The Dance of Time

YOUR GRAND-DAUGHTERS, OLD MAN. MANY, MANY TIMES REMOVED, OF COURSE.

AND, NOW, VERY OLD MYSELF.

Belisarius wondered how such strange beings could be male or female. He could see no…

There came the sense of laughter, from many voices.

IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS TO US, GRANDFATHER! said the first Great One.

TRUE, OUR SENSES OUTNUMBER YOURS, BY A GREAT MARGIN.

The huge, ancient female kept spi

CHOICE, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE. HE WILL NOT SIMPLY BE REMEMBERED.

FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, ALL THE CRYSTALS IN THE UNIVERSE ARE

CHANGING. EACH AND EVERY ONE HAS JOINED THE HUMAN CLAN-AND EACH AND

EVERY ONE KNOWS AIDE TO BE THE FOUNDER OF THEIR LINE.

THINK OF HIM, BELISARIUS, AS THEIR ALEXANDER. OR BETTER STILL,

THEIR ACHILLES. THE SHORT BUT GLORIOUS LIFE THAT BREATHED LIFE INTO

ALL OF THEM.

BUT ENOUGH! I HAVE A RENDEZVOUS TO KEEP.

A quick half-spin, and the shining leviathan was speeding off, with most of the others following.

WOULD YOU CARE TO WATCH? asked one of the remaining Great Ones.

Yes, Aide replied, before Belisarius could speak. I would.

They were somewhere else, in an instant. Still hanging in the void, or seeming to, but there was more than just stars and galaxies to see. Below them-in front of them, perhaps-hung a dark, very ugly…

Something. A moon?

It's an asteroid, Aide explained. A pretty big one. Big enough for gravity to have pulled it into a sphere.

How did we get here so Nothing you are seeing is happening according to the time frame you are accustomed to. It is much faster-or much slower. In a way, it's already happened, in the far future.

Somewhat plaintively: Time is a lot more slippery than it looks.

Either they moved forward or Belisarius' eyesight became more acute. He could now see that the asteroid was covered with what looked to be machines of some sort.

Is that-?

Yes. The last-the only remaining-fortress of the new gods. Where they retreated, to await what they thought would be their Armageddon. Which, in fact, it is about to become-but not the way they pla

Suddenly, the surface of the asteroid erupted. Dazzling beams of light sprang up, intermixed with odd flashes.

The Great Ones are coming. Those are weapons firing. Don't ask me how they work. I don't know, exactly, and I couldn't explain even if I did. They're very powerful, though. If they still had the resources of a planet to draw on, the Great Ones could do nothing but die here.

Some of them will probably die anyway.

Belisarius could feel himself taking a deep breath, even though there seemed to be nothing he could actually breathe.

You're not really here. You're still sitting on a bench outside the imperial palace in Kausambi, staring at nothing. A familiar tone of humor came: People would think you were crazy-might lock you up-except it'll only last for a split-second. Back there. What we're watching here is actually taking several years to happen.

Now Belisarius could see the phalanx of the Great Ones approaching. Except, as it neared, he realized it wasn't so much a phalanx as a three-dimensional version of the old Roman maniples. There was fluidity, here.

Tactics, in fact.

Several of the Great Ones veered off, then back, racing toward the asteroid. The light beams and flashes concentrated on them. If Belisarius was interpreting what he saw correctly, they were being hit.

Pretty badly, in fact. But they can absorb a lot of punishment, before Aide seemed to take a deep breath himself. This is dangerous, what they're doing.

The Great One nearest the asteroid seemed to brush its surface. Scrape along it, rather, for almost a quarter of its diameter. As the Great One passed back into space, a gout of blazing material followed. Molten and half-vaporized weaponry, Belisarius realized.

Not to mention quite a few new gods. What's left of them, which isn't much. The emotion behind that thought was more savage than any Belisarius could ever remember, coming from Aide.

I really hate those creatures.

Another Great One struck the surface. Then another, and another. With each grazing blow, more and more of the asteroid's surface was being peeled away.

Another Great One came. A truly huge one. The same ancient female that had spoken to Belisarius. Somehow, he recognized her.

THAT'S BECAUSE I'M THE PRETTIEST, he heard her mocking voice. USED

TO BE, ANYWAY, HALF A MILLION YEARS AGO.

Belisarius became tense. The ancient one's strike was…

No grazing strike, this. A great wound was torn in the asteroid. Belisarius could sense the gargantuan being reeling from the blow itself.

Herself.

Not only the blow, but the weapons fire that had been concentrated on her. She was shedding substance, as she moved off. Like a giant golden angel, spilling her shining blood.

ENOUGH, I THINK, he heard her say. AM I RIGHT?

The voices of several Great Ones answered.

YES.

THAT WHOLE HEMISPHERE IS NOW DEFENSELESS.

CAN YOU-?

The tone of voice, answering, seemed a mixture of pain held under control and harsh amusement.

I'LL MANAGE. IT'LL ONLY TAKE A FEW YEARS, ANYWAY. BUT YOU'LL HAVE

TO GUIDE ME, SISTERS AND BROTHERS. I'M BLIND NOW.

She moved off, very rapidly, until she disappeared. Four of the other Great Ones sped off to join her.

After what seemed only seconds, Belisarius could see them returning. Just tiny points of light, at first.

It took-will take-the tenses don't work right-a lot longer than that. A number of years. But not enough for the new gods to rebuild their defenses.

As the Great Ones neared, Belisarius could see what appeared to be a lattice of light binding the five together.

Think of it as the others holding her hands. Keeping her straight.

They were moving very fast. Belisarius could sense it.

By now, she is at 97% of light speed. And she was already very massive.

Finally, Belisarius understood.

A last thought came to him, from the ancient Great One. Still with that tone of harsh amusement.