Rama Revealed [070-4.5]

By: Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee

Synopsis:

A massive alien starship carries its human passengers to the end of
their generations-long odyssey and toward an epic confrontation with
the mysterious Ramans.

Gollancz Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee 1993 All rights reserved.  No
part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.

The right of Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 Printed and bound in Great
Britain by Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham, Kent
the emerald city t79 Y warinrama 283 return TO the node 367
acknowledgements 479


In one of the outlying spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy, an
inconspicuous, solitary yellow star slowly orbits the galactic centre
thirty thousand light years away.  This stable star, the Sun, takes 225
million years to complete one revolution in its galactic orbit.

The last time the Sun was in its present position, giant reptiles of
fearsome power had just begun to establish their dominion on the Earth,
a small blue planet that is one of the satellites of the Sun.

Among the planets and other bodies in the family of the Sun, it is only
on this Earth that any complex, enduring life has ever developed.  Only
on this special world did chemicals evolve into consciousness and then
ask, as they began to understand the wonders and dimensions of the
universe, if miracles similar to the ones that had produced them had
indeed occurred elsewhere.

After all, these sentient Earthlings argued, there are a hundred
billion stars in our galaxy alone.  We are fairly certain that at least
20 per cent of these stars have orbiting planets, and that a small but
significant number of these planets have had, at some time in their
history, atmospheric and thermal conditions conducive to the formation
of amino acids and other organic chemicals that are the sine qua nom
for any biology we can reasonably hypothesise.  At least once in
history, here on Earth, these amino acids discovered self-replication,
and the evolutionary miracle that eventually produced human beings was
set into motion.  How can we presume that this sequence occurred only
that single time in all history?  The heavier atoms necessary to create
us have been forged in the stellar cataclysms exploding across this
universe for billions of years.  Is it likely that only here, in this
one place, these atoms have concatenated into special molecules and
evolved into an intelligent being capable of asking the question,

"Are we alone?"

The humans on Earth began their search for cosmic companions first by
building telescopes with which they could see their immediate planetary
neighbours.  Later, when their technology had developed to a higher
level, sophisticated robotic spacecraft were sent to examine these
other planets, and to ascertain whether or not there were any signs of
biology.  These
explorations proved that no intelligent life has ever existed on any
other body in our solar system.  If there is anyone out there, the
human scientists concluded, any peer species with whom we might
eventually communicate, they must be found beyond the void that
separates our solar system from all the other stars.

At the end of the twentieth century in the human time system, the great
antennas of the Earth began to search the sky for coherent signals, to
determine if perhaps some other intelligence might be sending us a
radio message.  For over a hundred years the search continued,
intensifying during the halcyon days of international science in the
early twenty-first century, and then diminishing later, in the final
decades of the century, after the fourth separate set of systematic
listening techniques still failed to locate any alien signals.

By 2130, when the strange cylindrical object was first identified
hurtling towards our solar system from the reaches of interstellar
space, most thoughtful humans had decided that life must be scarce in
the universe and that intelligence, if indeed it existed anywhere
except on Earth, was exceedingly rare.  How else, the scientists
contended, can we possibly explain the lack of positive results from
all our careful extraterrestrial search efforts of the last century?

The Earth was therefore stunned when, upon closer inspection, the
object entering our solar system in 2130 was identified unambiguously
as an artefact of alien origin.  Here was undeniable proof that
advanced intelligence existed, or at least had existed at some prior
epoch, in another part of the universe.  When an ongoing space mission
was diverted to rendezvous with the drab cylindrical behemoth, which
turned out to have dimensions greater than the largest cities on Earth,
the investigating cosmonauts found mystery after mystery.  But they
were unable to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the
enigmatic alien spacecraft.  The intruder from the stars provided no
definitive clues about its origin or purpose.

That first group of human explorers not only catalogued the wonders of
Rama (the name chosen for the gigantic cylindrical object before it was
known to be an extraterrestrial artefact), but also explored and mapped
its interior.  After the exploration team left Rama and the alien
spaceship dived around the Sun, departing from the solar system at
hyperbolic velocity, scientists thoroughly analysed all the data that
had been gathered during the mission.  Everyone acknowledged that the
human visitors to Rama had never encountered the actual creators of the
mysterious spacecraft.  However, the careful post-flight analysis did
reveal one inescapable principle of Raman redundancy engineering. Every
critical system and subsystem in the vehicle had two back-ups. The
Ramans designed everything in threes.  The scientists considered it
very likely that two more similar spacecraft would soon follow.

The years immediately after the visit from Rama I in 2130 were full of
expectation on Earth.  Scholars and politicians alike proclaimed that a
new era in human history had begun.  The International Space Agency
(ISA), working with the Council of Governments (COG), developed careful
procedures for handling the next visit from the Ramans.  All telescopes
were trained on the heavens, competing with each other for the acclaim
that would come to the individual or observatory who first located the
next Rama spacecraft.  But there were no additional sightings.

In the second half of the 2I30S an economic boom, fuelled partially
during its last stages by world-wide reactions to Rama, came to an
abrupt halt.  The world was plunged into the deepest depression in its
history, known as the Great Chaos, which was accompanied by widespread
anarchy and destitution.  All scientific research activity was
abandoned during this sorrowful era, and after several decades of
paying attention to mundane problems, people on the Earth had nearly
forgotten the unexplained visitor from the stars.

In 2200 a second cylindrical intruder arrived in the solar system.  The
citizens of Earth dusted off the old procedures that had been developed
after the first Rama had departed, and prepared to rendezvous with Rama
II.  A crew of twelve was chosen for the mission.

Soon after the rendezvous, the dozen reported that the second Rama
spacecraft was nearly identical to its predecessor.  The humans
encountered new mysteries and wonders, including some alien beings, but
were still unable to answer questions about the origin and purpose of
Rama.

Three strange deaths among the crew created great concern back on the
Earth, where all aspects of the historic mission were followed on
television.  When the giant cylinder underwent a mid-course manoeuvre
that placed it on a trajectory that would impact the Earth, this
concern changed to alarm and fear.  The leaders of the world
reluctantly concluded that, in the absence of any other information,
they had no choice except to assume that Rama II was hostile.  They
could not allow the alien spacecraft to impact the Earth, or to come
close enough to deploy any weapons it might possess.  A decision was
made to destroy Rama II while it was still a safe distance away.

The exploration crew was ordered home, but three of its members, two
men and a woman, were still on board Rama II when the alien spaceship
avoided a nuclear phalanx launched from the Earth.  Rama manoeuvred
away from the hostile Earth and departed at high speed from the solar
system, carrying both its intact secrets and the three human
passengers.

It took thirteen years at relativistic velocities for Rama II to travel
from the neighbour hood of Earth to its destination, a huge engineering
complex called The Node that was located in a distant orbit around the
star Sirius.

The three humans on board the giant cylinder added five children and
grew into a family.  As they investigated the marvels of their home in
space, the family again encountered the extraterrestrial species they
had met earlier.  However, by the time they reached The Node, the
humans had already convinced themselves that these other aliens were,
like them, only passengers in Rama.

The human family remained at The Node for slightly more than a year.

During this time the Rama spacecraft was refurbished and fitted out for
its third and final journey to the solar system.  The family learned
from The Eagle, a non-biological creation of the Nodal Intelligence,
that the purpose of the Rama series of spacecraft was to acquire and
catalogue as much information as possible about space farers in the
galaxy.  The Eagle, who had the head, beak and eyes of an eagle, plus
the body of a human, also informed them that the final Rama spacecraft,
Rama III, would contain a carefully designed Earth habitat that could
accommodate two thousand people.

A video was transmitted from The Node to the Earth announcing the
imminent return of the third Rama spaceship.  This video explained that
an advanced extraterrestrial species wished to observe and study human
activity over an extended period of time, and requested that two
thousand representative humans be sent to rendezvous with Rama III in
orbit around Mars.

Rama III made the voyage from Sirius back to the solar system at a
velocity more than half the speed of light.  Inside the spacecraft,
sleeping in special berths, were most of the human family who had been
at The Node.  In Mars orbit this family greeted the other humans from
Earth and the pristine habitat inside Rama was quickly settled.

The resultant colony, which was called New Eden, was completely
enclosed and separated from the rest of the alien spacecraft by thick
walls.

Almost immediately Rama III accelerated again to relativistic
velocities, blasting out of the solar system in the direction of the
yellow star Tau Ceti.  Three years passed without any outside
interference in human affairs.  The citizens of New Eden became so
involved with their everyday lives that they paid scant attention to
the universe outside their colony.

When a set of crises stressed the fledge ling democracy in the paradise
that had been created for the humans by the Ramans, an opportunistic
tycoon seized power in the colony and began to ruthlessly suppress all
opposition.  One of the original Rama II explorers fled from New Eden
at this time, eventually making contact with a symbiotic pair of alien
species living in the adjacent enclosed habitat.  His wife remained in
the human colony and tried unsuccessfully to be a conscience for the
community.  She was imprisoned after a few months, convicted of
treason, and eventually scheduled for execution.

 I

As the environmental and living conditions inside New Eden continued to
deteriorate, human troops invaded the adjacent living area in the
Northern Hemicylinder of Rama and engaged in a war of annihilation
against the symbiotic pair of alien species.  Meanwhile the mysterious
Ramans, known only through the genius of their engineering creations,
continued their detailed observation from afar, aware that it was only
a matter of time until the humans came into contact with the advanced
species inhabiting the region to the south of the Cylindrical Sea ...
 Escape
Nicole."

At first the soft, mechanical voice seemed to be part of her dream.

But when she heard her name repeated, slightly louder, Nicole awakened
with a start.

A wave of intense fear swept through her.  They have come for me,
Nicole thought immediately.  It is morning.  I am going to die in a few
hours.

She took a slow, deep breath and tried to quell her mounting panic.  A
few seconds later Nicole opened her eyes.  It was completely dark in
her cell.  Puzzled, Nicole looked around for the person who had called
her.

"We are here, on your cot, beside your right ear," the voice said very
softly.

"Richard sent us to help you escape .  . . but we must move quickly."

For an instant Nicole thought that perhaps she was still dreaming.

Then she heard a second voice, very similar to the first but
nevertheless distinct.

"Roll over on your right side and we will illuminate ourselves."

Nicole rolled over.  Standing on the cot next to her head she saw two
tiny figures, no more than eight or ten centime tres high, each in the
shape of a woman.  They were glowing momentarily from some internal
light source.  One had short hair, and was dressed in the armour of a
fifteenth-century European knight.  The second figure was wearing both
a crown upon her head and the full, pleated dress of a medieval
queen.

"I am Joan of Arc," the first figure said.

"And I am Eleanor of Aquitaine."

Nicole laughed nervously and stared in astonishment at the two figures.
Several seconds later, when the robots' internal lights were
extinguished, Nicole had finally composed herself enough to speak.

"So Richard sent you to help me escape?"  she said in a whisper.

"Just how do you propose to do that?"

"We've already sabotaged the monitoring system," tiny Joan said
proudly.

"And reprogrammed a Garcia biot ... It should be here in a few minutes
to let you out."

"We have a nominal escape plan, along with several contingencies,"

Eleanor added.

"Richard has been working on it for months ever since he finished
creating us."

Nicole laughed again.  She was still absolutely stunned.

"Really?"  she said.

"And may I ask just where my genius of a husband is at this moment?"

"Richard is in your old lair underneath New York," Joan replied.

"He said to tell you that nothing has changed there.  He is following
our progress with a navigation beacon .  . . Incidentally, Richard
sends his love.  He hasn't forgotten .  . ."

"Be still for a moment, please," Eleanor interrupted as Nicole
automatically scratched at the tickling sensation behind her right
ear.

"I'm deploying your personal beacon right now, and it's very heavy for
me."

Moments later Nicole touched the tiny instrument package next to her
ear and shook her head.

"And can he hear us also?"  she asked.

"Richard decided we couldn't risk voice transmissions," Eleanor
answered.

"They could be too easily intercepted by Nakamura .  . .

However, he will be monitoring our physical location."

"You may get up now," Joan said, 'and put on your clothes.  We want to
be ready when the Garcia arrives."

Will wonders never cease?  Nicole thought while she was washing her
face in the dark in the primitive basin.  For a few brief seconds
Nicole imagined that the two robots might be part of a clever Nakamura
plot, and that she was going to be killed trying to escape.

Impossible, she told herself a few moments later.  Even if one of
Nakamura's minions could create robots like these, only Richard would
know enough about me to make a Joan of Arc and an Eleanor of Aquitaine
. . . anyway, what difference does it make if I'm killed while trying
to escape?  My electrocution is scheduled for eight o'clock this
morning.

There was the sound of a biot approaching outside her cell.  Nicole
tensed, still not completely convinced that her two tiny friends were
indeed telling her the truth.

"Sit back down on the cot," she heard Joan say behind her, 'so Eleanor
and I can climb into your pockets."

Nicole felt the two robots scrambling up the front of her shirt.  She
smiled.  You are amazing, Richard, she thought.  And I'm ecstatic that
you are still alive.

The Garcia biot was carrying a flashlight.  It strode into Nicole's
cell with an air of authority.

"Come with me, Mrs Wakefield," it said in a loud voice.

"I have orders to move you to the preparations room."

Again Nicole was frightened.  The biot certainly wasn't acting
friendly.  What if .  . . but she had very little time to think.  The
Garcia led Nicole through the corridor outside her cell at a rapid
pace.  Twenty me tres later, they passed both the regular set of biot
guards and a human commanding officer, a young man that Nicole had
never seen before.

"Wait,"

the man yelled from behind them just as Nicole and the Garcia were
about to climb the stairs.  Nicole froze.

"You forgot to sign the transfer papers," the man said, holding out a
document to the Garcia.

"Certainly," the biot replied, entering its identification number on
the papers with a flourish.

After less than a minute Nicole was outside the large house where she
had been imprisoned for months.  She took a deep breath of the fresh
air and started to follow the Garcia down a path towards Central
City.

"No," Nicole heard Eleanor call from her pocket.

"We're not going with the biot.  Go west.  Towards that windmill with
the light on top.  And you must run.  We must arrive at Max Puckett's
before dawn."

Her prison was almost five kilometres from Max's farm.  Nicole jogged
down the small road at a steady pace, urged on periodically by one of
the two robots, who were keeping careful track of the time.  It was not
long until dawn.  Unlike on the Earth, where the transition from night
to day was gradual, in New Eden dawn was a sudden, discontinuous event.
One moment it would be dark and then, in the next instant, the
artificial sun would ignite and begin its mini-arc across the ceiling
of the colony habitat.

"Twelve more minutes until light," Joan said, as Nicole reached the
bicycle path that led the final two hundred me tres to the Puckett
farmhouse.  Nicole was nearly exhausted but she kept running.  Two
separate times during her run across the farmland she had felt a dull
ache in her chest.  i am definitely out of shape, she thought,
chastising herself for not having exercised regularly in her cell.  As
well as approximately sixty years old.

The farmhouse was dark.  Nicole stopped on the porch, catching her
breath, and the door opened a few seconds later.

"I have been waiting for you," Max said, his earnest expression
underscoring the seriousness of the situation.  He gave Nicole a quick
hug.

"Follow me," he said, moving quickly off towards the barn.

"There have been no police cars yet on the road," Max said when they
were inside the barn.

"They probably have not yet discovered that you're gone.  But it's only
a matter of minutes now."

The chickens were all kept on the far side of the barn.  The hens had a
separate enclosure, sealed off from the roosters and the rest of the
building.  When Max and Nicole entered the hen-house, there was a huge
commotion.  Animals scurried in all directions, clucking and squawking
and beating their wings.  The stench in the hen-house nearly
overpowered Nicole.

Max smiled.

"I guess I forget how bad chicken-shit smells to everyone
else," he said.

"I've grown w used to it myself."  He slapped Nicole lightly on the
back.

"Anyway, it's another level of protection for you, and I don't think
you'll be able to smell the shit from your hideout."

Max walked over to a corner of the hen-house, chased several hens out
of the way, and bent down on his knees.

"When those weird little robots of Richard's first appeared," he said,
pushing aside hay and chicken-feed, "I couldn't decide where I should
build your hide-out.

Then I thought about this place."  Max pulled up a couple of boards to
expose a rectangular hole in the floor of the barn.

"I sure as hell hope I was right."

He motioned for Nicole to follow him and then crawled into the hole.

They were both on their hands and knees in the dirt.  The passageway,
which ran parallel to the floor for a few me tres and then turned
downwards at a steep angle, was extremely cramped.  Nicole kept bumping
up against Max in front of her, and the din walls and ceiling all
around her.  The only light was the small flashlight that Max was
carrying in his right hand.  After fifteen me tres the small tunnel
opened into a dark room.  Max stepped carefully down the rope ladder,
and then turned to help Nicole descend.  A few seconds later they both
walked into the centre of the room, where Max reached up and switched
on a solitary electric light.

"It's not a palace," he said, as Nicole glanced around, 'but I suspect
it's a damn sight better than that prison of yours."

The room contained a bed, a chair, two shelves full of food, another
shelf with electronic book discs a few clothes hanging in an open
closet, basic toiletries, a large drum of water that must have barely
fitted through the passageway, and a deep, square latrine in the far
corner.

"Did you do all this yourself?"  Nicole asked.

"Yep," Max replied.

"At night .  . . during the last several weeks.  I didn't dare have
anybody help."

Nicole was touched.

"How can I ever thank you?"  she said.

"Don't get caught," Max grinned.

"I don't want to die any more than you do ... Oh, by the way," he
added, handing Nicole an electronic reader into which she could place
the book discs

"I hope the reading material is all right.  Manuals on raising pigs and
chickens are not the same as your father's novels, but I didn't want to
attract too much attention by going to the bookstore."

Nicole crossed the room and kissed him on the cheek.

"Max," she said lightly, 'you are such a dear friend.  I can't imagine
how you .  . ."

"It's dawn outside now," Joan of Arc interrupted from Nicole's
pocket.

"According to our time line we are behind schedule.  Mr Puckett, we
must inspect our egress route before you leave us."

"Shit," said Max.

"Here I go again, taking orders from a robot no longer than a
cigarette."  He lifted Joan and Eleanor out of Nicole's pockets and
placed them on the top shelf, behind a can of peas.

"Do you see that little
door?"  he said.

"There's a pipe on the other side ... It comes out just beyond the pig
trough .  . . Why don't you check it out?"

During the minute or two that the robots were gone.  Max explained the
situation to Nicole.

"The police will be searching everywhere for you," he said.

"Particularly here, since they know that I am a friend of the family.
So I'm going to seal the entrance to your hide-out.

You should have everything you need to last for at least several
weeks.

"The robots can come and go freely, unless they are eaten by the pigs,"
Max continued with a laugh.

"They will be your only contact with the outside world.  They'll let
you know when it's time to move to the second phase of our escape
plan."

"So I won't see you again?"  Nicole asked.

"Not for at least a few weeks," Max answered.

"It's too dangerous .  .

. One more thing, if there are police on the premises, I will cut off
your power.  That will be your signal to stay especially quiet."

Eleanor of Aquitaine had returned and was standing on the shelf next to
the can of peas.

"Our egress route is excellent," she announced.

"Joan has departed for a few days.  She intends to leave the habitat
and communicate with Richard."

"Now I must leave also," Max said to Nicole.  He was silent for a few
seconds.

"But not before I tell you one thing, my lady friend ... As you
probably know, I have been a fucking cynic all my life.  There are not
very many people who impress me.  But you have convinced me that maybe
some of us are superior to chickens and pigs."  Max smiled.

"Not many of us," he added quickly, 'but at least some."

"Thank you, Max," Nicole said.

Max walked over to the ladder.  He turned around and waved before he
began his climb.

Nicole sat down in the chair and took a deep breath.  From the sounds
in the direction of the tunnel, she surmised correctly that Max was
sealing the entrance to her hide-out by placing the big bags of
chicken-feed directly over the hole.

So what happens now?  Nicole asked herself.  She realised that she had
thought about very little except her approaching death during the five
days since the conclusion of her trial.  Without the fear of her
imminent execution to structure her thought patterns, Nicole was able
to let her mind drift freely.

She thought first of Richard, her husband and partner from whom she had
been separated now for almost two years.  Nicole recalled vividly their
last evening together, a horrible Walpurgisnacht of murder and
destruction that had begun on a hopeful note with her daughter Ellie's
marriage to Dr Robert Turner.  Richard was certain that we were also
marked for death, she remembered.  And he was probably right.  . .

because he escaped, they made him the enemy and left me alone for a
while.

I thought you were dead, Richard, Nicole thought.  i should have had
mare faith .  . . but how in the world did you end up in New York
again?

As she sat in the only chair in the underground room, her heart ached
for the company of her husband.  Nicole smiled as a few tears
accompanied the montage of memories parading through her mind.  She
first saw herself again in the avian lair in Rama II, years and years
earlier, temporarily a captive of the strange birdlike creatures whose
language was jabbers and shrieks.  It had been Richard who had found
her there.  He had risked his own life to return to New York to
determine if Nicole was still alive.  If Richard had not come, Nicole
would have been marooned on the island of New York for ever.

Richard and Nicole had become lovers during the time that they were
struggling to figure out how to cross the Cylindrical Sea and return to
their cosmonaut colleagues from the Newton spacecraft.  Nicole was both
surprised and amused by the strong stirrings inside caused by her
recollection of their early days of love.  We survived the nuclear
missile attack together.  We even survived my wrong-headed attempt to
produce genetic variation in our offspring.

Nicole winced at the memory other own naively so many years before.

You forgave me, Richard, which could not have been easy for you.  And
then we grew even closer at The Node during our design sessions with
The Eagle.

What was The Eagle really?  Nicole mused, shifting her train of
thought.  And who or what created him?  In her mind was a vivid picture
of the bizarre creature who had been their only contact while they had
stayed at The Node during the refurbishing of the Rama spaceship.

The alien being, who had had the face of an eagle and a body similar to
a man's, had informed them that he was an advancement in artificial
intelligence designed especially as a companion for humans.  His eyes
were incredible, almost mystical, Nicole remembered.

And they were as intense as Omeh's.

Her great-grandfather Omeh had worn the green robe of the tribal shaman
of the Senoufo when he had come to see Nicole in Rome two weeks before
the launch of the Newton spacecraft.  Nicole had met Omeh twice before,
both times in her mother's native village in the Ivory Coast, once
during the Poro ceremony when Nicole was seven, and then again three
years later at her mother's funeral.  During those brief encounters
Omeh had started preparing Nicole for what the old shaman had assured
her would be an extraordinary life.  It had been Omeh who had insisted
that Nicole was indeed the woman who the Senoufo Chronicles had
predicted would scatter their tribal seed 'even to the stars'.

Omeh, The Eagle, even Richard, Nicole thought.  Quite a group, to say
the least.  The face of Henry, Prince of Wales, joined the other three
men
and Nicole remembered for a moment the powerful passion of their brief
love-affair in the days immediately after she had won her Olympic gold
medal.  She winced, recalling the pain of rejection.  But without
Henry, she reminded herself, there would not have been a Genevieve.
While Nicole was remembering the love she had shared with her daughter
on Earth, she glanced across the room at the shelf containing the
electronic book discs Suddenly distracted, she crossed to the shelf and
started reading titles.  Sure enough, Max had left her some manuals on
raising pigs and chickens.  But that was not all.  It looked as if he
had given Nicole his entire private library.

Nicole smiled as she pulled out a book of fairy-tales and inserted it
into her reader.  She nipped through the pages and stopped at the story
of Sleeping Beauty.  When she read aloud, 'and they lived happily ever
after', Nicole had another extremely sharp memory, this one of herself
as a small child, maybe six or seven, sitting on her father's lap in
their house in the Parisian suburb of Chilly-Mazarin.

i longed as a little girl to be a princess and live happily ever after,
she thought.  There was no way I could have known then that my life
would make even the fairy-tales seem ordinary.

Nicole replaced the book disc on the shelf and returned to her chair.

And now, she thought, idly surveying the room, when I thought this
incredible life was over, I seem to have been given at least a few more
days.

She thought again of Richard and her intense longing to see him
returned.  We have shared much, my Richard.  I hope I can again feel
your touch, hear your laughter, and see your face.  But if not, I will
try not to complain.  My life has already seen its share of miracles.

Eleanor Wakefield Turner arrived at the large auditorium in Central
City at seven-thirty in the morning.  Although the execution was not
scheduled to take place until eight o'clock, there were already about
thirty people in the front seats, some talking, most just sitting
quietly.  A television crew wandered around the electric chair on the
stage.  The execution was being broadcast live, but the policemen in
the auditorium were nevertheless expecting a full house, for the
government had encouraged the citizens of New Eden to witness
personally the death of their former governor.

Ellie had had a slight argument with her husband Robert Turner the
night before.

"Spare yourself this pain, Ellie," he had said, when she had told him
that she intended to attend the execution.

"Seeing your mother one last time cannot be worth the horror of
watching her die."

But Ellie had known something that Robert did not know.  As she took
her seat in the auditorium, Ellie tried to control the powerful
feelings inside her.  There can be nothing on my face, she told
herself, and nothing in my body language.  Not the slightest hint.

Nobody must suspect that I know anything about the escape.  Several
pairs of eyes suddenly turned around to look at her.  Ellie felt her
heart skip before she realised that someone had recognised her, and
that it was completely natural for the curious to stare at her.

Ellie had first encountered her father's little robots Joan of Arc and
Eleanor of Aquitaine only six weeks before, when she was outside the
main habitat, over in the quarantine village of Avalon helping her
physician husband Robert take care of the patients who were doomed by
the RV-4I retro virus inside their bodies.  Ellie had just finished a
pleasant and encouraging late-evening visit to her friend and former
teacher Eponine.  She had left Eponine's room and was walking along a
dirt lane, expecting to see Robert at any moment.  All of a sudden she
had heard two strange voices calling her name.  Ellie had searched the
area around her before finally locating the pair of tiny figures on the
roof of a nearby building.

After crossing the lane so that she could see and hear the robots
better,
the stunned Ellie had been informed by Joan and Eleanor that her
father Richard was still alive.  Moments after she had recovered from
the initial shock, Ellie had begun to ask them questions.  She had
become quickly convinced that Joan and Eleanor were telling the truth;
however, before Ellie had ascertained why her father had sent the
robots to her, she had seen her husband approaching in the distance.
The figures on the rooftop had then told her hurriedly that they would
return soon.  They had also cautioned Ellie not to tell anyone of their
existence, not even Robert, at least not yet.

Ellie had been overjoyed that her father was still alive.  It had been
almost impossible for her to keep the news a secret, even though she
was well aware of the political significance of her information.

When, almost two weeks later, Ellie had been again confronted in Avalon
by the little robots, she had been ready with a torrent of questions.
However, on that occasion Joan and Eleanor had been programmed to
discuss another subject a possible forthcoming attempt to break Nicole
out of prison.  The robots told Ellie during this second meeting that
Richard acknowledged such an escape to be a dangerous endeavour.

"We would never attempt it," the robot Joan said, 'unless your mother's
execution were absolutely certain.  But if we are not prepared ahead of
time, there can be no possibility of a last-minute escape."

"What can I do to help?"  Ellie had asked.

Joan and Eleanor had handed her a sheet of paper, on which there was a
list of items including food, water and clothing.  Ellie had trembled
when she recognised her father's handwriting.

"Cache these things at the following location," the robot Eleanor had
said, handing Ellie a map.

"No later than ten days from now."  A moment later another colonist had
come into sight and the two robots had vanished.

Enclosed inside the map had been a short note from her father.

"Dearest Ellie," it had said,

"I apologise for the brevity.  I am safe and healthy, but deeply
concerned about your mother.  Please, please gather up these items and
take them to the indicated spot in the Central Plain.  If you cannot
accomplish the task by yourself, please limit your support to a single
person.  And make certain that whoever you pick is as loyal and
dedicated to Nicole as we are.  I love you."

Ellie had quickly determined that she would need help.  But whom should
she select as an accomplice?  Her husband Robert was a bad choice for
two reasons.  First, he had already shown that his dedication to his
patients and the New Eden hospital was a higher priority in his mind
than any political feelings that he might harbour.  Secondly, anyone
caught helping Nicole to escape would certainly be executed.  If Ellie
were to involve Robert in the escape plan, then their daughter Nicole
might be left without both her parents.

What about Nai Watanabe?  There was no question about her loyalty, but
Nai was a single parent with twin four-year-old sons.  It was not fair
to ask her to take the chance.  That left Eponine as the only
reasonable choice.  Any worries that Ellie might have had about her
afflicted friend had been quickly dispelled.

"Of course I'll help you," Eponine had replied immediately.

"I have nothing to lose.

According to your husband, this RV-41 is going to kill me in another
year or two anyway."

Eponine and Ellie had clandestinely gathered the required items, one at
a time, over a period of a week.  They had wrapped them securely in a
small sheet that was hidden in the corner of Eponine's normally
cluttered room in Avalon.  On the appointed day, Ellie had signed out
of New Eden and walked across to Avalon, ostensibly to 'monitor
carefully' a full twelve hours of Eponine's biometry data.  Actually,
explaining to Robert why she wanted to spend the night with Eponine had
been much more difficult than convincing the single human guard and the
Garcia biot at the habitat exit of the legitimacy of her need for an
overnight pass.

Just after midnight Ellie and Eponine had picked up their heavy sheet
and crept cautiously into the streets of Avalon.  Being very careful to
avoid the roving biots that Nakamura's police used to patrol the small
outlying village at night, the two women had sneaked through the
outskirts of the town and into the Central Plain.  They had then hiked
for several kilometres and deposited the cache in the designated
location.  A Tiasso biot had confronted them outside Eponine's room,
just before the artificial daylight of the village, and had asked what
they were doing wandering around at such an absurd hour.

"This woman has RV-41," Ellie had said quickly, sensing the panic in
her friend.

"She is one of my husband's patients .  . . She was in extreme pain and
could not sleep, so we thought that an early-morning walk might help .
. . Now, if you'll excuse us .  . ."

The Tiasso had let them pass.  Ellie and Eponine had been so frightened
that neither of them had spoken for ten minutes.

Ellie had not seen the robots again.  She had no idea whether or not an
actual escape had been attempted.  As the time for her mother's
execution now drew near, and the auditorium seats around her began to
fill, Elite's heart was pounding furiously.  What if nothing has
happened?  she thought.  What if Mother is really going to die in
twenty more minutes?

Ellie glanced up at the stage.  A two-metre stack of electronics,
metallic grey, stood next to the large chair.  The only other object on
the stage was a digital clock that currently read 0742.  Ellie stared
at the chair.  Hanging from the top was a hood that would fit over the
victim's head.  Ellie shuddered and fought against nausea.

How barbaric, she thought.  How could any species that considers itself
advanced tolerate this kind of gruesome spectacle?

Her mind had just cleared away the execution images when there was a
tap on her shoulder.  Ellie turned around.  A large, frowning policeman
was leaning across the aisle in her direction.

"Are you Eleanor Wakefield Turner?"  he asked.

Ellie was so frightened she could barely respond.  She nodded her
head.

"Will you come with me, please?"  he said.

"I need to ask you a couple of questions."

Ellie's legs were shaking as she edged by three people in her row and
entered the aisle.  Something's gone wrong, she thought.  The escape
has been foiled.  They've found the cache and somehow know that I'm
involved.

The policeman took her to a small conference room on the side of the
auditorium.

"I'm Captain Franz Bauer, Mrs Turner," he said.

"It is my job to dispose of your mother's body after she has been
executed.  We have of course arranged for the customary cremation with
the undertaker.  However," at this point Captain Bauer stopped, as if
he were carefully selecting his words, 'in view of the past services
that your mother has rendered for the colony, I thought perhaps that
you, or some member of your family, might like to take care of the
final procedures."

"Yes, of course.  Captain Bauer," Ellie replied, extremely relieved.

"Certainly.  Thank you very much," she added quickly.

"That will be all, Mrs Turner," the policeman said.

"You may now return to the auditorium."

Ellie stood up and discovered that she was still shaky.  She put one
hand on the desk in front of Captain Bauer.

"Sir?"  she said.

"Yes?"  he replied.

"Would it be possible for me to see my mother alone, just for an
instant, before .  . . ?"

The policeman studied Ellie at length.

"I don't think so," he said, 'but I will ask on your behalf."

"Thank you very .  . ."

Ellie was interrupted by the ring of the telephone.  She delayed her
departure from the conference room long enough to see the shocked
expression on Captain Bauer's face.

"Are you absolutely certain?"  she heard him say as she left the
room.

The crowd was growing restive.  The big digital clock on the stage read
0836.

"Come on, come on," the man behind Ellie grumbled.

"Let's get on with it."

Mother has escaped.  I know it, Ellie said to herself joyfully.  She
forced herself to stay calm.  That's why everything here is so
confused.

Captain Bauer had informed everyone at five minutes past eight that the
'activities' would be delayed 'a few minutes', but in the last
half-hour there had been no additional announcements.  In the row in
front of Ellie,
a wild rumour was circulating that the extraterrestrials had rescued
Nicole from her cell.

Some of the people had already started to leave when Governor Macmillan
walked on to the stage.  He looked harried and upset, but he broke
quickly into his official open smile when he began addressing the
crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, 'the execution of Nicole des Jardins
Wakefield has been postponed.  The government has discovered some small
irregularities in the paperwork associated with her case nothing really
important, of course but we felt these issues should be cleared up
first, so that there can be no question of any impropriety.  The
execution will be rescheduled in the near future.

All the citizens of New Eden will be informed of the details."

Ellie sat in her seat until the auditorium was nearly empty.  She half
expected to be detained by the police when she tried to leave, but
nobody stopped her.  Once outside, it was difficult for her not to
scream with joy.  Mother, Mother, Ellie thought, tears finding their
way into her eyes, i am so happy for you.

She suddenly noticed that several people were looking at her.  Uh, oh,
Ellie thought.  Am I giving myself away?  She met the other eyes with a
polite smile.  Now, Ellie, comes your greatest challenge.  You cannot
under any circumstances behave as if you are not surprised.

As usual, Robert, Ellie and little Nicole stopped in Avalon to visit
Nai Watanabe and the twins after completing their weekly calls on the
seventy-seven remaining RV-4I sufferers.  It was just before dinner.

