'Oh—you mean the circles.'
The basis for the city's design seemed to be the tubeways. Many had fallen, but enough remained 82 William Greenleaf
for Paul to see that they had been laid out in straight lines to form a grid across the city. He counted seven tubes running in each direction, spaced about two kilometers apart. Each square formed by the intersecting tubes was divided into quarter sections. A circular pattern of domed structures occupied each quadrant, and in the center of each circle was a large space given over to vegetation. Presumably, the domed structures had been the primary dwelling buildings of the Tal Tahir. By moving the binoculars across the areas that were relatively free of vegetation, Paul made a rough count of about a hundred domes in each outer circle, and that many more in the two inner circles. He calculated the rest in his head: say two hundred domes per quadrant, making eight hundred in a square, times thirty-six squares came to ... close to twenty-nine thousand domes in the city. A lot more than he would have guessed.
'Do you know how many of the Tal Tahir lived down there?'
Selmer pursed his lips. 'About two hundred thousand, I think. Karyn says that's what the Vanguard archaeologists came up with.' Paul made another rough calculation. If the arkies were right, that meant each dome housed about seven individuals. Big families.
Then Paul moved the binoculars over the temple again and realized something else. The temple was situated in the center of one of the quadrants. 'Are you sure the temple was a Tal Tahir building?'
'That's what Karyn says.'
Paul looked more closely at the adjoining
squares. None of the other clusters had a building with the white spire. That seemed odd: the Tal Tahir had obviously placed a lot of emphasis on symmetry when they built their city. Why would only one of the quadrant sections have a building
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like the temple? Then he remembered something Selmer had said earlier.
'There used to be other buildings with the white spires?'
'A long time ago. Before Sabastian was bom. Karyn says the Holy Order tore them down.'
'Any idea why?'
Selmer shrugged. 'I've never given it much thought. Why all the interest? It's just an old city. Hardly anything left.'
'This is the first nonhuman city I've ever seen.'
'Really?' He seemed genuinely surprised. 'I had the impression you've traveled all over.' Paul realized Selmer would have no way of
knowing how rare were signs of intelligents. When he explained that, Selmer shrugged.
'Guess we're just used to it.' A thin black insect with broad wings circled Selmer's head once and settled in his hair. He pulled it out carefully and released it, then reached into a pocket of his coveralls and brought out a small flask. He offered it to Paul. Paul hesitated. The container was clear, and the liquid was dark. He sniffed tentatively, then tipped the flask and let the warm, fumy liquor run into his mouth. He swallowed, grimaced, swallowed again. The flavor was faintly familiar. He handed the flask back to Selmer. 'What is it?'
'Home brew,' Selmer answered with a grin.
'Can't you guess what's in it?'
Paul thought about that faintly familiar flavor. Then he groaned. 'Poca.'
Selmer laughed. 'And a few other things. It isn't too strong, but it dulls the pain. Sabastian puts up with it as long as we don't overdo it. Of course, drinking spirits is a capital offense as far as the Holy Order is concerned.'
They both took another drink; then Selmer put the flask away. They sat for a while listening to the varied sounds of insects all around them.
