from her heart, tingling through her body. It took her a moment to recognize something that had been lost to her for so very long: joy.
SIXTY-THREE
Pham sent Ezr Vinh groundside to negotiate.
“Why me, Pham?” This was the most extraordinary trade situation in the history of Humankind. It was also a war waiting to happen. “You should—”
Nuwen held up his hand, interrupting. “There are reasons for sending you. You know the Spiders better than any of our other unFocused people, certainly better than me.”
“I could be staff. I could help you.”
“No, I’ll be onyour staff.” He paused, and Ezr saw a glint of worry. “You’re right, son, this is tricky. In the short run they hold the whip hand, and they have plenty of reason to hate us. We think the Lighthill faction still has the ear of the King, but—”
There were other factions in the Accord regime. Some of them thought Focused translators were a negotiable commodity.
“That’s why it’s even more important you go, Pham.”
“It’s not our choice. You see, they’ve asked for you specifically.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I guess over the years, working with Trixia, they think they’ve got you figured out.” He grinned. “They want to see you close up.”
That almost made sense. “Okay.” He thought a moment. “But they’re not getting Trixia. I go down with some other translator.” He glared at Pham. “She’s the star; Underville’s crew would love to get their hands on her.”
“Hm. Maybe someone down there is thinking the same way. The King asked for Zinmin to accompany you.” He noticed the expression on Ezr’s face. “There’s more?”
“I—yes. I want Trixia deFocused. Soon.”
“Of course. I’ve given you my word. I’ve given Anne the same promise.”
Ezr stared at him for a moment.And you’ve changed inside; given upthat dream. After all that had happened, Ezr didn’t doubt. But suddenly he couldn’t wait anymore. “Move her to the front of the queue, Pham. I don’t care that you need her translations. Move her up. I want her deFocused by the time I get back.”
Pham raised an eyebrow. “An ultimatum?”
“No. Yes!”
The older man sighed. “You got it. We’ll start on Trixia immediately. I—I confess. We’ve been holding back on the translators. We need them so much.” He pursed his lips. “Don’t expect perfection, Ezr. This is just another place where Nau lied to us. Some of the deFocused are almost as sharp as Anne. Some—”
“I
The transport to Arachna was a humble thing, Jau Xin’s pinnace with ad hoc software revised specially by Qiwi. Humankind had the high ground and the remnants of high technology—and precious little in the way of physical resources or automation. As their zipheads were deFocused, the Emergent software became useless junk—and it would be some time before the Qeng Ho automation could be adapted to the hybrid jumble that remained at L1. They were trapped in a nearly empty solar system, with the only industrial ecology down on Arachna. They might drop a few rocks on the planet, or even a few nukes, but Humankind was nearly toothless. The Spiders were powerless, too, but that would change. They knew about the invaders now, and they knew what could be done with technology. They had large parts of theInvisible Hand intact. Sometime soon, the Spiders would be out here in force. Pham thought they had maybe a year to turn things around, to establish some basis of trust. Qiwi said that ifshe were a Spider, she could do it in far less than a year.
The temp’s axial corridor was filled from end to end when Ezr and Zinmin entered the taxi lock. Almost every unFocused human at L1 was here.
Pham and Anne were there. They floated close, a pair that Ezr Vinh would never have guessed in years past. “We’ve started the deFocus prep,” Anne said. She didn’t have to say who she was talking about. “We’ll do our best, Ezr.”
Qiwi wished him luck, as solemn as he had ever seen her. She seemed uncertain for a moment, then abruptly shook his hand, another thing she had never done before. “Come back safe, Ezr.”
Somehow Rita Liao had put herself right before the hatch, blocking his way. Ezr reached out to comfort her. “I’ll bring Jau back, Rita.” I’ll do my best was what he thought, not having the courage to show his doubts.
Rita’s eyes were bloodshot. She looked even more distracted than when they had talked a few Ksecs before. “I know, Ezr. I know. The Spiders are good people. They’ll know Jau didn’t want to harm them.” She had spent much of her lifetime enamored with the life on Arachna, but her faith in the translations seemed to be slipping away. “But, but if they won’t let you have him… Please. Give him…” She pushed a clear little box into his hand. It had a thumb lock, presumably keyed to Jau Xin. He saw a ’membrance gem inside. She broke off and melted back into the crowd.
SIXTY-FOUR
It was 200Ksec to Lands Command. On the ground, the Spiders drove them up that long valley road. Eerie memories floated through Ezr’s mind. Many of the buildings here were new, butI was here before it all began. It had been so unknowable then. Now there was the superficial gloss of information on everything. Zinmin Broute bounced from window to window and boggled with enthusiasm, naming everything he saw. They passed the library he had raided with Benny Wen. The Museum of the Dark Time. And the statues at the head of King’s Way, that was Gokna’s Reaching for Accord. Zinmin could tell you about every one of the twisted figures.
But today they were not lurkers stealing through someone else’s sleep. Today the lights were very bright, and when they finally moved underground, it was as stark and alien as Ritser Brughel’s Spiderish nightmares. The stairs were steep as ladders, and ordinary rooms were so low-ceilinged that Ezr and Zinmin had to crouch to move from place to place. Despite ancient drugs and millennia of gengineering, the full pull of planetary gravity was a constant, debilitating distraction. They were housed in what Zinmin claimed were royalty-class apartments, rooms with hairy floors and ceilings high enough to stand in. The negotiations began the next day.
The Spiders they had known in the translations were mostly absent. Belga Underville, Elno Coldhaven—those were names that Ezr recognized, but they had always been at a distance. They had not been part of Sherkaner Underhill’s counterlurk. They must be consulting Victory Lighthill, though. As often as not during the negotiations, Underville would withdraw and there would be hissing conversations with persons unseen.
After the first couple of days, Ezr realized that some of those persons werevery far away: Trixia. Back in their rooms, Ezr called L1. Of course, the link went through Spider control. Ezr didn’t care. “You told me that Trixia was in deFocus.”
The pause seemed much longer than ten seconds. Suddenly Ezr couldn’t wait for the excuses and the evasions. “Listen, damn you! The promise was that she would be in deFocus. Sooner or later you have to stop using her!”
Then Pham’s voice came back. “I know, Ezr. The problem is, the Spiders have insisted that she be available, still Focused. It’s a dealbreaker if we refuse… and Trixia refuses to cooperate with us in deFocus. We’d have to force it on her.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care! They don’t own her any more than Tomas Nau.” He choked on the fear, and
