A Deepness in the Sky Part 18

Yes, that is surely true.The carving gangs were the lowest of the Focused jobs. It wasn't the high creation of Ali Lin or the translators. The patterns of the Emergent "legend art" left nothing to creativity. The workers beetled down the diamond corridors, centimeter by centimeter, scooping tiny bits from the walls according to the master pattern. Ritser's original plan had been that the project burn up all the "waste human resources," working them without medical care unto death.

"But they don't work Watch-on-Watch anymore, Floria." That had been one of Qiwi's earliest triumphs over Ritser Brughel. The carving was made lighter work, and medical resources were made available to all who remained awake. The carvers would live through the Exile, to the manumissions that Tomas had promised.

Floria nodded. "Right, and even though our Watches were almost disjoint, I still kept track of Luan. I used to hang around the corridors, pretending to be pa.s.sing through whenever other people came along. I even talked to her about that d.a.m.n filthy art she loved; it was the only thing she could talk about, 'The Defeat of the Frenkisch Orc.' " Floria all but spat the t.i.tle. Her anger faded, and she seemed to wilt. "Even so, I still could see her and maybe, if I was a good little Peddler, she would be free someday. But now. . ." She turned to look at Qiwi and her voice once more lost its steadiness. ". . .now she's gone, not even on the roster. They claim her coffin failed. They claim she died in coldsleep. The lying, treacherous, b.a.s.t.a.r.ds b.a.s.t.a.r.ds . . ." . . ."

Qeng Ho coldsleep boxes were so safe that the failure rate was a kind of statistical guess, at least under proper use and for spans of less than 4Gsec. Emergent equipment was flakier, and since the fighting, n.o.body's gear was absolutely trustable. Luan's death was most likely a terrible accident, just another echo of the madness that had nearly killed them all. And how can I convince poor Floria of this? And how can I convince poor Floria of this? "I guess we can't be certain of anything we are told, Floria. The Emergents have an evil system. But. . . I was on one hundred percent Watch for a long time. I'm on fifty percent even now. I've been into almost everything. And you know, in all that time, I haven't caught Tomas in a lie." "I guess we can't be certain of anything we are told, Floria. The Emergents have an evil system. But. . . I was on one hundred percent Watch for a long time. I'm on fifty percent even now. I've been into almost everything. And you know, in all that time, I haven't caught Tomas in a lie."

"Okay," grudgingly.

"And why would anyone want to kill Luan?"

"I didn't say 'kill.' And maybe your Tomas doesn't know. See, I wasn't the only one who hung around the diamond carvers. Twice, I saw Ritser Brughel. Once he had all the women together, and was behind them, just watching. The other time. . .the other time it was just him and Luan."

"Oh." The word came out very small.

"I don't have evidence. What I saw was nothing more than a gesture, a posture, a look on a man's face. And so I was silent, and now Luan is gone."

Floria's paranoia suddenly seemed quite plausible. Ritser Brughel was was a monster, a monster barely held in check by the Podmaster system. The memory of their confrontation had never left Qiwi, the a monster, a monster barely held in check by the Podmaster system. The memory of their confrontation had never left Qiwi, the slap slap slap slap slap slap of his steel baton in his hands as he raged at her. At the time, Qiwi had felt angry triumph at putting him down. Since, she'd realized how scared she should have been. Without Tomas, she surely would have died then. . .or worse. Ritser knew what would happen if he was caught. of his steel baton in his hands as he raged at her. At the time, Qiwi had felt angry triumph at putting him down. Since, she'd realized how scared she should have been. Without Tomas, she surely would have died then. . .or worse. Ritser knew what would happen if he was caught.

Faking a death, even committing an unsanctioned execution, was tricky. The Podmasters had their own peculiar record-keeping requirements. Unless Ritser was very clever, there would be clues. "Listen, Floria. There are ways I can check on this. You could be right about Luan, but one way or another we'll find out the truth. And if you're right-well, there's no way Tomas can put up with such abuse. He needs all the Qeng Ho cooperating, or none of us have a chance."

Floria looked at her solemnly, then reached round to give her a fierce hug. Qiwi could feel the shivers that pa.s.sed through her body, but she wasn't crying. After a long moment, Floria said, "Thank you. Thank you. This last Msec, I've been so frightened. . .so ashamed."

