Rama: The Omnibus

by Arthur C. Clarke

  The octospider didn't say anything for several seconds. "All right, Nicole," she said finally, "I will go with you. Even though I think you should be resting in bed… And I doubt if there's anything that can be done."

  "Thank you very much," Nicole said, forgetting herself for a moment and hugging Dr. Blue.

  "You must promise me one thing," Dr. Blue said as they walked together out the front door. "You must not push yourself too hard tonight. Tell me if you are feeling weak."

  "I'll even lean on you as we walk," Nicole said with a smile.

  They moved slowly into the street, the unlikely pair. Two of Dr. Blue's tentacles were supporting Nicole at all times. Nevertheless, the day's activities and emotions had taken a toll on Nicole's meager energy supply. She was feeling fatigue before they reached the transport stop.

  She stopped to rest. The distant sounds she had been hearing, but not noticing, became more prominent. "Bombs," Nicole said to Dr. Blue. "A lot of them."

  "We were told to expect helicopter raids," the octospider said. "But I wonder why there were no flares."

  Suddenly part of the domed canopy over their heads exploded in a great fireball. Moments later Nicole heard a deafening sound. She held tightly to Dr. Blue and stared at the inferno above her. In the flames she thought she could see the remnants of a helicopter. Burning pieces of the dome were falling from the sky, some landing no more than a kilometer away.

  Nicole could not catch her breath. Dr. Blue could see the strain on her face. "I'll never make it," Nicole said. She clutched the octospider with all the strength she had remaining. "You must go see the Chief Optimizer without me," she said. "As my friend. Ask her—no, beg her to do something for Katie and Robert. Tell her it's a personal favor…For me."

  "I'll do what I can," Dr. Blue replied. "But first we must take you back."

  "Mother," Nicole heard Patrick yell behind her. He was running down the street toward them. When he reached them, Dr. Blue boarded the transport. Nicole looked up at the dome just as a helicopter blade, wrapped in burning foliage, fell out of the sky and crashed in the distance.

  9

  Katie dropped the syringe in the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. "There," she said out loud, "that's much better. I'm not trembling anymore." She was wearing the same dress she had worn to her father's hearing. Katie had made that decision also the week before, when she had told Franz what she was planning to do.

  She turned around, watching her reflection critically. What is that swelling on my forearm? she wondered. Katie had not noticed it before. On her right arm, halfway between her elbow and her wrist, there was a lump the size of a golf ball. She rubbed it. The swelling felt tender when she pressed it, but it neither hurt nor itched unless she touched it directly.

  Katie shrugged and walked into her living room. The papers she had prepared were lying on the coffee table. She smoked a cigarette while she organized the document. Then she placed the papers in a large envelope.

  The phone call from Nakamura's office had come that morning. The sweet female voice had told Katie that Nakamura could see her at five o'clock in the afternoon. When she had put down the phone, Katie had hardly been able to contain herself. She had almost given up hope that she would be able to see him at all. Three days earlier, when she had called to make an appointment "to talk about their mutual business," Nakamura's receptionist had told her that he was extremely busy with the war effort and was not scheduling unrelated meetings.

  Katie checked her watch again. It was fifteen minutes until five. To walk from her apartment to the palace would take ten minutes. She picked up the envelope and opened the door to her apartment.

  The wait was destroying her self-confidence. It was already six o'clock and Katie had not even been admitted yet to the inner sanctum, the Japanese part of the palace where Nakamura worked and lived. Twice she had gone to the rest room, both times inquiring on her way back to her seat if the wait would be much longer. The girl at the desk next to the door had twice responded with a vague, unknowing gesture.

  Katie was struggling with herself. The kokomo was starting to wear off, and she was having doubts. While smoking a cigarette in the rest room, she had tried to forget her anxieties by thinking about Franz. She remembered the last time that they had made love. His eyes had been heavy with sadness when he had departed. He does love me, Katie thought, in his own way.

