"It's not impossible at all," Bagnel countered, now so intrigued he forgot to use the formal mode. He got up and started pacing and muttering to himself.
"Do you really believe in this, Marika?" Kiljar asked. "Have you convinced yourself that, despite the obvious problems, it can actually be done?"
"My conviction is absolute, mistress. I have yet to find an insuperable barrier, though there were more problems than I at first expected. Yes, it can be done-if the Communities and the brethren are willing to invest the resources and the energies."
Bagnel's pacing took him to a window. He stared out at the frigid world. The most seniors watched him uneasily. "You have done it again, haven't you, Marika?"
"Done what, Bagnel?"
"You have overturned everything. And bigger than ever before. No wonder you had to take a few years off. You needed that long to wake the earthquake."
"What are you talking about?"
"Three meth are going to leave this room with your notion fixed in their minds. All three are going to find some reason to consult others about it. Those others will tell others. The news will spread. In time it will have reached those for whom it will represent an almost religious opportunity for salvation. It will become impossible for us, brethren and Communities alike, to do anything but attempt it, even if it proves impossible. For the alternative will be destruction at the paws of outraged bonds who will believe themselves betrayed."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am saying you have let a devil loose. That you proposed this with no thought for the social implications. I am saying that you have made undertaking the project mandatory simply by stating that you believe it is feasible. I am saying that such a project will reshape society as well as weather. I ask you to think about what you are asking."
Taken aback by his vehemence, Marika said, "Tell me."
"You are asking that the brethren be restored to grace. You are asking two dozen dark-faring Communities to join forces in one grand project instead of flying off in all directions, spending half their energies sabotaging and one-upping each other. You are proposing a project of such vast magnitude that bond meth will have to be given technical training because the brethren available to do the work are not numerous enough. You are letting devils out. Those are things I foresee just off the top of my head. More thought would produce more, surely. And the project is bound to have repercussions that cannot be foreseen at all-some just because of its scale. Did none of this occur to you?"
"No. I was not concerned with anything but the practical considerations." Marika took a turn at the window and thought of Jiana the doomstalker, reflecting on the fact that destruction need not be physical, as it had been with the Degnan packstead, Akard, Maksche, and TelleRai. She turned. "You really think so?"
"Yes."
"Given that, do you think it would be worth the effort?"
"Actually, I do. Because the alternative is a longer, slower, more certain doom. This cooling cycle is going to continue till the whole planet becomes too cold to support life. The permafrost line is within three thousand miles of the equator today. It shows no inclination to slow its advance, though I am sure it will in time-after it is too late for us. I suspect that we dare not waste many more years or for the meth it will be too late for anything but awaiting the end. Which will not come in our time, of course. But it will come."
Marika looked at Bel-Keneke and Kiljar. "Mistresses?"
Kiljar said, "I approve pushing ahead. Tentatively. Trusting your judgment, Marika, and that of your friend. I will want to see more solid data before I approach my Community with the proclamation that this project is the only way we can save our world."
"I understand. Bel-Keneke?"
"You are outside my expertise. You know that. All I know about the void is that it is cold and dark out there. I do very much share the male's social fears. I foresee great troubles and terrible changes. But I am in your debt, and I respect the opinion of mistress Kiljar. If you can convince her, I will follow her lead and back you."
Marika walked back to the window and stared out at the chill landscape. Once Ruhaack had been warm and lush. Now it was barren, except where meth had planted vegetation adapted to a near arctic climate. After a moment she turned.
"Bagnel may be right, about the social upheaval. I plead guilty to failing to consider that aspect. But we are in a corner from which there is no escape. There is no future without trying. If the race is to survive, we must pay the price."
She was amazed that the most seniors were so agreeable. Perhaps the world had grown more desperate than she knew.
"Bagnel, can the brethren provide the necessary calculators?"
"We call them computers. Yes, we have them. We may have to develop a breed designed specifically for the project, but that would not be an insurmountable problem. A matter of increasing capacity, I expect."
"What about the engineering? Do you have anyone capable of designing the mirrors?"
"That I cannot say, but I can find out. Given adequate time, I am sure, someone-more likely many someones-could be trained. I will find out and let you know."
"So that is that. We are agreed. We go ahead a step."
III Marika gaped at Bagnel. "Eight years? Just to get the materials together?"
"It's a big project, Marika. I think that's too optimistic a figure, myself. It assumes total cooperation by all the Communities in providing the labor we'll need for getting the titanium out, building new plants to process the ore and metal, building new power plants to provide energy for those plants, and so on and so on and so on. I told you it would reshape society. And it will. My guess is that we'll be extremely fortunate to get even one mirror functional within ten years. There will be hitches, hang-ups, problems, delays, personality conflicts, bottlenecks, shortages ... "
"I get the picture."
"The word is spreading already, just as I forecast. I keep running into brethren who know before I consult them, though I swear everyone to silence when I do consult them."
"We expected that. We chose to live with it."
"I have another scenario for you. In this one your old enemies get wind of the project. As inevitably they must."
"You think they would try to sabotage it?"
"I am certain they'll try. Wouldn't you? The cold is on their side."
"Then we must neutralize them."
"How, when no one has been able to find them?"
"No one has tried hard enough. A truly major effort ... "
"There. You're talking about diverting energies from your project. Which means having to stretch it out a little."
Marika sighed. "Yes, I guess I am."
"You see? One thing affects another."
"We'll do what we have to. Are you ready to face Kiljar and Bel-Keneke? And beyond them, a convention of all the Communities?"
"I believe so."
"Good. Because Kiljar is failing and I believe that to have a chance the thing has to get rolling before she dies."
"Arrange for me to see her. I'll sell her."
"Just give her the truth. Let it argue for itself. You cannot mislead her. And she'll have to sell it to others on its provable merit."
"Of course. That's understood. Did you happen to notice that I flew down here in a Sting? We haven't flown together for a long time."
"I did notice that. And I was thinking of stealing you and it if you didn't come up with the suggestion yourself."
"This afternoon, then? After I have seen the most seniors?"
"Yes. Don't let them intimidate you. They may try, just to see what you're made of."
"Those old artfs? Not likely. Not when I have to deal with my factors and bond masters every day."
Bel-Keneke and Kiljar needed very little convincing. They had done their own investigating. "I am amazed," Kiljar admitted. "The response among the Communities has been almost messianic in intensity. They believe you are going to show them the pathway into a new age, Marika."