A Deepness in the Sky Part 35

"Oh, yes. I've heard the word: a park or a bonsai that goes to extremes." Trud puffed up defensively. "Well, it is extreme; the Podmaster pushed for that. Look! An enormous microgravity park, perfectly imitating a planetary surface. It breaks a lot of aesthetic rules-yet knowing when to break the rules is the mark of a great Podmaster."

Pham shrugged, and continued to munch on Gonle's refreshments. He turned idly and looked up into the forest. The crest of the hill matched the true wall of the cavern, a standard parkbuilder trick. The trees stood ten and twenty meters tall, moss glistening cool and dark on their long trunks. Ali Lin had grown them on wires in incubator tents on Diamond One's surface. A year ago they had been three-centimeter seedlings. Now, by Ali's magic, these trees might have been centuries old. Here and there, dead wood of "older" forest generations lay gray within the blue and green. There were parkbuilders who could achieve such perfection from a single viewpoint. But Pham's hidden eyes looked from all directions, throughout the forest. The Podmaster's park was such a perfection at every level. Cubic meter for cubic meter it was as perfect as the finest Namqem bonsai.

"So," said Silipan, "I think you see why I have reason to be proud! Podmaster Nau provided the vision, but it was my work with system automation that guided the implementation."

Pham sensed the anger building in Ezr Vinh. No doubt he could contain it, but a good snoop would still pick it up. Pham punched Ezr lightly on the shoulder and gave the braying laugh that was a Trinli trademark. "Did you get that, Ezr? Trud, what you mean is the Focused persons you supervise did this." And supervise was too strong a word. Silipan was more of a custodian, but saying that would be an insult Trud could not forgive.

"Er, yes, the zipheads. Isn't that what I said?"

Rita Liao approached from the crowd around the tables. She was carrying food for two. "Anyone seen Jau? This place is so big you can lose someone."

"Haven't seen him," said Pham.

"The flight tech? I think he went around the other side of the lodge"-this from an Emergent, someone whose name Pham should not know. Nau and Qiwi had arranged an intersection of Watches for this open house so that there were some near-strangers in the crowd.

"Well, pus. I should just bounce off the ceiling and take a look." But even in the present mellow circ.u.mstances, Rita Liao was a good Emergent Follower. She kept her feet squarely on the gripping ground as she turned to scan the crowd. "Qiwi!" she shouted. "Have you seen my Jau?"

Qiwi detached herself from the group around Tomas Nau and shuffled up the walk toward them. "Yes," she said. Pham noticed Ezr Vinh backing off, heading for another group. "Jau didn't believe the pier was real, so I suggested he go take a look."

"It's real? The boat, too?"

"Sure. Come on down. I'll show you." The five of them walked down the path. Silipan strutted along in his silken rags, waving at others to follow. "See what we've done here!"

Pham sent his inner gaze ahead, studying the rocks around the pier, the bushes that leaned out over the water. This Balacrean vegetation was beautiful in a stark way that fit with the cool air. And the entrance to the utility tunnel was hidden in the cliff behind the blue-green fronds. Thismay be my best chance. Thismay be my best chance. Pham walked next to Qiwi, asking questions that hopefully would mark his presence later. "You can actually sail in it?" Pham walked next to Qiwi, asking questions that hopefully would mark his presence later. "You can actually sail in it?"

Qiwi smiled. "See for yourself."

Rita Liao made an exaggerated s.h.i.+vering sound. "It's cold enough to be real. North Paw is pretty, but can't you redial for something tropical?"

"No," said Silipan. He hurried to walk in front of them and lecture. "It's too real for that. Ali Lin's whole point was realism and detail." Now that Qiwi was present, he spoke of the zipheads like human beings.

The path wound back and forth, realistic switchbacks that took them down the rocky face of the harbor wall. Most of the guests were following, curious to see what this moorage could really be.

"Water looks awfully flat," someone said.

"Yes," said Qiwi. "Realistic waves are the hardest part. Some of my father's friends are working on that. If we can form the water surface on a short scale both in time and-" There was startled laughter as a trio of winged kittens zipped low and fast over their heads. The three skimmed out across the water, then climbed into the sky like strafing aircraft.