  The Japanese girl was standing at the door. "You may go in now," she said. Katie crossed back through the waiting room and entered the main part of the palace. She took off her shoes, placed them on a shelf, and walked on the tatami in her stocking feet. An escort, a policewoman named Marge, greeted her and instructed Katie to follow her. Clutching her envelope of papers in her hand, Katie walked 'behind the policewoman for ten or fifteen meters until a screen opened on their right. "Please go in," Marge said.

  Another policewoman, Oriental but not Japanese, was waiting in the room. She was wearing a gun in a holster on her hip. "Security around Nakamura-san is especially tight right now," Marge explained. "Please take off all your clothes and jewelry."

  "All my clothes?" Katie asked. "Even my panties?"

  "Everything," the other woman said.

  Her clothes were all folded neatly and placed in a basket marked with her name. The jewelry went into a special box. While Katie was naked, Marge checked her everywhere, including her private parts. She even inspected the inside of Katie's mouth, holding her tongue depressed for almost thirty seconds. Katie was then handed a blue and white yukata and a pair of Japanese slippers. "You may now go with Bangorn to the last waiting room," Marge said.

  Katie picked up her envelope and started to leave. The Oriental policewoman stopped her. "Everything stays here," she said.

  "But this is a business meeting," Katie protested. "What I want to discuss with Mr. Nakamura is in this envelope."

  The two women opened the envelope and took out the papers. They held each individual paper up to the light and then passed them, one at a time, through some kind of screening machine. Finally they replaced the papers in the envelope and the woman named Bangorn motioned for Katie to follow her.

  The final waiting room was another fifteen meters down the hall. Again Katie had to sit and wait. She could feel herself starting to shake. It isn't going to work, she said to herself. What a fool I am!

  As she sat, Katie began to yearn desperately for some kokomo. She could not recall ever wanting anything so much. Fearful that she was going to start crying, she asked Bangorn if she could go again to the rest room. The policewoman accompanied her. At least Katie was able to wash her face.

  When the two of them returned, Nakamura himself was standing in the waiting room. Katie thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Nakamura was wearing a yellow and black kimono covered with bright flowers. "Hello, Katie," he said with a leering smile. "I have not seen you for a long time."

  "Hello, Toshio-san," she replied, her voice breaking.

  Katie followed him into his office and sat down, cross-legged, at a low table. Nakamura was opposite her. Bangorn stayed in the room, standing unobtrusively over in a corner. Oh, no, Katie said to herself when the policewoman did not leave. What do I do now?

  "I thought," Katie said to Nakamura a moment later, trying to sound normal, "that a report on our business was long overdue." She pulled the papers out of the envelope. "Despite the poor economy, we have managed to increase our profits by ten percent. In this summary sheet," she said, handing a page to Nakamura, "you can see that although the Vegas revenues are down, the local take, where the prices are cheaper, is up substantially. Even in San Miguel—"

  He glanced at the paper quickly and then put it down on the table. "You don't need to show me any data," Nakamura said. "Everyone knows what a superb businesswoman you are." He reached over to his left and retrieved a large black-lacquer box. "Your performance has been outstanding," he said. "If times were not so tough, you would definitely merit a large raise. As it is,
I would like to offer you this gift as a token of my appreciation."

  Nakamura pushed the box across the table to Katie. "Thank you," she said, admiring the mountains and snow inlaid on its top. It was indeed beautiful.

  "Open it," he said, reaching for one of the wrapped candies in the bowl on the table.

  Katie opened the box. It was full of kokomo. A genuine smile of delight crossed her face. "Thank you, Toshio-san," she said. "You are most generous."

  "You may sample it," he said, now grinning. "You won't insult me."

  Katie put a small amount of the powder on her tongue. It was top quality. Without hesitation, she pinched a chunk of powder out of the box and held it against her left nostril with her little finger. Closing off the right nostril, Katie inhaled deeply. She took slow, deep breaths while the rush took effect. Then she laughed. "Whewee," Katie said uninhibitedly. "That's great stuff!"

  "I thought you would like it," Nakamura said. He idly tossed his candy wrapper in the small wastebasket next to the table. It will be in there somewhere, Katie remembered Franz telling her. In some inconspicuous spot. Look in the wastebaskets. Look behind the curtains.

