widespread revolt after you make your announcement.”
The Eagle hesitated for a few seconds. “There was nothing arbitrary in our process,” the alien said at length. “For months now we have been carefully studying voluminous data on every single creature currently living in the starfish. The records include complete information from all the years in Rama as well. Those who have been assigned to the Carrier do not, in one way or another, meet our necessary criteria for transfer to the Node.”
“And what exactly are those criteria?” Nicole asked quickly.
“All I can tell you now is that the Node will feature an interspecies living environment. Those individuals who have limited adaptability have been assigned to the Carrier,” the Eagle replied.
“It sounds to me,” Nicole said after a few seconds, “as if some subset of the humans in the Grand Hotel has been rejected, for some reason, and not found ‘acceptable’—” “If I understand your choice of words,” the Eagle now interrupted, “you are inferring that this split divides the two groups on the basis of merit. That is not exactly the case. It is our belief that most of those in either group will in the long run, be happier in the environment to which they have been assigned.”
“Even without their spouses or children?” Nicole said. She frowned. “Sometimes I wonder if you have really observed what motivates the human species. ‘Emotional attachments,’ to use your words, are usually the most essential component in any human’s happiness.”
“We know that,” the Eagle said. “We had a special review of every single case where families will be broken apart by the split, and we made some accommodations as a result. In our judgment, the remaining family divisions, which are not as numerous as this discussion might suggest, are all supported by the observational data.”
Nicole stared at the Eagle and shook her head vigorously. “Why was this split never mentioned before? Never once in all the discussions of the impending transfer did you ever even suggest that we were going to be divided into two groups.”
“We hadn’t decided ourselves until fairly recently. Recall that our intercession with the affairs on Rama took us into a contingency regime in our planning matrix. Once it became clear that some kind of split would be necessary, we didn’t want to upset the status quo.”
“Bullshit,” Nicole said suddenly. “I don’t believe that for a moment. You knew what you were going to do long ago. You just didn’t want to listen to any objections.”
Using the controls on the arm of her chair, Nicole turned around and faced away from her alien companion. “No,” she said firmly, “I will not be your accomplice in this matter. And I am angry that you have compromised my integrity by not telling me the truth before now.”
She pushed the acceleration button and started toward the main corridor.
“Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?” the Eagle said, following her.
Nicole stopped. “I can only imagine one scenario in which I would help you. Why don’t you explain the differences between the two living environments and let each individual from each species decide for himself or herself?”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” the Eagle said.
“Then count me out,” Nicole said, activating her wheel-chair again.
Nicole was in a foul mood by the time she reached the door to her apartment. She leaned forward in her chair and entered the combination sequence on the panel in the middle of the door.
“Hello, Mrs. Wakefield,” Kepler said as Nicole entered the room. “Patrick and Mother are out looking for you. They were worried when they didn’t find you in the hallway.”
Nicole drove past the young man and into the room. Benjy came out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around him. “Hello, Mama,” he said with a big smile. He noticed the look of displeasure on Nicole’s face and hurried over beside her. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “You haven’t hurt yourself again…?”
“No, Benjy,” Nicole said. “I’m fine. I just had a disturbing conversation with the Eagle.”
“What about?” Benjy said, taking her hand.
“I’ll tell you later,” Nicole said after a brief hesitation. “After you dry off and get dressed.”
Benjy smiled and kissed his mother on the forehead before returning to the bathroom. The sinking feeling in her stomach that Nicole had experienced during her conversation with the Eagle now returned. Oh, my God, she thought suddenly. Not Benjy. Surely the Eagle was not trying to tell me that we are going to be separated from Benjy. She remembered the Eagle’s comment about “limited capabilities” and started to panic. Not now. Please not now. Not after alt this time.
Nicole thought about a special moment from years earlier, when the family had been at the Node for the first time. She had been alone in her bedroom. Benjy had entered tentatively to find out if he was welcome to join the family on its trip back to the solar system. He had been immensely relieved to discover that he was not going to be separated from his mother. He has suffered enough already, Nicole said to herself, recalling Benjy’s assignment to Avalon while she was in prison in New Eden. The Eagle must know that, if he has really studied all the data.
Despite her conscious attempts to remain calm, Nicole could not stifle the combination of fear and frustration that was rising inside her. I would have preferred to die in my sleep, she thought bitterly, fearing the worst. I cannot say good-bye to Benjy now. It will break his heart. And mine too.
The door to the apartment opened. Patrick and Nai entered, followed by the Eagle. “We found this friend of yours in the hallway, Mother,” Patrick said, greeting her with a kiss. “He told us that the two of you had been having a conference. Nai and I were worried.”
The Eagle walked over beside Nicole. ‘There was another subject I wanted to talk to you about as well,” the Eagle said. “Could you please join me outside for another couple of minutes?”
“I guess I have no choice,” Nicole answered. “But I am not going to change my mind.”
A full tram passed the Eagle and Nicole just as they exited from the apartment. “What is it?” Nicole asked impatiently.
“I wanted to inform you that all the different manifestations of the sessile species, as well as the remaining avians, will be in the group that is transferred to the Carrier this evening. If you still have any desire, as you indicated to me once during a conversation shortly after you first awakened here, to interact with the sessile and to experience what Richard described—”
“Tell me something else first,” Nicole interrupted, grabbing the Eagle by the forearm with surprising strength.
“Will Benjy and I be separated by this split you’re going to announce this afternoon?”
The Eagle hesitated for several seconds. “No, you will not,” he said eventually. “But I shouldn’t be telling you any of the details.”
Nicole heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said simply, managing a smile.
There was a protracted silence. “The sessiles,” the Eagle started again, “will not be available to you after —”
“Yes, yes,” Nicole said. ‘That’s a great idea. Thank you? very much. I would like to pay my respects to a sessile. After I eat breakfast, of course.”
The smaller block robots were very much in evidence in the ray that housed the avians and the sessiles. The ray was divided into several separate regions by walls that ran from the floor to the ceiling. The blockheads policed the entrances and exits from these regions and were also stationed at each of the tram stops.
The avians and sessiles lived at the back of the ray, in the last of the separate compounds. Both a blockhead and an avian were guarding the entrance when the Eagle and Nicole arrived. The Eagle jabbered and shrieked in response to a series of questions from the avian. After they entered the compound, a myrmicat approached them. It began to communicate with the Eagle in bursts of high-frequency sound that originated from the small circular orifice below its dark brown, milky oval eyes. Nicole marveled at the fidelity of the Eagle’s whistling response. She also watched in fascination as the second pair of myrmicat eyes, attached to stalks raised ten to twelve centimeters above its forehead, continued to pivot and survey the surroundings. When the Eagle had finished his conversation with the myrmicat, the six-legged creature, who resembled a giant ant when standing still, raced down the hall with the speed and grace of a cat.
“They know who you are,” the Eagle said. “They are delighted that you have come for a visit.”
Nicole glanced up at her companion. “How do they know me?” she said. “I have only occasionally seen a few of them in the common areas, and I have never actually interacted.”