"Ashamed?"

"I love Luan, but Focus made her a stranger. I should have screamed b.l.o.o.d.y murder when I heard she was gone. h.e.l.l, I should have complained when I saw Brughel with her. But I was afraid for myself. Now. . ." Floria loosened her grip and regarded Qiwi with a shaky smile. "Now, maybe I've endangered someone else, too. But at least you have a chance. . .and you know, it's possible that she's alive even now, Qiwi. If we can find her soon enough."

Qiwi raised her palm. "Maybe, maybe. Let's see what I can discover."

"Yes." They finished their tea, discussed everything Floria could remember about her sister and what she had seen. She was doing her best now to seem calm, but relief and nervousness made her words come a bit too fast, made her gestures a bit too broad.

Qiwi helped her set the bonsai bubble and its wood stand in brackets beneath the room's main light. "I can get you lots more wood. Gonle really, really wants you to program for meta-crylates. You might want to panel your home with polished wood, like old-time captains did their inner cabins."

Floria looked around her little s.p.a.ce, and played along. "I could indeed. Tell her, maybe we can do a deal."

And then Qiwi was standing at the lock's inner door, and pulling down her coverall hood. For a moment, the fear was back in Floria's face. "Be careful, Qiwi."

"I will."

Qiwi took her taxi through the rest of its stops, inspecting the rockpile, posting problems and changes to the ziphead net. Meantime, her mind raced down scary corridors. It was just as well she had this time to think. If Floria was right, then even with Tomas on her side, this could be very dangerous. Ritser was just into too many things. If he was sabotaging the coldsleep or falsifying death records, then big parts of Tomas's net had been subverted.

Does Ritser suspect that I know?Qiwi glided down across the canyon that separated Diamond Three from Diamond Four. Arachna's blue light shone from directly behind her, illuminating the caves that were the rough interface between the blocks. There was sublimation from some of the water glue. It was too fine to show on the sensor grid, but when she hovered with her face just centimeters from the surface she could see it. Even as she called in the problem, another part of her mind was turning on the deadlier question: Floria was clever enough to sweep her little cabin, even the outside. And Qiwi was very careful with her suit. Tomas had given her permission to disable all its bugs, both official and covert. On the net it was a different story. If Ritser was doing what Floria thought, then very likely he was monitoring even pod communications. It would be tricky to discover anything without tipping him off.

So be very, very careful.She needed an excuse for anything she did now. Ah. Ah. The personnel studies that she and Ezr had been a.s.signed. Coasting up from her inspection of the rockpile, it would be reasonable for her to work on that. She put in a low-priority call to Ezr asking for a conference, then downloaded a large block of the Watch and personnel database. The records on Luan would be in there, but they were now cached locally, and her processors were covered by Tomas's own security. The personnel studies that she and Ezr had been a.s.signed. Coasting up from her inspection of the rockpile, it would be reasonable for her to work on that. She put in a low-priority call to Ezr asking for a conference, then downloaded a large block of the Watch and personnel database. The records on Luan would be in there, but they were now cached locally, and her processors were covered by Tomas's own security.

She brought up the bio on Luan Peres. Yes, reported dead in coldsleep. Qiwi flicker-read down through the text. There was lots of jargon, conjecture about how the unit had failed. Qiwi had had years to practice with coldsleep gear, if only as a front-end technician. She could more or less follow the discussion, though it seemed like the florid overkill of a rambling ziphead, what you might get if you asked asked a Focused person to invent a credible failure. a Focused person to invent a credible failure.

The taxi floated out of the rockpile's shadow and the sunlight washed away the quiet blues of Arachna-light. The rockpile sunside was naked rock, graphite on diamond. Qiwi dimmed the view and turned back to the report on Luan. It was almost a clean report. It might have fooled her if she hadn't been suspicious or if she hadn't known all the requirements of Emergent doc. Where were the third and fourth crosschecks on the autopsy? Reynolt always wanted her zips to do that; the woman lost what little flexibility she had when it came to ziphead fatalities.

The report was bogus. Tomas would understand that the moment she pointed it out to him.

