The Smoke Ring

“Where, then?”

“My house. I’ll set it up so you can see the commons room. We can talk any time, and when I have guests you’ll see them too.”

“That’s good,” said Jeffer.

VERY GOOD. LOSING CONTACT.

Chapter Seventeen

Serjent House

from the Citizens Tree cassettes, year 6 SM:

SHARON LEVOY SPEAKS OF THE ARCHETYPAL REBELLIOUS COMPUTER, HAL 9000, FROM GILLESPIE’S OPERA 2001. CAROL BURNES CLAIMS FRANKENSTEIN AND FAUST TO BE OLDER AND MORE APPROPRIATE IMAGES. ONE-UPMANSHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE SMOKE RING. ONE AND ALL, THEY EXPECT ME TO TELL THEM HOW IT HAPPENED.

FOR THE RECORD: I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S WRONG WITH KENDY.

DEBBY WAS IN A HURRY THE NEXT MORNING. IT SEEMED she’d arranged something at Half Hand’s: she was to meet Grag Maglicco for flying lessons. Booce drilled her to make sure she wouldn’t get lost in the sky, then sent her on her way.

The rest shared out the meal from Half Hand’s for their breakfast, then got to work. They fueled and fired Logbearer and set it steaming along the trunk. A half turn brought the rocket to a halt opposite the Wart.

Clave, Carlot, and Rather swarmed out and attacked the termite nest with matchets. When Logbearer blocked the Market, and floating chaff and chips of bark and wood blocked most of the sky. Clave and Rather ducked into the nest. Clave retrieved the body of the silver suit. Rather the helmet. Booce had kept the rocket hot. He jetted water into it, and away they went.

Secrets. Rather was starting to get the knack of it.

Half the termite nest had been scraped away, not by a hired team but by amateurs. What would the Market think? Booce must be hurting for money. His crew has exposed damage to the log: a gaping, ugly hole behind the termite nest. They’ve quit in disgust. Unlikely that anyone else would pry into that bug-infested darkness.

The house had drifted about the sky since its completion a year and a half since. Debby had relayed Grag’s message: it was fifteen klomters skyward and some degrees to spin from the Market. The house was closer than it had been when Grag spotted it, but it was still a threeday trip.

The house was five cubes arrayed around a concrete core. A small puff jungle grew on the roof. The main door was a huge slab of wood five meters long by four wide, half a meter thick. Booce set massive triangular braces to lock it vertical to the doorway. Mountings covered the i

They tethered Logbearer to the door. In its shadow they moved the silver suit and helmet inside.

Secrets. What has been seen? Logbearer flies to Serjent House. The crew stays for some hours while Booce inspects his new home and shows it off to visitors. Presently Booce will be spending money.

Navy: Booce has retrieved funds from some hiding place. He can outwait the Navy to sell his metal.

Belmy House: Booce came as misdirection.

The Market: Any hiding place in Booce’s house must be empty now.

“Where do we put it?” Rather held the helmet like a severed head.

“Look around,” Booce said. “Something will occur to you.”

The citizens smiled at each other. They began to tour the house.

Doorways led from one section to another through the star-shaped concrete core. There were only two ways to move. Rather had to squeeze past Clave circling the other way.

The house was roomy: as big as a Citizens Tree hut, though much harder to build. The public room was lined with handholds and with hooks for outer garments and weapons, and a rack for a teapot.

The outer wall of the kitchen had long slots in it for ventilation, a concrete fireplace with a bellows attached, and racks for wood and cookware. Rather found Carlot making tea. He asked, “You already know?”

She nodded brightly.

The sleeproom: tethers and some wiry foliage padding four of the walls.

What was this next room? Curtains fixed across both interior doors, handholds and tethers mounted next to small windows with hatches over them…

Ah. This was the treemouth. And the fifth was a storage room, with another oversized door and moorings for tethers, but nothing stored yet.

Rather returned to the public room.

Debby was moving slowly around the perimeter. She seemed more cheerful than she had been lately. “Hi, Rather. Grag brought me back. I gather we’re looking for some secret hiding place. Any luck?”

“Not yet. Booce, how do you get rid of the treefodder after you feed the tree?”

Booce stared. “What? — Oh. The wind floats it away and fisher jungles gather it in. Now you know why everyone doesn’t just tether his house to the Market. Find anything?”

“I didn’t see any hiding places. I’ve never seen a house before.”

“You were all somewhere else, so I searched here,” Debby said. “Nothing. Booce, are there holes in the concrete?”

Booce laughed. “I could have done that. Access through the walls? Well, any burglar could tear the core apart and all he’d find is concrete and two chunks of sporing fringe buried along the hub. Meanwhile, what do you think of my door?”

“Thick. Like you’re afraid someone might kick his way through.”

“We tend to make them massive. Not just for burglars. It has to stand up to rough treatment when you’re moving heavy stuff.”

Clave shook his head in disgust. “We’d know who our thief is. We’d kick him into the sky. Booce, your trouble is, you’ve got too many people in the Clump.”

Booce was taken aback. “I never thought of it that way. Anyway, let me show you what I did—”

When the door was fully open, one could slide aside a panel in the edge that faced the hinges. The half-meter thickness of the wood had been hollowed out. The silver suit went in easily. The helmet was barely small enough.

“Now we need a hole,” Booce said.

“Kendy for the State. Jeffer, would you rather sleep?”

“Mpf? No. Hello, Kendy.” Jeffer stretched. “If I didn’t want you waking me up I’d sleep outside.” He looked at the view in the bow window. “Oho!”

It was dark, but Jeffer could make out Clave’s anxious face. His voice sounded faint, distant. “Jeffer? Talk to me, Jeffer.”

“Prikazyvat Relay to pressure suit. Scientist here.”

“What do you see?”

“You. And a ragged border. What did you do?”

“You’re looking through a hole in a door. Booce ripped a hook out. From here it looks like he just put too much tension on it.”

“Good enough. I take it we can talk. Rather, you there?”

Rather floated into view, smiled, and waved. Others joined, until five citizens floated in a star with their heads inward.

Booce said, “I’ve made a deal with the Belmys. Jeffer, would you like to learn something about the Dark?”

“You mean the Clump interior? Sure.”

“That’s good, because I’ve agreed to bring back some mud for Belmy’s burl tree.”

“You’re going? All of you? Logbearer?”

“Ah…no. I think I’d better stay here. I’ve been weaving financial threads into one very complicated net. Carlot, you can handle Logbearer alone, stet? And I gather Raym Wilby is at liberty. He can guide you.” Carlot was nodding eagerly. “Oh, and Hilar hadn’t thought of spi

“Sounds good. Carlot, will you take the helmet so I can see these marvels?”

Carlot looked to her father, who said, “Why not?”

“Good. Rather, tell me about the Navy. Take your time.”

Rather talked. Kendy guessed that the boy wasn’t hiding anything, but he kept jumping back and forth. Kendy printed questions across the bow window; Jeffer solicited descriptions of Petty Wheeler, Bosun Murphy, Navy armor, the Navy ship, Murphy’s description of Navy life, Wheeler’s offer…