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bother them."
"Charliebo wasn't an animal."
"No. Sure he wasn't, Angel." It was quiet for a long time. Later, "I cut power
and figured out a key to get around the trap. I thought it was the last one.
That's when he came in." She indicated the flashman. "But it wasn't the last
one. The psychomorph was. There were no warnings, no hints. I never would've
seen it coming. Neither did he."
"Not surprising, really. I wonder if it would've made a difference if you or I
had tripped it first. Because it wasn't a psychomorph."
She gaped at him.
"It wasn't a psychomorph," he said again. "It was a let's call it a
manifesting resonance. A full-field projection. I asked you if you saw it. I
asked you what it looked like. You had a ventral view. I saw it face on." Now
he found he was able to turn and look at the shepherd's corpse.
"It wasn't a psychomorph. It was Charliebo."
She said nothing this time, waiting for him to continue, wondering if she'd be
able to follow him. She could. It wasn't that difficult to understand. Just
slightly impossible. But she couldn't find the argument to contradict him
with.
"Their last defense," he was saying. "If you can't lick
'em, make 'em join you. You were right when you called it a reciprocal
program. Vacuum the first intruder and use him to keep out anybody thereafter.
That way you don't expose yourself. Co-opt the first one clever enough to make
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it that far down the tunnel. It could've been you. It could've been me. They
were luckier than they could've dreamed. They got Charliebo.
"Noschek and Crescent. Couple of clever boys. Too clever by half. I won't be
surprised if they've learned how to manipulate their new environment. If so,
they'll know their reciprocal's been triggered. Maybe they'll try to move.
Somewhere more private. Maybe they can cut the tunnel. We're dealing with
entirely new perceptions, new notions of what is and isn't reality, existence.
I don't think they'd take kindly to uninvited visitors, but now Charliebo's in
there somewhere with them, wherever 'there' is. Maybe they'll be easier on
him. I don't think he'll be perceived as much of a threat."
She chose her words slowly. "I think I understand. The first key triggered the
reciprocal program and Charliebo got vacuumed. When that bastard tried to go
around it& "
"He got Charliebo's resonance instead of Crescent or Noschek. I hope they
enjoy having him around. I always did." He helped her stand on shaky legs.
"What now?"
As he held on to her he began to wonder who was supporting whom. "I could go
back to Nogales, close the file, report it officially as unsolvable. Leave
Noschek and Crescent to their otherwhere privacy. Or we could dig in and try
going back."
She whistled softly. "I'm not sure I can take any more of their surprises.
What if next time they come out for us instead of Charliebo? Or if they send
something else, something new they've found floating around down in the guts
of otherwhere?"
"We'll go slow. Put up our own defenses." He jerked his head in the flashman's
direction. "He seemed to think his people would know how to do it. Maybe with
a little help from GenDyne's box we can, too."
"Then what?"
"Then we'll see."
It took almost a month for them to learn how to recognize and thereby avoid
the remaining tunnel guards. Crescent and Noschek failed to manifest
themselves when the end of the tunnel was finally reached. There was a subox
there, alright, but it proved empty. The Designers' resonances had gone
elsewhere. There were hints, clues, but nothing they could be certain of. Tiny
tracks leading off into a vast emptiness that might not be as empty as
everyone had once suspected. Suggestions of a new reality, a different
otherwhere.
They didn't push. There was plenty of time and Cardenas had no intention of
crowding whatever the two men had become. It/They was dangerous.
But there was another way, clumsy at first. It would take patience to use it.
What was wonderfully ironic was that in their attempt to defend themselves, to
seal their passage, Crescent and Noschek had unwittingly provided those who
came after with a means for following.
First it was necessary to have Hypatia jumped several grades. GenDyne balked
but finally gave in. Anything to aid the investigation, to speed it along its
way. What the company didn't know, couldn't imagine, was what way that
investigation was taking. And Senior Designer Spango and Sergeant Cardenas
weren't about to tell them. Not yet. Not until they could be sure.
Besides which the additional salary would be useful to a newly married couple.
There was uncertainty on both sides at first. Gradually hesitation gave way to
recognition, then to understanding. After that there was exchange of
information, most but not all of it one-way. Once this had been established
not only GenDyne's box was open to inspection but also that of Parabas S.A.
and through the power of the Fordmatsu link everything one would ever want to
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