A chime sounded in her ear. "Ezr, h.e.l.lo." d.a.m.n. Her call to him had just been a cover, an excuse to download a big block and look at Luan's records. But here he was. For a moment, he seemed to be sitting next to her in the taxi. Then the image flickered as her huds figured out they couldn't manage the illusion, and settled for putting him in a fixed position pseudo-display. Behind him were the blue-green walls of the Hammerfest attic. He was visiting Trixia, of course.

The picture was more than good enough to show the impatience in his face. "I decided to get right back to you. You know I go off-Watch in sixty Ksec."

"Yes, sorry to bother you. I've been looking over the personnel stats. For that planning committee stuff you and I are stuck with? Anyway, I came up with a question." Her mind raced ahead of her words, searching madly for some issue that would justify this call. Funny how the least attempt at deception always seemed to make life more complicated. She stumbled along for a few sentences, finally came up with a really stupid question about specialist mixing.

Ezr was looking at her a little strangely now. He shrugged. "You're asking about the end of the Exile, Qiwi. Who knows what we'll need when the Spiders are ready for contact. I thought we were going to bring all specialties out of coldsleep then, and run flat out."

"Of course, that's the plan, but there are details-" Qiwi weaseled her way toward credibility. The main thing was just to end the conversation. "-so I'll think about this some more. Let's have a real meeting after you get back on from coldsleep."

Ezr grimaced. "That will be a while. I'm off for fifty Msec." Most of two years.

"What?" That was more than four times as long as his usual off-Watch.

"You know, new faces and all that." There were branches of his Watch tree that had not had much time. Tomas and the manager committee-Qiwi and Ezr included!-had thought everyone should get hands-on time and exposure to the usual training courses.

"You're starting a little early." And 50Msec was longer than she expected.

"Yeah. Well, you have to start someplace." He looked away from the video pov. At Trixia? When he looked back, his tone was less impatient but somehow more urgent. "Look, Qiwi. I'm going to be on ice for a big fifty, and even afterwards I'll be on a low duty cycle for a while." He raised a hand as if to forestall objections. "I'm not complaining! I partic.i.p.ated in the decisions myself.. . .But Trixia will be on-Watch all that time. That's longer than she has ever been alone. There'll be n.o.body to stand up for her."

Qiwi wished she could reach out and comfort him. "No one will harm her, Ezr."

"Yeah, I know. She's too valuable valuable to harm. Just like your father." Something flickered in his eyes, but it wasn't the usual anger. Poor Ezr was begging her. "They'll keep her body working, they'll keep her moderately clean. But I don't want her ha.s.sled any more than she already is. Keep an eye on her, Qiwi. You have real power, at least over small fish like Trud Silipan." to harm. Just like your father." Something flickered in his eyes, but it wasn't the usual anger. Poor Ezr was begging her. "They'll keep her body working, they'll keep her moderately clean. But I don't want her ha.s.sled any more than she already is. Keep an eye on her, Qiwi. You have real power, at least over small fish like Trud Silipan."

It was the first time Ezr had really asked her for help.

"I'll watch out for her, Ezr," Qiwi said softly. "I promise."

After he rang off, Qiwi sat unmoving for several seconds. Strange that a phone call that was an accident and a scam should have such an impact. But Ezr had always had that effect on her. When she was thirteen, Ezr Vinh had seemed the most wonderful man in the universe-and the only way she could get his attention was by goading him. Such teenage crushes should vape away, right? Occasionally she wondered if the Diem ma.s.sacre had somehow stunted her soul, trapped her affections as they were in the last innocent days before all the death.. . .Whatever the reason, it felt good that she could do something for him.

Maybe paranoia was contagious. Luan Peres dead. Now Ezr gone for even longer than they had planned. I wonder who actually specified that.w.a.tch change? I wonder who actually specified that.w.a.tch change? Qiwi looked back through her cache. The schedule change was nominally from the Watch-manager committee. . .with Ritser Brughel doing the actual sign-off. That happened often enough; one Podmaster or the other had to sign for all such changes. Qiwi looked back through her cache. The schedule change was nominally from the Watch-manager committee. . .with Ritser Brughel doing the actual sign-off. That happened often enough; one Podmaster or the other had to sign for all such changes.

