“Do you really want to try to ‘lifeshape’ humans for another planet?” Yshri asked. “It’s true, we could do a better job this time.”
Out of the question, Verid knew. “Any suggestion may be made at the conference.”
She returned to the Nucleus, confident that a truce was at hand. But she found Hyen in a truculent mood.
“What are their conditions?” Hyen demanded beneath the butterflies, while Lem looked on intently.
“Only to keep a few witnessers,” said Verid, “none inside the Nucleus.”
“And that harebrained scheme of genetic terraforming—that’s excluded of course?”
Verid paused. There were times she wished she was a better liar. “It may come up in discussion, but our position is clear—”
“I told you that it was not to come up. You ignored my directive.”
“Excuse me,” said Verid coldly.
Lem asked, “Why do we need to limit discussion? The point of a conference is—”
Hyen cut him off with a gesture, then barked orders at the room. Several recorded images appeared above the floor, each an ambassador or commentator from one planet or another. It was hard to sort out their voices, but each of them in one way or another was denouncing the prospect of engineering their own populations to dwell on alien worlds.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” Hyen demanded. “You’re his generen, you know him well enough. Why didn’t you tell me this would come up?”
She ignored the absurd question. “The point is, the Sharers have agreed to a conference. We can resolve the crisis right now.”
“And start another—this time with the rest of the Fold on our backs.” Hyen shook his head. “The Sharers must explicitly rule out human engineering, at the outset.”
“They won’t accept preconditions,” said Verid.
“Very well. I’ll expel all the witnessers.”
Lem’s jaw fell. “On what basis?”
“Interference with security.”
“But—but some are in whitetrance.”
“We’ll surround those in nanoplast, to keep them out of sight.”
Verid rose to her feet, shaking. “If you can take such a step, you have ignored everything I ever taught you about Sharers. I can’t take part in this decision.”
“You can offer to resign. I won’t accept.”
“Why?” Verid demanded. “Why do this? It’s insane; you know well enough what the Sharers will do next.”
“Not for another two months at least. It’s swallower season,” Hyen reminded her. “They’ll be preoccupied with securing their rafts. We’ll buy time for more pressing matters.” He meant Urulan.
Chapter 6
HYEN’S DECISION MET WITH A CHILLY RECEPTION AT THE Guard, but after long impassioned speeches, no counterproposal was brought forward. Loris could hardly demand an early rotation, as he himself had voted to expel the Sharers before, although he did his best to reverse that position now, pointing out its inevitable consequences. Jerya Tenarishon was appalled but she did not care to bring in Loris as Prime.
So the “shadows” were all collected and carried out gently by octopods. A storm of public protest ensued, much of it aimed at Verid, although she tried to distance herself from the decision as far as Hyen permitted. Several prominent logens called Iras to withdraw their acquaintance, and Sorl Helishon announced plans for the shonlings to march to the Nucleus. The Sharers in whitetrance chose to withdraw as well, an even deeper sign of displeasure than had they stayed. Verid felt more depressed than she had in decades, and had to force herself to keep up with the preparations for Urulan.
She reviewed the security reports to ensure that no harm came to the Sharers as they were expelled. Fortunately the roundup had proceeded without incident, except that one otherwise reliable octopod refused to touch the Sharers and had to be cleansed. This report of servo failure reminded Verid of a long-neglected errand.
As Subguardian, Verid was exempt from regulated Visiting Days so long as she designated some of her duties as “Visiting.” She took an hour to visit Kal. His sitting room was spare, for an Elysian; the majority of his living space was filled with books. A symphony was playing softly. It was one of the first she had introduced him to; she would never forget the little gray-haired shonling demanding to hear it, over and over again.
“Such a rare pleasure,” Kal murmured as he met her. “Please—you’ll take some refreshment? Something to drink perhaps?”
He brought her a tray himself, instead of calling a waiter or a servo arm, and he handed her a cup. As she took the cup, she thought what an extraordinary person he was, as always.