"I'll bet you they don't have that that at the real North Paw!" at the real North Paw!"

Qiwi laughed. "True. That was my price!" She smiled up at Pham. "Remember the kittens we had in the pre-Flight temp? When I was little-" She looked around, searching for a face in the crowd. "When I was little, someone gave me one for a pet."

There was still a little girl inside, who remembered other times. Pham ignored the wistfulness in her voice. His words came out bluff and patronizing. "Flying kittens don't have real significance. If you'd wanted a solid symbol, you'd have wombed some flying pigs."

"Pigs?" Trud stumbled, almost lost his stride. "Oh yeah, the 'n.o.ble winged pig.' "

"Yes, the spirit of programming. There are winged pigs in all the grandest temps."

"Yeah, sure. . .just get me an umbrella!" Trud shook his head, and some of those behind him were laughing. The flying pig mythos had never caught on at Balacrea.

Qiwi smiled at the byplay. "Maybe we should-I don't think I'll ever convince the kitties to scavenge floating trash."

In less than two hundred seconds, the crowd had ranged itself along the water's edge. Pham drifted away from Qiwi and Trud and Rita. He moved as if seeking the best vantage point. In fact, he was coming closer to the cover of the blue-green fronds. With any luck, there would be some excitement in the next few moments. Surely some fool would fall off the ground. He began a final security sweep across the localizer net. . . .

Rita Liao was no fool, but when she saw where Jau Xin was, she got a little careless. "Jau, what in Plague's Name are you doing-" She handed her food and drink to someone behind her and rushed out onto the pier. The boat there had slipped free, was sliding smoothly out into the inlet. Like the lodge and the pier, it was dark timber. But this wood was tarred near the boat's waterline, varnished and painted at the gunnels and prow. A Balacrean sail was hoisted on its single mast. Jau Xin grinned at the crowd from his seat amids.h.i.+ps.

"Jau Xin, you come back here! That's the Podmaster's boat. You'll-" Rita started running down the pier. She realized her mistake and tried to stop herself. When her feet left the ground she was moving at just a few centimeters per second. She floated off the platform, a-spin and embarra.s.sed, and loudly angry. If no one snagged her, she would sail over her errant husband's head, and come down in the lake a few hundred seconds later.

Time to move.His programs told him no one in the crowd was watching. His probes into Nau's security showed that no snoop was on him right now, and he had a glimpse of Reynolt still working at some drudge task back in the lodge. He blinded the localizers for an instant and stepped into the fronds. Just a little ma.s.saging of the digital record and there'd be proof he was here the whole time. He could do what was necessary and get back unnoticed. It was still as dangerous as h.e.l.l, even if Brughel's snoops were not on alert. But taking out Reynolt is necessary. But taking out Reynolt is necessary.

Pham finger-walked up the cliff face, slowed by the need to stay hidden behind the bushes. Even here, the artistry of Ali Lin was evident. The cliff could have been simple raw diamond, but Ali had imported rocks from the mineral dumps on the surface of the L1 jumble. They were discolored as if etched by the seepage of a thousand years. The rock was watercolor art as great as any ever painted on paper or digital. Ali Lin had been a first-rank parkbuilder before the expedition to OnOff. Sammy Park had picked Ali for the crew for that reason. But in the years since his Focus, he had become something greater, what a human could become if all his mind was concentrated on a single love. What he and his fellows had done was subtle and deep. . .and as much as anything it proved the power that Focus gave to the culture that possessed it. Using it is right. Using it is right.

The tunnel entrance was still a few meters farther up. Pham sensed a half-dozen localizers floating there, imaging the outlines of the door.

A small fraction of his attention remained with the crowd back at the harbor. No eyes looked back in his direction. Some of the nimbler partyers had scrambled out onto the pier and formed a chain of life that reached six or seven meters into the air, an acrobatic tumble of humanity. The men and women of the chain were in a dozen different orientations, the cla.s.sic zero-gee pose for such an operation. It broke the illusion of downness, and some of the Emergents looked away, groaning. Imagining the sea as flat and down was one thing. Suddenly seeing the sea as a watery cliff or a ceiling was enough to provoke nausea.

