Free Neptune Crossing (The Chaos Chronicles) by Jeffrey A. Carver Page A

it was not life to be trapped in that machine forever. How he longed to be free of its bonds—to grow, to taste again the reality of life with another!
    But it was not to be easy; there was something that had to be done here—a matter of life and death, not just for him, but for the beings of this solar system. He did not know yet what it was, but he knew that that was why he had been awakened, and he knew that it would be risky and costly, because it always was. He had much to learn, and quickly.
    With the help of the translator, he listened to humanity and came to know their languages and some of their ways. He watched their entertainment and studied their history through what he could capture of their datanet. He struggled to get to know a race that sometimes made him shudder with fear.
    Fear...?
    They were a dangerous species, humanity. Of course, most sentient species were; and with that thought came another shudder.
    Do you fear all sentient species? whispered Bandicut.
    Watch the datastream, you're missing too much, was the whispered answer.
    The quarx still had much to learn, even as he paid particular attention to a survey pilot named Bandicut who was stumbling along in a rare but promising condition known as silence-fugue, toward a potential meeting. The translator hinted that time was probably growing short, and this person seemed the most promising of an uncertain lot...
    ——

    The datastream changed, and most of it diverted away, while a single, bright connection remained.
    /Are you saying that you deliberately—/
    >>  I didn't say that. >>
    /—drew me in—?/
    >>  I didn't say that, exactly. >>
    /But you knew a lot about me already, and you sure as hell opened the ground under my feet!/
    >>  Well...yes... >>
    /So you knew I was coming?/
    >>  I sensed...yes...when I am in the translator, it enables me a certain degree of...what you would probably call telepathic scanning. It is nothing like the intimate contact that we have now. It is more like a...radar sweep. >>
    /Radar sweep? And are you still doing this? Are you probing the other people here?/
    >>  I can't, not outside of the translator. Except in a limited way, when you physically touch someone, or something. >>
    Bandicut remembered Napoleon. /Like the robot, you mean?/
    >>  Yes. >>
    Bandicut was silent for a time, trying to absorb all that the quarx had told him. /Charlie,/ he said finally, /are you trying to say that you spend your life traveling around the galaxy trying to bail civilizations out of trouble? Because that's what it sounds like.../
    >>  Well, yes—I mean, no! Not always whole civilizations... >>
    Bandicut blinked. /Good God, but you mean it's true? Is that what you do? It sounds like...I mean, don't you...have a life of your own to live?/ He swallowed, and realized that a shadow of grief seemed to have come across Charlie with his words. /I'm sorry, look, I didn't mean...if I said something.../
    The quarx spoke, but as though from a great distance.
    >>  It's not...so bad, really. It has its own rewards, you know. >>
    /Charlie—/ He hesitated, and after a moment, the quarx drew back toward him, speaking softly.
    >>  It is true that I am on a...journey, John Bandicut. And that I don't always know where I am going, or for what purpose. Or whether I will ever return to my own kind. Or even if they are— >>
    The quarx paused. /What?/ Bandicut asked. /Alive, or something?/
    >>  Yes. >>
    /Jesus...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—/
    >>  It's been a long journey, John. I've seen more than one civilization fall, and I've seen some saved, and the latter way is better. I'd like to help save yours, if I can. >>
    Bandicut was silent. They had to save the Earth, the quarx had said. And he wanted Bandicut's help.  /You want to, uh, tell me a little more about that?/ he asked at last.
    >>  I'll try. Let's start with a question. How much do you know about chaos? >>
    /How do you mean? Randomness, disorder, entropy?/
    >>