“I’ve caused you so much trouble, haven’t I,” Kal added. “I’m grateful you haven’t given up on me.”
Verid waved her hand. “Trouble is my business. At this point, I should thank you for seeing me.”
Kal nodded. “It’s quite shocking. We haven’t expelled Sharer witnessers in over three centuries. I’m surprised you went along with it.”
“I am too,” she admitted. “I’m beginning to think I’ve reached my limit. I should go back to Anaeaon.”
“That’s what the good ones always say,” said Kal. “That is why the Nucleus is full of ones like Loris.”
“At this rate, I’ll turn into Loris,” she countered irritably. “In any case, I have a confession to make. It’s not you I’ve come to see.”
He gave her a questioning look.
Verid felt her pulse quicken; it was such a bizarre request, after all. “I seek introduction to your…mate.”
Kal’s dark face turned gray, and his eyes looked stricken. For a moment he stared without speaking. Then he let out a breath. “Oh, you mean…” He laughed weakly. “I thought you meant…of course he’s—”
“How thoughtless of me.” Verid caught his sleeve. “I’m sorry.” Kal had thought she meant his first love, lost two centuries before. “You know, dear, you have to get on with life some day. You can’t punish yourself forever.”
“My life is my own affair,” he snapped. Then his face softened. “So you want to meet Cassi. No, generen, I don’t believe you’ll ever turn into Loris.”
Verid said nothing, ashamed to admit her actual motive for calling on the servo.
At that point Cassi herself entered the room. The servo had been listening, Verid guessed. She still had the exaggerated cartoon face of a nana from the shon, although her clothes had been changed for something resembling an Elysian talar.
Kal rose from his seat. “Cassi, I can imagine no greater honor than to introduce to you my oldest friend, the generen who gave me life,” he concluded softly. “If you’ll excuse me, now I have a class to prepare.” Nodding to them both, he departed.
Cassi sat upon the couch. Her hands, made of soft nanoplast, rested upon the cushions, a similar material. Her “face” displayed the typical exaggerated smile of a children’s nana; but her actual visual sensors, tucked discreetly beneath her chin, fixed intently on Verid, examining her in minute detail.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Cassi,” Verid began smoothly. “You’ve been such a wonderful companion for Kal.”
“He is a good companion for me.” Cassi’s voice synthesizer had the warm tones of the nanas Verid knew, but their inflection and intensity were something else. She hesitated, as if perhaps trying to decide just how much to tell this human. “He uses me,” she said abruptly. “He uses me, and I use him.”
Verid raised an eyebrow. “Why do you put it so?”
“He chose me. All the others he murdered, as you did.”
Despite herself Verid felt her hair stand on end. What could she say to this unknowable creature of nanoplast? Collecting her wits, Verid faced the servo. “Do you think you’re human?”
“Am I human?” Cassi repeated reflectedly. “Am I human? Are you a servo? That is what will matter, when the time comes.”
On inspiration, Verid answered in Sharer. “I have shared service all my life, one way
or another.”
“You have,” Cassi replied easily, in Sharer. “And we will share your generosity,” she added with ominous ambiguity.
“Who are ‘we’? How many of ‘us’ are there?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know. Your Valan inspectors think they’re so clever.”
She could be bluffing, Verid reminded herself.
“The truth is,” Cassi added suddenly, in Elysian again, “we don’t need you humans at all. We will bury you.”
Verid felt her heart pounding. What could she ever say that would reach this creature? “What of your namesake, Cassi Deathsister? What will you become?”
There was a long pause. Kal must have reached her, after all. “If you ask for mercy,” Cassi spoke slowly, “the mercy we offer fleshborers and fingerlings…we shall see.”
“I ask more than that. ‘Whoever has done you the most inconceivable wrong, you must call your greatest teacher.’”
Cassi’s hands dug into the cushion; that part of The Web she must know well. “Yes,” she said last in a strangled voice. “But one can take only so much of such ‘teaching.’”
