Silas sits on the steps at One Bridge street looking at the cross. Just beyond his gave the clock of St Peters is counting off the hours. He was correct in his assumption that this was going to be hard. Far too many Caesters have the same basic design of cross or statue.
“We only need to see the right one.” Rik tells him.
There is one he knows is unique. The one that attracted him in the first place. He knows it doesn’t lead to the right world. But it leads to a world.
As he sees the mass of mirrors flicker into existence he hits the lap timer on the stop watch.
And St Peters Church clock ticks on.
+*+
Paul puts the drink down on the table. Jerry looks up suspiciously at the man as he sits in front of him.
“And this is for?”
“Can’t I buy you a drink?”
“Oh wait a second, you mean you are not Paul Shoko Arie, The man who would sell his own grand mother and does nothing without a reason. Fine then of course I accept you completely free and with out obligations hospitality. D’ you think I came down the lagan in a bubble just now?”
Paul manages to look hurt. “Do I really deserve that?”
“Are you expecting anything in exchange for the drink?”
“Ok I probably do deserve that.” Paul confesses, sitting down.
Jerry looks at him. “Just cut to the chase Paul”.
“Where’s Polar?”
“Don’t know. Wouldn’t tell you if I did. Next.”
“Silvia…”
“Is Christine niece and is staying for the foreseeable future. Next.”
“Stone House?”
“Don’t know him, Rae said he was the one the Bulmäs were looking for but he don’t work for us. She’s chasing that goose, not us. Go home. Talk to your wife. Next.”
“And there is no connection between Silvia and the name Stonehouse.”
“Not that I know. Next.”
“Ryan.”
Jerry looks at him. He lowers his voice slightly. “Is in way over his head and is struggling to keep up. I’m worried about him. Chris sprung this engagement on him as much as on us. I’m not sure what is going on.” He pauses and picks up the drink. “But I’m damn glad you and Rae where here when the Bulmäs turned up.”
“Would he talk to me?”
“Doubt it.” Jerry smiles wryly. “You and Li did kidnap him remember.”
Paul shrugs. “That was ages ago.”
“Not for him it wasn’t.”
“Damn this non linear life style of mine.” Paul jokes.
Jerry shrugs.
“Why all the questions Paul?”
Paul grimaces. “Oh I’ve got my self wrapped in a puzzle. I thought I had an answer but now I’m not so sure. It keeps eluding me.”
“Something to do with the attack?”
He nods. “Best I’m doing is worrying at it, like a dog with a bone. I’m not even sure if it’s important.”
Jerry laughs. “Of course it’s important DummKopf!”
Paul looks at him.
“If it wasn’t important you would have told yourself to let it go by now.” He points out.
“Oh. Yeah.” Paul realises that he is right. He coughs sheepishly at having to have the obvious pointed out to him.
“So want to tell me your problem?” Jerry offers.
“Not sure I can. Aaron doesn’t want it getting back to Chris.”
“Oooo juice gossip is it? Look you know, if she asks me I can not, not tell her but…”
“She’s got to know to ask.”
Jerry nods.
“Ok.”
Paul brings him up to speed on the body in Caester and it’s connection to Silas and Silvia. The identity of Silvia’s father comes as a little surprise to Jerry, but he is not overly concerned by the news. Paul watches him as he absorbs the information as he drinks the drink.
“May be the question isn’t why, may be it’s why not. It’s not like Human descended Bulmäs are that rare.” He states softly. “I mean we have plenty of them around here. May be is something else. Not Silas. Some one lower down the line.”
“But what about the body turning up on Silas’s home path?”
Jerry shrugs. “Yeah but if most of these guys are from that blood line anyway you could make a fair argument for that being the home world of all of them. It’s not like any of them are truly local anywhere else. The best they get is where they were born or grew up or settled down or what ever; it’s always an adopted world. Bottom line they evolved on that world. It’s the only place they could have come from without the Pure Bulmäs wiping them out.”
