A Deepness in the Sky

"Well, pus. I should just bounce off the ceiling and take a look." But even in the present mellow circumstances, Rita Liao was a good Emergent Follower. She kept her feet squarely on the gripping ground as she turned to scan the crowd. "Qiwi!" she shouted. "Have you seen my Jau?"

Qiwi detached herself from the group around Tomas Nau and shuffled up the walk toward them. "Yes," she said. Pham noticed Ezr Vinh backing off, heading for another group. "Jau didn't believe the pier was real, so I suggested he go take a look."

"It's real? The boat, too?"

"Sure. Come on down. I'll show you." The five of them walked down the path. Silipan strutted along in his silken rags, waving at others to follow. "See what we've done here!"

Pham sent his inner gaze ahead, studying the rocks around the pier, the bushes that leaned out over the water. This Balacrean vegetation was beautiful in a stark way that fit with the cool air. And the entrance to the utility tunnel was hidden in the cliff behind the blue-green fronds.Thismay be my best chance. Pham walked next to Qiwi, asking questions that hopefully would mark his presence later. "You can actually sail in it?"

Qiwi smiled. "See for yourself."

Rita Liao made an exaggerated shivering sound. "It's cold enough to be real. North Paw is pretty, but can't you redial for something tropical?"

"No," said Silipan. He hurried to walk in front of them and lecture. "It's too real for that. Ali Lin's whole point was realism and detail." Now that Qiwi was present, he spoke of the zipheads like human beings.

The path wound back and forth, realistic switchbacks that took them down the rocky face of the harbor wall. Most of the guests were following, curious to see what this moorage could really be.

"Water looks awfully flat," someone said.

"Yes," said Qiwi. "Realistic waves are the hardest part. Some of my father's friends are working on that. If we can form the water surface on a short scale both in time and—" There was startled laughter as a trio of winged kittens zipped low and fast over their heads. The three skimmed out across the water, then climbed into the sky like strafing aircraft.

"I'll bet you they don't havethat at the real North Paw!"

Qiwi laughed. "True. That was my price!" She smiled up at Pham. "Remember the kittens we had in the pre-Flight temp? When I was little—" She looked around, searching for a face in the crowd. "When I was little, someone gave me one for a pet."

There was still a little girl inside, who remembered other times. Pham ignored the wistfulness in her voice. His words came out bluff and patronizing. "Flying kittens don't have real significance. If you'd wanted a solid symbol, you'd have wombed some flying pigs."

"Pigs?" Trud stumbled, almost lost his stride. "Oh yeah, the ‘noble winged pig.' "

"Yes, the spirit of programming. There are winged pigs in all the grandest temps."

"Yeah, sure...just get me an umbrella!" Trud shook his head, and some of those behind him were laughing. The flying pig mythos had never caught on at Balacrea.

Qiwi smiled at the byplay. "Maybe we should—I don't think I'll ever convince the kitties to scavenge floating trash."

In less than two hundred seconds, the crowd had ranged itself along the water's edge. Pham drifted away from Qiwi and Trud and Rita. He moved as if seeking the best vantage point. In fact, he was coming closer to the cover of the blue-green fronds. With any luck, there would be some excitement in the next few moments. Surely some fool would fall off the ground. He began a final security sweep across the localizer net... .

Rita Liao was no fool, but when she saw where Jau Xin was, she got a little careless. "Jau, what in Plague's Name are you doing—" She handed her food and drink to someone behind her and rushed out onto the pier. The boat there had slipped free, was sliding smoothly out into the inlet. Like the lodge and the pier, it was dark timber. But this wood was tarred near the boat's waterline, varnished and painted at the gunnels and prow. A Balacrean sail was hoisted on its single mast. Jau Xin grinned at the crowd from his seat amidships.

"Jau Xin, you come back here! That's the Podmaster's boat. You'll—" Rita started running down the pier. She realized her mistake and tried to stop herself. When her feet left the ground she was moving at just a few centimeters per second. She floated off the platform, a-spin and embarrassed, and loudly angry. If no one snagged her, she would sail over her errant husband's head, and come down in the lake a few hundred seconds later.