But then the tip of the chain extended a hand and grabbed Rita's ankle. The chain contracted, bringing her back to the ground. Pham tapped his palm, and the audio from the scene below came louder in his ear. Jau Xin was beginning to get embarra.s.sed. He apologized to his wife. "But Qiwi said it was okay. And face it, I am a s.p.a.ce pilot."

"A pilot manager, manager, Jau. It's not the same thing." Jau. It's not the same thing."

"Close enough. I can do some things without a ziphead to make it right." Jau sat back down by the mast. He tweaked the sail a little. The boat moved out around the pier. It stayed level in the water. Maybe suction was keeping it fitted to the surface. But its wake rose a half meter into the air, twisting and braiding the way surface tension makes free water do. The crowd applauded-even Rita, now-and Jau swung the craft around, trying to make it back to the moorage.

Pham pulled himself even with the tunnel entrance. His remotes had already been fiddling with the hatch. Everything Everything in this park was localizer-compatible, thank the Lord. The door opened silently. And when he drifted through, he had no trouble closing it behind him. in this park was localizer-compatible, thank the Lord. The door opened silently. And when he drifted through, he had no trouble closing it behind him.

He had maybe two hundred seconds.

He pushed quickly up the narrow tunnel. Here there was no illusion. These walls were raw crystal, the naked stuff of Diamond One. Pham pushed faster. The maps that unrolled before his eyes showed what he had seen before. Tomas Nau intended the Lake Park to be his central site; after this open house, outsider visits would be strictly limited. Nau had used the last of the thermal diggers to cut these narrow tunnels. They gave him direct physical access to the critical resources of Hammerfest.

Pham's tiny spies showed him to be just thirty meters short of the new entrance to the Focus clinic. Nau and Reynolt were safely at the party. All the MRI techs were at the party or off-Watch. He would have his time in the clinic, enough time for some sabotage. Pham twisted head for feet, and extended his hands as brakes against the walls.

Sabotage? Be honest. Be honest. It was murder. It was murder. No, it's an execution. Or a combatdeath upon an enemy. No, it's an execution. Or a combatdeath upon an enemy. Pham had killed his share in combat, and not always at the end of a s.h.i.+p-to-s.h.i.+p trajectory. Pham had killed his share in combat, and not always at the end of a s.h.i.+p-to-s.h.i.+p trajectory. This is no different. This is no different. So what if Reynolt was a Focused automaton now, a slave to Nau? There had been a time when her evil had been self-aware. Pham had learned enough about the Xevalle clique to know that its villainy was not just the invention of those who had destroyed it. There had been a time when Anne Reynolt had been like Ritser Brughel, though doubtless more effective. In appearance, the two could have been twins: pale-skinned, reddish-haired, with cold, killing eyes. Pham tried to catch the image, amplify it in his mind. Someday he would overthrow the Nau/Brughel regime. Someday Pham would invade the So what if Reynolt was a Focused automaton now, a slave to Nau? There had been a time when her evil had been self-aware. Pham had learned enough about the Xevalle clique to know that its villainy was not just the invention of those who had destroyed it. There had been a time when Anne Reynolt had been like Ritser Brughel, though doubtless more effective. In appearance, the two could have been twins: pale-skinned, reddish-haired, with cold, killing eyes. Pham tried to catch the image, amplify it in his mind. Someday he would overthrow the Nau/Brughel regime. Someday Pham would invade the Invisible Hand Invisible Hand and end the horror that Brughel had made there. and end the horror that Brughel had made there. What I doto Anne Reynolt is no different. What I doto Anne Reynolt is no different.

And Pham realized he was floating in front of the clinic entrance, his fingers poised to command it open. How much time have I wasted? How much time have I wasted? The time line he kept at the edge of his vision said only two seconds. The time line he kept at the edge of his vision said only two seconds.

He tapped his fingers angrily. The door slid open, and he floated through into the silent room. The clinic was brightly lit, but the vision behind his eyes was suddenly dark and vacant. He moved cautiously, like a man suddenly struck blind. The localizers from the tunnel, and what he shook out from his clothing, spread out around him, slowly giving him back his vision. He moved quickly to the MRI control table, trying to ignore the absence of vision in the corners and dead s.p.a.ces. The clinic was one place where the localizers could not survive long-term. When the big magnets were pulsed on, they fried the electronics in the localizers. Trud had taken to vacuuming them out after a magnet-accelerated dustmote had cut his ear.

