Chapter 44

The drive from Embassy Row to the Wallops Island Flight Facility took about three hours, through areas that ranged from developed city to untouched wildlife preserves. The wolf and the lioness spent the first hour simply watching as they left the city behind. Bast finally broke the silence as the limousine crossed the bridge from Annapolis to Kent Island across the upper Chesapeake. “This is amazing. You have done so much without any magic at all?”

Lowe shrugged. “Much of this requires none, neither mana nor electricity, although either makes it easier to achieve. Merely the knowledge of how to make artificial stone, to make metals far stronger than mere iron, to know how to balance the forces of wind and gravity and water in a structure such as this. There is no reason we cannot continue much of what we know when the change is complete.”

Bast shook her head. “Merely, you say. No one has done this before, in all the years that the Eldest has been alive.” She went back to watching as the water passed underneath them, and then they reached the central span, the bridge arcing up to nearly two hundred feet above the high tide line to allow ships to pass underneath.

A container ship was approaching the span from the north, bound for the ocean after departing Baltimore, and Lowe smiled to herself as the lioness stared at the reason for the height of the bridge. “The ships, now, they do require our version of magic. A vessel that size can be run by as few as fifteen crewmen. Machines do most of the work.”

Bast stared at her. “You cannot be serious. How...?”

“Electricity. The magic of the other side of the cycle. It is powerful – remember, we are going to see the launch of an artificial moon. It works even in the emptiness between the planets. It simply took a long time to harness.” She pointed down as the car raced on toward the Eastern Shore. “I had them check the schedules before we left. That should be the Jens Maersk, a freight carrier capable of hauling thirty thousand tons at twenty knots. She's not even particularly large for her type. There are vessels that have five times her capacity.”

Bast shook her head, muttering in Khem. “You timed this on purpose, I will bet.”

Lowe grinned. “Well, yes. You have something to tell Thor now. The Danes are still one of the major seafaring nations, at least when it comes to merchant fleets. It is how we have defeated famine, for the most part. We can move that much food halfway around the world in a matter of weeks if it is needed. The only reason that there are still famines...” She sighed. “People like our mutual friend Salah bin Mohammed. Those who interfere with what -can- be done for no other reason than to punish those who would oppose them.”

“If you are trying to impress me, Diviner, you are doing a good job.”

“Wait until you see the rocket launch. It's not as big as those ships, but it goes -up-.”

* * * *

Lowe had made sure to bring the Immortal to a night launch. Bast had been impressed by visiting the launch pad and seeing the rocket up close, though not so much as she had been by the container ship. Next, they were given a private tour of the visitor center exhibits. “It is certainly big enough to be a watchtower. And you throw this into the sky?”

“Much of it is discarded along the way. Only the tip makes it into orbit.” Lowe had taken over most of the lecture from the guide they'd been assigned, being better able to put things into terms that the lioness could understand. “And like the ship, this is far from our largest. But you have a standing invitation to observe a launch of one of the larger vehicles from Canaveral, if you would like.”

Bast shook her head, ears quirked in bemusement. “The sheer audacity to even conceive of this...”

“L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace. ” The wolf grinned back. “We're Americans. Audacity is what we do.” She nodded as the guide pointed to his watch. “And we should be getting back to the bunker, it is getting close to launch time.”

* * * *

The thunder of the launch had echoed away into silence, and the flames of the rocket engine had dwindled into invisibility in the distance before the lioness looked away. “Most impressive.” She wandered the control room when there was nothing more to see through the windows, listening to the chatter and shaking her head at the computer screens showing its flight. “They do this fairly often, don't they? One can tell, they are practiced at it.”

“Often enough, Ambassador. Not all of the little moons stay up for long, some need replacement on a regular basis.”

“Creya had no idea what he had unleashed when he attacked your ships, did he?”

Lowe's answering grin was fierce. “I rather doubt that he did. Else he would have hidden in the Challenger Deep and hoped we would not notice his existence.”

Bast grinned back. "Then even the Eldest owes you a debt of gratitude. None of us wanted to risk taking him on, and in every cycle he would kill uncounted mariners. Now he is gone, at last."

* * * *

The trip back to Washington was quiet for a time, as the lioness did her best to comprehend all that she had seen. Finally, she spoke. “We could have flown, I suspect. I saw the landing field. Why did we come by car?”

The wolf shrugged. “A chance to see more of our land. To show you some of what we have done, a bit of who we are. Thor... was persuaded, by Loki's agents, that we were cowards who hid behind machines. We are not. We build machines to do things that mere flesh and blood cannot.”

