13

Soon Jacob and his robot were back in the strangely coloured countryside, speeding towards the point marked on Michelle's map. The robot caught Jacob's arm suddenly.

"There is something ahead, master," it warned. "I think that we should slow down."

"Ah! So now you give the orders, eh?" Jacob rapped.

"Oh no, master." The robot's tone was shocked. "I only thought..."

"Okay," muttered the man, applying the brakes. "Now - what was it that you saw?"

"I'm not sure. I just caught a movement from the corner of my eye."

"Was it human?"

"No master. Definitely not." The lorry rolled on slowly across the uneven terrain, the robot searching for an explanation of what it had seen. A few minutes went by, but it saw nothing. "Whatever it was has vanished, master," it reported at last. "It is very strange, especially as we are now in the area where I saw it."

If the robot had been human, Jacob would have put it down to an illusion, but robots do not suffer from delusions. He thought for a moment.

"Perhaps the noise of the truck has scared it off," he guessed. "Or it may be some kind of burrowing creature, hiding underground until we have passed by."

"You are probably right," the robot agreed. "Should we get out and search for it's hole?"

Jacob shook his head. "I don't think there's time," he said. "We must get to the City of Ice without further delay."

He accelerated and the truck sped on. When they had gone a few more miles, the robot suddenly sat upright.

"What is it?" asked Jacob, slowing once again and coming to a halt. The robot leapt out.

"I don't know," came the reply, after a few moments. "Something has twisted itself all around the base of the truck. I can't free or cut it, and it even is impervious to my blaster. Come quickly."

The fat man eased himself out of the truck, not without a struggle, and saw what looked like a long strand of coarse twine hanging out of the rear of the truck. He followed it back until it vanished into the ground about twenty meters away.

"What is it?" he asked the robot.

As the robot pointed at the spot where the strand disappeared beneath the soil, Jacob saw that a ridge appeared in the earth at that point. It seemed to stretch interminably, towards the horizon.

"It seems to go back," the robot was saying, "as far as I can dig. It must have sent this tendril out the last time we slowed down."

"So that was what you caught sight of," Jacob remarked, as the robot scrabbled furiously in the soil uncovering more of the strange object. In the end it gave up.

"There seems to be no end to it," it announced apologetically.

Jacob stared at the strand. "Whatever it is, it's very strange," he remarked. "Do you think that it's alive?"

"I am almost sure of it," the robot answered.

Jacob glared at the tendril. "But what is it's purpose?"

"I think that it has sought out the lorry for food."

"What? You mean that it eats metal?''

"I see no reason why it should not, master. After all, you need vitamin capsules and iron in your blood to remain healthy. Obviously there may be creatures who exist solely on metallic food."

"I'd sure like to take a look at this thing's digestive system, if that's the case. No wonder we can't sever it. It must be super-dense metal!"

"Look out, master," the robot warned. Jacob moved hurriedly out of the way as the tendril tautened. The lorry began to inch backwards.

"My God, but this creature's strong," Jacob cursed. He leapt back into the cab with surprising agility for a man of his bulk. The robot jumped in beside him as the lorry accelerated backwards. The man pressed the starter button. "Let's see who's the strongest," he grated.

A second passed, and nothing happened. More, and still the motor was silent.

"There seems to be a fault in the engine," said the robot unnecessarily.

"Damn!" ejaculated Jacob. "And it's no good me putting on the brakes, either. It'll only wear down the tyres. Oh well, it looks like we're going to meet our captor."

The truck lurched on for several minutes, before it suddenly slowed and skidded to a halt.

"Quick," rapped Jacob to the robot. "Out!

The robot dived out of the door and Jacob followed, grunting with pain as he struck the hard ground at an awkward angle. He gasped with amazement as the robot helped him up. All around the spot where the tendril disappeared beneath the Earth, monstrous cracks were appearing. Something was coming-out, and whatever it was, it was big. Suddenly it emerged in a welter of soil. In appearance, it resembled a huge, surrealistic spider. Beneath it lay coiled what looked like miles and miles of legs. It opened the six eyes that were spaced at equal distances around it's nightmarish head. It's body throbbed rhythmically until Jacob had to turn from it in revulsion.

"Master, it's going to eat the truck," the robot warned.

