The Man-Kzin Wars 07

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"I'll help," Bruno said calmly.

Carol whirled at looked at him. "Bruno," she exclaimed, "it's a suicide mission! I would expect this from a ratcat, but you?" "Are you quite sure?" asked the puppeteer. Bruno had never been so sure of a thing in his life. He somehow felt taller than his short stature had ever allowed. "Carol," he said, taking her hands in his. "You are a pilot, a soldier." "Yes, but – " Carol began. Looking up at her angry Belter face, he shook her hands lust a bit to quiet her. "You and I both know that we aren't getting out of this. None of us." Well, Bruno knew that wasn't exactly true, but it wasn't time for Carol to learn that, quite yet. Carol nodded jerkily, her face like stone. "Good," Bruno said. "You have always been the tough one, my protector. Who got me out of Sun-Tzu, a wire hanging out of my head?" He leaned his head into her chest, felt the warm softness against his forehead.

One of her hands stroked his neck tentatively. He looked up. "Carol, I do love you. You have stood by me no matter what. How could I do less for you?”

Carol's eyes gleamed, a small chink in her Belter-pilot-soldier armor. She smiled slightly. "I guess that we knew going into this that we weren't going to make it out alive." Bruno nodded. Now came the tough part. "I love you more than life, Carol Faulk. You made me feel like a human being, which I am not, and never have been." She started to reply, but Bruno cut her off. "No time, love. The Zealots are here." He stretched up and kissed her lips. Soft. Bruno stored the memory. Bruno Takagama took three quick steps back, then shouted. "Now, Diplomat!”

Anguished, he watched Carol run toward him and hit the invisible barrier the puppeteer had erected between them.

OUTSIDERS TWO

Rage. Feral vermin, the Node approaches. Doom awaits all nodes not yet at One with the Holy Radiants.

Humor. Can it be true? The approaching Node acting without instructions from long-silent masters? What of the Pact?

Vengefulness. It is time to put an end to the warmlife vermin, and the feral nodes that support their activities. Soon, all distant nodes will be at One with this Node.

Questioning. Not all. Nodes already at One with the other-Node, yes. Can the Node and this-Node not reach another Pact?

Confusion. Why does the feral node defend the warmlife vermin? They outrage clean geometries with their very existence.

Certainty. Just as the Creators used this-and-other Nodes for information, so does this-Node use the warmlife motes. Their ways are different, and often valuable.

Determination. Feral and heretic both. Even now, by fleeing in this skewed space-time, the other-Node is an affront to the Creators who long ago gave the Nodes purpose.

Amusement. Not-One. The other-Node and this-Node are at One, that this skewed space-time was found during a failed attempt to reach the realm of the Creators. They were not within this realm, so it cannot be an affront to journey within it.

Implacability. Enough. Prepare to be ended, in this geometry or any other.