[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The Family lay sprawled as though dead. Some had already taken food from their
packs, as though settling down for the night.
"Heysay, rain," someone said drowsily.
Another answered, "Never thought I'd hate rain. Never got enough on Snowglade.
But now..."
TIDES OF LIGHT
229
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"Water above, water below," Killeen said. "More in my blisters than's comin'
out that sky."
A man called, "It'll keep the Cybers in, I'll bet."
Killeen shook his head. This futile logic had no basis, but the fatigue in the
man's voice was deep. He called up his inventory of old tales and said, "You
'member Jesus? The Great Cap'n? Well, I'm greater, 'cause I'm walkin' on more
water than he did."
The small joke got a laugh, and he cajoled a few to their feet.
They were too tired to resist very much, but Killeen knew he could not get
much more out of them before their reserves would be gone. Then he would face
real rebellion.
"C'mon," he called. "Step proud! Double rations t'night."
Their mood lightened a little and the column moved off slowly into the
gathering murk.
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Quath pursued the Noughts with a strangely mixed glee.
She enjoyed the mad dashes she could perform, racing from one fleeing band of
panicked Noughts to the next, chopping and blasting and cutting them. It was a
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consummation of her plan, and a great joy.
Yet vagrant impulses shot through her. She felt glancing pain as the Noughts
died. She suffered a momentary trembling fever as they fled in fear.
This unsettled her, slowed her arms fractionally, veered her aim. So Beq'qdahl
cried,
Quath replied, hoping none of the podia noticed how shaken she
was.
came the joint cry of the armed podia.
Quath joined their rush.
Up ragged ridgelines, through gray meeh ruins and gutted green forests, and
down onto the smashed steppes of this frae-tured place, they harried the
stupid, witless Noughts.
Quath's adroit plan had worked. Her captured Nought, when released in the area
where the largest packs of Noughts were thought to prowl, immediately sought
out its fellows. A tiny device attached to the Nought gave a locating signal
several times a day. Quath had tracked them and had guessed their intention of
again attacking some of the magnetic field stations which controlled the
movements of the Cosmic Circle.
And now the trap she had laid for them had sprung, catching thousands of the
mites. As Quath made haste through a meeh factory, searching for hiding
Noughts, the Tukar'ramin's voice sprang fullblown into her aura.
*You are a true fierce and canny sort,* she said. *I have observed your
a&nirable scheme unfolding. Be careful that you do not risk yourself in these
brute encounters, however.*
230
TIDES OF LIGHT
231
Quath replied.
*I can bring you glad news, too. The second of the encoded slabs, which you
extracted from the Nought ship, is now decoded as well as can be done. It is
truly valuable.*
Quath felt Beq'qdahl, who was clambering up a nearby slope, seethe with
amber-shot jealousy. She pretended not to notice.
*The Illuminates. *
Quath's subminds babbled in a crossfire of astonishment.
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xt
*They have deftly picked their way through the thicket of compressed meaning
in those slabs.*
*These two slabs bear directly upon large matters.*
*Yes, across the span of suns. I have received instructions from all those
Illuminates within light-travel time of this system. Two are here, overseeing
our orbital constructions. Even now they debate among themselves.*
Quath
blurted.
*Quath--*
endings? What of-->
*The answers we all believe--the Summation--the Illuminates themselves
formulated. That wisdom is ancient indeed. Now they do not delve into such
matters. They ponder how to accomplish our grand purpose. Remember what I
revealed to you before, about your own nature?*
Puzzled, Quath paused to reflect. At the same time she plowed through a stand
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of twisted trees, their bark stripped (eaten by
Noughts? she wondered). She searched for targets. But Beq'qdahl had already
bagged the two Noughts Quath had been trailing, and now loudly trumpeted her
puny victory out of ego-need. Quath turned and raced down a talus slope.
course, I recall all that the Tukar'ramin has given unto me. I am a Philosoph,
you say.>
*You approach this subject with hesitation?*
*The fateful cast of genes. We incorporated facets of that ancient race; they
surface perpetually in us.*
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xt (239 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:58 AM]
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xt
232
Gregory Benford
*You cannot be purely anything, Quath. That is the legacy of that lost
species--to see each aspect of life as mitigated.*
*No matter. Your pain, your indecision, your questing after higher
answers--that is your trial and labor and destiny.*
*Certainty is the lot of those who do not ask questions. Such are nearly all
the podia. We have mastered the material world, we ken its workings. But we do
not puzzle at the questions you do, Quath. *
Quath shouted in a strange lonely anger.
*As a Philosoph you should now know that the traits long ago genetically
implanted will manifest themselves in you in ways that are unpredictable and
disturbing. Further, they shall increase with age. You may display the inborn
traits of ancient beings, or a combination of podia nature and theirs.*
*There are other, perhaps even grander issues, Quath. Of such matters I bring
news. The slabs you brought to me contain enough information for the
Illuminates to contemplate a daring adventure, something the podia have never
dared brave: a voyage to the very center of the galaxy.*
muster enormous forces there.> Quath clambered through a mire of muck and
ripped soil. Great quakes had torn these mountains savagely.
*The slabs tell of a time when organic beings--the ones who wedded their genes
to ours, perhaps--ventured close to the black hole at the very center. There
may be a way in, free of meeh interference. It will require all our resources,
however.*
Quath stopped beside a ravine. In the forest beyond were the humans she was
tracking. The telltale she had planted flashed for a microsecond; her own
Nought was among this company. But she could not think of the hunt now.
*That may indeed be necessary.*
Something in the Tukar'ramin's tone made Quath inquire,
much at Galactic Center?> [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
The Family lay sprawled as though dead. Some had already taken food from their
packs, as though settling down for the night.