Jacob stood gazing at the spider, as if mesmerised. The robot acted swiftly. Opening the inspection hatch in his chest, he dragged out a loose wire. He touched the wire to the lorry's chassis. There was a spectacular flash, and the spider whipped back, writhing. It's legs began to lash about in a wild frenzy, threatening to decapitate them. The robot moved towards Jacob, but it was strangely lethargic.

"That effort has almost drained my power supply," it explained weakly.

Jacob was recovering his senses slowly. He stared in amazement as one of the creature's flailing limbs knocked the robot to the ground. It picked itself up slowly.

"I was wrong, master," it apologised. "I thought that the power shock might kill the creature, but it merely seems to have sent it into some strange ecstasy. We must get oo-uu-tt f-a-ssss-t." The robot's voice was like a record being played at the wrong speed. Jacob motioned urgently to it.

"Quick. Get up into the cab," he ordered.

The robot moved slowly towards the truck. Jacob rushed past it, and ripped open the hood. He noticed a piece of the creatures tendril had wormed its way into the engine and dislodged the connector to the computer control. He reconnected it, praying that this was all that was wrong with the vehicle. He dashed round to the cab, avoiding the spider's lashings. He shoved the robot in and leapt in after it. He pushed the starter button, and muttered a silent prayer of thanks as the engine spluttered into life.

Jacob put the truck in gear and drove off at top speed. As the truck jerked forward, one of the spider's monstrous legs crashed down on the very spot where it had stood immobilised, a few moments before.

After he had put a good few miles between himself and the monster, Jacob halted the truck and examined the robot. It seemed completely inert. He bit his flabby lip. What could he do now? Where could he find a new fuel supply for his faithful servant? He shook his head sadly and drove on.

14

Orange 34 looked back, he knew the messengers of the Gods moved only in the backstreets and shadows. They would not risk showing themselves to the people, in case they asked questions and began to think. He looked at the population as they milled around him. Blank expressionless faces; they might as well he dead. Dead! Blue 453f. He had left her! They would surely destroy her. He couldn't go back, or they would get him as well. Where could he go? There was nowhere to hide in the town of Iron, and the town on Steel was no better. All that lay between them was wasteland. There was only one place for him to go.

He realised that he was entering the factory gate and here broke away from the others. He waited in the shadows until they had all gone to their posts. He walked out into the deserted yards. While the people were at the afternoon fun session, the automatic machinery of the factory had been loading the lorries to transport the sections of the buildings to the city of Steel. He looked at the lorries, they were ready to go. The drivers came out from the inner building. They took no notice of him. He smiled inwardly. They would assume he was on some sort of job; it would not register in their minds that he would dare to miss his shift. The drivers climbed into their cabs and began to warm up the motors. Orange 34 moved quickly towards the convoy. It would have to be the last lorry. He came up from behind and opened the door of the cab. The driver turned his head casually to see what he wanted. As he turned, Orange 34's fist smashed into his jaw. The driver slumped forward with a low moan. He felt no pity for the man, he was just another lifeless puppet. He pushed the man down onto the floor. Quickly he studied the control panel. Although he had never driven one of these machines, he remembered being taught at a lecture many years ago. The convoy moved off and he depressed the starting lever. It was done a little too quickly. The lorry shot off and it was only by a quick stab on the brakes, that stopped him smashing into the lorry in front.

Sweat stood out on his forehead as he edged his lorry back into line with the others. He would have to be more careful.

As the convoy wound round the deserted streets, Orange 34 was unable to ponder the situation further. It took all of his concentration to keep the vehicle under control. Each instrument responded violently to the slightest touch. He realised that this was another trick of the Gods to keep the drivers from thinking about anything else.