Both Galileo and Kepler were playing in the dirt street in front of the
ramshackle house.  When the Turners arrived, the two little boys were
involved in an argument.

"She is too!"  the four-year-old Galileo said heatedly.

"Is not," Kepler replied with much less passion.

Ellie bent down beside the twins.

"Boys, boys," she said in a friendly voice.

"What are you fighting about?"

"Oh, hi, Mrs Turner," Kepler answered with an embarrassed smile.

"It's really nothing.  Galileo and I .  . ."

"I say that Governor Wakefield is already dead," Galileo interrupted
forcefully.

"One of the boys at the centre told me, and he should know.  His daddy
is a policeman."

For a moment Ellie was taken aback.  Then she realised that the twins
had not made the connection between Nicole and her.

"Do you remember that Governor Wakefield is my mother, and little
Nicole's grandmother?"  Ellie said softly.

"You and Kepler met her several times, before she went to prison."

Galileo wrinkled his brow and then shook his head.

"I remember her ... I think," Kepler said solemnly.  7s she dead, Mrs
Turner?"  the ingenuous youngster then added after a brief pause.

"We don't know for certain, but we hope not," Ellie replied.  She had
almost slipped.  It would have been so easy to tell these children .
.

. But it would only take one mistake.  There was probably a biot within
earshot.

As Ellie picked up Kepler and gave him a hug, she remembered her chance
encounter with Max Puckett at the electronic supermarket three days
earlier.  In the middle of their ordinary conversation.  Max had
suddenly said,

"Oh, by the way, Joan and Eleanor are fine and asked me to give you
their regards."

Ellie had become excited, and had asked a leading question.  Max had
ignored it completely.  Seconds later, just when Ellie was about to say
something else, the Garcia biot who was in charge of the market had
suddenly appeared beside them.

"Hello, Ellie.  Hello, Robert," Nai said now from the doorway of her
house.  She extended her arms and took Nicole from her father.

"And how are you, my little beauty?  I haven't seen you since your
birthday party last week."

The adults went inside the house.  After Nai checked to ensure that
there were no spy biots in the area, she drew close to Robert and
Ellie.  "The police interrogated me again last night," she whispered to
her friends.

"I'm starting to believe there may be some truth in the rumour."

"Which rumour?"  Ellie said.

"There are so many."

"One of the women who works at our factory," Nai said, 'has a brother
in Nakamura's special service.  He told her, one night after he had
been drinking, that when the police showed up at Nicole's cell, on the
morning of the execution, the cell was empty.  A Garcia biot had signed
her out.  They think it was the same Garcia that was destroyed in that
explosion outside the munitions factory."

Ellie smiled, but her eyes said nothing in response to the intense,
inquiring gaze from her friend.  Of all the people, she thought, I
cannot tea her.

"The police have also questioned me," Ellie said matter-of-factly.

"Several different times.  According to them, the questions are all
designed to clear up what they call the "irregularities" in Mother's
case.  Even Katie has had a visit from the police.  She dropped by
unexpectedly last week and remarked that the postponement of Mother's
execution was certainly peculiar."

"My friend's brother," Nai said after a short silence, 'says that
Nakamura suspects a conspiracy."

"That's ridiculous," Robert scoffed.

"There is no active opposition to the government anywhere in the
colony."

Nai drew even closer to Ellie.

"So what do you think is really
happening?"  she whispered.

"Do you think your mother has actually escaped?  Or did Nakamura change
his mind and execute her in private to stop her from becoming a public
martyr?"

Ellie looked first at her husband and then at her friend.  Tell them,
tell them, a voice inside her said.  But she resisted.

"I have no idea, Nai," Ellie answered.

"I have, of course, considered all the possibilities you have
mentioned.  As well as a few others.  But we have no way of knowing . .
. Even though I am certainly not what you would call a religious
person, I have been praying in my own way that Mother is all right."

Nicole finished her dried apricots and crossed the room to drop the
package in the waste-basket.  It was nearly full.  She tried to
compress the waste with her foot, but the level barely changed.

My time is running out, she thought, her eyes mechanically scanning the
food remaining on the shelf.  i can last maybe five more days.  Then I
must have some new supplies.

Both Joan and Eleanor had been gone for forty-eight hours.  During the
first two weeks of Nicole stay in the room underneath Max Puckett's
barn, one of the two robots had been with her all the time.  Talking
with them had been almost like talking with her husband Richard, at
least originally, before Nicole had exhausted all the topics the little
robots had stored in their memories.

These two robots are his greatest creations, Nicole said to herself,
sitting down in the chair.  He must have spent months on them.  She
remembered Richard's Shakespearean robots from the Newton days.  Joan
and Eleanor are far more sophisticated than Prince Hal and Falstaff.

Richard must have learned a lot from the engineering of the human biots
in New Eden.

Joan and Eleanor had kept Nicole informed about the major events
occurring in the habitat.  It was an easy task for them.  Part of their
programmed instruction was to observe and to report by radio to Richard
during their periodic sorties outside New Eden, so they passed the same
information on to Nicole.  She knew for example that Nakamura's special
police had searched every building in the settlement, ostensibly
looking for anyone hoarding critical resources, in the first two weeks
after her escape.  They had also come to the Puckett farm, of course,
and for four hours Nicole had sat perfectly still in total darkness in
her hide-out.  She had heard some noises above her, but whoever had
conducted the search had not spent much time in the barn.

More recently, it had often been necessary for both Joan and Eleanor to
be outside the hide-out at the same time.  They told her that they were
busy co-ordinating the next phase of her escape.  Once Nicole had asked
the robots how they managed to pass so easily through the checkpoint at
the entrance to New Eden.

"It's really very simple,"

Joan had said.

"Cargo trucks pass through the gate a dozen times a day, most carrying
items to and from the troops and construction personnel over in the
other habitat, some going out to Avalon.  We're almost impossible to
notice in any large load."

Joan and Eleanor had also brought Nicole up to date on all the colony
history since she had been imprisoned.  Nicole now knew that the humans
had invaded the avian/ sessile habitat and essentially routed its
occupants.  Richard had not wasted robot memory space or his own time
by supplying Joan and Eleanor with too many of the details about the
avians and sessiles; however, Nicole did know that Richard had managed
to escape to New York with two avian eggs, four manna melons containing
embryos of the bizarre sessile species, and a critical slice of an
actual adult sessile.  She also knew that the two avian hatchlings had
been born a few months earlier, and that Richard was being kept
extremely busy attending to their needs.

It was difficult for Nicole to imagine her husband Richard playing both
mother and father to a pair of aliens.  She remembered that when their
own children had been small, Richard had not shown much interest in
their development, and he had often been extremely insensitive with
respect to the children's emotional needs.  Of course he had been
marvelous at teaching them facts, especially abstract concepts from
mathematics and science.  But Nicole and Michael O'Toole had remarked
to each other several times during their long voyage on Rama II that
Richard did not seem to be capable of dealing with children on their
own level.

His own childhood was so painful, Nicole thought, recalling her
conversations with Richard about his abusive father.  He must have
grown up with no capacity to love or trust other people .  . . All his
friends were fantasies or robots he had created himself.  . . She
paused for a moment in her thinking.  But during our years in New Eden
he definitely changed .  . . I never had a chance to tell him how proud
I was of him.  That was why I wanted to leave the special letter .  .
.

The solitary light in her room suddenly went out and Nicole was
surrounded by darkness.  She sat quite still in her chair and listened
carefully for any sounds.  Although Nicole knew that the police were
again on the premises, she could hear nothing.  As she became more
frightened, Nicole realised how important Joan and Eleanor had become
to her.  During the first visit to the Puckett farm by the special
police, both the little robots had been in the room to comfort her.

Time passed very slowly.  Nicole could hear the beating of her heart.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard noises above her.  It
sounded as if there were many people in the barn.  Nicole took a deep
breath and tried to steady herself.  Seconds later, she nearly jumped
out of her skin when she heard a soft voice beside her reciting a
poem.

Invade me now, my ruthless friend, And make me cower in the dark.

Remind me that I'm all alone And draw upon my face your mark.

How is it that you capture me, When all my thoughts deny your force?

Is it the reptile in my brain That lets your terror run its course?

Baseless Fear undoes us all Despite our quest for lofty goals.  We
would-be Galahads don't die, Fear just freezes all our souls.  It keeps
us mute when feeling love, Reminding us what we might lose.

And if by chance we meet success, Fear tells us which safe route to
choose.

Nicole recognised eventually that the voice belonged to the robot Joan,
and that she was reciting Benita Garcia's famous pair of stanzas about
fear, written after Benita had been thoroughly politicised by the
poverty and destitution of the Great Chaos.  The friendly voice of the
robot and the familiar lines of the poem temporarily mitigated Nicole's
panic.  For a while she listened more calmly despite the fact that the
noises above her were growing in amplitude.

When Nicole heard the sound of the movement of the large bags of
chicken-feed stored above the entrance to her hide-out, however, her
fright was suddenly renewed.  This is it, Nicole said to herself.  i am
going to be captured.

Nicole wondered briefly if the special police would kill her as soon as
they found her.  Then she heard loud metallic pounding at the end of
the passage to her room and was unable to remain seated.  As she rose,
Nicole felt two sharp pains in her chest and her breathing became
laboured.  What's wrong with me?  she was thinking when Joan spoke up
from beside her.

"After the first search," the robot said,

"Max was afraid that he had not camouflaged your entrance well enough.
One night while you were asleep he inserted into the top of the hole a
full drain system for the hen-house, with the discharge pipes running
out above your hide-out.  That pounding you heard was someone beating
on the pipes."

Nicole held her breath while a muffled conversation took place on the
surface above her.  After a minute, she again heard the movement of the
bags of chicken-feed.  Good old Max, Nicole thought, relaxing
somewhat.

The pain in her chest subsided.  After several more minutes the
noises
above her ceased altogether.  Nicole heaved a sigh and sat down in the
chair.  But she did not fall asleep until the lights were on again.

The robot Eleanor had returned by the time Nicole awakened.  She
explained to Nicole that Max was going to start ripping out the drain
system in the next few hours, and that Nicole was finally going to
leave her hide-out.  Nicole was surprised when, after crawling through
the tunnel, she encountered Eponine standing beside Max.

The two women embraced, '(^a va bien?  Je the tai pas vue de puis si
long temps Eponine said to Nicole.

"Mais mon amie, pourquoi es-tu ici?  J'ai pense que .  . ."

"All right, you two," Max interrupted.

"You'll have plenty of time later to become reacquainted.  Right now we
need to hurry.  We're already behind schedule because I took too long
to remove that damn drain .  . . Ep, take Nicole inside and dress her.
You can explain the plan while you're putting on your clothes ... I
need to shower and shave."

As the two women walked in the dark from the barn to Max's house,
Eponine informed Nicole that everything was in place for her escape
from the habitat.

"During the last four days Max has hidden the diving gear, piece by
piece, around the shore of Lake Shakespeare.  He also has another full
set stored in a warehouse in Beauvois, in case someone has removed your
mask or air tanks from their hiding-places.  While you and I are at the
party.  Max will make sure that everything is all right."

"What party?"  a confused Nicole asked.

Eponine laughed as they entered the house.

"Of course," she said.

"I

forgot that you haven't been following the calendar.  Tonight is Mardi
Gras.  There is a big party in Beauvois, and another over in
Positano.

Almost everyone will be out tonight.  The government has been
encouraging people to attend, probably to keep their minds off the
other colony problems."

Nicole looked very strangely at her friend and Eponine laughed again.

"Don't you understand?  Our biggest difficulty was figuring out how to
get you all the way across the colony to Lake Shakespeare without being
seen.  Everyone in New Eden knows your face.  Even Richard agreed that
this was our only reasonable opportunity.  You'll be in costume, and
wearing a mask .  . ."

"Have you talked to Richard, then?"  Nicole asked, starting to
comprehend at least the outline of the plan.

"Not directly," replied Eponine.

"But Max has communicated with him through the little robots.  Richard
was responsible for the drain-system idea that misled the police on
their last visit to the farm.  He was worried that you would be
discovered .  . ."

Thank you again, Richard, Nicole thought as Eponine continued to talk.
i must owe you my life at least three times now.

The women entered the bedroom, where a magnificent white dress was
spread out upon the bed.

"You will attend the party as the queen of England," Eponine said.

"I have been working on your dress non-stop all week.  With this full
mask, and these long white gloves and leggings, none of your hair or
skin will show.  We shouldn't need to stay at the party for more than
an hour or so, and you won't say much to anybody, but if anyone should
ask, simply tell them that you're Ellie.  She's staying at home tonight
with your granddaughter."

"Does Ellie know I have escaped?"  Nicole asked a few seconds later.

She was experiencing a strong yearning to see both her daughter and
little Nicole, whom she had never even met.

"Probably," said Eponine.

"At least she knew that an attempt was likely ... It was Ellie who
first involved me in your escape.  Ellie and I cached your supplies out
on the Central Plain."

"So you haven't seen her since I've been out of prison?"

"Oh, yes.  But we haven't said anything.  Right now Ellie must be very
careful.  Nakamura is watching her like a hawk .  . ."

"Is anyone else involved?"  Nicole asked, holding up the dress to see
how it would fit.

"No," answered Eponine.

"Just Max, Ellie and I ... and of course Richard and the little
robots."

Nicole stood in front of the mirror for several seconds.  So here I am,
finally the queen of England, at least for an how or two.  She was
certain that the idea for the specific costume had also come from
Richard.  Nobody else could have made a choice so appropriate.  Nicole
adjusted the crown upon her head.  With this white face, she thought,
Henry might have even made me queen.

Nicole was deep in a memory of many years before when Max and Eponine
emerged from the bedroom.  Nicole began to laugh immediately.  Max was
dressed in a scanty green outfit and was carrying a trident.  He was
Neptune, king of the sea, and Eponine was his sexy mermaid princess.

"You both look great!"  Queen Nicole said, with a wink at Eponine.

"Wow, Max," she added a second later in a teasing voice,

"I had no idea you had such an imposing body."

"It's ridiculous," Max grumbled.

"I have hair everywhere all over my chest, down my back, in my ears,
even .  . ."

"Except it's a little thin up here," Eponine said, patting his head
after removing his crown.

"Shit," said Max.

"Now I know why I've never lived with a woman .  . .

Come on, you two, let's get going.  And by the way, the weather is
wacky again tonight.  You'll both need a shawl or a jacket during our
ride in the buggy."

"The buggy?"  Nicole said, glancing at Eponine.  Her friend smiled.

"You'll see in a minute," Eponine said.

When the New Eden government had requisitioned all the trains to
convert the lightweight extraterrestrial alloys into war-planes and
other weaponry, the colony of New Eden had been left without a
comprehensive transportation system.  Luckily most of the citizens had
purchased bicycles, and a full set of bicycle paths had been developed
during the first three years after the initial settlement.

Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for people to move about
in the colony.

By the time of Nicole's escape, the old train tracks had all been
removed, and roads had been laid where the tracks had once been.  These
roads were used by the electric cars (restricted to government leaders
and key military personnel), the transport trucks (which also ran on
stored electricity), and the creative and varied other transportation
devices constructed by individual citizens of New Eden.  Max's buggy
was such a device.  In front it was a bicycle.  The back half, however,
was a large pair of soft seats, almost a couch, resting on two wheels
and a strong axle, much like the horse-drawn buggies of three centuries
earlier on the Earth.

King Neptune struggled with the pedals as the costumed trio eased on to
the road towards Central City.

"Shit," Max said, as he strained to accelerate, 'why did I ever agree
to this absurd plan?"

Nicole and Eponine laughed in the seat behind him.

"Because you're a wonderful man," Eponine said, 'and you wanted us both
to be comfortable .  . . Besides, can you imagine a queen riding a
bicycle for almost ten kilometres?"

The temperature was indeed on the cool side.  Eponine spent a few
minutes explaining to Nicole how the weather continued to grow more and
more unstable.

"There was a recent report on television," she said, 'that the
government intends to settle many of the colonists in the second
habitat.  Its environment is still unspoiled .  . . Nobody has any
confidence that we will ever fix the problems here in New Eden."

As they neared Central City, Nicole worried that Max was becoming
chilled.  She offered him the shawl Eponine had loaned her, which he
eventually accepted.

"You could have picked a warmer costume," Nicole said teasingly.

"Having Max be King Neptune was also Richard's idea," Eponine said.

"That way, if he needs to carry any of your diving equipment tonight,
he will look perfectly natural."

Nicole was surprisingly emotional as the buggy slowed in the growing
traffic and wound its way through the colony's main buildings in
Central City.  She remembered a night, years before, when she had been
the only human awake in New Eden.  On that same night, after checking
her family one last time, an apprehensive Nicole had climbed into her
berth and prepared to sleep for the many-year trip back to the solar
system.

An image of The Eagle, that strange manifestation of alien intelligence
who had been their guide at The Node, appeared in her mind's eye. Could
you have predicted all this?  Nicole wondered, synthesising quickly the
entire colony history since that first rendezvous with the passengers
from Earth on board the Pinta.  And what do you think of us now? 
Nicole grimly shook her head, acutely embarrassed by the behaviour of
her fellow humans.

"They never replaced it," Eponine was saying from the seat beside
her.

They had entered the main plaza.

"I'm sorry," Nicole said.

"I'm afraid I was daydreaming."

"That wonderful monument your husband designed, the one that kept track
of where Rama was in the galaxy .  . . Remember, it was destroyed the
night the mob wanted to lynch Martinez .  . . Anyway, it was never
replaced."

Again Nicole was deep in her memory.  Maybe that's what being old is,
she thought.  Too many memories always crowding out the present.  She
recalled the unruly mob and the red-haired boy who hollered,

"Kill the nigger bitch .  . ."

"Whatever happened to Martinez?"  Nicole asked softly, fearful of the
answer.

"He was electrocuted soon after Nakamura and Macmillan took over the
government.  The trial dominated the news for several days."

They had passed through Central City and were continuing south towards
Beauvois, the village where Nicole and Richard and their family had
lived before Nakamura's coup.  It could have been so different, she
thought, looking at Mount Olympus towering over them on her left.  We
could have had paradise here.  If only we had tried harder .  . .

It was a train of thought that Nicole had followed a hundred times
since that terrible night, the same night that Richard had hurriedly
departed from New Eden.  Always there was the same profound sorrow in
her heart, the same burning tears in her eyes.

We humans, she remembered saying once to The Eagle at The Node, are
capable of such dichotomous behaviour.  At times, when there is caring
and compassion, we truly seem little lower than the angels.  But more
often, our greed and selfishness overwhelm our virtues, and we become
indistinguishable from the basest creatures from which we have
evolved.

Max had been gone from the party for almost two hours.  Both Eponine
and Nicole were becoming alarmed.  As the two women tried to cross the
crowded dance-floor together, a pair of men dressed as Robin Hood and
Friar Tuck stopped them.

"You are not Maid Marian," Robin Hood said to Eponine, 'but Maid- Mer
is nearly the same."  He laughed heartily at his own joke, extended his
arms, and began to dance with Eponine.

"May a lowly priest enjoy a dance with Her Majesty?"  the other man
said.  Nicole smiled to herself.  What harm can there be in a single
dance?  she thought.  She slipped into Friar Tuck's arms and they began
moving slowly around the floor.

Friar Tuck was a talkative fellow.  After every several bars of the
music, he would pull away from Nicole and ask a question.  As planned,
Nicole would indicate her response with a head movement or a gesture.

Towards the end of the song, the priest in costume began to laugh.

"Verily," he said,

"I believe I am dancing with a mute.  A graceful one, no doubt, but
nevertheless a mute."

"I have a bad cold," Nicole said softly, trying to disguise her
voice.

After she had spoken, Nicole detected a definite change in the friar's
manner.  Her concern increased when, after the dance was over, the man
continued to hold her hands and to stare at her for several seconds.

"I've heard your voice somewhere before," he said seriously.

"It's very distinctive ... I wonder if we've met.  I'm Wallace
Michaelson, the senator from the western section of Beauvois."

Of course, Nicole thought in panic.  i remember you now.  You were one
of the first Americans in New Eden to support Nakamura and Macmillan.

Nicole did not dare to say anything else.  Fortunately, Eponine and
Robin Hood returned to join Nicole and Friar Tuck before the silence
had become dangerously long.  Eponine sensed what had occurred and
acted quickly.

"The queen and I," she said, taking Nicole by the hand, 'were on our
way to the powder-room when you Sherwood Forest outlaws ambushed us. If
you will now excuse us, with thanks for the dance, we will continue
towards our original destination."

As the women walked away, the two men dressed in green watched them
carefully.  Once inside the ladies' room, Eponine first opened all the
stalls to ensure that she and Nicole were alone.

"Something's happened," Eponine then whispered.

"Probably Max had to go to the warehouse to replace your equipment."

"Friar Tuck is a senator from Beauvois," Nicole said.

"He almost recognised my voice ... I don't think I'm safe here."

"All right," said Eponine nervously after a moment's hesitation.

"We will follow the alternate plan .  . . We'll go out front and wait
underneath the big tree."

Both women saw the small ceiling camera at the same time.  It made just
the slightest sound as it changed its orientation to follow them around
the room.  Nicole tried to remember every word that she and Eponine had
said.  Was there anything that suggested who we were?  she wondered.
Nicole was worried especially about Eponine, since her friend would
continue to live in the colony after Nicole had either escaped or was
captured.

When Nicole and Eponine returned to the ballroom, Robin Hood and his
favourite priest gestured for the ladies to come in their direction.

In response Eponine motioned towards the front door, put her fingers to
her lips to indicate that she was going outside to smoke, and then
crossed the room with Nicole.  Eponine glanced over her shoulder as she
opened the outside door.

"The green men are following us," she whispered to Nicole.

About twenty me tres away from the entrance to the ballroom, which was
in reality the gymnasium for Beauvois Middle School, there was a large
elm-tree that had been one of the few already-grown trees transported
to Rama originally from the Earth.  When Eponine and Queen Nicole
reached the tree, Eponine felt in her purse, pulled out a cigarette,
and lit it quickly.  She blew the smoke away from Nicole.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to her friend.

"I understand," Nicole had just finished saying when Robin Hood and
Friar Tuck walked up beside them.

"Well, well," Robin Hood said, 'so our mermaid princess is a smoker.

Don't you know that you're taking years off your life?"

Eponine started to give her standard reply, to tell the man that RV4I
would kill her long before smoking would, but she decided not to say
anything that might encourage the men to stay.  She just smiled wanly,
inhaled deeply on her cigarette, and blew smoke above her head into the
branches of the tree.

"Both the friar here and I were hoping that you ladies would join us
for a drink," Robin Hood said, ignoring the fact that neither Eponine
nor Nicole had responded to his earlier comment.

"Yes," added Friar Tuck, 'we would like to know who you are .  . ." He
stared at Nicole.

"I'm certain we've met before, your voice is so familiar."

Nicole faked a cough and looked around.  There were three policemen
within a radius of fifty me tres Not here, she thought.  Not now.  Not
when I am so close.

"The queen is not feeling well," Eponine said.

"We may be leaving early.  If not, we'll find you when we come back . .
."

"I'm a doctor," Robin Hood interrupted, moving closer to Nicole.

"Maybe I can help."

Nicole could feel the tension in her heart.  Again her breath was short
and laboured.  She coughed again and turned away from the two men.

"That's a terrible cough, Your Majesty," she heard a familiar voice
say.  "We'd better take you home."

Nicole glanced up at another man dressed in green.  Max, a.k.a. King
Neptune, was smiling broadly at her.  Behind him Nicole could see the
buggy parked no more than ten me tres away.  Nicole was joyful and
relieved.  She gave Max a huge hug and almost forgot the danger all
around her.

"Max," she said, before he put his finger to her lips.

"I know both you ladies are just delighted that King Neptune has
finished his business for the evening," he then said with a flourish,
'and can now squire you away to his castle, away from outlaws and other
un savoury elements."

Max looked at the other two men, who were enjoying his performance even
though he had foiled their plans for the evening.

"Thank you, Robin.  Thank you, Friar Tuck," Max said as he helped the
ladies into the buggy seat.

"Your kind attention to my friends is most appreciated."

Friar Tuck approached the buggy, obviously to ask one more question,
but Max pedalled away.

"It is a night of costumes and mystery," he said, waving at the man.

"But we cannot tarry, for the sea is calling us."

"You were fantastic," Eponine said, giving Max another kiss.

Nicole nodded her head.

"You may have missed your calling," she said.

"Maybe you should have been an actor instead of a farmer."

"I played Mark Antony in our high-school play in Arkansas," Max said,
handing Nicole the diving-mask for a final adjustment.

"The pigs loved my rehearsals .  . .

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen .  . . lend me your ears ... I come to
bury Caesar, not to praise him."

The three of them laughed.  They were standing in a small clearing
about five me tres from the shore of Lake Shakespeare.  Around them
trees and tall underbrush concealed them from the nearby road and
bicycle path.  Max lifted up the air tank and helped Nicole adjust it
on her back.

"Is everything ready, then?"  he asked.

Nicole nodded.

"The robots will meet you at the cache," Max said.

"They told me to remind you not to descend too rapidly .  . . You have
not done any diving in a long time."

Nicole stood in silence for several seconds.

"I don't know how to thank you two," she said awkwardly.

"Nothing I can think of to say seems adequate."

Eponine walked over to Nicole and gave her a hug.

"Be safe, my friend," she said.

"We love you very much."

The too," Max said a moment later, choking slightly as he embraced her.
They both waved to Nicole as she backed into the lake.

Tears were running out of Nicole's eyes and collecting on the bottom of
her mask.  She waved one last time when the water was up to her
waist.

The water was colder than Nicole expected.  She knew that the
temperature variations in New Eden had been much greater since the
colonists had taken over management of their own weather, but she had
not considered that the changes in weather patterns would have altered
the temperature of the lake.

Nicole changed the amount of air in her vest to slow her descent.  Do
not hurry, she counselled herself.  And stay relaxed.  You have a long
swim ahead of you.

Joan and Eleanor had drilled Nicole repeatedly in the procedure she
should follow to locate the long tunnel that ran under the habitat
wall.  She switched on her flashlight and studied-the aquaculture farm
off to her left.  Three hundred me tres towards the centre of the lake,
directly perpendicular to the back wall of the salmon-feeding area, she
remembered.  Stay at a depth of twenty me tres until you see the
concrete platform below you.

Nicole swam easily, but she was tiring quickly nevertheless.  She
recalled a discussion with Richard from years before, when they had
been contemplating swimming together across the Cylindrical Sea to
escape from New York.

"But I am not that good a swimmer," Nicole had said.  "I may not be
able to make it."

Richard had assured her at the time that since she was such an
exceptional athlete, she would have no problem with a long swim.  Now
here I am, swimming for my life, following the same escape route
Richard used two years ago, Nicole thought.  Except that I am more or
less sixty years old.  And out of shape.

Nicole found the concrete platform, descended another fifteen me tres
while carefully watching all her gauges, and quickly located one of the
eight large pumping-stations that were scattered on the bottom of the
lake to keep the water cofttinuously circulating.  Now the tunnel
entrance is supposed to be hidden just under one of these big motors.

Nicole did not find it easily.  She kept swimming past it because of
all the new growth around the pumping complex.

The tunnel was a four-metre diameter circular pipe, completely full of
water.  It had been included as an emergency escape route in the
original habitat design at the insistence of Richard, whose engineering
background had taught him always to allow for unforeseen contingencies.
From the entrance in Lake Shakespeare to the exit, out in the Central
Plain beyond the walls of the habitat, was a swim of slightly over one
kilometer.  It had taken Nicole ten minutes longer than planned to find
the entrance.  She was already a very tired woman as she began her
final swim.

During her two years in prison, Nicole's only exercise had been the
walking, sit-ups and push-ups that she had done at irregular intervals.
Her ageing muscles were no longer able to endure extreme fatigue
without cramping.  Three times during her swim through the tunnel,
Nicole's leg muscles cramped.  Each time she struggled, treading water,
and forced herself to relax until the cramp completely dissipated.  Her
forward progress was very slow.  Towards the end of her swim Nicole
became frightened that she would run out of air before she reached the
tunnel exit.

In the last hundred me tres Nicole's body ached all over.  Her arms did
not want to push through the water and her legs had no strength left to
kick.  It was then that the ache began in her chest.  The dull,
disconcerting pain stayed with her even after her depth-gauge indicated
that the tunnel had turned slightly upwards.

When she finally reached the end, and stood up on her feet, Nicole
almost collapsed.  For several minutes she tried unsuccessfully to
regain equilibrium in her breathing and pulse-rate.  Nicole did not
even have enough strength left to lift off the metal exit cover above
her head.  Worried that she had pushed herself beyond safe physical
limits, Nicole decided to remain in the tunnel and take a short nap.

She awakened two hours later when she heard a bizarre pitter-patter
above her.  Nicole stood directly under the cover and listened
carefully.  She could hear voices, but could not isolate what was being
said.  What's going on?  she asked herself, her heart-rate suddenly
accelerating.  If I've been discovered by the police, why don't they
just open the cover?

Nicole moved quietly in the darkness over to her diving gear, which was
sitting against the wall on the opposite side of the tunnel.  Using her
tiny flashlight, she examined her gauges to determine how much air
remained in the tank.  i could submerge for a few minutes, but not
many, she thought.

Suddenly there was a sharp knock on the cover.

"Are you down there,
Nicole?"  the robot Joan asked.

"If so, identify yourself immediately.

We have some warm clothes up here for you, but we are not strong enough
to move the cover."

"Yes, it's me," Nicole cried with relief.

"I'll climb out as soon as I can."

In her wet suit Nicole became quickly chilled in the bracing outside
air of Rama, where the temperature was only a few degrees above
freezing.  Her teeth chattered during the eighty-metre walk in the dark
to where her food and dry clothing were cached.

When the trio reached the supplies, Joan and Eleanor instructed Nicole
to put on the army uniform that Ellie and Eponine had left for her.

When Nicole asked why, the robots explained that to reach New York it
was necessary for them to pass through the second habitat.

"In case we are discovered," Eleanor said when she was safely sitting
in Nicole's shirt- pocket, 'it will be easier to talk our way out of
trouble if you are wearing a soldier's uniform."

Nicole put on the long underwear and the uniform.  When she was no
longer cold, she realised that she was extremely hungry.  While she was
eating her feast, Nicole placed all the other items that had been
wrapped in the sheet into the backpack she had been carrying under her
diving-vest.

There was a problem entering the second habitat.  Nicole and the two
robots in her pocket had not encountered any humans at all in the
Central Plain, but the entrance to what had once been the home of the
avians and sessiles was guarded by a sentry.  Eleanor had gone forward
to scout and had reported the difficulty.  The trio stopped three to
four hundred me tres away from the main traffic route between the two
habitats.

"This must be a new security precaution, added since your escape,"

Joan said to Nicole.

"We've never had any difficulties coming and going."

"Are there no other routes that lead to the inside?"  Nicole asked.

"No," Eleanor answered.

"The original probe site was here.  It has since been considerably
widened, of course, and a bridge built across the moat so that the
troops can move quickly.  But there are no other entrances."

"And must we absolutely go through this habitat to reach Richard and
New York?"

"Yes," Joan replied.

"That huge grey barrier to the south, the one that forms the wall of
the second habitat for so many kilometres, prevents movement in and out
of the Northern Hemicylinder of Rama.

It's possible that we could fly over it, if we had a plane that could
reach an altitude of two kilometres, and a very clever pilot, but we
don't .  . . Besides, Richard is expecting us to come through the
habitat."

They waited and waited in the dark and cold.  Periodically one of the
two robots would go check the entrance, but there was always a sentry
present.  Nicole became tired and frustrated.

"Look," she said at one point, 'we can't stay here for ever.  There
must be some other plan."

"We have no knowledge of any alternate or contingency plans in this
situation," Eleanor said, reminding Nicole for once that they were only
robots.

During a brief nap the exhausted Nicole dreamed that she was asleep,
naked, on the top of a very large and very flat ice-cube.  Avians were
striking at her from the sky, and hundreds of little robots like Joan
and Eleanor had surrounded her on the surface of the ice.  They were
chanting something, in unison.

When Nicole awakened, she felt somewhat refreshed.  She talked with the
two robots and they worked out a new plan.  The three of them decided
not to move until there was a break in the traffic through the entrance
to the second habitat.  At that time, the robots would decoy the sentry
so that Nicole could proceed inside.  Joan and Eleanor instructed
Nicole then to walk cautiously to the other side of the bridge, and
turn right along the shore of the moat.

"Wait for us,"

Eleanor said, 'in the small cove about three hundred me tres from the
bridge."

Twenty minutes later, Joan and Eleanor made a terrible commotion along
the far wall, about fifty me tres from the entrance.  Nicole walked
unmolested into the interior of the habitat when the sentry left his
post to investigate the noise.  On the inside, a long stairway wound
back and forth, dropping the several hundred me tres from the entrance
altitude to the level of the wide moat that circumscribed the entire
habitat.  There were lights at intervals on the stairway, and Nicole
could see more lights on the bridge in front of her, but the overall
illumination was quite sparse.  Nicole tensed when she saw a pair of
construction workers coming up the stairs in her direction.  But they
climbed right past her with only minimal acknowledgement.  Nicole was
thankful she was wearing the uniform.

As she waited beside the moat, Nicole stared towards the centre of the
alien habitat and tried to make out the fascinating features the little
robots had described to her the huge brown cylindrical structure,
rising fifteen hundred me tres straight up, that had once housed both
the avian and sessile colonies; the great hooded ball that hung from
the habitat ceiling and provided light; and the ring of mysterious
white buildings, alongside a canal, that encircled the cylinder.

The hooded ball had not been illuminated for months, not since the
first human incursion into the avian/ sessile domain.  The only lights
that Nicole could see were small and widely scattered, obviously placed
in the habitat by the human invaders.  Thus all she could discern was a
vague silhouette of the great cylinder, a shadow whose edges were very
fuzzy.  It must have been glorious when Richard first entered, Nicole
thought,
moved by the thought that she was in a location that had recently been
the home of another sentient species.  So here also, her mind
continued, we extend our hegemony, trampling underfoot all life-forms
that are not as powerful as we.

