by Greg Bear
The farthest southern extension of the city was a broad Maltese cross, extended from two cubes mounted one behind the other on the flaw. The center of the cross accepted the flaw, which then extended through the cubes. Here was the machinery which powered, propelled and guided the city along the singularity. The same effect that could move the city along the flaw, and had propelled the tuberider, also provided much of the city’s energy. Generators within the cubes were spun by turbines whose “blades” intersected the singularity and were subjected to the spatial transform.
(Where does the energy ultimately come from? Patricia asked herself. Did the question even have meaning?)
Beyond the two cubes was a wineglass-shaped buffer, the broad end placed flush against the first spinning cylinder, Axis Nader, where their quarters were located. Axis Nader was the oldest section of the city. After the final transfer of the orthodox Naderites from the Thistledown, they had been moved into Axis Nader, which became a kind of Naderite ghetto.
The then-expanding populations of neomorphs had moved north to Central City and the other rotating cylinders, newer and therefore more desirable in terms of real estate. Axis Nader rotated to produce a centrifugal force at its outermost levels about equal to the force in the Way. Its population was still largely orthodox Naderites, which, it went without saying, were almost entirely homorphic.
Beyond Axis Nader was Central City. The geometry of Central City’s architecture was dazzling by itself. Lanier’s curiosity triggered a graphic breakdown of the shape, beginning with a cube.
Each face of the cube supported a squat pyramid, the “steps” rotated slightly with respect to each other, creating a half-spiral. The overall shape could fit within a sphere about ten kilometers across and was rather like a Tower of Babel, as conceived by the twentieth-century artist M. C. Escher if he had collaborated with architect Paolo Soleri; in all respects, Central City was the showpiece of Axis City. The “twisted pyramid” motif seemed to be universal; it was also the shape of the gate terminals.
Beyond Central City was Axis Euclid, which contained a mixed population of neomorphs and homorphs of both Geshel and Naderite sympathies. Axis Thoreau and Axis Euclid counter-rotated to offset the rotation of Axis Nader, which was slightly larger than either of them.
The projected point of view returned to the Maltese cross at the southern end of the city. Within the center of the cross they found themselves in a docking facility, witnessing the outfitting of a much larger, much more sophisticated version of their own destroyed tuberider. Called a flawship, the craft was about a hundred meters long, shaped like an ocarina pinched in the’middle. The two segments of the spindle were almost featureless, one shiny gray-black, the other blue-violet.
Facts and figures accompanied the display. The flawship—one of a fleet of more than a hundred—could travel at five thousand kilometers a second. It could disengage from the flaw to allow other traffic to pass through--Heineman confessed he didn’t see how this was done, since the flaw passed right down the center of the ship—and it could also send out smaller craft for landing parties and reconnaissance.
Near the surface of the Way, the immense disks they had seen on their approach provided transportation for cargo and passengers on less extensive trips. The picted tour ended with a gold-and-silver armillary sphere whirling before them.
“Ser Olmy,” Lanier said.
“Yes?”
“Are we guests, or prisoners?”
“Neither, actually,” Olmy said. ”Depending on who you ask—and how honestly they answer—you are assets, or you are liabilities. Please remember that.
“We have three receptions planned,” he said. “One before the Hexamon Nexus, the second on the Frant homeworld, Thnbl, where we may be able to meet with the President, and the third at one point three ex nine, where a new gate is to be opened.”
Lanier stood slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“All right,” he said. ”We’ve gone public and now we’re being used for purposes of propaganda. It’ll take us years to become sophisticated here--maybe we’ll never make it, since we don’t have implants. But at least you’re showing us more than before. We’re no longer unblemished specimens of pre-Death Homo sapiens.” He paused, uncertain where he was heading. “But—”
“You’ll never be completely happy with my explanations,” Olmy interrupted. ”You sense however much we tell you, there’s a subtext you cannot understand. And you’re right. You’ll notice that I have never asked you to trust me. That would be more than I could reasonably expect. But for this once, it should be obvious that we can help each other enormously. You want to communicate with your fellows—and the Nexus must come to grips with your very presence, and what that implies. In the next few days, you’re going to learn more about the Way, and our mission here—more than even the data pillar could tell you. I’ll escort you, and Suli Ram Kikura and I will do everything in our power to plead your case—first, because it is just, and then because I believe that what is in your best interest, also serves the Nexus.”
Lanier looked at the other four, his gaze lingering on Farley and then Patricia. Farley smiled encouragement; Patricia’s expression was less clear.
“You have our cooperation, within reason, for seven more days,” Lanier said. ”If it isn’t obvious to me that our interests are being mutually served, and if we haven’t been allowed to communicate with the Thistledown, the cooperation stops. I don’t know how much of a threat that is,” he said, taking a deep breath. ”For all I know, you can create computer-generated images of us and make them do whatever you want, or even manufacture look-alike androids. But that’s our position.”
“Agreed,” Olmy said. ”Seven days.”
Olmy and Ram Kikura left them. Heineman swung his head back and forth slowly, then looked at Lanier. ”Well?”
