The eyes seemed to meet Hunt’s for an instant, and even at that distance Hunt had the eerie feeling that his thoughts were being read as plainly as his face. He wondered how long ago the being inside the body he was looking at had found itself staring out at this new world. Whether his initial reactions had been of terror or otherwise, he had come to terms with his new existence and its irreversibility, and mastered the survival skills of the niche in which he found himself. And all the while, the mass of those who had been born there and belonged there immersed themselves in fantasies and waited for the Thuriens to repair their decaying cities. And from their unwitting ranks, the intruders had recruited the followers that they needed around them to make them feel secure. Just as was happening right now, in front of Hunt’s eyes.
Just as had been happening on Earth all through its history because of the agents that the Jevlenese had sent there. Those were the ones whose insecurity had appeared as paranoia or the craving to control others, in a way that normal people were incapable of comprehending. And now Hunt could see why that should be so. The agents that had infiltrated Earth to perpetrate some of its worst episodes of brutality and inhumanity had not been human at all. Their only goal had always been what Hunt was witnessing right now: to secure themselves against other rivals from the Entoverse by reinforcing their own army of fanatics. The simple, undeveloped peoples of Earth became what misplaced Thurien benevolence had turned the bulk of the Jevlenese into: a ready-made pool of exploitable recruiting fodder.
Exploitable recruiting fodder… The phrase kept running through Hunt’s mind all the way to Murray’s.
“Who is it?” Lola’s voice inquired from nowhere identifiable around the purple door with the white surround.
“It’s Vic. Is Murray in there?”
Murray’s voice came on the line at once. “What do you want this time? You’ve already got me a bad reputation. My friends don’t like the company I’ve been keeping.”
“Let us in. It’s important.”
“Us? Oh, shit, not again. Have you brought those two walking tanks back?”
“There’s just me and a friend called Gina. She’s a journalist- American.”
“My life story isn’t for sale yet. I haven’t figured out the ending.”
“Look, PAC’s been taken over by a Jevlenese coup of some kind. The Shiban police are in on it.”
“Jesus Christ!”
“It could be planetwide. I don’t know. But maybe the Federation isn’t dead yet. We have to get in off the streets.”
The door opened. Hunt nodded at Gina, and she went through ahead. Murray was waiting for them in the lounge. “Gina Marin,” Hunt said. “This is Murray. He’s from the West Coast, too. San Francisco.”
“Yeah. It’s a small galaxy.” They nodded, then shook hands loosely.
“Hi. I’ve heard about you, Murray. I’m another friend of Nixie’s.”
“I guess we can swap all the questions about home later. Is she okay? From the amount I’ve seen of her lately I figured she’d shacked up there at PAC or joined the Marines.”
“She’s been a big help,” Hunt said. “She was okay the last time I saw her. We got separated in the commotion. Gina and I only just managed to get out.” He spotted the COM panel and screen in front of the chair that Murray normally used and moved across to it. “Mind if I try something?” He tapped pads to activate it and call up channel fifty-six in the way he knew by now for Jevlenese units. “ZORAC, can you read?” He waited a moment. “Anything here?” There was no response.
“Bad news?” Murray asked.
Hunt nodded resignedly. “They’ve cut the connection via PAC from the Shapieron.”
Murray said something at the panel in Jevlenese, and a short message appeared on the screen.
“What’s that?” Hunt asked.
“It says they’re on an emergency system. Services are restricted,” Murray said. He motioned with his head to indicate a cabinet with bottles and glasses, at the same time raising his eyebrows questioningly.
Hunt nodded. “Thanks. I could use one.”
“Me, too,” Gina said without caring what it was, and sank into a chair.
Murray squatted down and opened the cabinet door. “So what gives?” he asked over his shoulder as he poured.
“The Jevlenese sprang a surprise at PAC. They’ve turned out the Ganymeans and taken over. I’m not really sure what happens next.”
“Jesus!” Murray doubled the measure that he had poured into his own glass and downed half of it at a gulp. He straightened up and passed out the glasses, then propped himself against the edge of the large table. “Is the jolly Green Giant who took off yesterday with the shipload of rollers mixed up with it?”
“If so, it hasn’t come out into the open yet, but we’re pretty sure, yes,” Hunt said. He downed a draft from his glass, then asked in turn, “What’s going on in the city? The place is electric. Green crescents out everywhere. They seem to be expecting something.”
“It started yesterday. The big rumor out there is that JEVEX is coming back. The head freaks are delirious about it. Nobody around here’s gonna spill too many tears if the Gs do have to walk.”
Gina let her arm fall slackly to rest on the arm of the chair and looked across the room. Her tension had eased now that they were secure for the time being, allowing the full impact of what had happened to get through. Her face was drawn, sapped of vigor by her acceptance of the hopelessness that she had been putting off.
“So that’s it,” she said, her voice flat. “It’s over. We wait around until the cavalry limps in, and go home with what’s left of the pieces-if we don’t get picked up in the meantime.”
“Shit, isn’t there anywhere they’ll leave a guy alone?” Murray muttered. “Does this mean they’re gonna be setting up the IRS here?”
“That might be the least of your problems,” Gina said humorlessly.
“What about the others back there?” Murray asked.
“We’re not sure. We only just got out.”
“So… what happens next?”
“I don’t know. What do you think, Vic?” Gina looked over at Hunt. But he was sitting with a strange, faraway look on his face and hadn’t heard. “Vic, are you okay?”
“Recruiting fodder,” Hunt said, still distant. “That’s what it’s all about.”
“What?”
Hunt focused back on the present and looked at them. “It’s not over. It hasn’t even started.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know why it’s so vital for Eubeleus and his cult to get to Uttan.” Hunt swallowed hard and paused to collect his words. “They were the ones who set you up through Baumer and put the fake memories in your head. Telling us about the Ichena’s operation wasn’t giving away anything that mattered. In fact it was the decoy. The Ichena were set up to be expendable-to direct attention away from what’s really happening. When JEVEX comes back on, everyone out there will be flocking back to the couplers, tens of thousands of them. The whole population has been caught on a hook, just like Baumer was.”
Gina nodded but looked puzzled. “Yes, I follow what you’re saying. But where’s it-”
“Don’t you see? They’ll have half the city on-line when JEVEX comes back up. And what do you think will be down there in the Entoverse? Thousands of them, waiting to come pouring out. Legions of them.”
Gina put a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God!”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Murray asked, looking from one to the other.
But Hunt went on. “They were the ones who put Earth back a couple of thousand years and dreamed up the scheme to shut the Thuriens up inside a space-time bubble and take over. And despite all the limitations of where and how they originated, they almost got away with it.” Hunt raised his glass and took a long swig. “We thought we’d stopped them then, but we were wrong. And now this. And right at this moment, unless we can prevent Eubeleus from getting to Uttan, I don’t readily see a way of stopping it.”