Four men sat down in the big living room of the timeship named Narnia. They'd finally gotten their timelines settled. Mick's son Dez had bound them all to his timeline almost six years previously. They'd just spent a half year making the visits that spanned more than a twenty year period in the timeline of Adith, the world of their birth. They had seen their children grow to young adults on that world and enter the Orion Federation of Free Worlds Exploration Fleet Academy.
The confusion of fighting side by side with their grown children and then playing with them when they were small was over. They now had only one timeline. They were bound to the world Dez had created for the Gallants when he was seventeen and thirty-seven, and to all the people of the new race, which was their family.
"What now, Pierce?"
"I've searched my memories of the future, Ace. We have a great number of possibles from this point. We've completed the tasks the change in our own past required. Cap, I want to look at the possibles with your eyes."
The huge bondcat with glowing green eyes padded over to Pierce and sat by his chair. Pierce laid his hand on the head of the hundred ten centimeter, hundred ninety kilo sentient who made the fifth of the psychically bonded group known as the Builders. His deep wine color was his mark of belonging. The uniforms of the Builders were burgundy and wine set with sapphires as buttons. The swords they bore were also set with sapphires. Their appearance and uniforms identified them as Knights Gallant.
Three were the sons of three half brothers. The fourth was the son of the adopted son of one and grandniece of another. They looked like two sets of twins. Pierce and Ace were big, muscular, blonds. Mick and Red were massively developed, bigger, redheads. There wasn't as much difference in the shades of red as the blond, but enough to rule out 'identical' at a glance.
"All paths are clear of shadows. Mick, bring them into my mind. Ace, choose."
Mick was the possessor of telepathy and other mental powers inherited from both his mother and father. He gathered Red and Ace and carried them into Pierce's mind. They would all see Pierce's memories of the possible futures, but Ace would choose the path they would follow. He was bondleader.
"I don't like any of them. Let's start with a vacation on Vedas in their year two twenty after colonization."
Pierce groaned as the change winds blew and a new set of possibles spun into his memory of the future. He swept out the paths not taken, then laughed when he looked at those that remained. He knew which Ace would choose. None of them could resist a large group of beautiful women who needed their assistance.
"That one."
"Ace, NONE of us doubted that would be your choice. Even Cap knew which you'd choose. Of course, I'm NOT complaining."
"True on both counts, Red. Even I could feel you were delighted. All right, Cap, watch for shadows as I clear the others. Cap's vision tells me the path is unshadowed and it DOES look like fun. Most of it anyway. I'm not too fond of the very beginning."
"Thirty days training. Full regimen. We begin in five hours."
"Red, you found the piece I'm not fond of. Ace is going to ask why thirty."
"Pierce, you KNOW I hate having to say something because, if I don't, you wouldn't know I was going to say it so you could tell them I'm going to say it."
"Yes, Ace, now say it. Oh, NICE groan."
"Why thirty days, Red?"
"Because you and Pierce are getting fat."
"WHAT?!"
"Thought that would shake you up. I saw both of you loosening the laces on your pants. Six months of Chervan cooking a celebratory meal every few days has thickened you both around the middle. Mick and I kept it under control by extra workouts. You two didn't. You're on your way to plump. The fix begins in five hours on the ten/five/ten K course laid out in the main body of the ship."
"Speaking of which, I was exploring yesterday and found where she stored our construction equipment."
"You did! That's great, Mick. I kept trying to get a location from Aslan. Have you ever heard a computer giggle? Amazing. I thought we'd never... Mick, explain the grin."
"The equipment is in a huge room deep in the original interior your grandfather programmed into the dimensional matrix of his ship. Another interesting quirk... I'll bet Lane knows it's there. Pierce, did your dad ever mention a playground?"
"Yes, created for his sisters and him."
"This one existed before they were born or it wouldn't be in the wabbit program which makes a dimensional matrix into a living ship. Our construction equipment is in the biggest sandbox you ever saw."
"Ooh. Laughter and pain. Talk, Ace. I felt that hurt."