“We keep on studying,” Lanier said. ”And we bide our time.”
Hoffman stood before the small mirror in her “cardboard condo,” as she had come’to call the room in the women’s bungalow. She decided she didn’t look too bad. She had been sleeping better the past few days.
The suicide rate had declined; her people—Hoffman always thought of them that way, soldiers and civilians—seemed to be accepting their fate, and plans were under way to re-outfit the shuttle and some of the Russian heavy-lifters and see if a trek to the Moon was possible. A few were even discussing an expedition to Earth and Rimskaya leading that program up.
Rinskaya had recovered with remarkable speed from his “lapse,” as he referred to it. He had been acutely embarrassed, and had finally requested--somewhat paradoxically-- that people stop being so understanding. ”Be as hard on me as I would be on you,” he had demanded.
Hoffman had immediately put him in charge of logistics, an area she knew he would handle well. Always put a tough (but very smart) sonofabitch in front of the food and supply lockers. He would coordinate well with the Russians and he would take that load from her back. In his spare time—what little there was of it—he could confer with Gerhardt on their Earth plans. Hoffman had her own unique ways of being hard on people. Rimskaya seemed to flourish under the new and extensive work load.
Her only major worry, for now, was the fate of the tuberider expedition.
With the return of Mirsky, and the disappearance of the three political officers, the Russians were becoming more and more cooperative.
There was the problem of a shortage of women—there had been two rapes and several near instances, but that was fewer than she had expected.
Many soldiers--NATO and Russian--had donated small arms to the women. They had not had to use them yet.
Hoffman had an appointment to meet with Mirsky in the fourth chamber in an hour. It would be their second meeting since his return, and the agenda up for discussion was long but not riddled with crises.
With Beryl Wallace and two marines, she rode the zero train from the first chamber to the fourth, then transferred to a truck in the
NATO compound. The Russian compound had split into three during Mirsky’s absence; it now occupied a long stretch of shore and two offshore islands. Two large rafts had been slung together out of logs, and boats were being constructed slowly and painstakingly; there were no facilities for processing lumber yet, though it seemed there might be in a couple of months, and the materials available to the boatbuilders were primitive.
The spinward trip through the forest was pure pleasure for Hoffman. The Russian “mainland” compound was near the ninety train platform, about forty kilometers from the NATO compound. Some of the most rugged terrain and deepest woods surrounded the Stoner-built road. There was even a gentle rain that beaded the truck windows.
Wallace talked about the resumption of science in the sixth and seventh chambers; Hoffman listened and nodded, but found the subject somehow uninteresting. Wallace sensed this after a few minutes and allowed her to sink deeper into her reverie.
The Russian mainland compound resembled an old Western fort. Tall saplings had been stripped of branches and bark and erected to form a secondary wall of defense beyond a high rampart of dirt. Russian soldiers swung wide the gates at their approach, and swung them shut behind.
The first thing that caught Hoffman’s eye was a gallows. It stood—unoccupied, she thanked God—in the center of a quadrangle cleared of all grass and foliage and demarcated by head-sized boulders: Other log buildings were under construction; the most ambitious was going to be three stories tall, designed along the lines of an old Russian country house.
Soldiers motioned them to park the truck behind a long, narrow building made of split logs. Mirsky received them informally at a desk in the east end of the long building. There were no walls; other work areas and sleeping slings were open for all to see. Hoffman and Wallace shook his hand and he motioned for them to sit in the canvas chairs.
The marines stood outside, solemnly flanked by two Russian troopers.
He offered them tea. ”Part of our allotment from your commissary, I’m afraid,” he said. ”But it is good tea.”
“You’re making progress with the camp,” Hoffman said.
“Let’s speak English,” Mirsky suggested. ”I need to practice.”
He poured the dark amber tea into three lightweight plastic cups.
“Fine,” Hoffman said.
“I can’t take credit for the progress,” Mirsky said. ”You know I was not here when most of this work was done.”
“Everybody has been curious “Hoffman said.
.”Oh? About what?”
Hoffman smiled and shook her head. ”Never mind,” she said.
“No, I insist.” Mirsky’s eyes widened. ”What?”
“Your disappearance.”
He looked between them. ”I was dead,” he said. ”Then I was made well again. Does that answer your question?” Before she could reply, he said, “No, I wouldn’t think so. Well then, I don’t know. It’s as much a mystery to me as to you.”
“Well, whatever,” Hoffman said, relaxing her smile. ”We’re glad you’re back. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
First on the agenda was a discussion of the unloading of the heavy-lifter carrying equipment and supplies. It had remained docked in the bore hole since the Death; the crew had been allowed to evacuate, but no agreement had yet been reached on disposition of the cargo. In a few minutes, Hoffman and Mirsky negotiated a satisfactory procedure. All armaments would be left in a locked chamber in the staging area, guarded by Russians and NATO personnel; other materials would be delivered to the Russian fourth chamber compound. ”We need material to barter as much as we need the supplies,” Mirsky said.
The status of the Russian science team was next. Hoffman maintained that team members who wished to remain with the NATO group should be allowed to do so; Mirsky thought in silence for a moment, then nodded.
