The Ringworld Throne

Vala broke a pome apart and began to eat. They’d feed Machine People, yes, for a while. “Tegger, what do these factories make?”

“I found a warehouse full of cloth. Maybe they make that here. Vala, I haven’t really looked yet.”

Vala was interested in the factories. With her pack full of Louis Wu’s magic cloth, she might get some motors working. Even if she couldn’t, if everything had deteriorated too far, she might still find wonders made before the Fall of the Cities, stacked in factories or warehouses, still waiting to be shipped.

But Tegger himself must be starving. Her people had to be fed now. Look for profit later. After she found some way down!

The little party trickled up Stair Street to the bubble at its top, and in.

What Tegger found mysterious was clear enough to Machine People. Barok smiled and led them up the giant stairs and into the back. “Banquet hall,” he pronounced. “City Builders are omnivores who cook. They like a lot of variety. Look at all this equipment!”

Tegger said, “It’s all boxes and surfaces that get hot.”

“Yes, and a table for chopping stuff.”

Above Stair Street was only the chimney and its spiral stair. Warvia was on the rim of the chimney, kicking her heels in space, looking down on the floating factory city and the lands beyond. She seemed indecently happy.

“I can see our River Folk waving. Rooballabl! Hey, any of you, come up here and show them we made it! They’ll think I’m just Tegger.”

Vala climbed the spiral stair to meet her, past a bronze web clinging to the stone. The women edged around the rim to leave room for those who followed: Coriack, Manak [sic-should be “Manack”], Paroom, Barok. Tegger stopped to study the web, then climbed to join them.

There is something about being at the top of… well, anything… that puts one in command.

Practically speaking, Vala could see nothing of what was most interesting: vampires swarming in the Shadow Nest below and the regions nearby. But far into the mountains, sluggish pale streams flowed through the passes. Flowing along the Homeflow they became individual dots: vampires returning in their thousands.

The river and the snow-crested mountains glittered in patchy sunlight. Close in, two squat black manshapes stood against the glitter. Vala and the others waved. Reassured, Rooballabl and Fudghabladl sank beneath the water.

But she could see all of the factory complex. Tegger had left lights burning everywhere. A broken line of green ran down Stair Street. Green showed nowhere else; none near the chimney. What would a webspinner eat?

The flat tops of warehouses and factories, the curved tops of tanks, were all a glittery gray. The only exceptions were the houses along Stair Street, where the flat places were soil and pools, and the stairs were glittery gray.

Paroom asked, “Valavirgillin? See those gray roofs?”

“Well?”

“I wondered why the lights still work. Everything that’s flat-on to the sun is that same glittery gray. That stuff must be storing sunlight.”

Tegger said, “Yes!”

Paroom smiled. “Bothered you?”

“Yes, but it’s obvious once you-Let’s see, they can’t have been getting much light through these clouds, but none of the power was used before I got here. Hundreds of falans. That means—”

“Could run out. We’d better turn the lights off in the daytime.”

“The hauler plate was that color, before I tore the cab loose. That’s why it could still lift. So lightning is sunlight… turn them off? Paroom, what are we saving power for?”

“I don’t know,” the Grass Giant said, “but I don’t like waste. Leave the lights on around the dock, though, where the vampires come up. That’s my thought.”

Tegger shrugged. Suddenly he looked exhausted. Warvia led him away, murmuring in his ear.

The rest of the party weren’t finding anything noteworthy. Presently, like tourists on holiday, they trickled back to the cruisers. Most of them were ready to fall over.

Gleaners had to sleep at night. All four looked alert enough now, at midday, the only members of the foray team who did. Vala set Manack and Coriack on guard. Then she crawled under an awning.

Forn was there, fast asleep, not just from exhaustion, poor girl, but loss of blood, too. She looked peaceful, though. Vala dipped a towel in fuel and washed the angry-looking wounds on Forn’s neck. Then she spread a blanket and lay down.

When Beedj came in she only closed her eyes against the light.

Beedj spread a double armful of fresh-cut grass in what space was left, and curled himself into it. He murmured, “Clever, what Red Tegger did.”

“Yub,” said Vala.

“Maybe we can go further with that.”

“Mm?”

“Boss, we can collect more water. Bash holes in the roofs of all those factories, storage tanks, whatever. Anything that isn’t a roof, seal it so water doesn’t run out. Spread cloth for funnels. Let it rain. A sea of water! This factory-thing would sink even farther, wouldn’t it? Crush the vampires.”

Could he be right? Vala was too tired to think…

“No.”

“Who speaks?”

“Foranayeedli. It isn’t flat under here, Beedj. There’s a structure as big as Administration in Center City.”

“Oh flup, that’s right, you were living down there. What kind of thing is it, Forn? Like a statue or like a building? Something we could crush?”

Forn began to answer. Vala crept out into daylight, pulling her blanket along, and into the darkness of the payload shell. She spread her blanket and-

A voice said, “Valavirgillin, this is a good time to look into the Shadow Nest.”

Harpster. “I don’t smell you.”

“We explored before we slept. There’s a row of houses-you saw? — and pools. Delightful. And grass to roll ourselves dry.”

“Appreciate it. Harpster, this is a good time to sleep.”

“Night People sleep, too, Boss. In daylight. I’d rather sleep.” One sharp claw pricked her side for emphasis. “So do vampires. They’ll be torpid. We can just push them off the ramp. What I’m really after is the light conditions. Shall I take some Gleaners and go down?”

Vala tried to think. “I put two on guard. Take Silack and Perilack. Take Kaywerbrimmis,” because he’d had some sleep, and they’d want a variety of viewpoints. “Ask Beedj.” The Thurl’s heir would volunteer for anything. Flup! Vala sat up and reached for a gun and alcohol flamer. “And me.”

They were eight: two Machine People, Beedj, two Gleaners, Warvia, and the Ghouls. The Ghouls moved ahead of the circle of torchlight cast by Vala’s throttled-back flamer. The rest followed, masked and half blind.

Vala was looking at four vampire dead. She should have been watching where she stepped. She stumbled… on a handful of vampire teeth, pointed like a Red’s teeth. Sure enough, the one woman was toothless, just as Paroom had described her, and… not just hacked. Vala shuddered.

Grieving Tube bounded out of sight. Vala drew breath to shout, and Harpster was gone, too. Vala ran instead, flamer held high, and found the Ghouls standing over a male vampire still twitching.

They moved on. Rich and corrupt scents were working their way through the pepperleek she breathed. But her sight was coming back.

The party halted three loops down, two and a half loops above the vampire-infested floor.

A broken circle of daylight lit the Shadow Nest bright enough to hurt.

There was dark soil on either side of the Homeflow, patches each the size of a lord’s farm. That was off to