Paradox Alley s-3 Read online

  "Good idea to bring anything we might possibly need," I said. "There's no telling what's up there. Anybody else?" Everybody was content to make the trip up with what he had.

  I took out my key and spoke into it. "Okay, Sam. Take care and keep an eye out for trouble."

  "You, too. Good luck."

  We made our way over the dark smooth floor, toward the archway that led to the ramp, walking past some extremely bizarre vehicles. They were composed of various geometrical shapes shoved together at odd angles. Farther along there were more vehicles, these more comprehensible but very alien in appearance.

  Liam was first through the archway. He looked up and stopped in his tracks. "Mother of God," he said quietly.

  We joined him at the bottom of a huge cylindrical shaft that shot straight up through the mountain, its vanishing point lost in darkness. Running straight up the middle of the shaft without visible support was a vertical ramp, a wide ribbon of some metallic substance, its color a pale blue, its bottom end curling outward like a length of tape. It touched the floor at a perfect tangent to form the ramp we'd seen from the truck.

  We walked around it, keeping our distance. I walked around it twice, then again. The damn thing wasn't even three centimeters thick.

  "It's a laundry chute," Carl ventured.

  "Yeah, for express laundry," I said.

  Carl nodded. "Well, the way it really works is, you're supposed to get this really good running start, see… like this." He backstepped, then ran up the sharply curling end of the ramp to a point where it became nearly vertical. He pivoted sharply and began to run back down

  But he didn't. Couldn't.

  His grin disappeared. "Hey!"

  He began to glide up the ramp. He was still facing down, his body perpendicular to the ramp and now horizontal to the ground, held fast by some mysterious attractive force. He could move his feet, though. He tried walking back down, but the upward drift was too rapid. He started to run, clumsily, his steps slow and heavy.

  "Holy hell!" he yelled. "I can't-"

  We all stood there gawking. I couldn't think of a thing to do to help him. It was the strangest thing, watching him being borne straight up on this impossible vertical treadmill. As his ascent speed increased, he gave up running and turned slowly until he was facing up the shaft.

  "Hey!" he called over his shoulder. "I guess this is the way up!" He laughed mirthlessly, the smooth walls of the shaft carrying his echoing voice down to us. "Anyway, I sure as shit hope so."

  "Carl!" Lori screamed after him, her eyes round with fear and disbelief. "Carl, be careful!"

  "I think he's right, girl," Sean said. "That's the way up."

  I stepped forward and tentatively put my right boot on the ramp, testing it. I felt no pull, no quasimagnetic attraction. I inched my foot forward. Someone grasped my arm-Darla, stepping up onto the ramp with me.

  "Going up?" she said, smiling.

  "I'm with you, kid."

  We climbed the steep incline. We hadn't taken more than a few steps when it began to happen. The world tilted. My sense of up and down rotated about forty-five degrees. Suddenly the ribbon of metal was no longer vertical but merely steep, and we rode upward as if on an escalator in a department store. I could move my feet, but it was like walking in sticky mud. It was a little disorienting, but not unpleasantly so.

  I turned until I faced down the ramp. Everybody was just standing there.

  "Hey," I called, "it's okay. Hop aboard."

  They exchanged shrugs and reluctantly approached the ramp.

  I shuffled back around again. Carl, a good distance ahead, was waving and shouting something I couldn't hear. I waved back.

  "Don't get too far ahead!" I yelled.

  He cupped his hand to his ear, so I yelled louder. He heard, nodded, and tried walking back down again. But he was still gaining speed. He finally gave up and threw out his arms in despair.

  We were accelerating, too. I looked at my feet. It was hard to tell whether we were sliding over the surface or being carried along by some mysterious movement of the surface itself, as if it were a conveyor belt. The ramp was seamless, featureless, and the shaft around us was dark. I finally decided that we were sliding-and I was almost sure that the soles of my boots weren't actually touching the ramp but riding a few millimeters above it.