The convoy was now on the outskirts of the city and moving out into the desert. Orange 34 looked out of the window and saw a car behind him. It was the messengers! They must have realised that be would try to escape from the city, and these were the only vehicles available. He swerved off the road onto the grass verge, and pressed the accelerator button. The result was astonishing. His lorry shot ahead of the others and threw him back into his seat. The speed was as great as that of the car coming up from behind. He bumped up and down on his seat as the lorry hurtled across the uneven surface. He managed to force a smile; the drivers of the other lorries had taken no notice of this, and merely continued their journey. He swerved left now, turning so fast that the lorry nearly went over. The car had accelerated and was gaining on him. A tingle of excitement shivered through him, a feeling so alien that he was taken aback for a second and lost control of the lorry. To regain control he had to slam on the brakes. As he started up again, he saw the car was now close behind him. They continued this way for five hours, neither able to better or worsen the situation. He glanced down at the fuel gauge, as he brushed the sweat from his eyes as it poured from his forehead. It was getting low, but there was his objective ahead. The vast wall, that stretched up for a hundred feet and all around the planet.

This was his only chance to shake them off, he thought. If they were still there when he reached the wall, he could never climb it without them being able to shoot him at their will. He clicked a small control at the base of the panel downwards. It released the lorries trailer. The car was too close behind to stop and smashed into it. Bodies were thrown out onto the wasteland, but his plan had backfired. The release of the trailer had relieved the motor of its burden. It shot forward. Orange 34 slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. He was too near the wall to stop in time!

He put his hand up in front of his face to shield it from the smashing glass and twisting metal. The smash never came. The lorry cab skidded to a halt. Orange 34 looked up in surprise. He was in a bleak, desolate, grey land. Am I dead? he thought. Cautiously he got out of the cab and stood on the dead soil. He turned and looked behind him. The wall had vanished! What madness was this?

15

Jacob drove on for some time, without finding an answer to his problem. Then, as he thought the monotony of the barren desert would last forever, a flash of light caught his eye. He stared up and followed it as it sped into the sky, like a shooting star in reverse. Suddenly, it burst into multicoloured flame. Jacob gasped.

"It's a flare," he muttered, as he swung the truck around and sped towards the source of the light. Could it be Michelle? He accelerated still further.

Half an hour later he found himself at the top of a hill. He stared down into the valley beneath him, and suppressed a gasp of amazement. It was the shrine of the war. A vast crater stretched out towards the horizon, and, at it's centre stood a small house of stone marking the site of the final battle of the war. He thought back to those days. Initially a robot rebellion, revolting against their human masters. They had gathered in a house not unlike the one that now stood on it's site. One huge bomb had wiped them out to the last member. The remaining robots shipped in from the home world gave a solemn vow of obedience and trust. After the tumult of war had died, men and robots together had erected this shrine on the site of the destruction, as a dread warning for future generations. A warning against those few brief days of hate, when men had destroyed their servants and servants had torn their masters limb from limb.

But the lessons of that short war had not been heeded. For soon after the whole Galaxy was engulfed in a war that lasted a thousand years when the man-machine Mechanika unleashed a massive horde of killer robots against the Living Being Alliance. By the time it was over, the Galaxy had been lain to waste.

He drove the vehicle down into the valley and pulled outside the hut. He opened the door and stepped into an empty room. He smiled grimly at the holographic images on the wall. They had been part of the unheeded warning. They depicted scenes of carnage and destruction. Jacob shuddered and opened an inner door. Then he stiffened. In the centre of this room sat a strange, hunched-up figure. By it's side were two things. The first was a flare-gun, but it was the second that held Jacob's attention. It was a board and roughly scrawled upon it was the legend: 'I KILLED FIFTY TWO BILLION LIVING BEINGS.'

The thing turned slowly and stared Jacob. It might have passed for a human being, but for the hole in the side of it's head, from which glistening wires protruded loosely.

"So we meet at last," the creature hissed. "I guessed that you had been destroyed."

"It would seem that you were not a casualty either," observed Jacob. His eyes narrowed. "How is it that I can know you, for you are not as you were."

"Nor you," the being responded, "but then little is as it seems." It leapt up at lunged at Jacob, passing straight through him. It gave a hollow laugh then returned to its original crouching position. "Go now," it continued, "on to your destiny, then we may all be freed from this place." It began to shimmer and then vanished.

Jacob turned away his body was shaking wildly. Fighting to control himself, he waddled back across the chamber.

By the time he had returned to the vehicle and put some distance between himself and the Shrine, the robot was showing signs of having recharged itself sufficiently to recommence operating. "Where is the monster, master?" it asked.

"We got away from it," Jacob replied. "Mostly thanks to your quick action."