Eleanor and Joan took longer than expected to rejoin Nicole.  The
threesome then made slow progress along the side of the moat.  One of
the robots was always out front, scouting, making certain that contacts
with other humans were avoided.  Twice, in the part of the habitat that
was very much like a jungle on Earth, Nicole waited quietly while a
group of soldiers or workmen passed by on the road to their left.  Both
times she studied the new and interesting plants around her with
fascination.  Nicole even found a creature half-way between a leech and
an earthworm trying to enter her right boot.  She picked it up and put
it in her pocket.

It had been almost seventy-two hours since Nicole backed into Lake
Shakespeare when she and the two robots finally arrived at the
specified spot for the rendezvous.  They were on the far side of the
second habitat, away from the entrance, where the normal density of
human beings was at its lowest.  A submarine surfaced within minutes
after their arrival.  The side of the submarine opened and Richard
Wakefield, a gigantic smile upon his bearded face, rushed forward
towards his beloved wife.  Nicole's body shook with joy when she felt
his arms around her.

Everything was so familiar.  Except for Richard's clutter, accumulated
during his months alone, and the conversion of the nursery to be the
bedroom of the two avian hatchlings, the lair underneath New York was
exactly the same as it had been when Richard, Nicole, Michael O'Toole
and their children had departed from Rama years before.

Richard had parked the submarine at a natural harbour on the south side
of the island, in a place he had called The Port.

"Where did you get the sub?"  Nicole had asked him while they were
walking together towards the lair.

"It was a gift," Richard had said.

"Or at least I think it was.  After the super chief of the avians
showed me how to operate it, he or she disappeared, leaving the
submarine here."

Walking in New York had been an eerie experience for Nicole.  Even in
the dark the skyscrapers reminded her vividly of the years that she had
lived on this mysterious island in the middle of the Cylindrical Sea.

How many years has it been since we left?  Nicole had thought as
Richard and she, holding hands, had stood beside the barn where
Francesca Sabatini had left Nicole supposedly to perish in the bottom
of a pit.  But Nicole had known there was no way to give an accurate
answer to her question.  The intervening time could not have been
measured in any normal way, since they had made two long interstellar
voyages at relativistic velocities, the second one asleep in a special
berth with extraterrestrial technology retarding their ageing process
by careful manipulation of their enzymes and their metabolism.

"The only changes made in the Rama spacecraft on each visit to The
Node," Richard had said when they first approached their old home, 'are
those necessary to accommodate the next mission.  So nothing has
changed in our lair.  The black screen is still there in the White
Room, as well as our old keyboard.  The procedures for making requests
from the Ramans, or whatever our hosts should be called, are still
intact also."

"And what about the other lairs?"  Nicole had asked during the descent
down the ramp to their living-level.

"Have you visited them?"

"The avian lair is a tomb," Richard had replied.

"I've been all through
it several times.  Once, I entered the octo spider lair cautiously,
but I went only as far as that cathedral room with the four tunnels
leading away .  . ."

Nicole had interrupted him, laughing: "The ones we called Eenie,
Meenie, Mynie, and Moe .  . ."

"Yes," Richard had continued.

"Anyway, I did not feel comfortable there.  I had the feeling, although
I could not identify anything specific, that the lair was still
inhabited.  And that the octos, or whatever might be living there, were
watching my every step."  This time it was his turn to laugh.

"Believe it or not, I was also worried about what would happen to Tammy
and Timmy if I didn't return for any reason."

Nicole's first introduction to Tammy and Timmy, the pair of avian
hatchlings that Richard had raised from infancy, was priceless.

Richard had built a half-door to the nursery, and had closed it
securely when he had left to meet Nicole inside the second habitat.

Since the birdlike creatures could not yet fly, they were unable to
leave the nursery during Richard's absence.  As soon as they heard his
voice in the lair, however, the hatchlings began to shriek and jabber.
They did not even stop squawking when Richard opened their door and
cradled both of them in his arms.

"They're telling me," Richard shouted to Nicole above the frightful
noise, 'that I shouldn't have left them alone."

Nicole was laughing so hard that tears were forming in her eyes.  Both
of the hatchlings had their long necks extended towards Richard's face.
They interrupted their jabbers and shrieks only for short periods,
during which time they rubbed the undersides of their beaks softly
against Richard's bearded cheek.  The avians were still small, about
seventy centime tres tall when standing on their legs, but their necks
were so long that they appeared to be much larger.

Nicole watched with admiration as her husband tended his alien wards.

He cleaned up their wastes, made certain that they had fresh food and
water, and even checked the softness of their hay like beds in the
corner of the nursery.  You have come a long, long way, Richard
Wakefield, Nicole thought, remembering his reluctance years before to
deal with any of the more mundane duties associated with parenting.

She was deeply touched by his obvious affection for the gangly
hatchlings.  Is it possible, Nicole found herself wondering, that each
of us has inside this kind of selfless love?  And that we must somehow
work through all the problems that both heredity and environment have
created before we can find it?

Richard had stored the four manna melons and the slice from the sessile
in one corner of the White Room.  He explained to Nicole that he had
observed no changes of any kind in either the melons or the sessile
material since he had arrived in New York.

"Maybe the melons can rest dormant for a long time, like seeds," Nicole
offered after listening to
Richard's explanation oft be complex life cycle of the sessile
species.

"That's what I was thinking," Richard said.

"Of course I have no idea at all under what conditions the melons might
germinate .  . . The species is so strange, and so complicated, I
wouldn't be surprised if the process is controlled somehow by that
small piece of the sessile."

On their first evening together, Richard had difficulty getting the
hatchlings to go to sleep.

"They're afraid I'm going to leave them again," Richard explained, when
he returned to the White Room after the third time that Tammy and
Timmy's furious squawks had interrupted his dinner with Nicole.  At
length, Richard programmed Joan and Eleanor to amuse the avians.  It
was the only way he could keep his alien wards quiet so that he could
have some time alone with Nicole.

They made love slowly and tenderly before they slept.  Richard had
admitted while he was undressing that he wasn't certain how well .  .
.

but Nicole had informed him that his performance, or lack thereof, was
of absolutely no consequence.  She insisted that it would be an
unbearable joy just to hold his body next to hers, and that any actual
sexual stimulation would be a marvelous bonus.  They were, of course,
compatible, as they had been since the first time they had slept
together.  Richard and Nicole held hands, side by side, after
intercourse.  They said nothing.  Several tears formed in Nicole's eyes
and edged out slowly on to her face, eventually flowing sideways into
her ears.  She smiled in the dark.  She was for the moment gloriously
happy.

For the first time ever, there was no hurry in their lives.  Every
night they talked easily, sometimes even while they were making love.

Richard told Nicole more about his childhood and adolescence than he
ever had before.  He included his most painful memories of his father's
abuse, as well as the harrowing details of his disastrous first
marriage to Sarah Tydings.

"I now realise that Sarah and Dad had something fundamental in common,"
Richard said late one evening.

"They were both incapable of granting me the approval I so desperately
sought and somehow they both knew that I would continue to try to
obtain that approval, even if it meant abandoning everything else in my
life."

Nicole shared with Richard for the first time all the drama of her
forty-eight-hour affair with the Prince of Wales right after she had
won her Olympic gold medal.  She even admitted to Richard that she had
yearned to marry Henry, and that she had been completely devastated
when she had realised that the prince had excluded Nicole as a
candidate to be the queen of England primarily because of her skin
colour.  Richard was extremely interested, even fascinated, by the
story that Nicole told.  But never once did he seem even the least bit
threatened, or jealous.

He has become more mature, Nicole was thinking several nights later,
while her husband was finishing his nightly task of tucking the
hatchlings into bed.

"Darling," Nicole said when Richard joined her in their bedroom in the
lair, 'there's something that I want to tell you ... I have been
waiting for the right time .  . ."

"Uh-oh," Richard feigned a frown.

"This sounds serious ... I hope it won't take too long, for I had some
plans of my own for us this evening."

He crossed the room and started to kiss her.

"Please, Richard, not now .  . ."  she said, pushing him away gently.

"This is very important to me."

Richard backed up a couple of steps.

"When I thought I was going to be executed," Nicole said slowly,

"I realised that all my personal affairs were in order, except for two.
There were still things that I wanted to say, both to you and to Katie.
 I even asked the policeman who explained the execution procedure to me
if he would give me pen and paper so that I could write two final
letters."

Nicole paused a moment, as if she were searching for exactly the right
words.

"During those terrifying days I couldn't remember, Richard,"

she continued, 'if I had ever told you, explicitly, how glad I was that
we had been husband and wife ... I also didn't want to die without .  .
."

She stopped a second time, glanced briefly around the room, and then
looked directly into Richard's eyes again.

"There was one more thing I wanted to accomplish with that last
letter," Nicole said.

"I believed at the time that it was necessary to make my life complete,
so that I could depart from this world without any loose ends .  . .
Richard, I wanted to apologise for my insensitivity back when you and
Michael and I ... I made a mistake then by going to Michael's bed too
soon when I feared .  . ."

Nicole took a deep breath.

"I should have had more faith," she said.

"Not that I would for a minute remove either Patrick or Benjy from the
world, but I realise now that I surrendered too quickly to my
loneliness.  I wish .  . ."

Richard touched his finger to her lips.

"No apology is necessary, Nicole," he said softly.

"I know that you have loved me well."

They settled into an easy rhythm in their simple existence.  In the
mornings they would walk around New York, usually arm in arm, exploring
anew every corner of the island domain they had called home once
before.  Because it was mostly dark, the city looked different now.
Only their flashlight beams illuminated the enigmatic skyscrapers whose
details were indelibly imprinted in their memories.

Often they walked along the ramparts of the city, looking out at the
waters of the Cylindrical Sea.  One morning they spent several hours
standing in one place, the very spot where they had entrusted their
lives to the three avians years and years before.  Together they
recalled both their fear and their excitement at the moment when the
great bird-creatures had lifted them off the ground to carry them
across the sea.

Every day after lunch Nicole, who had always needed more sleep than her
husband, would take a short nap.  Richard would use the keyboard to
order more food or supplies from the Ramans, or take the hatchlings
topside for some exercise, or work on one of his myriad projects
scattered around the lair.  In the evening, after a leisurely dinner,
they would lie together, side by side, and talk for hours before making
love or just falling asleep.  They talked about everything, including
God, The Eagle, the Ramans, the politics in New Eden, books of all
kinds, and most of all, their children.

Although they could converse enthusiastically about Ellie, Patrick,
Benjy, or even Simone, whom they had not seen for many years, it was
difficult for Richard to talk about Katie for any length of time.  He
regularly castigated himself for not having been stricter with his
favourite daughter during her childhood, and blamed her irresponsible
behaviour as an adult on his permissiveness.  Nicole tried to console
and reassure him, reminding Richard that their circumstances in Rama
had been unusual and that, after all, nothing in his background had
prepared him for the proper discipline required of a parent.

One afternoon when Nicole awakened from her nap, she could hear Richard
mumbling to himself down the hall.  Curious, she stood up quietly and
walked down to the room that had once been Michael O'Toole's bedroom.
Nicole stood at the door and watched Richard put the final touches on a
large model that occupied most of the room.

"Voila," he said, turning around to acknowledge that he had heard
Nicole shuffle her feet.

"It won't win any aesthetic awards," Richard said with a grin,
motioning in the direction of the model, 'but it's a reasonable
representation of our part of the universe, and it certainly has
provided me with plenty of food for thought."

A flat rectangular platform covered most of the floor.  Thin vertical
rods of varying heights had been inserted at twenty locations around
the platform.  At the top end of each rod was at least one coloured
sphere, representing a star.

The vertical rod in the centre of the model, which had a yellow sphere
attached to its top, rose about a metre and a half off the platform.

"This, of course," Richard said to Nicole, 'is our Sun .  . . And here
we are or I should say Rama is over in this quadrant, about one-fourth
of the way between the Sun and our closest similar star, Tau Ceti .  .
. Sirius, where we were when we stayed at The Node, is back over there
. . ."

Nicole walked around in the model depicting the stellar neighbour hood
of the Sun.

"There are twenty star systems within twelve and a half light years of
our home," Richard explained, 'including six binary systems and one
triplet group, our nearest neighbours, the Centauris, over here.  Note
that the Centauris are the only stars inside the five-light-year
sphere."

Richard pointed at the three separate balls representing the Centauris.
Each was a different size and colour.  The trio, attached to each other
with tiny wires, were resting on top of the same vertical rod, just
inside an open wire sphere cent red at the Sun and marked with a large
number 5.

"During my many days of solitude down here," Richard continued,

"I

often found myself wondering why Rama is going in this particular
direction.  Do we have a specific destination?  It would seem so, since
our path has not varied since our initial acceleration .  . . And if we
are going to Tau Ceti, what will we find there?  Another complex like
The Node?  Or will the same Node perhaps have moved during the
intervening time?.  . ."

Richard stopped.  Nicole had walked over to the edge of the model and
was stretching her arms up to a pair of red stars at the end of a
three-metre rod.

"I assume you varied the length of these rods to demonstrate the full
three-dimensional relationship of all these stars," she said.

"Yes .  . . That particular binary group you are touching,
incidentally, is called Struve 2398," Richard replied in his human
catalogue voice.  "They have a very high declination and are slightly
over ten light years away from the Sun."

Seeing the slight grimace on Nicole's face, Richard laughed at himself
and crossed the room to take her hand.

"Come over here with me," he said, 'and I will show you something
really interesting."

They walked to the other side of the model and stood facing the Sun,
half-way between the stars Sirius and Tau Ceti.

"Wouldn't it be fantastic if our Node really has moved," Richard said
excitedly, 'and we will see it again, over here, on the opposite side
of our solar system?"

Nicole laughed.

"Of course," she said, 'but we have absolutely no evidence .  . ."

"But we do have brains, and imaginations," Richard interrupted.

"And The Eagle did tell us that the entire Node was capable of moving.
It just seems to me .  . ."  Richard stopped in mid-sentence and then
changed the subject slightly.

"Haven't you ever asked yourself," he said, 'where our Rama spacecraft
went, after we left The Node, during all those years that we were
asleep?  Suppose, for example, that the avians and the sessiles were
picked up over here somewhere, around the Procyon binaries perhaps, or
maybe even over here, around Epsilon Eridani, which easily could have
been on our trajectory.  We know that there are planets around
Eridani.  At a significant faaction of the speed of light, Rama could
have easily doubled back to the Sun .  . ."

"Hold it, Richard," Nicole said.

"You're way ahead of me on this subject.  Why don't we start at the
beginning .  . ."  She sat down on the platform, in the interior of the
model, next to a red ball elevated only a few centime tres by a very
short rod, and crossed her legs.

"If I understand your hypothesis, our current voyage will end at Tau
Ceti?"

Richard nodded.

"The trajectory is too perfect for it to be a coincidence.  We will
reach Tau Ceti in another fifteen years or so, and I believe our
experiment will be concluded."

Nicole groaned.

"I'm already old," she said.

"By then, if I'm even still alive, I'll be as withered as a prune .  .
. Just out of curiosity, what do you think will happen to us after our
"experiment is concluded", as you put it?"

"That's where we need our imaginations ... I suspect that we'll be
unloaded from Rama, but what happens to us next is completely open ...
I suppose our fate will be dependent in some way on what has been
observed all this time .  . ."

"So you definitely agree with me that The Eagle and his buddies back at
The Node have been watching us?"

"Absolutely.  They have made such a huge investment in this project .

. . I'm certain they're monitoring everything that's going on here in
Rama ... I must admit I'm surprised that they have left us completely
to our own devices, and have never interfered in our affairs, but that
must be their method."

Nicole was silent for a few seconds.  She played absent-mindedly with
the red ball beside her (Richard told her that it represented the star
Epsilon Indi).

"The judge in me," she said sombrely, 'fears what any reasonable
extraterrestrial would conclude about us, based on our behaviour in New
Eden."

Richard shrugged.

"We've been no worse in Rama than we have been for centuries on Earth .
. . Besides, I can't accept that any truly advanced aliens would be
making such subjective judgements.  If this process of observing space
farers has been going on for tens of thousands of years, as The Eagle
suggested, then the Ramans must have developed quantitative metrics for
assessing all aspects of the civilisations they encounter . . . They
are almost certainly more interested in our exact natures, and what
this means in some larger sense, than whether we are bad or good."

"I suppose you're right," Nicole said wistfully.

"But it's depressing that we, as a species, behave so barbaric ally
even when we are fairly certain we're being observed."  She paused and
reflected.

"So in your opinion our long interaction with the Ramans, beginning
with that first spaceship over a hundred years ago, is almost over?"

"I think so," Richard replied.

"Somewhere in the future, possibly when we reach Tau Ceti, our part of
this experiment will be concluded.  My guess is that after all the data
on the creatures currently inside Rama is entered in the Great Galactic
Database, Rama will be emptied.

Who knows, maybe soon thereafter, this great cylindrical spacecraft
will appear in another planetary system where a different space farer
is living, and another cycle will begin."

"And that brings us back to my earlier question, which you really did
not answer .  . . What will happen to us then?"

"Maybe we, or our offspring, will be sent on a slow journey back to the
Earth ... Or maybe we will be deemed expendable and terminated once all
the data has been collected."

"Neither of those outcomes is very appealing," Nicole said.

"And I must say that although I agree with you that we are heading for
Tau Ceti, all the rest of your hypothesis strikes me as pure
conjecture."

Richard grinned.

"I have learned a lot from you, Nicole .  . .

Everything else in my hypothesis is intuitive.  It feels right to me,
based on everything I have learned about the Ramans."

"But wouldn't it be more straightforward to imagine that the Ramans
simply have way-stations scattered throughout the galaxy, and that the
two nearest to us are at Sirius and Tau Ceti?"

"Yes," Richard replied, 'but my gut feel is that it's unlikely.  The
Node was such an awesome engineering creation.  If similar facilities
exist every twenty or so light years in the galaxy, there would be
billions of them altogether .  . . And remember.  The Eagle definitely
said The Node could move."

Nicole acknowledged to herself that it was unlikely that a facility as
astonishing as The Node had been duplicated billions of times in some
great cosmic assembly process.  Richard's hypothesis did make some
sense.  But how sad, Nicole thought briefly, that our entry in the
Galactic Database will contain so much negative information.

"So where do the avians, sessiles, and our old friends the octo spiders
fit into your scenario?"  Nicole asked a minute later.

"Are they just part of the same experiment, with us?  .  . . And if so,
are you suggesting that there is also a colony of octos on board, and
that we just haven't met them yet?"

Richard nodded again.

"That conclusion is inescapable.  If the final phase of each experiment
is observing a representative sample of the space farers under
controlled conditions, it makes sense that the octos are here also .  .
He laughed nervously.

"There may even be some of our same friends from Rama II on the
spacecraft with us at this very moment."

"What a lovely set of ideas to think about before sleeping," Nicole
said with a smile.

"If you're right, you and I have fifteen more years to spend
on a spacecraft that's inhabited not only by humans who want to
capture and kill us, but also by huge, possibly intelligent arachnids
whose nature we do not understand."

"Remember," Richard said with a grin,

"I could be wrong."

Nicole stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?"  Richard asked.

"To my bed," Nicole replied with a laugh.

"I think I'm developing a headache.  I can only contemplate the
infinite for a finite period of time."

The next morning when Nicole opened her eyes, Richard was standing
over her holding two full backpacks.

"We're going to explore and look for octo spiders he said excitedly,
'behind the black screen .  . .

I've left enough food and water to last Tammy and Timmy for two days
and I've programmed Joan and Eleanor to find us if there is an
emergency."

Nicole watched her husband closely while she was eating her
breakfast.

His eyes were full of energy and life.  This is the Richard I remember
the best, Nicole said to herself.  Adventure has always been the most
important component in his life.

"I've been back here twice," Richard said as soon as they had ducked
under the raised screen.

"But I've never reached the end of this first passageway."

The screen had closed behind them, leaving Richard and Nicole in the
dark.

"There's no problem with being trapped here on this side, is there?"
Nicole asked while they both checked their flashlights.

"Not at all," Richard replied.

"The screen will not raise or lower more often than once every minute
or so.  But if anyone or anything is still in this general area a
minute from now, the screen will automatically lift again.

"Now I should warn you before we start walking," he continued a few
seconds later, 'this is a very long passageway.  I have followed it
before, for at least a kilometer, and I have never found anything.

Not even a turn-off.  And there is absolutely no light.  So the first
part will be very boring but it must eventually lead to something, for
the biots bringing our supplies must be coming along this path."

Nicole took his hand in hers.

"Just remember, Richard," she said easily.  "We're not as young as we
once were."

Richard shone his flashlight first on Nicole's hair, which was now
completely grey, and then on his own grey beard.

"We are a couple of old farts, aren't we?"  he said gaily.

"Speak for yourself," Nicole rejoined, squeezing his hand.

The passageway was much longer than a kilometer.  As Richard and Nicole
trudged along, they talked mostly about his astonishing experiences in
the second habitat.."I was absolutely terrified when the elevator door
opened and I saw the myrmicats for the first time,"

Richard said.

He had already finished describing to Nicole his stay with the avians
and had just reached the point in his chronology where he had descended
to the bottom of the cylinder.

"I was literally frozen with fear.  They were only three or four me
tres away.  Both of them were staring at me.  The creamy fluid in their
huge oval lower eyes was moving from side to side, and the pairs of
eyes up on the stalks were bending around to see me from another point
of view."  Richard shuddered.

"I will never forget that moment."

"Now let me make certain I have the biology straight," Nicole said a
few minutes later, as they approached what appeared to be a branching
in the underground corridor.

"The myrmicats develop in the manna melons, live fairly short but
highly active lives, and then die inside a sessile, where their entire
life-experiences, you theorise, are somehow added to the neural net's
base of knowledge.  The life cycle completes when new manna melons grow
in the interior of the sessiles.

These fledge ling creatures are then harvested at the appropriate time
by the active myrmicat population."

Richard nodded.

"That may not be exactly right," he said, 'but it must be close."

"So what we're missing is only the necessary set of conditions for the
manna melons to begin the germination process?"

"I was hoping you would help me with that puzzle," Richard said.

"After all, doctor, you are the only one of us with any formal
biological training."

The corridor became a Y, each of the two continuations making a
forty-five-degree angle with the long, straight passageway from their
lair.  "Which way, Cosmonaut des Jardins?"  Richard asked with a smile,
shining his flashlight in both directions.  Neither of the two tunnels
had a single distinguishing characteristic.

"Let's go left first," Nicole said a few seconds later after Richard
had created an outline map in his portable computer.  The left pathway
started to change after only a few hundred me tres The corridor widened
into a descending ramp that wound around an extremely thick pole and
dropped at least a hundred me tres deeper into the shell of Rama.  As
they climbed down, Richard and Nicole could see lights below them.  At
the bottom, they encountered a long, wide canal with broad, flat banks.
 To their left, they saw a pair of crab biots scuttling away from them
on the opposite side of the canal, as well as a bridge in the distance,
beyond the biots.  To their right, a barge was moving down the canal,
carrying a full load of diverse but unknown objects, grey and black and
white in colour, to some ultimate destination in the underground
world.

Richard and Nicole surveyed the scene around them and then looked at
each other.

"We're back in wonderland, Alice," Richard said with a short laugh.

"Why don't we have a snack while I enter all this real estate in my
trusty computer?"

While they were eating, a centipede biot approached on their side of
the canal, stopped briefly as if to study them, and then passed on
by.

It climbed the ramp Richard and Nicole had just descended.

"Did you see any crab or centipede biots in the second habitat?" Nicole
asked.

"No," said Richard.

"And we purposely designed them out of the plans for New Eden, didn't
we?"

Richard laughed.

"Indeed we did.  You convinced both The Eagle and me that ordinary
humans would not be able to deal easily with them."

"So does their presence here imply the existence of a third habitat?"

Nicole asked.

"Possibly.  After all, we have no idea what's now in the Southern
Hemicylinder.  We have not seen it since Rama was refurbished.  But
there's another explanation as well.  Suppose the crabs, centipedes,
and other Raman biots just go with the territory, if you know what I
mean.  Maybe they are functioning in all parts of Rama, on all voyages,
unless specifically proscribed by a given space farer

As Richard and Nicole finished lunch, another barge came into view on
their left.  Like its predecessor, it was loaded with stacks of objects
in white, black and grey.

"These are different from the first ones,"

Nicole remarked.

"These piles remind me of the spare centipede-biot parts that were
stored in my pit."

"You could be right," Richard said, standing up.

"Let's follow the canal and see where it leads us."  He glanced around,
first at the arched ceiling ten me tres above their heads and then back
at the ramp behind them.  "Unless I have made an error in my
computations, or the Cylindrical Sea is much deeper than I think, this
canal runs from south to north, under the sea itself."

"So following the barge will take us back under the Northern
Hemicylinder?"  Nicole asked.

"I believe so," Richard replied.

They followed the canal for more than two hours.  Except for three
spider biots, moving quickly as a team along the opposite bank, Richard
and Nicole did not see anything else that was new.  Two more barges
passed them, carrying the same general kind of load downstream, and
they intermittently encountered both centipede and crab biots without
any interactions.  They walked by one more bridge over the canal.

Richard and Nicole rested twice, drinking water or eating a snack
while
they talked.  At the second rest stop Nicole suggested that perhaps
they should turn back.  Richard checked his watch.

"Let's give it another hour," he said.

"If my sense of position is correct, we should be under the Northern
Hemicylinder already.  Sooner or later we must find where the barges
are taking all that stuff."

He was right.  After another kilometer of hiking along the canal,
Richard and Nicole saw a large pentagonal structure in the distance.

As they drew closer, they could see that the canal flowed directly into
the centre of the pentagon.  The building itself, which straddled the
canal, was six me tres tall.  It had a flat roof, no windows, and a
creamy-white exterior.  Each of its five sections or wings extended
twenty or thirty me tres from the centre of the structure.

The walkway along the canal ended in some stairs that rose to a
perimeter lane that ran around the entire pentagon.  There was a
similar configuration on the other side of the canal; a centipede biot
was at that moment using the perimeter lane as a bridge to change from
one side of the canal to the other.

"Where do you suppose it's going?"  Nicole asked, as the two of them
stood aside to permit the biot to trundle by.

"Maybe to New York," Richard answered.

"On my long walks before the avians hatched I sometimes saw one of them
in the distance."

They paused together outside the only door to the pentagon that was on
the canal side of the building.

"I guess we're going in?"  Nicole said.

Richard nodded and pushed open the small door.  Nicole bent down and
entered the building.  Surrounding them was a large room, well lit,
perhaps a thousand cubic me tres altogether, with a ceiling five me
tres above the floor.  Their walkway was elevated above the floor by
two or three me tres so Richard and Nicole could watch most of the
activities taking place below them.  Biot robot workers they had never
seen before, each designed for a specialised task, were unloading the
two barges in the room, arid separating the cargo according to some
predefined plan.  Many of the individual pieces from the stacks were
loaded on to truck biots, which disappeared through one of the back
doors once they were full.

After a few minutes of observation, Richard and Nicole continued along
the walkway to where it intersected another path just above the centre
of the room.  Richard stopped and made some notes in his computer.

"I presume this layout is as simple as it looks," he said to Nicole.
"We can go either left or right each way we go into another wing of the
pentagon."

Nicole chose the right walkway because the truck biots that she had
thought were carrying pans for the centipede biot had gone in that
direction.  Her observations had been accurate.  Soon after Richard and
Nicole entered the second room, which was exactly the same size as the
first, they realised that both a centipede and a crab biot were being
manufactured on the floor below them.  Richard and Nicole stopped to
watch the process for several minutes.

"Absolutely fascinating," Richard said, finishing his computer diagram
of the biot factory.

"Are you ready to go?"

As Richard turned to face Nicole, she saw his eyes widen.

"Don't look now," he said quietly a second later, 'but we have
company."

Nicole wheeled around and looked behind her.  Across the room, forty me
tres behind them on the walkway, a pair of octo spiders were slowly
approaching them.  Richard and Nicole had not heard their
distinguishing sound, similar to dragging metallic brushes, because of
the noise from the biot factory.

The octo spiders stopped when they realised that the humans had noticed
them.  Nicole's heart was pumping furiously.  She remembered clearly
her last encounter with an octo spider when she had rescued Katie from
the octo lair in Rama II.  Then, as now, her overwhelming impulse had
been to run.

She grabbed Richard's hand as they both stared at the aliens.

"Let's go," Nicole said under her breath.

"I'm as frightened as you are," he replied, 'but let's not leave just
yet.  They are not moving.  I want to see what they are going to do."

Richard concentrated on the lead octo spider and drew a careful picture
in his mind.  Its nearly spherical main body was charcoal grey, with a
diameter of about a metre, and featureless except for a vertical slit
twenty or twenty-five centime tres wide that ran from the top to the
bottom, where the body broke into the eight black and gold tentacles,
each two me tres long, that spread out across the floor.  Inside the
vertical slit were many unknown knobs and wrinkles {Almost certainly
sensors, Richard thought), the largest of which was a big rectangular
lens structure containing some kind of fluid.

As the two pairs of beings gazed at each other across the room, a broad
band of bright purple colouring swept around the 'head' of the lead
octo spider This band originated on one of the parallel edges of the
vertical slit.  It moved around the head, disappearing into the
opposite edge of the slit almost 360 degrees later.  It was followed in
a few seconds by a complicated colour-band composed of red, green and a
few colour less strips, which also made the same journey around the
head of the octo- spider.

"That's exactly what happened when that octo spider confronted Katie
and me," Nicole said nervously to Richard.

"She said it was talking to us."

"But we have no way of knowing what it's saying," Richard replied.

"Just because it can talk does not mean that it won't hurt us .  .

As the lead octo spider continued to talk in colour, Richard suddenly
remembered an episode from years before, during his odyssey in Rama II.
At the time he had been lying on a table, surrounded by five or six
octos, all with coloured patterns on their heads.  Richard recalled
clearly the powerful terror that he had felt as he had watched some
very small creatures, apparently under control of the octo spiders
crawl into his nose.

Richard's head began to throb with pain.

"They weren't all that nice to me before," he said to Nicole.

"When they .  . . ' At that moment the far door to the room opened and
four more octo spiders entered.

"That's enough," said Richard, feeling Nicole tense beside him.

"I think it's time for us to make an exit."

Richard and Nicole walked quickly to the centre of the room, where the
walkway, as in the previous room, joined the path leading to the
outside of the building.  They turned towards the outside but stopped
after taking a few steps.  Four more octo spiders were coming through
this door as well.

They didn't need to confer.  Richard and Nicole spun around, returned
to the main interior walkway, and bolted in the direction of the third
wing of the pentagon.  This time they raced on, without turning to the
outside, until they were inside the fourth wing.  It was completely
dark in this section.  They slowed as Richard pulled out his flashlight
to examine their surroundings.  There was sophisticated-looking
equipment on the floor below them, but no activity of any kind.

"Should we try the outside again?"  Richard asked as he was putting his
flashlight back in his shirt-pocket.  Seeing her nod, Richard took
Nicole's hand and they jogged together to the intersection, where they
turned right and headed out of the pentagon.

A few minutes later they were in a dark corridor in completely unknown
territory.  Both of them were fatigued.  Nicole was having difficulty
breathing.

"Richard," she said,

"I need to rest.  I can't keep running like this."

Richard and Nicole walked swiftly down the empty dark corridor for
about fifty me tres They saw a door on their left.  Richard cautiously
opened the door, peered in, and scanned the room with his flashlight.

"It must be a storage-room of some kind," he said.

"But it's currently empty."

Richard walked into the room, glanced through its back door into
another empty chamber, and then returned for Nicole.  They sat down
with their backs against the wall.

"When we return to our lair, darling," Nicole said a few seconds
later,

"I want you to help me check my heart.  I have been having some strange
pains lately."

"Are you all right now?"  Richard asked, concern reflected in his
voice.  "Yes," Nicole replied.  She smiled in the dark and kissed her
husband.

"As well as can be expected after narrowly escaping from a gaggle of
octo spiders

Nicole slept fitfully with her back against the wall and her head
resting on Richard's shoulder.  She had one nightmare after another,
always waking with a start before dozing off again.  In the last
nightmare Nicole was on an island by the ocean with all her children.

A huge tidal wave headed towards them on her dream-screen.  Nicole was
frantic because her children were scattered all over the island.  How
could she possibly save all of them?  She awakened with a shudder.

She nudged her husband in the dark.

"Richard," Nicole said, 'wake up.

Something's not right."

At first Richard did not move.  When Nicole touched him a second time,
he slowly opened his eyes.

"What's the matter?"  he said at length.

"I have the feeling we're not safe here," she said.

"I think we should go."

Richard switched on his flashlight and moved the beam slowly around the
room.

"There's nobody here," he said softly.

"And I don't hear anything either .  . . Don't you think we should rest
some more?"

Nicole's fears increased as they sat in silence.

"I'm having a strong premonition of danger," she said.

"I know that you don't believe in those things, but in my life they
have almost always been correct."

"All right," Richard said finally.  He stood up and walked across the
room, opening the back door that led to a similar, adjacent area.  He
glanced inside.

"Nothing here either," he said after several seconds.

Richard came back across the room and opened the door to the corridor
they had used to escape from the pentagon.  The moment the door was
open, Nicole and he both heard the unmistakable sound of dragging
brushes.

Nicole jumped to her feet.  Richard closed the door without a sound and
hurried over beside her.

"Come on," he said in a whisper.

"We have to find another way out of here."

They walked through the next room, then another and another.  All were
dark and empty.  They lost their sense of direction as they raced
through the unfamiliar territory.  Eventually they came to a large
double door at the far side of one of the many identical rooms.

Richard told
Nicole to stand back as he cautiously pushed open the left side of the
door.

"Holy shit!"  he exclaimed as soon as he looked into the room.

"What in the world is this?"

Nicole came up beside Richard and followed his flashlight beam as it
fell on the bizarre contents of the adjoining chamber.  The room was
cluttered with large objects.  The one closest to the door looked like
a large amoeba on a skateboard, the next one like a gigantic ball of
twine with two antennae sticking out of its centre.  There was no sound
in the room and nothing moved.  Richard lifted his beam higher and let
it move quickly around the rest of the crowded room.

