front of him.He seemed to be smaller than I
remembered.He was rubbing his hands together as
though it was cold, and looking up the broad
avenue of bizarre Vigoland sculptures into the
northern blue-morning sky. 'Do you want to walk?'
he asked.
'Yes, let's.' We started across the bridge, towards
the first flight of steps on the far side of the obelisk
and fountain.
'Thank you for coming.' Linter looked at me, then
quickly away.
'That's all right.Pleasant city.' I took off my leather
jacket and slung it over my shoulder.I was wearing
jeans and boots, but it was a blouse and skirt day,
really. 'So, how are you getting on?'
'I'm still staying, if that's what you want to know.'
Defensively.
'I assumed you were.'
He relaxed, coughed.We walked across the broad,
empty bridge.It was still too early for most people
to be up and about, and we seemed to be alone in
the park.The severe, square, stone-plinthed lights
of the bridge went slowly by, counterpoints to the
curves of the strange statues.
'I I wanted to give you this.' Linter stopped, felt
inside his jacket and brought out what looked like
a gold-plated Parker pen.He twisted the top off;
where the nib should have been there was a grey
tube covered in tiny coloured symbols which
belonged to no language on Earth.A little red tell-
tale winked lazily.It looked insignificant,
somehow.He put the top back on the terminal. 'Will
you take it?' he said, blinking.
'Yes, if you're sure.'
'I haven't used it for weeks.'
'How did you ask the ship to see me?'
'It sends down drones to talk to me.I offered the
terminal to them, but they wouldn't take it.The ship
won't take it.I don't think it wants to be
responsible.'
'You want me to be?'
'As a friend.I'd like you to; please.Please take it.'
'Look, why not keep it but don't use it.In case
there's some emergency -'
'No.No; just take it, please.' Linter looked into my
eyes for a moment. 'It's just a formality.'
I felt a strange urge to laugh, the way he said
that.Instead I took the terminal from him and stuffed
it into my bomber jacket.Linter sighed.We walked
on.
It was a lovely day.The sky was cloudless, the air
clear, and fragrant with mixtures of the sea and
land.I wasn't sure whether there really was
something about that quality of light that made it
northern; perhaps it only looked different because
you knew there was just a thousand kilometres or
so of as clear, still fresher, colder air between you
and the Arctic sea, the great bergs and the millions
of square kilometres of ice and snow.It was like
being on another planet.
We walked up the steps, Linter seeming to study
each one.I was looking around, drinking in the
sight and sound and smell of this place, reminding
me of my holidays from London.I looked at the man
by my side.
'You know you're not looking too well.'
He didn't meet my gaze, but appeared to study
some distant stonework at the end of the walk.
'Well no, I guess you could say I've changed.' He
smiled uncertainly. 'I'm not the man I was.'
Something about the way he said it made me
shiver.He was watching his feet again.
'You staying here, in Oslo?' I asked him.
'For the moment, yes.I like it here.It doesn't feel
like a capital city; clean and compact, but -' he
broke off, shook his head at something. 'I'll move
on soon though, I think.'
We went on, mounting the steps.Some of the
Vigoland sculptures made me feel distinctly
uncomfortable.A wave of something like revulsion
swept over me, startling me; some planetary
repugnance in this northern city.In this world now,
they were talking of abandoning the B1 bomber to
go ahead with the cruise missile.What had started
out as the Neutron Bomb had euphemized into the
Enhanced Radiation Warhead and finally into the
Reduced Blast Device.They're all sick and so's he,
I thought suddenly.Infected.
No, that was stupid.I was getting xenophobic.The
fault was within, not without.
'Do you mind if I tell you something?'
'What do you mean?' I said.What a weird thing to
say, I thought.
'Well you might find it distasteful; I don't know.'
'Tell me anyway.I have a strong constitution.'
'I got I asked the ship to ah alter me.' He looked at
me briefly.I inspected him.The slight stoop, the
thinness and paler skin wouldn't have required the
services of the ship.He saw me looking, shook his
head. 'No, nothing outside; inside.'
'Oh.What?'
'Well, I got it to to give me a set of guts more like
the locals.And I had the drug glands taken out, and
the uh -' he laughed nervously '- the loop system in
my balls.'
I kept walking.I believed him, immediately.I
couldn't believe the ship had agreed to do it, but I
believed Linter.I didn't know what to say.
'So, I uh, don't have any choice about going to the