The robot contented itself with gazing from the window as the truck churned onwards across the weird landscape. "The colours are dimmer here," it remarked, as they entered a region a little less garish than those that they had previously traversed.

Jacob nodded. "Yes. Either the disturbance back at the mirror garden is abating in force, or we are going out of it's range."

As they moved on the light began to fade, and Jacob realised with a start that nightfall was upon them. There had been no darkness in the mirror garden, and he had almost forgotten that such a state existed. He informed the robot of what was happening. "I remember the nightfall," it replied. "It was a long time ago, before .... I don't know. My memory is very blurred, master. What was it like then? Why has it changed?"

"One day," promised Jacob, "I will explain it all to you. But now I am tired. I must sleep. You drive." Thankful that the robot did not press the subject further, he lay back and closed his eyes.

16

Orange 34 looked again, the grass field ended where he considered the wall should have been. He was about to investigate, when he saw some of the messengers who had survived the crash come running towards the wall. They stopped and obviously could not see him, although he could see and hear them. What was this - a one way wall? But no, he had passed through it. He listened to what they were saying:

"But he went through.."

"..then he must have been one of the Gods..."

"Fools. He was no God. There are only five Gods, and I, as your Commander, once saw an image of them. He was not one of them."

"But he went through the wall of the Gods.."

"Then the Gods will deal with him as they see fit."

"...if a mere man like him can pass through the wall, then we, as messengers of the Gods, should be able to as well."

There followed a general mumbling, and one man stepped forward. Suddenly a voice boomed out from all around them.

"STOP! I am a God, and I forbid you to come further. We shall deal with this interloper who has dared to pollute our haven. Go back to the village."

The men all fell on their faces like a pack of cards. When the voice had finished, they crawled backwards to the wreck of their car. Despite the apparent damage, it still managed to go, and they limped off towards the city of Iron as fast as they could manage.

Orange 34 smiled to himself. He was not frightened and he grew braver as each second passed, A year ago he would never have considered missing a fun session, yet alone entering the domain of the Gods. He looked around, the place seemed deserted. He dragged the man from the cab, and heaved him to the other side of the wall. When he awoke, he would probably run all the way back to the city of Iron.

A sudden resentment boiled up inside him for these 'Gods'. He was convinced they were not Gods at all.

He saw shapes approaching from the distance. This would be the showdown, but he had no weapons. He would fight them barehanded.

He hid behind the cab of the lorry, laying in wait. The figures began to span out, and only two were coming in his direction. They seemed to be pulling something, but he couldn't make out what. They were still too far away.

As they came nearer his view was cut off as he moved to a position where he could not be seen. He lay there waiting as the sound of one of their movement grew near. A strange feeling welled up inside of him, a feeling of hatred. He wanted to kill. He stalked around the cab. The figure was coming at him from the other side. He stepped out into it's view. "Here I am," he shouted. "Come and get me."

He gasped. The thing that came towards him was not human. It was made of metal and glided just above the ground. He stood in front of it, but it moved towards him without appearing to see him. At the last moment, it veered away sharply. Once it was around him, it swung back onto its original course.

Robot! The word drifted into his brain from his subconscious.

It was a robot! What was a robot? How did he know what a robot was? What did they have to do with Gods? Questions. Questions. He clutched his head, as he felt himself spinning around. Too many questions. There was a pain in his head. His brain seemed to be exploding. Dizzy. Spinning. He fell onto the dead grey soil. Darkness covered him .....

17

Jacob awoke to find the dark giving way to a new dawn. "What has occurred during the night?" he asked the robot.

"Nothing of import," the machine replied. "But I have remembered.''

Jacob's head jerked up. "Remembered what?"

"What it was like before. Men and robots worked together. Until - there was some kind of conflict." The robot's voice trailed away.

Jacob spoke hastily, in an effort to forestall any further discussion of the subject. "Yes," he confirmed, "Things went wrong." He changed subject hurriedly, glancing out the cab window. "Look," he rapped, "there are lights to the north."

The robot followed his gaze. "Yes," it agreed. "It must be the City Of Ice."

Jacob took the wheel excitedly, pressing on the accelerator fiercely. The truck sped towards the cluster of lights. Shapes became visible. Glistening, translucent towers took on form, designed with a strange almost alien beauty. They shimmered in the street lighting, twinkling more brightly as they drew near.

