A Deepness in the Sky

Last out of the pinnace was Floria Peres. She had been one of the coldsleep victims in Ritser's hidden cache, saved up unused until the very end. Even after 200Ksec, the woman had a terrible, lost look about her. As Ezr guided her out into the open, a silence came upon the crowd in the corridor. Qiwi glided forward. She had asked to help the victims, but when she came to a stop just short of Floria, Qiwi's eyes got very wide and her lips trembled. The two stared at each other for a moment. Then Qiwi offered Floria her hand, and the crowd opened behind them.

Ezr watched them depart, but his mind's eye was elsewhere: Anne Reynolt had begun Trixia's deFocus a Ksec after he left Arachna. During the 200Ksec of transit back to the rockpile, Pham had reported regularly on her progress. This time there was no backing out. Trixia was beyond the prep stage. First, the mindrot had been rendered quiescent, and then Trixia had been put into an artificial coma. From there, the rot's pattern of drug release was slowly altered. "Anne has done this hundreds of times now, Ezr," said Pham. "She says this is going well. She should be out of the clinic just a few Ksecs after you get back here."

No more delays. Trixia would finally be free.

Two days later, the word came.Trixia is ready.

Ezr visited Qiwi before he went to the deFocus clinic. Qiwi was working with her father, remaking the lake park. Most of the trees had died, but Ali Lin thought he could bring them back. Even deFocused, Ali had wonderful ideas for the park. But now the man could love his daughter, too.Trixiawill be like this, as free as before the nightmare.

Qiwi was talking to the Spiders when Ezr came down the path through the ruined forest. Kittens circled high above them, curiosity battling with arachnophobia.

"We want to do something new with the lake, some kind of free form, with its own special ecology." The Spiders stood a little taller than Qiwi. In microgravity, they were no longer low, wide creatures. The natural tension in their limbs produced a Spider version of zero-gee crouch; their arms and legs extended long beneath them, making them tall and slender. The smallest one—probably Rhapsa Lighthill—was talking now. The hissing voice was almost musical compared to Belga Underville's voice.

"We'll watch, but I doubt if many will want to live here. We want to experiment with our own temps." Broute Zinmin was translating, his tone happy and conversational. As of now, he might be the last of the Focused translators.

Qiwi grinned at the Spider. "Yeah, I'm so curious about what you'll finally do. I—" She looked up, saw Ezr.

"Qiwi, can I talk to you?"

She was already moving toward him. "A moment, Rhapsa, please?"

"Sure." The Spiders tiptoed away, Zinmin continuing to spout questions at Ali Lin.

Ezr and Qiwi faced each other across thirty centimeters. "Qiwi. They deFocused Trixia about two thousand seconds ago."

The girl smiled, a bright gesture. There was still a childlike intensity about her. Somehow through it all, Qiwi had remained an open human being. And now she was at the center of their dealings with the Spiders, the engineer they sought over all others. Now he could truly see how bright her wits extended, from dynamics to bioscience to very sharp trading. Qiwi was very much like the spirit of the Qeng Ho.

"Is—is she going to be okay?" Qiwi's eyes were large, and her hands were tightly clasped in front of her.

"Yes! A little disorientation, Anne says, but her mind and personality are intact, and...and I can go see her later today."

"Oh, Ezr! I'm so happy for her." Qiwi's hands let go of each other, and reached out to his shoulders. Suddenly her face was very close and lips brushed across his cheek.

"I wanted to see you before I talked to her—"

"Yes?"

"I—I just wanted to thank you for saving my life, for saving us all."Iwant to thank you for giving me back my soul. "If Trixia and I can ever do anything to help you..."

And she was back at arm's length, and her smile seemed a little odd. "You're welcome, Ezr. But...no thanks needed. I'm glad you have a happy ending."

Ezr let go, and was already turning toward the guide ropes Ali had installed for his reconstruction work. "It's more a happy beginning, Qiwi. All these years have been dead time, and now finally...Hey, I'll talk to you later!" He waved and pulled himself faster and faster, back toward the cavern's entrance.

Reynolt had converted the Attic grouproom into a recovery ward. Where zipheads had spent Watch after Watch Focused in Podmaster service, now they were being freed.

Anne stopped him in the corridor just outside the grouproom. "Before you go in, keep in mind—"

Vinh was already edging around her. He stopped. "You said she was coming out okay."