Into Infinity
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Notes: A fanfic based off of David Brin's Uplift Novels.
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Twin dice clattered into thin air, hovering for a moment, their upturned
facets glowing for a moment before She released Her will and they
dropped into Her waiting palm.
Once again Earthclan lost to luck. Once again the forces that
surrounded the proud defenders of Earth drove the ravaged forces back
again Luna itself, only to have the sheer willpower of the Tymbrini and
Thennanin allies drive them back again.
She sensed it as She did all things, as if the universe itself, the Five
Galaxies ... soon to be Four, hovered in mid air before Her. She
released the dice again, the multi-faceted instruments of Her
intervention bouncing through figurative stars to land, spinning, on the
very ship to whom all chaos was attributed.
That particular vessel was the cat among the pigeons, the Streaker,
Earthclan's finest vessel and former pride, a refugee among the stars,
running with wolfling skill and cunning across star systems, dodging
every pursuer only to be caught and break free again ...
She sighed as the dice stilled, gleaming facets proclaiming yet more ill
fate for Streaker. A glance at the glimmering ship showed Her the
entirety of it's new entrapment. An entrapment in which there might not
be an escape, even for Streaker ... even for Earth ... The Old Ones were
imploding the novas, preparing to loose the Fifth Galaxy from the Five
Galaxies forever ...
Even if She had wanted to help Earthclan, Her admitted favorite of the
Galactic races, She was bound by Her own strictures and the bindings of
godhood. Make no favorites, play for no keeps, do not interfere, use
only your tool ...
And use it She did. Ifni's Dice, more complex than Galactic thought
could comprehend, more faceted and empowered than dice or god should
be. Even now the dread symbols glowed, in Anglic ... if only the
Galactics knew. She smiled.
Yes, She enjoyed Anglic and Trinary of all the languages, simply because
they weren't so old and formal, meaning could be changed and altered ...
unlike some.
SEE YOU NOW GALACTIC WALKERS
SEE YOU NOW THIS REEF OF SNARES
LAID BY CLEVER KNOWLEDGE WATCHERS
SPRUNG BY UNWITTING DOLPHIN TAILS!
Her thought words thrummed through the 'room' and vibrated through
E-Space, making the figurative galaxy ripple with it's 'simple' power.
The irony was delectable. A moment's thought and She released the die
again. Bouncing and clattering, they landed on the Jophur hound ship
that bayed at Streaker's flanges.
MANY PARDONS <BELCHING> JOPHUR, MY DICE, TOOLS, VESSELS OF CHANCE HAS
BY <SHEEREST> ACCIDENT! LANDED ON YOUR <NOBLE> SHIP! MANY PARDONS DO I
GRANT YOU <OH SENIOR-PATRON-LEVEL ENTITY> THAT YOUR GOD HAS DROPPED HER
TOOLS, DICE, VESSELS OF POWER!
But the gleaming die brought luck to the Jophur and once more they
chased the unlucky, far too lucky! Streaker. For over two Earth years,
Her dice had spelled disaster for poor, weak, Earthclan. Even fate was
not so unkind!
She sighed finally, thoroughly tired of the endless string of bad luck.
Whenever the dice played these rounds of good or bad She felt the urge
to interfere, to alter the Power held within the die. To do so was to
alter Her own nature, so She refrained. A moment of rolling the
glittering dice absently She turned to 'leave', removing Her presence
from this pocket of E-Space She frequented. Almost uncaringly, She
tossed the dice over her shoulder.
They bounced off the 'wall' and rolled dancing into the corner, only to
bounce off again and land ...
She glanced back out of habit ...
Two glowing glyphs in pure God Tongue glimmered brightly ... for
Earthclan ...
She whooped and leapt, Power arcing into the cosmos at Her delighted
shout, "YES!"
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Brin |
Fanfiction
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