“Pans sleep in quarters where they can be found.”
“Set their wands. They’ll know.”
Martin had always been shy of announcing the obvious. “Maybe,” he said.
Theresa turned back to the revolving lights. For a moment he thought she might have completely forgotten him, so swift and decisive was her motion; as if he were easily dismissed. But she smiled and said, “Go now. Come back when we both have time.”
Martin hesitated by the door, then passed through, walked down the hall, found a main shaft and laddered outward to the level where he would meet with Hans.
Hans was seldom in his quarters. He slept where exhaustion took him; he slept rarely, some said, exercising or researching for several days before finally collapsing in a corridor in a makeshift bed he carried in the backpack that was always with him.
Martin found him in the swim room. The water lay slowly rippling on the floor now. Hans lay back in the water up to his neck, pushing it toward one wall with broad sweeps of both arms. The water bounced from the wall and washed over his head, bounced from the rear wall and bobbed him up gently as he swam toward the edge of the pool.
Martin watched the water’s behavior for a moment as if it were completely unfamiliar. Hans stepped out and toweled off. He finished by tousling his short blond hair. It stood up in insolent spikes.
“The past Pans think we should confront the moms and ask for full disclosure,” Martin told him.
“Do what Ariel wants?” Hans asked.
“I suppose.”
“Poor Martin,” Hans said, chuckling. “What a grind.”
“Don’t worry about Ariel,” Martin said, irritated.
Hans pasted the towel on the wall to dry, flinging it up so that it spun flat and its wetness made it stick, and when it started to slip down, deftly pinned it with a ladder field. Even in full g, Hans was incredibly skillful in subtle physical acts; he had the best control of any of the children. On Earth, he might have become an acrobat.
“Any suggestions how I go about it?” Martin asked.
“Spring it on the moms at a tenday conference,” Hans said. “Unless they’re listening and already know. In which case, they ignore us, or they do something.”
“The moms don’t eavesdrop.”
Hans made a face but did not accuse Martin of naivete.
“God damn it, they
Hans put on his overalls, his face slightly pink at Martin’s tone. “If you say so, brother,” he said tightly. “I just think they’d want to keep track of everything we do. Zookeepers and all that. They’re responsible for us—or at least responsible for seeing that we get our Job done, according to the Law, and if I were them, dealing with a bunch of Wendys and Lost Boys, I’d sure as hell want to keep tabs on us.”
Martin stood back as Hans walked by. Hans lifted his arms, shook his head. “But you believe them, that’s okay.”
Martin was speechless. “Has everybody on this ship gone flat cynical?” he asked.
Hans turned on him swiftly, pointing a finger. “Everybody feels bad and confused. What if we slick this whole Job? Who’s to blame? You’re Pan.”
Martin said, without hesitation, “I am.”
Hans stared, then grinned. “We are the leaders, brother. You and me. Maybe they’ll cook us and eat us. The children, I mean, not the moms. But hell, I think it’s a good idea we ask for… full disclosure, is it? I call it full partnership. My father was a businessman. Sold cars. I remember him talking about confidence and trust. He said he had to believe what he was doing was good for the customer, that they were actually partners, or he couldn’t convince them. Even if he didn’t tell the truth, he had to
Martin put a finger to his cheek and rubbed gently at the light bristle there. He hadn’t shaved in two days; still not much of a beard.
“Together,” Hans said. “More impact that way.”
“Not together,” Martin said.
“Why not?” Hans appeared puzzled.
“Because I’m Pan,” Martin said, looking away from him.
Hans rubbed his nose. “Better you than me, brother.”
Martin sat alone in his cubicle within the darkened quarters, wand in hand, concentrating. What
“Strategy discussions,” Martin told the wand. A list of possible topics floated in the air before his face and he picked two:
Martin asked, “Authors and sources, please.”
The wand projected:
“I’d like to know anyway. As Pan. As leader for the children.”
“More details, please. Which civilizations? When?”
“I’m demanding the answer, not asking for it,” Martin said, still calm, but understanding even more Ariel’s frustration. He had never tried this before; in his ignorance he had been content not to upset his preconceptions.
“What was the first civilization like?”
Martin had asked for details about a good many civilizations, and had always been curious about the general nature of the answers, but not so curious as to seem disrespectful. Now it had been made his duty.
“Offshoots? You mean, its own colonies? Detail, please.” Martin tensed his jaw muscles as he waited for a reply.
He had never pushed so far, and therefore, never received such an answer.
“Open another source, then,” Martin said, taking a wild chance. “Another library or whatever.”
“I’m asking now,” Martin said. “These facts are important to us. We need psychological insight.”
“I say they are,” Martin pursued, his voice rising. “I am Pan.”
There it was, then. The wall Ariel and others had doubtless hit. Martin could see why the moms were secretive about some things; the civilizations signatory to the Law could easily imagine another round of death and destruction if their whereabouts and the details of their defenses were known.
Earth had been an easy target because of innocent radiation of energy into space, its baby-bird cheeping in the unprotected tree branch of the solar system.
Martin felt a weary sadness, an echo of all the sadness he had known since Earth’s death. Was there ever a point in the scale of galactic civilizations when strangers could trust each other? Did civilizations ever develop sufficient scruples that not one of them would think of creating machines of mass destruction?