“Look,” Saskia called. “Maurice, can you see them? Those black-and-white towers set in a grid? They cover the whole city.”
“I can see them.” His voice was sullen.
“Maurice, what is the matter with you? Listen to me, look at those towers. What do you think they are for?”
“I…I…” Maurice was now looking at the towers. Saskia could see his green hood turning this way and that. “I…I don’t know.”
“Saskia, can you see them, too?” Edward shuffled closer to her, a hunched giant in fluorescent yellow. Where were Judy and Constantine? Over there, looking at the map that covered one entire wall of the station. Red lines and blue lines were moving on it as Vanya pointed out the different places on the rail network. Hadn’t they noticed the towers? Like lighthouses, banded in black and white? A yellow band, the color of honey, ran around the top of each. Something seemed to be moving within that band, darker clouds of honey flowing inside the tower itself. Honey moved by convection currents that rose from the warm heart of the building.
“They’re watching me,” Edward said. “The towers are watching me.”
“Of course they are,” said a passerby. He smiled brightly at Edward. “That’s the Watcher.”
And Saskia felt as if a little chink had opened up in her body and an icicle had been inserted, lit up from inside with a honey-yellow glow.
The Watcher? Of course, it was the Watcher. She had known that he was here waiting for them. But now, as she studied the black-and-white towers that spread out to the horizon, she suddenly felt so cold.
You could see the whole world on that map, a representation of the continents, you could zoom in on anyplace you wished to go.
Maurice was still sulking and refused to interface his console to it, so Constantine had taken control.
“Where do you want to go to, Judy?” the robot asked.
“I don’t know. I’m the property of DIANA, so I’m supposed to go there.”
“You should ask it for DIANA headquarters,” said Vanya. “The map should know.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Constantine.
The blue and red lines on the map moved. Two circles appeared.
“You are here,” read Judy from the top one. Saskia looked to the circle at the bottom of the map. Written above it in red letters were the words “DIANA Headquarters.”
“There you are, then,” said Vanya. “I’m glad I could be of service. Now, are you sure I can’t tempt you to a glass of tea? No? Then I bid you good day.” And with that, he turned and made his way back down the escalator to street level.
“Did you get the feeling that he’s just been turned off?” Saskia asked. Judy wasn’t listening; she was tracing a line on the map, following its path from their station to DIANA.
“According to this map, we’re in a place called St. Petersburg at the moment. I need to travel along this line, through Poland, to Germany. I’m almost there.” She looked wistful. “I can’t believe that it’s that easy,” she murmured. “Well, this is where we part, I think. There is no need for you to accompany me any farther.”
“No!” said Edward. “No! We’re coming with you!”
“Speak for yourself,” said Maurice. “I’m going back to the ship.”
“Maurice, we agreed,” Saskia reminded them. “Edward is in charge now.”
“And he’s making us go off on a train, leaving our ship behind!” Maurice waved an arm out across the sparkling parkland to the huge curve of the ship. “Don’t you understand what’s happening here? These suits aren’t proper space suits.” He tugged at the green material of his sleeve. “They can’t block out everything the Watcher will be throwing at us. MTPH will be getting through, slowly seeping in, giving him a toehold inside our minds.”
“Don’t be so paranoid,” Saskia said. “If the Watcher really wanted to, it would just arrange for our suits to be taken away from us.” She shook her head—did she really believe that? Had she believed that a few minutes ago?
“Don’t be so sure,” Judy said. She wore a tired look, dimly seen through the darkness of her black hood. She rubbed one hand across her forehead. “That’s not the way the Watcher works. He prefers the slow, subtle approach—and it’s working. Look how he’s got you all following me. Edward follows me, you follow Edward…”