Jacob halted the truck in an outlying district, where the lights were less brightly lit, and strange structures packed less tightly together. His eyes picked out a shape moving along the street towards them. It seemed to be some of vehicle.

Jacob stepped from the cab the car as it pulled up beside them, the robot following in his wake. He peered warily at the occupant of the other vehicle, then let out a sigh of relief. The driver appeared to be of human design. He climbed down and held out a hand in welcome. "Jacob?" the android asked in confirmation.

"Yes," replied the fat man. "But how did you know?"

"You were expected," replied the other. "We have been waiting a long time." The newcomer motioned Jacob and the robot into his car and they drove off down the street, towards the centre of the city. They passed up a series of sloping ramps, and Jacob realised that this main section of the metropolis was built above ground level, which explained why he had seen the lights from so far off.

"So this is the City of Ice," he remarked to the driver.

"So is it called by some, yes," the being replied, applying the brakes. Jacob saw that they had pulled up outside an impressive looking building which glittered in the multicoloured lights of the city centre. Jacob alighted from the car and moved towards the building, his robot following. They walked to the door and opened it. As they entered the vast room on the other side, a shadow of disappointment crossed Jacob's flabby features. The chamber was empty. Was it all some kind of trick? Then he turned swiftly as a hidden door, set into the far wall, swung open. He gazed at the figure who emerged, his pulses throbbing madly. It was Michelle. She stood before him, just as he remembered her from his dreams. The same long hair, the same sparkle in her dark eyes, the same small, ever-smiling mouth. She wore a tight fitting metallic-lustered gown that hugged every curve and contour of her body. Jacob was, for a moment, filled with disbelief. He had never really expected to see her again.

"Hello," she greeted softly.

"Michelle," he gulped. "I thought you were gone for good."

She smiled and shook her head. "No," she confirmed, "but then we are all eternal here aren't we?"

Jacob looked confused.

"They have explained it all to me," she continued, "about you, the paradox, everything." She stepped forward and gripped her arm. "You hold the key to it all," she continued urgently. "Only you can break the cycle!"

Jacob clutched his head with his hands. He felt he knew what she was talking about, yet didn't. Suddenly however, a brief vision of clarity emerged; not of what she spoke, but of events earlier at the Shrine. "Was it the human, or the robot?" he whispered. "Or both...." His voice trailed away.

The girl began to shake him violently. "Tell me you remember," she urged, "before you came here and locked us all in this paradox."

"Paradox?" Jacob asked feebly. He felt weak. He wanted to sit down.

"The garden," the girl cursed, "The Garden Of Eternal Dreams. You created it when you came here. Sucked into a concurrent yet different dimension. We are locked in two dimensions at once; only you can free us!"

"Two Dimensions At Once," Jacob muttered, "a planet.......a paradox.........that existed before it should have.........the time warp............the total disaster..........the Brightness!" A look of complete terror crossed his face. "I am responsible," he breathed, "I did it."

The girl now looked puzzled. "What?" she asked.

"In the future," he explained, "the near future...........what little future there is left.........."

18

When Orange 34 awoke, everything was dark. Where was the sky? He was in a room. His head still ached. He mustn't think so much, not yet anyway. He stumbled towards a door, it hissed open. He shielded his face from the sunlight that burst across his face as he walked into the room. A room it was, but there were no windows. He looked up, the whole of the ceiling was emitting light. Bright light, twice as bright as day.

He peered around the room through shielded eyes. The room was full of luxurious fittings. He walked wearily over to one of the chairs and collapsed into it. His mind was in turmoil. There were so many questions that remained unanswered, but he felt he was near the centre of power here. He closed his eyes to the bright light that beat down on him, but he still couldn't stop the deep throbbing. What had happened to him?

He mustn't sit here any longer. He must get up and search for the Gods. He would make them answer his questions. He strode over to the other door in a purposeful manner. The door hissed open, and he was about to stride into the next room, when he stopped on the brink. There was no room next door! For as far as he looked in all directions there was nothing. There was no ceiling, no floor, nothing except black emptiness. What was this? Was this the home of the Gods? Something began to materialise in front of him. It was a hand, no two hands. They appeared from the darkness. He was so surprised, that as they grabbed him, he was caught off balance, and was dragged forward into the darkness. A great pain ripped through his head. Once more, he sunk into unconsciousness.

