Part 36 (1/2)

”Half that of our Milieu,” Elizabeth mused, ”and yet more than adequate for coadunation of the Galactic Mind, if you had not followed the dead end of the golden torcs.”

”So you say.”

Minanonn addressed Elizabeth with a certain bluff impatience. ”My mind is a simple one, suited to porter duties and other tasks requiring more brawn than subtlety. Nevertheless, I hope that someday you will explain to me exactly what this 'coadunation' might be-and why we Tanu are so deprived not to have it! In our Peace Faction, we enjoy a fellows.h.i.+p that is both consoling and stimulating. Can your Unity be so much greater?”

”Perhaps you'll find out for yourselves,” Elizabeth said faintly. An image formed in her mind that made the three exotic men gasp.

”A time-gate to the Milieu?”

Dionket's question was incredulous.

”And we might be permitted to pa.s.s through?” cried Minanonn.

Elizabeth said, ”If the device can be built-and operated without danger to the Milieu itself-then all persons of goodwill in the Many-Coloured Land will have the option of pa.s.sing through. You know how sceptical I have been about Brede's calling me the 'most important woman in the world.' Well ... lately I've wondered whether she might have seen me in the role of time-gate shepherdess. Certainly it would make more sense than my merely serving as dirigent to a continent full of barbarian hordes and exiled Milieu malcontents.”

”You would go back?” Creyn asked. ”Leading us?”

”If it seems right that I should.” But the old uncertainty was plain beneath the ambiguity.

”How will you know?”

Creyn asked.

She said, ”It's premature to think too deeply about it now.

Too many things could go wrong. The gate may never reopen-we may find ourselves in the Nightfall War at last!-if we can't help Aiken regain his mental strength.”

Minanonn said, ”We approach the caravan camp. Render us invisible to casual surveillance, Lord Healer.”

”It is done,” said Dionket.

They flew over an area of prairie between two streams. Scattered about were open groves of silverleaf poplar and ash. The all-terrain vehicles of the North Americans were parked in a tidy circle, surrounded by a more casual collection of Tanu pavilions and tethered chalikos.

”I see Bleyn's forces have arrived,” Minanonn remarked. He asked Elizabeth, ”Can you fa.r.s.ense the King's presence below?”

She exerted her metafaculty. ”He's safely gone. Would you like a closeup view of the newcomers?”

When the three a.s.sented she showed them a group gathered beneath a large dining pavilion. Supper was being served. Two long tables were separated from the others by a distinct psychic veil. At the head of one sat a burly young man in his late twenties who scowled as he listened to a slighter, foxy-faced companion. ”Hagen Remillard,” Elizabeth noted. ”Except for the dark blond hair and a somewhat shorter stature, he bears a rather strong physical resemblance to his father. The mental resemblance is not so strong.” She showed them Cloud, who headed the second table, then panned the other twenty-seven adults and the five little children.

”All of them are so young,” Creyn said. ”Are their minds exceptional?”

Elizabeth said, ”I know very little about them as yet, except for what Aiken has told me about the Remillards. As to their metafaculties-they're all fully operant, but only imperfectly trained by their parents and the other ex-Rebels. Considering their heritage, they probably represent a wide spectrum of talent and strength. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority were quite formidable. Let's not forget that they helped Felice to blast open Gibraltar.”

”And drown thousands of people,” Minanonn added tonelessly.

The exotics studied the innocent-appearing diners. A young black man at Cloud's table was regaling his companions with a funny story. Parents wiped the messy chins of children and admonished breaches of etiquette. A plumpish brunette was teased by her tablemates for taking two pieces of Calamosk torte.

Dionket said, ”And the Unity of your Milieu is a goal so precious to them, that even such a terrible means seemed justified?”

”Their nurture,” Elizabeth said, ”can hardly have been ideal, from an ethical standpoint.”