Qiwi's taxi continued its slow coast upward. From this distance, the rockpile was a craggy jumble, Diamond Two in sunlight, the glare obscuring all but the brightest stars. It might have been a wilderness scene except for the regular form of the Qeng Ho temp gleaming off to the side. With augmented vision, Qiwi could see the dozens of warehouses of the L1 system. Down in the shade of the rockpile were Hammerfest and the distillery, and the a.r.s.enal at L1-A. In the s.p.a.ces around orbited the temp, the warehouses, the junked and semi-junked starships that had brought them all here. Qiwi used them as a kind of soft auxiliary to the electric jets. It was a well-tended dynamical system, even though it did look like chaos compared to the close mooring of the early Exile.

Qiwi took in the configuration with practiced eyes, even as her mind considered the much more treacherous problems of political intrigue. Ritser Brughel's private domain, the old QHS Invisible Hand, Invisible Hand, was outward from the pile, less than two thousand meters from her taxi; she would pa.s.s less than fifteen hundred meters from its throat. was outward from the pile, less than two thousand meters from her taxi; she would pa.s.s less than fifteen hundred meters from its throat. Hmm. Hmm. So, what if Ritser had kidnapped Luan Peres? That would be his boldest move ever against Tomas. So, what if Ritser had kidnapped Luan Peres? That would be his boldest move ever against Tomas. And maybe it's not the only thing. And maybe it's not the only thing. If Ritser could get away with this, there might be other deaths. If Ritser could get away with this, there might be other deaths. Ezr. Ezr.

Qiwi took a deep breath. Just take one problem at a time. So: SupposeFloria is right and Luan still lives, a toy in Ritser's private s.p.a.ce? Just take one problem at a time. So: SupposeFloria is right and Luan still lives, a toy in Ritser's private s.p.a.ce? There were limits to how fast Tomas could act against another Podmaster. If she complained, and there was any delay at all, Luan might die for real-and all the evidence could just. . .disappear. There were limits to how fast Tomas could act against another Podmaster. If she complained, and there was any delay at all, Luan might die for real-and all the evidence could just. . .disappear.

Qiwi turned in her seat, got a naked-eye view of the Hand. Hand. She was less than seventeen hundred meters out now. It might be days before she could w.a.n.gle a configuration this slick. The starship's stubby form was so close that she could see the emergency repair welds, and the blistering where X-ray fire had struck the ramscoop's projection f.l.a.n.g.e. Qiwi knew the architecture of the She was less than seventeen hundred meters out now. It might be days before she could w.a.n.gle a configuration this slick. The starship's stubby form was so close that she could see the emergency repair welds, and the blistering where X-ray fire had struck the ramscoop's projection f.l.a.n.g.e. Qiwi knew the architecture of the Invisible Hand Invisible Hand about as well as anyone at L1; she had lived on that ship through years of the voyage here, had used it as her hands-on example of every ship topic in her schooling. She knew its blind spots.. . .More important, she had Podmaster-level access. It was just one of the many things that Tomas trusted her with. Until now she had never used it so, um, provocatively, but- about as well as anyone at L1; she had lived on that ship through years of the voyage here, had used it as her hands-on example of every ship topic in her schooling. She knew its blind spots.. . .More important, she had Podmaster-level access. It was just one of the many things that Tomas trusted her with. Until now she had never used it so, um, provocatively, but- Qiwi's hands were moving even before she finished rationalizing her scheme. She keyed in her personal crypto link to Tomas, and spoke quickly, outlining what she had learned and what she suspected-and what she planned to do. She squirted the message off, delivery contingent on a deadman condition. Now Tomas would know no matter what, and she would have something to threaten Ritser with if he caught her.

Sixteen hundred meters from the Invisible Hand. Invisible Hand. Qiwi pulled down her coverall hood, and cycled the taxi's atmosphere. Her intuition and her huds agreed on the jump path she must follow, the trajectory that would take her down the Qiwi pulled down her coverall hood, and cycled the taxi's atmosphere. Her intuition and her huds agreed on the jump path she must follow, the trajectory that would take her down the Hand Hand 's throat, in the ship's blind spot all the way. She popped the taxi's hatch, waited till her acrobatic instinct said 's throat, in the ship's blind spot all the way. She popped the taxi's hatch, waited till her acrobatic instinct said go go -and leaped into the emptiness. -and leaped into the emptiness.

