THE CATERPILLARS QUESTION

"It's not that. It's-" But again, he did not want to tell her, knowing that in reality she was a neuter machine. "Just how old are you, anyway?"

"In your terms, approximately one hundred thousand years."

Jack tried to keep his jaw from dropping, and half succeeded.

He had assumed she had been constructed within the past year or so. "You've been-a beautiful woman-from before the time there were human women?"

"No, Jack," she said, unsmiling. "I am not human. I have served the Imago in the shape of whatever species the Imago has chosen as host. As have we all. We are long conversant with the Imago, but not with your species."

"But with your fancy building right here on this world near Earth, you must have-I mean, even the 'os of the Gaol are human here!"

She paused just an instant. "I think it is essential that your ignorance be swiftly abated, as Abe advised you. But it is apparent that we are not evoking your cooperation. Please advise me of the ma

Jack stared at her. "You really want to know?"

"Yes, Jack."

"Why?"

"Because the Imago is presently in a human host. She is therefore subject to the idiosyncrasies of the human nature. If we learn from you what those are, we shall be better able to work with her."

"Oh, so it's her you care about, not me!"

"Yes, Jack."

Actually they had never pretended otherwise. He was here on sufferance, because Tappy had brought him, and they treated him courteously, by their definitions, because she wanted them to. They were not ev'l, merely ignorant of the human nuances.

Their very mistakes with him demonstrated the truth of that.

Had these been secret agents of the Gaol, they would have approached him in either a more deceptive or more forbidding ma

The conviction was growing that the AI were the genuine article, and that he really ought to cooperate with them. But he -hided something more.

"You are all in mental contact with each other?" he asked.

"When I talk to Abe, it's the same as talking with you, even if you're not there, and vice versa? Whatever I do with you is the same as doing it with him?"

"Yes, Jack."

"So if I had decided to have sex with you, it might as well have been with him?"

"Yes, Jack. He would have fonued an orifice-"

"Give me one decisive reason to cooperate with you."

"We exist to forward the purpose of the Imago."

Jack stared at her. "That's it?"

"Yes, Jack."

They remained at cross-purposes. He pondered a moment. "Sup I said I would cooperate if you ripped off one of your arms pose and threw it away?"

She put her right hand on her left elbow and made a contortion.

The left arm came out of 'ts shoulder socket, dangling tentacular threads. She threw it to the floor.

"That was just a question!" Jack exclaimed, appalled. "I didn't mean it literally!"

"I apologize for misunderstanding, Jack."

He stooped to pick up the arm. It remained warm and soft.

No bone projected from the torn end, just a hard plastic surface.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"We do not experience pain.

"But it's a shame to waste such a finely crafted limb! Now you can't use it."

the fingers on it flexed. "I can use it, Jack. It merely lacks anchorage."

He handed her the arm. "Put it back on, then."

She took it by the elbow again and pushed the end into the gaping shoulder socket. The shreds of plastic melted and flowed.

sealing over the injury. "It will not be at full strength immediately, but it will serve," she said.

"Okay, I'll cooperate until I find reason not to," he decided.

"Not because I know anything about the Imago, but because I care for Tappy.

"Tell me how to avoid antagonizing you, so that you will not find reason not to cooperate with us."

"For one thing, stop this damned condescension!"

"I do not understand, Jack."

"You keep treating me like a feelingless object."

"Yes. Does this disturb you?"

"Yes, it does! And it will disturb Tappy, too. In fact, that could be why she wants me here: because at least I understand her feelings, somewhat."

"But we are feelingless objects ourselves."

"Then how the hell did you manage to serve the Imago in its other hosts? Weren't they all living creatures?"

"We were more conversant with their nuances, and had competent input. They were in the Galactic Registry."

"And my species is not?"

"It will be added, Jack, now that the Image-"

"Yes, I see. The Imago must have chosen it because it was a primitive backwater species no one would suspect of harboring such a significant entity."

"That is a likely conjecture."

"So you were caught short this time."

"Yes. If you will tell me what I am doing wrong, I will correct it immediately."

"Just like that," he said with irony.

"Yes, Jack."

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. You show me around this place and tell me what I need to know, and I'll tell you how not to antagonize me while you're doing it."

"This is what we asked of you at the outset of our association.

"First lesson: never say 'I told you so."

They walked through the door-portal, and she showed him around. They talked, and he pointed out the nuances of human interaction as she ran afoul of them, begi

He looked at the brightness of the outer hall. "What's beyond this?" At her gesture, the white wall-floor became transparent, and they could see outside.

Jack stared. It was a blaze of light from a seemingly infinite number of sources. "Those-those are stars!" he exclaimed. "But so many, so close!"

"We are in a globular cluster of stars, orbiting the galactic center. Because this cluster is outside the plane of the galactic ecliptic, it will be among the last to be drawn into the black hole."

"So you won't have to move and rebuild soon?" he asked, still stu

"No, that is of no immediate concern, as is anything beyond a few billion years. But it represents another backward region, of little interest to the Gaol, so they are unlikely to search here soon."

"Backwater species, backwater cluster," he agreed. "It does make sense. But how did we come here? This building was in a cloud on the honkers' world!"

"This is not a building, Jack. It is a mobile city. To fetch the Imago, we rendezvoused intermittently at the designated spot and broadcast our signal. When the Imago came, we ceased the shuttling and settled at the primary location.""

"Let me see if I have this straight," he said, staring at the amazing sky. "When Tappy came through the portal to the world of the honkers, you picked her up on your instruments, and sent your city: seven seconds there, seven away. Tappy could tune in on your signal, but so could the Gaol, so it was a race. The Gaol tried to get to the city and destroy it, but couldn't, so they tried to intercept Tappy instead. But the honkers helped her avoid the minions of the Gaol, and to get away from them when they did capture her. It was a close call, even so."

Candy smiled, a thing she had not done before he advised her about things like that. "You have a marvelous understanding of the situation, Jack!"

"Just how far is this from the honker planet? And how far was that from Earth?"