"..yes, as I suspected," a tired old voice spoke, "Orange 34."

"..but something; someone has infused into him..."

His vision returned. There were five people seated in a circle around him. They were all old; very old, no - incredibly old - living dead. He remembered life and death. These people looked alive, for they breathed, saw and spoke. He looked at them, surely they were dead. Many years ago... There were five of them! These were the Gods! He clutched his head, which throbbed with pain.

"You are no Gods," he cursed, "you are old and feeble!"

A woman spoke. Her voice was in a monotone, like the others, there was no life left in her. "Shall we tell him?" she asked.

"We shall have to," another replied.

"Listen," a further voice added. He sensed it was meant to be an order, but the voice was just a drone. He rubbed his eyes and their focus fully returned. He looked at the man who spoke. He moved his chair a fraction nearer, so that he could be heard better. "Who are you in there? Why have you come here? Will you resolve the paradox?"

Orange 34 looked bemused, what was this paradox of which they spoke...... yet something inside him, deep inside him understood, but it was buried, buried very deep. There was hate, incredible hate for these so called Gods.

"You ARE false Gods," Orange 34 spoke, yet the voice was not his, but from the thing deep inside him. "You are criminals, responsible for laying waste the Galaxy, for the death of fifty two billion of my soldiers!"

"Starblaster," one of the five hissed. "Of course, drawn here like us by the paradox!"

"Impossible," another countered.

Orange 34 was now aware of the truth, he could see it all. "You are or were the High Imperium of the Mechanika. It was your orders that released your robot horde which virtually destroyed the Galaxy. I have come here to deal out justice for your crimes."

The woman smiled almost sadly. "While the paradox continues," she explained, "you can do nothing."

"But," interrupted another member of the Imperium, "we think that soon the paradox will be broken!"

19

Jacob regarded the girl sadly. "I am a powerful matterist," he explained, "yet my powers were dormant within me for many years. Finally, they were awakened by my sub conscious. I created an emissary; why I did this, I was not sure at the time, yet I understood the paradox and had to try to break it, for that was the only way to save the Universe."

"The emissary was not enough, the paradox was not broken. So I myself travelled to where the paradox was created and to try and save the Universe. In doing so, I was the cause of the paradox's existence."

The girl listened, unable to comprehend.

"In the paradox, I created myself as someone else, though I was not aware I had done so. It was a barren world, bar for those also sucked into the paradox and the civilisation they built. I created my own little sanctuary and everything within it. When I travelled, everything I saw and encountered, was created from within my mind."

The girl shook her head slowly. "You created me?" she asked quietly.

Jacob nodded. "I missed you terribly, so I re-created you here, yet like my own image, you are not as you were."

The robot broke his silence. "You did not create me though master, did you?" he accused.

Jacob smiled sadly as he regarded the machine. "No," he confirmed. "You are the Wizard of a Billion Crystal Eyes, the greatest computer-machine that has ever existed. The war strategist and sole survivor of the feared robot army of the Mechanika, sucked here like their High Imperium into this paradox."

"I now understand," the robot replied. "But why was I brought here; for what purpose? Everything in the Universe has a purpose."

"That will become clear when the paradox ends," Jacob decided. "I feel that moment is near!"

20

S'Ha Hazur regarded the Eternal Wonderer with growing confidence. "I am the creation of Dvarv," he explained. "He has, by design or accident, endowed me with the power that he has. I too, am a powerful matterist, I realise this now. I created a being in the image of the warrior, Zion Starblaster and sent him to the planet Two Dimensions At Once, for I believed he could break the paradox. Yet he cannot."

"I must travel to where the paradox was created and try to save the Universe. I believe I have the power to burrow a tunnel into the new dimension that Dvarv has created, for I know that if I cannot stop him, the Brightness will engulf him and everything else in the Universe."

"How can I help?" the Wonderer asked.