Bast was silent again for a time, watching as the moonlit landscape passed by outside the windows. “And you say you have sent -people- into the heavens this way?”

“We have sent people into orbit, and six times we sent them to the Moon itself. We have sent our machines to visit all the planets easily seen in the night sky, and to several that are too dim to see. We have landed our robot servants on Mars and Venus, on comets and asteroids and the largest moon of Saturn, and dropped one into the eternal clouds of Jupiter.”

“But why?”

“Why? Because they are there. Because we wish to learn. Because we hoped we could find new places to live, new materials to make, new things to build. Because we are not sheep, to be content grazing the same fields as our ancestors did until the world itself comes to an end. Surely you can understand -that-.” She shifted into Khem to keep the others in the car from listening in. “And what I want to do is to preserve this knowledge until the next Change.” She gestured at the driver, and at the town they were passing through, people still active in spite of the late hour. “To have their descendants ready to do this again when electricity returns. To let the mortals go back in two thousand years, and find our flag on the moon, and take up where we were forced to leave off. What say you, Sekhmet? Will you help me? Will your Prince?”

The lioness stood quietly for some time, tawny eyes locked to ones of amber. Finally, she spoke. “You have a Destiny about you, young wolf. You should meet Haroun yourself, for I do not know that I can convey the fire of your will to him. But I will tell him, and I will tell him that -my- answer to your question would be... yes.”

“Thank you, Lady of the Hunt.”

The lioness chuckled. “Thank -you-, Diviner. This is a challenge worthy of us at long last. And perhaps Thor will be interested in going a-viking over a different ocean when the time comes. I shall speak of this with him when we meet.”

* * * *

Her Imatari had complained about the arrangements through half of the flight, citing lack of respect and lack of security, until Bast finally ordered her to be silent. “I fear I must apologize for my servant, Diviner. She is not usually so outspoken.”

Lowe smiled. “She is concerned for you, Ambassador. It is hard to find fault with that. And I fear I am going to embarrass her in a moment. She isn't aware that I know the language, is she?”

The lioness chuckled. “I doubt it. You took -me- by surprise that first time.”

The wolf shifted to Khem. “Imatari. Your lady is under the protection of my land, and I have given my word that she will be as well protected on this journey as our President himself would be. The Thunderer has given has word as well, and neither your Lady nor my own truth-telling has found any reason to doubt him. I have brought my own Consort and Guardian with us to be sure. Will you not trust me when I say that she is as safe here as she would be in Ba-Yabel itself?”

The wolf's prediction was accurate. The woman blushed deeply when she realized that her complaints had been understood. “My Lady... I... I meant no insult...”

“Your concern for the Ambassador speaks well of both of you, Imatari. You for your loyalty, and her for inspiring it. But this is a gesture of goodwill between two who were not always on friendly terms in the past, so a large retinue would be inappropriate. Thor has agreed to dismiss most of his entourage for this night as well. Let us not second guess them.”

The woman blushed again, and knelt on the deck of the jet, her head bowed. “I beg your forgiveness, Lady Diviner. And yours, My Lady.”

The wolf waved her hand, uncomfortable with the obeisance. “Nothing to forgive, really.”

Bast sniffed. “Not -nothing-, Seeress. But she meant well, which excuses much. And now I think I should prepare for our arrival. You will see that we are not disturbed?”

Lowe nodded. 'The front cabin is yours, Ambassador. We'll be landing in about three quarters of an hour.”

* * * *

The Gulfstream touched down at Hampton, New Hampshire, and the passengers transferred to a helicopter for a fifteen minute run across the southern end of the Bigelow Bight. Dusk was settling in, and Bast was fascinated by the view from the wide windows. “This is almost like flying on your own. Diviner, you -must- have your people find a way to duplicate this with magic. This is what it must feel like to be a dragon.”

Lowe smiled. “Well, there are gliders. Those will work independent of power or magic, though we might need a dragon to tow them aloft eventually. Would you like to learn to be a pilot, then?”

The lioness smiled. “To fly, after all these years? I would indeed. But when would I find the time?”

“That's always the problem, isn't it? I've only been in government service for a year and a half, but if there is one thing I have learned, it's that it does eat up your time. But if we can be truly immortal, I'm sure we'll find the time sooner or later.” She pointed ahead. “There, that peninsula is our destination. Just a few minutes now.”

The helicopter banked, and then slowed as it approached the resort. The archery field had been cleared for a landing pad, and Lowe caught a glimpse of the honor guard who had arrived earlier in the day, waiting for the machine to land and the blades to stop spinning before setting up for the arrival ceremony.