  It was a quick trip up. A disc of light grew at the top of the tube, and we rushed toward it. Our speed was hard to judge, but we were moving right along, and the sensation was exhilarating. The experience recapitulated my recent recurring dreams, my fantasies-plunging headlong through a dark tunnel toward a source of brilliant light. I'd read something somewhere about that image-about it being a recapitulation of the birth experience. I considered it. I'm not one to set much store by armchair psychology, but there was an undeniable feel of truth to the notion.

  We suddenly decelerated. My sense of orientation did a double flip as the ramp leveled off, shot through an opening into a large green chamber, and became one with the floor. Darla and I slid to a gradual halt, took a few jogging steps, and walked off the end of ramp onto a polished black floor.

  "Where's Carl?" Darla asked.

  I looked around. We were in a large circular room. Arched openings were cut into the walls at regular intervals. Ramp ends came out of them, converging and terminating on the circular black area where we stood.

  "Darned if I know," I said.

  4

  "Where's Carl?" was the first thing John Sukuma-Tayler asked as he stepped off the magic escalator.

  "Good question," I said. "He seems to've misplaced himself."

  John scowled and shook his head. "That damn fool. If he gets us into more trouble-"

  "I'm more worried that something might have happened to him."

  The scowl dissolving, John nodded dourly. "Oh, I suppose you're right. Any idea where he might have gone?"

  "No. I didn't want to go looking until you'd all come up. How far behind you were the others?"

  "Um… when I looked back, Susan seemed to be having the most trouble getting on the thing. I don't know what possessed me to go first after you two, but I did. I think-oh, here they are."

  Out of the oval opening in the green wall came Lori, Yuri, Zoya, Ragna, and Oni. Following close behind was Sean, hand in hand with Winnie and George. There was a moderate delay before Liam and Roland came through, propping up between them a slightly gray-faced Susan.

  Susan stumbled off the strip, moaned, and put a hand to her stomach. "Oh, my God."

  "You okay, Suzie?" I said,

  She heaved a sigh, then burped. "'Scuse me. Roller coasters always made me sick."

  Roland laughed and slapped her on the back. "Oh, come on, Susan. It wasn't that bad."

  Susan winced and rolled her eyes. "I don't believe we went straight up… straight up! It was the worst… ooh, I can't stand it." She belched again.

  "Carl is missing," Darla told Sean, who had been glancing around the chamber.

  "We lost sight of him on the way up," I said, "and he wasn't here when we arrived. I suggest we start looking."

  "The boy's got the devil in 'im for sure," Sean said, "but he wouldn't run off like this. Something must have happened."

  "Whatever happened," I said, "it was fast. We couldn't have been more than thirty seconds behind him."

  "D'you think Prime had something to do with it?" Liam asked me.

  "Could be."

  "Odd thing," Sean said. "I thought Prime would be here to greet us."

  "And I am. Welcome." The voice filled the domed chamber.

  "Hello?" I said, whirling to find the source.

  "Forgive me," Prime's voice said, "I am afraid that certain exigencies have prevented me from greeting you in person. I will be joining you shortly, however, and until then I've provided-"

  "Where's Carl?" I shouted.

  "I'm sorry?" A pause, then: "Oh, yes. It seems the young man has gotten himself lost. That is a very easy thing to accomplish in this
place, I'm afraid. Please don't worry. He also will join you very soon. He's quite safe, I assure you."

  "We're concerned," I told him.

  "Of course you are, and I don't blame you in the slightest. You are in a strange place and have quite naturally assumed that there is potential danger here. I fully appreciate your prudent distrust of me. I could very well be an enemy. And I also realize that you must have grave reservations concerning any assurances I might give to the contrary. After all, you know very little about me. Now, what I ultimately want you to understand is that your fears about me are not justified. I bear you no ill will and mean you no harm. As time goes on, this will become apparent. Having said this, however, I want to warn you that your natural caution about this place is justified.