"Go back," Nicole said excitedly, catching a glimpse of something
familiar.

"Over there.  A few me tres to the left of the other door."

Seconds later the beam illuminated four human like figures, dressed in
helmets and spacesuits, that were sitting against the far wall.

"It's the human biots," Nicole said excitedly, 'the ones we saw just
before we met Michael O'Toole at the bottom of the chair lift

"Norton and company?"  Richard asked incredulously, a shiver of fear
running down his spine.

"I bet it is," Nicole responded.

They entered the room slowly and tiptoed around the many objects as
they made their way towards the figures in question.  Both Richard and
Nicole knelt down beside the four apparent humans.

"This must be a biot dump," Nicole said, after they had verified that
the face behind the transparent helmet was indeed a copy of the
Commander Norton who led the first Rama expedition.

Richard stood up and shook his head.

"Absolutely unbelievable," he said.

"What are they doing here?"  He let his flashlight beam wander around
the room.

A second later Nicole screamed.  No more than four me tres away from
her an octo spider was moving, or at least so it seemed in the peculiar
light.  Richard rushed to her side.  The two of them quickly verified
that what they were seeing was only an octo spider biot, and then they
both laughed for several minutes.

"Richard Wakefield," Nicole said when she could finally contain her
nervous laughter, 'may I go home now?  I've had enough."

"I guess so," Richard said with a smile.

"As long as we can find the way."

As they penetrated deeper and deeper into the maze of rooms and tunnels
in the area around the pentagon, Nicole became convinced that they
would never find their way out.  Eventually Richard slowed the pace and
started storing information in his portable computer.

Afterwards he was at least able to prevent their going in circles, but
Richard never connected
his growing map to any of the landmarks they had seen before they fled
from the octo spiders

When both Richard and Nicole were starting to feel desperate, they
chanced upon a small truck biot carrying an odd collection of small
objects down a narrow corridor.  Richard became more relaxed.

"Those things look as if they have been custom-made to someone's
specifications," he said to Nicole, 'like the objects delivered to us
in the White Room.  If we go back in the direction from which the biot
came, then maybe we will locate where all our objects are manufactured.
From there, it should be easy to find the path to our lair."

It was a long hike.  They were both completely exhausted several hours
later when their corridor widened into a huge factory area with a very
high ceiling.  At the centre of the factory were twelve fat cylinders
that looked like old-fashioned boilers on the Earth.  Each was four or
five me tres high and a metre and a half wide at the centre.  The
boilers were arranged in four rows of three.

Conveyor belts, or at least the Rama equivalent, led into and out of
each of the boilers, two of which were in operation at the moment that
Richard and Nicole arrived.  Richard was fascinated.

"Look over there,"

he said, pointing at a vast warehouse floor covered with stacks of
objects of all sizes and descriptions.

"That must be all the raw material.  A request arrives at the central
computer, which is probably in that hut behind the boilers, where it is
processed and allocated to one of these machines.  Biots go out, gather
up the proper items, and place them on the conveyor belts.  Inside the
boilers these raw materials are altered significantly, for what comes
out is the object ordered by whatever intelligent species is using the
keyboard or its equivalent to communicate with the Ramans."

Richard approached the closest active boiler.

"But the real question,"

he said, overflowing with excitement, 'is what kind of process takes
place inside these boilers?  Is it chemical?  Is it perhaps nuclear,
involving element transmutations?  Or have the Ramans some other
technology for manufacturing completely beyond our ken?"

He knocked several times very hard on the outside of the active boiler.
"The walls are very thick," he announced.  Richard then bent down where
the conveyor belt entered the boiler and started to stick his hand
inside.  "Richard," Nicole yelled, 'don't you think that's foolish?"

Richard glanced up at his wife and shrugged.  As he bent down again to
study the belt/ boiler interface, a bizarre biot that looked like a
camera- box with legs scurried over from the back of the large room.

It quickly wedged itself between Richard and the active conveyor belt
and then expanded in size, forcing Richard away from the active
process.

"Nice move," Richard said appreciatively.  He turned to Nicole.

"The system has excellent fault protection."

"Richard," Nicole now said, 'if you don't mind, can we please return
to our major task?  Or have you forgotten that we do not know the way
back to our lair?"

"Just a little while longer," Richard answered.

"I want to see what comes out of the active boiler closest to us. Maybe
by seeing the output, after having already seen the input, I can infer
the kind of intervening process."

Nicole shook her head.

"I had forgotten what a knowledge junkie you are.  You're the only
human I have ever met who would stop to study a new plant or animal
while he was completely lost in a forest."

Nicole found another long passageway on the opposite side of the huge
room.  An hour later she finally convinced Richard to leave the
fascinating alien factory.  They had no way of knowing where this new
passageway led, but it was their only hope.  Again they walked and
walked.  Each time Nicole started to become tired or despondent,
Richard would lift her spirits by extolling the wonder of everything
they had seen since they left their lair.

"This place is absolutely amazing, stupendous," he said at one point,
barely able to contain himself.

"I can't begin to assess what it all means .  . . not only are we not
alone in this universe ... we are not even near the top of the pyramid,
in terms of capability .  . ."

Richard's enthusiasm sustained them until finally, when they were both
close to exhaustion, they saw ahead of them a branching in the
corridor.  Because of the angles, Richard felt certain that they had
returned to the original Y no more than two kilometres from their lair.
"Yippee," Richard yelled, picking up his pace.

"Look," he shouted over at Nicole, his flashlight pointed in front of
him, 'we're almost home."

Something Nicole heard at that moment made her stop dead in her
tracks.

"Richard," she cried, 'turn off the light."

He spun quickly around, nearly falling, and switched off his
flashlight.  In the next few seconds there was no doubt.  The sound of
dragging brushes was growing louder.

"Run for it," yelled Nicole, bolting by her husband in a full sprint.

Richard reached the intersection no more than fifteen seconds before
the first of the octo spiders The aliens were coming up from the canal.
 As he was running away from them, Richard turned around and shone his
flashlight behind him.  In that brief instant he could see at least
four coloured patterns moving in the darkness.

They brought all the furniture they could find into the White Room and
created a barrier across the bottom of the black screen.  For several
hours Richard and Nicole watched and waited, expecting that at any
moment the screen would lift up and their lair would be invaded by
the
octo spiders But nothing happened.  At length they left Joan and
Eleanor in the White Room as sentries and spent the night in the
nursery with Tammy and Timmy.

"Why didn't the octo spiders follow us?"  Richard said to Nicole early
the next morning.

"They almost certainly know the screen raises automatically.  If they
had come to the end of the corridor .  . ."

"Maybe they didn't want to frighten us again," Nicole interrupted
gently.  Richard's brow furrowed and he gave Nicole a quizzical look.

"We still have no hard evidence that the octo spiders are hostile,"

Nicole continued, 'despite your feelings that you were mistreated as
their prisoner during your odyssey years ago .  . . They did not harm
Katie, or me, when they easily could have.  And they did return you to
us eventually."

"By that time I was in a deep coma," Richard replied.

"And no good to them any more as a test subject.  . . Besides, what
about Takagishi?

Or, for that matter, the attacks that were made on Prince Hal and
Falstaff?"

"Each of the incidents has a plausible, non-hostile explanation.

That's what is so confusing.  Suppose Takagishi died of a heart attack.
Suppose also that the ocios preserved and stuffed his body to use as
some sort of exhibit, for teaching other octo spiders .  . . We might
do the same thing .  . ."

Nicole paused before continuing.

"And the attack, as you call it, on Prince Hal and Falstaff, might have
been just a misunderstanding .  . .

What if your little robots had wandered into a very important place,
maybe a nest, or the octo spider equivalent of a church ... It would be
natural for the octos to defend a key location."

"I'm puzzled," Richard said after a moment's hesitation.

"Here you are, defending the octo spiders .  . . But you ran away from
them yesterday even faster than I did."

"Yes," Nicole answered contemplatively.

"I admit that I was terrified.

My animal instinct was to assume hostility and flee.  Today I'm
disappointed in myself.  We humans are supposed to use our brains to
overcome instinctive reactions .  . . Especially you and I. After
everything we have seen in Rama and at The Node, we should be
completely immune from xenophobia."

Richard smiled and nodded.

"So are you suggesting now that maybe the octo spiders were just trying
to establish some kind of peaceful contact?"

"Perhaps," Nicole answered.

"I don't know what they want.  But I do know that I have never seen
them do anything unambiguously hostile."

Richard stared distractedly at the walls for a few seconds and then
rubbed his forehead.

"I wish I could remember more of the details about my time with them. I
still have these blinding headaches when I try to concentrate on that
period of my life only while I was inside the sessile were my memories
of the octos not accompanied by pain."

"Your odyssey was long ago," Nicole said.

"Maybe the octo spiders also are capable of learning, and have adopted
a different attitude towards us now."

Richard stood up.

"All right," he said.

"You have convinced me.  The next time we see an octo spider we will
not run away."  He laughed.

"At least not immediately."

Another month passed.  Richard and Nicole did not go behind the black
screen again and they did not have any more encounters with the octo
spiders They passed the days tending to the hatchlings (who were
learning to fly) and enjoying each other.  During much of their
conversation they talked about their children and reminisced about the
past.

"I guess we are now old," Nicole said one morning as she and Richard
were walking through one of the three central plazas of New York.

"How can you say that?"  Richard replied with a mischievous grin.

"Just because we spend most of our time talking about what happened
long ago, and our everyday bathroom functions occupy more of our
attention and energy than sex, does that mean we're old?"

Nicole laughed.

"Is it as bad as that?"  she said.

"Not quite," Richard said in a kidding tone.

"I still love you like a schoolboy .  . . But every now and then that
love is pushed aside by aches and pains that I never had before .  . .
Which reminds me, wasn't I supposed to help you examine your heart?"

"Yes," Nicole nodded.

"But there's really nothing you can do.  The only instruments I brought
with me in my medicine kit when I escaped were the stethoscope and the
sphygmomanometer.  I have used them both several times to examine
myself... I haven't been able to find anything unusual except an
occasional leaky valve, and my shortness of breath has not recurred."
She smiled.

"It was probably all the excitement .  . . and age."

"If our son-in-law the cardiologist were here," Richard said, 'then he
could give you a complete examination."

They walked together in silence for several minutes.

"You miss the children a lot, don't you?"  Richard said.

"Yes," Nicole replied with a sigh.

"But I try not to think about them too much.  I am happy to be alive
and here with you it's definitely better than those last months in
prison.  And I have many wonderful memories of the children .  . ."

"God grant me the wisdom to accept the things I cannot change,"

Richard quoted.

"It is one of your best qualities, Nicole ... I have always been
slightly envious of your equanimity."

Nicole walked on slowly.  My what?  she said to herself, remembering
clearly how obsessed she had been after Valeriy Borzov's death just
after the Newton had docked with Rama.  i could not even sleep until I
convinced myself that it was not my fault that he died.  She thought
briefly about the intervening years.  Any equanimity, if it exists at
all, has come fairly recently .  . . Motherhood and age both give you a
different perspective on yourself and the world.

A few moments later Richard stopped and turned to face Nicole.

"I

love you very much," he said suddenly, embracing her vigorously.

"What was that all about?"  Nicole asked several seconds later, puzzled
by his sudden show of emotion.

Richard's eyes had a faraway look.

"During the last week," he said excitedly, 'a wild and crazy plan has
been developing in my brain.  I have known from the outset that it was
dangerous, and probably insane, but like all my projects it has taken
hold of me ... Twice I have even left our bed in the middle of the
night to think about the details ... I have wanted to tell you about it
before now, but I needed to convince myself that it was indeed possible
. . ."

"I have no idea at all what you are talking about," Nicole said
impatiently.

"The children," Richard said with a nourish.

"I have a plan for them to escape, to join us here in New York.  I have
even begun to reprogram Joan and Eleanor."

Nicole sured at her husband, her emotions struggling with her reason.

He started to explain his escape plan.

"Wait a minute, Richard,"

Nicole interrupted after several seconds.

"There's an important question we must answer first .  . . What makes
you think the children would even want to escape?  They are not under
indictment in New Eden, or in prison.  Granted, Nakamura is a tyrant,
and life in the colony is difficult and depressing, but as far as I
know, the children are as free as any of the other citizens.  And if
they were to try to join us, and fail, their lives would be in danger .
. . Besides, our existence here, although fine for us, would hardly be
considered a paradise for them."

"I know ... I know .  . ."  Richard replied, 'and perhaps I have been
carried away by my desire to see them .  . . But what do we risk by
sending Joan and Eleanor to talk to them?  Patrick and Ellie are adults
and can make up their own minds .  . ."

"And what about Benjy and Katie?"  Nicole asked.

A frown creased Richard's face.

"Obviously Benjy could not come by himself, so his participation
depends on whether or not any of the others decide to help him.  As for
Katie, she is so unstable and unpredictable .  . . she might
conceivably even decide to tell Nakamura ... I think we have no choice
except to leave her out .  . ."

"A parent never gives up hope," Nicole said softly, as much to
herself
as to Richard.

"By the way," she added, 'does your scheme also include Max and
Eponine?  They are virtually members of the family."

"Max is really the perfect choice to co-ordinate the escape from inside
the colony," Richard said, growing excited again.

"He did a fantastic job hiding you and then getting you to Lake
Shakespeare without being detected.  Patrick and Ellie will need
someone mature and levelheaded to guide them through all the details
... In my plan, Joan and Eleanor approach Max first.  Not only is he
already familiar with the robots, but also he will give his honest
assessment as to whether or not the plan can work.  If he tells us
through the robots that the whole idea is preposterous, then we'll drop
it."

Nicole tried to imagine the joy she would feel at the moment of
embracing any of her children again.  It was impossible.

"All right, Richard," she said, finally smiling.

"I admit that I'm interested .  .

. Let's talk about it .  . . But we must promise ourselves that we
won't do anything unless we are certain that we are not going to
endanger the children."

Max Puckett and Ellie Turner excused themselves from Eponine, Robert
and little Nicole shortly after dinner and walked outside at Max's
farmhouse in New Eden.  As soon as they were out of earshot.  Max began
telling Ellie about his recent visits from the little robots.  Ellie
could not believe what she was hearing.

"Surely you're mistaken," she said in a loud voice to Max.

"They can't be suggesting that we just leave .  . ."

Max put a finger to his lips as they walked the final few me tres to
the barn.

"You can talk to them yourself," he said in a whisper.

"But according to these little characters, there is plenty of room for
all of us in that lair you lived in the first few years after you were
born."

It was dark inside the barn.  Before Max switched on the light Ellie
had already glimpsed the tiny glowing robots beside her on one of the
window-sills.

"Hello again, Ellie," said little Joan, still dressed in her armour.

"Your mother and father are both fine and send their greetings."

"We have come to see you tonight," the robot Eleanor added, 'because
Max thought it was necessary for you to hear for yourself what we have
to say.  Richard and Nicole are inviting you and your friends to join
them in your old lair in New York, where your parents are living a
Spartan but peaceful existence."

"Everything about your lair," Joan now said, 'is the same as it was
when you were a small child.  Food, clothing and other objects are
still supplied by the Ramans after requests are made by using the
keyboard in the White Room.  Unlimited supplies of fresh water are
available at the cistern near the bottom of the entry staircase."

Ellie listened, fascinated, while Joan reminded her of the living
conditions under the island city on the southern side of the second
habitat.  Ellie tried to recall the lair from her memory, but the
picture that came to her mind was surprisingly vague.  What she could
remember clearly from that period of her life were the last few days in
Rama, including the spectacular rings of colour emanating from the Big
Horn and drifting slowly towards the north of the giant cylinder.

But the inside of the lair was foggy.  Why can't I remember at least
the nursery more clearly?  she
wondered.  Because too much has happened since?  And made deeper
impressions in my memory?

A montage of images from her early childhood streamed through Ellie's
mental vision.  Some of the pictures were indeed from Rama, but far
more of them were from the family apartment at The Node.  The indelible
features of The Eagle, a godlike figure to the child Ellie, seemed to
preside over the montage.

Eleanor of Aquitaine had asked Ellie something, but the young woman had
not been paying attention.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor," Ellie said, 'please repeat your question.  I'm
afraid I was temporarily lost in my childhood."

"Your mother asked about Benjy.  Is he still in the ward out in
Avalon?"

"Yes," Ellie replied.

"And doing as well as can be expected.  His best friend in the whole
world is now Nai Watanabe.  When the war ended, she volunteered to work
with those who had been assigned, for one reason or another, to the
Avalon ward.  She spends time with Benjy almost every day, and has
helped him immensely.  Her twins Kepler and Galileo love to play with
him Benjy is essentially just a big child himself although Galileo is
sometimes unkind and causes Nai considerable heartache."

"As I told you," Max said, turning the conversation back to their
primary business,

"Nicole and Richard have left it up to our discretion to decide who
should be involved if we do attempt a mass exodus.  Will Benjy follow
directions?"

"I think so," Ellie said.

"As long as he trusts the person giving them.  But there is no way we
could tell him about the escape ahead of time.  We couldn't possibly
expect him not to say something about it.

Secrecy and guile are not part of Benjy's personality.  He will be
overjoyed but .  . ."

"Mr Puckett," Joan of Arc interrupted, 'what should I tell Richard and
Nicole?"

"Shit, Joanie," Max replied, 'have a little patience .  . . Better
still, come back again in a week, after Ellie, Eponine and I have had
more time to talk this thing through, and I'll give you a tentative
answer .  . . And tell Richard I find the whole damn thing intriguing,
even if it is certifiably insane."

Max placed the two robots on the floor of the barn and they scampered
away.  When Max and Ellie were back outside in the fresh air, Max
pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.

"I assume that it doesn't offend you too much if I smoke out here?"  he
said with a grin.

Ellie smiled.

"You don't want to tell Robert, do you Max?"  she then said quietly a
moment later, as Max blew smoke-rings into the night air.

Max shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied.

"Maybe not until the last moment."  He put his arm around Ellie.

"Young lady, I like your doctor husband, I really do, but sometimes I
think his attitudes and priorities are
a little strange.  I can't saynfor certain that he wouldn't tell
someone .  . ."

"Do you think, Max," Elite said, 'that maybe Robert has made a private
vow of some kind never to act against authority again?  And that he is
afraid .  . ."

"Shit, Ellie, I'm no psychologist.  I don't think either of us can
possibly understand what killing two people in cold blood did to him.

But I can say that there is a definite chance that he would not keep
our secret to avoid a painful personal decision if nothing else."

Max inhaled deeply on his cigarette and stared at his young friend.

"You don't think he'll come, do you Max?  Not even if I want him to."

Again Max shook his head.

"I don't know, Ellie.  It will depend on how much he needs you and
little Nicole.  Robert has made room for the two of you in his life,
but he still hides his feelings behind continuous work."

"What about you, Max?"  Ellie now asked.

"What do you really think of this whole scheme?"

"Eponine and I are both ready to go, to have ourselves a little
ad-ventoor,1 Max said with a grin.

"It's just a matter of time before I get into serious trouble with
Nakamura anyway."

"And Patrick?"

"He'll love the idea.  But I'm worried that he might say something to
Katie.  They have a special relationship .  . ."

Max stopped in mid-sentence when he saw that Robert, who was carrying
his tired daughter, had come out on to the front porch.

"Oh, there you are, Ellie," Robert said.

"I thought that maybe you and Max were lost in the barn .  . . Nicole
is very tired and I have a very early morning at the hospital .  . ."

"Of course, darling," Ellie replied.

"Max and I were just sharing memories of my mother and father .  . ."

It must look like a perfectly normal day, Ellie thought as she showed
her identification card to the Garcia biot in the atrium of the
Beauvois supermarket.  i must do everything exactly as if this were an
ordinary Thursday.

"Mrs Turner," the Garcia said a few seconds later, handing her a list
printed out of the computer against the wall behind it, 'here is your
ration allocation for the week.  We are out of broccoli and tomatoes
again, so we have included two extra measures of rice .  . . You may
now proceed to the line to pick up your groceries."

Little Nicole walked beside her as Ellie entered the main pan of the
supermarket.  On the other side of a mesh screen, where in the early
days of the colony the citizens of New Eden had done their own
shopping, five or six Tiasso and Lincoln biots, all from the 300 series
completely reprogrammed by the Nakamura government, were moving up and
down
the aisles filling the orders.  Most of the shelves were empty.  Even
though the war had been over for some time, the unstable weather in New
Eden, as well as the dislike of most of the farmers for Nakamura's
heavy-handed ways, had kept food production at a minimum level.  The
government had found it necessary therefore to supervise the allocation
of food.  Only the governmental favourites had more than the bare
essentials to eat.

There were half a dozen people in the queue in front of Ellie and her
almost-two-year-old daughter.  Ellie shopped with the same people every
Thursday afternoon.  Most of them turned around when Ellie and Nicole
entered the line.

"There's that darling little girl," a pleasant woman with grey hair
said.  "How are you today, Nicole?"  she asked.

Nicole didn't answer.  She just backed up a couple of steps and
fastened herself tightly to one of her mother's legs.

"Nicole's still in her shy stage," Ellie said.

"She only talks to people she knows."

A Lincoln biot brought out two small boxes of food and handed them to
the father and adolescent son at the head of the supermarket line.

"We won't be using a cart today," the father said to the Lincoln.

"Please make a note of that on our record .  . . Two weeks ago, when we
also hand- carried our groceries, nobody noted that we didn't take a
cart and we were awakened in the middle of the night by a Garcia
demanding that we return our cart to the store."

There must be no trivial mistakes, Ellie said to herself.  No carts not
returned, nothing that anyone could suspect before morning.  As she
waited in the line, Ellie reviewed again the details of the escape plan
that she and Patrick had discussed with Max and Eponine the previous
day.  A Thurs- day had been chosen because that was the day that Robert
made his regular visits to the RV-4I sufferers in Avalon.

Max and Eponine had applied for, and received, a pass to visit Nai
Watanabe for dinner.  They would look after Kepler and Galileo while
Nai went to the ward for Benjy.  Everything was in order.  There was
only one major uncertainty left.

Ellie had rehearsed her speech to Robert a hundred times.  His initial
reaction will be negative, she thought.  He will say it's too
dangerous, that I am jeopardising Nicole's security.  And he will be
angry because I didn't tell him earlier.

In her mind she had already answered all his objections and had
carefully described the life they would have in New York in a positive
light.  But Ellie was still extremely nervous.  She had not been able
to convince herself that Robert would agree to come.  And she had no
idea what he would do if she declared that she and little Nicole were
prepared to leave without him.

As her groceries were placed in the small shopping cart that she
would
return to the supermarketlfter unpacking everything at her home, Ellie
squeezed her daughter's hand.  It is almost time, she thought.  i must
have courage.  I must have faith.

"How in the world do you expect me to react?"  Robert Turner said.

"I

come home from an exceptionally busy day at the hospital, my mind on
the hundred things that I must do tomorrow, and you tell me over dinner
that you want us to leave New Eden forever?  And to go tonight?

. . . Ellie, dear Ellie, this whole thing is absurd.  Even if it could
work, I would need time to sort out everything ... I have projects .

. ."

"I know it's sudden, Robert," Ellie said, growing fearful that she had
underestimated the difficulty of her task, 'but I couldn't have told
you any earlier.  It would have been too dangerous .  . . What if you
had slipped, and said something to Ed Stafford or another member of
your staff, and one of the biots had overheard?  .  . ."

"But I can't just leave, without saying anything to anybody .  .

Robert shook his head vigorously.

"Do you have any idea how many years of work would be wasted?"

"Couldn't you write down what needs to be done on each project?"

Ellie suggested.

"And maybe summa rise what's already been accomplished .  . ."

"Not in one night," Robert replied emphatically.

"No, Ellie, it's really out of the question.  We can't go.  The
long-term health of the colony may be dependent on the results of my
research .  . . Besides, even if I accept that your parents are living
comfortably in that bizarre place you described, wherever it is, it
certainly does not sound like a good place to raise a child .  . . And
you haven't even mentioned the possible danger to all of us.  Our
leaving will be viewed as treason.  We could both be executed if we
were caught.  What would happen to Nicole then?  .  . ."

Ellie listened to Robert's objections for another minute and then
realised that the time had come for her declaration.  Summoning all her
courage, she walked around the table and took both her husband's hands.
"I have been thinking about this for almost three weeks, Robert.  . .
You must understand how difficult this decision is for me .  . .1 love
you with all my heart, but if we must, Nicole and I will go without you
... I know that there is a lot of uncertainty in leaving, but life here
in New Eden is definitely not healthy for any of us .  . ."

"No, no, no," Robert said immediately, freeing himself from Ellie and
starting to pace wildly around the room.

"I don't believe any of this.

It's all a bad dream .  . He paused and looked across the room at
Ellie.  "You cannot take Nicole with you," he said with passion.

"Do you hear me?  I forbid you to take our daughter .  . ."

"Robert," Ellie interrupted him with a shout.  Tears were now
streaming
down her cheeks.

"Look at me ... I am your wife, the mother of your daughter ... I love
you.  I beg you to listen to what I am saying."

Nicole had come running into the room and was now crying beside her
mother.  Ellie composed herself before continuing.

"I don't believe that you are the only one in this family who is
allowed to make decisions.  I have that right as well.  I can respect
your desire not to go, but I am Nicole's mother.  If we are to be
separated, then I believe that it would be better for her to be with me
. . ."

Ellie stopped.  Robert's face was contorted in anger.  He took a step
towards her and, for the first time in her life, Ellie feared that
Robert was going to hit her.

"What would be better for me," Robert shouted, with his right hand
raised in a fist, 'would be for you to forget this foolishness."

Ellie backed up slightly.  Nicole continued to cry.  Robert struggled
to control himself.

"I swore," he said, his voice quavering with emotion, 'that nobody and
nothing would ever cause me to hurt like that again .

. ."

Tears burst from his eyes.

"Goddamnit," he said, smashing his fist down on the nearby table.
Without saying anything else, Robert sat down in the chair and buried
his face in his hands.

Ellie consoled Nicole and said nothing for several seconds.

"I know how painful it was for you to lose your first family," she said
at length.  "But Robert, this is an entirely different situation.
Nobody is going to harm Nicole and me."

She walked over and put her arms around him.

"I'm not saying this is an easy decision, Robert," Ellie said.

"But I'm convinced it's the right thing for Nicole and me."

Robert returned Ellie's hug, but without much enthusiasm.

"I will not keep you and Nicole from going," he said resignedly several
seconds later.  "But I don't know what I am going to do.  I would like
to think about all this over the next several hours, while we're out in
Avalon."

All right, dear," Ellie replied, 'but please don't forget that Nicole
and I need you even more than your patients do.  You are our only
husband and father."

Nicole could not contain her excitement.  As she put the finishing
touches to the decorations in the nursery, she imagined what the room
would be like when the human children were sharing it with the two
avians.  Timmy, who was now almost as tall as Nicole, clambered over
beside her to inspect her handiwork.  He uttered a few jabbers of
appreciation.

"Just think, Timmy," Nicole said, knowing that the avian could not
understand her exact words, but could interpret the timbre of her
voice, 'when Richard and I return, we will be bringing you new
roommates."

"Are you ready, Nicole?"  she heard Richard yell at that moment.

"It's almost time for us to leave."

"Yes, darling," she answered.

"I'm here in the nursery.  Why don't you come and take a look?"

Richard stuck his head round the door and gave the new decorations a
perfunctory inspection.

"Great, just great," he said.

"Now we need to move.  This operation requires precise timing."

As they walked together to The Port, Richard informed Nicole that there
had been no more reports from the Northern Hemicylinder.  The lack of
news could indicate that Joan and Eleanor were too involved with the
escape, he said, or too close to a possible enemy, or even that the
implementation of the escape plan was in trouble.  Nicole could not
remember seeing Richard so nervous before.  She tried to calm him.

"We still don't know if Robert is coming?"  Nicole asked a few minutes
later as they approached the submarine.

"No.  Nor anything at all about how he reacted when Ellie told him the
plan.  They did show up together in Avalon, as scheduled, but they were
busy with his patients.  Joan and Eleanor did not have a chance to talk
to Ellie after they helped Nai pick up Benjy at the ward."

Richard had checked out the submarine at least twice the day before.

Nevertheless, he issued a sigh of relief when the operating system
engaged and the craft slid into the water.  When they were submerged in
the waters of the Cylindrical Sea, both Richard and Nicole were quiet.
Each
of them was anticipating, in his or her private way, the emotional
reunion that would take place in less than an hour.

Can there be a greater joy, Nicole was thinking, than to be reunited
with your children after expecting never to see them again?  Images of
all six of her children filed slowly into her mind.  Nicole saw
Genevieve, her first child, born on the Earth after her union with
Prince Henry.  Next in line was serene Simone, whom Nicole had left at
The Node with a husband almost sixty years her senior.  The two oldest
girls were followed in the mental procession by the four children still
living in Rama, her wayward daughter Katie, her precious Ellie, and her
two sons by Michael O'Toole, Patrick and the mentally handicapped
Benjy.  They are all so different, Nicole thought.  Each a miracle in
his or her own way.

I do not believe in universal truths, Nicole mused as the submarine
drew closer to the tunnel under the wall of what was once the
Avian/sessile habitat, but there cannot be many humans who have lived through
the singular experience of parenting without being irrevocably changed
by the process.  We must all wonder, as our children grow into adults,
what we have done, or not done, that has contributed to, or detracted
from, the happiness of these special beings we have brought into
existence.

The excitement inside Nicole was overwhelming.  As Richard checked his
watch and began to manoeuvre the submarine into position for the
rendezvous, her most recent recollections of Ellie, Patrick and Benjy
danced among the tears in Nicole's eyes.  She reached out and squeezed
Richard's free hand as their ship broke through the surface of the
water.

Through the window they could see eight figures standing on the shore
at the appointed location.  When the water stopped running down the
window, Nicole recognised Ellie, her husband Robert, Eponine, Nai
holding Benjy's hand, and the three small children, including her
granddaughter and namesake whom Nicole had never seen before.  She
pounded on the window, knowing that it was senseless, and that none of
the people on the shore could possibly hear or see her.

Richard and Nicole heard the gunshots as soon as they opened the door.
A worried Robert Turner glanced behind him and then lifted little
Nicole quickly off the ground.  Ellie and Eponine each picked up one of
the Watanabe twins.  Galileo struggled against Eponine and received a
reprimand from his mother Nai, who was trying to guide Benjy into the
submarine.

Another round of gunfire, much closer, occurred just as the boarding
party was crossing into the ship.  There was no time for embraces.

"Max said to leave as soon as we were all on board," Ellie said
hurriedly to her parents.

"He and Patrick are holding off the platoon that was sent to capture
us."

Richard was preparing-to-close the door when two armed figures, one
clutching at his side, burst from the nearby bushes.

"Get ready to go," Patrick yelled, shouldering and firing his rifle
twice.

"They are right behind us."

Max stumbled but Patrick half carried his wounded friend the final
fifty me tres to the submarine.  Three of the colony soldiers fired
upon the ship as it submerged in the moat.  For a brief moment, none of
the people on board the submarine said anything.  Then the tiny
compartment exploded in a cacophony of sound.  Everyone was shouting
and weeping.

Both Nicole and Robert bent down over Max, who was sitting with his
back against a wall.

"Are you seriously hurt?"  Nicole asked.

"Hell, no," Max replied with passion.

"There's just a solitary bullet in my gut somewhere.  It takes much
more firepower than that to kill a son-of-a-bitch like me."

When Nicole stood up and turned around, Benjy was right behind her.

"Ma-ma," he said, his arms outstretched and his big body trembling with
joy.  Nicole and Benjy exchanged a long and powerful embrace in the
centre of the compartment.  Benjy's sobs of happiness reflected the
sentiment of every person on the ship.

While they were on board the submarine, the newcomers essentially
suspended between two alien worlds, most of the conversation was
personal.  Nicole spent some private moments with each of her children,
and held her granddaughter for the first time.  Little Nicole did not
know what to make of this woman with the grey hair who wanted to hug
and kiss her.

"This is your grandmother," Ellie had said, trying to persuade the
child to return Nicole's affection.

"She is my mother, Nikki, and she has the same name that you have."

Nicole knew enough about children to understand that it would take some
time for the girl to accept her.  At first there was some confusion
about their common name, and every time someone said "Nicole' both the
grandmother and the little girl would turn around.

But after Ellie and Robert both started using

"Nikki' for the child, the rest of the group quickly followed suit.

Before the submarine even reached New York, Benjy was showing his
mother that his reading had significantly improved.  Nai had been an
excellent teacher.  Benjy had brought two books in his backpack, one a
collection of the tales of Hans Christian Andersen written three
centuries previously.  Benjy's favourite story was

"The Ugly Duckling', which he read in its entirety as both his
delighted mother and his teacher sat beside him.  There was a
wonderful, ingenuous excitement in his voice when the spurned duckling
turned into a beautiful swan.

"I am very proud of you, darling," Nicole said when Benjy was finished
reading.  She wiped some more tears from her eyes.

"And I thank you, Nai," she said to her friend, 'from the bottom of my
heart."

"It has been extremely rewarding for me to work with Benjy," the Thai
woman replied.

"I had forgotten what a thrill it was to teach an interested and
appreciative pupil."

Robert Turner cleaned Max Puckett's wound and removed the bullet.  His
procedure was closely monitored by the five-year-old Watanabe twins,
both of whom were fascinated by the inside of Max's body.  The
aggressive Galileo was always pushing for the better view; Nai had to
adjudicate two brotherly disputes in favour of Kepler.

Dr Turner confirmed Max's statement that the wound was not serious and
prescribed a short period of convalescence.

"I guess I'll just have to take it easy," Max said, winking at
Eponine.

"Which is what I was planning to do anyway.  I don't think there will
be too many pigs or chickens in this alien city of skyscrapers.  And I
don't know a goddamn thing about bi-ots."

Nicole had a brief conversation with Eponine, just before the submarine
arrived at The Port, in which she thanked Ellie's erstwhile teacher
profusely for everything she and Max had done for the family.

Eponine accepted the thanks graciously, and told Nicole that Patrick
had been 'absolutely fantastic' in helping them with all aspects of the
escape.

"He has grown into a superb young man," Eponine said.

