Divergence

.

“I don’t know,” said Saskia. “Yours and mine, I suppose. But I wonder if Maurice still has any claim over it?”

“I think we should offer a share to Judy and Constantine.”

“Thank you, but no thank you,” said Judy. “I’ve already made my arrangements.”

“What do you mean?” Saskia asked, but Edward could already see the third ship approaching. It came out of the glare of the sun, floating low over the ground, moving with an easy grace towards them. Perhaps, in the distant past, it had belonged to the same species as the Eva Rye , but if so the connection was tenuous. This new ship must have been upgraded many, many times. It still bore a vague resemblance to Edward’s ship, having a slight swelling towards the front, but that was where the similarity ended. Otherwise, it was long and flexible, moving over the ground like a snake. And it was still getting bigger as it approached.

Edward realized it was much larger than the Eva Rye . He watched the swollen forward section come to a halt about fifty meters away, its bulk looming above the egglike hull of his own ship.

“What is it called?” he asked.

“The Buridan’s Ass ,” Judy replied. “It has some old friends of mine on board, people I knew long ago, back when I worked for Social Care. They’ve been using FE for quite a few years and now they’ve come looking for me.”

“Are you really leaving us, Judy?” Saskia asked, though Edward thought she didn’t look too disappointed.

“I am,” said Judy. “Remember, I’m not like other people, Saskia.” She suddenly laughed. “That sounds terribly egotistical, I know, but it’s true. The Watcher confirmed it.”

“I knew that all along,” Edward said seriously.

“I think my friends are on that ship, Edward. Some of them I’ve never even met yet. Maybe even…”

Someone had suddenly appeared out of the newly arrived ship. Edward didn’t see how. They were just suddenly standing there, right below its undulating golden hull.

“Frances!” Judy called out, and Edward heard real delight in his friend’s voice. He squinted at the figure clad in the same gold color as the ship. No, that wasn’t right. She wasn’t wearing golden clothing. She was made of gold. She was a robot, seamless and perfect. Her head was a smoothly rounded bullet shape, and when Edward looked closer he could see that two eyes had been crudely painted on it.

“It’s okay,” Judy said. “She’s perfectly safe. There are lots of such people out there in the universe, Edward, lots of new people to meet.”

She was eager now to go, but she paused.

“Saskia,” she said.

“Judy.”

“Saskia, I want to thank you for everything you did for me.”

Saskia seemed almost embarrassed. “I didn’t do that much for you, Judy. It was Edward.”

“You did more than enough.”

The two women shook hands. And then Judy turned to Edward.

“I wish you wouldn’t go.”

“I know, but you will be perfectly happy without me.” She laughed again. “This is a new age, Edward. The past two hundred years have been an anomaly. Earth has been held static in a twentieth-century vision of the future, all contrived by the machinations of the Watcher. Now the singularity has taken place, it is time for us to reach for the next stage of development.”

“But I don’t want to develop, Judy,” Edward said seriously. “I just want to see my friends again.”

“That’s a good start, Edward, but just remember it’s not enough. It’s not what you’re born with, it’s what you do with it.”

“That’s right,” said Frances, the golden robot. “And when you stand before your God, then hope you can say this: See, I used every last ounce of talent that you gave me. ”