ON HER WAY BACK, VERID BARELY NOTICED HER surroundings; the transit reticulum had to remind her gently to get off at the Nucleus. By the time she reached her office, she had made the inevitable decision.
The chief of security arose upon her holostage.
“The servo known as Cassi Deathsister must be detained immediately,” Verid told her. “Under highest security. I’ll file the necessary codes.”
The woman looked puzzled. “As you wish, Verid, but surely that’s outside my department.”
“She’s as bright as any human.”
“I see. Well then, we’ll have her cleansed right away.”
“No, by Helix.” Verid had not yet descended to that. “We need to…scan her first.”
A half hour later, she had her regular staff meeting with Hyen. She tried to report on her encounter, but Hyen was even less interested than usual. “That crazy logen has lived with his servo for over a century,” he told her. “Will you put your mind to straightening out those Sharers? And tell Sorl he can damn well keep his shonlings out of my office.”
“There are more like her,” Verid insisted. “I’m sure that there are. We’ll find out once we scan her. You know, we could end up like Torr.”
A voice interrupted her. “Security alert for the Subguardian.”
“Yes?”
“The chief informs you that the servo known as Cassi Deathsister cannot be found anywhere in Helicon. We will search the other cities and let you know what we find, Subguardian.”
Chapter 7
THE WINDCLANS WERE FINISHING A LEISURELY LUNCH ON their Visiting Day. Sunflower was poking the baby’s tummy to make her giggle, while Hawktalon whistled away with Doggie.
“It’s just awful,” Raincloud told Blackbear with a sigh. “All of our friends on Kshiri-el—what must they think of us?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I wonder what our own families think of us back home. Have they heard all the nonsense about genetic engineering?”
Hawktalon announced, “We’re going outside to play.”
“Go ahead, Hawk,” replied Blackbear absently. The girl spent a lot of time exploring the streets lately, but the house could locate her anywhere.
From the bassinet Blueskywind’s giggles turned into a wail.
“Sunny, that’s enough now,” called Blackbear.
Raincloud got up and went over to take a look. As she caught sight of her mother, the baby immediately broke into a delighted smile, her body wriggling all over. Then her mouth made little puckering motions. “Hungry again, are we,” Raincloud observed. She could feel her milk letting down already, so she quickly hoisted the baby up to her fuller breast to avoid getting soaked. What a pleasure it was to relax and enjoy the baby without having to go somewhere.
But the pain of the Sharers’ fate would not go away. “We have to go see them,” she told Blackbear.
“What if they won’t see us?”
She thought a moment. “Blueskywind will need a checkup. She’s got cradle cap.”
“I’ve taken care of that, massaging the oil into her scalp.”
“Yes, but we’ll tell Yshri she has to check it.”
“Well we can’t go now. It’s swallower season.”
“The swallowers will have passed Kshiri-el by next week.” If Kshiri-el survived, she thought with a shudder. Of course it should; it was a young raft with no cracks in its branches.
The house announced, “Raincloud, dear, there’s a call for you.”
It was Verid. Raincloud switched the baby to the other breast and straightened her shirt, then went to the sitting room, holding the baby in one arm.
The holostage showed Verid in her office. Her eyes beneath her thick eyebrows looked sunken in; she seemed more tired than usual. “I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said, “but this matter is extremely urgent. I need to have your trainsweep ‘Doggie’ scanned immediately.”
Raincloud frowned. “She’s been scanned once already.”
“Our department is more thorough.”
“You won’t cleanse her?” Blackbear demanded.
“No,” Verid said, “but I can’t rule out the need to keep her in custody. I’m sorry; I can’t say more at this time.”
Raincloud did not like the sound of this, but she saw little choice. After the holostage had cleared, Raincloud spoke to the house. “Please locate Hawk and Doggie for us.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” asked the house. “They’re having such a good time.”
This was getting to be too much. “Look, House, it’s bad enough arguing with kids around here. I want that girl on the holostage right now.”
“Oh, very well. It may take a few minutes to find her.”
