Illiance continued: “The leading edge of the Bell will be over the Tomb site in an hour. There is no reason to believe it will not act here as it has acted heretofore, and draw up the persons and materials found here.

“Moreover, tell the Judge of Ages that we have been cautious enough to bring his other clients underground with us. We have located his depthtrain launching platform, but have been unable to restore it to function. We propose that he unlock the depthtrain, and carry us and his other clients to some remote distance beneath the surface of the Earth, where the Hyades instrument cannot reach.

“Finally, tell the Judge of Ages that he must mitigate his severity toward us, on the grounds that our acts performed in the attempt to locate and thaw him were committed to save him, and his clients, and us, from annihilation or capture. Had it not been for our acts, the Bell would have descended upon him unawares, unforeseen.

“For our benevolent act of waking him and warning him of the impending danger from the Hyades, we anticipate that, in return, once the Hyades instrument departs and returns to deep space, our order and our ecosphere will be released from his Tomb sites here and elsewhere, and be biologically adjusted to become the sole inheritors of the Earth.”

Montrose translated all this to the figure on the throne.

The Judge of Ages made a steeple of his fingers, and seemed to be brooding. He said softly to Menelaus, “I cannot fix the depthtrain system. It stopped working in the first half of the 2400s. About a zillion years ago. I don’t know how to find whatever other slumbering blue people there are, and I cannot restore the ecology, and I cannot fight the Hyades. Do you have any suggestions? I am completely out of ideas.” He said this very calmly and very softly.

Menelaus said, “Not to worry, sonny. I am never out of ideas. They get me in trouble, sometimes, but I’m never out.”

“Never out of ideas or never out of trouble?” asked the throned man wryly.

“Both.” Menelaus turned and proclaimed in High Iatric, “Men of the Order of Simplified Vulnerary Aetiology! The Judge of Ages has heard your plea! He decrees that it is unlawful and unwise to wake him from his slumbers, but that you, his petitioners, claim to have done so seeking his justice, wishing your era and aeon, species and ecosystem, to be vindicated and restored. However, there can be no hearing, and no justice done, while the Blue Men rob others of the right they themselves seek to exercise. Men of other ages and eras have been thawed, and are being held in confinement against their will.

“He commands you to gather all here into this, his presence chamber, that he may examine them before determining your fate, and theirs!”

8. An Eye for Detail

There was a murmuring from several Blue Men when they heard the command.

Preceptor Ydmoy stepped closer, saying, “There are security considerations involved. The minds of the before-men are strange and undomesticated: odd and eccentric behavior is to be expected. The suggestion of gathering all here is less than wise.”

Menelaus turned to Illiance, saying, “Preceptor, if I translate that last stupid comment to the Judge, he might destroy everyone in this chamber.”

Illiance said, “On what grounds do you conclude he has such an ability?”

Menelaus said, “On the grounds of the terrible weapon he commands. Do you not see that sword in his hand?”

Ull spoke up, saying, “The sword is ceremonial, and not of much danger should he use it.”

“The danger is should he not use it. That sword represents his justice. He is called the Judge of Ages because all he need do to condemn an age to oblivion is to fail to act to preserve it. Time will pass, and you will be extinct. His power so simple in its operation even you Simple Men must be impressed with the elegance: to kill you and kill your dreams, all he need do is nothing at all.”

He paused to let that sink in.

Then he said, “Gentlemen, you are here asking him for help, remember? Begging? If he refuses to hear your case, all your effort is for nothing.” Menelaus looked down at Illiance.

Illiance was staring at Ull with a look of suspicion on his normally serene features, perhaps a hint of anger. Illiance said, “We have followed your leadership without doubt, Mentor Ull, and it has led us to this situation. Instead of finding an architect of the Tomb System willing and eager to aid us, we face recriminations and possible extinction for our acts. Our only reasonable course is to make amends and cooperate unreservedly. Yet now your words and actions cannot be reconciled with your expressed and apparent purposes.”

Ull scowled, and put his hand under his coat. It was an ominous gesture, as if he were reaching for his weapon. But Ull said only, “As a Simplifier, it is beneath me to practice deception. Words conform to thoughts, which conform to reality. That is our code.”

Illiance said, “Then let the other relicts be brought in.”

Menelaus spoke up, saying, “His wording was specific: every prisoner must be brought here, including those imprisoned, despite their full health, in your field hospital.” (There was a slight stir of wonder among the Blue Men at this, not being able to fathom how the Judge of Ages knew their secret deeds). “The Judge of Ages must be assured that his clients are safe before any hearing can proceed.”

Illiance said fretfully, “But what fashion of hearing? We are simple men, not accustomed to formality and ritual.”

Menelaus said, “He will investigate, and decide among all the races of man, and all the aeons of history, and render judgment which age is most worthy to inherit the barren and deracinated Earth. Your conduct now before him will weigh heavily on that judgment.”

9. Scipio

Illiance, Ull, and the blue triplets departed the chamber to oversee gathering the Thaws. Naar and Aarthroy and Aanwen and the other Blue Men were near the door.

The Judge of Ages said softly to Menelaus, “Is the young Mastermind of the Moon telling the truth about the Hyades, Captain Sterling? They are not due yet for four centuries. I don’t care how advanced they are: no one can jinx Einstein.”

“My name is Beta Corporal Sterling, not Captain. His name is Illiance. I think the Bell is an artifact of the current civilization. Man-made. I don’t think Illiance is lying; but I think there are two layers of deception involved here. The Hermetic Order has an agent or agents somewhere on the scene, and they are looking for the Judge of Ages—the real one. The Currents are hiding. The world is coated with logic crystal nanomachines in the shape of ice glaciers. Has it made radio contract with you?”

“No. The, ah, ice coating the world hasn’t talked to me. I hope you are not a crazy person, because I am relying on you to have a plan. The blue dwarfs took over the Tomb because they woke first?”

Menelaus nodded slightly.

“Who woke them?”

“I don’t know. I think it was the Hermeticists.”

“So where are the Knights of Malta? The armed men who are supposed to be in charge of this icebox? Our jailers?”

The man was a penal hibernation case, then. Menelaus said, “The Tombs are damaged, and the thaw systems are not being triggered correctly. You are a Savant, aren’t you? A Machinist? You mentioned your soul helping you. That is your Ghost. You were expecting it to be alive to greet you when you woke. You expected to be put in contact with the infosphere, because you assumed the version of you recorded there might still be alive? Hate to disappoint you, but all the Ghosts died in A.D. 2525. That was a long, long time ago.”

The Judge of Ages raised his hand as if to stroke his chin in thought, and his hand covered the expression of his mouth. “I am a Savant. What gave me away?”