Free Cat Karina by Michael Coney Page A

tapped into. After a moment the Dedo nodded.
    “You will need to know,” she said. And she told the handmaiden the story of Starquin, the Five-in-One.…
     
    “Starquin passed near Earth a long time ago and, sensing that interesting events were going to happen, he decided to stay for a while. Life had begun on this planet, and life is always fascinating to an itinerant scientist such as Starquin. The small creatures walked on Earth, and the great land-mass of Pangaea was beginning to split into the smaller continents we know today. Starquin watched.
    “Then he sent down extensions of himself — fingers, or Dedos  — in the form which is now known as the First Variety of the Second Species of homo sapiens . The Dedos had two purposes: to keep Starquin informed of happenings on Earth, and to attend to the Rocks, which are used for Greataway travel.
    “So the Dedos watched Mankind develop. Civilizations came and went and finally a crude three-dimensional space travel was achieved, and humanity began to colonize the stars. Then, in the Cyclic year 91,702, over 250 million years after Starquin’s arrival, a crucial event occurred.
    “A certain Captain Spring became host to an alien parasite, which she brought back to Earth. The details are unimportant, but as a result of this and other factors Mankind discovered the Greataway. He could travel in all dimensions now, even unknowingly stealing rides on the broad-band routes established by the Dedo’s Rocks. They called this the Outer Think. By this means, humans spread throughout the Greataway — and inevitably met their match. They came into conflict with the inhabitants of the Red Planet.
    “The Red Planet had a Weapon against which humanity was almost defenseless — you don’t need to concern yourself with the nature of that weapon. But its existence forced Man back into his own corner of the Galaxy, and to protect himself he created a frightening group of pseudo-humans who became known as the Three Madmen of Munich. These creatures seeded the Greataway with the so-called Hate Bombs — an effective defense, because the Greataway is very fragile and travel depends upon emotions as much as dimensions.
    “This kept the Red Planet’s warriors out. But it cut humans off from many of their colonies, too.
    “And worse, it imprisoned Starquin in a small area some sixty light-years across.…”
    The cabin was silent. The Dedo gazed at the play of light on the Rock. Outside, a coughing roar signalled the presence of a huge beast. It was getting cold. The Dedo walked over to the fireplace and did something; flames trickled over the surface of a small pile of kindling, smoke disappeared up the blackened chimney.
    “That was almost thirty thousand years ago,” said the Dedo. “Starquin is out there still.
    “Our Purpose is to work towards freeing him. To aid us in this Purpose, we have the resources of Earth. That’s all. It’s not much. But our knowledge of the Ifalong tells us it can be done.”
     
    A quarter of a century later, the Dedo said to the handmaiden, “You saw her, then. She is prepared?”
    “She is a willful girl, like all young felinas. But she has a strong sense of loyalty towards her race, and she will suit the Purpose.”
    The Dedo said, “I hope so. She is the only chance Starquin has. I’ve monitored all the Ifalong and on just one happentrack I see a slender thread running through Time, carrying the seeds of bor through a thousand generations without a break, until a young man named Manuel is born. That is the happentrack we must bring about. That is the happentrack on which Starquin is freed.”
    “What must I do?” asked the handmaiden.
    “You must prevent Karina being killed by the caimen,” said the Dedo, whose name was Leitha.
    “For how long must I guide her?”
    “There will be a time when the conception and birth of John is inevitable,” said the Dedo. “Our work will be finished, then.”

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