A Deepness in the Sky

So Pham smiled brightly and pretended to miss the point. "Yes. In less than a megasecond, Anne and I will be gone." Along with a thousand others, Emergents, exFocused, even some Qeng Ho. Three starships and a thousand crew. "When we return, perhaps two centuries will have passed. But hey! There are often longer partings among the Qeng Ho. I know there are ships a-building in your yards." He waved at the flickering in the far sky behind Victory Lighthill. "Many of you will be 'faring, too. Very likely some of us will meet again—and when we do we'll have new stories to exchange, just like Qeng Ho and people from starfaring worlds always have."

Ezr Vinh was nodding. "Yes, there will be future times, even if we don't know quite how we will meet, or where. But for many of us this will be the last meeting." Ezr didn't quite meet his eye.At bottom, even Ezrdoubts. And Ezr had given half his mission bounty to help Pham and Anne prepare.

But Qiwi laid her hand on Ezr's shoulder. "I say we setup some meeting marks, just like the Great Families do." A time and a place, and a space of life span passed. She looked across at Anne and smiled. Now Qiwi was a mother as well as an engineer. Most times she seemed to be the happiest person around. But Pham still saw a shadow sometimes, perhaps when she thought of her own mother, the other Kira. Qiwiapproved this sending to Balacrea. Hell, he was sure she would be aboard if not for Ezr, and her children, and the new world she was creating here. Ezr had learned much about managing people, even more since he was truly the Fleet Manager for all the humans. But Qiwi's genius was the framework that Ezr depended on. She was the person who could figure out just what technology the Spiders would value most. If not for the deals she had worked out, the Spiders' shipyard would still be a dream. Ezr had always thought of himself as a failed younger son.I wonder if he and Qiwi really understand what theyare creating. They had children, and so had Jau and Rita, and many others. Gonle and Benny had built a nursery for all the new little ones, a place where kids and cobblies played while their parents worked together. The human-Spider enterprise grew every year. Like Sura Vinh long ago, Qiwi and Ezr might not fare much themselves, but this end of Qeng Ho space was due for an explosion of light, a nascence that would dwarf Canberra and Namqem.

An explosion of light. Yes! "We'll set a marker, then! The next New Sun—or maybe a few Msecs after, since I seem to remember things being a bit unpleasant right when the sun lights up." About two centuries.Thatwill fit well with my other plans.

Victory via Trixia: "Yes, just after the next Brightness. Here in the Grand Temp—however grander it may be." A gentle laugh. "I'll make a note not to be asleep or light-years away."

"Agreed." "Agreed!" The voices went round the table.

Belga Underville buzzed and hissed, and as usual Pham didn't understand a thing she said, except that her tone was full of truculent incredulity. Fortunately, as the King's chief of Intelligence, she rated a full-time translator. Zinmin Broute sat beside her, listening to her with a faint smile. Broute actually seemed to like the old biddy. When she finished, he wiped the smile from his face and put on a good glower. "This is rank foolishness, or human insanity I don't yet understand. You have three ships, and with them you intend to bring down the Emergent empire? But for the last seven years, you have been saying that we Spiders have nothing to fear from outside invasion, that a planetary civilization with high technology can always mount a successful defense. The Emergents must have thousands of military vessels in their home territories, yet you talk of overthrowing them. Have you been lying to us, or are you just very wishful thinkers?"

Victory Lighthill buzzed a question, put so simply and clearly that Trixia didn't have to translate. "But, maybe...you get help...from far Qeng Ho?"

"No," said Ezr. "I...I'll tell you frankly, Qeng Ho don't like to fight. It's much easier just to let tyrannies alone. ‘Let them trade with themselves,' as the old saying goes."

Anne Reynolt had been quiet through all this. Now she said, "It's okay, Ezr. Youhave helped us... ." She turned to Belga Underville. "Madame General, someone has to do this. The Emergents and Focus are something new. Leave them alone and they will just grow stronger—and someday they'll come to eat you."

Incredulity was patent in the flick of Underville's longest arms. "Yes, more contradictions. Over the last years you have persuaded us to go beyond trade in helping to arm and outfit you." A human speaker might have cast a look in Victory Lighthill's direction; Victory had the ear of the King in this. "But what does it serve that you commit suicide? That is how I see the odds."