Qiwi finger-walked down the Hand Hand 's empty freight hold. Using a combination of Tomas's authority and her own special knowledge of the ship's architecture, she had reached the level of the living quarters without tripping any audible alarms. Every few meters, Qiwi put her ear to the wall, and simply listened. She was so close to on-Watch country that she could hear other people. Things sounded very ordinary, no sudden movement, no anxious talk.. . .Hmm. 's empty freight hold. Using a combination of Tomas's authority and her own special knowledge of the ship's architecture, she had reached the level of the living quarters without tripping any audible alarms. Every few meters, Qiwi put her ear to the wall, and simply listened. She was so close to on-Watch country that she could hear other people. Things sounded very ordinary, no sudden movement, no anxious talk.. . .Hmm. That That sounded like someone crying. sounded like someone crying.

Qiwi moved faster, feeling something like the giddy anger of her long-ago confrontation with Ritser Brughel-only now she had more sense, and was correspondingly more afraid. During their common Watches since that time in the park, she had often felt Ritser's eyes upon her. She had always expected that there would be another confrontaion. As much as it was to honor her mother's memory, Qiwi's fanatical gym work-all the martial arts-was intended as insurance against Ritser and his steel baton. Lot ofgood it will do, if he pots me with a wire gun. Lot ofgood it will do, if he pots me with a wire gun. But Ritser was such an idiot, he'd never kill her like that; he'd want to gloat. Today, if it came to it, she'd have time to threaten him with the message she'd left Tomas. She pushed down her fear, and moved closer to the sound of weeping. But Ritser was such an idiot, he'd never kill her like that; he'd want to gloat. Today, if it came to it, she'd have time to threaten him with the message she'd left Tomas. She pushed down her fear, and moved closer to the sound of weeping.

Qiwi hovered over an access hatch. Suddenly her shoulders and arms were tense. Strange, random thoughts skittered through her mind. I willremember. I will remember. I willremember. I will remember. Freaky craziness. Freaky craziness.

Beyond this point, her only invisibility would be in her Podmaster pa.s.skey. Very likely that would not be enough. But I just need a few seconds. But I just need a few seconds. Qiwi checked her recorder and data link one last time. . .and slipped through the hatch, into a crew corridor. Qiwi checked her recorder and data link one last time. . .and slipped through the hatch, into a crew corridor.

Lord.For a moment, Qiwi just stared in astonishment. The corridor was the size that she remembered. Ten meters farther on, it curved right, toward the Captain's living quarters. But Ritser had pasted wallpaper on all four walls, and the pictures were a kind of swirling pink. The air stank of animal musk. This was a different universe from the Invisible Hand Invisible Hand that she had known. She grasped wildly at her courage, and moved slowly up the hallway. Now there was music ahead, at least the that she had known. She grasped wildly at her courage, and moved slowly up the hallway. Now there was music ahead, at least the thump thump thump thump thump thump of percussion. Somebody was singing. . .sharp, barking screams, in time with the beat. of percussion. Somebody was singing. . .sharp, barking screams, in time with the beat.

Like they had a life of their own, her shoulders cramped tight, aching to bounce off the wall and race back the way she had come. Do I need anymore proof? Do I need anymore proof? Yes. Just a look at the data system with a local override. That would mean more than any number of hysterical stories about Ritser's choice of video and music. Yes. Just a look at the data system with a local override. That would mean more than any number of hysterical stories about Ritser's choice of video and music.

Door by door, she moved up the corridor. These had been staff officer quarters, but used by the Watch crew on the voyage from Triland. She had lived in the second room from the end for three years-and she really didn't want to know what that looked like now. The Captain's planning room was just beyond the bend. She flicked her pa.s.skey at the lock, and the door slid open. Inside. . .this was no planning room. It looked like a cross between a gym and a bedroom. And the walls were again covered with video wallpaper. Qiwi pulled herself over a strange, gauntleted rack and settled down, out of sight of the doorway. She touched her huds, asked for a local override connection to the ship's net. There was a pause as her location and authorization were checked, and then she was looking at names and dates and pictures. Yes! Yes! Ol' Ritser was running his own small-scale coldsleep business right here on the Ol' Ritser was running his own small-scale coldsleep business right here on the Invisible Hand. Invisible Hand. Luan Peres was listed . . .and Luan Peres was listed . . .and here here she was listed as living, on-Watch! she was listed as living, on-Watch!