But Pham Nuwen had no intention of pulsing the magnets, and his little spies would stay alive and well for the time it took him to set his trap. He moved across the room, quickly cataloguing the gear. As always, the clinic was an orderly maze of pale cabinets. Here wireless was not an option. Optical cables and short laser links connected automation to magnets. Superconducting power cables snaked back into areas he couldn't see yet. Ah. Ah. His localizers drifted near the controller cabinet. It was set just the way Trud had left it the last time he had been here. Nowadays, Pham spent many Ksecs each Watch with Trud in the clinic. Pham Trinli had never seemed pointedly curious about the workings of the Focus gear, but Trud liked to brag and Pham was gradually learning more and more. His localizers drifted near the controller cabinet. It was set just the way Trud had left it the last time he had been here. Nowadays, Pham spent many Ksecs each Watch with Trud in the clinic. Pham Trinli had never seemed pointedly curious about the workings of the Focus gear, but Trud liked to brag and Pham was gradually learning more and more.

Focus could kill easily enough. Pham floated above the alignment coils. The inner region of the MRI was less than fifty centimeters across, not even big enough for whole-body imaging. But this gear was for the head only, and imaging was only part of the game. It was the bank of high-frequency modulators that made this different from any conventional imagers. Under program control-programs mostly maintained by Anne Reynolt, despite Trud's claims-the modulators could tweak and stimulate the Focus virus in the victim's head. Millimeter by cubic millimeter the mindrot could be orchestrated in their psychoactive secretion. Even done perfectly, the disease had to be retuned every few Msecs, or the ziphead would drift into catatonia or hyperactivity. Small errors could produce dysfunction-about a quarter of Trud's work had to be redone. Moderate errors could easily destroy memory. Large errors could provoke a ma.s.sive stroke, the victim dying even faster than Xopi Reung had.

Anne Reynolt was due for such a ma.s.sive cerebral accident the next time she retuned herself.

He'd been gone from the Lake Park for almost one hundred seconds. Jau Xin was taking small groups for rides in the boat. Someone had finally fallen in the lake. Good. That will buy more time. Good. That will buy more time.

Pham pulled the hood off the controller box. There were interfaces to the superconductors. Things like that could fail, on rare occasions with no warning. Weaken the switch, tweak the management programs to recognize Reynolt when next she used the gear on herself. . . .

Since he'd entered the clinic, the active localizers he'd brought with him had spread across the clinic. It was a little like light spreading farther and farther into absolute dark, revealing more and more of the room. He'd set the images at a low priority while he examined the SC switch with nearly microscopic vision.

A flicker of motion.He glimpsed a pants leg pa.s.sing near one of the background views. Someone was hiding in the dead s.p.a.ce behind the cabinets. Pham oriented on the localizers and dived for the open s.p.a.ce above the cabinets.

A woman's voice: "Grab a stop and freeze!"

It was Anne Reynolt. She emerged from between the cabinets, just beyond where he could reach. She was holding a pointing device as though it were some kind of weapon.

Reynolt steadied herself on the ceiling and waggled the pointer at him. "Hand over hand, walk yourself back to the wall."

For an instant, Pham teetered on the edge of a frontal attack. The pointer could be a bluff, but even if it were guiding a cannon, what did it matter? The game was up. The only option left was swift and overwhelming violence, here and with the localizers all across Hammerfest. And maybe not. . . And maybe not. . . Pham retreated as instructed. Pham retreated as instructed.

Reynolt came out from behind the cabinets. She hooked a foot under a restraint. The pointer in her hand did not waver. "So. Mr. Pham Trinli. It's nice to finally know." With her free hand, she brushed her hair back from her face. Her huds were clear, and he had a good view into her eyes. There was something strange about her. Her face was as pale and cold as always, but the usual impatience and indifference was overlaid with a kind of triumph, a conscious arrogance. And. . .there was a smile, faint yet unmistakable, on her lips.

