Free The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton

on. The central time display winking in the top corner of the
screen always ran on Earth’s GMT, with a secondary display showing local time.
Araminta immediately switched it to Viotia time and then Colwyn City. It took a
moment while she did the mental arithmetic, aided by her macrocellular
clusters, and then she ran the figures again. If she’d done it right, and the
secondary routines in the macrocellular clusters were practically infallible,
it was barely fifteen hours since she’d walked into Francola Wood. But that was
impossible. She’d spent a whole day and night just trudging over that first
wet, cold, miserable valley, then there had been the day by the oasis. The walk
across the desert outside Miledeep Water, followed by sleeping the rest of the
day away. That was when she worked it out—walking across the desert outside
Miledeep Water and sleeping in the hotel accounted for a good twelve of those
fifteen hours.
    The Silfen paths took practically no time
at all. How could that be? I wasn’t even on the paths the whole time. Sweet
Ozzie, do they manipulate time on the planets as well? But then, who knows
exactly where the planets are, what universe or dimension? Come to that, were
they even real?
    When she looked down at her feet encased in the cushioning artificial
skin, she knew she’d walked somewhere and spent hours doing it. What had
happened, or rather where and when she’d been along the Silfen paths, was of no
consequence. She knew then that the Silfen wouldn’t let her use their paths and
worlds as a refuge. It was instinctive knowledge, coming right from the heart
of the Silfen Motherholme.
    I really do have to face this myself .
    “Oh, crap!” She picked up the bar of orange chocolate that had been part
of the delivery and took a big bite before flopping back on the bed. There
actually was no escape. So where do I start? Learning about Edeard was the obvious beginning, and to be honest, she was
rather looking forward to immersing herself in his life again. But she felt it
was more important to find out about Justine. She let her thoughts slow, mildly
satisfied that she no longer needed Likan’s mélange program to achieve the calm
alert state required for any serious interaction with the gaiafield—not that
the Skylord’s thoughts occupied that particular realm. It was to be found in
some parallel domain, its thoughts serene and content.
    “Hello,” she said.
    “You are always welcome.”
    “Thank you. And thank you for receiving our emissary. Are you the one
accompanying her to Makkathran?”
    “I am with my kindred.” The Skylord’s incredible senses revealed a vast
swath of space between nebulae, devoid of stars. It flew on and on through the
emptiness, followed by a flock of its own kind who called to one another across
the Gulf. They were all gladdened that minds were once again emerging into the
Void, giant somber thoughts enlivened by anticipation.
    “Oh. Do you know where she is?”
    “The one you seek is within our universe. This is known to us all. For
that we all give thanks. Soon there will be more. Soon we will guide your kind
to the Heart again.”
    “Can you call to the one who is with her?”
    “My kindred are departed across the universe. Most lie beyond my reach. I
will encounter them again in time, within the Heart.”
    “So how do you know one of us has arrived?”
    “The Heart feels it. We all know the Heart.”
    “Damn. Okay, thank you.”
    “When will you come? When will you be here with your kind?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Araminta withdrew her mind from the connection and permitted herself a
brief feeling of disappointment. It would have been nice to talk to Justine.
Instead, she had only herself to rely on, a state she was growing accustomed
to. Her mind reached out into the human gaiafield again, stealthily, slipping
into the local confluence nests like a silent thief. Her thoughts fluttered
around the sight, taste, and smell of Edeard, and up into