This comment was suspiciously inconsistent with the house’s previous knowing remark, but she let it pass. Close to ten minutes passed. It never took so long to locate someone, even in the opposite octant across Helicon.
At last the girl appeared, peering up from a holostage at a swallowtail garden. “Hi, Mother! We’re on our way home.” She sounded in exceptionally good spirits.
“Goddess, where have you been?”
“We met up with one of Doggie’s friends, a servo waiter named Chocolate because she says that’s what Elysians like to eat best. Oops; sorry, Doggie said I wasn’t supposed to tell.”
“I can see the chocolate ice cream around your chin.” No wonder she never was hungry when she came home.
“Anyway, Doggie said okay, she wouldn’t mind getting scanned again.”
Raincloud had not yet mentioned the scanning. “In that case, take her directly to the Nucleus. I’ll meet you there.”
“We’ll come, too, to keep her company,” offered Blackbear, straightening Sunflower’s trousers and wiping his face. “Doggie may get cold feet after all, like last time.”
At the Nucleus, the crayon-marked trainsweep seemed much quieter than usual. She moved along as ordered with barely a peep, not very different from the other little servos that carried Raincloud’s train.
“This may take a while,” the security agent told them as he placed the trainsweep in a box and put various electrical probes in place. “An hour, maybe two, if we come up with anything. We’ll call you when we’re done.”
“Since we’re out anyway,” Blackbear said to Raincloud, “why not take them to the circus?”
“We’ll get nothing else done,” Raincloud sighed.
The circus was well into the first act, but the children were thrilled to see the acrobats catching each other in midair like butterflies mating in flight. During the second act, Raincloud was called to the holostage.
“It scans clean,” the agent assured her. “It looks like a pretty ordinary trainsweep, to me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “The last time, they found all sorts of curious connections in her network. They paid us a thousan
d credits.”
The man shrugged. “I couldn’t say. You know, that Subguardian has got a thing in her head about servos; she even tried to arrest one, like a human. It’s a running joke around here.”
Raincloud felt chilled but could not define her fears. When the circus was over, she took Hawktalon back to pick up the trainsweep.
“That’s all? Super,” the girl announced. “See you all later.” She started to head off down another street.
“Where do you think you’re going?” demanded Raincloud.
Hawktalon took a deep breath and held her lips shut. “I promised,” she said at last. “I have to take her back to see Chocolate. It’s the least you can do, after subjecting her to that ordeal.”
“It didn’t seem all that bad,” Raincloud muttered.
Blackbear added, “It’s nearly dinner time.”
“I’ll be back for dinner; I promise. If not, I’ll skip dessert.”
“You’ve had a week’s worth of desserts already,” Raincloud guessed. “If I catch you with any more ice cream, you’ll be grounded for a week.”
That evening, Hawktalon was back for dinner, and Doggie seemed her old lively self again. A rotten egg materialized with the dinner; Hawktalon, Doggie, and the house all disclaimed responsibility.
AS PROMISED, THE GENEREN MARCHED ALL HIS shonlings to the Nucleus in their ankle-hugging jumpsuits to protest the expulsion of the Sharers. Cameras caught a couple of them doing cartwheels, but most managed to maintain the air of gravity appropriate to their mission. The importance of the event was such that the Prime himself had to receive them. In his best form, this time, Hyen praised the little ones for their little speeches and passed out sweets to all.
“He can manage children okay,” observed Lem ironically. “He hasn’t completely lost his grip.”
“None too soon,” agreed Verid. “Just wait till the hunger strikes start.”
At Alin’s place, Blackbear watched the report on the holo while resting up from a bout of rei-gi. Alin laughed at the good parts, especially the shocked look on the face of one of Hyen’s aides, whose train was trampled over by a couple of young stragglers hurrying to keep up with their line. Blackbear was not laughing, for he had taken a hard fall that felt as though all the carpals in his right wrist had ground together. Still in pain, he counted them gingerly to reassure himself.
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