  There is indeed potential danger here, both inside this structure and on this planet, though the perils outside these walls far outstrip those within. Let us deal with the proximate variety. There are in and about these rooms and towers numerous artifacts, which, if used improperly, may be a source of trouble. Also, the dangers of getting lost here are quite real. This structure has certain-shall we say-architectural peculiarities, which, until they are understood and taken into account, can cause accidents. In short, you would be wise to use discretion and be generally circumspect in your movements until you get used to your surroundings. I hope I have made myself clear."

  I said, "You mentioned something about dangers outside."

  "Of those you will learn more later. They would be difficult to describe without my giving you an extensive briefing on the situation here."

  "Okay, but I take it you aren't alone on this planet: There are others. Correct?"

  "You might say that."

  I was suddenly annoyed. This guy had a knack for answering questions with an unambiguous maybe.

  "Thanks for the info," I said. "You said something about lunch. Also something about straight answers to our questions."

  There was an indulgent smile implied in the voice. "I understand your impatience. But perhaps you need time to think about your questions first." A chuckle, then: "You are very intelligent and resourceful creatures, of that I have no doubt. Intelligent enough, perhaps, to realize that what you face here is entirely strange and new to your experience. You will be exposed to ideas and concepts which may be difficult for you to grasp. Ultimately, the goal of complete understanding might lie beyond your capabilities. I very much doubt that, but that is one proposition which must be put to the test. In any case, the learning experience itself should prove rewarding. This is why I contend that you need time. Impatience is counterproductive at best. And here on this world-constructwhich I propose we call Microcosmos, for want of a better name-it could conceivably prove lethal."

  I nodded. "Okay, fine. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we're eager to learn. And you can bet we'll be careful.

  But frankly, the suspense is already killing me. And I'm hungry."

  Prime gave a gentle laugh. "No doubt. Just a moment." We waited maybe a quarter minute. Then, out of an archway to our right, came a glowing green sphere floating about two meters off the floor.

  "What you see is rather hard to explain technically," Prime told us, "but its function is simple. It will guide you to the dining hall, where, if you are still amenable, we will have lunch. Please follow it there. I will join you shortly."

  "I hate to keep pestering," I said, "but what about Carl?" No reply.

  "What about Carl?" Lori shouted. "Answer us!"

  The green sphere bobbed, then receded through the archway and into a dark corridor running tangentially to the circular chamber. There it paused, as if waiting for us.

  "Lead on, MacDuff," John called to it as he started forward. He halted and looked around at everybody. "Well?" Susan was still nursing her middle. "I can't think of food right now, but maybe if I forced something down…"

  "Right," Roland said, "then I'll take you for a ride on the magic ramp again. We'll look for the one that goes down this time."

  "Ulp."

  We followed the green sphere.

  Prime hadn't been kidding about the architectural oddity of the place. Everything was goofy. Walls curved and canted vertiginously, floors sloped at odd angles. Weird perspectives tricked us at every turn. Even so, the place had a bizarre beauty to it. Rather stark, though. The walls were smooth and unadorned. No pictures, carvings, or decorations. No tapestries, weapons, or shields emblazoned with colorful heraldry. Not a proper castle after all. The floor was everywhere black with a deep shine, looking like a dark mirror. Here and about, though, stood odd thingamabobs, no doubt the artifacts Prime had warned us about. Some looked like pieces of machinery, others could have been sculpture, or for all we knew, alien hat racks.

  "This place is a damn museum," Susan said.

  "I was just about to say that," John told her.

  I said, "Yeah, it does have the feel of one."

  An odd one, though. There didn't seem to be much organization to it. Some things were lying about haphazardly; they weren't necessarily on display. Nevertheless, I got the distinct impression that this was a collection, a bunch of stuff that had been obtained at various places and carted here for storage.

  We soon came to a high-ceilinged hall featuring a large centrally positioned table of irregular shape. Uniformly constructed seating appliances-the term chairs would tend to connote that one could easily sit in them-were arranged around the table, but what was on the table wasn't strange; it was food, and it all looked good. There was a huge whole baked ham, assorted roast fowl, fish, various cuts of beef, one or two of pork, and maybe one of veal. These entrees were flanked by vegetable dishes, casseroles, fruit arrangements, baskets of bread, tureens of soup, bowls of salad-and on and on. There was other stuff I couldn't readily identify, but it looked very familiar. All in all, this was something more than lunch and slightly less than a state dinner for a visiting foreign dignitary. The eating utensils looked alien but serviceable, as did the glassware.