That's enough; time to get out of this madhouse.But Qiwi hesitated an instant longer. There were so many names here, familiar names and faces from long ago. Little death glyphs sat by each picture. She had been a child when she last saw these people, but not like this. . .these faces were variously sullen, sleeping, terribly bruised or burned. The living, the dead, the beaten, the fiercely resisting. This is from before Jimmy Diem. This is from before Jimmy Diem. She knew there had been interrogations, a period of many Ksecs between the fighting and the resumption of Watches, but. . .Qiwi felt a numb horror spreading up from the pit of her stomach. She paged through the names. Kira Pen Lisolet. Mama. A bruised face, the eyes staring steadily back at her. She knew there had been interrogations, a period of many Ksecs between the fighting and the resumption of Watches, but. . .Qiwi felt a numb horror spreading up from the pit of her stomach. She paged through the names. Kira Pen Lisolet. Mama. A bruised face, the eyes staring steadily back at her. Whatdid Ritser do to you? How could Tomas not know? Whatdid Ritser do to you? How could Tomas not know? She wasn't really conscious of following the data links from that picture, but suddenly her huds were running an immersion video. The room was the same, but filled with the sights and sounds of long ago. As if from the other side of the rack, there came the sound of panting and moaning. Qiwi slid to the side and the vision tracked with near perfection. Around the corner of the rack, she came face-to-face with. . .Tomas Nau. A younger Tomas Nau. Out of sight, beyond the edge of the rack, he seemed to be thrusting from his hips. The look on his face was the sort of ecstatic pleasure that Qiwi had seen in his face so many times, the look he had when they could finally be alone and he could come in her. But this Tomas of years ago held a tiny, red-splattered knife. He leaned forward, out of sight, leaned down on someone whose moans changed to a shrill scream. Qiwi pulled herself over the edge of the rack and looked straight down at the true past, at the woman Nau was cutting. She wasn't really conscious of following the data links from that picture, but suddenly her huds were running an immersion video. The room was the same, but filled with the sights and sounds of long ago. As if from the other side of the rack, there came the sound of panting and moaning. Qiwi slid to the side and the vision tracked with near perfection. Around the corner of the rack, she came face-to-face with. . .Tomas Nau. A younger Tomas Nau. Out of sight, beyond the edge of the rack, he seemed to be thrusting from his hips. The look on his face was the sort of ecstatic pleasure that Qiwi had seen in his face so many times, the look he had when they could finally be alone and he could come in her. But this Tomas of years ago held a tiny, red-splattered knife. He leaned forward, out of sight, leaned down on someone whose moans changed to a shrill scream. Qiwi pulled herself over the edge of the rack and looked straight down at the true past, at the woman Nau was cutting.

"Mama!"The past didn't notice her cry; Nau continued his business. Qiwi doubled up on herself, spewing vomit across the rack and beyond. She couldn't see them anymore, but the sounds of the past continued, as if they were happening just on the other side of the rack. Even as her stomach emptied, she tore the huds from her face, threw them wildly away. She choked and gagged; gibbering horror was in charge of her reflexes.

The light changed as the room's door opened. There were voices. Voices in the present. "Yeah, she's in here, Marli."

"Phew. What a mess." Sounds of the two men quartering the room, coming closer to Qiwi's hiding place. Mindlessly she retreated, floated down beneath the nightmare equipment, and braced herself against the floor.

A face coasted across her position.

"Got h-"

Qiwi exploded upward, the blade of her hand just missing the other's neck. She slammed into the wall part.i.tion behind him. Pain lanced back along her arm.

She felt the p.r.i.c.k of stunner darts. She turned, tried to bounce toward her attacker, but her legs were already dead. The two waited cautiously a second. Then the shooter, Marli, grinned and snagged her slowly-turning body. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. But there was some sensation. She felt Marli draw her back to him, run his hand across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "She's safed; don't worry, Tung." Marli laughed. "Or maybe you should worry. Look at that hole she put in the wall. Another four centimeters and you'd be breathing out the back of your neck!"

"Pus." Tung's voice was sullen.

"You got her? Good." It was Tomas's voice, from the door. Marli abruptly released his hold on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He coasted her around the equipment, into the open.