  The New Eden dictator was smiling at her from across the table. "Was there anything else?" he asked.

  Katie took a deep breath as she smiled. "Only this," she said. She stretched forward, put her elbows on the table, and kissed him on the lips. She felt the policewoman's rough hands on her shoulders moments later. "That's a small token of my thanks for the kokomo."

  She had not misjudged him. The lust in his eyes was unmistakable. Nakamura waved Bangorn away. "You may leave us," he said to the policewoman as he rose from his sitting position. "Come over here, Katie. Give me a real kiss."

  Katie checked the small wastebasket as she danced around the table. There was nothing except candy wrappers in it. Of course, she thought. That would be too obvious. Now I must make this good. She teased Nakamura first with one kiss and then with another. Her tongue tickled his lips and tongue. Then she pulled away quickly, still laughing. Nakamura started to follow her.

  "No," she said, backing up toward the door. "Not yet … we're just getting started."

  Nakamura stood still and grinned. "I had forgotten how talented you are," he said. "Those girls are lucky to have you as a mentor."

  "It takes an exceptional man to bring out the best in me," Katie said, locking and bolting the door. Her eyes roamed quickly around the office and landed on another small wastebasket, over in the far corner. That would be the perfect place, she said to herself excitedly.

  "Are you just going to stand there, Toshio," Katie said now, "or are you going to get me a drink?"

  "Of course," Nakamura said, moving toward the handcarved liquor cabinet under the solitary window. "Straight whiskey, wasn't it?"

  "Your memory is phenomenal," Katie said.

  "I remember you very well," Nakamura said as he prepared two drinks. "How could I ever forget all those games—especially the princess and the slave, that was my favorite… We had such fun there for a while."

  Until you insisted on bringing in others. And even more disgusting things, Katie thought. You made it clear that I was not enough by myself. "Boy," she barked suddenly in an imperious tone, "I am thirsty. Where is my drink?"

  A quick frown crossed Nakamura's face before he broke into a wide smile. "Yes, Your Highness," he said, bringing her a drink with his head held low. He bowed. "Is there anything else, Your Highness?" he said obsequiously.

  "Yes," Katie responded, taking the drink with her left hand and reaching aggressively under Nakamura's kimono "with her right. She watched him close his eyes. Katie kissed him hard while continuing to arouse him.

  She pulled away abruptly. While he was watching her, Katie slowly took off her yukata. Nakamura advanced. Katie stuck out her arms. "Now, boy," she ordered, "turn down those lights and lie over there on the mat, on your back, next to the table."

  Nakamura dutifully complied. Katie walked over to where he was lying. "Now," she said in a gentler tone, "you do remember what your princess needs, don't you? Slowly, very slowly, without any hurry." She reached down and fondled him. "I do believe that Musashi is almost ready."

  Katie kissed Nakamura, caressing his face and neck with her fingers. "Now close your eyes," she whispered in his ear, "and count to ten, very slowly."

  "Ichi, ni, san…" he said breathlessly.

  With astonishing celerity, Katie swept across the room ; to the other wastebasket. She pushed aside some papers and found the gun.

  "…shi, go, ryoku…"

  Her heart pounding furiously, Katie picked up the gun, turned around, and headed back toward Nakamura.

  "…shichi, hachi, kyu…"

  "This is for what you did to my father," Katie said, sticking the barrel of the gun against his forehead. She pulled the trigger just as the astonished Nakamura opened his eyes.

  "And this is for what you did to me," she said, firing three bullets into his genitals in rapid succession.

  The guards broke down the door in seconds. But she was too quick. "And this, Katie Wakefield," she said in a loud voice, sticking the gun in her mouth, "is for what you did to yourself."

  Ellie awakened when she heard the keys rustling in the lock on her cell. She rubbed her eyes. "Is that you, Robert?" she asked.

  "Yes, Ellie," he said. He came into the cell just as she stood up. Robert put his arms around Ellie and hugged her fiercely. "I'm so glad to see you," he said. "I came as soon as Herbert told me the guards had abandoned the station."