"You set me up, Anne, didn't you?" Back at Nau's lodge, he took another, longer look at what he thought had been Anne Reynolt. It was a patch of wallpaper, lying loosely on a bed. She had blinded the eyes that could get really close, and fooled him with a crude video.

She nodded. "I didn't know tas you, but yes. It's been clear for a long time that someone was manipulating my systems. At first, I thought it was Ritser or Kal Omo, playing political games. You were an outside bet, the fellow who was too often in the middle of things. First you were an old fool, then an old slavemaster in hiding as a fool. Now I see that you are something more, Mr. Trinli. Did you really think you could outsmart the Podmaster's systems forever?"

"I-" Pham's vision swept out of the room, roamed across Lake Park. The party was continuing. Tomas Nau himself and Qiwi had joined Jau Xin on the little sailboat. Pham zoomed in on Nau's face: he was not wearing huds. He was not a man overseeing an ambush. He doesn't know! He doesn't know! "I was very afraid I couldn't outsmart his systems forever-you, in particular." "I was very afraid I couldn't outsmart his systems forever-you, in particular."

She nodded. "I guessed whoever-it-was would target me. I'm the critical component." She glanced briefly away from him, at the uncovered controller box. "You knew I was retuning in the next Msec, didn't you?"

"Yes." And you need retuning more than I knew. And you need retuning more than I knew. Hope surged in him. She was behaving like a character in an idiot adventure. She hadn't told her boss what she was up to. She probably had no backups. And now she was just floating there, talking! Hope surged in him. She was behaving like a character in an idiot adventure. She hadn't told her boss what she was up to. She probably had no backups. And now she was just floating there, talking! Keep her talking. Keep her talking. "I figured I could weaken the SC switches. When you used the device, it would jam high and-" "I figured I could weaken the SC switches. When you used the device, it would jam high and-"

"-And I'd have a capillary blowout? Very crude, very fatal, Mr. Trinli. But then, you're not clever enough to try real reprogramming, are you?"

"No." How far out of calibration is she? Hit at emotion. How far out of calibration is she? Hit at emotion. "Besides, I wanted you dead. You and Nau and Brughel are the only real monsters here. For now, you're the only one I can reach." "Besides, I wanted you dead. You and Nau and Brughel are the only real monsters here. For now, you're the only one I can reach."

Her smile widened. "You're crazy."

"No, you you are. Once upon a time you were a Podmaster just like them. Your problem is you lost. Or don't you remember? The Xevalle clique?" are. Once upon a time you were a Podmaster just like them. Your problem is you lost. Or don't you remember? The Xevalle clique?"

Her arrogant smile vanished and for a moment her gaze was the usual frowning indifference. Then she was smiling again. "I remember very well. You're right, I was a loser-but tas a century before Xevalle, and I was fighting all the Podmasters." She advanced slowly across the room. Her pointer never wavered from Pham's chest. "The Emergents had invaded Frenk. I was an ancient-lit major at Arnham University.. . .I learned to be other things. For fifteen years we fought them. They had technology, they had Focus. At first, we had numbers. We lost and lost, but we made them pay for every victory. Toward the end we were better-armed, but by then there were so few of us. And still we fought."

The look in her eyes was. . .joyous. He was hearing the history of Frenk from the other side. "You-you're the Frenkisch Orc!"

Reynolt's smile broadened and she came even nearer, her slim body straightening out of zero-gee crouch. "Yes indeed. The Podmasters wisely decided to rewrite the histories. The 'Frenkisch Orc' makes a better villain than 'Anne of Arnham.' Rescuing Frenks from a mutant subspecies makes a better story than ma.s.sacre and Focus."

Lord.But some automatic part of him still remembered why he was here. He slid his feet back along the wall, positioning for a kick-lunge.

Reynolt stopped her approach. She lowered her aim, to his knees. "Don't try it, Mr. Trinli. This pointer is guiding a program in the MRI controller. If you had had a moment more, you would have seen the nickel pellets I put in the magnet target area. It's an ad hoc weapon, but good enough to blow your legs off-and you would still face interrogation."