Qiwi couldn't turn her head. She saw whatever happened to be before her eyes. Tomas, calm as ever. Calm as ever. Calm as ever. He glanced at her in pa.s.sing, nodded to Marli. Qiwi tried to scream, but no sound came. He glanced at her in pa.s.sing, nodded to Marli. Qiwi tried to scream, but no sound came. Tomas will killme, like all the others.. . .But if he doesn't? If he doesn't, then nothing inG.o.d's universe can save him. Tomas will killme, like all the others.. . .But if he doesn't? If he doesn't, then nothing inG.o.d's universe can save him.

Tomas turned. Ritser Brughel was behind him, disheveled and half-naked. "Ritser, this is inexcusable. The whole point of giving her access codes is to make capture predictable and easy. You knew she was coming, and you left yourself wide open."

Brughel's voice was whiny. "Plague take it. She's never twigged this soon after her last scrub. And I had less than three hundred seconds from your first warning till she arrived here. That's never never happened before." happened before."

Tomas glared at his Vice-Podmaster. "The second was just bad luck-something you should count on. The first . . ." He looked back at Qiwi, and his anger turned to thoughtfulness. "Something unexpected triggered her this time. Have Kal review just who she's been talking to."

He gestured to Marli and Tung. "Put her in a box and take her down to Hammerfest. Tell Anne I want the usual."

"What cutoff time on the memories, sir?"

"I'll talk to Anne about that myself. We've got some records to look at."

Qiwi got a glimpse of the corridor, of hands dragging her along. Howmany times has this happened before? Howmany times has this happened before? No matter how hard she strained, she couldn't move a muscle. Inside she was screaming. No matter how hard she strained, she couldn't move a muscle. Inside she was screaming. This time I will remember. I This time I will remember. I will will remember! remember!

TWENTY-TWO.

Pham followed Trud Silipan up the central tower of Hammerfest, toward the Attic. In a sense, this was the moment he had been angling for through Msecs of casual shmoozing-an excuse to get inside the Focus system, to see more than the results. No doubt he could have gotten here earlier-in fact, Silipan had offered more than once to show him around. Over the Watches they had known each other, Pham had made enough silly a.s.sertions about Focus, had bet Silipan and Xin enough scrip about his opinions; a plausible visit was inevitable. But there was plenty of time and Pham had never had quite the cover he'd wanted. Don't fool yourself. Popping thelocalizers on Tomas Nau has put you in more danger than anything so far. Don't fool yourself. Popping thelocalizers on Tomas Nau has put you in more danger than anything so far.

"Now, finally, you're going to see behind the scenes, Pham old boy. After this, I hope you'll shut up about some of your crazy theories." Silipan was grinning; clearly, he'd been looking forward to this moment himself.

They drifted upward, past narrow tunnels that forked and forked. The place was a warren.

Pham pulled himself even with the coasting Silipan. "What's to know? So you Emergents can make people into automatic devices. So what? Even a ziphead can't multiply numbers faster than once or twice a second. Machines can do it trillions of times faster. So with zipheads, you get the pleasure of bossing people around-and for what? The slowest, c.r.a.ppiest automation since Humankind learned to write."

"Yeah, yeah. You've been saying that for years. But you're still wrong." He stuck out a foot, catching a stop with the toe of his shoe. "Keep your voice down inside the grouproom, okay?" They were facing a real door, not one of the little crawl hatches of lower down. Silipan waved it open and they drifted through. Pham's first impression was of body odor and packed humanity.

"They do get pretty ripe, don't they? They're healthy, though. I see to that." He spoke with a technician's pride.

There was rack on rack of micro-gee seating, packed in a three-dimensional lattice that would have been impossible in any real gravity. Most of the seats were occupied. There were men and women of all ages, dressed in grays, most using what looked to be premium Qeng Ho head-up display devices. This wasn't what he had been expecting. "I thought you kept them isolated," in little cells such as Ezr Vinh had described in more than one tearful session in the booze parlor.

"Some we do. It depends on the application." He waved at the room attendants, two men dressed like hospital orderlies. "This is a lot cheaper. Two guys can handle all the potty calls, and the usual fights."

"Fights?"

