A Deepness in the Sky

But now...what if half the team had lost its genius? Sherk's brilliant whimsy had kept the General on track as much as the reverse. Without Sherk, Victory Smith was left with her own assets: courage, strength, persistence. Was that enough?

Victory didn't say anything more for a time. And Hrunkner wished that he could walk over and put his arms across her shoulders...but sergeants, even old sergeants, don't do that to generals.

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, A

"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 pla

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 Be

Be

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 Be

"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 u