Omega

AND THE BIG moment had arrived.

Kellie nodded at Digger, excused herself, and stepped out into the passageway. Julie followed a few moments later. When Julie came back she was wearing a formal white jacket, complete with epaulets and a pair of eagles, the symbol of her rank. Kellie showed up on one of the screens. “Dr. Conway,” she said, “gentlemen, I’d like you to be aware that there has been a change in command, and that Captain Carson is now the commanding officer of the William B. Jenkins. Thank you very much for your attention.”

Julie gazed around at them. “As my first official act,” she said, “I am going to preside over the wedding of two of the company.”

Collingdale made a face and looked at the time. “I don’t want to be a spoilsport,” he said, “but I assumed we were going to do this after we got back.”

“From where?” asked Digger, making no effort to conceal his a

“From sidetracking the cloud. Digger, I understand how important this is to you, but the cloud is closing in. We have no time to spare.”

“Actually,” said Julie, “the most efficient orbital window is an hour away. Make yourself comfortable.” She studied them for a few moments, as if decisions needed to be made. “Digger,” she said, “over here, please. On my right. Marge, you’ll be our matron of honor. And Whit, at the request of the groom, you’ll serve as best man.”

Whit came up and stood by Digger.

“David, we’d like you to act as witness to the proceedings.”

Collingdale nodded and managed to look pleased.

Bill’s image popped on-screen. He was in formal whites, seated at a keyboard. Julie pointed at him, and he began playing the wedding march. The door to the passageway opened and Kellie appeared in full bridal regalia, flanked by Mark Stevens.

Digger’s heartbeat went up a couple of notches.

Bill brought the march up full. Kellie and her escort strode into the room. Someone had given Marge a veil. She do

But by the time Julie asked whether he wanted her for his wife, all hesitation had fled.

DIGGER TOOK A couple of minutes to kiss the bride, then was told that was enough and he should get to work. There were four hundred projectors to be set up in designated locations on the isthmus. Whit volunteered to assist.

That idea looked a bit shaky to Digger. He’d expected to do the distribution himself, without having someone else along that he’d have to look after. It wasn’t that Whit wouldn’t be good company, but he wasn’t young, and he was just getting into an e-suit for the first time. He had no experience with lightbenders. He didn’t really understand how things worked on the ground, and it was easy to imagine him bumping into one of the Goompahs and causing an incident. Digger knew the hazards quite well.

Still, he was a VIP, and they had a responsibility to keep him happy.

Meantime, David Collingdale was trying to get his show on the road. That meant good-bye to Kellie for a few days. “Enjoyed the honeymoon,” he told her.

“You’ve had your honeymoon,” she said. “Now it’s time to earn your pay.” She kissed him, hugged him, and looked up at him with shining eyes. “I love you, Digby,” she said. “Keep your head up when you get down there.”

“You, too, Kel. Take no chances. I don’t really like this very much.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Another smooch, and she was gone. E-suit, air tanks, go-pack, and she was swimming out the airlock with Collingdale, headed for the Hawksbill. He could have continued his conversation with her on the link, but it seemed easier not to. He watched them disappear through the cargo carrier’s main hatch. Then she fired up, drifted away, and disappeared into the night. A few minutes later, Stevens told Digger he wished he could stay for the show, eased the Cumberland out of orbit, and started back to Broadside.

Digger sighed and wandered back up to A Deck. Time to sit down with Whit and show him what they’d be doing.

T’MINGLETEP WAS LOCATED on the western side of the lower continent, where a major river emptied into the sea. A narrow island hugged the shoreline, turning the strait into a marsh. A bridge co

In terms of both geographical size and population, it was probably the largest of the eleven cities. The same mountain range that dominated the isthmus passed through the region a few kilometers to the east. That was where they wanted the Goompahs to be when the omega hit. The trek over there wouldn’t be too bad. There was no road, but the ground was flat and easily passable. All that would be necessary was to persuade them to go.

A few ships were docked or anchored in the harbor, and one was just setting out, turning north. Julie engaged the lander’s lightbender, and Whit looked out and watched the stubby wing of the spacecraft vanish. “Makes my head spin,” he said.

Digger smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”

They settled onto a stretch of beach north of the city. Whit and Digger got out and activated their infrared lenses so they could see each other. “That’s much better,” said Whit.

They’d divided forty-eight micros between them, stuffing them into their vests. “I’ll head for the mountains,” Julie said. “If you need me, just call.” When they were clear, she closed the lock, and Digger watched the spacecraft lift away.