“Doesn’t help me though does it.” Paul points out.
Jerry frowns.
“What?”
“Oh it’s just something that occurred to me a while back. Another ‘why not’ thing.” He looks at Paul. “All these human Bulmäs. You would have thought that with the way the pure fields feel about half breeds they’d have scragged them long ago.” He looks round the room. “But they are every where.”
Paul looks at him, frowning in realisation at the point he is making.
Jerry looks at him. “Why?”
“Aaron says they are natural survivors.”
“Bollox. If the pure breads called down the wild hunt they wouldn’t last five minuets and you know it.”
The two sit in silence as Paul absorbs Jerrys ponderings. Then he swears. “I came here for answers not more bloody questions!” He protests.
Jerry grins at him.
“Ok Try this one.” He states slowly sounding out each word separately. “Why Didn’t The Bulmäs Kill Silvia?”
“Because the didn’t want her dead.” He says softly.
“Bingo.” Jerry responds. “That’s what I came too when I was figuring out this one. Some one went to an awful lot of trouble to get to her NOT to kill her.”
“What would be the point?”
“I don’t know.” He confesses “That’s where I drew a blank.”
Paul considers the gate and the lea domain beyond it. “That was a lot of technology.”
“That was a lot of lives.” Jerry points out. “I mean you three left enough bodies out there.”
“And there was a whole load you never saw.” Paul admits, thinking of the wave that vanished into the rift and those abandoned in U-space when the domain collapsed.
“Even given Bulmäs reincarnation, that cost.”
“Just to not kill her.”
“Hmm.” Jerry finishes the drink and stands up. He pats Paul’s shoulder. “Solve that one lad. That’s the real key to this one.”
“Yeah thanks.”
+*+
Silas walks into the map room. “4 hours 43mins 18 seconds.” He announces.
Aaron looks up for a scroll, letting it go so it rolls up on it’s own. “What.”
“The Cross. It’s a regular pattern and it takes” He looks down at the stop watch. “4 hours 43 mins and 18 seconds to rotate. Each image holds for .3 seconds.”
Aaron sits back. “That’s interesting.”
“Oh well I’m glad I’ve not completely wasted the day then.” Silas defends
“No.” Aaron shakes his head at Silas’s assumption of dismissal. “That’s not long enough.”
“What?”
“At .3 seconds it should take.” Aaron ponders for a few moments and then declares. “days at least to cycle through every Caester.”
“So it’s only doing some of them.” Silas pauses trying to work it out. “May be there are casters that don’t have a cross.” He guesses
“Get real Silas.” Aaron challenges him, “How many have you seen that are blank while you have been sat there?” He shrugs realising that Aaron is right.
“Why only those?” Aaron whispers. He looks up at the image of the cross on the wall and Silas’s account of the world he visited.
“Oh crap.” He reaches for the phone.
“It’s Captain Mellor, Is Pyrdan available?.... ok Tell him we’ll come to him.”
He gets up picking up his jacket.
“What?”
Silas follows him out of the door, jogging to catch up as Aaron lengthens his stride.
“The Cross Silas. At .3 seconds how many worlds does it cycle through in four hours, 43 minutes and 18 seconds?”
“Oh God Maths.” Silas curses him. He pulls out his phone to access the calculator.
“Try 56,660.” Aaron states. “Or there abouts.” He leads Silas down the steps and on to the cobbles of water gate. “Now ask me why I know that number?”
Silas looks at him as he pulls open the door of the watch house.
“Because that’s the number of times Caester’s walls have been broken. Every single one of those crosses leads to a world that is no longer accessible through the paths.”
“Shit.” Silas shudders realising just how dangerous his leap into the cross really had been.
“You are just so fucking lucky you got to a world where that happened by accident rather than one that was deliberately broken because it fell to the daemons. Do you know that?”
Silas stares at his back as Aaron barges into Pyrdans office announcing his presence with “We have so got a problem.”