Pham sent his vision back into the MRI gear. Yes, there were the pellets. Given a proper magnetic pulse, they would be high-velocity buckshot. But the program, if it was in the controller. . .Tiny eyes swept along the superconductor interface. He had enough localizers to talk through the optical link and wipe her pointer program. She still doesn't know what Ican do with them! She still doesn't know what Ican do with them! The hope was like a bright flame. The hope was like a bright flame.

He tapped his fingers on the palms of his hands, maneuvering the devices into place. Hopefully, it would look like nervous gesturing to Reynolt. "Interrogation? You're still loyal to Nau?"

"Of course. How could it be otherwise?"

"But you're working behind his back."

"Only to serve him better. If this had turned out to be Ritser Brughel's work, I wanted a complete case before going to my Podmas-"

Pham lunged outward from the wall. He heard Reynolt's pointer click uselessly, and then he slammed into her. The two of them tumbled back into the MRI cabinets. Reynolt fought almost silently, slamming her knee into him, trying to bite at his throat. But he had her arms pinned, and as they sailed past the magnet box, he twisted and slammed her head against the cover plate.

Reynolt went limp. Pham caught himself on a stop, ready to smash her again.

Think.The party at North Paw was still going on, an idyll. Pham's timer showed that 250 seconds had pa.s.sed since he had left the harbor. I canstill make this work! I canstill make this work! There were necessary changes. The blow to Reynolt's head would show up on an autopsy.. . .But-miracles!-her clothes showed no sign of the struggle. There would have to be some changes. He reached into the MRI target area and swept the nickel pellets into a safety bin.. . .Something like his original plan could still work. Suppose she had been trying to recalibrate the controllers and had an accident? There were necessary changes. The blow to Reynolt's head would show up on an autopsy.. . .But-miracles!-her clothes showed no sign of the struggle. There would have to be some changes. He reached into the MRI target area and swept the nickel pellets into a safety bin.. . .Something like his original plan could still work. Suppose she had been trying to recalibrate the controllers and had an accident?

Pham moved her body carefully into position. He held her tightly, watching for any sign of consciousness.

The monster. The Frenkisch Orc. Of course, Anne Reynolt was neither. She was a tall, slender woman-as much a human as Pham Nuwen or any of the far descendants of Earth.

Now the carven legends on the Hammerfest walls had a clear translation. For years and years, Anne Reynolt had fought against Focus, her people driven back step by step, to that last redoubt in the mountains. Anne of Arnham. Now all that remained was the myth of a twisted monster. . .and the real monsters like Ritser Brughel, the descendants of the surviving Frenks, the conquered and the Focused.

But Anne of Arnham had not died. Instead, her genius had been Focused. And now it was deadly danger to Pham and all he worked for. And so she must die. . . .

. . .Three hundred seconds. Wake up. Wake up. Pham tapped out instructions. Botched. He typed them again. Once he weakened the SC connectors, this little program would be enough. It was a simple thing, a coded beat of high-frequency pulses that would turn the bugs in Anne's head into little factories, flooding her brain with vasoconstrictors, creating millions of tiny aneurisms. It would be quick. It would be lethal. And Trud had claimed so many times that none of their operations were physically painful. Pham tapped out instructions. Botched. He typed them again. Once he weakened the SC connectors, this little program would be enough. It was a simple thing, a coded beat of high-frequency pulses that would turn the bugs in Anne's head into little factories, flooding her brain with vasoconstrictors, creating millions of tiny aneurisms. It would be quick. It would be lethal. And Trud had claimed so many times that none of their operations were physically painful.

Unconscious, Anne's face had relaxed; she might have been asleep. There were no marks, no bruises. Even the slender silver chain around her throat, even that had survived their struggle, though it had been pulled free of her blouse. There was a 'membrance gem at the end of the chain. Pham couldn't help himself. He reached over her shoulder and squeezed the greenish stone. The pressure was enough to power a moment of imagery. The stone cleared, and Pham was looking down on a mountain hillside. His viewpoint seemed to be on the cupola of an armored flyer. Ranged around the hillside were a half-dozen other such vehicles, dragons come down from the sky to point their energy cannons at what was already ruins, and the entrance to a cave. In front of the guns stood a single figure, a red-haired young woman. Trud said that 'membrance gems were moments of great happiness or ultimate triumph. And maybe the Emergent taking the picture thought this was such a moment. The girl in the picture-and it was clearly Anne Reynolt-had lost. Whatever she guarded in the cave behind her would be taken from her. And yet, she stood straight, her eyes looking up into the viewpoint. In a moment she would be brushed aside, or blown away. . .but she had not surrendered.

