comment,' said a small drone, floating down from
the foliage.It was one of a few drones the ship had
built to follow a couple of birds that had been in
the palm when it was hoisted up to the ship; the
birds had to be fed, and tidied up after (the ship
was proud that so far every dropping had been
neatly intercepted in mid-air). 'But I do admit I find
his behaviour slightly worrying.Perhaps he wants
to tell us what he feels about Earth, or me, or
worse still, perhaps he doesn't know himself.'
'Simpler than that,' Li said, putting his dick away. 'I
needed a piss.' He bent down and ruffled my hair
before plonking himself down at my side.('Urinal
in your room packed up, has it?' muttered the
drone. 'Can't say I blame it')
'I hear you're off back to the wilderness again
tomorrow,' Li said, crossing his arms and looking
seriously at me. 'I'm free this evening; in fact I'm
free now.I could offer you a small token of my
esteem if you like; your last night with the good
guys before you go off to infiltrate the barbarians.'
'Small?' I said.
Li smiled, made an expansive gesture, with both
hands. 'Well, modesty forbids'
'No, I do.'
'You're making a dreadful mistake you know,' he
said, jumping up and rubbing his belly absently
while looking in the direction of the nearest dining
area. 'I'm in really fine form at the moment, and I
really ain't doing anything tonight.'
'Too right you aren't.'
He shrugged and blew me a kiss, then skipped
off.Li was one of those who just wouldn't have
passed for Earthhuman without a vast amount of
physical alteration (hairy, and the wrong shape;
imagine Quasimodo crossed with an ape), but
frankly I think you could have put him down
looking as normal as an IBM salesman and he'd
still have been in jail or a fight within the hour; he
couldn't have accepted the limitations on one's
behaviour a place like Earth tends to insist on.
Denied his chance to go amongst the people of
Earth, Li gave informal briefings for the people
who were going down to the surface; those who
would listen anyway.Li's briefings were short and
to the point; he walked up, said, The fundamental
thing to remember is this; most of what you
encounter will be shit.' [*1*] And walked away again.
'Ms Sma' The small drone floated over and settled
into the hollow left by Li's behind. 'I was
wondering if you would do me a small favour
when you go back down tomorrow.'
'What sort of favour?' I said, putting Regan and
Goneril down.
'Well, I'd be terribly grateful if you'd call in at
Paris before you go to Berlin if you wouldn't
mind.'
'I don't mind,' I said.I hadn't been to Paris yet.
'Oh good.'
'What's the problem?'
'No problem.I'd just like you to drop in on Dervley
Linter.I think you know him?Well, just pop by for a
chat, that's all.'
'Uh-huh,' I said.
I wondered what the ship was up to.I did have an
idea (wrong, as it turned out).The Arbitrary, like every ship I've ever met in Contact, loved intrigues
and plots.The devices are forever using their spare
time to cook up pranks and schemes; little secret
plans, opportunities to use delicate artifices to get
people to do things, say things, behave in a certain
way, just for the fun of it.
The Arbitrary was a notorious match-maker,
perfectly convinced that it knew exactly who
would be best for each other, always trying to fix
the crew placements to set up as many potential
couples or other suitable combinations as it
could.It occurred to me that it was up to something
like this now, worried that I hadn't been sexually
active recently, and perhaps also concerned that
my last few partners had been female (the Arb
always did have a distinctly heterosexual bent for
some reason).
'Yes, just a little talk; find out how things are
going, you know.'
The drone started to rise from the seat.I reached
out and grabbed it, set it down on Lear on my lap, fixed its sensing band with what I hoped was a
steely glare of my own and said, 'What are you up
to?'
'Nothing!' the machine protested. 'I'd just like you
to look in on Dervley and see what the two of you
think about Earth, together; get a synthesis, you
know.You two haven't met since we arrived and I
want to see what ideas you can come up with
exactly how we should go about contacting them if
that's what we decide to do, or what else we can
do if we decide not to.That's all.No skullduggery,
dear Sma.'
'Hmm,'I nodded. 'All right.'
I let the drone go.It floated up.
'Honest,' the ship said, and the drone's aura field
flashed rosy with bonhomie; 'no skullduggery.' It
made a bobbing motion, indicating the book on my
lap. 'You read your Lear, I'll jet off.'
A bird flashed by, closely followed by another
drone; the one I'd been talking to tore off in