"Narnia put our 'toys' in the playroom Gallant created for all the children he dreamed would share his ship, Red. If the sandbox is big enough to hold our toys, he dreamed of many. Seven are all he had and two of those he didn't find until they were sixteen. He programmed that room when he was a boy, an escaped slave. It was probably never used, too big. He'd lived a very long time before there were children in that ship and all of it alone."
"Ace, he's not alone anymore."
"I know, Mick, but I still ache for him once in awhile."
"Ace, ask the question. I can't answer until you ask."
"Pierce, about how old was Gallant before Dad and his sisters were born?"
"About two hundred thousand. Next question."
"How old is he now and how do you know?"
"His age is the life span of a universe minus its age when he was born, plus the years he spent defending it, minus its age when he traveled to its end, plus the years he spent trapped after it died. He's lived millions of years. Two sons at about twelve thousand, Dad and his four sisters at about two hundred thou, and now five little half bernisi girls at, say, ninety million. An estimate based on a massive number of assumptions and much more likely to be too low than too high. He'll never tell us how long he was trapped when his universe died. Strange it's a near duplicate of this one to a point, then differs vastly. We know this one is open. That one is not. His warning not to travel to the beginning or end of any universe should still be considered valid. The honest answer is it's a guess. Only his ship could give a true answer and Alice doesn't even tell him. He does NOT want to know."
"You say it's a conservative estimate, Pierce?"
"Yes, Ace, but unless we're killed, we'll live as long. At approximately thirty-five, I'm not ready to look at the prospect of living millions, let alone billions, of years."
"Whoa! Neither was he! Ace?"
"Red, he'll be all right. It's me. I won't live that long. My mind and spirit will. He'll carry it after my body dies, but I won't be... Ace, I'll live for centuries as I am. I'll stay as young seeming as the rest of you until very near the end of my years. And I'll never really leave you. I'll be where I've been since we were laid in the same cradle at our birth. In your mind. Put it away, Ace. Gallant taught us. We live today. Each tomorrow is today when it comes. Even Pierce doesn't look at his own life in the far distant future."
"Mick, I--"
"Ace, you're rock hard determined. What are you-- Pierce! Mick, he's drowning in change!"
"Got him, Red. Ace, what did you do?"
"I'll tell you when I'm ready. Don't look. Is it steady yet, Pierce?"
"Yes. Five thousand years, Ace. The Children of Light have the answer. My son-in-law's people have the way to accomplish it. I'll set the coordinates. You've made the choice for all of us. It wasn't yours alone to make."
"It's made. Goodnight."
"Pierce, he's blocked me out. I can't--"
"Don't try, Mick. Red, quit trying to feel his emotions. Leave him alone. Trust him and leave him alone. Don't try to talk to him and don't expect him to talk to you. He's truly accepted his role as our leader. He's made a choice for us and he's sure he's right, but it's a terrible burden. Let him adjust to carrying it."
They traveled five thousand years into the past, more than a million from the point in time when their world had been built, to the world that was home to a race of people who so loved life they had changed themselves to take nourishment from light, so they would need to kill no living thing to survive. Ace trained with them, but did not speak to them during the journey. At its end, he waited til Pierce nodded, then turned and slugged Mick, picked up his unconscious form and walked out of the ship. Pierce held Red back.
"No. He's made the choice. We won't interfere."
"Pierce, he hit him hard. He'll be out for hours."
"No, Red, days. Fifty-seven days and they'll know if their bodies will survive. Another eleven and they'll know if their minds will."
"Talk. You're two steps from hysterical. Talk or I'll come in and I don't have Mick's control. I don't use my telepathy because it's raw power. I don't want to feel the pain it would give you."
"You're a bully and I think you're bluffing."
"Don't make me find out if I am. Please, Pierce."
"I love you too, Red. He's going to have them change Mick. His body is the template. They're going to... going to... I can't, Red. I can't. I won't look at that possible. It strengthens it. Makes it clearer. We're getting out of here. Find Cap. He has to let go of Ace. He'll get him back."
"Pierce?"
"We have to leave. Look for Cap in Ace's rooms. Go, Red, while I take us out of here. We don't have much time. Leave me."
