Dev was taken aback. “Based on our prior interactions I would not think Vantolos would be sympathetic to anybody or anything that did not directly profit him and his kind.”

“You begin to understand.” Tilenyii moved to go around the human. “Please let me pass. Even that capacity will be denied to me soon enough.”

“But,” Dev moved to cut him off, “what am I going to do?”

“You do not speak the language of the Gadeu?”

“No. Only Jakob can speak it, and that with difficulty.”

Tilenyii considered. “Then I would try to ensure that when you are returned to the surface of your world you seek a place to live on the opposite side of the planet from the one your colleague has singled out for fractional annihilation.” So saying, he feinted to his left, and when Dev shifted yet again to block the A'jeii’s path, Tilenyii darted around him and was gone.

If he couldn’t persuade Tilenyii to help stop Zimmer, Dev realized, surely there was no chance of convincing Syrenii or any of the Olone or Kaijank. Turning, he raced back in the direction of the bridge, not knowing what he would do when he got there. He had already tried physical intervention only to have Zimmer stop him without even having to call on the automatons for help. He could only try anew, as forcefully and as often as he could, no matter how slim the chance of success.

Accompanied by his retinue of mechanicals, Zimmer had moved to a position farther forward on the bridge. The multi-level platforms on either side were occupied solely by softly whirring and humming mechanicals. They ignored Dev’s arrival. The older man did not.

“Dev. Come and watch. It is really quite fascinating what one can do with a little knowledge.”

Raising his right hand, he traced shapes in the empty space in front of him. A rotating globe appeared beyond his fingers. It was thrice his height and extraordinarily detailed. Moving his hand again, he zoomed in on the image. Twice he had to pause to query one of the three mechanicals surrounding him. When he had finished, he grunted with satisfaction at his handiwork.

Dev drank in the imagery. “I thought you were going to strike in the Rub’ al Khali.”

Zimmer made a face. “I decided it was too remote a site for an effective demonstration. Too easy for the Saudi government to explain it away as a natural phenomenon, no matter what kind of preceding broadcast I make. Equally easy for antagonistic governments to declare it a Saudi deception. The location I have chosen is just as safe as the al Khali but more visible. The effects will be noted and recorded by too many terrestrial sensors and relative eyewitnesses to be explained away by a lie.”

Dev nodded toward the imagery. “Thousands may die.”

“I don’t think so.” Zimmer was adamant as multiple machines hummed around him.