“Papio,” Diamond repeated.
One of the passengers was staring. She hadn’t noticed the odd boy until now, and when Diamond glanced at her, she grew self-conscious, looking out her own window with sudden intensity.
The blimp was docking. Diamond saw men standing together, waiting to board, and the burly red capables pulled hard at the ropes, fighting a breeze to bring the gangway into position.
“The papio live on the reefs,” Seldom explained.
“They look like people,” Elata said.
“No they don’t,” said Seldom.
Nissim put his face close. “The papio are complicated. Let’s leave it there for now.”
Diamond remained silent, wondering how anybody could understand the endlessly complicated world.
Horns sounded, and again the blimp moved. Three men entered the cabin and stopped in the aisle, talking to each other with their eyes. Diamond watched them, trying not to stare. One man nodded and another moved to the front and sat. The nodding man and his companion said nothing, filling an empty bench in back.
Diamond looked out the window while he studied the new world inside his head. “How far down do they reach?” he asked.
“Do what reach?” Elata asked.
“The trees.”
“Less than halfway,” Seldom said.
With stubby fingers, Diamond made the sphere again. Trees dangled down from the top and something called a reef grew on the edges. Seldom put one finger into his round cage, swirling where the trees ended.
“The canopy is my favorite part of the world,” Elata said. “That’s where trees make branches that grow sideways and wrap together.”
“Most of our food comes from the canopy,” Seldom said.
Nissim wasn’t talking, and he didn’t seem to be listening anymore.
“Days are brighter in the canopy,” Elata explained. “That’s where most of the sunlight gets eaten by the trees and epiphytes.”
“What are epiphytes?”
“Plants that hang from bigger plants,” Seldom said.
The world was steadily rising around them. Maybe it was Elata’s words, but the air did seem brighter than ever, and out from the last shreds of mist came a rich green floor that looked solid, impenetrable.
“There’s thousands of species of plants,” Seldom said.
“And tens of thousands of different bugs,” Elata said.
“There’s more than that,” Seldom said. The topic was exciting, and he reached across Elata to grab Diamond’s knee. “We don’t know how many species of insects there are. Sometimes one species vanishes, and sometimes a scientist finds some little beetle or fly that nobody has ever seen before.”
“Is that true?” Elata asked doubtfully.
“It is,” Seldom insisted.
“Who told you that?”
The boy grinned and looked at the Master. “Isn’t that true, sir?”
Nissim seemed to be watching them, but he didn’t react, blinking several times before he returned from wherever his mind was.
“Is what true?” he asked.
“People are finding new insects,” Seldom said.
“Yes.”
The boy straightened his back, proud of himself.
“But it’s very rare,” the Master cautioned. “And we aren’t certain why it happens. Some voices argue that new species are forming. But experts and every textbook will claim that the little things have managed to hide from us until now. They’ve been here since the Creation, and they always will be.”
“That’s what I think,” said Elata. “Always, and always.”
“I like the other idea,” Seldom maintained.
Nissim sat sideways on his bench, watching the youngsters as well as the two men sharing the bench at the back of the cabin.
“Which story do you believe?” Elata asked the Master.
“I avoid opinions,” Nissim said. “It’s easier that way to accept both answers equally, and deny both of them at the same time. That’s how I treat problems that I don’t understand.”
His answer confused everybody, and the subject was dropped.
The canopy was not simple or simply green. Fat brown branches emerged from Marduk—horizontal and thick, radiating straight out from the trunk—and every branch was covered with small branches and lush leaves and moving patches of color that were birds and machines. The closer they approached, the more confused and amazing the view became.
“What’s below this?” Diamond asked.
Nissim put both of his hands on the boy’s shoulders. He seemed ready to talk, but then he pulled his hands back, his mind still wandering.
Seldom spoke. “What’s below the canopy, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Air,” said Elata.
“And daylight,” Seldom said. “Too bright for ordinary eyes, and kids aren’t supposed to ever look it.”
“The sun can blind you,” Elata warned.
Diamond remembered the dark goggles in the closet back home and how his father’s eyes were pale when his face was very brown.
“And what are the coronas?” he asked.
Elata sighed and Seldom twisted against the hard bench. Just the word “coronas” made them nervous and thrilled.
“They have their own place, and it’s a very different place,” Seldom said.
“Nothing like this,” Elata added.
Once again, the blimp changed speed and direction. Propellers rolled hard and fast, and from somewhere on the canopy another horn sounded, thunderous notes rising up through the machine and through them.
Once again, Diamond made the spherical world with his hands, fingertips touching with his thumbs closest to his face.
Seldom reached between his palms, down low. “This is where the night grows. Between us and the sun.”
“Night grows,” Diamond repeated doubtfully.
“Sure,” Elata said. “There’s a second canopy down there, only the plants aren’t anything we would recognize.”
Suddenly the Master made a soft sound, lifting a finger.
The others fell silent.
Leaning close, the man put his face in front of Diamond’s face. “Those three men who came onboard,” he whispered.
Seldom started to turn his head.
Nissim dropped a hand on Seldom’s shoulder. “Hold still. Look at me, please.” Then he watched Diamond, saying, “One of them is sitting ahead of us. Do you know who I mean?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why he might know you?”
Diamond shook his head.
“What’s wrong?” Elata asked.
“Those gentlemen are taking turns,” Nissim explained. “One at a time, they’re watching us. And they’re mostly interested in Diamond. Which is reasonable, I suppose, since the boy is remarkable. But what worries me is that they don’t strike me as being the inquisitive sort.”
Once more, the great horn sounded, and the blimp finished making its majestic turn, aligning with the new landing.
Thinking about the three men, Seldom trembled. “What do we do?” he asked.
“Nothing,” said Nissim.
The boy started to turn his head, trying to catch sight of the two men behind them.
“Stop,” Nissim said.
Elata took Seldom by the hand. “We’re all right. Nobody’s going to hurt us.”
Diamond felt cold and sorry.
Nissim touched his shoulder. “You need to go to the bathroom.”
The boy started to say, “I don’t.”
“Come. I’m taking you.” Then the man made a point of grabbing the others’ hands, squeezing hard as he said, “Sit and wait. This won’t take long.”
Seldom started to ask questions but thought better of it.
“Let’s go,” Nissim said.
Diamond’s legs were weak, and his breath came in quick shallow bursts. But he managed to stand, joining the Master in the aisle, a sure hand guiding him toward the front of the cabin. The strange man sitting in front was quiet, staring hard at the floor between his feet. But as the two of them passed, he turned and stared, brown eyes unblinking and his mouth clamped as tight as could be.