The Evolutionary Void Read Online Free PDF

down to wait.
    Half an hour later, she knew she was right. A pale pink wash of light
began to creep upward as dawn arrived. Now she could see she was still in a
desert, but this one was mostly ocher rocks and crumbling soil rather than the
featureless ocean of sand she’d left behind. The drab brown ground was broken
by small patches of green-blue vegetation, hardy little bushes that looked
half-dead. Tall fronds of pale cream grass tufts lurked in fissures and stone
spills, all of them dry and withered. Away in the distance, half-lost in air
shimmer, a broad line of mountains spiked up into the sky. Their height was
impressive, yet she couldn’t see any snow on their peaks. The desert stretched
all the way across to them. In the other direction was a low ridge, which she
began to appreciate was at least five miles away, if not farther. This
landscape was so relentlessly monotonous, it was hard to judge perspective.
    Whatever, she was on a dirt track made by vehicles of some kind. It led
down a long gentle slope to a junction with a solid concrete road. Just the
sight of it was a huge relief. From living out in the boondocks of an External
planet for nearly twenty years, she knew just how rare roads could be, and that
was in the agricultural areas. Everybody used regrav capsules these days. To
find this here in the middle of a desert, she’d been lucky. Very lucky.
    Thank you , she told the Silfen Motherholme.
    She took another drink of water and set off down the track. The distance
had fooled her, after all; the road seemed to stay in the same place no matter
how much ground she covered toward it. As she strode along the slope, she saw a
few regrav capsules flying beyond the ridge; in the other direction nothing was
moving above the vast desert. At least that told her which way to turn once she
reached the junction. There was obviously some kind of settlement on the other
side of the ridge. A few cautious examinations of the gaiafield confirmed that
that was where the buzz of minds was situated.
    It took her another three hours to reach the crest of the ridge. Again,
“ridge” was deceptive. The closer she got, the larger it rose above her. It was
like an elongated hill. And the luck that had delivered the road had clearly
abandoned her; there wasn’t a single vehicle moving along it all morning.
    By the time she finally limped to the crest, she was ready for just about
any sight apart from the one that greeted her. She’d almost been right about
the elongated hill. The ridge was actually a crater wall—a big crater, complete
with a beautiful circular lake that must have been at least twenty miles
across. This was the mother of all oases; the inner slopes were all smothered
in verdant woodland and cultivated terraces she thought might be vineyards. The
road dipped away ahead of her, winding into a small town whose colorful ornate
buildings were visible amid a swath of tall trees. Despite being completely
exhausted, aching everywhere, and feeling quite worried about the painful state
of her feet, Araminta couldn’t help choking out a little laugh as she stared
down at the exquisite vista before her. She wiped the tears from the corners of
her eyes and slowly discarded the flagon harness from her back. It was placed
carefully behind some rocks at the side of the road, followed by the basket of
eggs. With her shoulders rejoicing at the absence of weight, she started off
down the slope.
    People stared at her as she hobbled into town. Hardly surprising. She
still had her silly conical hat on, and her clothes were a mess, filthy from
mud and repeated deluges. She guessed she must smell, too. When she allowed
herself to receive the local gaiafield, she could sense the instinctive
surprise everyone felt at the sight of her. Plenty of dismay was mingled in
there as well.
    The little town’s buildings were mostly clapboard, painted a variety of
bright colors; there were very few modern construction materials visible. It
gave