"How is your health, then?"  Nicole asked Eponine delicately a few
moments later.

The French woman shrugged.

"The good doctor says the RV-4I virus is still there, poised and
waiting for an opportunity to overwhelm my immune system.  Whenever
that happens, I should have between six months and a year more to
live."

Patrick informed Richard that Joan and Eleanor had tried to decoy the
Nakamura platoon by making a lot of noise, as they had been programmed
to do, and had almost certainly been captured and destroyed.

"I'm sorry about Joan and Eleanor," Nicole said to Richard during a
rare private moment on board the submarine.

"I know how much your little robots mean to you."

"They served their purpose," Richard replied.  He forced a smile.

"After all, wasn't it you who told me once they're not the same as
people?"

Nicole reached up and kissed her husband.

None of the new escapees had ever been in New York as an adult.

Nicole's three children had all been born on the island, and had lived
there in their early childhood, but a child has a very different sense
of place from an adult's.  Even Ellie, Patrick and Benjy were awe
struck when they first
stepped on the shore anchsaw the tall, thin silhouettes reaching
towards the Rama sky in the near-darkness.

Max Puckett was uncharacteristically speechless.  He stood beside
Eponine, holding her hand, and gawked at the thin, towering spires
rising over two hundred me tres above the island.

"This is too damn much for an Arkansas farm-boy," he said at length,
shaking his head.

Max and Eponine walked at the end of the procession that was winding
its way towards the lair which Richard and Nicole had converted into a
multifamily apartment for all of them to share.

"Who built all this?"  Robert Turner asked Richard as the troupe paused
briefly in front of a giant polyhedron.  Robert was growing
increasingly apprehensive.  He had been reluctant to come with Ellie
and Nikki in the first place, and was now in the process of convincing
himself that he had made a big mistake.

"Probably the engineers at The Node," Richard answered.

"Although we can't know for certain.  We humans have added new
construction in our habitat.  It's possible that whoever, or whatever,
lived here long ago might have built a few, or even all, of these
amazing buildings."

"Where are they now?"  Robert asked next, more than a little frightened
at the prospect of encountering beings with the technological expertise
necessary to create such impressive edifices.

"We have no way of knowing.  According to The Eagle, this Rama
spacecraft has been making voyages to discover space faring species for
thousands of years.  Somewhere in our part of the galaxy is another
space- farer who would have been comfortable in an environment like
this.  What that creature was, or is, and why it wanted to live in and
among these incredible skyscrapers is a riddle we will probably never
answer."

"What about the avians and the octo spiders Uncle Richard?"  Patrick
asked.

"Are they still living here in New York?"

"I have not seen any avians on the island since I arrived, except of
course for the hatchlings that we are raising.  But there are still
some octo spiders around.  Your mother and I encountered a dozen of
them when we were exploring behind the black screen."

At that moment a centipede biot approached the procession from a
side-alley.  Richard shone his flashlight in its direction.  Robert
Turner momentarily froze with fear, but he followed Richard's
instructions and moved out of the way as the biot trundled by.

"Skyscrapers built by ghosts, octo spiders centipede biots," Robert
grumbled.

"What a lovely place!"

"In my opinion it's a hell of a lot better than living under that
tyrant Nakamura," Richard said.

"At least here we're free, and can make our own decisions."

"Wakefield' Max Puckett shouted from the back of the line.

"What
would happen if we didn't move out of the way of one of those
centipede biots?"

"I don't know for sure, Max," Richard replied.

"But it would probably go over or around you just as if you were an
inanimate object."

It was Nicole's turn to be the tour guide when they arrived at the
lair.  She personally showed each person his or her quarters.  There
was one room for Max and Eponine, another for Ellie and Robert, a room
divided by a partition for Patrick and Nai, the large subdivided
nursery for the three children, Benjy, and the two avians, and one
final, small room that Richard and she had decided would be perfect as
a common dining-area.

While the adults unpacked the meagre belongings they had loaded into
backpacks, the children had their first experience with Tammy and
Timmy.  The avians did not know what to make of the little humans,
especially Galileo, who insisted on pulling or tweaking anything he
could touch.  After about an hour of such treatment, Timmy scratched
Galileo lightly with one of his talons, as a warning, and the boy
raised an incredible din.

"I just don't understand it," Richard said to Nai in apology.

"The avians are really very gentle creatures."

"I do understand," Nai replied.

"Galileo was almost certainly up to some mischief."  She sighed.

"It's amazing, you know.  You raise two children exactly the same way,
and they turn out so differently.

Kepler is so good he's almost an angel I can hardly teach him to defend
himself.  And Galileo pays almost no attention to anything I tell
him."

When everyone had finished unpacking, Nicole completed the tour,
including the two bathrooms, the corridors, the suspension tanks where
the family had stayed during the period of high acceleration between
the Earth and The Node, and finally the White Room, with the black
screen and keyboard, which was also Richard and Nicole's bedroom.

Richard demonstrated how the black screen worked by requesting, and
receiving about an hour later, some new and simple toys for the
children.  He also gave Robert and Max each a copy of a short command
dictionary that would allow them to use the keyboard.

The children were all asleep soon after dinner.  The adults gathered in
the White Room.  Max asked questions about the octo spiders In the
course of describing their adventures behind the black screen, Nicole
mentioned her heart irregularities.  Robert immediately showed concern
and soon thereafter the doctor examined Nicole in her bedroom.

Ellie helped Robert with the examination.  Robert had brought as much
practical medical equipment as he could fit in his backpack, including
all the miniaturised instruments and monitors necessary to do a full
electrocardiogram (ECG).  The results were not good, but not as bad as
Nicole
had privately feared.  Before bedtime Robert informed the rest of the
family that the years had definitely taken their toll on Nicole's
heart, but that he didn't think she would require surgery in the
immediate future.  Robert advised Nicole to take it easy, even though
he knew that his mother-in-law would probably ignore his
prescription.

When everyone was asleep, Richard and Nicole moved the furniture to
make room for their mats.  They lay side by side, holding hands.

"Are you happy?"  Richard asked.

"Yes," Nicole answered, 'very.  It's really wonderful to have all the
children here."  She leaned over and gave Richard a kiss.

"I am also exhausted, husband of mine, but I'm not about to go to sleep
without first thanking you for arranging all of this."

"They're my children too, you know," he said.

"Yes, darling," Nicole said, lying down on her back again.

"But I know that you would never have done all this if it weren't for
me.  You would have been content to stay here with the hatchlings, all
your gadgets, and the extraterrestrial mysteries."

"Maybe," Richard said.

"But I also am delighted to have everyone in our lair ... By the way,
did you have a chance to talk to Patrick about Katie?"

"Only briefly," Nicole replied.  She sighed.

"I could tell from his eyes that he is still very worried about her."

"Aren't we all?"  Richard said softly.  They lay in silence for a
couple of minutes before Richard propped himself up on an elbow.

"I want you to know," he said, 'that I think our granddaughter is
absolutely precious."

"So do I," Nicole replied with a laugh, 'but there's not a chance that
we could be considered unbiased on the subject."

"Hey, does having Nikki with us mean that I can no longer call you
Nikki, not even at special moments?"

Nicole turned her head to look at Richard.  He was grinning.  She had
seen that particular expression on his face many times before.

"Go to sleep," Nicole said with another short laugh.

"I'm too emotionally exhausted for anything else tonight."

In the beginning time passed very quickly.  There was so much to do, so
much fascinating territory to explore.  Even though it was perpetually
dark in the mysterious city above them, the family made regular
excursions into New York.  Virtually every place on the island had a
special story that Richard or Nicole could tell.

"It was here,"

Nicole said one afternoon, shining her flashlight at the huge lattice
that hung suspended between two skyscrapers like a spider's web, 'that
I rescued the trapped avian, who subsequently invited me into its
lair."

"Down there," she said on another occasion, when they were in the
large barn with its peculiar pits and spheres,

"I was trapped for many days, and thought I was going to die."

The extended family developed a set of rules to keep the children out
of trouble.  They were not needed for little Nikki, who hardly ever
wandered far from her mother and doting grandfather, but the boys
Kepler and Galileo were difficult to constrain.  The Watanabe twins
seemed to possess infinite energy.  Once they were found bouncing on
the hammocks in the suspension tanks, as if the hammocks were
trampolines.  Another time Galileo and Kepler 'borrowed' the family
flashlights and went topside, without adult supervision, to explore New
York.  It was ten nervous hours before the boys were located in the
maze of alleys and streets on the far side of the island.

The avians practised flying almost every day.  The children delighted
in accompanying their birdlike friends to the plazas, where there was
more room for Tammy and Timmy to display their developing skills.

Richard always took Nikki to watch the avians fly.  In fact, he took
his granddaughter with him everywhere he went.  From time to time Nikki
would walk, but mostly Richard carried her in a comfortable, papoose-
like contraption that he affixed to his back.  The unlikely pair were
inseparable.  Richard became Nikki's main teacher as well.

Very early he announced to everyone that his granddaughter was a
mathematical genius.

At night he would regale Nicole with Nikki's latest exploits.

"Do you know what she did today?"  he would say, usually when he and
Nicole were alone in bed.

"No, dear," was Nicole's standard reply, knowing very well that neither
she nor Richard would sleep until he told her.

"I asked her how many black balls she would have if she already had
three, and I gave her two more.  (Dramatic pause.) And do you know what
she answered?  (Another dramatic pause.) Five!  She said five.  And
this little girl just had her second birthday last week .  . ."

Nicole was thrilled by Richard's interest in Nikki.  For both the
little girl and the ageing man, it was a perfect match.  As a parent
himself, Richard had never been able to overcome both his own repressed
emotional problems and his acute sense of responsibility, so this was
the first time in his life that he had experienced the joy of truly
innocent love.  Nikki's father Robert, on the other hand, was a great
doctor, but he was not a very warm person and he did not fully
appreciate the purposeless time-periods that parents must spend with
their children.

Patrick and Nicole had several long talks about Katie, all of which
left Nicole feeling extremely depressed.  Patrick did not hide from his
mother the fact that Katie was deeply involved in all ofNakamura's
machinations, that she drank often and too much, and that she had been
sexually
promiscuous.  He did not tell Nicole that Katie was managing
Nakamura's prostitution business, or that he suspected his sister had
become a drug addict.

Their near-perfect existence in New York continued until early one
morning, when Richard and Nikki were topside together along the
northern ramparts of the island.  Actually it was the little girl who
first saw the silhouettes of the ships.  She pointed out across the
dark water.

"Look, Boobah," she said,

"Nikki sees something."

Richard's weakened eyes could not detect anything in the darkness, and
his flashlight beam did not travel far enough to reach whatever it was
that Nikki was seeing.  Richard pulled out the powerful binoculars that
he always carried with him and confirmed that there were indeed two
vessels in the middle of the Cylindrical Sea.  Richard placed Nikki in
the carrier on his back and hurried home to the lair.

The rest of the family was just waking up and had difficulty initially
understanding why Richard was so alarmed.

"But who else could it be in a boat?"  he said.

"Especially on the northern side.  It has to be an exploration party
sent by Nakamura."

A family council was held over breakfast.  Everyone agreed that they
were facing a serious crisis.  When Patrick confessed that he had seen
Katie on the day of the escape, primarily because he had wanted to tell
his sister goodbye, and that he had made a few unusual comments which
had caused Katie to start asking questions, Nicole and the others
became silent.

"I didn't say anything specific," Patrick said apologetically, 'but it
was still a dumb thing to do .  . . Katie is very smart.  After we all
disappeared, she must have put all the pieces together."

"But what do we do now?"  Robert Turner voiced everyone's
apprehension.

"Katie knows New York very well she was almost a teenager when she left
here and she can lead Nakamura's men directly to this lair.

We'll be sitting ducks for them down here."

"Is there any other place we can go?"  Max asked.

"Not really," Richard replied.

"The old avian lair is empty, but I don't know how we would feed
ourselves down there.  The octo spider lair was also vacant when I
visited it several months ago, but I haven't been inside their domain
again since Nicole arrived in New York.  We must assume,
of course, based on whar>nappened when Nicole and I went exploring,
that our friends with the black and gold tentacles are still around.

Even if they aren't living in their old lair any more, we would still
have the same problem of obtaining food if we were to move over
there."

"What about the area behind the screen, Uncle Richard?"  Patrick
asked.

"You said that's where our food is manufactured.  Maybe we could find a
couple of rooms there .  . ."

"I'm not very optimistic," Richard said after a short pause, 'but your
suggestion is probably our only reasonable option at this point."

The family decided that Richard, Max and Patrick should reconnoitre the
region behind the black screen, both to find out exactly where the
human food was being produced, and to determine if another suitable
living-area existed.  Robert, Benjy, the women and the children would
stay in the lair.  Their assignment was to start developing the
procedures for a rapid evacuation of their living-quarters, in case
such action ever became necessary.

Before going, Richard finished testing a new radio system that he had
designed ill his spare time.  It was strong enough for the explorers
and the rest of the family to be able to remain in radio contact during
the entire time that they were separated.  The existence of the radio
link made it easier for Richard and Nicole to convince Max Puckett to
leave his rifle in the lair.

The three men had no difficulty following the map in Richard's computer
and reaching the boiler-room that Richard and Nicole had visited on
their previous exploration.  Max and Patrick both stared in wonder at
the twelve huge boilers, the vast area of neatly arranged raw
materials, and the many varieties of biots scurrying about.  The
factory was extremely active.  In fact, every single one of the boilers
was involved in some kind of manufacturing process.

"All right," Richard said into his radio to Nicole back in the lair.

"We're here and we're ready.  Place the dinner order and we'll see what
happens."

Less than a minute later one of the boilers closest to the three men
terminated whatever it was doing.  Meanwhile, not far from the hut
behind the boilers, three biots that looked like boxcars with hands
moved out into the arrays of raw material, quickly picking up small
quantities of many different items.  These three biots next converged
on the inactive boiler system near Richard, Max and Patrick, where they
emptied their containers on to the conveyor belt entering the boiler.
Immediately the men heard the boiler surge into active operation.  A
long, skinny biot, resembling three crickets tied together in a row,
each with a bowl-shaped carapace, crawled up on the conveyor-belt
system when the short manufacturing process was almost finished.
Moments later, the boiler stopped
again and the processed material came out on the conveyor belt.  The
segmented cricket biot deployed a scoop from its rear end, placed all
the human food upon its backs, and scampered quickly away.

"Well I'll be god damned," Max said, watching the cricket biot
disappear down the corridor behind the hut.  Before any of the men
could say anything else, another set of boxcars with hands loaded the
conveyor belts with thick, long rods, and in less than a minute the
boiler that had made their food was operating for another purpose.

"What a fantastic system," Richard exclaimed.

"It must have a complex interrupt process, with food orders at the top
of the priority queue.

I can't believe .  . ."

"Hold on just a damn minute," Max interrupted, 'and repeat what you
just said in normal English."

"We have automatic translation subroutines back at the lair1 designed
them originally when we were here years ago," Richard said excitedly.
"When Nicole entered chicken, potatoes and spinach into her own
computer, a listing of keyboard commands, which map into the complex
chemicals in those particular foods, was printed on her output buffer.
After I signalled that we were ready, she typed that string of commands
on the keyboard.  They were immediately received here and what we saw
was the response.  At the time all the processing systems were active;
however, the Raman equivalent of a computer here in this factory
recognised that the incoming request was for food, and made it the
highest priority."

"Are you saying, Uncle Richard," Patrick said, 'that the controlling
computer here shut down that operating boiler so that it could make our
food?"

"Yes, indeed," said Richard.

Max had moved some distance away and was staring at the other boilers
in the huge factory.  Richard and Patrick walked over beside him.

"When I was a little boy, about eight or nine," Max said, 'my father
and I went on our first overnight camping trip, up in the Ozarks
several hours from our farm.  It was a magnificent night and the sky
was full of stars.  I remember lying on my back on my sleeping-bag and
staring at all those tiny twinkling lights in the sky .  . . That night
I had a big, big thought for an Arkansas farm-boy.  I wondered how many
alien children, out there somewhere in the universe, were looking up at
the stars at exactly that moment and realising, for the first time, how
very small their tiny domain was in the overall scheme of the
cosmos."

Max turned around and smiled at his two friends.

"That's one of the reasons I remained a farmer," he said with a
laugh.

"With my chickens and pigs, I was always important.  I brought them
their food.  It was a major event when ole Max showed up at their pen .
. ."

He paused for a moment.  Neither Richard nor Patrick said anything. "I
think that deep down I always wanted to be an astronomer," Max
continued, 'to see if I could understand the mysteries of the universe.
But every time I thought about billions of years and trillions of
kilometres, I became depressed.  I couldn't stand the feeling of
complete and total insignificance that came over me.  It was as if a
voice inside my head was saying, over and over,

"Puckett, you aren't shit.  You are absolutely zero."" "But knowing
that insignificance, especially being able to measure it, makes us
humans very special," Richard said quietly.

"Now we're talking philosophy," Max replied, 'and I'm completely out of
my element.  I'm comfortable with farm animals, tequila, and even wild
midwestern thunderstorms.  All this," Max said, waving his arms at the
boilers and the factory, 'scares the shit out of me.  If I had known,
when I signed up for that Martian colony, that I would meet machines
that are smarter than people .  . ."

"Richard, Richard," they all heard Nicole's anxious voice on the radio.
"We have an emergency.  Elite has just returned from the northern
shore.  Four large boats are about to land .  . . Ellie says she's
positive she spotted a police uniform on one of the men .  . .

Also, she has reported some kind of large rainbow in the south .  . .

Can you get back here in a few minutes?"

"No, we can't," Richard answered.

"We're still down in the room with the boilers.  We must be at least
three and a half kilometres away .  .

. Did Ellie say how many people might be on each boat?"

"I would guess about ten or twelve, Dad," Ellie replied.

"I didn't stay around to count them .  . . But the boats were not the
only unusual thing I saw while I was topside.  During my run back to
the lair, the southern sky lit up with wild bursts of colour that
eventually became a giant rainbow .  . . It's near where you told us
the Big Horn should be."

Ten seconds later Richard shouted into the radio.

"Listen to me Nicole, Ellie, all of you.  Evacuate our lair
immediately.  Take the children, the hatchlings, the melons, the
sessile material, the two rifles, all the food, and as many personal
belongings as you can comfortably carry.  Leave our stuff alone we have
enough on our backs to survive in an emergency.  Go directly to the
octo spider lair and wait for us in that large room that was a photo
gallery years ago .  . . Nakamura's troops will come to our lair first.
When they don't find us, if Katie's with them, they may go to the octo
spider lair as well.  But I don't believe they will go into the tunnels
there .  . ."

"What about you and Max and Patrick?"  Nicole asked.

"We'll come back as fast as we can.  If there is nobody ... by the way,
Nicole, leave a transmitter, with the volume on high, in the White
Room,
and another in the nursery.  That way we'll know if anybody is in our
lair .  . . Anyway, as I was saying, if our home has not been invaded,
we'll join you right away.  If Nakamura's men are occupying our living
quarters we'll try to find another entrance to the octo spider lair
from down here.  There must be one .  . ."

"All right, darling," Nicole interrupted.

"We must get started with the packing .  . . I'll leave the receiver on
in case you need us."

"So you think we'll be safest in the octo spider lair?"  Max said after
Richard had switched off his transmitter.

"It's a choice," Richard said with a wan smile.

"There are too many unknowns here behind the screen.  And we know for
certain we won't be safe if Nakamura's police and troops find us ...
The octo spiders may not even be living in their lair any more.
Besides, as Nicole has said many times, we have no unambiguous evidence
that the octos are hostile."

The men moved as quickly as they could.  At one point they halted
briefly while Patrick transferred some of the weight of Richard's pack
into his own.  Both Richard and Max were sweating profusely by the time
they reached the Y in the corridor.

"We must stop for a minute," Max said to Patrick, who was out in front
of his two older companions.

"Your Uncle Richard needs a rest."

Patrick pulled a water-bottle from his pack and passed it around.

Richard drank eagerly from the bottle, wiped his brow with a
handkerchief, and a minute later started jogging again towards the
lair.

About five hundred me tres away from the small platform behind the
black screen, Richard's receiver began picking up indistinct noises
from the inside of the lair.

"Maybe someone in the family forgot something important," Richard said,
slowing down to listen, 'and came back to retrieve it."

A short time later the three men heard a voice they could not identify.
They stopped and waited.

"It looks as if some kind of animal has been living back here," the
voice said.

"Why don't you come take a look?"

"Damn," said a second voice.

"They have definitely been here recently ... I wonder how long ago they
left."

"Captain Bauer," someone shouted.

"What do you want me to do with all this electronic gear?"

"Leave it for now," the second voice answered.

"The rest of the troops should be down in a few minutes.  We'll decide
what to do then."

Richard, Max and Patrick sat quietly in the dark tunnel.  For about a
minute they didn't hear anything on the receiver.  Apparently none of
the members of the search-party was in the White Room or the nursery
during that time.  Then the three men heard Franz Bauer's voice
again.

"What's that, Morgan?"  Bauer said.

"I can barely hear you .  . .

There's
some kind of racket .  . What?  Fireworks?  Colours?  .  . . What in
the world are you talking about?  All right.  All right.  We'll come up
immediately."

For another fifteen seconds the receiver was quiet.

"Ah, here you are, Pfeiffer," they then heard Captain Bauer say
plainly.

"Round up the other men and let's go back upstairs.  Morgan says
there's an amazing fireworks demonstration in the southern sky.  Most
of the troops were already spooked by the skyscrapers and the dark. I'm
going up to calm everyone's nerves."

"This is our chance," Richard whispered, rising to his feet.

"They will certainly be out of the lair for a few minutes."  He started
to run and then stopped himself.

"We may need to separate ... Do both of you remember how to find the
octo spider lair?"

Max shook his head.

"I've never been over .  . ."

"Here," Richard said, handing Max his portable computer.

"Enter an M and a P for an overview of New York.  The octo spider lair
is marked with a red circle ... If you touch L, followed by another L,
a map of the inside of their lair will be displayed .  . . Now let's
go, while we still have some time."

Richard, Max and Patrick encountered no troops inside their lair.  A
pair of guards were stationed, however, a few me tres away from the
exit to New York.  Fortunately, the guards were so transfixed by the
fireworks in the Rama sky above their heads that they didn't hear the
three men slipping up the stairs behind them.  For safety, the
threesome split up, each taking a different route to the octo spider
lair.

Richard and Patrick arrived at their destination within a minute of
each other, but Max was delayed.  As luck would have it, the route he
had chosen led through one of the plazas where five or six of the
colony troops had gathered for a better view of the fireworks.  Max
raced down an alley and huddled against one of the buildings.  He
pulled out the computer and studied the map on the monitor, trying to
figure out an alternative path to the octo spider lair.

Meanwhile, the spectacular fireworks show continued overhead.  Max
glanced up and was dazzled as a great blue ball exploded, throwing
hundreds of rays of blue light in all directions.  For almost a
minute.

Max watched the hypnotic display.  It was grander than anything he had
ever seen on Earth.

When Max finally reached the octo spider lair, he descended the ramp
quickly and entered the cathedral room from which the four tunnels led
into the other parts of the lair.  Max entered two Is on the computer
and the map of the octo spider domain appeared on the tiny monitor.

Max was so engrossed in the map that at first he did not hear the sound
of dragging mechanical brushes accompanied by a soft, high-pitched
whine.

He did not look up until the sound became quite loud.  When Max
finally raised his head, the large octospidcr was standing no more than
five me tres away from him.  The sight of the creature sent powerful
shivers down Max's spine.  He stood quite still and fought against his
desire to flee.  The creamy liquid in the octo spider single lens moved
from side to side, but the alien did not advance any closer to Max.

Out of one of the parallel indentations on either side of the lens came
a burst of purple colour which circumnavigated the octo spider
spherical head, followed by bands of other colours, all of which
disappeared into the second of the two parallel slits.  When the same
colour-pattern was repeated.  Max, whose heart was pounding so fiercely
he could feel it in his jaw, shook his head and said,

"I

don't understand."  The octo spider hesitated for a moment, and then
lifted two of its tentacles off the ground, clearly pointing in the
direction of one of the four tunnels.  As if to underscore its point,
the octo shuffled in that general direction and then repeated the
gesture.

Max stood up and walked slowly towards the indicated tunnel, being
careful not to come too close to the octo spider When he reached the
entrance, another series of colour-splashes raced around the head of
the alien.

"Thank you very much," Max said politely, as he turned and walked into
the passageway.

He didn't even stop to look at his map until he was three or four
hundred me tres into the tunnel.  As Max walked along, the lights
always came on automatically in front of him and were extinguished in
the tunnel segments through which he had already passed.  When he did
finally examine the map carefully.  Max discovered that he was not far
from the designated room.

A few minutes later Max entered the chamber where the rest of the
family was gathered.  He had a big grin on his face.

"You'll never guess who I just met," Max said only moments before
Eponine greeted him with an embrace.

Soon after Max finished entertaining everyone with the story of his
encounter with the octo spider Richard and Patrick cautiously
backtracked to the cathedral room, stopping every hundred me tres or so
and listening carefully for the tell-tale sounds of the aliens.  They
heard nothing.  Nor did they hear or see anything that indicated that
the forces dispatched from New Eden were in the vicinity.  After about
an hour, Richard and Patrick returned to the rest of the group and
joined in the discussion of what they should do next.

The extended family had enough food for five days, maybe six if each
portion were carefully rationed.  Water was available at the cistern
near the cathedral room.  Everyone quickly agreed that the search-party
from
New Eden, at least this first one, would probably not stay in New York
too long.  There was a short debate about whether or not Katie might
have told Captain Bauer and his men the location of the octo spider
lair.  On one critical point there was no argument the next day or two
was the most likely period for them to be discovered by the other
humans.  As a result, except for physical necessities, none of the
family left the large room in which they were staying for the next
thirty-six hours.

At the end of that time the whole group, especially the hatchlings and
the twins, had a bad case of cabin fever.  Richard and Nai took Tammy,
Timmy, Benjy and the small children out into the passageway, trying
unsuccessfully to keep them quiet, and led them away from the cathedral
room, towards the vertical corridor with the protruding spikes that
descended deeper into the octo spider lair.  Richard, who had Nikki on
his back most of the time, warned Nai and the twins several times about
the dangers of the area they were approaching.

Even so, very soon after the tunnel widened and they arrived at the
vertical corridor, the impetuous Galileo climbed into the barrel-shaped
hole before his mother could stop him.  He quickly became frozen with
fright.  Richard had to rescue the boy from his precarious perch on two
spikes just a short distance below the level of the walkway that
encircled the top of the huge abyss.  The young avians, delighted to be
able to fly again, soared freely around the area and twice dropped
several me tres into the dark chasm, but they never went deep enough to
trigger the next lower bank of lights.

Before returning to the rest of the family, Richard took Benjy with him
for a quick inspection of what Richard and Nicole had always called the
octo spider museum.  This large room, located several hundred me tres
from the vertical corridor, was still completely empty.  Several hours
later, following Richard's suggestion, half of the extended family
moved into the museum to give everyone more living-space.

On the third day of their stay in the octo spider lair, Richard and Max
decided that someone should try to discover if the colony troops were
still in New York.  Patrick was the logical choice to be the family
scout.  Richard and Max's instructions to Patrick were straightforward
- he was to proceed cautiously to the cathedral room, and then up the
ramp into New York.  From there, using his flashlight and portable
computer as little as possible, he should cross to the northern shore
of the island and see if the boats were still there.  Whatever the
result of his investigation, he should return directly to the lair and
give them a full report.

"There is one other thing to remember," Richard said, 'that is
extremely important.  If at any time you hear either an octo spider or
a soldier, you are to turn around immediately and come back to us.

But with this one added proviso: under no circumstances should any
human see you
descend into this lair.  You cannot do anything that will endanger the
rest of us."

Max insisted that Patrick should take one of the two rifles.  Richard
and Nicole did not argue.  After receiving best wishes from everybody,
Patrick set out on his scouting mission.  He had only walked five
hundred me tres down the tunnel, however, when he heard a noise in
front of him.  He stopped to listen, but could not identify what he was
hearing.  After another hundred me tres some of the sounds began to
resolve themselves.  Patrick definitely heard the sound of dragging
brushes several times.  There was some clanging as well, as if metal
objects were hitting against each other, or against a wall.  He
listened for several minutes and then, remembering his instructions, he
returned to his family and friends.

After a long discussion Patrick was sent out again.  He was told this
time to approach as close to the octo spiders as he dared, and to watch
them quietly for as long as he could.  Again he heard the
dragging-brush sound as he drew close to the cathedral room.  But when
Patrick actually reached the large chamber at the bottom of the ramp,
there were no octo spiders around.  Where have they gone?  he
wondered.

His first impulse was to turn around and go back in the direction from
which he had come.  However, since he had not encountered any actual
octo spiders yet, he decided that he might as well go up the ramp, out
into New York, and carry out the remainder of his earlier assignment.

Patrick was shocked to discover, about a minute later, that the exit
from the octo spider lair had been sealed tight with a thick
combination of metal rods and a cement like material.  He could barely
see through the cover, and it was so heavy that all the humans together
would certainly not be able to budge it.  The octo spiders have done
this, he thought immediately, but why have they trapped us here?

Before returning to give his report, Patrick inspected the cathedral
room and found that one of the four egress tunnels had also been sealed
with what appeared to be a thick door or gate.  That must have been the
tunnel that led to the canal, he thought.  Patrick remained in the area
for another ten minutes, listening for the sounds of the octo spiders
but heard nothing more.

"So the octo spiders have never done anything hostile?"  Max was
saying angrily.

"Then what the hell do you call this?  We're fucking trapped."

He shook his head vigorously.

"I thought it was stupid to come here in the first place."

"Please, Max," Eponine said.

"Let's not argue.  Fighting among ourselves is not going to help."

All the adults except Nai and Benjy had trekked the one kilometer down
the passageway to the cathedral room to examine what the octo spiders
had done.  The humans were indeed sealed inside the lair.  Two of the
three open tunnels leading out of the chamber went to the vertical
corridor and the third, they quickly discovered, led to a large, empty
store-room from which there was no exit.

"Well, we'd better think of something fast," Max said.

"We have only four days' worth of food and absolutely no idea where to
get any more."

"I'm sorry.  Max," Nicole said, 'but I still think Richard's initial
decision was correct.  If we had stayed in our lair we would have been
captured and taken back to New Eden, where we almost certainly would
have been executed .  . ."

"Maybe," Max interrupted.

"And maybe not ... At least in that case the children would have been
spared.  And I don't think either Benjy or the doctor would have been
killed .  . ."

"This is all academic," Richard said, 'and doesn't deal with our main
problem, which is what do we do now?"

"All right, genius," Max said with a sting in his voice.

"This has been your show so far.  What do you suggest?"

Again Eponine interceded.

"You're being unfair, Max.  It's not Richard's fault we're in this
predicament .  . . And as I said before, it doesn't help .  . ."

"OK, OK," Max said.  He walked towards the passage that led to the
store-room.

"I'm going in this tunnel to calm down, and to smoke a cigarette."  He
glanced back at Eponine.

"Do you want to share?  We have exactly twenty-nine left after we smoke
this one."

Eponine smiled faintly at Nicole and Ellie.

"He's still pissed off at me
for not taking all our cigarettes when we evacuated the lair," she
said quietly.

"Don't worry .  . . Max has a bad temper, but he gets over it fast .  .
. We'll be back in a few minutes."

"What is your plan, darling?"  Nicole said to Richard a few seconds
after Max and Eponine had left.

"We don't have much choice," Richard said grimly.

"A bare minimum number of adults should stay with Benjy, the children
and the avians, while the rest of us explore this lair as quickly as
possible ... I have a hard time believing that the octo spiders really
intend for us to starve to death."

"Excuse me, Richard."  Robert Turner now spoke for the first time since
Patrick had reported that the exit to New York was sealed.

"But aren't you again assuming that the octo spiders are friendly?
Suppose they're not, or more likely in my opinion, suppose our survival
is insignificant to them one way or the other, and that they simply
sealed off this lair to protect themselves from all the humans who have
recently appeared .  . ."

Robert stopped, apparently having lost his train of thought.

"What I was Crying to say," he continued a few seconds later, 'is that
the children, including your granddaughter, are in considerable
jeopardy, psychological as well as physical I might add, in our current
situation, and I would be against any plan that left them unprotected
and vulnerable .  . ."

"You're right, Robert," Richard interrupted.

"Several adults, including at least one man, must stay with Benjy and
the children.  In fact, Nai must have her hands full right this minute
. . . Why don't you, Patrick, and Ellie return to the children now?
Nicole and I will wait for Max and Eponine and join you shortly."

Richard and Nicole were alone after the others departed.

"Ellie says that Robert is very angry most of the time now," Nicole
said quietly, 'but he does not know how to express his anger
constructively ... He told her he thinks the whole enterprise has been
a mistake from the beginning, and he spends hours brooding about it ...
Ellie says she's even worried about his stability."

Richard shook his head.

"Maybe it was a mistake," he said.

"Maybe you and I should have lived the rest of our lives here alone.  I
just thought .  . ."

At that moment Max and Eponine came back into the chamber.

"I want to apologise," Max said, extending his hand, 'to both of you. I
guess I let my fear and frustration get the better of me."

"Thank you, Max," Nicole answered.

"But an apology is really not necessary.  It would be ridiculous to
assume that this many people could go through an experience like this
without any disagreements."

Everyone was together in the museum.

"Let's review the plan one more
time," Richard said.

"Thefive of us will climb down the spikes and explore the area around
the subway platform.  We will thoroughly investigate every tunnel we
can find.  Then, if we have not found any means of escape, and the
large subway is indeed there waiting, Max, Eponine, Nicole and I will
go on board.  At that point Patrick will climb back up and rejoin you
here in the museum."

"Don't you think having all four of you on the subway is reckless?"

Robert asked.

"Why not just two of you at first?  .  . . What if the subway leaves
and never comes back?"

"Time is our enemy, Robert," Richard answered.

"If we weren't running so low on food, then we could follow a more
conservative plan.  In that case maybe only two of us would enter the
subway.  But what if the subway goes more than one place?  Since we
have already decided that, for safety, we will explore only in pairs,
it could take us a long time to find the escape route with just a
single couple doing the searching."