"Heysay, rain," someone said drowsily.
Another answered, "Never thought I'd hate rain. Never got enough on Snowglade.
But now..."
TIDES OF LIGHT
229
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (236 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:58 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
"Water above, water below," Killeen said. "More in my blisters than's comin'
out that sky."
A man called, "It'll keep the Cybers in, I'll bet."
Killeen shook his head. This futile logic had no basis, but the fatigue in the
man's voice was deep. He called up his inventory of old tales and said, "You
'member Jesus? The Great Cap'n? Well, I'm greater, 'cause I'm walkin' on more
water than he did."
The small joke got a laugh, and he cajoled a few to their feet.
They were too tired to resist very much, but Killeen knew he could not get
much more out of them before their reserves would be gone. Then he would face
real rebellion.
"C'mon," he called. "Step proud! Double rations t'night."
Their mood lightened a little and the column moved off slowly into the
gathering murk.
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (237 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:58 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
Quath pursued the Noughts with a strangely mixed glee.
She enjoyed the mad dashes she could perform, racing from one fleeing band of
panicked Noughts to the next, chopping and blasting and cutting them. It was a
Page 154
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
consummation of her plan, and a great joy.
Yet vagrant impulses shot through her. She felt glancing pain as the Noughts
died. She suffered a momentary trembling fever as they fled in fear.
This unsettled her, slowed her arms fractionally, veered her aim. So Beq'qdahl
cried,
Quath replied, hoping none of the podia noticed how shaken she
was.
came the joint cry of the armed podia.
Quath joined their rush.
Up ragged ridgelines, through gray meeh ruins and gutted green forests, and
down onto the smashed steppes of this frae-tured place, they harried the
stupid, witless Noughts.
Quath's adroit plan had worked. Her captured Nought, when released in the area
where the largest packs of Noughts were thought to prowl, immediately sought
out its fellows. A tiny device attached to the Nought gave a locating signal
several times a day. Quath had tracked them and had guessed their intention of
again attacking some of the magnetic field stations which controlled the
movements of the Cosmic Circle.
And now the trap she had laid for them had sprung, catching thousands of the
mites. As Quath made haste through a meeh factory, searching for hiding
Noughts, the Tukar'ramin's voice sprang fullblown into her aura.
*You are a true fierce and canny sort,* she said. *I have observed your
a&nirable scheme unfolding. Be careful that you do not risk yourself in these
brute encounters, however.*
230
TIDES OF LIGHT
231
Quath replied.
*I can bring you glad news, too. The second of the encoded slabs, which you
extracted from the Nought ship, is now decoded as well as can be done. It is
truly valuable.*
Quath felt Beq'qdahl, who was clambering up a nearby slope, seethe with
amber-shot jealousy. She pretended not to notice.
*The Illuminates. *
Quath's subminds babbled in a crossfire of astonishment.
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xt (238 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:58 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
*They have deftly picked their way through the thicket of compressed meaning
in those slabs.*
*These two slabs bear directly upon large matters.*
*Yes, across the span of suns. I have received instructions from all those
Illuminates within light-travel time of this system. Two are here, overseeing
our orbital constructions. Even now they debate among themselves.*
Quath
blurted.
*Quath--*
endings? What of-->
*The answers we all believe--the Summation--the Illuminates themselves
formulated. That wisdom is ancient indeed. Now they do not delve into such
matters. They ponder how to accomplish our grand purpose. Remember what I
revealed to you before, about your own nature?*
Puzzled, Quath paused to reflect. At the same time she plowed through a stand
Page 155
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of twisted trees, their bark stripped (eaten by
Noughts? she wondered). She searched for targets. But Beq'qdahl had already
bagged the two Noughts Quath had been trailing, and now loudly trumpeted her
puny victory out of ego-need. Quath turned and raced down a talus slope.
course, I recall all that the Tukar'ramin has given unto me. I am a Philosoph,
you say.>
*You approach this subject with hesitation?*
*The fateful cast of genes. We incorporated facets of that ancient race; they
surface perpetually in us.*
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (239 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:58 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
232
Gregory Benford
*You cannot be purely anything, Quath. That is the legacy of that lost
species--to see each aspect of life as mitigated.*
*No matter. Your pain, your indecision, your questing after higher
answers--that is your trial and labor and destiny.*
*Certainty is the lot of those who do not ask questions. Such are nearly all
the podia. We have mastered the material world, we ken its workings. But we do
not puzzle at the questions you do, Quath. *
Quath shouted in a strange lonely anger.
*As a Philosoph you should now know that the traits long ago genetically
implanted will manifest themselves in you in ways that are unpredictable and
disturbing. Further, they shall increase with age. You may display the inborn
traits of ancient beings, or a combination of podia nature and theirs.*
*There are other, perhaps even grander issues, Quath. Of such matters I bring
news. The slabs you brought to me contain enough information for the
Illuminates to contemplate a daring adventure, something the podia have never
dared brave: a voyage to the very center of the galaxy.*
muster enormous forces there.> Quath clambered through a mire of muck and
ripped soil. Great quakes had torn these mountains savagely.
*The slabs tell of a time when organic beings--the ones who wedded their genes
to ours, perhaps--ventured close to the black hole at the very center. There
may be a way in, free of meeh interference. It will require all our resources,
however.*
Quath stopped beside a ravine. In the forest beyond were the humans she was
tracking. The telltale she had planted flashed for a microsecond; her own
Nought was among this company. But she could not think of the hunt now.
*That may indeed be necessary.*
Something in the Tukar'ramin's tone made Quath inquire,
much at Galactic Center?> [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]