Zadek was called in. The walls and floor of Command Bay were casting a soft, bluish-white sheen, and so was the desk. The Captain was waiting.
"You wanted to see me, sir."
"Yes, I did," said Soo Beran. "Please be seated."
Command Bay was the core of the state-of-the-art Umbar, one of the finest Recognition Vessels in the Hexor Galaxy. There was something about being here that made Zadek feel more deeply connected to Umbar. He took a seat.
"I'm listening, sir," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"Tell me, Zadek," said the Captain, "are Omirions able to create portals to teleport themselves and others from one location to another?"
Zadek seemed taken by surprise. "I've never done it," he started, "nor has anyone I know."
The Captain seemed neither pleased nor displeased. He gave an assenting nod.
"May I ask the reason for this inquiry?"
The Captain touched a luminous key along the margin of the desk, and a holocube was produced.
"Ten of our crew have been in the crater for nearly 72 hours," he explained. "All communication is down. I wanted you to rescue them and bring them back, if possible. Should they be unable to come out, for reasons still unknown, I would have liked you to arrange a transfer of location. Is there any chance for you to do that?"
Deny that possibility, transmitted Omiran. It is impossible to interfere in their learning process.
"I am most sorry," Zadek told the Captain. "Whenever we move through space, the portals are already there. We do not form them."
"Understood. Thank you."
The Captain inclined his head. Zadek bowed and left.
Once back in the corridor, he pondered. What had Omiran meant? Is it possible or impossible to form a portal? He began to walk, barely aware of those around him. And what learning process was that that his companions had embarked upon?
All shades and hues had begun to whiten long before he paid any attention to them. It wasn't until he felt a mild, wave-like motion traverse him that he realized he was in-between planes – one was Umbar, but what was the other?
What is this? he asked.
The learning process your colleagues are in, said Omiran.
What learning process is that?
Becoming whole again.
As he stepped onwards, Zadek felt he was descending on a stairway, albeit he could not really tell where the steps were; only the whiteness persisted, a half-plane growing fuller, Umbar behind, whiteness into whiteness and a feeling of ease, and his steps going lower, lower and within.
Umbar was behind. Whiteness all around. And that whiteness seemed to touch him past skin-deep, into his innermost being. And the whiteness was a rectangle curving and as if lowering towards the right and leaning out of sight.
Zadek looked around. And the white walls comprised an infinite number of two-dimensional planes that he could almost see into, but wasn't allowed. He turned on his heel and looked back: the luminous tunnel he was in curved on that side, too, again to the right.
Which way to go?
All ways are points in becoming, explained Omiran. All ways lead to now.
Emphasis upon the last word. Clock-brain prevalence dismissed the possibility of a coincidence.
"All ways lead to now," Zadek repeated. "A learning process that returns me to the present?"
Clever though you are, answered Omiran, use your vaster senses. Walk the Bridge of Infinity and doubt yourself not. Your way is clear and is yours alone. I shall not assist you.
Concern was evident in Zadek's golden clock-wheels eyes. "Why not?"
You shall find a way.
Or else?
No answer came.
He waited for a time. Then turned, murmuring, "Bridge of Infinity. Use your vaster senses. Alright." He was building himself up, summoning strength to embark on this new and unexpected quest.
Something about the wall still drew his eyes, and he went nearer and nearer, and the space-bands appeared to hold void between them – a non-space-like interval the width of a hair – and Zadek drew nearer and watched even closer; yes, indeed, there were spaces and non-spaces, all white, some more luminous than others; some were near and some were far; some felt crammed and others, wider – space next to space next to space, and in between were the non-spaces, which sparkled not.
Clock-brain prevalence signalled he was now part of the wall, the rectangular hallway to his left; and in he went deeper.
I need answers, he thought.
Stepping sideways, he re-emerged into the hallway. Was it a tunnel? Or a stairway?
Luminescent, hair-width panels, almost see-though, now beamed head-high by the wall. What was their function and how could he operate –
Use your vaster senses, he remembered Omiran say.
Clock-brain prevalence makes sense of the multi-timeline worlds I'm in, he thought. But why did Omiran specify not to use it? What are these vaster senses? What do they mean for an Omirion?
One of the panels beamed fleetingly, and Zadek noticed it was the third in line. Then a medley of lights flashed in and out, in and out, in a somewhat arbitrary manner, or at least so it seemed; were it a coded language, he held not the key. They kept on beaming, and after a while, Zadek turned around and, choosing a direction, he went into the curving space around the wall.
It lifted him higher, though he could distinguish no steps.
Higher still.
Up.
One step. He noticed the Captain behind his desk, not looking at him. He found himself in Command Bay. He entered – a different he.
"You wanted to see me, sir," said the other he.
A time loop, he thought, and glanced at the Captain.
"Yes, I did. Please be seated."
He witnessed their interaction. And was back in the tunnel. Panels beaming. Steps towards the curved space. Another loop. Up again.
"You wanted to see me, sir."
He pulled himself back. Back into the tunnel. Seeking serenity within. Heart beating fast, then progressively slower. Back to optimal. He opened his eyes.
Bridge of Infinity. Doubt yourself not.
He chose the same route.
"You–"
And was back.
He re-entered the curve around the wall and arrived in the corridor outside CommandBay. He saw himself come and touched his other self's shoulder.
Back into the whiteness, ready for another loop.
Stepping into the curve, he was propelled again – he thought of engines somehow – and momentarily reached the Engine Room, listened to the sound for but one moment, and was absorbed into the hallway.
Something pulls me back here. I need to anchor myself.
He made a new attempt. Emerging into one of Umbar's corridors, he tried to hold on to some surface, but there was nothing but smooth wall in reach.
Back to the tunnel.
He turned and looked at the curve at the other end of the hallway and he headed that way. He felt a slightly higher pressure as he walked upon the unseen steps and it seemed he was walking sideways to the right. He spotted Umbar – from the outside – gleaming beneath the darkened sky, white, oval, massive; and something inside him wanted to go back, thus he almost plunged forth as if into a waterfall-wall –
he emerged within the wall,
then stepped sideways into the tunnel.
"Interesting."
Another attempt, and then one more, and so on, until he was finally able to walk from Seremna, the blue, bioluminescent forest (that which shines, in the Ylam tongue of the southern galactic ring) to chosen spots on Umbar. Whichever came to mind, the curve would take him to it. Then he would return and make another journey: one curve always took him aboard Umbar and the other, always outside of it and within sight.
The tunnel is the gateway, he acknowledged. 'Use your higher senses' means do not let what seems logical dictate what's possible.
Cleverness suits you, retorted Omiran. Now you know what becoming whole again means.
The logical and non-logical converging into one.
They are put to unitary use.
Zadek nodded. A fluid physicality.
You understand.
He stepped towards the curve that teleported him outside of Umbar, wishing to arrive by the crater, yet something blocked him and he remained inside the tunnel. For a moment, he pondered, then recalled, "I must not interfere."
They themselves must find a way out, transmitted Omiran, however long it takes.
Agreed.
Then choosing a new destination of his interest, Zadek tested the portal's openness with his arm. Nothing blocked it, so he stepped into a new space around the wall.
He had chosen to see Lera.
Oh, how diverse our paths! Where would you go if you could use the Bridge of Infinity?