She faltered. Then her voice filled with forced enthusiasm.
“Svir, things are hard for you just now, but see the good that can come: You are going to live through the beginning of the most exciting time in Tu’s history. In the next two hundred years, the people of Tu will move science along to the beginnings of what you have seen with Jolle and Profe. No slavers will deny you progress. In three centuries human nature itself will change, and all that went before will have been chrysalis. Your descendants will be like me.”
The bat undid its wings and fluttered to the next flower, ten inches from the first. It was less than fifteen inches from his head.
“You will never see me or Profe again … I guess you’re just as happy about that.” The bat turned, and one wing draped down so low that Svir could see the individual blue and orange hairs that composed its fur. “But people like us will never be far away. We can’t give back what was taken from your ancestors, but we will see that your grandchildren regain it. There are many wrong turnings possible. There are pestilences that could kill all life on the planet—if you misuse the discoveries you will make. We will do our best to protect you—in appropriate, undetectable ways.” Svir’s clenched hands became claws as they flashed up. Tatja caught his wrists in the first four inches of motion. Her grip was unshakable. And for once she misunderstood his motives. “Please, Svir. I don’t mean protection like you’ve had the last few days. People were killed and ruined because we were fighting a superman, not someone who could be maneuvered.” She looked closely at him. “I hadn’t realized how twisted this has left you. You got caught right in the middle, as I did; but I was their equal—and you were nearly destroyed. If Profe had any equipment with him, he could cure you, make you realize that there are still ways out…
“I take back one thing I said: I will return. Soon. The cure is simple, and I owe you more than that…” She let his hands fall back into his lap, and for a moment her lips brushed his cheek. She stood up slowly, and left the clearing. For several minutes he could hear her moving through the brush, toward the nearest camping area.
His eyes never left the beautiful mammal that moved so delicately on the branch. It had slid along the top of the branch, now edged back under. Its clear black eyes gazed down at him. In a moment…
Svir lunged up to catch the bat in a two-handed crushing blow. But the little animal was too fast, and it flashed from between the approaching hands. It fluttered up through the branches and into the blue spaces above.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
TATJA GRIMM’S WORLD
Copyright © 1987 by Vernor Vinge
Originally published in July 1987 by Baen Books.
Part I appeared in a slightly different form as
Part II appeared in a different form as
Parts II and III appeared in a different form as
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Edited by James Frenkel
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vinge, Vernor.
Tatja Grimm’s world / Vernor Vinge. p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
ISBN 0-765-30885-1
EAN 978-0-765-30885-6
PS3572.I534.T35 2006
813'. 54—dc22
2005055944
Printed in the United States of America
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