“ ‘Remote storage and transfer of the ship’s log.’ ”
Umbo held up the knife and looked at the hilt. “These jewels are the log of each of the nineteen ships?”
“Yes.”
Remembering what he had read, Umbo said, “So each jewel contains a complete record of all actions and observations made by all the computers aboard that particular ship.”
“Yes.”
“Including all the actions of the Remote Expendable Action Modules.”
“Yes.”
“How recent is the information on each jewel?”
“The jewel that holds this starship’s log was updated just now when you certified.”
“And the other jewels?”
“The jewels carried by Rigg Sessamekesh were updated when he certified himself as commander of all the vessels.”
“And the jewels on this knife?”
“They were updated when you passed through the Wall.”
The Wall was certainly a lot more than a barrier between wallfolds. All human languages, and an update of all the ships’ logs. Umbo thought through what this might mean. “When a jewel updates, is it a destructive or a cumulative update?”
“Cumulative.”
“So if I were to time-shift and enter a Wall in an earlier time, the information recorded from the later time I came from would not be erased by the update that it subsequently gets in the earlier time.”
A momentary pause. “I have parsed your question and I can say, Yes, the information from a future time would
So the jewels would not suffer data loss by passing through the Wall and being updated in a back-shifted time. “If Rigg or I take a copy of the ships’ logs through the Wall when the Wall has been made passable according to Rigg’s command, is the log still updated?”
“Turning off the barrier features of the Wall does not turn off the Wall. All other functions continue.”
Umbo could not help himself. He laughed in delight.
“You are amused,” said the expendable.
I can be amused if I want and when I want, for whatever reason I want, Umbo wanted to say. Instead he grinned at the expendable. “The Odinfolders know this, don’t they?”
“Yes. I have kept no secrets from them.”
“Really?” said Umbo. “Have you told them about the deaths of all but one of the other Ram Odins?”
“I answer all their questions as fully as permitted.”
For a moment, Umbo took that as an answer to his question. Then he realized that it was not. “Has anyone ever asked that question?”
“You are the first.”
Umbo chuckled again. He not only knew information now that the Odinfolders had wanted to keep from him, he even knew information that they didn’t know. All in all, this was turning out to be a successful expedition.
“Odinex, please arrange for the ship to make me a good noon meal. Then bring it to me wherever I am in the ship.”
Odinex left the control room.
Umbo sat down in Ram Odin’s chair. This is where Rigg also sat in the ship in Vadeshfold. We’ve both sat in Ram Odin’s seat. Does that make us brothers in some sense?
I died twice today, he thought. He was glad that he had no memory of it. But the log had the memory of killing him. When the Visitors came, they would see it and know of all the murders committed by the expendables.
Maybe the destruction of Garden was as much to wipe out the expendables as to wipe out the people.
CHAPTER 15
Sibling Rivalry
Rigg had forgotten Umbo was gone, when Swims-in-the-Air came to him, looking agitated.
“I’m not sure what to make of this,” she said, “but our monitoring of the starship’s computer tells us that someone has activated the jewel of control and taken control of the ship.”
“Someone?” asked Rigg.
“Umbo,” said Swims-in-the-Air.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“What are you going to do?”
Rigg smiled at her. “Think about it for a while.”
“I’ve already summoned the flyer so you can go to the ship.”
“How thoughtful of you,” said Rigg. “I’ll decide whether to use it in a little while. Thank you. Please don’t bother the others with this story.”
“It’s not just a story,” she said, bristling.
“I should have said, Please don’t bother the others with this information.”
She lingered a bit longer, until Rigg returned to the book he had been reading. She breathed rapidly for a few moments more, then left the room, moving briskly.
Brisk movement was unusual for the Odinfolders. They were always so sedate, so calm. Clearly whatever Umbo had done had the Odinfolders in a dither. Since Rigg didn’t think for a moment that they would get this agitated over some kind of revolt within the Ramfolders’ ranks—which was clearly what she meant him to think was happening—Umbo must have done something that seriously disturbed the Odinfolders.
Rigg couldn’t help but be amused even as he worried. Umbo had gone to the ship alone, and the Odinfolders didn’t like what he was doing. That didn’t have to be a bad thing at all. But it might be. Rigg really should go and find out from Umbo directly what was going on, before the Odinfolders managed to create a rift.
Well, not create a rift so much as widen the rift that had long been there between Rigg and Umbo.
And perhaps the Odinfolders weren’t trying to do something so trivial as to sow contention among the Ramfolders. Perhaps there was something that really worried them about Umbo’s presence on the starship.
Rigg was about to go directly to the flyer and head for the starship when he thought again: This is what they want me to do.
So he got up and went in search of the others. He found Loaf and Olivenko practicing swordplay in one of the rooms of the library.
“Did you know you can set these holographic images to varying degrees of solidity?” asked Olivenko. “They have the weight of good steel swords, and clang together nicely, but they won’t penetrate skin.”
Only then did Rigg realize that the swords were mere sculptures of swords, mere images. But solid now. Interesting information to be filed away. It might have something to do with the Odinfolders’ ability to transport items back and forth, not just in time, but in space as well. Were there real swords somewhere which were being semi-copied to this location? Did the projection of the image mean that the original swords were somehow less substantial while the image was being projected?
It would make sense. After all, Umbo had projected images of himself into the past to give warnings, long before he mastered the ability to actually transport himself completely into the past, leaving nothing of himself behind.
But that was not the business at hand. “I wondered if either of you would like to come with me to the starship,” said Rigg. “Swims-in-the-Air was quite anxious for me to go stop Umbo from doing whatever he’s doing.”
They regarded Rigg curiously.
“Are you taking orders from them now?” asked Olivenko.