“I need no more people uncertain about my rule,” he said, regarding them both with eyes wide and facial muscles taut. He blinked twice, rapidly.
Hoffman glanced down at her notes. ”This is going even more smoothly than last time,” she said.
Mirsky leaned toward her, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. ”I am tired of disputes,” he said. ”I have the calm of a dead man, Miss Hoffman. I’m afraid I unsettle some of my comrades.”
“You keep saying you were killed. That doesn’t make sense, General.”
“Perhaps not. But it is true. I do not remember everything. But I remember I was shot in the head. Pogodin tells me they—” He held up his hands. ”You can deduce who killed me. Half my head.”
He waved his hand away from the right half of his skull. ”Killed, and then I was brought back to life again. I am thankful I was unarmed, or I might be where Belozersky, Vielgorsky and Yazykov are even now.”
“And where is that?”
“I’m not positive,” Mirsky said. ”In detention, perhaps. It seems Thistledown City still has the means to carry out its own law.”
“I thought that might be what happened. That means Thistledown City is still capable of making decisions and judgments, and acting on them.”
“We must watch our behavior there, no?” Mirsky suggested.
Hoffman nodded and returned to the agenda. One by one, within forty-five minutes, all the items were covered, negotiated and agreed to.
“It’s been a pleasure,” Mirsky said, standing and offering her his hand. Hoffman shook it firmly and he escorted them to the truck.
“What about the gallows?” Wallace asked as they backtracked anti-spinward to the zero compound. ”What are we going to make of that?”
“No more Mr. Nice Guy,” Hoffman suggested idly. ”Maybe it’s just a warning.”
“He’s spooky,” Wallace said.
Hoffman agreed. ”Very,” she said.
Chapter Fifty-five
From their quarters in Axis Nader, the five were taken by Suli Ram Kikura and the Frant to the flaw passage, around which the cylindrical precinct rotated. Their transportation was an empty shaft three kilometers long; their fall was similar to a ride in the apartment building elevator in Thistledown City, and therefore—mercifully—not too unexpected.
Carrolson enjoyed it the least of them; she had a distinct fear of precipices; not of heights per se, but of edges. She managed, however, with both Lanier’s and Ram Kikura’s encouragement. ”I’m not a goddamned old woman,” she said resentfully as they fell.
The flaw passage was a half-kilometer-wide pipe through the Axis City, with the singularity at its center. Hundreds of thousands of citizens lined the walls and floated in clutching, roiling yet very coordinated clusters along their path. Ram Kikura and the Frant conferred with the passage engineer, a female homorph who, like Olmy, was also self-contained and lacked nostrils.
The five were then introduced to the first of many city officials, the Minister of Axis Nader, a gray-haired, distinguished and hale-looking orthodox Naderite who flew a Japanese rising sun over his left shoulder. He seemed to have not an ounce of Oriental blood, but then, his form could have been artificial—probably was--and no one had time or much inclination to inquire. ”You may call me Mayor, if you like,” he said in perfect English and Chinese. These languages were now the rage of the four precincts, extending even beyond those who claimed specific ancestry.
On the flaw was a beetle-like, black maintenance vehicle not dissimilar to the one that had dismantled the tuberider. It was larger, however, equipped with a wide and well-appointed cabin, liberally decorated with rare (and genuine) red bunting.
Pictors projected very convincing fireworks around the vehicle and the flaw as Ram Kikura, the mayor and the Frant stood aside, allowing them to enter first. They took seats in a half-circle behind the controls and were gently clamped in by something they could not see.
The mayor took the controls--a Y-shaped black pillar with receptacles for the fingers of two hands—and the hatch irised shut silently.
They moved down the flaw, preceded by a faint pulse of
red. Fireworks still blossomed on all sides, sometimes harmlessly intersecting parts of the crowd.
“It’s not enough just to see you on the pictors,” Ram Kikura said. “People haven’t changed much. I’d guess that maybe a third of those out there are ghosts—picted themselves, with monitors at the center of their images. See and be seen.”
“Where’s Alice?” Heineman grumbled.
“Alice who?” Ram KLIcura asked.
“Just Alice,” Heineman said. ”I can’t help feeling we’re in Wonderland.”
“Are we missing someone?” the mayor asked, turning his head and appearing concerned.
“No,” the Frant said, making its tooth-grinding noise.
The journey took a half hour, covering fifteen kilometers from the vicinty of Axis Nader to the Central City. Here, the crowds were even more dense--and more disorderly. Individuals—neomorphs predominating—tried to block the slow progress of the maintenance vehicle and were gently brushed aside by the uncurling sheets of traction fields rippling ahead of the craft.
Patricia sat patiently, saying little, occasionally stealing a glance at Lanier. Lanier’s face wore a constant half-puzzled frown.
He lifted his lip slightly at the appearance of some of the neomorphs longated snake-like curls, shiny as chrome; fish, birds and radiolarian spheres like the silicate shells of plankton; varieties of human shape that went beyond the basic descripton of homorph. Farley absorbed it all with gape-jawed fascination.