Omega Point Trilogy by George Zebrowski Read Free Book Online Page A

shrugged, and Kurbi saw another tame wolf, like himself, among the sheep of Earth.
    “Is there any doubt that it was a Whisper Ship?” he asked.
    “Even Precept’s simple computer slaves identified it. There’s no doubt, Raf.”
    Grazia was looking at him, her eyes saying, Why bother, what can it matter, my love ?
    “You want to go,” she said, “you want to stir up your sense of mission, destroy your equilibrium. Over what? An old war and a madman or two. Go ahead. I couldn’t care less.”
    “Many people have died, Grazia,” Kurbi said.
    “You wouldn’t go for that alone.”
    “I haven’t decided yet; we’re just talking.”
    “What if our homes were threatened,” Poincaré said, “— this house; what if that ship appeared in that beautiful morning sky? What if that ocean were being beamed into steam right now?”
    “I’d rather not live in such a world,” Grazia said. “The sooner they killed me the better.”
    “You don’t mean that,” Kurbi said. He took a step toward her, intending to sit down and hold her hand.
    “Stop right there,” she said. “Look at the two of you. You’re both hoping that terrible things will happen. You may be bored with your lives, but I find ennui and changelessness quite pleasant.”
    “Look at it this way,” Kurbi said. “All we know about the Hercules-Federation War is that we fought an implacable enemy. It’s just one big enigma — no records or witnesses left, at least nothing that makes for good evidence. Here’s a chance to confront an individual or individuals who still have the war mentality. They remember things and they may have records.”
    “We have people from then also.”
    “They’ve mostly erased their experiences, you know that.”
    “Well, there are Herculeans living on various worlds.”
    “Those survivors will never open up — they’ve changed.”
    “The simple fact of the matter,” Poincaré said, “is quite clear and needs no justification — a Whisper Ship is a good-sized nuisance. It could kill more Federation citizens, it could destroy a planet under certain conditions — Earth, for example. Whatever Raf’s interest, he would be useful in the hunt.”
    “You’re just trying to scare me, Julian,” Grazia said.
    “I’m certainly not.”
    “Well, it is frightening, no matter what your motive.”
    “Raf, she’s picking on me. Grazia, it could happen, what I say.”
    Grazia laughed and lay back on the cot.
    The war left us a legacy , Kurbi thought, one which must be taken up, examined, understood; to do so is a form of loyalty to the past, and truthfulness to the future.
    “Good day,” Julian said and disappeared.
    Kurbi looked through the space where the man’s image had stood. The ocean beyond was alive with sunlight and small sailboats. He wondered what they were thinking inside the Herculean ship countless parsecs away.
    “I’m going for a swim,” Grazia said behind him.
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VI. Target
“The savage mind deepens its knowledge with the help of imagines mundi. ”
    — Claude Lévi-Strauss
    “Who is the man walking in the Way?
    An eye glaring in the skull.”
    — Seccho
    HIS SON was shaking him awake.
    “We’re not coming out — the ship won’t come out of jumpspace!”
    He opened his eyes.
    “I can’t tell what’s wrong,” his son was saying, “I’ve tried everything.”
    “It’s not the ship,” the Herculean said, “this sometimes happens.…” He got up and followed his son forward through the ship.
    The screen was blinking when they entered the control room, as if a storm were raging outside.
    “Look,” his son said, “the star analogs — they look solid now!” In normal passage, the black places marking the positions of stars in normal space were not solid objects in relation to the ship; directly ahead of them now was a giant black sphere, its surface shiny and reflective. The ship was rushing toward it at an unknown velocity.
    “I’ve tried to alter our course