The Dreaming Void Read Online Free PDF

It is a noble creature; it will lead us inside the Void. We just have to locate the Second Dreamer. Any developments on that today?”
    â€œNone. Thousands are coming forward claiming to be dreaming the Skylord. They don’t help our search.”
    â€œYou must find him.”
    â€œEthan … it took our best dream masters months to assemble the existing fragments into the small dream we have. We believe in this case there is no firm link such as Inigo had with the Void. These fragments could be entering the gaiafield in a number of ways. Unaware carriers. Directly from the Void? Perhaps it’s Ozzie’s galactic field. Then there’s a possible overspill from the Silfen Motherholme or some other postphysical sentient having fun at our expense. Even Inigo himself.”
    â€œIt’s not Inigo. I know that. I know the feel of his dreams; we all do. This is something different. I was the one who was drawn to those first few fragments, remember. I realized what they were. There is a Second Dreamer.”
    â€œWell, now that you are Conservator, you can authorize a more detailed monitoring of the gaiafield’s confluence nests, track down the origin that way.”
    â€œIs that possible? I thought the gaiafield was beyond our direct influence.”
    â€œThe dream masters claim they can do this, yes. Certain modifications can be made to the nests. It won’t be cheap.”
    Ethan sighed. The conclave had been mentally exhausting, and that had been just the beginning. “So many things. All at once.”
    â€œI’ll help you. You know that.”
    â€œI do. And I thank you, my friend. One day we’ll stand in the real Makkathran. One day we will make our lives perfect.”
    â€œSoon.”
    â€œFor Ozzie’s sake, I hope so. Now, ask Marius in, please.” Ethan stood courteously to receive his guest. That it should be the ANA faction representative he saw first was a telling point. He did not relish the way he and Phelim had relied on Marius during his campaign to be elected Conservator. In an ideal universe they would have needed no outside aid, certainly not one with so many potentially worrying strings attached. Not that there was ever any suggestion of a quid pro quo from Marius. None of the factions inside the near-postphysical intelligence of Earth’s Advanced Neural Activity system would ever be so blunt.
    The representative smiled courteously as he was shown in. Of average height, he had a round face with sharp green eyes emphasized by wide irises. His thick auburn hair was flecked with gold, no doubt the outcome of some Advancer ancestor’s vanity. There was nothing to indicate his Higher functions. Ethan was using his internal enrichments to run a passive scan, and if any of the representative’s field functions were active, they were too sophisticated to perceive. He wouldn’t be surprised by that; Marius would be enriched with the most advanced biononics in existence. The representative’s long black toga suit generated its own surface haze, which flowed about him like a slim layer of mist, the faintest tendrils slithering behind him as he walked.
    â€œYour Eminence,” Marius said, and bowed formally. “My most sincere congratulations on your election.”
    Ethan smiled. It was all he could do not to shudder. Every deep-honed primitive instinct he possessed had picked up on how dangerous the representative was. “Thank you.”
    â€œI’m here to assure you we will continue our support of your goals.”
    â€œSo you’re not concerned about the media’s reaction to my announcement—that our Pilgrimage is going to trigger the end of the galaxy?” What he desperately wanted to ask was: Who is
we
? But there were so many factions inside ANA constantly making and breaking alliances that it was virtually a null question. It was enough that the faction Marius represented wanted the Pilgrimage