Whit gazed around him, at the sea, the mountains, the sky. At a seashell, at a crablike creature digging busily in the sand. At the gulls. At a thorny green plant. “Why does it happen here,” he said, “and so few other places?”

“Pardon?” asked Digger.

“We used to think that any world with the right chemicals, good temperatures, and some water, would produce elephants. And trees. And the whole Darwinian show.” He shook his head. “In fact, it rarely happens.”

“Don’t know,” said Digger.

“We’re still missing a big piece of the puzzle. Some enabling mechanism that gets the whole process started.”

They trudged up the beach toward a cluster of trees. The sand turned to hard earth, and they broke through onto a long avenue. A group of Goompahs, not quite fully grown, were gathered in a courtyard. They were bundled in heavy shirts and vests and pullover knitted caps. A couple wore animal-hide gloves.

“Can we go listen?” asked Whit. “For a minute.”

“Do you understand the language?” asked Digger.

“Not really. I’ve tried, but I’m afraid my linguistic skills, whatever they might once have been, have deserted me. But it’s okay. I’d just like to hear them speaking.”

“All right,” said Digger. “I guess we’re not all that pressed for time.”

It was routine stuff. They were all males, and it was strictly sex. Who was game for sack time and who should be avoided.

Whit was disappointed when Digger provided a carefully phrased translation. “Seems mundane,” he said. “I expected more.” But he adjusted his thinking quickly as they moved away. “Maybe it’s what would happen with any intelligent species developing in a reasonably free society.” But it was clear he’d have preferred to find them discussing philosophy or ethics.

“Do they talk much about the cloud?” he asked.

“Some.” Digger thought about the fear he witnessed every day. “At night, especially, when they can see it. In the sunlight, I think it’s kind of unreal.”

“Has there been an increase in religious reaction?”

“That would be a better question for Collingdale. Other than the sacrificial ceremony we told you about, we haven’t really seen anything. But they don’t seem to be big on religious services. They don’t go to the temple and participate in ceremonies or listen to sermons.”

“But they do visit the temples?”

“Yes. Some do.”

Whit was full of questions: “They sent off the round-the-world mission, but does the individual Goompah really care whether the world is round or not?”

The ones that showed up for the sloshen got pretty excited about it.

“They seem to have few or no prohibitions regarding sexual activity. What sort of contraceptives have they?”

Not something Digger had gotten into. Didn’t know.

“They’ve been on the isthmus for mille

Didn’t know.

“Why haven’t they been forced to expand by sheer population growth?”

Didn’t know that either.

“What a marvelous place this is,” he said at last, apparently giving up on Digger’s intellectual curiosity. “A land in which the inhabitants are just coming awake.”

They had arrived at their first destination. It was a wide thoroughfare, lined with merchants and eating places. The shutters were all closed against the cool air. Fires burned in the shops and the cafés. Digger did a quick survey. “There.” He pointed at a spot a few meters off the ground, above some toddlers who were chasing each other in circles. “Ideal place for an apparition.” He selected a cross-post that supported the roof of a bread shop, reached into his vest, produced a projector, recorded its number, angled the lens, and placed it as high up on the post as he could reach. It was inconspicuous, and there wouldn’t be any Goompahs who could take it down without a ladder. He opened a cha

“Go ahead, Digger.”

“Two-two-seven.”

“Wait one.”

Digger kept an eye on Whit. His fuzzy silhouette was back out of the way, between the side of a garment shop and an open culvert with ru

The Intigo was home to a seabird, a long-billed gray creature with large hang-down ears that almost looked like a second pair of wings. Called a bogulok, it was found in large numbers throughout the isthmus area. The name, freely translated, meant floppy ears.

Digger activated the unit and a bogulok blinked into existence above the crowd, at the point Digger had targeted. It was in midflight, and it got only a few meters before it vanished.

“Good,” Digger told his commlink. “It’s perfect.” No one seemed to have noticed anything unusual.

“I’ll lock it in,” said Julie.

Digger collected Whit and went looking for a second site.

HE PLANTED FOUR projectors in the market area, three outside public buildings, six more inside theaters and meeting halls, and five at various locations along the main thoroughfares. Kellie had spotted what they thought was the equivalent of an executive office building, which was staffed day and night, and they installed two more there, one inside and one outside. On each occasion he checked back with the lander to make sure they had a good angle.