There was a protracted silence in the room until Timmy began to jabber
at his sister.  Nikki wandered over and began to stroke the avian's
velvet underside.

"I don't pretend that I have all the answers," Richard said.

"Nor do I underestimate the seriousness of our situation.  But if there
is a way out of here, and both Nicole and I believe that there must be,
then the sooner we find it, the better."

"Assuming that all four of you do take the subway," Patrick now asked,
'how long do we wait for you here in the museum?"

"That's a difficult question," Richard replied.

"You have enough food for four more days, and the plentiful water at
the cistern should keep you alive for some period after that ... I
don't know, Patrick.  I guess you should stay here for at least two or
three days .  . . After that, you have to make your own decision ... If
it is at all possible, one or more of us will return."

Benjy had been following the conversation with rapt attention.  He
obviously understood more or less what was happening, for he began to
cry softly.  Nicole went over to comfort him.

"Don't worry, son," she said.  "Everything is going to be all right."

The child-man looked up at his mother.

"I hope so, Mom-ma," he said, 'but I'm scared."

Galileo Watanabe suddenly jumped up and ran across the room to where
the two rifles were leaning against the wall.

"If one of those octo spider things comes in here," he said, touching
the closest rifle for a few seconds before Max lifted it free of the
boy's grasp, 'then I'll shoot it.  Bang!  Bang!"

His shouts caused the avians to shriek and little Nikki to cry.  After
Ellie wiped away her daughter's tears.  Max and Patrick shouldered the
rifles and all five of the explorers said their goodbyes.  Ellie walked
out
into the tunnel with them.

"I didn't want to say this in front of the children," she said, 'but
what should we do if we see an octo spider while you're gone?"

Try not to panic," Richard answered.  "And don't do anything
aggressive," Nicole added.  "Grab Nikki and run like hell," Max said
with a wink.

Nothing unusual happened while they climbed down the spikes.  Just as
they had years before, the lights at the next lower level always turned
on when anyone descending approached an unlit area.  All five of the
explorers were on the subway platform in less than an hour.

"Now we'll find out if those mysterious vehicles are still operating,"
Richard said.

In the centre of the circular platform there was a smaller hole, also
round and with metal spikes protruding from its sides, that descended
deeper into the darkness.  On opposite ends of the platform, ninety
degrees away to the left and right from where the five of them were
standing, two dark tunnels were cut into the rock and metal.  One of
the tunnels was large, five or six me tres from top to bottom, while
the opposite tunnel was almost exactly an order of magnitude smaller.

When Richard approached to within twenty degrees of the large tunnel,
it suddenly became illuminated and its interior could be clearly
seen.

The tunnel looked like a large sewer-pipe back on Earth.

The rest of the exploration party hurried over beside Richard as soon
as the first whooshing sound was heard coming from the tunnel.  Less
than a minute later a subway like vehicle sped around a distant corner
and headed rapidly towards them, stopping with its front end a metre or
so shy of where the spiked corridor continued to descend.

The inside of the subway was also illuminated.  There were no seats,
but there were vertical rods from the ceiling to the floor, scattered
in the car in seemingly random fashion.  The door slid open about
fifteen seconds after the subway arrived.  On the opposite side of the
platform an identical vehicle, exactly one-tenth as large, pulled up
and stopped no more than five seconds later.

Even though Max, Patrick and Eponine had all heard stories about the
two ghost subways many times, actually seeing the vehicles left all
three of them full of apprehension.

"Are you really serious, my friend?"  Max said to Richard after the two
men quickly examined the outside of the larger subway.

"Do you really intend to board that damn thing if we find no other way
out?"

Richard nodded.

"But it could go anywhere," Max said.

"We don't have the foggiest fucking idea what it is, or who built it,
or what the hell it's doing here.  And once we're on board, we're
completely helpless."

"That's right," Richard" said.  He smiled wanly.

"Max, you have an excellent grasp of our situation."

Max shook his head.

"Well, we'd better find something down in this damn hole, because I
don't know if Eponine and I .  . ."

"All right," Patrick said, approaching the other two men.

"I guess it's time for the next phase of this operation .  . . Come on.
Max, are you ready for some more spike-climbing?"

Richard did not have any of his clever robots to place in the smaller
subway.  He did, however, have in his possession a miniature camera
with a crude mobility system that he hoped would weigh enough to
activate the smaller subway.

"Under any circumstances," he told the others, 'the small tunnel does
not provide a possible exit for us.  I just want to determine for
myself if anything significant has changed during these years. Besides,
there does not seem to be any reason, at least not yet, for more than
two of us to descend any farther."

While Max and Patrick were climbing slowly down the additional spikes,
and Richard was absorbed with a final check-out of his mobile camera,
Nicole and Eponine strolled around the platform.

"How's it going, farmer?"  Eponine said to Max on the radio.

"Fine so far," he replied.

"But we're only about ten me tres below you.

These spikes are not as close together as the ones above, so we're
being more cautious."

"Your relationship with Max must have really blossomed while I was in
prison," Nicole commented a few moments later.

"Yes, it did," Eponine replied easily.

"Quite frankly, it surprised me.  I didn't think a man was capable of
having a serious affair with someone who .  . . you know .  . . but I
underestimated Max.  He is really an unusual person.  Underneath that
brusque, macho exterior .  .

."

Eponine stopped.  Nicole was smiling broadly.

"I don't think Max really fools anybody at least not those who know
him.  The tough, foulmouthed Max is an act, developed for some reason,
probably self protection back on that farm in Arkansas."

The two women were silent for several seconds.

"But I don't think I have ever given him full credit, either," Nicole
added.

"It is a tribute to him that he adores you so completely even though
you two have never been able to really .  . ."

"Oh, Nicole," Eponine said, suddenly emotional.

"Don't think I haven't wanted to, haven't dreamed about it.  And Dr
Turner has told us many times that the odds are very small that Max
would contract RV-4I if we used protection .  . . But "very small" is
not good enough for me.  What if somehow, some way, I passed to Max
this horrible scourge that is
killing me?  How could I ever forgive myself for condemning the man I
love to death?"

Tears filled Eponine's eyes.

"We are intimate, of course," she said.

"In our own safe way .  . . And Max has never once complained.  But I
can tell from his eyes that he misses .  . ."

"All right now," they heard Max say on the radio.

"We can see the bottom.  It looks like a normal floor, maybe five more
me tres below us.

There are two tunnels leading away, one the size of the smaller tunnel
up at your level, and another that is really tiny.  We're going on down
for a closer inspection."

The time had come for the explorers to enter the subway.  Richard's
mobile camera had not found anything substantively new and there was
definitely no exit the humans could use on the only level below them in
the lair.  Richard and Patrick finished a private conversation in which
they reviewed, in detail, what the young man was going to do when he
returned to the others.  Then they rejoined Max, Nicole and Eponine,
and the five of them walked slowly around the platform to the waiting
subway.

Eponine had butterflies in her stomach.  She remembered a similar
feeling, when she was fourteen, just before her first one-woman an
exhibition opened at her orphanage in Limoges.  She took a deep
breath.

"I don't mind saying it," Eponine said.

"I'm scared."

"Shit," said Max, 'that's an understatement .  . . Say, Richard, how do
we know this thing is not going to hurtle over that cliff you told us
about, with us inside?"

Richard smiled but didn't reply.  They reached the side of the
subway.

"All right," he said, 'since we don't know exactly how this thing is
activated, we want to be very careful.  We will all enter more or less
simultaneously.  That will preclude the possibility that the doors will
close and the subway will take off when we are not all yet on board."

Nobody said anything for almost a minute.  They lined up four abreast,
Max and Eponine on the side closest to the tunnel.

"Now I'm going to count," Richard said.

"When I say three, we'll all step on together."

"May I close my eyes?"  Max asked with a grin.

"That made it easier for me on roller-coasters when I was a little
boy."

"If you like," Nicole answered.

They stepped into the subway and each of them grabbed a vertical rod.

Nothing happened.  Patrick stood staring at them on the other side of
the open door.

"Maybe it's waiting for Patrick," Richard said quietly.

"I don't know," Max mumbled, 'but if this fucking train doesn't move in
a few seconds, I'm going to jump off."

The door closed slowly only moments after Max's comment.  There
was time for two breaths* each before the subway lurched into motion,
accelerating rapidly into the illuminated tunnel.

Patrick waved and followed the subway with his eyes until it
disappeared around the first corner.  Then he put his rifle on his
shoulder and began climbing up the spikes.  Please come back quickly,
he was thinking, before the uncertainty becomes too much for all of
us.

He returned to their living-level in less than fifteen minutes.  After
taking a short drink from his water-bottle, he hurried down the tunnel
to the museum.  While he was walking, he was thinking about what he was
going to say to everybody.

Patrick did not even notice that the room was dark when he crossed the
threshold.  When he entered, however, and the lights came on, he was
momentarily disorientated.  I'm not in the right place, he thought
first, i have taken the wrong tunnel.  But no, his jumbled mind now
said, as he glanced quickly around the room, this must be the room
after all.  I see a couple of feathers over there in the corner, and
one of Nikki's funny diapers .  . .

With each passing second his heart beat faster.  Where are they?

Patrick said to himself, his eyes now darting frantically around the
room for a second time.  What could have happened to them?  The longer
he stared at the empty walls, carefully recalling all the conversation
before he had departed, the more Patrick realised that his sister and
friends could not possibly have left of their own volition.  Unless
there was a note!  Patrick spent two minutes searching every nook in
the room.  There were no messages.  So someone, or something, must have
forced them to leave, he thought.

Patrick tried to think rationally, but it was impossible.  His mind
kept jumping back and forth between what he ought to do and terrible
pictures of what might have happened to the others.  At length he
concluded that perhaps they had all moved back to the original room,
the one his mother and Richard called the photo gallery, maybe because
the lights in the museum were malfunctioning or for some other equally
trivial reason.  Buoyed by this thought, Patrick dashed out into the
tunnel.

He reached the photo gallery three minutes later.  It was also empty.

Patrick sat down against the wall.  There were only two directions his
companions could have taken.  Since Patrick had not seen anyone on his
climb, the others must have gone towards the cathedral room and the
sealed exit.  As he walked down the long corridor, his hand tight
around the rifle, Patrick convinced himself that the Nakamura troops
had not left the island, and that they had somehow broken into the lair
and captured everybody else.

Just before he entered the cathedral room, Patrick heard Nikki
crying.

"Mom-my, Mom-my," she screamed, followed by a mournful wail.  Patrick
charged into the large room, not seeing anybody, and then turned up
the ramp in the direction of his niece's cry.

On the landing beneath the still-sealed exit was a chaotic scene.  In
addition to Nikki's continued wailing, Robert Turner was walking around
in a daze, his arms outstretched and his eyes upward, repeating over
and over,

"No: God, no."  Benjy was quietly sobbing in a corner while Nai was
trying, without much success, to comfort her twin sons.

When Nai saw Patrick she jumped up and ran towards him.

"Oh, Patrick," she said, tears running from her eyes,

"Ellie has been kidnapped by the octo spiders

It was several hours before Patrick put together a coherent story
about what had happened after his exploration party had left the museum
room.  Nai was still near shock from the experience, Robert could not
talk for more than a minute without breaking into tears, and both the
children and Benjy frequently interrupted, often without making any
sense.  At first all Patrick knew for certain was that the octo spiders
had come and not only kidnapped Ellie, but also taken away the avians,
the manna melons and the sessile material.

Eventually, however, after repeated questioning, Patrick thought he
understood most of the details of what had occurred.

Apparently about an hour after the five explorers had departed, which
would have been during the time that Richard, Patrick and the others
were down on the subway platform, the humans who had remained in the
museum room heard the dragging-brush sound outside the door.  When
Ellie went out to investigate, she saw octo spiders approaching from
both directions.  She returned to the room with her news and tried to
calm Benjy and the children.

When the first octo spider appeared in the doorway, all the humans
moved as far away as they could, making space for the nine or ten octos
who came inside.  At first the creatures stood together in a group,
their heads bright with the moving, coloured messages that they used to
communicate.  After a few minutes, one of the octo spiders came
slightly forward, pointed directly at Ellie by lifting one of its black
and gold tentacles off the floor, and then went through a long sequence
of colours that was quickly repeated.  Ellie guessed (according to Nai
- Robert, on the other hand, insisted that somehow Ellie knew what the
octo spider was saying) that the aliens were asking for the manna
melons and the sessile material.  She retrieved them from the corner
and handed them to the lead octo- spider.  It took the objects in three
of its tentacles ('a sight to behold," Robert exclaimed, 'the way they
use those trunk like things and the cilia underneath') and passed them
to its subordinates.

Ellie and the others thought that the octo spiders would then leave,
but they were sadly mistaken.  The lead octo continued to face Ellie
and flash
his coloured messages.  Another pair of octo spiders started moving
slowly in the direction of Tammy and Timmy.

"No," Ellie said.

"No, you can't."

But it was too late.  The pair of octo spiders wrapped many arms each
around the hatchlings and then, oblivious of the jabbers and shrieks,
carried the two avians away.  Galileo Watanabe raced out and attacked
the octo spider which had three of its tentacles wrapped around
Timmy.

The octo simply used a fourth tentacle to lift the boy off the ground
and hand him to one of its colleagues.  Galileo was passed among them
until he was put down, unhurt, in the far corner of the room.  The
intruders allowed Nai to rush over to comfort her son.

By this time three or four octo spiders the avians, the melons and the
sessile material had all disappeared out into the hallway.  There were
still six of the aliens in the room.  For about ten minutes they talked
among themselves.  All during this time, according to Robert ("I wasn't
paying close attention," Nai said.

"I was too frightened and too concerned about my children."), Ellie was
watching the coloured messages the octo spiders were exchanging.  At
one point Ellie brought Nikki over to Robert and put their daughter in
his arms.

"I

think I understand a little of what they're saying," Ellie said (the
quotation is also according to Robert), her face absolutely white.

"They intend to take me as well."

Again the lead octo spider moved towards them and started speaking in
colour, seemingly focusing on Ellie.  Exactly what happened during the
next ten minutes was a subject of considerable argument between Nai and
Robert, with Benjy siding mostly with Nai.  In Nai's version of the
story, Ellie tried to protect everyone else in the room, to make some
kind of bargain with the octo spiders With repeated hand gestures, as
well as speech, Ellie told the aliens that she would go with them
provided that the octo spiders guaranteed that all the other humans in
the room would be allowed to leave the lair safely.

"Ellie was explicit," Nai insisted.

"She explained that we were trapped and did not have enough food.
Unfortunately, they grabbed her before she was certain that they
understood the bargain."

"You're naive, Nai," Robert said, his eyes wild with confusion and
pain.

"You don't understand how really sinister those creatures are.

They hypnotised Ellie.  Yes they did.  During the early part of their
visit, when she was watching their colours so carefully.  I'm telling
you, she was not herself.  All that malarkey about guaranteeing
everyone safe passage was a subterfuge.  She wanted to go with them.

They altered her personality right there, on the spot, with those crazy
coloured patterns.  And nobody saw it but me."

Patrick discounted Robert's version considerably because Ellie's
husband was so distraught.  Nai, however, agreed with Robert on two
final points: Ellie did not struggle or protest after the first octo
spider
en wrapped her, and be forb she disappeared from the room, she recited
to them a long list of minutiae dealing with the care of Nikki.

"How can anyone in her right mind," Robert said, 'after having been
seized by an alien, calmly rattle off what blankets her daughter hugs
while she is sleeping, when Nikki last had a bowel movement, and other
such things .  . . She was obviously hypnotised, or drugged, or
something."

The tale of how everyone happened to be on the landing beneath the
sealed exit was relatively straightforward.  After the octo spiders
left with Ellie, Benjy ran out into the corridor, screaming and yelling
and vainly attacking the rear guard of the octos.  Robert joined him
and the two of them followed Ellie and the alien contingent all the way
to the cathedral room.  The gate was open to the fourth tunnel.

One octo spider held Benjy and Robert off with four long tentacles
while the others departed.  The final octo spider then locked the gate
behind itself.

The subway ride was exhilarating for Max.  It reminded him of a trip he
had made to a large amusement park outside of Little Rock when he was
ten years old.  The train was suspended above what looked like a metal
tape, and touched nothing as it sped through the tunnel.  Richard
conjectured that it was powered in some way by magnetism.

The subway stopped after about two minutes and the door quickly opened.
The four explorers looked out at a plain platform, creamy white in
colour, behind which was an archway about three me tres high.

"I guess, according to plan A," Max said, 'that Eponine and I should
exit here."

"Yes," said Richard.

"Of course, if the subway doesn't move again, then Nicole and I will
join you shortly."

Max took Eponine's hand and stepped gingerly down on the platform.  As
soon as they were clear of the subway, the door closed.  Several
seconds later the train sped away.

"Well, isn't this romantic?"  Max said, after he and Eponine had waved
goodbye to Richard and Nicole.

"Here we are, just the two of us, finally all alone."  He put his arms
around Eponine and kissed her.

"I

just want you to know, Frenchie, that I love you.  I have no idea where
in the fuck we are, but wherever it is, I'm glad to be here with
you."

Eponine laughed.

"I had a girl-friend at the orphanage whose fantasy was to be all alone
on a desert island with a famous French actor named Marcel duBois, who
had a mammoth chest and arms like tree-trunks.  I wonder how she would
have felt in this place."  She looked around.

"I guess we're supposed to go under the archway."

Max shrugged.

"Unless a white rabbit comes along that we can follow into some kind of
a hole .  . ."

On the other side of the archway was a large rectangular room with
blue walls.  The room was absolutely empty and there was only one exit,
through an open doorway into a narrow, illuminated corridor that ran
parallel to the subway tunnel.  All the walls in this corridor, which
continued in both directions for as far as Max and Eponine could see,
were the same blue colour as in the room behind the archway.

"Which way do we go?"  Max asked.

"In this direction I can see what looks like two doors leading away
from the subway," Eponine said, pointing to her right.

"And there are two more this way as well," Max said, looking left.

"Why don't we walk to the first doorway, look into it, and then decide
on a strategy?"

Arm in arm they walked fifty me tres down the blue corridor.  What they
saw when they came to the next doorway dismayed them.  Another
identical blue corridor, with occasional doorways along its length,
stretched in front of them for many me tres

"Shit," said Max.

"We are about to enter some kind of a maze .  . . We damn sure don't
want to get lost."

"So what do you think we should do?"  Eponine asked.

"I think .  . ."  Max said, hesitating,

"I think we should smoke a cigarette and talk this over."

Eponine laughed.

"I couldn't agree with you more," she said.

They proceeded very carefully.  Each time they turned into another blue
corridor.  Max made marks with Eponine's lipstick on the wall,
indicating the entire path back to the room behind the archway.  He
also insisted that Eponine, who was more adroit with a computer than he
was, keep duplicate records on her portable.

"In case something comes along that removes my marks," Max said.

In the beginning their adventure was fun, and the first two times they
backtracked to the archway, just to prove they could do it, Max and
Eponine felt a certain sense of accomplishment.  But after an hour or
so, when every turn kept producing another identical blue scene, their
excitement began to wane.  At length Max and Eponine stopped, sat down
on the floor, and shared another cigarette.

"Now why would any intelligent creature," Max said, blowing smoke rings
into the air, 'create a place like this?  .  . . Either we are
unwittingly undergoing a test of some kind .  . ."

"Or there's something here that they don't want anybody to find
easily," Eponine finished.  She took the cigarette from Max and inhaled
deeply.  "Now if that's the case," she continued, 'then there must be
some simple code that defines the location of the special place or
thing, a code like one of those ancient combination-locks, second
right, fourth left, and .  . ."

"Straight on until morrttng," Max interrupted with a grin.  He kissed
Eponine briefly and then stood up.

"So what we should do is assume we're looking for something special,
and organise our search logically."

When Eponine was on her feet she looked at Max with a furrowed brow.

"Just exactly what did that last statement of yours mean?"

"I'm not certain," Max replied with a laugh, 'but it sure as hell
sounded intelligent."

Max and Eponine had been walking up and down blue corridors for almost
four hours when they decided it was time to eat.  They had just started
their lunch of Raman food when off to their left, at a full
intersection of corridors, they saw something pass.  Max jumped to his
feet and ran to the intersection.  He arrived not more than a few
seconds before a tiny vehicle, maybe ten centime tres high, made a
right turn into the next nearby hallway.  Max scrambled forward and was
barely able to see the vehicle disappear under a small archway, cut
into the wall of another blue corridor, about twenty me tres away.

"Come here," he yelled at Eponine.

"I've found something."

Eponine was quickly beside him.  The top of the small archway in the
wall was only about twenty-five centime tres above the floor, so both
of them had to drop down on their knees, and then bend over some more,
to see where the vehicle had gone.  What they saw first was fifty or
sixty tiny creatures, about the size of ants, climbing out of the bus
like vehicle, and then scattering in all directions.

"What the hell is this?"  Max exclaimed.

"Look, Max," Eponine said excitedly.

"Look carefully .  . . Those little creatures are octo spiders .  . .
You see ... They look just like the one you described to me .  . ."

"Well, I'll be damned," Max said.

"You're right .  . . They must be baby octo spiders

"I don't think so," Eponine replied.

"The way they're going into those little hives, or houses, or whatever
. . . Look, there's a canal of some kind, and a boat .  . ."

"The camera," Max shouted.

"Go back and get the camera .  . . There's an entire miniature city
here."

Max and Eponine had taken off their backpacks and other gear, including
Eponine's camera, when they had sat down on the floor to eat.  Eponine
jumped up and raced back for the camera.  Max continued to be
fascinated by the complex miniature world he saw on the other side of
the archway.  A minute later he heard a faint scream and a cold shiver
of fear coursed through him.

You stupid idiot.  Max thought as he hurried back to where they had
been eating.  Never, never leave your rifle.

He made the last turn and then stopped sharply.  Between Max and where
he had been eating with Eponine were five octo spiders One had en
wrapped her with three of its tentacles, another had seized Max's
rifle.  A third octo spider was holding Eponine's backpack, into which
all her personal items had been neatly placed.

The look on her face was sheer terror.

"Help me.  Max .  . . Please,"

Eponine entreated.

Max stepped forward but was blocked by two of the octo spiders One of
them sent a stream of coloured bands around its head.

"I don't understand what the fuck you're telling me," Max shouted in
frustration.

"But you must let her go."

Like a football halfback.  Max darted past the first two octo spiders
and had almost reached Eponine when he felt tentacles coiling around
him, pinning his arms to his chest.  Struggle was useless.  The
creature was unbelievably strong.

Three of the octo spiders including the one who had captured Eponine,
began to move down the blue corridor away from him.

"Max .  . . Max,"

the terrified Eponine cried.  He could do nothing.  The octo spider who
was holding Max did not move.  After another minute he could no longer
hear Eponine's cries.

Max was en wrapped for about ten more minutes before he felt the
powerful muscles that were holding him relax.

"So what happens now?"

Max said when he was free.

"What are you bastards going to do next?"

One of the octos pointed toward his pack, which was still leaning
against the wall where Max had left it.  He slumped down beside it and
pulled out some food and water.  The octo spiders talked to each other
in colour while Max, who understood very well that he was being
guarded, ate a few bites of his food.

These corridors are too narrow, he thought, thinking about trying to
escape.  And those goddamn things are too big, especially with their
long tentacles.  I guess I'll just have to wait for whatever comes
next.

The two octo spiders did not move from their post for hours.  At length
Max fell asleep on the floor between them.

When he woke up Max was alone.  He walked cautiously to the first
corner and looked both ways down the blue corridor.  He saw nothing.

After spending a minute studying the lipstick marks on the wall, and
adding a few scribbles describing the location of the city of the tiny
octo spiders Max returned to the room behind the subway platform.

He had no clear idea of what he should do next.  He spent several
futile minutes wandering the blue corridors and yelling Eponine's name
periodically, but his effort was wasted.  He eventually decided to sit
on the platform and wait for the subway.  After more than an hour,
Max
was almost ready to returiFto the miniature octo spider city when he
heard the whoosh of the approaching subway.  It was coming from the
direction opposite the spiked vertical corridors.

As the subway drew near, he saw Richard and Nicole through the
windows.

"Max!"  they yelled simultaneously, even before the door opened.

Both Richard and Nicole were extremely excited.

"We have found it,"

Richard exclaimed, as he jumped down on to the platform.

"A giant room, with a dome maybe forty me tres high, in rainbow colours
. . .

It's on the other side of the Cylindrical Sea the subway goes right
through the sea in a transparent tunnel .  . He paused as the subway
whooshed away.

"It has bathrooms and beds and running water," Nicole added rapidly.

"And fresh food, believe it or not .  . . some weird kinds of fruits
and vegetables, but they're really great for all .  . ."

"Where's Eponine?"  Nicole said suddenly, interrupting Richard in the
middle of his sentence.

"She's gone," Max replied tersely.

"Gone?"  said Richard.

"But how .  . . where?"

"Your non-hostile friends have kidnapped her," Max said drily.

"Whaaat?"  said Richard.

Max told the story slowly and accurately, without omitting anything
important.  Both Richard and Nicole listened attentively until he was
finished.

"They outsmarted us," Richard commented at the end, shaking his head.

"Not us," Max said in frustration.

"They outsmarted me.  They lulled Ep and me into believing we were
solving some kind of puzzle in that maze of blue corridors .  . . Shit.
Just shit."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Nicole said quietly, touching Max on
the shoulder.

"You had no way of knowing .  . ."

"But what colossal stupidity," Max said, raising his voice.

"I bring along a rifle, for protection, and where is that rifle when
our eight-legged monster friends show up?  Leaning against the fucking
wall .  . ."

"We were initially in a similar place," Richard said, 'except all our
corridors were red instead of blue.  Nicole and I explored for about an
hour and then returned to the platform.  The subway picked us up again
in ten minutes and then took us through the Cylindrical Sea."

"Have you looked for Eponine at all?"  Nicole asked.

Max nodded.

"Sort of.  I wandered around and shouted her name a few times."

"Maybe we should give it another try," Nicole suggested.

The three friends returned to the world of the blue corridors.  When
they came to the first intersection, Max explained his lipstick marks
on the wall to Richard and Nicole.

"I guess we should split up," Max said.

"That would probably be a more efficient way to search for her ... Why
don't we meet at the room behind the archway in, say, half an hour?"

At the second corner Max, who was now by himself, found no lipstick
map.  Puzzled, he tried to remember if he could possibly have failed to
make a map at every turn or maybe he never even came this way .  . .

While he was deep in thought, he felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly
jumped out of his skin.

"Whoa," said Richard, seeing his friend's face.

"It's only me ... Didn't you hear me calling your name?"

"No," said Max, shaking his head.

"I was only two corridors away .  . . There must be fantastic acoustic
attenuation in this place .  . . Anyway, neither Nicole nor I found one
of your maps when we made our second turn.  So we weren't certain . .

."

"Shit," said Max emphatically.

"Those clever bastards have cleaned the walls .  . . Don't you see?
They have planned this entire affair from the beginning, and we have
done exactly what they expected."

"But Max," Richard said, 'there's no way they could have accurately
predicted everything we were going to do.  Even we didn't know our
strategy completely.  So how could they .  . ."

"I can't explain it," Max said.

"But I feel it.  Those creatures deliberately waited until Eponine and
I were eating before they let us see that vehicle.  They knew we would
give chase, and that they would have a chance to seize Eponine .  . .
And somehow they were watching us all the time .  . ."

Even Max agreed that it was useless to search any longer for Eponine in
the maze of blue corridors.

"She's almost certainly not here any more," he said dejectedly.

While the trio waited on the platform for the subway, Richard and
Nicole told Max more details about the large room with the rainbow dome
on the southern side of the Cylindrical Sea.

"OK," said Max when they were finished, 'one connection is clear, even
to this Arkansas farm- boy.  The rainbow in the dome is obviously
connected with the rainbow in the sky that distracted Nakamura's
troops.  So the rainbow people, whoever they are, don't want us to get
captured.  And they don't want us to starve to death .  . . They're
probably the ones who built the subway, or at least that makes some
sense to me.  But what is the relationship between the rainbow people
and the octo spiders

"Before you told me about Eponine's kidnapping," Richard replied,

"I

was virtually certain they were one and the same.  Now I don't know.

It's difficult to interpret what you experienced as anything other than
a hostile act."

Max laughed.

"Richard, you have such a way with words.  Why do you keep giving those
ugly bastards the benefit of the doubt?  I would have
 e expected it from Nicole but those octo spiders once kept you
prisoner for months, sent little creatures up your nose, and probably
even tampered with your brain .  . ."

"We don't know that for sure," Richard said quietly.  "All right,"

said Max.

"But I think you're discounting a lot of evidence .  . ."

Max stopped when he heard the familiar whoosh.  The subway arrived,
heading in the direction of the octo spider lair.

"Now why is it," Max said with a trace of sarcasm, just before they
stepped into the train, 'that this subway always happens to be going in
the right direction?"

Patrick had managed eventually to talk Robert and Nai into returning to
the museum room.  It had not been easy.  Both the adults and the
children had been severely traumatised by the octo spider attack.

Robert could not sleep at all, and the twins were plagued by dreams
from which they would awaken screaming.  By the time Richard, Nicole
and Max showed up, the remaining food was almost gone and Patrick had
already started formulating contingency plans.

It was a subdued reunion.  Both the kidnappings were discussed at
length, leaving all the adults, even Nicole, acutely depressed.  There
was very little excitement about the rainbow dome in the south.  But
there was no question about what they should do.  Richard summarised
their situation succinctly.

"At least there's food under the dome,"

he said.

They packed all their belongings in silence.  Patrick and Max carried
the children down the spiked vertical corridor.  The subway appeared
soon after everyone was on the platform.  It did not stop at either of
the two intermediate stations, just as Max had wryly predicted, but
instead hurtled on into the transparent tunnel through the Cylindrical
Sea.  The strange and wonderful sea-creatures on the other sides of the
tunnel wall, almost certainly all biots, fascinated the children and
reminded Richard of his voyage to New York, years before, when he had
come to look for Nicole.

The vast chamber under the dome at the other end of the subway line was
indeed staggering.  Although Benjy and the children were more
interested, initially, in the variety of fresh new food that was spread
out along a long table on one side of the room, the adults all wandered
around in amazement, not only staring at the brilliant colours of the
rainbow far above their heads, but also examining all the alcoves off
the back of the platform, where the bathrooms and individual
sleeping-suites were located.

Max marched off the dimensions of the main floor.  It was fifty me tres
from side to side, at its widest point, and forty me tres from the edge
of the subway platform to the white walls and the alcove entrances on
the
back side of the room.  Patrick came over to talk to Max, who was
standing beside the slot cut into the platform for the subway, while
everyone else was discussing the allocation of the sleeping-suites.

"I'm sorry about Eponine," Patrick said, putting his hand on his
friend's shoulder.

Max shrugged.

"In a way it's worse that Ellie is gone.  I don't know if Robert or
Nikki will ever recover completely."

The two men stood side by side and stared at the long, dark, empty
tunnel.

"You know, Patrick," Max said grimly,

"I wish I could convince the farmer in me that our troubles are over
and that the rainbow people are going to take care of us."

Kepler came running up with a long vegetable that looked like a green
carrot.

"Mr Puckett," he said, 'you must try this.  It's the best."

Max accepted the little boy's gift and placed the vegetable in his
mouth.  He took a bite.

"This is good, Kepler," he said, tousling the boy's hair.  "Thank you
very much."

Kepler raced back to the others.  Max chewed the vegetable slowly.

"I

always took excellent care of my pigs and chickens," he said to
Patrick.  "They had good food and great living conditions."  Max
gestured with his right hand towards the dome and the table laden with
food.

"But I also removed the animals, a few at a time, when I was ready to
slaughter them or sell them at the market."

 The Rainbow Connection
Nicole was lying on her back, awake again in the middle of the
night.

In the dim light of their bedroom she could see Richard sleeping
soundlessly beside her.  At length she rose quietly and crossed the
room, exiting into the large, main chamber of their temporary home.

The intelligence that controlled the illumination made it easy for the
humans to sleep, always sharply reducing the light shining through the
rainbow dome for roughly eight hours in each twenty-four-hour period.
During these 'night' intervals, the main chamber underneath the dome
was only softly lit, and the individual bedrooms cut into the walls,
which had no lights of their own, were dark enough for restful sleep.

For several consecutive nights Nicole had slept fitfully, awakening
often from disquieting dreams that she could not quite remember.  This
particular night, as she struggled unsuccessfully to recapture the
images that had disturbed her rest, Nicole walked slowly around the
perimeter of the large circular room in which her family and friends
spent most of their time.  On the far side of the chamber, near the
empty subway platform, she stopped and stared into the dark tunnel that
led through the Cylindrical Sea.

What is really going on here?  Nicole wondered.  What power or
intelligence is providing for us now?

It had been four weeks since the small human contingent had first
reached this magnificent cavern constructed underneath the Southern
Hemicylinder of Rama.  The new living-quarters had obviously been
designed, at considerable effort, specifically for them.  The bedrooms
and the bathrooms in the alcoves were indistinguishable from those in
New Eden.  The first subway to return, after they had arrived at the
dome, had brought more food and water, plus couches, chairs and tables
to furnish their living-areas.  The humans had even been supplied with
dishes, glasses and eating utensils.  Who, or what, knew enough about
everyday human activity to provide such detailed implements?

It is obviously someone who has observed us very carefully, Nicole was
thinking.  Her mind conjured up an image of The Eagle and she
realised
that she was engaging in'^Wishful thinking.  But who else could it
be?

Only the Romans and the Nodal Intelligence have enough information .

. .

Her thoughts were broken by a sound behind her.  Nicole turned and saw
Max Puckett approaching from across the chamber.

"You can't sleep either?"  he said as he drew near.

Nicole shook her head.

"These last few nights I've been having bad dreams."

"I keep worrying about Eponine," Max said.

"I can still see the terror in her eyes as she was dragged away."  He
turned away in silence and faced the subway tunnel.

And what about you, Ellie?  Nicole wondered, feeling a sharp pang of
anxiety.  Are you safe with the octo spiders Or is Max correct about
them?  Are Richard and I deluding ourselves by believing the octos do
not intend to harm us?

