My mouth fell open. I wasn’t supposed to be able to do that, was I? Find the minds of non-cytonics?
Listen to them?
“Juno,” I said. “In your books, are there meditations for communicating with other people? People who don’t have cytonic powers?”
“You communicate with them all the time,” Juno said. “You use words.”
“This is not the time to be pedantic!” I said. “Could your cytonics talk to other people mind-to-mind?”
Juno’s little brow furrowed. “I have read that a few achieved it. But if there are meditations for that, I have not read them. As you are just learning, it seems like it might be wiser to try to stick to the more general skills, and not rely on those only a few were ever able to achieve.”
That did seem wiser. And I hadn’t communicated with that little kid, only listened to his thoughts. That could also be useful—scud, the espionage possibilities were endless.
Now though, we had cities under attack on Evershore and a room full of empty taynix boxes. I searched for the slugs in the areas around the caverns. I felt the vibrations, concentrated in the caverns away from people. Minds that were smaller yet louder, projecting themselves into the nowhere instead of remaining self-contained.
I could figure out what to do with the rest of it later. For now I needed to focus on the taynix. I didn’t know how many of them would come to me—they hadn’t jumped on it the first time I asked, but maybe I could convince them.
We need your help, I said. Please.
Someone else reached for me, so near that I startled. Another cytonic mind joined my plea, and with it came an image.
Mushrooms. Caviar. Friends. Family. Danger. The fear was so strong, though the mind that sent it was small. I saw all of us crowded together on Sunreach, holding on to each other while Gill took us home.
Help. It wasn’t a word so much as a feeling.
Fine was helping me. He was making a case for me, though not in so many words. Telling the other taynix he was happy here. That he liked us, that we treated him well and were good to him, that he cared about us.
We care about you too, I thought at him. FM cared most of all. I knew she thought I was heartless sometimes, but I didn’t want anything terrible to happen to them if I could prevent it.
I didn’t want anything terrible to happen to anyone.
Maybe when I was speaking to the taynix I should focus less on the words. Everything was translated to thoughts through the nowhere anyway—that was how Alanik and I could understand each other.
I focused on the idea of home—my home, and what it meant to me. The danger the Superiority posed to this planet we all shared. The power we had to stop it, but only with help.
It was more hope than I truly felt, but it was the message they needed and it wasn’t a lie. It was simply a different way to tell the story.
Do better than we did.
“Scud!” Rig shouted, and I opened my eyes as hundreds of taynix all appeared in the corridor at once. They spilled into the various control rooms, all wriggling on top of one another. They were bunched together in groups, taynix of many colors all rolling and sliding away from the hyperslugs they’d been huddled around.
The ones who could hyperjump had answered me, and they’d brought friends.
There were so many of them. Commslugs, and mindblade slugs, and the hyperslugs too, of course. Also the blue and green kind we’d found on Wandering Leaf, the ones that powered inhibitors. It made sense there were some on Detritus—there had to be a few somewhere, enabling our cytonic inhibitor.
But there were more still. Wrinkled grey ones with black and white spines, several with spines that faded between the many colors of the rainbow, and a strange set of mostly blackish ones that shone an iridescent blue under the control room lights. Some of the slugs were significantly smaller than the others, teal colored with pink spines. Were those babies, or a smaller variety?
The other humans and I all stared at the slugs dumbly. While we did, Boomslug, Fine, and Snuggles jumped into action. Snuggles teleported Boomslug right into the middle of the taynix. Snuggles started touching slugs and hyperjumping them into the control rooms, gathering them in front of the boxes, while Boomslug herded groups of them together with the light touch of a blunt mindblade. The other slugs slithered out of his way, heading in the directions he sent them. Through the nowhere I could feel Fine sending them all feelings and images. Danger. Help. Hurry.
“Um,” Rig said. “I know I asked you for more slugs, but I really don’t know which boxes to put them in. I have no idea what some of these slugs would do, even if we did figure out where to put them.”
“Do your best,” I said. “They came to help, and we need all the help we can get.”
Sixteen
Rig and the engineers started working on where to put the slugs. We’d only need a few to move our platforms, but I wasn’t going to complain about having access to extras. Meanwhile, I reached toward Evershore to contact Alanik.
Report? I asked her.
We’re managing, Alanik said. But there were a lot of ships in that last carrier. I don’t think we can handle another without reinforcements. Will Rig be able to move the platforms?
We’ve summoned help, I said, watching the slugs writhing about in the control rooms. But it’s going to take some time. I can send over another few flights, but I’m worried that the enemy is going to keep coming. Do you think Rinakin would send some of your people to help?
I can make a case for it, Alanik said. It would be best if I went in person.
Ask Arturo if he can spare you, I said. I’ll send in reinforcements as soon as I can.
Will do, Alanik said.
Help! a voice said. It came from near Alanik, somewhere on Evershore—the voices I’d heard before. Help!
I didn’t have time to help voices I didn’t know. Enough corporeal people were in danger.
We know, the voices said. We want to help!
Who are you? I asked, but the voices faded again.
I didn’t have time to figure out where they was coming from. Gran-Gran had heard voices calling for help before she’d had what appeared to be a hyperjumping accident. I still couldn’t rule out a Superiority trap, so I needed to focus on the help I knew I could trust.
I used my radio to put in a call to Command, asking them to get another three flights in the air. They agreed immediately—apparently Stoff hadn’t rethought the length of the rope he’d given me to hang myself with. The other flights had all been put on alert, so it wouldn’t take long for them to get in their ships, but I couldn’t return to Evershore without them.
While I was still here—