Memorymakers, p.18
Memorymakers, page 18
“There might be a way to release them. I don’t know.”
“Return with me, Lordmother Emily, and I will make certain you are safe. Homaal, where I come from, is a fortress. My race depends upon your safety.”
And if the Nebulons are released? Emily thought, What then? She couldn’t get a full reading on this man, not from the fragments evident to her thus far.
“Tell me the whole truth,” Emily said. She looked at the lights dancing beside Jabu, watched them flit about, never going far away, always staying within a few centimeters of Jabu’s apparition.
“My associates, you mean?”
“Begin with them.”
“I’m sorry. Five are members of my Inventing Corps. They can’t see or hear you, and only bits of my speech are entering their auditory sensors. I brought them along to examine you firsthand, in case you weren’t cooperative. I sense, however, that you understand my concerns, that you are sympathetic.”
Sympathetic? Yes, I suppose I am.
“And your sixth associate?” Emily inquired.
“You don’t miss anything, do you? That’s Squick, but not the old Squick. He’s changed. He’s better now. Uh . . .”
“And?”
“Uh, he has your brother’s embidium. The childhood memories of your brother are stitched seamlessly with Squick’s own, and have soothed Squick’s troubled spirit. Your brother is fine, a phenomenon I don’t understand. The extraction didn’t . . . ”
“Because of the powers of Brother Thomas? It sounds strange, calling him that.”
“You’ll get used to it. His powers . . . yes, perhaps. We meant him no harm. It was part of the system to extract from him, a very old system, Lordmother’s Way. Should I tell you more? I can speak of Squick’s motives, of shittah, of anything you wish.”
“Calm yourself, Jabu. I’ll talk with you, I’ll work with you. But I won’t go with you to Homaal. I’m staying with my grandparents.”
“Not practical, and might not he safe here. We must devote all our energies to the problem at hand, beginning with restoration of the Nebulons.”
“I’m not leaving my grandparents.”
“You must face your responsibilities!”
Emily’s gaze burned through the mists that surrounded Jabu, and she saw him flinch. “I have no responsibility to you,” she said, “not after what your people have done to Gweenchildren. Call upon your own Lordmother. Raise her from the dead and undo the harm your kind have brought to Earth.”
Jabu’s eyes became frantic. “We are not predators! There is much you need to understand, the therapeutic benefits to adults, the necessity of . . . deceit.”
Emily understood some of this, and to her this unfortunate man was beginning to look like a captive in a system he hadn’t initiated.
“I admit to deceit very hesitantly,” Jabu said. “You must realize that Gweens are perhaps even worse. Look at Gween politics, for example.”
“You are in no position to criticize.”
“Technically you may have abused your powers,” Jabu snapped. Then his tone softened. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m sure it was unintentional, a defensive reaction. You are young, unfamiliar with your powers. But the results to our race are calamitous!”
“I did only what was necessary to survive. Your Nebulons intruded upon me. They weren’t invited, you had no right!”
“How did you decide what to do? How did you—where in your body are they?” The head twitched with agitation.
Emily could not answer any of this. She had only a vague recollection of the attempted extraction and a lingering sense of tremendous fear and violence over the moment.
“There will be changes,” she said presently, and her voice attained a depth of tone that astonished her. “For days that will seem like years to you, I will consider everything, taking your needs into account. When I have organized my thoughts into neat columns and rows, when I have absorbed all that has happened, there will be new directions. Never again will Gweenchildren be left comatose and helpless. Nor will they be abused in ways I find too loathsome to repeat.”
Jabu appeared to be confused.
“I know you thought you were doing right for your people,” she said. “But there are others to consider. Gweens have rights, too. Maybe my people, my new race, will police or monitor the situation, creating an atmosphere in which all humans can live in peace.”
“But we must make extractions. They’re critical, don’t you understand? Even the comatose part is unavoidable. Other matters I’m sure we can work out.”
“Thomas avoided coma.”
“But only because of who he is.”
“There is a secret there nonetheless, something to be learned from his experience. A way to prevent suffering.”
Jabu told her of the researches of his Inventing Corps, and Emily was heartened by this. But Jabu did not appear heartened. His was a dismal countenance to behold, a picture of dejection.
“What will you name your people?” he asked.
“Maybe I’ll let them name themselves. Or maybe they won’t know they’re different, I’ll see.”
“May I remain near you?” Jabu asked, his tone subdued, “To answer questions, to provide more information? I will tell no lies, will conceal nothing from you. Time is of the essence, and if we can speed the process in any way . . . do you think it would be all right?”
“If you wish. You can find a place safe from detection?”
“Do you have a little hand mirror?”
“Why, yes. In the cabinet under this sink.”
“Mirrors are suitable places of concealment, even cracked ones. We can burrow deep into the light crevices within the glass, can rest there in our ember form. There are many mysteries about mirrors . . . much I can tell you one day . . . much yet for you to learn.”
“And for you,” Emily said.
Jabu looked abashed.
“Though I allow you to remain nearby,” Emily said, “remember my powerful protector. Remember what he did to Peenchay.”
“I won’t oppose you.” The flat face became a glowing red ember, a fat dot of light. It formed a line with the others, and they disappeared neatly into a crack between the doors under the sink.
Emily sighed and began to consider the future of humankind. She saw herself at the nexus of all civilization, of all sentient life, and through Jabu’s eyes she gazed across the ice plain toward the horizon. She felt very old, much older than the birthday she was about to have.
Epilogue
When at long last the young alpha-mother beheld the great fortress of Homaal, it is said that a susurration of sound escaped her lips. “This is my Revelation,” she said. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, who was, and who will always be.”
* * *
About the Authors
Brian Herbert, the son of Frank Herbert, is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers. He has won many literary honors and has been nominated for the highest awards in science fiction. In 2003, he published Dreamer of Dune, a moving biography of his father that was nominated for the Hugo Award. After writing ten DUNE-universe novels with Kevin J. Anderson, the coauthors created their own epic series, HELLHOLE. Brian began his own galaxy-spanning science fiction series in 2006, TIMEWEB. His other acclaimed solo novels include Sidney’s Comet; Sudanna, Sudanna; The Race for God; and Man of Two Worlds (written with Frank Herbert).
Marie Landis worked as a freelance writer for more than a decade and published numerous short stories. In the late 1980s, after more than 30 years apart, she and her cousin Brian Herbert reunited and decided to write the novel Memorymakers together—her first. Marie’s other occupations have included labor arbitrator, assistant city manager, reporter, commercial artist, and cryptographer.
Brian Herbert, Memorymakers