Ace carried Mick in and told them what he wanted. They took a genetic sample and said they would try, but they would need more. He gave himself to them. He and Mick would live or die together. Forever.
Red couldn't stand it any longer. Pierce had been struggling and nearly silent since they'd left Ace and Mick. He had to do something. He didn't know what, but something.
"Enough, Pierce. You're going crazy. You work, but it's to force yourself not to just wait. You don't eat or sleep unless I force you. You won't tell me what's going on and I'm lost. I need you."
"Every timewalker in the family is the same right now, Red. None of us will look. None of us will do anything. We wait, hoping... We hope for the miracle Ace wants so badly he'd rather die than exist without it. My dad's in worse shape than I am. Dez is trying to help him, but he... No, we wait. I wait. And we don't look. In five days, I'll set a course that will take us back in eight. Thirteen more days."
The thirteen days passed as had the fifty-five, very slowly. Pierce opened the door and he, Red and Cap stepped onto the world where they'd left the two to whom they'd been deeply bonded since their birth. A softly glowing man beckoned them to follow. Red could feel Pierce's cold anxiety. They were physical and emotional wrecks and Cap's sleek coat had become ragged looking and his glowing green eyes were dull. Pierce's sudden wild joy took Red totally by surprise.
"The right corridor! The right corridor!"
Red caught him as he swayed and burst into tears of joy. His empathic power was almost overwhelmed by the joy that surged through the psychic bond theirs had with all the other bondgroups.
"Now talk."
"It all came to here, Red. If we'd turned left, they were dead. Straight ahead, mindless. Right leads to life. My memory... We have to train all over again. And Mick. He has to learn control. He's a bit heavier, but much stronger. The scars. He'll get rid of the scars. Don't panic when you see them. See, if it had been done in the womb, but it wasn't so they had to restructure. Organ by organ. Blood vessel by blood vessel. Just the major ones. And his bone marrow. The genetic surgery made it complete."
"What ARE you talking about?"
"They remade Mick into one of us. He's still himself. Child of his parents. They didn't change... It was a structural rebuild. His body is now that of a true Gallant. Red, he's one of us. He can be killed, but he'll never age and die."
"Pierce, are you saying... The pain will be gone. All the times he knew he couldn't... He..."
"He won't have to be careful because he can't survive the type of damage we can. We're going to spend days just feeding him. He has a huge amount of weight to gain. We have to trigger his growth response and... Red, you need to be prepared. They both look like jigsaw puzzles. There isn't a centimeter on either of them without a scar."
"Let's go. Cap's found Ace and there's a door that has him real frustrated. I'm not going to be ready for this, am I?"
"No, but without the warning you'd have knocked down half the people in the city with the shock wave of your reaction."
"They're not awake yet."
"They will be soon. Red! Mick will get rid of the scars. Cap will help grow their hair back, all but their beards. THEY decide they don't want to have to depilate their faces every hundred days."
"Pain! They're both waking and... Hunger pains! That's all, but they're BAD. Mick doesn't know, does he?"
"No. He's been out since Ace slugged him. Ace gave the surgeons the formula for the one drug that would keep them unconscious."
"What the? Where the hell am I? Ace. I'll-- Pierce, he's drugged!"
"Yes, Mick, but he's coming out of it. No! Don't look. Not yet. Let him show you what he chose. He sees it as totally selfish. He did it for himself. He knew you would refuse to let him risk both your lives."
"I'm alive. Mick?!"
"Here, Ace, but Pierce is holding me down. What did you... Why, Ace? Why?"
"Because I can't BE without you. I had to try. I chose for myself. It was against everything we stand for and I had to do it."
"You chose to make me over. Gave me all you are because you love me too much to even think about a future without me. And you know what we look like."
"No, Mick, he doesn't. He only knows there are large numbers of scars. He doesn't know you both look like line drawings. He expects to be ugly for years."
"Not many, Pierce. They'll fade in five or six. I'm about too weak to get up. How long?"
"Sixty-eight days."
"What?! They said twelve to fifteen. We were more complicated than they had thought."
