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Motac
was a double agent?
    All those thoughts and more reverberated around his mind.
Again, he asked, Motac, how do we get
inside the hatchway?

Chapter
Five
     
     
    Emergency
entry, Zane’s implanted data storage device. Ship time, unknown.
Location, Hatchway to Induction Flow room control. Date, unknown.
Secure internal input.
     
    I worked out how to record a diary entry without Motac being
aware I’m doing so. Here we are, at a sort of stale mate. An alarm
has been tripped and all the Banshan this side north of the equator
of Parenthesis now know we’re somewhere around the control section
of the planet. Fuck. No wonder Motac was jittery. Still, I have no
choice but to trust him for now. Sure, he could be a double agent,
working for the shadow eternals, but what choice do I have? He’s
inside my mind, for one thing. For another thing, I want to see
Tink and Mirko again, if only to fuck them both good and
hard .
    The code is based on a fractal encryption sequence, Motac said, disturbing Zane from his thoughts and
stopping his diary entry.
    “ Um…what?” he whispered.
    Motac seemed to take in a deep breath. Don’t worry, I see geometric fractals like you see numbers or
even more traditional Euclidian equations. I’ll guide you through
it…then…when I’ve got us inside…will you trust me?
    Are we going to go through all that again?
    No. If you want me to leave you, I will. Just say the word. I
don’t know what else I can do to convince you I have your interests
at heart and yours only.
    Zane smiled. All right. You got
yourself a deal. I want you to get out of me.
    What now?
    He paused for a moment, waving his hand above the control
panel, watching the shapes dance. Naw, get
me inside the hatch way, then you get out of me. Clear?
    Motac’s hand extended out of Zane’s arm. The eternal touched
the control panel, moving his fingers so the geometric shapes
danced even more. A fractal encryption code
is similar to an invasive programme except that it doesn’t destroy,
it creates. I am now creating the opening sequence as the code
changes every time the hatch is locked. It may take a few
moments .
    A long,
agonising wait followed. Zane watched Motac work. He was brilliant,
hypnotic even, like a master holding the tool of his craft. His
fingers were like lightening, making the shapes on the panel fall
into line and create the combination required to open the
door.
    A click
sounded out.
    Done , Motac proclaimed. And not a moment too soon. I hear Banshan crawling
up the access way.
    But won’t they be able to open the hatchway as
well?
    Motac let out a shallow chuckle, but not one that sounded like
he was being arrogant — rather it was filled with sadness. I
have added more to the code. In effect I have created a delay. The
hatch can’t be opened again until that time has elapsed.
    How long?
    Thirty-seven years.
    Gee, I think that’ll give us enough time to get away, don’t
you? Zane crawled inside the darkness
beyond the hatchway. The solid door closed with a metallic clang,
and it took a while for his eyes to become accustomed to the din
inside, stark comparison to the room where the glow of the
crystalline engine permeated everything.
    When he
could make out shapes and other control panels, he said, “Thanks,
Motac.”
    I have kept up my part of the arrangement. I think it’s time
for me to leave you then, isn’t it?
    Sure is.
    As Motac
left his body, Zane felt a rush of blood, heating him to make him
sweat. Then, like the next step of an exorcism, nausea overwhelmed
him. He grabbed at his stomach, dry heaving. Before he could even
think about chucking up his guts, the dark shadow-like body of an
eternal, even darker than the low light around him—like he was
staring into the mysterious depths of the universe
itself—confronted him.
    He felt
empty.
    Motac
then said, his voice like a rasp, dry and sore like it was the
first time he’d used his vocal cords in a long time, “I will tell
you what you