FORTY-TWO
The years had passed, and the danger had grown. More implacably than any human Pham had ever known, Reynolt kept searching and searching. As far as possible, he had avoided manipulating the zipheads. He had even arranged for his operations to continue while he was off-Watch; that was very risky, but it evaded the obvious correlations. It didn’t help. Now Reynolt seemed to have concrete suspicions. Pham’s tracers showed her searches intensifying, closing in on her suspect—most likely Pham Nuwen. There was no cure for it. However risky the operation, Anne must be eliminated. The open house for Nau’s new “office” might be the best chance Pham would get.
“North Paw” was what Tomas Nau called it. Most everybody else—certainly the Qeng Ho who did the engineering—called it simply the Lake Park. Now everyone on-Watch had their one opportunity to see the final result.
The last of the crowd was still trickling in when Nau appeared on the porch of his timbered lodge. He wore a glistening full-press jacket and green pants. “Keep your feet on the ground, people. My Qiwi has invented a whole special etiquette for North Paw.” He was smiling, and those in the crowd laughed. Gravity on Diamond One was more of a hint than a physical law. Around the lodge, the “ground” was cleverly textured grabfelt. So everyone did have feet on the ground, but their notion of vertical was only a vague consensus. Beside him on the porch, Qiwi was chuckling at the appearance of the hundreds of people standing before them, tilting this way and that like drunks. A black-furred kitten lay curled across the lace of her blouse.
Nau raised his hands again. “My people, my friends. This afternoon, please enjoy and admire what you have built here. And think about it. Thirty-eight years ago we nearly destroyed ourselves in battle and in treachery. For most of you, that time is not so long ago, just ten or twelve years on-Watch. You remember after that, how I said this was a time like the Plague Years on Balacrea. We had destroyed most of the resources we brought here, we had destroyed our starfaring capabilities. To survive, I said, we must put aside the animosities, and work together no matter how different our backgrounds…. Well, my friends, we did that. We are not out of physical danger; our destiny with the Spiders is still to be. But look around you, and you will see how we have healed ourselves.You all built this from the bare rock and ice and airsnow. This North Paw—Lake Park—is not large, but it is a work of highest art. Look upon it. You’ve made something that rivals the best that whole civilizations might create.
“I’m proud of you.” He reached out to slip his arm across Qiwi’s shoulders, displacing the kitten into the crook of Qiwi’s arm. Once upon a time, the relationship between Nau and Lisolet had been an ugly rumor. Now— Pham could see people smiling comfortably at the sight. “You see this is more than a park, more than a Podmaster’s sanctum. What you see here is evidence of something new in the universe, a melding of the best that Qeng Ho and Emergent have to offer. Emergent Focused persons—” Pham noticed that he still didn’t talk about the slaves as bluntly as he might. “—did the detailed planning for this park. Qeng Ho trade and individual action made it reality. And I personally have learned something: On Balacrea and Frenk and Gaspr, we Podmasters rule for the community good, but we rule largely by personal direction—and often by force of law. Here, working with you former Qeng Ho, I see another way. I know that the work on my park was accomplished as payback for that silly pink scrip you’ve been hiding from me for so long.” He raised a hand and several bills fluttered into the air. Laughter passed around the crowd again. “So! Think what the combination of Podmaster direction and Qeng Ho efficiency can do once we have completed our mission!”
He bowed to enthusiastic applause. Qiwi slipped in front of him, to stand at the porch railing—and the applause just got louder. The kitten, finally fed up with the noise and the jostling, jumped off Qiwi’s arm and sailed into the air over the crowd. It unfurled soft wings and slowed its upward trajectory, then curved back to circle over its mistress. “Take note,” Qiwi said to the crowd, “Miraowis allowed to fly here. But she has wings!” The cat made a mock dive at her, then flew off into the forest that grew all around the inland side of Nau’s lodge. “Now I invite you to the side of the Podmaster’s house for refreshments.”
Some of the visitors were already there. The rest shuffled round the pathways to trestled tables that bowed subtly downward, as if from the weight of the food that was set upon them. Pham moved along with everyone, loudly greeting anyone who would talk with him. It was important to establish his presence here in as many minds as possible. Meantime, in the back of his eyes, the view from his tiny spies built up the tactical picture of the park and the forest.
