Transvergence Read Free Page B

interrupted E.C. to say that was ridiculous, her data banks contained nothing but accurate data. She insisted on doing a high-level correlation between E.C.'s brain and what's in the central banks. That's what convinced the Council that Tally's brain had been tampered with. His memory bank shows that Cecropians believe themselves superior to humans and all other species, and that a Lo'tfian interpreter for a Cecropian can when necessary operate quite independently of his Cecropian dominatrix. It shows that Hymenopts are intelligent too—probably more intelligent than humans. It shows that there exist sentient Builder constructs, millions of years old but able to communicate with humans. It shows that instantaneous travel is possible, even without the use of the Bose Network."

    "But that's true—we did it, when we traveled to Serenity. It's all true. Every one of the statements you just made is accurate!"

    "Not according to your great and wonderful Alliance Council." Rebka's voice was bitter. "According to them, Serenity doesn't even exist, because it's not in their data banks. The information there is holy writ, something you just don't argue with, and what's not there isn't knowledge. It's the same problem I've suffered all my life: somebody a hundred or a thousand light-years from the problem thinks they can have better facts than the workers on the spot. But they can't, and they don't."

    "But didn't you say all that to them?"

    "Me say it? Who am I? According to the Alliance Council, I'm a nobody, from a nowhere little region called the Phemus Circle, not big or important enough to have clout with either the human or the interspecies Council. They took less notice of me than they did of E.C. Tally. I began to describe the Zardalu's physical strength, and their phenomenal breeding rate. Do you know what they said? They explained to me that the Zardalu are long-extinct, because if that were not the case, then certainly their presence would have been reported somewhere , in the Fourth Alliance, or the Cecropian Federation, or the Zardalu Communion. Then they mentioned that the Fourth Alliance has evolved techniques unknown in the Phemus Circle 'for dealing with mental disorders,' and if I behaved myself they might be able to arrange for some kind of treatment. That's when Graves lost his temper."

    "I can't believe it. He never loses his temper—he doesn't know how to."

    "He does now. Julian Graves is different from Julius or Steven. He told the Council that they are a bunch of irresponsible apes—Senior Councilor Knudsen does look just like a gorilla, I noticed that myself—who are too closed-minded to recognize a danger to the spiral arm when it's staring them in the face. And then he quit."

    "He left the Chamber?"

    "No. He resigned from the Council —something no one has ever done before. He told them that the next time they saw him, he would make them all eat their words. And then he left the Chamber, and took E.C. Tally with him."

    "Where did he go?"

    "He hasn't gone anywhere—yet. But he's going to, as soon as he can get his hands on a ship and recruit the crew he needs. Meanwhile, he's going to tell anyone who will listen about the Zardalu, and about how dangerous they are. And then he's going to look for the Zardalu. He and E.C. Tally feel sure that if the Zardalu came back anywhere in the spiral arm, they will have tried to return to their cladeworld, Genizee."

    "But no one has any idea where Genizee is. The location was lost in the Great Rising."

    "So we're going to have to look for it."

    "We? You mean that you'll be going with Graves and E.C. Tally?"

    "Yes." Rebka sat upright. "I'm going. In fact, I'll have to leave in just a few hours. I want to make the Council eat their words as much as Graves does. But more than that, I don't want the Zardalu to breed themselves back to power. I don't frighten easily, but they scare me. If they're anywhere in the spiral arm, I want to find them."

    Darya stood