Deep Freeze

"Vi

"But it flew the Erin Ke

"We can handle anything it has to dish out," Iain said. "Hell, it's nothing more than a super computer."

"More than that," Vi

"I'll go with you, boss," Iain said.

"And I," said Kara.

"Vi

Vi

"We'll take the two atmoflyers," Iain said.

The atmoflyers were two-place vehicles powered by small flux engines and armed with both sappers and laser ca

"At least one person stays on board," Iain said. He took Kara's hand.

"I'm afraid it'll have to be you, love, because if something goes wrong down there, I want someone on the ship who knows all of her systems."

"Yes," Sarah said. "I want to go. I want to see this thing. I want to understand why it killed all of my family."

Neither Pete nor Sarah were proficient in the operation of scout-type atmoflyers. It was decided that Pete would ride with Iain, leaving Sarah with Vi

"You will find the air to be to your needs," the Watcher said to them. "I will signal you when the pressure has been brought up to Earth normal.

You may then remove your E.V.A. gear so that you can be comfortable."

"I think not," Vi

"As you will."

Vi

At the end of the chamber an irised opening appeared. "Come, please," the Watcher said.

Iain led the way, saffer rifle in hand. Pete and Vi

"Goddamn," Iain said in surprise.

The female voice was pleasant as it spoke English. "If I make you uncomfortable—"

"Not at all," Pete said. "You're very attractive."

"I am nothing more than an extension," she said.

"You are the Watcher?" Vi

"Yes. I felt that you would be more at ease if I spoke with you in this form."

"May I?" Vi

"In the image of they who have come."

"We're here," Pete said. "You said it was time to talk. We're ready."

The Watcher was, of course, able to function on many levels. Physical contact had been established with the orbiting ship. Lines of force now co

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Watcher, in the form of a maturely attractive woman, waved one hand gracefully toward chairs arranged in a conversational circle. Vi

Sarah de Conde sat on the edge of her chair, her hands in her lap. She stared at the Watcher with her eyes squinted belligerently.

The material that covered Vi

The walls showed a faint geometric pattern. Light came from a glowing square in the ceiling, which was an expanse of otherwise unbroken white.

In the center of the circle of chairs was a low table on which sat a free-form sculpture. Pete de Conde picked up the piece, judging it to be carved from a stone very much like marble.

"I am sure you have questions," the Watcher said, through the extension. "If, however, you will allow me to speak, I think that most of them will be answered."

"We are your guests," Pete said, inclining his head toward the extension.

"It is in the intent of creation that each living thing consummate the purpose for which it was intended." The extension leaned forward slightly and spoke in a low, intense voice.

"What gives you the right to speak for creation?" Sarah demanded.

The Watcher ignored the interruption. "Life is the apogee of the cycle of cosmic evolution and no one form of life is more favored than others. I'm sure that you think me wrong, for you consider yourselves to be the penultimate achievement of creation and evolution. I say penultimate rather than ultimate because you are not content with life as it was given to you. You cling to the belief, or the hope, that there is something after this life, that you are destined to evolve into an even higher form. Once you were so certain of this uncertainty that you manipulated your genes to take the form of that to which you aspire."

"Are you speaking of the fossil remains of winged beings on Erin Ke

The extension nodded, causing her dark hair to sway forward onto her cheeks. "An excellent example of perverting the intent of creation. Of course, such blatant manipulation of form and intent had disastrous effects on the mental balance of the winged ones."

"That's very interesting," Iain said, "but what does it have to do with us?"

"As far as we know," Vi

"Be patient, and you will understand," the Watcher said. "Your narrowness of vision is another of your weaknesses, but your most serious fault is the result of your having postulated for yourself an exalted existence after death. By relegating your life to secondary importance, you have given yourselves an avenue of evasion down which you can travel to rationalize away your failure to accept the responsibilities that are inherent to the living."

Vi

"I know enough," the Watcher said. "You told me that you are familiar with only a small portion of this galaxy, but you send your exploration ships into unknown areas searching for that rarest of treasures, a planet which can support life; and when you find such a planet what do you do?

You immediately begin to alter the balance that nature has developed."

"Is this wisdom your own, or was it implanted by your creators?" Vi