A Deepness in the Sky

Ezr stared at him for a moment.And you've changed inside; given upthat dream. After all that had happened, Ezr didn't doubt. But suddenly he couldn't wait anymore. "Move her to the front of the queue, Pham. I don't care that you need her translations. Move her up. I want her deFocused by the time I get back."

Pham raised an eyebrow. "An ultimatum?"

"No. Yes!"

The older man sighed. "You got it. We'll start on Trixia immediately. I—I confess. We've been holding back on the translators. We need them so much." He pursed his lips. "Don't expect perfection, Ezr. This is just another place where Nau lied to us. Some of the deFocused are almost as sharp as Anne. Some—"

"Iknow. " Some came back vegetables, the mindrot in an explosive runaway, triggered by the deFocus process. "But sooner or later we have to try. Sooner or later you have to give up using them." He bounced up and left Pham's office. More talk would have just torn them both.

The transport to Arachna was a humble thing, Jau Xin's pinnace with ad hoc software revised specially by Qiwi. Humankind had the high ground and the remnants of high technology—and precious little in the way of physical resources or automation. As their zipheads were deFocused, the Emergent software became useless junk—and it would be some time before the Qeng Ho automation could be adapted to the hybrid jumble that remained at L1. They were trapped in a nearly empty solar system, with the only industrial ecology down on Arachna. They might drop a few rocks on the planet, or even a few nukes, but Humankind was nearly toothless. The Spiders were powerless, too, but that would change. They knew about the invaders now, and they knew what could be done with technology. They had large parts of theInvisible Hand intact. Sometime soon, the Spiders would be out here in force. Pham thought they had maybe a year to turn things around, to establish some basis of trust. Qiwi said that ifshe were a Spider, she could do it in far less than a year.

The temp's axial corridor was filled from end to end when Ezr and Zinmin entered the taxi lock. Almost every unFocused human at L1 was here.

Pham and Anne were there. They floated close, a pair that Ezr Vinh would never have guessed in years past. "We've started the deFocus prep," Anne said. She didn't have to say who she was talking about. "We'll do our best, Ezr."

Qiwi wished him luck, as solemn as he had ever seen her. She seemed uncertain for a moment, then abruptly shook his hand, another thing she had never done before. "Come back safe, Ezr."

Somehow Rita Liao had put herself right before the hatch, blocking his way. Ezr reached out to comfort her. "I'll bring Jau back, Rita."I'll do mybest was what he thought, not having the courage to show his doubts.

Rita's eyes were bloodshot. She looked even more distracted than when they had talked a few Ksecs before. "I know, Ezr. I know. The Spiders are good people. They'll know Jau didn't want to harm them." She had spent much of her lifetime enamored with the life on Arachna, but her faith in the translations seemed to be slipping away. "But, but if they won't let you have him...Please. Give him..." She pushed a clear little box into his hand. It had a thumb lock, presumably keyed to Jau Xin. He saw a 'membrance gem inside. She broke off and melted back into the crowd.

SIXTY-FOUR

It was 200Ksec to Lands Command. On the ground, the Spiders drove them up that long valley road. Eerie memories floated through Ezr's mind. Many of the buildings here were new, butI was here before it all began. It had been so unknowable then. Now there was the superficial gloss of information on everything. Zinmin Broute bounced from window to window and boggled with enthusiasm, naming everything he saw. They passed the library he had raided with Benny Wen. The Museum of the Dark Time. And the statues at the head of King's Way, that was Gokna's Reaching for Accord. Zinmin could tell you about every one of the twisted figures.

But today they were not lurkers stealing through someone else's sleep. Today the lights were very bright, and when they finally moved underground, it was as stark and alien as Ritser Brughel's Spiderish nightmares. The stairs were steep as ladders, and ordinary rooms were so low-ceilinged that Ezr and Zinmin had to crouch to move from place to place. Despite ancient drugs and millennia of gengineering, the full pull of planetary gravity was a constant, debilitating distraction. They were housed in what Zinmin claimed were royalty-class apartments, rooms with hairy floors and ceilings high enough to stand in. The negotiations began the next day.

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