"I can't just sit here any longer," Max said quietly to Nicole.

"I

must do something to help Eponine ... Or at least to convince myself
I'm trying."

"But what can you do.  Max?"  Nicole asked after a short pause.

"Our only contact with the outside world is that damn subway," Max
said.

"The next time it comes to bring us food and water, which should be
either tonight or tomorrow, I intend to climb on board and stay there.
When it leaves, I will ride until it stops.  Then I will try to find an
octo spider and have myself captured."

Nicole recognised the desperation in her friend's face.

"You're grasping at straws.  Max," she said softly.

"You will not find an octo spider unless they are willing .  . .
Besides, we need you .  . ."

"Shit, Nicole, I'm not needed here," Max had raised his voice.

"And there's absolutely nothing to do, except talk to each other and
play with the children.  At least in your lair there was always the
option of taking a walk in the dark of New York .  . . Meanwhile,
Eponine and Ellie may be dead, or wishing they were.  It's time we did
something .

. ."

As he was talking they both saw lights flicker in the distant reaches
of the subway tunnel.

"Here it comes again," Max said.

"I'll help you unload after I finish packing my things."  He ran off in
the direction of his bedroom.

Nicole stayed to watch the approaching subway.  As always, lights came
on in front of the train as it rushed through the tunnel.  A few
minutes later the subway pulled into its slot, an incision in the
circular floor of the room, and stopped abruptly.  After the doors
opened, Nicole went over to examine the inside of the train.

In addition to four large jugs of water, the subway contained the usual
collection of fresh produce that the humans had learned to eat and
enjoy, plus a large squeeze-tube of a sticky substance that tasted not
unlike a
mixture of oranges and honey.  But where is all this food grown?
Nicole asked herself for the hundredth time as she began unloading the
food.

She recalled the many family discussions of the subject.  The consensus
conclusion was always that there must be large farms somewhere in the
Southern Hemicylinder.

About who was feeding them there was less agreement.  Richard was
certain that they were being fed by the octo spiders themselves,
primarily because all their supplies passed through territory he
considered to be octo spider domain.  It was hard to argue with his
logic.  Max agreed that what they were eating was indeed being supplied
by the octo spiders However, he attributed sinister motives to all octo
spider actions.  If they were being fed by the octo spiders he
asserted, then it was not for humanitarian purposes.

Why would the octo spiders be our benefactors?  Nicole wondered.  i
agree with Max that feeding us is inconsistent with kidnapping Eponine
and Ellie .  . . Isn't it just possible that some other species is
involved?  One that has chosen to intercede on our behalf?  Despite
Richard's gentle ridicule in the privacy of their own bedroom, a part
of Nicole clung stubbornly to the hope that there were indeed some
'rainbow people', higher in the development hierarchy than the octo
spiders who were somehow interested in the preservation of the
vulnerable humans and were ordering the octo spiders to feed them.

The contents of the subway always included a surprise.  At the back of
the car this time were six balls of various sizes, each a different
bright colour.

"Look, Max," Nicole said.  He had returned with his pack and was
helping her unload.

"They have even sent balls for the children to play with."

"Wonderful," Max said sarcastically.

"Now we can all listen to the children argue about which ball belongs
to whom."

When they had finished emptying the subway, Max climbed into the car
and sat down on the floor.

"How long will you wait?"  Nicole asked.

"As long as it takes," Max said grimly.

"Did you discuss what you're doing with anyone else?"  Nicole
inquired.

"Hell, no," Max replied vehemently.

"Why should I?  ... We're not operating a democracy here."  Max leaned
forward in his sitting position.  "Sorry, Nicole, but I'm just
generally pissed off right now.  Eponine has been gone for a month,
I've run out of cigarettes, and I'm easily annoyed."  He forced a
smile.

"Clyde and Winona used to tell me, when I was acting like this, that I
had a burr up my ass."

"It's all right, Max," Nicole said a short while later.  She hugged him
briefly before leaving.

"I just hope you'll be safe, wherever you go."

* *
 e The subway did not depart.  Max stubbornly refused to leave the
train, not even to go to the bathroom.  His friends brought Max food,
water, and the necessary materials for him to keep the train clean.  By
the end of the third day, the food supply was dwindling rapidly.

"Someone must talk to Max soon," Robert said to the other adults after
the children were asleep.

"It's clear that the subway is not going to move as long as he is on
board."

"I plan to discuss the situation with him in the morning," Nicole
said.

"But we're running out of food now," Robert protested.

"And we don't know how long it takes .  . ."

"We can ration what we have left," Richard interrupted, 'and make it
last at least two more days .  . . Look, Robert, we're all tense and
tired ... It will be better to talk to Max after a good night's
sleep."

"What do we do if Max does not willingly leave the subway?"  Richard
asked Nicole when they were alone.

"I don't know," Nicole said.

"Patrick asked me the same question this afternoon .  . . He's afraid
of what will happen if we try to force Max out of the train .  . .
Patrick says that Max is tired and very angry."

Richard was sound asleep long before Nicole had stopped thinking about
the best way to approach Max.  A confrontation should be avoided at all
costs, she thought.  That means I should talk to him alone, vsithout
any of the others even within earshot .  . . But what exactly should I
say?  And how do I respond if Max reacts negatively?

When Nicole finally fell asleep, she was exhausted.  Again her dreams
were troubled.  In her first dream, the villa at Beauvois was on fire
and she could not find Genevieve.  Then the dream venue changed
abruptly and Nicole was again seven years old in the Ivory Coast,
participating in the Poro ceremony.  She was swimming half-naked in the
little pond in the centre of the oasis.  On the banks of the pond the
lioness was on the prowl, searching for the human girl who had
disturbed her cub.  Nicole submerged to avoid the sharp eyes of the
lioness.  When she came up for a breath, the lioness was gone, but
three octo spiders were now patrolling the pond.

"Mother, Mother," Nicole heard Elbe's voice say.

Treading water, Nicole's eyes raced around the perimeter of the pond.

"We're all right, Mother," Ellie's voice distinctly said.

"Don't worry about us."

But where was Ellie in the scene?  Dreaming Nicole saw a human
silhouette in the woods behind the three octo spiders and called out,
"Ellie, is that you Ellie?"

The dark figure said

"Yes' in Ellie's voice and then walked out to where he could be seen in
the moonlight.  Nicole recognised the bright white teeth immediately.

"Omeh," she shouted, a wave of terror running down her spine.  Omeh
.

. ."

Nicole was awakened by a persistent nudging.  Richard was sitting
beside her in the bed.

"Are you all right, darling?"  he said.

"You were shouting Ellie's name .  . . and then Omeh."

"I had another one of my vivid dreams," Nicole said, rising and putting
on her clothes.

"I was told that Eponine and Ellie are safe, wherever they are."

Nicole finished dressing.

"Where are you going at this hour?"  Richard asked.

"To talk to Max," Nicole replied.

She hurried out of their bedroom and into the main chamber underneath
the dome.  For some reason, Nicole glanced up at the ceiling just when
she entered the chamber.  She saw something she had never noticed
before.  There appeared to be a landing or platform cut several me tres
beneath the dome.  Why have I never seen that landing before?  Nicole
wondered as she jogged towards the subway.  Because the shadows are so
different during the day?  Or because that landing has recently been
constructed?

Max was sleeping in a ball in the corner of the subway.  Nicole entered
very quietly.  A few seconds before she touched him, Max murmured
Eponine's name twice.  Then his head jerked.

"Yes, dear," he said quite distinctly.

"Max," Nicole whispered in his ear.

"Wake up, Max."

When Max awakened he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"I've had the most amazing dream, Max," Nicole said.

"I now know that Ellie and Eponine are all right .  . . I've come to
ask you to leave the subway, so it can bring us more food.  I know how
much you want to do something .  . ."

Nicole stopped.  Max had risen to his feet and was preparing to descend
from the subway.  He still had a completely bewildered expression on
his face.

"Let's go," he said.

"Just like that?"  Nicole said, astonished that she had encountered so
little resistance.

"Yes," said Max, stepping down from the train.  Only a few moments
after Nicole had also left the subway, its doors closed and the vehicle
accelerated swiftly away from them.

"When you woke me up," Max said, as Nicole and he watched the subway
disappear,

"I was in the middle of a dream.  I was talking to Eponine.

The instant before I heard your voice she told me you were going to
bring me an important message."

Max shuddered, then laughed and started walking towards the alcoves.

"Of course I don't believe in any of that ESP shit, but it certainly
was a remarkable coincidence."

* *
The subway returned before it was dark again.  This time there were
two cars on the train.  The front car was bright and open and full of
food and water as it had always been before.  The second car was
totally dark.  Its doors did not open and its windows were covered.

"Well, well," Max said, walking to the edge of the subway slot and
trying unsuccessfully to open the second car, 'what have we here?"

After the food and water had been unloaded from the front car, the
subway did not depart as usual.  The humans waited, but the mysterious
second car refused to yield its secrets.  At length Nicole and her
friends decided to proceed with dinner.  The conversation during the
meal was subdued and full of wary speculation about their intruder.

When little Kepler innocently suggested that perhaps Eponine and Ellie
might be inside the dark car, Nicole retold the story of finding
Richard in a coma after his long sojourn with the octo spiders A sense
of foreboding spread among the humans.

"We should keep a watch throughout the night," Max suggested after
dinner, 'so that there can be no possibility of any kind of devious
trick while we're asleep.  I'll take the first four-hour shift."

Patrick and Richard also volunteered to help with the watch.  Before
going to bed, the whole family, including Benjy and the children,
marched to the edge of the platform and stared at the subway.

"What could be inside, Ma-ma?"  Benjy asked.

"I don't know, darling," Nicole answered, hugging her son.

"I really have no idea at all."

An hour before the lights in the dome brightened the next morning,
Richard and Nicole were awakened by Patrick and Max.

"Come," Max said to them excitedly, 'you've got to see this .  . ."

In the centre of the main chamber were four large, black, segmented,
bilaterally symmetrical creatures that were antlike in shape and
structure.  To each of their three body segments were attached both a
pair of legs and another pair of deploy able prehensile appendages that
were, as the humans watched, busily stacking material in piles.

The creatures were a wonder to behold.  Each of the long, snakelike
'arms' had the versatility of an elephant's trunk, with one additional
(and useful) capability.  When any particular arm was not being used,
either to lift something or to balance a weight being carried by its
opposite member, that arm would withdraw into its 'case' in the side of
the being, where it would remain tightly coiled until needed again.
Thus, when the alien beings were not performing any task, their arms
were out of sight and did not impede their movement.

The stunned humans continued to watch with rapt attention as the
bizarre creatures, almost two me tres long and a metre tall, quickly
emptied the contents of the dark subway car, briefly surveyed their
stacks, and then departed with the train.  As soon as the aliens had
disappeared, Max, Patrick, Richard and Nicole walked over to examine
the piles.  There were objects of all shapes and sizes in the stacks,
but the dominant single part was a long flat piece that resembled a
conventional stair-step.

"If I had to guess," Richard said, picking up a small item that was
shaped like a fountain-pen,

"I would say that this stuff is between cement and steel in
bearing-strength."

"But what is it for, Uncle Richard?"  Patrick asked.

"They are going to build something, I would assume."

"And who are they?"  Max said.

Richard shrugged and shook his head.

"These creatures that just left struck me as advanced domestic animals,
capable of complicated, sequential tasks but not real thinking."

"So they are not Mama's rainbow people?"  Patrick said.

"Certainly not," Nicole answered with a wan smile.

The rest of the humans, including the children, were thoroughly briefed
about the new creatures during breakfast.  All the adults agreed that
if the aliens returned, as expected, there should be no interference
with whatever task they were doing, unless it was determined that the
creatures' activities constituted some kind of serious threat.

When the subway pulled into its slot three hours later, two of the new
beings clambered out of the front car and hurried into the centre of
the main chamber.  Each was carrying a small pot, into which it dipped
one of its arms frequently as it made bright red markings on the floor.
Eventually these red lines circumscribed a region containing the subway
platform, all the material that had been placed in stacks, and about
half the area of the room.

Moments later, another dozen of the huge animals with the trunk like
appendages poured forth from the two subway cars, several carrying on
their backs large and heavy curvilinear structures.  They were followed
by two octo spiders with unusually bright colours streaming around
their spherical heads.  The two octo spiders sauntered into the centre
of the chamber, where they inspected the piles of material, and then
ordered the antlike creatures to begin some kind of construction
task.

"So the plot thickens," Max said to Patrick as the two men watched
together from a distance.

"It is indeed our octo spider friends who are in control here, but just
what in the world are they doing?"

"Who knows?"  Patrick replied, mesmerised by what he was seeing.

"Look, Nicole," Richard said a few minutes later, 'over by that large
stack.  That ant-thing is definitely reading the octo spider
colours."

"So what do we do now'?1 Nicole said in a low voice.  "I guess we just
watch and wait," Richard answered.

All the construction activity took place inside the red lines that had
been painted on the floor.  Several hours later, after another
subway-load of the large curvilinear components had been delivered and
unloaded, the overall shape of what was being built became clear.

On one side of the room a vertical cylinder, four me tres in diameter,
was being erected.  Its top segment was eventually positioned level
with the bottom of the dome.  Inside the cylinder, the stair-steps were
placed so that they wound up and around the centre of the structure.

The work continued unabated for thirty-six hours.  The octo spider
architects supervised the giant ants with the versatile arms.  The only
significant break in the activity came when Kepler and Galileo, who
tired of watching the alien construction after several hours,
inadvertently allowed a ball to bounce across the red paint and into
one of the antlike creatures.  All work halted instantly and an octo
spider hurried over, both to retrieve the ball and seemingly to
reassure the worker.  With an adroit motion of two of its tentacles,
the octo spider threw the ball back to the children and the work
resumed.

Everyone except Max and Nicole was asleep when the aliens finished
their staircase, picked up their residual materials, and departed in
the subway.  Max walked over to the cylinder and stuck his head inside.
"Pretty impressive," he said coyly, 'but what is it for?"

"Come on.  Max," Nicole replied, 'be serious.  It's obvious that we are
supposed to climb the stairs."

"Shit, Nicoie," Max said.

"I know that.  But wkyf Why do those octo spiders want us to climb out
of here?  .  . . You know, they've manipulated us since the moment we
entered their lair.  They have kidnapped Eponine and Ellie, moved us
into the Southern Hemicylinder, and refused to let me go back to New
York .  . . What would happen if we decided not to go along with their
plan?"

Nicole stared at her friend.

"Max, would it be all right with you if we postponed this conversation
until we're all together in the morning?  .  . . I'm very tired."

"Certainly," Max said.

"But tell that husband of yours I think we should do something
completely unpredictable, like maybe even walking back through the
tunnel to the octo spider lair.  I have an uneasy feeling about where
all this is leading us."

"We don't know all the answers.  Max," Nicole answered wearily, 'but I
really don't see we have much choice except to comply with their wishes
as long as the octo spiders control our food and water supply .

. . Maybe in this situation we must simply have some faith."

"Faith?"  said Max.

"That's just another word for not thinking."  He walked back over to
the cylinder.

"And this amazing staircase could be taking us to hell as easily as
heaven."

In the morning the subway returned with new food and water.  After it
had departed, and everyone had inspected the enclosed cylindrical
structure, Max argued that the time had come for the humans to show
that they were 'tired of being pushed around' by the octo spiders Max
suggested that he, and anyone who wanted to go with him, should take
the single remaining rifle and trek back through the tunnel under the
Cylindrical Sea.

"But what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"  Richard asked.

"I want them to capture me and take me to where they are holding
Eponine and Ellie.  Then I will know for certain they are all right.

Nicole's dreams are really not sufficient .  . ."

"But, Max," Richard countered, 'your plan is not logical.  Think about
it.  Even assuming that you are not run over by the subway while you're
in the tunnel, how are you going to explain what you want to the octo
spiders

"I was hoping for some help from you, Richard," Max said.

"I remember how you and Nicole communicated with the avians.  Maybe you
could use your computer skills to make a graphics picture of Eponine
for me.

Then I could show it to the octo spiders using my monitor .  . ."

Nicole sensed the entreaty in Max's voice.  She touched Richard's
hand.

"Why not?"  she said.

"Someone could explore where the staircase leads while you create
computer pictures of Eponine and Ellie for Max."

"I would like to go with Max," Robert Turner said suddenly.

"If there's any chance at all of finding Ellie, then I want to take it
... Nikki will be all right as long as she is here with her
grandparents."

Although Richard and Nicole were both concerned about what they were
hearing, they chose not to express their anxieties in front of everyone
else.  Patrick was asked to climb the staircase and do some minimal
exploring while Richard was performing his computer-graphics wizardry.
Max and Robert went to their bedrooms to prepare for their trek.
Meanwhile, Nicole and Nai were left alone with Benjy and the children
in the main chamber.

"You think it's a mistake for Max and Robert to go back, don't you,
Nicole?"  Nai's question was asked, as always, in the gentle tone that
characterised her personality.

"Yes," said Nicole.

"But I'm not certain that my thoughts are relevant in this situation .
. . Both men feel bereft and frustrated.  It is important to them that
some action be taken that is aimed at reuniting them with their
partners .  . . Even if the action doesn't make a lot of logical
sense."

"What do you think will happen to them?"  Nai asked.

"I don't know," Nicole replied.

"But I don't think Max and Robert will find Eponine and Ellie.  In my
opinion, each woman was kidnapped for a specific reason .  . . Although
I have no idea what those reasons were, I believe the octo spiders will
not harm Eponine and Ellie, and will eventually return them both to
us."

"You are very trusting," Nai said.

"Not really," said Nicole.

"My experiences with the octo spiders lead me to believe that we are
dealing with a species with a highly developed sense of morality ... I
admit that the kidnappings do not seem to be in concert with that
picture and I don't fault either Max or Robert for coming to their own,
very different conclusions about the octo spiders but I would bet that
we will, in the long run, understand even the purpose of the
kidnappings."

"In the meantime," Nai said, 'we face a difficult situation.  If Max
and Robert both leave, and never return .  . ."

"I know," said Nicole, 'but there's nothing we can really do about
it.

They have decided.  Max especially, that they must make some kind of
statement now.  It's a little old-fashioned, macho even, but
understandable.  The rest of us must accommodate their needs, even if,
in our opinion, their actions seem capricious."

Patrick returned in less than an hour.  He reported that the staircase
ended on a landing that narrowed into a hallway behind the dome.  That
hallway eventually led to another, smaller staircase which climbed
another ten me tres and came out inside an igloo-shaped hut about fifty
me tres south of the cliff overlooking the Cylindrical Sea.

"And what was it like, outside in Rama?"  Richard asked.

"The same as in the north," Patrick answered.

"Cold, about five degrees Celsius I would estimate, and dark, with only
traces of background light .  . . The igloo hut is warm and well
lighted.  There are beds and a single bathroom, certainly designed for
us, but altogether not much living-space."

"Are there no other corridors or passages?"  Max asked.

"No," said Patrick, shaking his head.

"Uncle Richard has made great pictures of El-lie and Ep-o-nine,"

Benjy said to his brother at this juncture.

"You should see them."

Max pushed two buttons on his portable computer and %r excellent
rendition of Eponine's face appeared.

"Richard didn't have her eyes right the first time," Max said, 'but I
straightened him out .  . .

Ellie was a much easier picture for him."

"So are you all ready to go then?"  Patrick asked Max.

"Just about.  We're going to wait until morning so that the light from
this room will illuminate more of the tunnel."

"How long do you think it will take to reach the other side?"

"An hour or so at a brisk pace," Max said.

"I hope Robert can push himself that hard."

"And what will you do if you hear a subway coming?"  Patrick said.

"There's not much we can do," Max replied with a shrug.

"We've already surveyed the tunnel and there's very little clearance.
Your Uncle Richard says we must rely on the subway's "fault protection
system'".

There was an argument at dinner about the rifle.  Both Richard and
Nicole were strongly opposed to Max's taking the rifle, not because
they particularly wanted the weapon to stay with the rest of the
family, but rather because they feared an 'incident' that might
ultimately affect everyone.  Richard was not very tactful with his
remarks and angered Max.

"So, Mr Expert," Max replied at one point, 'would you mind telling me
just how you know that my rifle will be "useless" in finding
Eponine?"

"Max," Richard said stridently, 'the octo spiders must .  . ."

"Let me, please dear," Nicole interceded.

"Max," she said in a softer tone,

"I cannot imagine a scenario in which the rifle is a valuable asset for
you on this trip.  If you need it in any way to deal with the octo
spiders then they must be hostile, and the fates of both Eponine and
Ellie would have been decided long ago .  . . We just don't want . .
."

"What if we encounter some other hostile creatures, non-octo spiders

Max said stubbornly, 'and we must protect ourselves?  ... Or what if I
need to use the rifle to signal Robert in some way?  ... I can think of
many situations .  . ."

The group was unable to resolve the issue.  Richard was still
frustrated when Nicole and he were undressing for bed.

"Can't Max understand," Richard said, 'that the real reason he wants to
have a gun is to give himself a feeling of security?  And a false
feeling at that?  What if he does something hotheaded and the octo
spiders withdraw our food and water?"

"We can't worry about that now, Richard," Nicole said.

"At this stage I don't think there's anything we can do except ask Max
to be careful and remind him that he is our representative.  No amount
of talking is going to change his mind."

"Then maybe we should call for a vote about whether or not he should
take the rifle," Richard said.

"And show Max that everyone is opposed to what he is doing."

"My instinct tells me," Nicole replied quickly, 'that any kind of vote
would be absolutely the wrong way to handle Max.  He already senses
what everyone is feeling.  A coordinated censure would alienate Max,
and could make an "incident" more likely to occur .  . . No, darling,
in this case we must just hope that nothing untoward happens."

Richard was quiet for almost a minute.

"I guess you're right," he said finally.

"As usual .  . . Good night, Nicole."

"Good night, Richard," Nicole answered.

"We will wait here together for forty-eight hours," Richard was saying
to Max and Robert.

"After that time some of us may begin moving our things up to the
igloo."

"All right," said Max, tightening the straps on his backpack.  He
grinned.

"And don't worry.  I won't shoot one of your octo spider friends unless
it's absolutely necessary."  He turned to Robert.

"Well, mi amigo, are you ready for an adventure?"

Robert did not look comfortable wearing his backpack.  He bent down
awkwardly and picked up his daughter.

"Daddy will only be gone a short while, Nikki," he said.

"Nonni and Boobah will both be staying here with you."

Just before the two men departed, Galileo came running across the
chamber with a small pack on his back.

"I'm going too," he shouted.

"I

want to fight the octo spiders

Everyone laughed while Nai explained to Galileo why he couldn't go with
Max and Robert.  Patrick softened the little boy's disappointment by
telling him that he could be the first one up the staircase when the
family moved to the igloo.

The two men marched quickly into the tunnel.  For the first few hundred
me tres they walked in silence, entertained by the fascinating sea
creatures on the other side of the transparent plastic or glass. Twice
Max had to slow down to wait for Robert, who was in poor physical
shape.  The two men did not encounter any subways.  After slightly more
than an hour, their flashlight beams illuminated the first station on
the other side of the Cylindrical Sea.  When Max and Robert were within
fifty me tres of the station platform, all the lights switched on and
they could see where they were going.

"Richard and Nicole visited this place," Max said.

"Behind the archway there is a kind of atrium, and then a maze of red
corridors."

"What will we do here?"  Robert asked.  He was out of his element and
completely content to follow Max's lead.

"I haven't decided exactly," Max said.

"I guess we'll explore awhile and hope we find some octo spiders

Much to Max's surprise, beyond the station platform, in the middle
of the atrium floor, was a large blue painted circle, out of Which ran
a thick blue line that turned right at the beginning of the maze of red
corridors.

"Richard and Nicole never mentioned a blue line," Max said to Robert.

"It's obviously an idiot-proof set of directions," Robert said.  He
laughed nervously.

"Following the thick blue line is as easy as following the yellow brick
road."

They walked into the first corridor.  The blue line in the centre of
the floor stretched a hundred me tres in front of them, and then turned
left at a distant intersection.

"You think we should follow the line, don't you?"  Max said to
Robert.

"Why not?"  Robert answered, taking a few steps along the corridor.

"It's too obvious," said Max, as much to himself as to his companion.

He clutched his rifle and followed Robert.

"Say," he spoke again after they made their first left turn, 'you don't
think this line was put here specifically for us, do you?"

"No," Robert replied, stopping for a moment.

"How could anyone have known we were coming?"

"That's just what I asked myself," Max mumbled.

Max and Robert walked on in silence, making three more turns following
the blue line before coming to an archway a metre and a half above the
floor.  They bent down and entered a large room with dark red ceilings
and walls.  The thick blue line ended in a large blue circle that was
in the middle of the room.

Less than a second after they were both standing in the blue circle,
the lights in the room went out.  A crude, silent motion picture, whose
image was about one metre square, immediately appeared on the wall
directly in front of Max and Robert.  In the centre of the image were
Eponine and Ellie, both dressed in strange, smock like yellow
outfits.

They were talking to each other and to some unknown person or thing who
was off to the right, but of course Max and Robert could not hear
anything they were saying.  A few moments later, the two women moved a
few me tres to their right, past an octo spider and appeared beside a
strange fat animal, vaguely resembling a cow, that had a flat white
underbelly.  Ellie held a snakelike pen against the white surface,
squeezed it multiple times, and wrote the following message: Don't
worry.  We're fine.  Both women smiled and the image abruptly
terminated one second later.

As Max and Robert stood thunderstruck in the room, the ninety-second
motion picture repeated twice in its entirety.  By the time of the
second repetition, the men had managed to collect themselves enough to
be able to pay careful attention to the details.  Lights flooded the
red room again when the movie was finished.

"Jesus Christ," Max said, shaking his head.

Robert was joyful.

"She's alive!"  he exclaimed.

"Ellie is still alive."

"If we can believe what we've seen," Max said.

"Come on, Max," Robert said several seconds later.

"What possible reason could the octo spiders have for making a film
like that to deceive us?  Wouldn't it be much easier for them to do
nothing?"

"I don't know," Max replied.

"But you answer a question for me.  How did they know that the two of
us, coming here together at this time, were worried about Ellie and
Eponine?  There are only two possible explanations.  Either they have
been watching everything we have been doing and saying since we entered
their lair, or someone .  . ."

'. . . from our group has been providing information to the octo
spiders Max, surely you don't think for an instant that either Richard
or Nicole .  . ."

"No, of course not," Max interrupted.

"But I'm having a damn hard time understanding how we could have been
observed so carefully either.  We have not seen any suggestion of
eavesdropping devices .  .

. Unless some pretty sophisticated transmitters are planted an us, or
in us, none of this makes any sense."

"But how could they have done that without our knowledge?"

"Beats the shit out of me," Max replied, bending down to walk through
the archway.  He stood up in the red corridor on the opposite side of
the arch.

"Now unless I miss my guess, that damn subway will be waiting for us
when we arrive at the station, and we'll be expected to return
peacefully to the others.  Everything is just too nice and neat."

Max was correct.  The subway was parked with its door open when Robert
and he turned into the atrium from the maze of red corridors.  Max
stopped.  He had a wild gleam in his eyes.

"I'm not going to board the damn train," he said in a low voice.

"What are you going to do?"  asked Robert, a little frightened.

"I'm going to go back into the maze," Max said.  He clutched his rifle,
spun around, and raced back into the corridor.  Max turned away from
the blue line and ran about fifty me tres before the first octo spider
appeared in front of him.  It was quickly joined by several more octos,
who spread across the corridor from one side to the other.

They began to move towards Max.

Max stopped, looked at the advancing octo spiders and then glanced
behind him.  At the far end of the corridor another group of octo
spiders was moving in his direction.

"Wait just a damn minute," Max shouted.

"I have something to say.  You guys must understand at least part of
our language or you could never have figured out that we were coming
here .  . . I'm not satisfied.  I want proof that Eponine is alive .  .
."

The octo spiders their heads rippling with colour, were almost upon
him.  A wave of fear swept through Max and he fired the rifle in the
air as a warning.  No more than two seconds later he felt a sharp sting
in the back of his neck.  Max collapsed immediately on the floor.

Robert, whose indecision had kept him standing in the station, raced
across the platform at the sound of the gunfire.  When he arrived in
the red corridor, he saw two octo spiders lifting Max off the floor.

Robert stood aside as the extraterrestrials carried Max into the subway
and gently deposited him in the corner of the car.  The octo spiders
then gestured at the open subway door and Robert climbed inside with
his friend.  Less than ten minutes later they had returned to the
chamber underneath the rainbow dome.

Max did not awaken for ten hours.  During that time both Robert and
Nicole examined him thoroughly and found no evidence of any wound or
injury.  Meanwhile, Robert repeatedly told the story of their
adventure, except of course for what happened during the critical
minute when Max was by himself in the red corridor.

Most of the questions from the family were about what Robert and Max
had seen in the motion picture.  Were there any indications of stress
in Ellie or Eponine, suggesting that perhaps they might have been
coerced into making the film?  Did they appear to have lost any weight?
Did they look rested?

"I believe we now know much more about the nature of our hosts,"

Richard said near the end of the family's second and more lengthy
discussion of Robert's story.

"First and foremost, it is clear that the octo- spiders, or whatever
species is in charge here, both observe us regularly and are able to
understand our conversations.  There is no other possible explanation
for the fact that the film showed to Max and Robert featured Ellie and
Eponine .  . .

"Second, their technological level, at least where motion pictures are
concerned, is either several hundred years behind ours, or, if Robert
is right when he insists that there could not have been a projecting
device either in the room or behind the wall, they are so far advanced
that their technology appears like magic to us.  Thirdly .  .

."

"But Uncle Richard," Patrick interrupted.

"Why didn't the motion picture have sound?  Wouldn't it have been much
easier for Eponine and Ellie just to say they were all right?  Isn't it
more likely that the octo spiders are deaf than it is that their
technology has not developed beyond silent movies?"

"What an interesting idea, Patrick," Richard replied.

"That's something we have never even considered.  And of course they
don't need to hear to communicate .  . ."

"Creatures that have spent most of their evolutionary lives deep in the
ocean are often deaf," Nicole offered.

"Their primary sensory needs for survival are at other wavelengths, and
with only a limited number of cells
available for both the sensors and their processing, the ability to
hear simply never develops."

"I worked with the hearing-impaired in Thailand," Nai added, 'and I was
fascinated by the fact that being unable to hear is not a significant
drawback in an advanced culture.  The sign-language of the deaf has
extraordinary range, and is quite complex .  . . Humans on Earth no
longer need to hear to hunt, or to escape animals that might prey on
them .  . . The octo spider language of colours is more than adequate
for communication .  . ."

"Hold on just a minute," Robert said.

"Aren't we overlooking some pretty strong evidence that the octo
spiders can hear?  How could they have known that Max and I were going
out to find Ellie and Eponine if they didn't overhear our
conversation?"

There was silence for several seconds.

"They might have had the two women translate what was being said,"
Richard suggested.

"But that would require two unlikely events," Patrick said.

"First, if the octo spiders are deaf, why would they have
sophisticated, miniaturised equipment available that would record
sounds at all?

Secondly, having Eponine and Ellie translate what we said for the octo
spiders implies a level of communication interaction that could hardly
have developed in a month's time .  . . No, in my opinion, the octos
probably determined the purpose of Max and Robert's trip on the basis
of visual evidence the portraits of the two women on the portable
computer monitors."

"Bravo," shouted Richard.

"That's excellent thinking .  . ."

"Are you guys going to yak about this shit all night long," Max said as
he walked into the middle of the group.

Everyone jumped up.

"Are you all right?"  Nicole asked.

"Sure," said Max.

"I even feel well rested .  . ."

"Tell us what happened," Robert interrupted.

"I heard your rifle fire, but by the time I came around the corner, a
pair of octo spiders was already carrying your body."

"I don't know myself," Max said.

"Just before I passed out I felt a stinging hot pain in the back of my
neck .  . . That was it ... One of the octos behind me must have hit me
with their equivalent of a tranquillising dart."

Max rubbed the back of his neck.  Nicole came over to inspect.

"I

cannot even find a small hole now," she said.

"They must use very thin darts."

Max glanced at Robert.

"I don't suppose you retrieved the rifle."

"I'm sorry, Max," Robert said.

"I never even thought about it until after we were on the train."

Max looked at his friends.

"Well, guys, I want you to know my rebellion
is over.  I'm convinced we cannot fight these creatures.  So we might
as well try to follow their plan."

Nicole put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"This is the new Max Puckett," she said with a smile.

"I may be stubborn," Max replied with a smile of his own, 'but I don't
believe I'm stupid."

"I don't think we're all supposed to move into Patrick's igloo," Max
said the next morning after another subway had come and replenished
their food and water.

"Why do you say that?"  Richard asked.

"Look at the evidence.  The igloo was definitely designed for human
habitation.  Why else would they have built the staircase?"

"It just doesn't make sense," Max replied.

"Especially for the children.  There's not enough room to live for any
period of time ... I think the igloo is some kind of way-station, a
cabin in the woods if you like."

Nicole tried to imagine the ten of them living in the cramped quarters
that Patrick had described.

"I can see your point, Max," she said, 'but what do you suggest?"

"Why don't a few of us return to the igloo and look around carefully?

Patrick's quick reconnoitre may have missed something .  . . Anyway,
whatever we're supposed to do should be obvious.  It wouldn't be like
the octo spiders or whatever is guiding us, to leave us in
uncertainty."

Richard, Max and Patrick were selected for the scouting mission.  Their
departure was delayed, however, so that Patrick could keep his promise
to Galileo.  Patrick followed the five-year-old up the long, winding
staircase and down the hallway to the bottom of the second stairs.  The
boy was too exhausted to climb any more.  In fact, when they were
coming down from the dome, the little boy's legs gave out and Patrick
had to carry Galileo the final twelve me tres of the descent.

"Can you make it up a second time?"  Richard asked Patrick.

"I believe so," said Patrick, adjusting his pack.

"At least now he won't be waiting for us old farts all the time," Max
said with a grin.

The three men stopped to admire the view from the landing at the top of
the cylindrical stairs.