Cultures clashed at the food tables, but by now Benny’s parlor had established an etiquette for going after food. In a few moments, most people had their first buckets and bottles full of refreshment, and spread back into the open. Pham walked up behind Benny and slapped him on the back. “Benny! This stuff is good! But I thought you were supplying.”
Benny Wen swallowed, coughing. “Of course it’s good. And of course it’s mine—and Gonle’s.” He nodded at the former quartermaster clerk who was standing beside him. “Actually, Qiwi’s father sprouted some new stuff he found in the libraries. We’ve had it for about half a year now, saving it for this party.”
Pham puffed himself up: “I did my part out-of-doors. Someone had to supervise the added drilling and the meltwater for the Podmaster’s lake.”
Gonle Fong showed her mercenary smile. More than any Qeng Ho—in a way more than Qiwi herself—Fong bought into Tomas Nau’s “cooperative vision.” Gonle had done very well by doing good. “Everybody got something out of this. My farms are openly endorsed by the Podmaster now. And I’ve got real automation.”
“You have something better than a keyboard now?” Pham said slyly.
“You bet. And today, I’m in charge of services.” She lifted her hand dramatically and a food tray floated docilely over to them. It rotated beneath her hand, bobbed politely as she grabbed at spiced seaweed. Then it moved to Benny and then Pham. Pham’s little spies looked at the gadget from all directions. The tray maneuvered on tiny gas jets, almost silently. It was mechanically simple, but it moved with grace and intelligence. Benny noticed too. “It’s controlled by a Focused person?” he said, sounding a little sad.
“Um, yes. The Podmaster thought it worthwhile, considering the event.” Pham watched the other trays. They swept in wide circles, out from the food tables, picking out just the guests who hadn’t been fed.Clever. The slaves were kept diplomatically offstage, and people could pretend what Nau had often declared, that Focus took civilization to a higher level.ButNau is right! Damn him.
Pham said something appropriately truculent to Gonle Fong, words that showed that “old fart Trinli” was truly impressed but determined not to admit it. He walked out from the center of the crowd, apparently intent on food.Hmm. Ritser Brughel was off-Watch just now—another cleverness of Tomas Nau. Many people bought into some part of Nau’s “vision” nowadays, but Ritser Brughel could unnerve even the fully converted. But if Brughel was off-Watch, and if Nau and Reynolt were diverting rote-layer zipheads to manual serving… this was a chance even better than he had thought.So where is Reynolt? The woman could be surprisingly hard to track; sometimes she dropped off Brughel’s direct monitor list for Ksecs at a time. Pham pushed his attention outward. There were millions of the tiny particles scattered throughout the park. The ones stabilizing the lake and running the ventilators were mostly tasked, but that still left immense processing power. No way he could handle all the viewpoints and images. As his mind swept back and forth though the park, he was vaguely aware that he was swaying on his feet.Aha, there! Not a close view, but there inside Nau’s lodge, he had a glimpse of Reynolt’s red hair and pinkish skin. As expected, the woman wasn’t participating in the festivities. She was hunched over an Emergent input pad, her eyes hidden behind stark black huds. She looked the same as ever. Tense, intense, as if on the verge of some deadly insight.And for all I know, she is.
Someone whacked him on the shoulder, as hard as he had struck Benny a few moments earlier. “So Pham, my man, what do you think?”
Pham pushed away the inner visions and looked around at his assailant: Trud Silipan had dressed up for the event. His uniform was like nothing he’d seen except in some Emergent historicals: blue silk, fringed and tasseled, and somehow imitating torn, stained rags. It was the dress of the First Followers, Trud had once told him. Pham let his surprise become exaggerated. “What do I think about what—your uniform or the view?”
“The view, the view! I’m in uniform just because this is such a milestone. You heard the Podmaster’s speech. Go ahead, you take a few more moments. Take in the view of Lake Park, and tell me what you think.”
Behind them, Pham’s inner vision showed Ezr Vinh bearing down on them.Damn. “Well—”
“Yes, what do you think, Armsman Trinli?” Vinh walked around till he stood facing them. He looked straight
