Planet B-17: The Beginnings

Chapter 15: The Curve around the Wall

Zadek was called in. The walls and floor of Command Bay were casting a soft, bluish-white sheen, and so was the desk. The Captain was waiting.

"You wanted to see me, sir."

"Yes, I did," said Soo Beran. "Please be seated."

Command Bay was the core of the state-of-the-art Umbar, one of the finest Recognition Vessels in the Hexor Galaxy. There was something about being here that made Zadek feel more deeply connected to Umbar. He took a seat.

"I'm listening, sir," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"Tell me, Zadek," said the Captain, "are Omirions able to create portals to teleport themselves and others from one location to another?"

Zadek seemed taken by surprise. "I've never done it," he started, "nor has anyone I know."

The Captain seemed neither pleased nor displeased. He gave an assenting nod.

"May I ask the reason for this inquiry?"

The Captain touched a luminous key along the margin of the desk, and a holocube was produced.

"Ten of our crew have been in the crater for nearly 72 hours," he explained. "All communication is down. I wanted you to rescue them and bring them back, if possible. Should they be unable to come out, for reasons still unknown, I would have liked you to arrange a transfer of location. Is there any chance for you to do that?"

Deny that possibility, transmitted Omiran. It is impossible to interfere in their learning process.

"I am most sorry," Zadek told the Captain. "Whenever we move through space, the portals are already there. We do not form them."

"Understood. Thank you."

The Captain inclined his head. Zadek bowed and left.

Once back in the corridor, he pondered. What had Omiran meant? Is it possible or impossible to form a portal? He began to walk, barely aware of those around him. And what learning process was that that his companions had embarked upon?

All shades and hues had begun to whiten long before he paid any attention to them. It wasn't until he felt a mild, wave-like motion traverse him that he realized he was in-between planes – one was Umbar, but what was the other?

What is this? he asked.

The learning process your colleagues are in, said Omiran.

What learning process is that?

Becoming whole again.

As he stepped onwards, Zadek felt he was descending on a stairway, albeit he could not really tell where the steps were; only the whiteness persisted, a half-plane growing fuller, Umbar behind, whiteness into whiteness and a feeling of ease, and his steps going lower, lower and within.

Umbar was behind. Whiteness all around. And that whiteness seemed to touch him past skin-deep, into his innermost being. And the whiteness was a rectangle curving and as if lowering towards the right and leaning out of sight.

Zadek looked around. And the white walls comprised an infinite number of two-dimensional planes that he could almost see into, but wasn't allowed. He turned on his heel and looked back: the luminous tunnel he was in curved on that side, too, again to the right.

Which way to go?

All ways are points in becoming, explained Omiran. All ways lead to now.

Emphasis upon the last word. Clock-brain prevalence dismissed the possibility of a coincidence.

"All ways lead to now," Zadek repeated. "A learning process that returns me to the present?"