  Robert kissed his puzzled wife. "I'm terribly sorry, Ellie," he said. "I was very, very wrong."

  It took Ellie a few seconds to gather her bearings. "They abandoned the station?" she said. "Why, Robert? What's going on?"

  "Complete and total chaos," he said heavily. He looked utterly defeated.

  "What do you mean, Robert?" Ellie said, suddenly afraid. "Nikki's all right, isn't she?"

  "She's fine, Ellie. But people are dying in droves. And we don't know why. Ed Stafford collapsed an hour ago and was dead before I could even examine him. It's some kind of monstrous plague."

  The octospiders, Ellie thought immediately. They have finally fought back. She held her husband against her while he wept. After several seconds he pulled away and spoke. "I'm sorry, Ellie. There has been so much turmoil. Are you all right?"

  "I'm okay, Robert. No one has questioned or tortured me for several days. But where's Nikki?"

  "She's with Brian Walsh at our house. You remember Brian, Patrick's computer friend? He's been helping me take care of Nikki since you've been gone. Poor guy, he found both his parents dead the day before yesterday when he woke up."

  Ellie walked out of the police station with Robert. He was talking continuously, rambling from subject to subject, but Ellie was able to comprehend a few things from his almost incoherent chatter. According to Robert, there had been over three hundred unexplained deaths in New Eden in just the last two days. And the end was nowhere in sight. "It's strange," he muttered. "Only one child has died. Most of the victims have been old."

  In front of the Beauvois police station, a desperate woman in her mid-thirties recognized and then grabbed Robert. "You must come with me, Doctor, immediately," the woman yelled in a shrill voice. "My husband is unconscious. He was sitting there with me eating lunch and he began to complain of a headache. When I came back from the kitchen, he was lying on the floor. I'm afraid he's dead."

  "You see," Robert said, turning to Ellie.

  "Go with her," Ellie said, "and then to the hospital if you must. I'll go home and take care of Nikki. We'll be waiting for you." She leaned over and kissed him. Ellie started to say something to Robert about the octospiders but decided against it.

  "Mommy, Mommy," Nikki yelled. She ran down the hall and jumped into Ellie's arms. "I've missed you, Mommy."

  "And I have missed you, my angel," Ellie said. "What have you been doing?"

  "I've been playing with Brian," N
ikki answered. "He's" a very nice man. He reads to me and teaches me all about numbers."

  Brian Walsh, who was in his early twenties, came around the corner holding a children's book. "Hello, Mrs. Turner," he said. "I don't know if you remember me…"

  "Of course I do, Brian. And I'm just Ellie. I really do want to thank you for helping with Nikki."

  "I'm glad to do it, Ellie. She's a great kid. She's kept my mind off a lot of painful thoughts—"

  "Robert told me about your parents," Ellie interrupted. "I'm terribly sorry."

  Brian shook his head. "It was so weird. They were both perfectly fine the night before, when they went to bed." Tears came into his eyes. "They looked so peaceful…"

  He turned away and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes. "Several of my friends say this plague, or whatever it is, was caused by the octospiders. Do you think that maybe—"

  "Possibly," Ellie said. "We may have pushed them too far."

  "Are we all going to die?" Brian asked.

  "I don't know," Ellie answered. "I really don't."

  They stood in awkward silence for several seconds. "Well, at least your sister got rid of Nakamura," Brian said suddenly.

  Ellie was certain she had not heard the sentence correctly. "What are you talking about, Brian?" she asked.

  "You didn't hear about it? Four days ago Katie assassinated Nakamura … and then killed herself."

  Ellie was stunned. She stared at Brian in utter disbelief. "Daddy told me about Aunt Katie yesterday," Nikki said to her mother. "He said he wanted to be the one to tell me."

  Ellie could not say anything. Her head was spinning. She managed to say good-bye to Brian and to thank him again. Then she sat down on the couch. Nikki crawled up beside her mother and put her head on Ellie's lap. They sat together quietly for a long time.