"Incredibly. They had to take you apart piece by tiny piece and build a duplicate piece for Mick, then hope the new gene code would latch on and start cell replacement. About all that's left of Mick which is the original is his brain and skin and they've been altered. Everything else got a rebuild. No others could have done it. Only these people found a way to change the genetic structure of the brain. Only they wanted it desperately enough to find a way to change the physical brain of an adult and not alter the mind. We've got one problem. He's even sexier."
Pierce grinned when Ace and Red groaned.
A few days after they picked up Ace and Mick, Red suddenly laughed and headed for the kitchen. Mick watched him go and sighed. Ace looked at him in question.
"I'm starving. Again. I spend half my time eating."
"And the other half working on me. Mick, heal your own scars. Leave mine."
"Ace, I can AVOID looking at mirrors. Besides, I'm nearly done. You'll be beautiful again in a few days. Cap is already anticipating growing your fur with you. I'll get rid of mine. They'll be easier. I won't have to battle a miasma of guilt to accomplish anything. Ace, get rid of it. You've made me incredibly happy. I'm no longer a weakness. I endangered you all. You all rushed to protect me. A shot through the heart would have landed you in regen. You have two. It would have killed me. Five minutes in space would give you a chill. Five tenths of a second would have destroyed me. It feels strange to have two hearts beating in my chest. I like it. Strong hearts that beat slow and steady. Ah, food. Thanks, Red."
"It's synth, you're too hungry to wait for me to cook. Eat. You have thirty K of density to build. Pierce says we can start retraining in two days. He also says you're going to have a great deal of difficulty learning to control your strength and speed. You have to unlearn every physical response you have. Look at the fork you're holding."
"Oops. Sorry, Red, I bent another one."
"Mick, now you're worried about hurting one of us. We're as sturdy as you are. Ace and I are still a bit faster. I won't start us on contact activities or blade work until you're ready. Mostly running, weights and katas until you've relearned. We need to trigger your growth response too. That we're going to do today. You have to spread it out among us or you'll be eating for months. Your bones aren't done healing. You could grow twenty cens if you're not ready. Pierce says we'll all grow about five if you keep it under control."
"That'll put us well over two meters, Red. I'm not sure I want to be that big."
"Ooh, I'm going to be taller than my dad again."
"I doubt Dutch will be as pleased about it as you are, Ace."
"I imagine you're right, Red. I'm really looking forward to him being disgusted. Where IS Pierce?"
"Talking to Aslan."
"Ow! I just got 'Go away. I'll see you in twenty.' I feel like I got my mind slapped."
"Better than I got, Mick. I looked over his shoulder at a screen and got an elbow in the solar plexus."
"Well, is he worried? Upset? You're the empath, Red. How does he feel?"
"Very, very, smug, Ace. He's planning some kind of surprise for us. He's very pleased about it."
The days passed. Eventually, Mick responded appropriately to any situation. He quit breaking arms off chairs, bending forks, nearly running through walls. Pierce laughingly came in last in every race. He didn't mind. Mick was incredibly happy not to be. They trained and rebuilt, rebuilt and trained. One day Pierce followed the others into the gym, leaned against the door and laughed.
"Aslan, execute program renewal one."
"What is renewal one, Pierce?"
"Our birthday present, Ace. Happy thirty-fifth birthday to us. Thanks for the help, Mick."
"No problem. I liked the idea. He didn't even realize he wanted to do it, but it was all there."
"Wanted what? What did I want?"
"This."
Pierce swung open the doors, then sat down and giggled at the expression on Ace's face. Mick had given him Ace's "I wish we'd done it this way." and he'd redesigned the interior of their apartments just as Ace had dreamed them.
"Wow. It can't be anyone but Ace's. Only he could envision a room like that."
"It is, Red. Wait'll you see what he dreamed for you."
"The open space--"
"For the grand piano we're about to pick up, Ace. There it is. Thank you, Aslan. Thank you, Narnia. It's off a ship that was sinking. There's a Stradivarius in that case. It was also about to be destroyed, another daring rescue. It's for Gallant. I ran across records of its loss in a fire when I was looking for a piano to rescue. Go on. Play."
"I'm out of practice."
