into Pham’s eyes for an instant. “Of all the Qeng Ho here, you are the oldest, most traveled. Of all of us, you must have the deepest experience. How does the Podmaster’s North Paw compare to the great parks of the Qeng Ho?”
Vinh’s words had a double meaning that went unnoticed by Trud Silipan, but Pham felt an instant of cold rage.You’re part of the reason I haveto kill Anne Reynolt, you little jerk. Nau’s “true” histories of Pham Nuwen had eaten into the boy. For at least a year now, it was clear that he understood the true story of Brisgo Gap. And he guessed what Pham really wanted with Focus. His demands for guarantees and reassurance had become more and more pointed.
The localizers painted false-color images of Ezr Vinh’s face, showed his blood pressure and skin temperature. Could a good ziphead snoop look at such pictures and guess that the boy was playing some kind of game? Maybe. The boy’s hate for Nau and Brughel still outweighed his feelings against Pham Nuwen; Pham could still use him. But he was one more reason why Reynolt must be removed.
The thoughts passed through Pham’s mind even as his mouth twisted into a self-satisfied smirk. “Putting it that way, my boy, you’re absolutely right. Book learning can’t compare to traveling the light-years and seeing the sights with your own two eyes.” He turned away from them and looked down the footpath, past the lodge, to the moorage and the lake beyond.Pretend to be thoughtfully considering.
He had spent Msecs invisibly prowling this construction; it should have been easy to play his proper role. But standing here, he could feel the air drifting slowly out of the trees behind him. It was moist, faintly chill, with a tarry scent that whispered of a thousand kilometers of forest stretching out behind him. Sunlight came warm through high patchy clouds. That, too, was fake. Nowadays, the real sun was not as bright as a decent moon. But the light systems embedded in the diamond sky could imitate almost any visual effect. The only clue to the fakery was the faint shimmering rainbows that arched across the farther distances….
Down the hill from him was the lake itself. That was Qiwi’s triumph. The water was real, thirty meters deep in places. Qiwi’s network of servos and localizers kept it stable, the surface flat and smooth, reflecting clouds and blue from overhead. The Podmaster’s lodge overlooked a moorage that sat at the head of an inlet. The inlet spread and spread. Kilometers out—actually less than two hundred meters—two rocky islands rose from the mists, guarding the far shore.
The place was a Lord-blessed masterpiece. “It’s atresartnis, “ said Pham, but he made the word sound like an insult.
Silipan frowned. “What—?”
Ezr said, “It’s parkbuilder jargon. It means—”
“Oh, yes. I’ve heard the word: a park or a bonsai that goes to extremes.” Trud puffed up defensively. “Well, it is extreme; the Podmaster pushed for that. Look! An enormous microgravity park, perfectly imitating a planetary surface. It breaks a lot of aesthetic rules—yet knowing when to break the rules is the mark of a great Podmaster.”
Pham shrugged, and continued to munch on Gonle’s refreshments. He turned idly and looked up into the forest. The crest of the hill matched the true wall of the cavern, a standard parkbuilder trick. The trees stood ten and twenty meters tall, moss glistening cool and dark on their long trunks. Ali Lin had grown them on wires in incubator tents on Diamond One’s surface. A year ago they had been three-centimeter seedlings. Now, by Ali’s magic, these trees might have been centuries old. Here and there, dead wood of “older” forest generations lay gray within the blue and green. There were parkbuilders who could achieve such perfection from a single viewpoint. But Pham’s hidden eyes looked from all directions, throughout the forest. The Podmaster’s park was such a perfection at every level. Cubic meter for cubic meter it was as perfect as the finest Namqem bonsai.
“So,” said Silipan, “I think you see why I have reason to be proud! Podmaster Nau provided the vision, but it was my work with system automation that guided the implementation.”
Pham sensed the anger building in Ezr Vinh. No doubt he could contain it, but a good snoop would still pick it up. Pham punched Ezr lightly on the shoulder and gave the braying laugh that was a Trinli trademark. “Did you get that, Ezr? Trud, what you mean is the Focused persons you supervise did this.” And supervise was too strong a word. Silipan was more of a custodian, but saying that would be an insult Trud could not forgive.
