Jack L. Chalker Soul R

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In Flux, he could even restore the beard.
He introduced Ivan as a Fluxlord from up north named Hadley, and it was
sufficient. The High
Priestess, though, was both relieved to see him and highly agitated.
"There are rumors that the hostages have been betrayed and transformed," she
told them.
"I'm afraid it's true," Mervyn replied. "I have some information sources
available to me and they have pretty much confirmed it."
"Hadley" nodded solemnly. "I, too, have confirmation of this. Who would have
thought it possible? Over eight hundred thousand people transformed in a
matter of days? An effective
Fluxland covering thousands of square kilometers! It is staggering!"
"Yes, and without cost," Mervyn responded bitterly. "The fools just wouldn't
listen! The worst part is, if we could undo it and give them a vote, a
fighting death or that, the vast majority would vote to return to their New
Eden state!"
"I fear so," the High Priestess sighed. "I fear for poor World. Why is the
Goddess suddenly so cruel?"
"Perhaps," said Ivan slyly, "because you have been looking for Hell in the
wrong places. Hell is not at the Hellgates. Hell is New Eden transforming
World into its own dark vision."
She looked at the strange man and frowned, but did not reply.
"At any rate, I need to get passed through into Flux as quickly as possible,"
Mervyn told her.
"I'm afraid I might have some internal bleeding and possibly infection. We
must move, anyway.
At nightfall their newly transformed population will stream through the gates
led by top officers.
They will drive the remaining defenders here like a moving wall, or pull their
men back and set up progressive death rays near all opposition."
"At least they will have some problems starting up again," the High Priestess
noted. "By what they did to the women they've closed off half the skilled work
force."
"The other half will train the new. Don't get your hopes up. We managed some
minor damage to a number of installations, but nothing that can't be fixed in
a few weeks or months," the old wizard told her. "No, Tilghman's won and we've
lost. Best cut and run while we can. Please I
am in terrible pain. Get me to Flux!"
A number of hefty temple wardens who'd fashioned a litter for him carried him
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down to the basement to where Flux fed Anchor. One spot, round and about three
meters across, was the invisible connector, then one spot of Flux, the only
point at which Flux intersected Anchor internally. It was from that area that
power was drawn for the capital's and temple's needs.
It took only a minute for Mervyn to heal himself as he stood there, and appear
again as he was, robes and all. Ivan tensed, knowing that, at this moment,
Mervyn could sign his death warrant and it would be instantly carried out.
But Mervyn. as he had counted on. was not one to do such a thing, and reached
out his hand.
Together they traced the mental pattern that was etched somewhere on the old
floor below them, and found themselves in a moment transported to the mouth of
the Hellgate itself.
Zelligman Ivan looked around at the round tube-like tunnel which terminated at
a great machine with a vast number of controls on it, and beyond that to the
source of Flux itself, a swirling mass of pure energy.
"Don't get the urge to punch in the combination now," Mervyn said lightly. "I
have no wish to survive what we just did only to be instantly vaporized."
Zelligman Ivan laughed. "Don't worry! I have no desire for that either! Not
now. But consider, my old foe consider what we barely survived by luck and
guts today. New Eden is going to win.
They will be so strong that nothing in the end will stop them. Tilghman will
never civilize them.
World will fall into a dark age from which it may never emerge. The animals
are overrunning the light, Mervyn! Sooner or later the few of us who are left
with our own minds may turn those seven locks in desperation alone, aided and
abetted by all that is sane."
Mervyn sighed. "I pray you are wrong, but at least things have now forced
themselves into clearcut positions. I prefer to always deal with the devil I
know; you are so repulsed by that devil that you prefer the devil you do not
know and possibly cannot comprehend. I may fail, but I
would rather fight something I can at least comprehend than something I may be
powerless against."
"Well, perhaps. But you created the system that created these men, and then
you disrupted that system and taught them war, revolution, and empire. Now you
reap your own havoc. Now you see the basic difference between us, and why we
feel we are right. You have sown this horror, and yet you feel you can reverse
it. You must understand that the difference between us is fundamental. The
Nine are incurable optimists!"
Mervyn looked at the other wizard. "You realize, of course, that after this we
are even once more?"
"That, sir, goes without saying," replied Zelligman Ivan.
It took a bit over ten days to secure the Anchor, although there was scattered
resistance going on for quite some time afterwards. It was still extremely
easy to subdue, for it was simple to determine the "loyal" from the "disloyal"
population by appearance and attitude alone.
Sorting out, classifying, and assigning the population their roles was far
more complex, but it was something New Eden had had a good deal of practice
doing, and they did it very efficiently.
Turning the mighty industries back on would take far more time, but it could
be done. New Eden had done what it had to do.
The bulk of the army, strengthened by a hundred thousand of Anchor Nantzee's
men whom initial interviews had determined to be "nonessential." moved
immediately south to Anchor
Mareh. They hoped that word of what they had done to the Nantzee population
had not yet reached the lone remaining independent in the cluster, but knew it
probably had, and that, in the end. it made no difference. Mareh was not an
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Anchor whose population had essential and irreplaceable skills. They would
submit, or New Eden's forces would kill every human being they encountered.
General Champion had a dislike for long campaigns.
Adam Tilghman remained behind, mostly because Cassie was due at any time. He
was determined to get back to his own home as quickly as possible, but he
wanted no chances, even in
Flux. He killed the little time remaining by tending to routine duties, one of
which proved a bit more than that.
He had presided over a thousand court-martials and civil trials, but this one
was unusual in that he knew the defendant and had placed him in command. He
felt personally betrayed, and somewhat humiliated, and was determined to
handle this one forcefully himself.
The members of Colonel Weiz's command testified one by one to his hesitancy,
incompetency, and cowardice under fire. The story was repeated again and
again, and the facts were not in doubt.
Weiz, nervous and unhappy, told his own version. "In my judgment there was no
purpose to wasting men on what seemed to be a futile mission. We had an
effective fighting force in position numerically and materially too weak to
accomplish our goals. I felt we were better as a mobile force, taking the
pressure off anyone coming through until reinforcements arrived, rather than [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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