It was, Lowe reflected, a triple anachronism. The present, in the persons of herself and Whitford as well as the Marine helicopter whose rotors were winding down to a full stop. The so-called Dark Ages, in the Viking leather and weapons of Thor and his cheerfully pagan re-enactors. And between them, four jackal-morphs bearing bronze-headed leaf-blade spears and dressed in linen kilts and sandals, guards from the High Desert Embassy in the panoply of an Egypt ancient even before the Pharaohs. Bast and her Imatari were dressed to match them, both of them in white linen, the lioness wearing a traditional wig and the broad gold, lapis, and garnet pectoral of the ancient nobility of the Nile Valley. The running lights of the helicopter continued to blink, but otherwise the scene was lit by torches, natural fire rather than electric lighting.

Imatari debarked first, and announced her mistress. “Bast, the Immortal Lady of the Hearth, Hunter Sekhmet of the Night, Lioness of the Nile, Companion of Haroun the Sorcerer, and Ambassador of the Realm of the High Desert.” Her guard-jackals presented arms in unison, and all of them went to one knee as the lioness stepped out of the helicopter.

Thor's honor guard saluted, fists clashing against chest armor. At a gesture from him, they knelt as the Africans were doing. He stepped forward to meet her halfway, taking her hand at the center of all of their attendants. “It is good to see you again, Bast. I had thought that all of you were gone.”

She sighed. “It was a near thing, Thor. A very near thing indeed. Even though the magic had returned, I was near death. Haroun found me, and had me tended for years until I regained my health. But there is no reason to be anything but friends now, I hope. After all...” She grinned. “You liked beer almost as much as we did.”

“Hah!” Thor laughed loudly at that jibe. “Again with the claim that you invented it?”

Bast's grin went sly. “Not me. Tenenit.”

“She no more invented beer than Aegir did. Even if they did both try to take credit for it. But they have some good brews here if you avoid the ones they talk about on their skald-boxes.” He looked at the helicopter as Lowe and Whitford debarked. “And I see you brought the children along. Need we talk to them tonight?”

“They can be quiet tonight, Thor. But I think they should be allowed to listen. They need to know what is in store for them, eventually.”

Thor sagged a bit at that thought. “Aye. You have the right of it, I fear. Diviner!”

“Thunderer?”

“You may listen as we talk. But do not speak unless bidden. You will not truly understand... any more than I would have when I was young. But it may be that you, at least, can learn something from it.”

Lowe bowed. “As you wish. And... thank you.”

* * * *

12 November 2014
Washington DC

The wolf faced the red-haired witch across her conference table, while an early snow flurry swirled outside the windows. “So how goes the research? Was I right about there being two levels of longevity?”

Stardancer nodded. “At least two. The possibility of undeath remains, and the Stormchild seems to be a reincarnation. Technically, I suppose you could build a machine to sleep through the magic times and reactivate when its power came back on, as well. But we've found a genetic marker of sorts for the first two. You and John, myself, Storm and apparently Dr. Ryan, who's been doing the genome studies for me, are all Type I. Full and replenishing telomeres. We suspect that this is a mana-based phenomenon, and as such will not extend beyond the end of this Convergence...”

She stopped as Lowe raised her right hand. “Slow down. What are telomeres?”

The witch grinned. “Aiglets for chromosomes.”

The wolf glowered. “All my powers tell me you are still speaking English, but you are not communicating a thing. Less technicalish, more explainish, please.”

“Okay. You know that your cells divide throughout your life, correct?” The wolf nodded. “Growing when you're young, later for maintenance and healing. Well, it turns out that every time that happens, the ends of the chromosomes unravel a little. Old age starts happening when the unravelling starts to eat into actual coding DNA rather than the outer ends, which are just excess junk present for the sole purpose of protecting the useful bits.”

“Ah. And those sacrificial ends are the telomeres?”

“Exactly. And aiglets are the protective tips on shoelaces.”

The wolf's left ear stayed up, while her right one went flat. “Shoelaces?”

The redhead grinned. “I know, it's a silly word, but it fits. Type I longevity appears to be due to the telomeres being protected or renewed in some fashion, thus preventing the unravelling and protecting the actual genetic code.”

Lowe snorted in spite of herself. “Ah. And thus the shoelace comparison.”

Stardancer nodded. “That, and I think it's an amusing term.”

The wolf rolled her eyes. “Why not? I'm sure there are sillier concepts used in science. Physicists seem to be addicted to bad puns. So, if there's a Type I, that implies there is a Type II, correct?”

“Correct. We've found five of those in our first sample run, but the sample was not random. They are obviously not ten percent of the population. The three American dragons and Coyote himself were picked, in hopes there would be a common link. There seems to be one.”