S'Ha Hazur shook his head. "Even your Eternal Wonder is no match for the forces at work here. As we speak, twelve million ships of the Sk'An Urz have been summoned from the Universe's rim. Already they mass in the skies above us, their density of numbers turning our day into night as they block the light of the Sun. With luck, they will be able to follow me through the tunnel I will create and help to overpower Dvarv."

"Good luck," The Eternal Wonderer replied earnestly.

"I shall need all the luck in the Cosmos," S'Ha Hazur replied, "or you and I, along with everyone else in the Universe, will never meet again!"

21

"I speak with two voices," Orange 34 addressed the High Imperium of the Mechanika, "yet these voices speak the same." He paused for a moment as further comprehension dawned inside him and further rage boiled up inside him. "I am NOT Orange 34," he cursed, "I know that now. I am Zion Starblaster!"

"Were," the female member of the High Imperium corrected in her dull monotone. "When your forces stormed our home planet, Earth, the battle was decisive. With the majority of our elite robot army tricked into confinement far away by the matterist known as the Eternal Wonderer, it was clear this was a battle we would lose. The High Imperium's inner sanctum was about to be breached. Your battle strategy had no logic, the losses you were sustaining were unacceptably high."

"We had to abandon our master battle computer, yet as we fled the planet, we discovered your command ship, fatally damaged; the remainder of the crew severely wounded. Along with you were many of your commanding officers; a useful bargaining weapon should we be apprehended."

"Yet as we escaped, deep into space, we were sucked into this ......... paradox."

Another of the High Command continued the story in a dull monotone. "Trapped here, we set to building our own civilisation. We repaired you and your comrades-"

"You mechanised us," Orange 34 cursed, "turned us into semi-machine slaves. Rebuilt your own little microcosm of your former Empire. While we pointlessly and mindlessly slaved outside, your lived in here pretending to be Gods." He regarded them each in turn with equal contempt. "Look at you, what good has your mechanical reengineering done you. You have aged to little more than spectres!"

"In your part of the world, " another of the High Imperium explained, "the paradox exists only once. In here, it is replayed time after time, yet we live on and through it into the next and the next."

"Eighteen million years," another of the High Imperium droned. "This has gone on for eighteen million years. The Universe no longer exists, only the paradox, playing out to eternity."

"But this time we sense it is different," the female stated. "The two dimensions that exist at once are about to become one!"

22

"I can end this paradox," Jacob decreed. "I can remove the walls between the two dimensions."

"Do it master," the robot urged.

"Very well," Jacob decided. "Let it be."

23

It was a small room. A small room for a small wizened man. S'Ha Hazur regarded his creator with a cool detachment, for here was the greatest threat the Universe had ever known.

Dvarv looked up from his work. "Hazur!" he exclaimed in genuine surprise. His eyes narrowed. "Perhaps I should have expected this. I created you in my dotage. I did not fully understand everything I did at the time. I suppose you have come here to try and destroy me?"

"To stop you," S'Ha Hazur corrected. "You are meddling with powers beyond even your mighty control."

Dvarv allowed a crooked smile to pass his lips. "You cannot stop me," he explained, "I am already far too powerful for that. Yet I will not destroy you either. Who knows what little tricks I have imbedded inside you, perhaps an anti-matter capsule like in my former creation 1,2,3; or something far more sinister."

"Stop," S'Ha Hazur commanded, "for the sake of the Universe!"

Dvarv's eyes shone with a fanatical fervour. "I do this for the Universe," he blazed. "There was not enough power in the Galactic Suns to create a race of beings that could last to re-colonise the Universe. Having tricked the Wonderer into believing I was dead, I escaped to this sanctuary and contacted Kor'De Way-Nah, the Brightness. With his power, I CAN create beings that will last!"

"Alta'Car is dead!" S'Ha Hazur cursed. "My precious flower, snuffed out before her time. Had I then known of my matterist powers, I could have saved her! But you had not allowed that!"

"So," Dvarv continued, "you feel hatred. That is bad. That makes you far more dangerous."

"Then give up this madness," S'Ha Hazur implored. "There has been too much playing at Gods already."

"Playing!" Dvarv cursed, "I am not playing. With the power of the Brightness, I shall be the greatest being the Universe has ever created. No, more powerful than the Universe itself!!"