"'Professional disagreements.' "Silipan chuckled. "Snits, really. They're only dangerous if they upset the mindrot's balance."

They floated diagonally upward between the close-packed rows. Some of the huds flickered transparently and he could see the zipheads' eyes moving. But no one seemed to notice Pham and Trud; their vision was elsewhere.

There was low-pitched mumbling from all directions, the combined voices of all the zipheads in the room. There were a lot of people talking, all in short bursts of words-Nese, but still nonsense. The global effect was an almost hypnotic chant.

The zipheads typed ceaselessly on chording keyboards. Silipan pointed to their hands with special pride. "See, not one in five has any joint damage; we can't afford to lose people. We have so few, and Reynolt can't completely control the mindrot. But it's been most of a year since we had a simple medical fatality-and that was almost unavoidable. Somehow the zip got a punctured colon right after after a clean checkup. He was an isolated specialty. His performance fell off, but we didn't know there was a problem till the smell got completely rank." So the slave had died from the inside out, too dedicated to cry his pain, too neglected for anyone to notice. Trud Silipan was only caring in the mean. a clean checkup. He was an isolated specialty. His performance fell off, but we didn't know there was a problem till the smell got completely rank." So the slave had died from the inside out, too dedicated to cry his pain, too neglected for anyone to notice. Trud Silipan was only caring in the mean.

They reached the top, looked back down the lattice of mumbling humanity. "Now in one way you're right, Mr. Armsman Trinli. If these people were doing arithmetic or string sorting, this operation would be a joke. The smallest processor in a finger ring can do that sort of thing a billion times faster than any human. But you hear the zipheads talking?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't make any sense."

"It's internal jargon; they get into that pretty fast when we work them in teams. But the point is, they're not doing low-level machine functions. They're using using our computer resources. See, for us Emergents, the zipheads are the next system layer above software. They can apply human intelligence, but with the persistence and patience of a machine. And that's also why unFocused specialists-especially techs like me-are important. Focus is useless unless there are normal people to direct it and to find the proper balance of hardware and software and Focus. Done right, the combination is totally beyond what you Qeng Ho ever achieved." our computer resources. See, for us Emergents, the zipheads are the next system layer above software. They can apply human intelligence, but with the persistence and patience of a machine. And that's also why unFocused specialists-especially techs like me-are important. Focus is useless unless there are normal people to direct it and to find the proper balance of hardware and software and Focus. Done right, the combination is totally beyond what you Qeng Ho ever achieved."

Pham had long ago understood that, but denying the point provoked steadily more detailed explanations from Emergents like Trud Silipan. "So what is this group actually doing?"

"Let's see." He motioned for Pham to put on his huds. "Ah, see? We have them part.i.tioned into three groups. The top third is rote-layer processing, zipheads that can be easily retargeted. They're great for routine tasks, like direct queries. The middle third is programming. As a Programmer-at-Arms, this should interest you." He popped up some dependency charts. They were squirrelly nonsense, immense blocks with no evolutionary coherence. "This is a rewrite of your own weapons targeting code."

"c.r.a.p. I could never maintain something like that."

"No, you you couldn't. But a Programmer-Manager-someone like Rita Liao-can, as long as she has a team of ziphead programmers. She's having them rearrange and optimize the code. They've done what ordinary humans could do if they could concentrate endlessly. Together with good development software, these zips have produced a code that is about half the size of your original-and five times as fast on the same hardware. They also combed out hundreds of bugs." couldn't. But a Programmer-Manager-someone like Rita Liao-can, as long as she has a team of ziphead programmers. She's having them rearrange and optimize the code. They've done what ordinary humans could do if they could concentrate endlessly. Together with good development software, these zips have produced a code that is about half the size of your original-and five times as fast on the same hardware. They also combed out hundreds of bugs."

Pham didn't say anything for a moment. He just paged through the maze of the dependency charts. Pham had hacked for years at the weapons programs. Sure there were bugs, as there were in any large system. But the weapons code had been the object of thousands of years of work, of constant effort to optimize and remove flaws.. . .He cleared his huds and looked across the ranked slaves. Such a terrible price to pay. . .for such wonderfulresults. Such a terrible price to pay. . .for such wonderfulresults.

Silipan chuckled. "Can't fool me, Trinli. I can tell you're impressed."