The Abyss Beyond Dreams Read Free Page A

horizon, just like an ordinary black hole. But this one was different. It wasn’t natural.
    As the
Endeavour
soon learned, the Raiel – an alien race more technologically advanced than the Commonwealth – had been guarding the boundary for over a million years. In
fact, they’d declared war on the Void. From the moment their first crude starships encountered it, they’d carefully observed the event horizon undergoing unnatural expansion phases.
Incredibly for anything that large on a cosmological scale, it appeared to be an artefact. Purpose unknown. But, given the severity and unpredictability of its expansion phases, it would eventually
inflate out to consume the entire galaxy long before any natural black hole would have done.
    So the Raiel invaded. Thousands upon thousands of the greatest warships ever built tore open the Void’s boundary and streaked inside.
    None returned. The entire armada had no apparent effect on the Void or its atypical, inexorable expansion. That was a million years ago. They’d been guarding the boundary ever since.
    Wilson Kime, who captained the
Endeavour
, was politely but firmly ordered to turn back and fly outside the Wall stars which formed a thick band around the Void. After that, the Raiel
invited the Commonwealth to join the multi-species science mission that kept a constant watch on the Void. It was a mission which had lasted since the Raiel armada invaded, and in those million
years had added precisely nothing to the knowledge of what lurked on the other side of the event horizon boundary.
    ‘Improbable,’ Cornelius corrected. ‘Not impossible.’
    ‘Well, how did we get inside? I thought our course took us around the Wall stars.’
    ‘Closest approach to the Wall was three thousand lightyears,’ Cornelius said. ‘That’s when we fell inside. Or jumped. Or got snatched. We’re still not sure how.
Presumably some kind of teleport connection opened up inside hyperspace. It would take a phenomenally advanced technology to create that; but then, as we’ve all suddenly been granted
superhuman powers, quantum hyperfield theory is the least of our problems.’
    Laura gave him an incredulous stare. ‘But why?’
    ‘Not sure. The only clue we have is Tiger Brandt. Just before we were brought in, she said she experienced some kind of mental contact, like a dream reaching through the gaiafield, but a
lot fainter. Something sensed us or her. Then, next we know . . . we were inside.’
    ‘Tiger Brandt?’ Laura asked. She knew all about Tiger, who was married to Rahka Brandt, the captain of the
Ventura
. ‘Wait – you mean the
Ventura
is in
here with us?’
    ‘All seven ships were pulled in,’ Cornelius said gloomily.
    Laura looked at the tea mug again, ignoring all her tank yank discomforts. ‘And this is the inside of the Void?’ she asked incredulously.
    ‘Yes. As far as we understand, it’s some kind of micro-universe with a very different quantum structure to spacetime outside. Thought can interact with reality at some fundamental
level, which is why we’ve suddenly acquired all these mental powers.’
    ‘By the action of watching, the observer affects the reality of that which is watched,’ she whispered.
    Cornelius raised an eyebrow. ‘Neatly understated.’
    ‘So how do we get out?’
    ‘Good question.’ Cornelius indicated one of the large holographic images behind him. It showed her space with very few stars and a number of exotic and beautifully delicate nebulas.
‘We can’t see an end to it. The inside of the Void seems to be some kind of multidimensional Möbius strip. In here, the boundary doesn’t exist.’
    ‘So, where are we going?’
    Cornelius’s mind emitted a sensation of desperation and despair that made Laura shiver again. ‘The Skylord is taking us to what it claims is an H-congruous planet. Sensors are
confirming that status now.’
    ‘The what?’
    Cornelius gestured. ‘Skylord.’
    With a stiff back, Laura turned round.