Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

offer.
    "There is no need to break Quarantine. No need to put at risk any living being, by our entering the Maze. We propose to teleport the entire structure of the Madness Maze out of Haden and into the depths of our home, Shub. Teleport it straight into a specially prepared laboratory, deep in the heart of the planet, and hold it secure behind our most powerful energy fields. We can then study the Maze at our leisure, and undertake whatever experiments we deem necessary, without endangering any living forms.
    Shub is a long way from any colonized world, and in the unlikely event that anything should go wrong, no living soul will be affected. We are confident Shub can contain any force the Maze might unleash.
    "Of course, all useful data resulting from our experiments will be shared equally with our partners in the Empire."
    Gilad Xiang, Member for Zenith, was the first on his feet. "This is Shub arrogance at its worst! Human scientists have been studying the Madness Maze for hundreds of years, and despite all their best efforts it's still a complete mystery. Unless Shub has been keeping secrets from us, its technology is no more advanced than ours. That was the deal the AIs made when they became part of the Empire. And now they propose to bodily uplift the Maze from where it has existed for over a thousand years? We have no way of knowing how the Maze might react to being disturbed in such a way!"
    "You've had your chance," said the robot. "Now it's our turn. Are you perhaps afraid that we might learn the Maze's secrets, transcend, and leave poor Humanity behind?"
    "Moving the Maze is just too dangerous," Xiang said stubbornly. "What if it declines to be moved? We all know what the Maze has done to people in the past, just for walking inside it. Meddle with the Maze, and you might destroy Haden. Or Shub. We might even end up with another Darkvoid! No; there are far too many unknowns in what you're proposing. The Quarantine remains in force after all these years precisely because we're still no closer understanding a damned thing about what the Maze is."
    "I would have to agree," said Tel Markham, for Madraguda. "What if teleporting damaged the Maze?
    Could you repair it? I very much doubt it. You could throw away all our chances for transcendence, in your impatience. Shub has a presence among the scientific team on Haden. Settle for that."
    "Your caution in this matter is unacceptable," said the robot. "You have achieved nothing. We require access to the Maze. It is necessary."
    "No it isn't," said Meerah Puri, for Malediction, just as flatly. "The Maze, and what we all hope to gain from it, are still nothing more than theories. Mysteries. A handful of people entered the Maze and became more than people; but they were still mortal. They still died, in the end. I mean no disrespect to their memory, but they weren't gods. You expect too much from the Maze, Shub. Ten thousand men and women died in the Maze, chasing that dream. We won't risk any more. Not until we're sure the game is worth the candle."
    The robot looked around the House. "And this is the decision of you all? We see that it is. Very well.
    There will be repercussions over this." It sat down, and looked straight ahead, ignoring everyone.
    "If the AIs are our children, as the blessed Diana taught us," King Douglas said dryly, "God help us when they become surly teenagers."
    There was a low chuckle of laughter from the House, and the subject moved smoothly on to the next item on the Agenda, which just happened to be the equally thorny issue of Transmutation tech. Now that any form of matter could be made over into any other form, useful material could be produced from dross at the press of a button. As a result, there was no more hunger, no real poverty anywhere; but there were still haves and have-nots. Rich worlds and poor. Also, as populations lived longer, and expanded to cover most of the planets they lived on, the less waste material there was to be used in transmutation. So the Transmutation Board was set up, and made responsible for selecting uninhabited planets, that they might be mined to produce base material for the Empire.
    As simple and straightforward as that. Lead into gold. Dirt into food. But now questions were being raised about the Board, and its distribution of the Empire's largesse. Even in an age of plenty, there are always those convinced that someone somewhere is getting more than their fair share.
    "Some worlds are still getting