Infinity's Shore (109 page)

One of the newest members of the council whistled for attention, slashing his tail flukes through water that fizzed with bubbles.
Kaa
, the chief pilot, did not ride a walker, since he might have to speed back to duty at any time. Instead, the young dolphin commented from a fluid-filled tunnel that emerged from a wall to pass near one side of the table.

Gillian turned to translate the popping whistle-poem for Sara Koolhan, who had never learned Trinary.

“Kaa asks what project could be worth the trouble and danger of diving into a star.”

To the surprise of everyone, Sara replied with an eager nod.

“I think I can offer a partial answer.”

The young Jijoan nervously stroked a black cube on the table in front of her—the personal algorithmic engine Gillian lent her when she came aboard. “Ever since we first spotted these strange ships, I wondered what trait of Izmunuti might attract folks here from some distant system. I thought about how my own ancestors came to Jijo. After passing through the regular T-point, they took a path through this giant star's outer atmosphere. All the sneakships of Jijo's other races also used the same method to cover their tracks.”

We thought of it too
, Gillian pondered, unhappily.
But I must have done something wrong, since the Rothen were able to follow us, betraying both our hiding place and the Six Races.

Gillian noticed Lieutenant Tsh't was looking at her. With reproach for getting
Streaker
into this fix? The dolphin's eye remained fixed for a long, appraising moment, then turned away as Sara continued.

“Now, according to this teaching unit, stars like Izmunuti pour out immense amounts of heavy atoms from their bloated atmospheres. Carbon is especially rich, condensing on anything solid that happens nearby. All our ancestor ships arrived at Jijo black with the stuff.
Streaker
may be the first vessel ever to try the trick
twice
, both coming and going. I bet the stuff is causing you some problems.”

“No bet!” boomed Suessi's amplified voice. Hannes had been battling the growing carbon coating. “The stuff is heavy, it has weird properties, and it's been gumming up the verity flanges.”

Sara nodded.

“But consider, what if somebody else has a
use
for such coatings? What would be the best way to accumulate it?”

She nudged her black cube, using a spoken command to transfer data to the main display. Though Sara had been
aboard only a few days, she was quickly adapting to the convenience of modern tools.

A mirrorlike rectangle appeared before the council, reflecting fiery prominences from a broad, planar surface.

“Of course I'm just an ignorant native,” Sara commented, “but it seems to me the best way to collect atoms out of a stellar wind would be to use something with a lot of surface area and little initial mass. Such a vehicle might not even have to use much energy to depart from the collection site, if it were propelled outward on the pressure of waves of light.”

Lieutenant Tsh't murmured.

“A sssolar sail!”

“Is that what you call it?” Sara nodded. “Imagine machines arriving through the transfer point as compact objects, plummeting down to Izmunuti, then unfurling such sails and catching a free ride back to the T-point, gaining layers of this molecularly unique carbon and other stuff along the way. Energy expenditures per ton of yield would be minimal!”

The whirling Niss hologram edged forward.

“
Your hypothesis suggests an economical resourcegathering technique, providing the mechanoids needn't make more than one simple hyperspatial transfer, coming or going. Even so, there are cheaper alternatives in industrialized regions of the Five Galaxies. Still, it may be plausible here in Galaxy Four, where industry is currently minimal or nil, due to the recent fallow-migration
.”

Gillian noted that the word “recent” in this case meant several thousand years.

“
If Sage Sara's conjecture is correct
,”the Niss continued, “
mechanoids would be ideal contractors to hire for the harvesting chore. They would create special versions of themselves tuned to do the job efficiently, with minimal excess mass. That explains why their drive and protective systems were so easily vanquished by the rising storms. They had no margin to spare for the unexpected
.”

Gillian glanced at the big display. Just half the orange glitters remained, still struggling to flee Izmunuti's gravity well before burgeoning plasma surges caught them.

The three purple dots had already reached the mechanoid convoy, ascending past them with graceful ease.

“What about the Zang?” she asked.

“
I would surmise they are the mechanoids' employers. Our captured Library unit cannot recall another instance of hydrogen breathers being detected so close to a star, but there are clear precedents for Zang groups hiring special services from the Machine Order. Great clans of oxygenbreathers also do it, from time to time
.”

“Well, it looks like their plans sure have been ripped,” commented Suessi. “Ain't gonna be much cargo getting home, this time.”

A series of pensive whistle clicks escaped the gray dolphin floating in the nearby water-filled tunnel—not Trinary but the sort of scattered clicks a cetacean gives off when pondering something deeply. Gillian still felt guilty about asking Kaa to volunteer for this mission, since it meant abandoning his lover, Peepoe, to an uncertain fate on Jijo. But
Streaker
could never manage this desperate ploy without a first-class pilot.

“
I concur
,” the whirling hologram concluded. “
The Zang will not be in a good mood, after this setback
.”

“Because they suffered economic loss?” Tsh't asked.

“
There is more. According to Library records, most hydrogen-breathing races react badly to surprise. This goes beyond their having slower metabolisms than oxy-life. Anything unpredictable is viscerally loathsome to Zang and their relatives.

“
Of course, this attitude is incomprehensible to an entity like me, programmed by the Tymbrimi to seek out novelty in any form. Without surprise, how can you tell there is an objective world? You might as well presume the whole universe is one big—
”

“Wait a minute,” Gillian interrupted, lest the Niss get sidetracked on some long philosophical rumination. “We're all taught to avoid Zang. They may be dangerous, even under ideal circumstances. Contact is best left to experts from the Great Institutes, we're told. But now you're saying they may be
especially
angry? Possibly short-tempered?”

The Niss hologram whirled silently for several duras, coiling with apparent tension.

“
After three Earth years together, amid growing familiarity with your voice tones and thought patterns, Dr. Baskin
,
I find that your latest inquiry provokes an uneasy feeling in me. Am I justified to be wary?

“
Do you find the notion of short-tempered Zang somehow … appealing?
”

Gillian refrained from answering right away. But she did allow the emergence of a grim, enigmatic smile.