Pham let the gem go, and for a long moment he stared without seeing. Then slowly, carefully, he tapped a long control sequence. This would be much trickier. He altered the drug menu, hesitated. . .seconds. . .before entering an intensity. Reynolt would lose some recent memory, hopefully thirty or forty Msec. And then you will begin closing in on me again. And then you will begin closing in on me again.

He tapped "execute." The SC cables behind the cabinet creaked and spread apart from each other, delivering enormous and precise currents to the MRI magnets. A second pa.s.sed. His inner vision sputtered into blindness. Reynolt spasmed in his arms. He held her close, keeping her head away from the sides of the cabinet.

Her twitching subsided after a few seconds; her breath came relaxed and slow. Pham eased himself away from her. Move her out from the magnets. Move her out from the magnets. Okay. He touched her hair, brus.h.i.+ng it away from her face. Nothing like that red hair had existed on Canberra. . .but Anne Reynolt reminded him of someone from a certain Canberra morning. Okay. He touched her hair, brus.h.i.+ng it away from her face. Nothing like that red hair had existed on Canberra. . .but Anne Reynolt reminded him of someone from a certain Canberra morning.

He fled blindly from the room, down the tunnel, back to the party by the lake.

FORTY-THREE.

The open house at North Paw was the high point of the Watch, of any Watch to date. There wouldn't be anything so spectacular until the end of the Exile. Even the Qeng Ho who had made the park possible were amazed that so much could be done with such limited resources. Maybe there was something to Tomas Nau's claims about Focused systems and Qeng Ho initiative.

The party wound on for Ksecs after Jau Xin's frolic. At least three people ended up in the water. For a while there were meter-wide droplets wobbling above the lake. The Podmaster asked his guests to come back to the lodge and let the water settle itself. The favors of hundreds of people over a year had been expended on the party supplies, and the usual fools-including, most spectacularly, Pham Trinli-got very drunk.

Finally, the guests straggled out and the doors in the hillside were closed behind them. Privately, Ezr was sure this would be the last time the riffraff were invited into the Podmaster's domain. The riffraff had made the party possible, and Qiwi had obviously enjoyed every second of it, but Tomas Nau was beginning to fray toward the end of the party. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was a clever one. For the price of one tedious afternoon, the Podmaster had gotten more goodwill than ever. A few decades of tyranny couldn't make Qeng Ho forget their heritage. . .but Nau had made their situation an ambiguous kind of not-tyranny. Focus is slavery. Focus is slavery. But Tomas Nau promised to free the zipheads at the end of the Exile. Ezr shouldn't hate the Qeng Ho for accepting the situation. Many otherwise free societies accepted parttime slavery. But Tomas Nau promised to free the zipheads at the end of the Exile. Ezr shouldn't hate the Qeng Ho for accepting the situation. Many otherwise free societies accepted parttime slavery. In any case, Nau's promise is a lie. In any case, Nau's promise is a lie.

Anne Reynolt's unconscious body was found 4Ksecs after the end of the party. All the next day, there were rumors and panics: Reynolt was really brain-dead, some said, and the announcements were simply soft lies. Ritser Brughel hadn't been in coldsleep, others claimed, and now he had staged a coup. Ezr had his own theory. After all the years, Pham Nuwenhas finally acted. After all the years, Pham Nuwenhas finally acted.

Twenty Ksec into the workday, the ziphead support for two of the research teams fell into deadlock, a temperamental snit that Reynolt could have cleared in a few seconds. Phuong and Silipan whacked at the problem for 6Ksecs, then announced that the zipheads involved would be down for the rest of the day. No, they weren't translators-but Trixia had been working with one of them, some kind of geologist. Ezr tried to go over to Hammerfest.

"You're not on my list, buddy." There was actually a guard at the taxi port, one of Omo's goons. "Hammerfest is off-limits."

"For how long?"