
Even Billie and Antille seemed captivated.
As they docked, Billie turned to Dog.
 We should go out to the dormitories at the university and get some stuff
organized.
Antille nodded his agreement.
 Then we can meet back here or somewhere to talk about what we re going to
do.
 Billie&  said Jack.
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She turned to look at him.  I have to do some stuff, Jack. I need to get some
clothes and other things. I need to get cleaned up. We can talk later.
He understood the sense of what she was saying, but he still wasn t very
happy about it.
 It might be better if we met in the morning, she said.
 Yeah, that makes sense, said Dog.
Thanks a lot, McCreedy, thought Jack. A big help. Jack looked at Antille, and
Antille gave him the barest of nods, signaling that he knew what Jack wanted
of him.
Dog suggested they meet at the bar around midday. He gave Antille directions
and they agreed it was a plan.
In the open spaces of the docks, the ordered lines of ships all around him,
Jack stood and watched as Billie headed off with Antille to the entranceway
that would take them to the surface. He d just found her, and now she was
leaving again. He watched the doorway they d disappeared through for a few
seconds, his hand holding his luggage lead loosely in his grasp.
 You coming, Jack? said Dog.
 Yeah, he replied after a moment, letting out a sigh as he turned to follow.
Twenty-eight
Dog s apartment was deep in Algol, and McCreedy led him unerringly through
the narrow streets, barely looking to check that he was following. Jack was
still uneasy at the prospect of letting Billie go off alone with Hervé back to
the dorm rooms at the university, but right now he had to accept that it was
the best course of action. They d meet up as soon as Billie and Antille had
gotten their stuff in order. He guessed Billie had some other things to think [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]