With Martin’s return and explanation of what had happened, Double Seed altered radically in design and ability. The crews stayed on the bridge as the ship drew in its extensions, armored itself against possible direct assault, and shielded itself against transmissions into or out of the ship’s interior. Martin knew the ship’s transformation could be taken as a sign of aggression, but they had to take the risk.
While they waited, Hakim and Silken Parts selected and displayed some of the, huge volume of information sent to the Double Seed in the past two hours from the surface of Sleep.
Images of planet-spanning cities on the inner worlds, scenes of daily life whose meaning they could hardly guess without reference to hundreds of thousands of pages of text, expertly Englished; the varieties of races, sounds of over twenty spoken languages, biographies and portraits of highly accomplished individuals, including long sequences on Salamander and Frog, more than just diplomats or representatives—creative artists famous throughout the Leviathan system, experts in planetary architecture, responsible for Puffball’s construction over the past few hundred years, as well as designers of philosophical systems regarded as complex games…
They’re trying to personalize themselves, be more to us than unfamiliar creatures and opponents. It’s a tactic almost human… and it implies some understanding of or congruence with our psychology.
“They have opened their archives,” Eye on Sky said, and curled to face Martin. “They are very afraid of we us.”
Martin nodded.
“He knows that,” Paola said.
“They couldn’t give me proof that the Killers have gone,” Martin said.
“Is that kind of proof possible?” Ariel asked. “They could only prove the Killers are still here if the Killers themselves talked to us—admitted they were here. Right?”
“Right,” Martin said. “I’m thinking of the decision Stonemaker and Hans have to make. We’ve tracked the Killers, we’ve found conclusive evidence they once lived here…”
Talented Salamander and Frog, betrayed by their physique; leftovers from centuries, millennia of frantic creativity—and to what end? To make up for the Killers’ sins, creation to atone for destruction?
Hans would not see it that way. Martin could not predict Stonemaker’s reaction, but Eye on Sky was clearly sympathetic to the pleas of innocence, the urgent appeal for multitudes of intelligent beings, far more than just the leftovers of Killer habitation.
Hakim touched Martin on the shoulder. “We will be able to noach in two minutes,” he said. “We will communicate with Greyhound directly. Through them, of course, Shrike as well, but Shrike is still out of direct range.”
“What would you do?” Martin asked Eye on Sky.
“As a group? We we must decide—”
“By yourself,” Martin said. “If you had the choice.”
“What would you do if you alone, as a braid—” Paola tried to interpret.
“I we understand,” Eye on Sky interrupted her. “It is not a question I we enjoy answering.”
Martin stared at him and gave the merest nod.
Paola looked between the Brothers, who had stopped moving, waiting for Eye on Sky’s answer.
“I we have not reached a decision,” he finally said.
“You’re wavering,” Cham said. Cham pushed off from the ceiling and rotated to a reverse, landing with his feet on the floor, then performed the maneuver in reverse, exercising with nervous energy. “I think it’s a trap,” Cham said. “The very worst trap, perfectly designed to snare us. I think you should tell Hans that.”
Ariel curled in mid-air. Martin could not read her expression.
“Nobody’s asked the mom or the snake mother what we should do,” George Dempsey said.
“George, you’ve always been a little dense,” Donna told him.
“Hell, I know they’re not supposed to influence us…” George said with a pained expression. “But they brought us here, they’ve given us this opportunity, and if we screw it up, if we decide wrong…” He blocked Cham’s accelerated exercise with an arm, causing Cham to tumble and grab a stanchion. Cham mumbled something unintelligible but stopped bouncing back and forth and curled beside Erin. “If we decide wrong…” George repeated, but did not finish.
“We’re guilty of a crime worse than the death of Earth,” Paola said.
“Right,” George said.
“Just what they want us to think,” Cham said. “Perfect disguise.”
“I don’t think it’s a disguise,” Martin said.
“Nor do I we,” Silken Parts agreed.
“Nor do we all,” Eye on Sky concluded. Cham pushed his lips together and shook his head.
“Well, I’m in my place,” he muttered.
“Stop it,” Martin said. “We could argue for years and not know for sure. I’m goddamned confused myself.”
“Amen,” Erin said.
“But I’m not Pan. We don’t make the decision alone. We present what we have to all the others…”
In the quiet, cool noach chamber, Hakim, Eye on Sky, and Martin sat, waiting for signals to be coordinated.
Stonemaker and Giacomo appeared first, three-dimensional noach images growing out of the air. Giacomo’s face was pale and drawn, his eyes dark and tired. Stonemaker received Eye on Sky’s report as Hakim prepared to transmit their findings.
“We’re having trouble,” Giacomo told Martin. “Hans will be here soon. He can tell you about it. I need to speak with Jennifer right away.”
“After Hans and I talk,” Martin said.
“Martin, this is really important. We’ve made some significant advances. The moms are making new equipment for us. I have to talk with Jennifer, and Silken Parts, too.”
“I understand,” Martin said. “Strategy first.”
Giacomo’s face reddened. “God damn it, Martin, Hans isn’t here yet, and we don’t have much time. We’ve learned a lot in the past few tendays, stuff I wouldn’t have believed!”
“So tell me about it while we wait for Hans,” Martin said.
“Bring Jennifer in. We’ll all talk.”
Martin did not relish being bogged down in technical details, but he relented and asked Jennifer to enter the noach chamber. Her expression softened when she saw Giacomo, then became worried as she saw the strain he was under.
“Jenny, we think this system is armed to the teeth. Blinker is probably a giant noach generator, but it isn’t used for communication. The entire planet changes every few minutes… The moms have studied it, I’ve been working through the momerath…”
“Give us the important stuff,” Jennifer said, glancing at Martin. “We’ll talk momerath later.”
“Blinker is their Achilles’ heel,” Giacomo said. “It controls a lot of things around Leviathan. We think we can use noach as a weapon against Blinker. If we can persuade Blinker, it’ll be like their turning our ships into anti em, only much more powerful. Wormwood was deliberately primitive, compared to Leviathan. That’s what I’ve told Hans, and the moms seem to agree. They’re making noach weapons right now. I don’t think we’ll have time to test—”
“What can they do?” Martin asked.
“We might survive Blinker if it tries to attack us. Our neutronium weapons are probably useless. They can nullify them, even… I’m not positive about this, Jenny, but the momerath says they can convert our bombs to the limits of the system, or even after they enter a planet.
“That’s the glory of Leviathan. Just looking at these planets long enough, we can think of a thousand new things, a thousand possibilities. The ships’ minds are working all the time. All our weapons and delivery systems are being redesigned.”