"And it's slightly out of tune. Tools to correct that are in the bench. You have the best ear, Ace. Tune it."
Pierce waited for him to find it. He knew what was going to happen, but reality was more intense.
"A flute! Oh, it's... It's beautiful."
Pierce laughed and went to tune the piano. He'd play it far more than Ace. Mick suddenly burst into laughter.
"Pierce, Dez just pathed me. Everyone got their birthday gifts. Gallant's living room is a bit small so Alice put it in his study. Dez says thank you. Cal is in heaven. You sent a message to every ship to make a pickup?"
"There were a lot of pianos to rescue. I was sure Alice would come up with some place to put one for Gallant. She's a sweet ship. Damn. That note makes my ears hurt. Ace, listen. That it?"
"Up a fraction. Perfect. Run the board. D is flat in the second octave. Good. Now the blacks. Ouch! E flat flat. Nice. Wasn't really too far out. We're stopped again. Why are... Mick, Red, your birthday presents seem to have arrived."
"Cello and bass viol. The violins aren't Strads, but Ace and I aren't Gallant."
"Wow! Thanks, Pierce. Why do we have the Strad?"
"Because I want to see his face when he gets it, Red."
"Good reason. Damn, this room is-- Did you say MY apartments?!"
Pierce dropped in giggles. It had taken Red a VERY long time to register his rooms had been redesigned. He was giggling almost too hard to order the final sequence. He watched the final piece of the plan become reality, stripped, went through the newly formed doors, waded into the beautiful pool and stood under the waterfall. The garden was very carefully planned.
There were four lovely secluded spots with deep carpets of grass. Every one of their apartments opened onto the garden. He'd rearranged the entire framework of their living space. They'd actually have to hunt for their rooms. Wait'll they saw the patio and barbecue pit off the kitchen. He'd deliberately left them a trail with his clothes. They'd find him soon.
"Incredible! Pierce, I didn't dream this."
"No, Ace, I did. The plants are all real. Aslan and I figured out how to transport within the ship. I mean the plants are replicated, but they're living plants not holo images. This garden is really just the largest room. We made our living space bigger. Hello, Mick, Red. Well?"
"I want to see the math. You've stretched, Pierce. You had to rework every calculation, reprogram from square one. This is incredibly complex."
"Mick's not the only one interested in the math."
"Check with Aslan, Red. The file is Happy Birthday from Cal, Sandy, Dez, Turk, Con, Dan, Tel and Dad's. But I'd say the pure math was primarily Sandy, Dan and Clete. Our birthday present from Gallant and the girls is a job. We're about to become models."
"Now, wait a minute. You guys got me into modeling for an art class--"
"Clothes, Ace. There are some very nice people trying to do something and they need help. It's a charity show. They need men to model, but they need more. They're being badly taken. The entire facility they want to build is going to fall apart. It's donated. All they have to do is pay for upkeep. It's a real scam and there's something very nasty underneath. And I can't see it. We have a clear path to follow, but it doesn't give us why solid, respected, developers suddenly become scam artists."
"Not just coercion then."
"No, Ace. It goes deeper. Simple coercion doesn't answer why good architects design bad buildings, why good engineers choose lousy materials. No answer. Cap says no shadows, but no answers. We'll see Grandfather when we get there. We're the 'other talent' he said he'd call. Butch designed some of the clothes. She and Abeland designed me another grandbaby too. In seven months, I'll have a grandson. In eight you'll have one, Mick. He'll be yours too, Ace, Cass and Dez. Cass and Mike are trying to figure out why this is happening on a world that's part of a cluster about to join the Federation. Bill sends greetings and tells us single men to wink at a lady for him. Mike notices if he does."
"Mike notices everything Bill does. He loves it. My little girl picked the best there is."
"Well, I don't know, Mick. I think my son-in-law is pretty spectacular too. Anyway, file Happy Birthday. Replicator patterns for Butch's designs and Cass, Mike and Bill's investigation reports are in it. The coordinates are already in. All I have to do is say, Aslan, execute flight plan. Gentlemen, we're on our way."
* * * *
Paradox Equation Page
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