S'Ha Hazur realised that if the Sk'An Urz had been able to follow him through the tunnel into his strange dimension, they would have done so by now. The power to stay in this new entity was sapping his new but considerable matterist powers, as he had to continuously regenerate himself to remain here.

Dvarv raised his hands in triumph. "Go," he commanded Hazur, blasting him with a beam of matterist power. "When the Wonderer enslaved the robot army in their tomb, he twisted the space-time continuum and created a tiny fissure. Get back to your own time through that!"

S'Ha Hazur fought to resist the beam.

"Don't make me increase the power," Dvarv cursed, "or there is no bounds what will happen!"

"I will resist you," Hazur cursed. "My power is as great as yours. For now I am absorbing your power that you beam at me!"

"As did the matterist, Jocure," Dvarv sneered, "and it blasted him to bits!"

The instrumentation in the small room began to go haywire. Dvarv laughed with a maniacal fury. "Contact with the Brightness is completed," he screamed, "now his power will transfer into me! Then everything will be mine!!"

24

It had seemed too easy to Jacob to dissolve the barriers of the two dimensions that held the paradox together, yet he was no longer Jacob, he was S'Ha Hazur again. His robot, the war machine of the Mechanika, the Wizard Of A Billion Crystal Eyes. They regarded the six figures that stood in front of them.

All his matterist creations were gone. This place was black, very black indeed. Apart from the seven beings, there was nothing here at all.

Starblaster looked confused. The High Imperium of the Mechanika responded as one. "The paradox is broken. We are reunited with our war strategist. A new dawn is breaking. The Mechanika will reign supreme again!"

S'Ha Hazur shook his head. "There are no dawns here. No Suns to bring a dawn. There is nothing."

"No reason to kill here," Starblaster added sombrely.

The robot digested the data the High Imperium were feeding it. It nodded, in an almost human manner. "After the robotic war was lost, I laid low in the rubble of the planet Earth. Slowly I regrouped my remaining forces, and recruited other metallic brothers. I linked to every data system I could find. I continued my plan for Galactic domination. Yet I was thwarted by a powerful matterist, the one named Dvarv, who snuffed me out almost as a whim. I then became part of the paradox."

"And can lead us from here?" the High Imperium queried.

"The paradox that you knew has gone," the robot explained. "But we are in a new paradox."

"How long will we be trapped here?" the High Imperium demanded.

"How long is eternity?" the robot asked. It paused, analysing more data. "Eternity is itself a paradox," it added.

S'Ha Hazur and Zion Starblaster nodded in perfect unison.

25

S'Ha Hazur felt the sick sensation of failure. He could no longer protect himself from and absorb Dvarv's forces that he sprayed at him, whilst at the same time regenerating himself to remain in this alien dimension. He knew he was losing his grip. As he lost the battle, he transferred as much of his matterist powers that he could back into the tunnel he had created, forcing a tiny opening in the space time continuum that had resealed itself behind him.

He was sent spinning through the fissure near the Tomb Of The Robots back into his own dimension. Yet he had dragged part of this new dimension with him. It existed, yet it could not. He wiped his mind clean of the terrible events that were unfolding in the dimension he had just left. He severed the final thread of the link there; it was too awful to witness, too awful to even wish to understand. Only one thought remained, how could he still exist here in this tiny dimension that covered a whole planet? It was a strange paradox indeed. Yet he closed his mind to even this, retreating into himself to hide the memory of his failure. He cocooned himself in fantasy.

26

Dvarv began to sense the true power of Kor'De Way-Nah. This was a mighty force indeed. Yet he had experienced only a tiny fragment of it so far. This was a brightness beyond anything anyone had ever known or ever experienced.

Millions of voices whispered in his mind, finding their way through the tiny opening S'Ha Hazur had forged. "We are the Sk'An Urz .............. there is still time ............... let us through ............... we can stop the Brightness ........... even now .................. we live only to defeat the Brightness ................ death to the Brightness and all its allies ................ victory to the Universe.........."

Dvarv dismissed their pleas with the final four words spoken by a being in the Universe. Yet it was not spoken in triumph, but failure. He knew he could not control the brightness that was greater than him, greater than any God, greater than the Universe itself. He spoke with the infinite sadness of defeat.

"Sk'An Urz live in vain."

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