“Er, yes, the zipheads. Isn’t that what I said?”
Rita Liao approached from the crowd around the tables. She was carrying food for two. “Anyone seen Jau? This place is so big you can lose someone.”
“Haven’t seen him,” said Pham.
“The flight tech? I think he went around the other side of the lodge”—this from an Emergent, someone whose name Pham should not know. Nau and Qiwi had arranged an intersection of Watches for this open house so that there were some near-strangers in the crowd.
“Well, pus. I should just bounce off the ceiling and take a look.” But even in the present mellow circumstances, Rita Liao was a good Emergent Follower. She kept her feet squarely on the gripping ground as she turned to scan the crowd. “Qiwi!” she shouted. “Have you seen my Jau?”
Qiwi detached herself from the group around Tomas Nau and shuffled up the walk toward them. “Yes,” she said. Pham noticed Ezr Vinh backing off, heading for another group. “Jau didn’t believe the pier was real, so I suggested he go take a look.”
“It’s real? The boat, too?”
“Sure. Come on down. I’ll show you.” The five of them walked down the path. Silipan strutted along in his silken rags, waving at others to follow. “See what we’ve done here!”
Pham sent his inner gaze ahead, studying the rocks around the pier, the bushes that leaned out over the water. This Balacrean vegetation was beautiful in a stark way that fit with the cool air. And the entrance to the utility tunnel was hidden in the cliff behind the blue-green fronds.Thismay be my best chance. Pham walked next to Qiwi, asking questions that hopefully would mark his presence later. “You can actually sail in it?”
Qiwi smiled. “See for yourself.”
Rita Liao made an exaggerated shivering sound. “It’s cold enough to be real. North Paw is pretty, but can’t you redial for something tropical?”
“No,” said Silipan. He hurried to walk in front of them and lecture. “It’s too real for that. Ali Lin’s whole point was realism and detail.” Now that Qiwi was present, he spoke of the zipheads like human beings.
The path wound back and forth, realistic switchbacks that took them down the rocky face of the harbor wall. Most of the guests were following, curious to see what this moorage could really be.
“Water looks awfully flat,” someone said.
“Yes,” said Qiwi. “Realistic waves are the hardest part. Some of my father’s friends are working on that. If we can form the water surface on a short scale both in time and—” There was startled laughter as a trio of winged kittens zipped low and fast over their heads. The three skimmed out across the water, then climbed into the sky like strafing aircraft.
“I’ll bet you they don’t havethat at the real North Paw!”
Qiwi laughed. “True. That was my price!” She smiled up at Pham. “Remember the kittens we had in the pre-Flight temp? When I was little—” She looked around, searching for a face in the crowd. “When I was little, someone gave me one for a pet.”
There was still a little girl inside, who remembered other times. Pham ignored the wistfulness in her voice. His words came out bluff and patronizing. “Flying kittens don’t have real significance. If you’d wanted a solid symbol, you’d have wombed some flying pigs.”
“Pigs?” Trud stumbled, almost lost his stride. “Oh yeah, the ‘noble winged pig.’ “
“Yes, the spirit of programming. There are winged pigs in all the grandest temps.”
“Yeah, sure… just get me an umbrella!” Trud shook his head, and some of those behind him were laughing. The flying pig mythos had never caught on at Balacrea.
Qiwi smiled at the byplay. “Maybe we should—I don’t think I’ll ever convince the kitties to scavenge floating trash.”
In less than two hundred seconds, the crowd had ranged itself along the water’s edge. Pham drifted away from Qiwi and Trud and Rita. He moved as if seeking the best vantage point. In fact, he was coming closer to the cover of the blue-green fronds. With any luck, there would be some excitement in the next few moments. Surely some fool would fall off the ground. He began a final security sweep across the localizer net….
Rita Liao was no fool, but when she saw where Jau Xin was, she got a little careless. “Jau, what in Plague’s
