The Jesus Incident

"But they're ru

"Let them rip things up. The repairs afterward will keep them busy. And a good riot will purge emotions for a time, wear them out physically. Then we turn it to our advantage, but only after well-reasoned consideration."

Oakes listened for some response from Lewis, but the 'coder remained silent.

"Jesus?"

"Yes, Morgan." Lewis sounded out of breath. "I think that yo.... had better mov.... to the Redoubt immediately. We can't wait for dayside, but you'l...."

"Where are you, Jesus?"

"Old Lab One complex. We were moving out the last o...."

"Why must I go to the Redoubt now?" Oakes blinked and turned up the illumination in his cubby. "The riots will pass. As long as the perimeter's secure we ca...."

"They're not stamping their feet and whining, Morgan. They're killing people. We've sealed off the gun lockers but some of the rioter...."

"The Redoubt ca

"It's ready enough. And the crew there is handpicked by Murdoch. They're the best. You can rely on them. And, Morga...."

Oakes tried to swallow, then: "Yes?"

Another long pause, garbled snatches of conversation.

"Morgan?"

"I'm still on."

"You should go now. I've arranged everything. We'll flood 'em out of the necessary passages. My people will be there within minutes: our usual signal. You should be at the shuttle hangar within fifteen minutes."

"But my records here! I haven't finished th...."

"We'll get that later. I'll leave a briefing disc for you with the shuttle crew. I'll expect to hear from you as soon as you get to the Redoubt."

"Bu.... I mea.... what about Legata?"

"She's safe shipside! Call her when you get to the Redoubt."

"It'.... that bad?"

"Yes."

The co

***

Though a pendulum's arc may vary, its period does not. Each swing requires the same amount of time. Consider the last swing and its infinitesimal arc. That is where we are truly alive: in the last period of the pendulum.

LEGATA LOOKED past Oakes to the sea below the Redoubt. It was an orderly suns-set out there, Rega following Alki below the rim of the sea. A distant line of clouds boiled along the horizon's curve. Long waves rolled in to crash on the beach of their small bay. The surf lay out of sight beneath the cliffs upon which the Redoubt perched. Double walls of plaz plus an insulated foundation screened out most of the sounds, but she could feel the surf through her feet. She certainly could see the spray misting her view and beading the plaz along the view porch.

Orderly suns-set and disorderly sea.

She experienced a sense of calm which she knew to be false. Oakes had bolstered himself with alcohol, Lewis with work. They were still getting reports from Colony, but the last word suggested that the old Lab One site was under siege. Lucky thing Murdoch had been sent shipside.

Disorderly sea.

Only thin rags of kelp remained on the surface, and she found the absence of it a loss which she could not explain. Once kelp had dampened the surf. Now, wind whipped white froth across the wavetops. Had Lewis allowed for that?

"Why do you link the kelp and hylighters?" she asked. "You've seen the reports. They're vectors of the same creature or symbiotic partners."

"But it doesn't follow that they think."

Oakes directed a lidded stare at her, swirled an amber drink in a small glass. "Touch one of them and the other responds. They act together. They think." He gestured at the cliffs across the Redoubt's bay where a scattered line of hylighters hovered like watchful sentries.

"They're not attacking now," she said.

"They're pla

"How can you be sure?"

"We plan."

"Maybe they're not like us. Maybe they're not very bright."

"Bright enough to pull out and regroup when they're losing."

"But they're only violent when we threaten them. They're jus......nuisance."

"Nuisance! They're a threat to our survival."

"Bu.... so beautiful." She stared across the small bay at the drifting orange bags, the stately way they tacked and turned, touching the cliff with their tendrils to steady themselves, avoiding their fellows.

Turning only her head, she shifted her attention to Oakes, and tried to swallow in a dry throat. He was staring down into his drink, gently swirling the liquid. Why wouldn't he talk about what was happening at Colony? She felt nervous precisely because Oakes no longer appeared nervous. It had been two full diurns since the food riot. What was happening? She sensed new powers being invoked - the bustling activity all through the Redoubt while Oakes stood here drinking and admiring the view with her. Not once in this period had Oakes turned to her with an assignment. She felt that she might be on probation for a new position. He could be testing her.

Does he suspect what I discovered about him shipside? Morgan Lon Oakes.

Impossible! He could not appear this calm in the face of that knowledge.

Oakes raised his eyebrows at her and tossed back his drink.

"They're beautiful, yes," he said. "Very pretty. So's a sun going nova, but you don't invite it into your life."

He turned back to the ever-present dispenser for another drink, and something about the mural on the i

"Morgan, may I have a drink, too?"

Her voice sounded small and weak against the background of the mural - yet she had created this mural. A gift. He had thought: She wants to please me. But no.... there was always something other than pleasing in the way she looked at him. What had she really meant with this painting? Was it to please him or disturb him? He stared at it. The painting was a splash of colors, much larger than the mandala for his new offices here. She called it: "Struggle at suns-set."

The mural recreated a scene they had witnessed earlier on holo: Colonists at a construction site near the sea fighting back a sudden swarm of hylighters. One Colonist dangled by a leg in mid-air, wide-eye.... Horror or hallucination? The doomed man pointed an accusing finger out of the painting directly at the observer. This detail had escaped Oakes before. He stared at it.

All the construction sites, the drilling sites, the mine heads - all of them were shut down now. Everything depended on the Redoubt.

Why did that figure in the painting look accusing?

"A drink, please, Morgan?"

He did not have to turn to know her expression, the tongue flickering out to wet her lips. What was she pla

Oakes returned to her side, handed her one of the drinks. The suns-set was shading into dark purples with a few streaks of rose higher in the sky.

"Is this the way I have to buy your favors now?" He focused on her drink.

She managed a smile. What did he mean by that question? Coming here had been far more difficult than she had imagined. Even armed with the new knowledge in her possessio.... even fleeing the turmoil at Colony - very difficult. A New Lab One with Lewis in charge was being built only a few blinks away, buried in the rocks of the Redoubt.

I'm free of that. I'm free.

But now she knew it would take more than conscious awareness of what had happened to her, much more, before she could feel completely liberated. Oakes still had his grasping hand in her psyche.