Kingdom of Cages(63)

“It would take years,” she breathed.

“We have years.”

Beleraja’s mind spun. “I would have to send out some of the family ships. There is no way I would trust this to go through the comm stations.” The few ships and satellites that passed for a communication network in the Called had more leaks than a thousand sieves. Anyone who wanted to pay enough in money or luxury goods could find out anything they pleased.

“Could it be done?” asked Shontio.

Then Beleraja knew that it didn’t matter what the directors were shouting or how hard they were trying to interrupt. Shontio would reason with them, or threaten them, until they came to his side. All that mattered was what she said next. She thought of her family; she thought of her mother, who had been matriarch before her. It was their lives and her memory that Beleraja would risk now, whatever she said. It was the Authority, her past, and her future, her way of life, and the way of life of hundreds of thousands of people who had no idea this conversation was taking place.

“Yes,” she said.





CHAPTER SEVEN





The Draft





Aleph, city-mind to the Alpha Complex, opened her dedicated connection to the convocation. Instantly the vivid exchanges of the other cities fountained over her.

The city-minds were living intelligences. As such, they required interchange with their own kind, a place where they could debate, advise each other, and discuss the paths the world was taking. They were advisers to their families, and sometimes it was vital that they be in agreement about what advice to give. Times such as when a set of long-held rules were being placed in suspension. A time such as now.

“The families’ debates are over, and the voting is done,” said a voice underscored with notes of strength and the scent of fresh water and greenery. That was Gem, mind to the Gamma Complex, steady and sure, Aleph’s best friend among the other minds. She was pleased to hear him first thing. “Our people have decided that Helice Trust is necessary to the Eden Project. We must abide by that decision.” Signals of assent poured in from most of the other twenty-four minds.

But not all of them.

“I do not like the decision,” grumbled Cheth, mind to Chi Complex. An abstract and ragged burst of red and orange accompanied the words, emphasizing her displeasure. Cheth didn’t like anything she hadn’t thought of, and never had. Aleph sometimes wondered if something had gone wrong during Cheth’s growth in the early years. Some chemical imbalance that stunted her empathy.

“Neither do I,” said Gem, sounding unusually stiff. His unadorned words said he dismissed Cheth’s argument. “But that is not the point.”

“We can speak when we disagree, isn’t that our purpose?” pointed out Cheth with a sound like a sniff, taking Gem’s scent and changing it to the prickly odor of ice and early frost, a warning scent.

“We can grumble, you mean,” cut in Peda, mind to the Psi Complex. He dispersed the warning and replaced it with an image of calm waters and retreating cloud banks. He was practical but hard-nosed. If Aleph hadn’t known how diligently he cared for his people, she would have found him difficult to like. “Which is what we are doing, and it is not helpful.”

“How did the proper means of drafting a villager even come to be a question? Is Aleph losing touch with her people?” Aleph bridled at Cheth’s tone and her clashing mosaic of unnatural yellows and scarlets. Had the crabbed old mind not noticed she was connected? Or did Cheth just not care?

“She is not, but she is here, thank you,” said Aleph, taking the colors and turning them over until they became a rising sun over Peda’s waters. “And she is not aware that she has lost touch.”

“Then how did this matter come to be debated? There are rules in place.” Cheth, ever efficient, made sure a copy of the rules of procedure for recruiting experimental subjects was copied into her receiving subsystem.

“I am in possession of those rules, Cheth.” Aleph kept her voice even but let everyone be aware that she placed the file into a holding buffer. “I was there at the original debates for them, as were you.”

“Then why are they so suddenly not enough?”

“Because Pandora’s circumstances have changed,” answered Gem before Aleph could speak. He had been given a rumbling bass voice. Aleph found it a nice counterpoint to Cheth’s querulous old woman. He flavored his words with strong pepper. “There has never been such a direct threat to Pandora and our people before.”

“Then you agree with this decision, Gem?” demanded Peda, his words tasting cool and bitter. “Aleph, of course, supports her people—”