  We looked it over. Meanwhile our shining guide drifted away, exiting through an arch and into darkness.

  "Quite a spread," Susan commented.

  "How're your insides?" I asked.

  "Getting better."

  We all stood about gawking until Prime entered the hall through an archway to the left. Smiling, he strode to the approximate head of the table and stood. "Welcome. I'm glad you came. Please be seated."

  We chose places around the table. Along with the rest of the gang, I regarded the "chair" on which I was to "seat" myself. It was pink, shiny, and looked somewhat like a formation of coral. The prospect of actually using the thing as a seat involved the possibility of having an autcerotic experience-or a painful one, depending on how careful you were.

  "I think you will find-" Prime began, but a shout from Lori interrupted him.

  She had tried sitting but had immediately sprung to her feet. "It moved!" she told us.

  Prime chuckled. "The chairs will automatically reform themselves to accommodate your bodies. Simply sit down and…"

  Gingerly, I sat. The damn chair did that very thing, and it did it almost before my buttocks had,touched down.

  "There, you see?"

  "Interesting," I said as the chair made some further adjustments, these very subtle and done much more slowly. I sank into the thing a little and stopped. It was strange, but I was comfortable.

  When everyone had settled in, Prime poured himself a glass of amber liquid from a carafe. "I think you'll find this wine very insouciant and a bit immature, but compatible with almost everything here." He indicated a similar decanter near. John, who was seated to his right. There were several around the table. "Please serve yourselves. I must apologize for the lack of servants-the only one I have is engaged at the moment."

  I picked up a carafe and poured the glass to my right for Susan, the left for Darla, and one for me.

  Prime raised his glass. "I propose a toast. To life."

  "Hear, hear,"
Sean said.

  I inhaled the bouquet. While I was at it, I smelled the wine, too. What I got was the sense of a late-summer day… ripe fruit fallen in the orchard, warm breath of flowers, bright sun declining over the garden gate, the arbor heavy with grapes, fresh-cut hay fields, dreaming the afternoon away… like that. Odors familiar yet exotic, somehow. More than odors; an ambience. An experience.

  I drank the wine and drank in the experience. There was a taste, too. It was fruit and flowers and dew-laden sprigs of wild mint; it was a dash of crushed cinnamon, a twist of lemon, a drop of honey. It was many things.

  Presently, Darla said, "I've never… ever tasted anything like this."

  "I'm so glad you like it," Prime said, beaming. "It is very good isn't it?"

  "Ambrosia," John murmured, staring into his glass.

  "What is it called? Does it have a name?" Zoya wanted to know.

  Prime squinted one eye. "I think… well, a free translation would be `Earth's sweet breath of summer."'

  "How appropriate. How lovely."

  "Where does it come from?" Yuri asked.

  "The beings who produced this wine were very much like yourselves, and were excellent wine makers. Possibly the best the universe ever saw. As I said, they were very much like you. In fact, they were your descendents, over two million years removed from your time."

  "Two million!" Susan gasped.

  "Yes. They were still human-very human. And they still remembered Earth, apparently. No doubt they visited that most ancient home of humankind."

  "Where's Carl?" Lori broke in loudly.

  Prime looked at her, his expression tolerant: "He'll be here any moment. You shouldn't worry so much, my dear."

  "Two million years in our future," John said. "Very difficult to believe. But you speak as if that time were long past… to you."

  "Yes it is," Prime said. "It was quite long ago. But time, to us… to me, means very little."

  "Who's `us'?" I asked.

  Prime drank, sat back. "I have been thinking of the appropriate word or phrase to use. Something handy-short, concise-which would impart the meaning without too much distortion. In your language there are a number of words. But I have chosen the Culmination. That is what we are. What I am. You may refer to us the Culmination."