Lowe nodded. “And you said five...?”

“Shadow shares it. Super-long telomeres. Their bodies actively rebuild the telomeres, not just maintain them, and if they can live through the mana droughts, it is probably purely biological rather than magical – although it may simply be that the extra length is enough to keep the chromosomes intact for that long a time. And... all five of them are some sort of shapeshifter. Apparently the super-telomeres help stabilize them when their bodies change.”

“Commander Sterling is a shapeshifter? I wasn't aware of that.”

“She wasn't either, at first. Turns out to be how she does her shadow-teleports. She dissolves into mist, moves rapidly to where she wants to go, and reforms. We're not sure how she takes things with her – to be frank, we haven't got a clue how she can do it at all – but it's apparently given her the Type II longevity. She'll live as long as the dragons, or even the Eldest, if she isn't shot down or something. It doesn't provide any particular protection against physical damage as far as we can tell.”

“Interesting. So if we can figure out how to transfer that ability to the rest of us -”

“Or find a way to preserve a mana pool through the drought times, yes. Potential immortality.”

“So then how did Haroun do it? Mana preservation, obviously, all the data we've uncovered says it was a millennia long magic sleep. But how?”

“Underground. Have you seen Kenneth's latest report?”

“On my to-do list. But the amount of math he uses gives me headaches. Do you have a summary?”

Stardancer nodded, and started ticking off points on her fingers. “Mana is generated by matter. It is only used on the surface of the planet, but is depleted rapidly when no longer replenished. Access to deeper rock keeps small amounts available during the droughts. We currently are testing the hypothesis that Type I immortals have survived by hiding well below the surface, or by staying in areas where fresh mana is brought to the surface naturally.”

Lowe's ears both twitched forward. “Volcanoes. Thor stayed in Iceland. Pele in Hawai'i. Quetzalcoatl in Mexico. Circe in the Aegean. The Eldest in Yellowstone, perhaps.”

“The Eldest is a shapeshifter, and so is probably Type II, but otherwise yes. Jim Bridger's tales of jackalopes and the Amerind tales of nastier chimerae in that region may have some basis in fact after all. Now that Kenneth has his instrumentation sorted out, he's got geology teams trying to measure the mana level in different locations. The sensitivity isn't that great yet, but he's looking for differences in background levels near volcanoes, and checking whether there's a difference in regions where Immortals were known to be hiding out versus undepleted reservoirs where none were around. If nothing else, he's getting a good field testing of his ideas.”

“I'll see what Carpenter makes of his reports, then. Next on the list... our first generation demi-humans are coming up on a year and a half old now. Anything odd to report?”

“Not yet. If the elves are unusually magical, it hasn't kicked in yet.”

“Hmmm... and if I understood your explanation correctly, as infants they'll have full telomeres anyway, so no way to tell yet whether they're going to be Type I immortals, correct?”

The witch nodded. “Correct. There's no way to check on that until they reach their teens...”

* * * *

12/13 November 2014
New York City, Shanghai, Paris, Moskva, Tokyo, Singapore, Bandar Seri Begawan

The discussions had been long and at times acrimonious, but given the prize, cooperation had always been inevitable. The participant from New York watched the computer screens in front of him while outside the streets emptied early due to the unseasonal cold weather. “Gentlemen, I think that we have the basis of an alliance. If these upstart 'Immortals' do not wish to share the secret of their long lives, then we must find it ourselves; and failing that, we must make sure they do not outlive us. They -can- be killed, after all.”

The participant from Brunei nodded. “The Americans proved that with their two nuclear strikes. Though it would be better not to have to manipulate one of the nuclear powers into doing that too often.”

The Russian said nothing, merely nodding. <He at least, does not know what they actually did to the Kraken. Unless he is trying to make us underestimate his capabilities...>

The delegate from Shanghai added, “It would be best not to have to lose Beijing to deal with my immediate problem, certainly.”

Singapore nodded agreement. “The fallout from that would be... most unfortunate. In both senses of the word, to be sure.”

New York looked around at his screens. “Is there anything else for now?” No one spoke. “Then I think we can all get back to our own plans. Until next month.” Screens began to wink out as their links were broken. He shut his own down, and walked to the windows overlooking the city to join his companion. “You were right. The promise of immortality was the correct bait to dangle in front of them all.” He shook his head. “After all, it worked for me. You are sure it can be done, Loki?”

“Of course I am sure. Haroun knows how, at least, and if he knows it the Americans will soon enough. And even the Diviner cannot know everything. Continue to be a cooperative wealthy citizen and the wolf will have no reason to look in our direction until it is too late.”

END BOOK ONE