"Sometimes," Max said, as he took a long look at the magnificent
colours of the rainbow strips in the dome only a few me tres above
him,

"I think that everything that has happened to me since I boarded the
Pinta is a dream .  . . How do pigs, chickens, and even Arkansas fit
into this picture?  .  . . It's just too much."

"It must be difficult," Patrick said while they were walking along the
hallway, 'to reconcile all this with your normal life on Earth.  But
consider my situation.  I was born on an extraterrestrial spacecraft
headed for an
artificial world located near the star Sirius.  I have spent morcthan
half my life asleep.  I have no idea what normal means .  . ."

"Shit, Patrick," Max said, putting his arm around the young man, 'if I
were you I would be as crazy as a bedbug."

Later, when they were climbing the second stairs, Max stopped and
turned to Richard below him.

"I hope you realise, Wakefield," he said in a warm tone, 'that I'm just
an ornery bastard and didn't mean anything personal during our
arguments the last few days."

Richard smiled.

"I understand.  Max.  I also know that I'm as arrogant as you are
ornery ... I will accept your oblique apology if you will accept
mine."

Max feigned indignation.

"That wasn't a damn apology," he said, walking up to the next step.

The igloo hut was just as Patrick had described it.  The three men
pulled on their jackets and prepared to go outside.  Richard, who was
the first one out of the door, saw the other igloo before Max and
Patrick had even taken their first breath of the bracing Rama air.

"That other igloo wasn't there, Uncle Richard," Patrick insisted.

"I

walked completely around the area."

The second igloo, which was almost exactly one-tenth the size of the
larger hut, was about thirty me tres farther away from the cliff
bordering the Cylindrical Sea.  It was glowing in the Rama dark.  As
the men started walking towards it, the door of the smaller igloo
opened and two tiny human figures came out.  The figures were about
twenty centime tres high and were illuminated from the inside.

"What the hell .  . . ?"  Max exclaimed.

"Look," said Patrick excitedly, 'it's Mother and Uncle Richard!"

The two figures turned south in the darkness, away from the cliff and
the sea.  Richard, Max and Patrick scrambled up beside them for a
better view.  The figures were dressed in exactly the same clothes that
Richard and Nicole had worn the previous day.  The attention to detail
was extraordinary.  The hair, faces, skin colouring even the shape and
colour of Richard's beard were a perfect match for the Wakefields.  The
figures were also wearing backpacks.

Max stooped down to pick up the figure of Nicole but received an
electrical jolt when he touched it.  The figure turned in Max's
direction and shook her head emphatically.  The men followed the pair
for another hundred me tres and then stopped.

"There's not much doubt about what we're supposed to do next,"

Richard said.

"Nope," said Max.

"It looks as if you and Nicole are being summoned."

* * *
The next afternoon Richard and Nicole packed several days' worth of
food and water into their packs and said goodbye to their extended
family.  Nikki had slept between them the night before and was
especially tearful when her grandparents departed.

It was quite a climb up the staircase.

"I should have taken the stairs more slowly," Nicole said, breathing
hard as she and Richard stood on the landing beneath the dome and waved
one final time to everybody.

Nicole could feel her heart beating arhythmically in her chest.  She
waited patiently for the palpitations to subside.

Richard was also out of breath.

"We're not as young as we were those many years ago in New York," he
said after a short silence.  He smiled and put his arms around
Nicole.

"Are you ready to continue our adventure?"  he asked.

Nicole nodded.  They walked slowly, hand in hand, down the long
hallway.  When they reached the second stairs, Nicole turned to
Richard.  "Darling," she said with sudden intensity, 'isn't it great to
be alone again, just the two of us, even if it's only for a few hours?
... I love all the others, but it's a pain being so damn responsible
all the time .  . ."

Richard laughed easily.

"It's a role you chose, Nicole," he said, 'not one that was forced on
you."

He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.  Nicole turned her face
towards him and kissed him strongly on the lips.

"Were you suggesting with that kiss," Richard asked immediately with a
wide grin, 'that we should spend tonight in the igloo and begin our
journey tomorrow?"

"I think that you have been reading my mind, Mr Wakefield," Nicole said
with a coquettish smile.

"Actually I was thinking how much fun it would be to imagine tonight
that we were young lovers again .  . ."  She laughed.

"At least our imaginations should still work all right."

When they were three hundred me tres south of the two igloos, Richard
and Nicole could no longer see anything except whatever they
illuminated with their flashlights.  Although the floor beneath them,
mostly dirt with an occasional collection of small rocks, was generally
smooth, from time to time one or both of them would stumble unless he
or she was paying careful attention.

"This may be a very long and tiring walk in the dark," Nicole said when
they stopped for some water.

"And cold too," Richard said, taking a drink.

"Are you warm enough?"

"As long as we're moving," Nicole said.  She stretched out her arms and
adjusted her backpack.

It was almost an hour before they saw a light in the sky to the
south.

The light was moving towards them and was growing larger.

"What do you think it is?"  Nicole asked.  '" "Maybe the Blue Fairy?"
Richard replied.

"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are .  . ."

Nicole laughed.

"You're impossible," she said.

"After last night," Richard said as the light continued to move in
their direction,

"I feel like a boy again."

Nicole chuckled and shook her head.  They held hands in silence while
the ball of light continued to grow in size.  A minute later it stopped
twenty to thirty me tres in front of them and about twenty me tres
above their heads.  Richard and Nicole switched off their flashlights,
for they could now see the terrain around them for a distance of more
than a hundred me tres

Richard shaded his eyes and tried to determine the source of the
illumination, but the light was too bright.  He could not look directly
at it.  "Whatever it is," Nicole said after they were walking again,
'it appears to know where we're supposed to go."

Two hours later, Richard and Nicole encountered a path heading to the
south-west, with fields of growing plants on either side of the path.

When they stopped for lunch, they wandered into the fields and
discovered that one of their staple foods under the dome, a vegetable
with a taste similar to a green bean but the physical appearance of a
yellow squash, was the principal crop being grown.  These vegetables
were interspersed with rows of a short, bright red plant that they had
never seen before.  Richard pulled one of the red plants out of the
ground and dropped it immediately when the green, leathery, sphere that
had been beneath the surface began to writhe at the bottom of its red
stalk.  When it hit the ground, the creature scooted the few centime
tres back to its original hole and buried its green sphere again in the
same place.

Richard laughed.

"I guess I'll think twice before I do something like that again."

"Look over there," Nicole said a moment later.

"Isn't that one of the animals that built the staircase?"

They moved down the path and then back into the field itself for a
better view.  Coming towards them was indeed one of the large, antlike
creatures with the six long arms.  It was harvesting the vegetables
with amazing efficiency, handling the three rows on either side of
where its main body was located.  Each arm, or trunk, was stripping the
vegetables in a single row and stacking them in piles that were between
the rows and about two me tres apart.  It was an astonishing sight, the
six arms all operating simultaneously on different tasks, and at
different distances from the main body.

When the creature reached the path, its arms quickly recoiled.  It then
moved six rows down the line and entered the field going in the
opposite
direction.  The field was being harvested from south to north, so when
Richard and Nicole started walking again, they passed through the part
of the field that the giant ant-thing had already finished.  There they
saw swift little creatures, rodent like in shape but slightly larger,
picking up the scattered piles and scampering away with them to the
west.

Richard and Nicole came to several intersections while they were
walking along the path among the fields, and each time the hovering
light indicated which route they should take.  The fields extended for
many kilometres.  What was being grown in the fields changed several
times, but Richard and Nicole, who were becoming both hungry and weary,
no longer stopped to examine each new vegetable.

At length they reached a flat, open area covered with soft dirt.  The
light above them circled three times and then hovered over the centre
of the area.

"I'm guessing that this is where we're supposed to spend the night,"
Richard said.

"Gladly," said Nicole, accepting Richard's help in removing her
backpack.

"I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping, even on this hard
ground."

They ate dinner and found a comfortable spot where they could sleep
nestled together.  When Richard and Nicole were both in the twilight
zone between waking and sleeping, the light above them began to dim a
little and then drop in altitude.

"Look," Richard whispered, 'it's going to land."

Nicole opened her eyes and watched as the light, continuing to dim,
made a graceful arc and landed on the opposite side of the open area.

It was still glowing slightly even after it was already on the ground.
Although Richard and Nicole could not see the creature very well, they
could tell that it was long, and skinny, and had wings more than twice
as large as its body.

"It's a giant firefly," Richard exclaimed when they could no longer see
its outline.

"Biology for lights, biology for farm and construction equipment do
you have the impression that our octo spider friends, or perhaps
whatever is above them in some amazing symbiotic hierarchy, are the
great biologists of the galaxy?"

"I don't know, Richard," Nicole said as she finished her breakfast.

"But it certainly looks as if their technological evolution has
followed a markedly different path from ours."

They had both watched with wonder as the giant firefly, upon hearing
their first movements after sleeping, had ignited itself and taken its
accustomed hovering position above them.  A few minutes later, a
second, similar creature had approached them from the south.  The two
lights now combined to provide local illumination that was equivalent
to daylight in New Eden.

Richard and Nicole had both slept well and were quite refreshed.  Their
two guides led them along paths through several more kilometres of
fields, including one that was characterised by grasses over three me
tres tall.  One hundred me tres after making a sharp left turn in the
tall grasses, Richard and Nicole found themselves at the edge of a vast
array of shallow water-tanks that stretched in front of them as far as
they could see.

They walked to the left for several minutes, until they came to what
Richard properly identified as the north-east corner of the array.  The
system consisted of a series of long, narrow, rectangular tanks made
out of a grey metallic alloy.  Each of the individual tanks in the
array was about twenty me tres wide in the east-west direction and as
much as several hundred me tres long.  The tanks were one metre high
and three- fourths filled with a liquid that appeared to be water.  At
the four corners of each narrow rectangle were bright, thick red
cylinders, perhaps two me tres tall, that were topped with white
spheres.

Richard and Nicole walked the full hundred and sixty me tres from east
to west, examining each tank and all eight of the thick cylindrical
poles marking where adjacent tanks shared common sides.  They saw
nothing in the tanks except the water.

"So is this some kind of purification plant?"  Nicole asked.

"I doubt it," Richard answered.  They stopped at the western edge.

"Look at that mass of small, detailed parts affixed to the inside wall
of this tank, just in front of the cylinder ... I would guess that
those are complicated electronic components of some kind.  There would
be no need for all that in a simple water-purification system."

Nicole looked askance at her husband.

"Come on, Richard, that's quite a leap of faith.  How can you possibly
claim to know the function of a bunch of three-dimensional squiggles on
the inside of an alien water-tank?"

"I said I was guessing," Richard responded with a laugh.

"I was only trying to make the point that it looks too complex to be a
place to purify water."

The guide-lights above them were urging them to the south.  The second
bank of narrow tanks also contained nothing but water; however, when
they reached the third set of rectangular tanks and cylindrical poles,
Richard and Nicole discovered that the water was full of tiny fuzzy
balls of many colours.  Richard rolled up his sleeve and stuck his hand
into the water, pulling out several hundred of the objects.

"Those are eggs," Nicole said firmly.

"I know that fact with the same certainty that you knew those little
gadgets on the insides of the tank wall were electronic components."

Richard laughed again.

"Look," he said, putting his mound of little objects in front of Nicole
eyes, 'there are really only five different kinds, if you study them
closely."

"Five different kinds of what?"  Nicole asked.

The egg like things filled the entire length of the third set of
tanks.

By the time Richard and Nicole were approaching the fourth row of
cylinders and another set of tanks, which were several more hundred me
tres to the south, both of them were growing tired.

"If we don't see anything new here," she said, 'how about lunch?"

"You're on," he answered.

But they could discern something new already when they were still fifty
me tres away from the fourth row of tanks.  A square robot vehicle,
perhaps thirty centime tres in length and width, and another ten
centime tres high, was moving swiftly back and forth between the
cylindrical poles.

"I knew those were tracks for some kind of vehicle," Nicole said,
kidding Richard.

Richard was too fascinated to respond.  In addition to the scurrying
robot, which made a full cycle across the array from east to west every
three minutes or so, there were several more wonders to observe.

Each of the individual tanks here was further subdivided into two long
pieces by a mesh fence, parallel to the walls, that was only slightly
higher than the water-level.  On one side of the mesh was an absolute
swarm of tiny
swimming creatures in five different colours.  On the other side
gleaming circles, resembling sand dollars, were scattered the complete
length of the tank.  The fence was positioned so that three-fourths of
the tank volume was available to the gleaming circles, giving them far
more room to manoeuvre than the densely packed swimmers.

Richard and Nicole bent over to study the activity.  The sand dollars
were moving in all directions.  Because the water was teeming with so
many creatures and so much activity, it took several minutes for
Richard and Nicole to perceive the common pattern.  At irregular
intervals each of the sand dollars would propel itself over to the mesh
fence using the whip like cilia underneath its flat body and then,
while anchored to the fence, would use another pair of cilia to capture
a tiny swimmer and pull it through one of the holes in the mesh.  While
the sand dollar was against the fence, its light would dim.  If it
stayed long enough, and caught several of the swimmers to eat, then its
gleam would fade altogether.

"Watch what happens now when it leaves the fence," Richard said to
Nicole, pointing out one specific sand dollar just underneath them.

"As it swims along with its companions, its light will be slowly
replenished."

Richard hurried back to the nearest cylindrical pole and bent down on
his knees on the ground.  He dug into the soil with one of the tools
from his pack.

"There's much more to this system underground," he said excitedly.

"I bet this entire array is part of a gigantic power-generator."

He took three large, measured steps to the south, noted his position
carefully, and leaned over the tank to count the sand dollars in the
region between the cylindrical pole and him.  It was a difficult count
because of the constant motion of the gleaming circles.

"Roughly three hundred of them in three me tres of tank length, making
approximately twenty-five thousand per complete tank, or two hundred
thousand in a complete row," Richard said.

"Are you assuming then," Nicole asked, 'that these cylindrical poles
are some sort of storage system?  Like batteries?"

"Probably," said Richard.

"What a fabulous idea!  Find a living creature that generates
electricity internally.  Force it to give up its accumulated charge in
order to eat.  What could be better?"

"And that robot vehicle, moving back and forth between the poles, what
is its purpose?"

"I would guess it's a monitor of some kind," Richard replied.

Richard and Nicole ate their lunch and then finished their inspection
of the putative power-plant.  Altogether there were eight columns and
eight rows in the array, for a total of sixty-four tanks.  Only twenty
were active at the time.

"Plenty of excess capacity," Richard commented.

"Their engineers clearly understand the concepts of growth and
margin."

The giant fireflies now headed due east, along what appeared to be
some kind of major highway.  Twice Richard and Nicole encountered small
herds of the large antlike creatures going in the opposite direction,
but there were no interactions.

"Are those creatures intelligent enough to operate without
supervision?"  Nicole asked Richard.

"Or are we just not being allowed to see whatever beings give them
instructions?"

"That's an interesting question," Richard said.

"Remember how quickly the octo spider came over to the ant-thing when
it was struck by the ball?  Perhaps they have some limited
intelligence, but cannot function well in new or unknown
environments."

"Like some people we have known," Nicole said with a laugh.

Their long march to the east ended when their two guiding lights
hovered over a large dirt field just off the road.  The field was empty
except for what looked at a distance like forty football goal-posts
covered with ivy, arranged in five rows of eight posts each.

"Will you check the guidebook, please?"  Richard said.

"It's easier to understand what we're seeing if we read about it
first."

Nicole smiled.

"We really are being given some kind of tour, aren't we?  Why do you
suppose our hosts want us to see all this?"

Richard was silent for a moment.

"I'm fairly certain that it's the octo- spiders who are the lords of
all this territory," he said finally, 'or at least they are the
dominant species in a complicated hierarchy .  . . Whoever it was that
picked us personally for this tour must believe that informing us about
their capabilities will make future interactions easier."

"But if it really is the octo spiders Nicole said, 'why didn't they
simply kidnap all of us as they did Elite and Eponine?"

"I don't know," Richard replied.

"Maybe their sense of morality is far more complicated than we have
imagined."

Both of the giant fireflies were dancing in the air over the collection
of ivy-covered goal-posts.

"I think our tour guides are becoming impatient," Nicole said.

If Richard and Nicole had not been so fatigued from their two days of
arduous hiking, and if they had not already seen so many fabulous
sights in this alien world that existed in the Southern Hemicylinder of
Rama, they would have been both captivated and overwhelmed by the
complex symbiosis they discovered in the next several hours.

What was all over the goal-posts was not ivy at all.  What appeared to
be individual leaves from a distance were in reality little cone-shaped
nests, made of thousands of tiny creatures that resembled aphids.  The
creatures were glued together to form the nest by the sweet, sticky,
honey like substance the humans had enjoyed eating under the dome.  The
alien aphids manufactured large quantities of the substance as part of
their normal diurnal activity.

During the time that Richard and Nicole were watching, Tohvoys of
snout-nosed beetles, who lived in mounds several me tres high
surrounding the entire enclave, burst from their homes every forty
minutes or so and crawled all over the posts, harvesting the excess goo
from the nests.  The beetle creatures, which were about ten centime
tres long when empty, swelled to three or four times their normal size
before completing their harvest cycle and regurgitating the contents of
their swollen bodies in sunken vats at the base of the posts.

Richard and Nicole did not talk much while they were watching the
activity.  The overall biological system displayed in front of them was
both intricate and wonderful another example of the astonishing
advances in symbiosis that had been made by their hosts.

"I bet,"

said a weary Richard as he and Nicole prepared to sleep not far from
one of the beetle-mounds, 'that if we wait long enough, some beast of
burden will show up to lift the vats of this honey, or whatever it is,
out of the ground and then carry them to another site."

As they were lying side by side on the dirt, they observed the two
fireflies landing in the distance.  Then it was suddenly dark.

"I don't believe all this just happened," Nicole said.

"Not on another planet.

Not anywhere.  Natural evolution simply does not result in the kind of
inter species harmony we have witnessed the last two days."

"What are you suggesting, darling?"  Richard asked.

"That all these creatures were somehow designed, like machines, to
perform their functions?"

"It is the only explanation I can accept," Nicole said.

"The octo spiders or somebody, must have reached the level where they
can manipulate the genes to produce a plant or animal that does exactly
what they want.  Why do those beetle things deposit the honey substance
in the vats?  What is their biological pay-off for that action?"

"They must be compensated in some way that we have not yet discovered,"
Richard said.

"Of course," Nicole said.

"And behind that compensation is some incredible biological systems
architect or engineer who is tuning all the interrelationships, not
only so that each species is happy, however we choose to define that
word, but also so that the architects themselves reap some profit
namely, food in the form of excess honey .  . . Now do you believe that
kind of optimisation could possibly take place without some
sophisticated genetic engineering involved?"

Richard was silent for almost a minute.

"Imagine," he finally said slowly, 'a master biological engineer
sitting at a keyboard, designing a living organism to meet certain
system specifications ... It is a mind-boggling concept."

Once more the beetles swarmed out of their mounds, barely missing
the sleeping humans as they rushed for the goal-posts and their
harvesting task.  Nicole watched the beetles until they disappeared in
the dark.  Then she yawned and curled up on her side.  We humans have
entered a new era, she thought before she fell asleep.  In the future
all history will be noted as be, 'before contact, and ac, 'after
contact'.  For from that first moment when we knew, unambiguously, that
simple chemicals had risen to consciousness and intelligence somewhere
else in the vastness of our universe, the past history of our species
became only an isolated paradigm, one small and relatively
insignificant fragment in the infinite tapestry that depicts the
astonishing variety of sentient life.

After breakfast the next morning Richard and Nicole had a brief
discussion about their dwindling food supply and then decided to take
some of the honey substance from one of the vats.

"I guess if we're not supposed to do this," Nicole said, glancing
around while she was filling a small container, 'then some alien
policeman will come along and stop us."

Their guide-lights moved directly south at first, leading Richard and
Nicole towards a thick forest of very tall trees that extended as far
as they could see in the east-west direction.  The fireflies turned to
the right and moved parallel to the edge of the trees.  The forest on
their left was dark and forbidding.  From time to time Richard and
Nicole heard strange, loud sounds coming from its interior.

Once Richard stopped and walked over to where the thick growth began.

Between the trees were many smaller plants, with large leaves in green,
red and brown, as well as several different kinds of vine that laced
together the middle and upper branches of the trees.  Richard jumped
back when he heard a sharp howl that sounded as if it were only a few
me tres away.  His eyes searched the forest, but he could not find the
source of the howl.

"There's something weird about this forest," he said, turning back to
Nicole.

"It feels out of place, as if it doesn't belong here."

For over an hour the fireflies continued in a westerly direction.  The
bizarre sounds became more frequent as Richard and Nicole trudged
slowly along in silence.  Richard is right, Nicole thought wearily at
one point.  She was looking at the structure and order of the fields on
her right and comparing them with the undisciplined growth on her left.
There is something different and disquieting about this forest.

They took a brief rest in the middle of the morning.  Richard
calculated that they had already walked more than five kilometres since
waking.  Nicole asked for some of the fresh honey that was in Richard's
backpack.

"My feet hurt," she said, after eating and then taking a long drink
of
water.

"And my legs never stopped aching last night ... I hope' We reach
wherever we're going before too much longer."

"I'm tired too," Richard said.

"But we're not doing badly for a couple in their early sixties."

"I feel older than that right now," Nicole said.  She stood up and
stretched.

"You know, our hearts must be almost ninety.  They may not have done
much work all those years we were asleep, but they had to keep pumping
nevertheless."

As they were talking a strange little spherical animal with a solitary
eye, white fuzzy hair, and a dozen spindly legs darted out of the
nearby forest and snatched the container of honey.  The creature and
the food were gone in an instant.

"What was that?"  Nicole asked, still startled.

"Something with a sweet tooth," Richard said.  He stared off into the
forest, where the animal had disappeared.

"That is definitely another world over there."

Half an hour later, the pair of fireflies moved off to the left and
hovered over a path leading into the forest.  The path was five me tres
wide and was lined on both sides by dense growth.  Nicole's intuition
told her not to follow the fireflies, but she said nothing.  Her
apprehension increased when, after Richard and she had taken a couple
of steps into the forest, noises erupted from the trees all around
them.  They stopped, held hands, and listened.

"It sounds like birds, monkeys and frogs," Richard said.

"They must be signalling our presence," Nicole said.  She turned around
and looked behind her.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

Richard pointed at the lights in front of them.

"We've been following those big bugs for two and a half days.  It
doesn't make much sense to lose faith in them now."

They started walking down the path again.  The caws, howls and croaking
sounds accompanied them.  From time to time the kind of foliage on both
sides of them would change a little, but it always remained dense and
dark.

"There must be a group of alien gardeners," Richard said at one point,
'who work the area around this path several times a week.  Look how
perfectly trimmed all the bushes and trees are ... They don't protrude
one iota into the airspace above our heads."

"Richard," Nicole said a little later, 'if the sounds we are hearing
are coming from alien animals, why don't we ever see one?  Not a single
creature has ever come out on the path."  She bent down and examined
the dirt at her feet.

"And there is no evidence here of any life, not now and not ever .  . .
Not even an ant .  . ."

"We must be walking on a magical path," Richard said with a grin.

"Perhaps it leads to a gingerbread house and a wicked old witch .  .
.

Let us sing, Gretel, and perhaps we will feel better."

The path, which had been absolutely straight for the first kilometer or
so, began to meander.  Because of its wandering, the sounds of the
forest-creatures surrounded Richard and Nicole.  Richard sang popular
songs from his adolescent years in England.  Nicole joined him some of
the time, when she knew the song, but mostly she spent her energy
trying to contain her growing anxiety.  She told herself not to think
about what an easy target they would be for any large alien animal that
might be lurking in the forest.

Richard suddenly stopped.  He pulled two deep draughts of air through
his nose into his lungs.

"Do you smell that?"  he asked Nicole.

She sniffed the air.

"Yes," she said,

"I do ... It's a little like gardenias."

"Only much much better," Richard said.

"It's positively divine."

Ahead of them, the path turned abruptly to the right.  At the turn
there was a large bush beside the path that was covered with huge
yellow flowers, the first flowers they had seen since they entered the
forest.  Each individual flower was the size of a basketball.  As
Richard and Nicole drew nearer to the bush, the enticing smell
intensified.

Richard could not restrain himself.  Before Nicole could say anything,
he stepped the few me tres off the path, stuck his face in one of the
huge flowers, and inhaled deeply.  The smell was magnificent.

Meanwhile, one of the two fireflies flew back in their direction and
began zigging and zagging in the sky over their heads.

"I don't think our guides approved of your sortie," Nicole said.

"Probably not," Richard replied.

"But it was worth it."

More flowers, of all shapes, sizes and colours, began to appear on both
sides of the path.  Neither of them had ever seen such a profusion of
colour.  At the same time, the sounds they had been hearing abated.  A
little later, when Richard and Nicole were in the middle of the flower
region, the noises disappeared altogether.

The path narrowed to a couple of me tres barely wide enough for them to
walk side by side and not brush the plants on which the flowers were
growing.  Richard left the trail several times to inspect and/ or smell
one of the amazing flowers.  Each excursion caused the fireflies to
swoop back in their direction.  Despite Richard's enthusiasm for his
trips into the forest, Nicole heeded the guides and remained on the
path.

Richard was about eight me tres off to the left, trying to obtain a
closer look at a gigantic flower that looked like an oriental carpet,
when he disappeared suddenly from view.

"Ouch," Nicole heard him yell as he fell to the ground.

"Are you all right?"  she said immediately.

"Yes," he said.

"I just tripped over some vines and fell in tot bunch of thorns .  . .
The bush surrounding me has red leaves as well as tiny, bizarre flowers
that look like bullets .  . . They smell like cinnamon,
incidentally."

"Do you need any help?"  Nicole asked.

"Nope .  . . I'll just climb out of here in a jiffy."

Nicole glanced up and noticed that one of the two fireflies was racing
off in the distance.  Now what's that all about?  she was wondering
when she heard Richard again.

"I may need some help after all," he said.

"I seem to be stuck."

Nicole took a cautious step off the path.  The remaining firefly went
crazy, zooming down almost into her face.  Nicole was temporarily
blinded.

"Don't come over here, Nicole," Richard said abruptly a few seconds
later.

"Unless I am losing my mind, I believe this plant is preparing to eat
me."

"What?"  Nicole said, now frightened.

"Are you serious?"  She waited impatiently for her eyes to recover from
the overdose of light.

"Yes I am," Richard said.

"Get back on the path .  . . This bizarre bush has wrapped yellow
tendrils around my arms and legs .  . . some crawling bugs are already
drinking the blood caused by the thorns .  .

. and there is an opening in the bush, towards which I am slowly being
pulled, that looks like a distant cousin of some of the more unpleasant
mouths I have seen in zoos ... I can even see some teeth."

Nicole could hear the panic in Richard's voice.  She took another step
in his direction, but again the firefly blinded her.

"I can't see anything," she yelled.

"Richard, are you still there?"

"Yes," he answered.

"But I don't know for how much longer."

They heard the sound of animals moving quickly through the forest,
along with a high-pitched whine, and then three dark figures with
peculiar guns surrounded Richard.  The octo spiders attacked the
carnivorous bush with their liquid sprays.  Within seconds the bush
released Richard and hid its mouth again behind its many branches.

Richard stumbled over and hugged Nicole.  They both yelled

"Thank you' as the trio of octo spiders vanished into the forest as
swiftly as they had appeared.  Neither Richard nor Nicole noticed that
the two fireflies were again hovering over their heads.

Nicole examined Richard carefully but found nothing except cuts and
scratches.

"I think I'll stay on the path awhile," he said, smiling wanly.

"That's probably not a bad idea," Nicole replied.

They talked about what had happened as they continued to walk through
the forest.  Richard was still shaken.

"The branches close to my
left shoulder pulled apart," he said, 'and there was this hole,
initially about the size of a baseball.  But as the wave action carried
me in that direction, the hole grew larger."  He shuddered.

"That's when I saw the little teeth, completely around the
circumference.  I had just started thinking about how it would feel to
be eaten when our friends the octo spiders arrived."

"So what's going on here?"  Nicole said a little later.  They had left
the flower region and were again surrounded by trees and jungle growth
and intermittent animal noises.

"Damned if I know," Richard replied.

The forest ended abruptly just as Richard and Nicole were becoming
unbearably hungry.  They stepped out upon an empty plain.  In front of
them, perhaps two kilometres away, a great green dome filled their
view.

"Now what is .  . ."

"It's the Emerald City, darling," Richard said.

"Certainly you recognise it from the old movie .  . . And inside is the
Wizard of Oz, ready to grant all our wishes."

Nicole smiled and kissed her husband.

"The wizard was a fake, you know," she said.

"He didn't really have any power."

"That's open to some question," Richard said with a grin.

While they were talking the two lights that had been guiding them sped
away towards the green dome, leaving Richard and Nicole in near
darkness They pulled their flashlights out of their packs.

"Something tells me we're near the end of our hike," Richard said,
striding across the ground in the direction of the Emerald City.

They could see the gates through their binoculars from a distance of
more than a kilometer.  Both Richard and Nicole were becoming quite
excited.

"Do you think that's the home city of the octo spiders

Nicole asked.

"Yes, indeed," Richard said.

"It must be quite a place.  The top of that green dome is at least
three hundred me tres above the ground.  I would guess that the area
underneath exceeds ten square kilometres .

. ."

"Richard," Nicole asked when they were only about six hundred me tres
away, 'what is our plan?  Are we just going to walk up and knock on the
gate?"

"Why not?"  Richard answered, his pace quickening.

At a distance of two hundred me tres from the city, the gate opened and
three figures emerged.  Richard and Nicole heard a yell as one of the
figures began moving rapidly towards them.  Richard stopped and used
his binoculars again.

"It's Ellie," he shouted.

"And Eponine .  .

. They're with an octo spider

Nicole had already dropped her pack and was jogging across the
plain.

She grabbed her beloved daughter in her arms and lifted her off the
ground with the strength of her embrace.

"Oh, Ellie, Ellie," she said, the tears cascading down her cheeks.

This is our friend Archie ... He has been a big help to us while we
have been staying here .  . . Archie, meet my mother and father."

The octo spider responded with a sequence that began with a brilliant
crimson, and was followed by a teal green, a lavender, two different
yellows (one a saffron and the other a lemon, tending toward
chartreuse), and a final purple.  The band of colours ran completely
around the octo- spider's spherical head and then disappeared back into
the left side of the slit formed by the two long parallel indentations
in the middle of its face.

"Archie says it's a pleasure to meet you, especially after hearing so
much about you," Ellie said.

"You can read their colours?"  Nicole asked, quite shocked.

"Ellie's great," said Eponine.

"She's picked up their language very quickly."

"But how do you speak to them?"  Nicole asked.

"Their eyesight is incredibly keen," Ellie replied, 'and they are
remarkably intelligent .  . . Archie and a dozen others have already
learned to read lips .  . . But we can talk about all that later.

Mother, first tell me about Nikki and Robert.  Are they all right?"

"Your daughter grows more adorable every day, and she misses you
terribly .  . . But I'm afraid Robert has never completely recovered.

He still blames himself for not having protected you better .  . ."

The octo spider Archie politely followed the personal conversation for
several minutes before tapping Ellie on the shoulder and then reminding
her that her parents were probably tired and cold.

"Thanks, Archie," Ellie said.

"OK, here's the plan.  The two of you are to come inside the city for
at least tonight and tomorrow a kind of hotel suite has been set up
just inside the gate for the four of us and the day after tomorrow, or
whenever you are properly rested, we will all return to the others.
Archie will go with us."

"Why didn't the three of you simply come to where we were in the first
place?"  Richard said after a brief silence.

"I asked the same question, Dad .  . . and never did receive what I
considered a satisfactory answer .  . ."

The bands of colour on Archie's head interrupted what Elite-was
saying.

"All right," she said to the octo spider before turning back to her
parents.

"Archie says the octos wanted you two especially to have a clear idea
of what they are all about anyway, we can discuss all this after we
settle in our suite."

The great gates of the Emerald City were thrown open when the four
humans and their octo spider companion were about ten me tres away.

Richard and Nicole were unprepared for the overwhelming variety of
strange sights that greeted their eyes as they entered the city.

Directly in front of them was a broad avenue, with continuous low
structures on either side, leading to a tall, pink and blue,
pyramid-shaped building several hundred me tres in the distance.

Richard and Nicole were virtually in a trance when they took their
initial steps into the octo spider city.  Neither of them would ever
forget that incredible first moment.  They were surrounded by a
kaleidoscope of colour.  Every element of the city, including the
streets, the buildings, the unexplained decorations that lined the
avenue, the plants in the garden (if that's indeed what they were), and
the wide range of animal creatures that seemed to be scurrying in all
directions, was emblazoned with bright colours.  A group of four large
worms or snakes, resembling.  wriggling candy canes except much more
profusely coloured, were coiled just inside the gate, on the ground to
Richard and Nicole's left.  They had their heads lifted high,
apparently straining to get a view of the alien visitors.

Bright red and yellow animals with eight legs and lobster like claws
were carrying thick green rods across an intersection fifty me tres in
front of Richard and Nicole.

Of course there were dozens, maybe hundreds of octo spiders all of whom
had come to the gate area to catch a glimpse of the two newest humans
to visit their city.  They were silting in groups in front of the
buildings, standing beside the avenue, even walking on the rooftops.
And they were all talking simultaneously in their bright bands of
colour, accenting the static decorations of the street scene with
dynamic bursts of various hues.

Nicole looked around, glancing only for a moment at each of the bizarre
creatures staring at her.  Then she leaned her head back and gazed at
the green dome far above her head.  Some kind of thin, flexible ribbing
could be seen in isolated spots, but it was mostly covered over by a
thick green canopy.

"The ceiling is all growing vines, and other plants, along with the
insect like animals that harvest the useful fruits and flowers," she
heard Ellie say beside her.

"It is a complete living ecosystem that has the additional advantage of
being an excellent covering for the city, sealing
out the Raman cold and atmosphere.  After the gates are closed, you'll
see how comfortable the temperatures are normally inside the city."

Scattered around under the dome were about twenty very bright sources
of light, considerably larger than the individual fireflies that had
guided Richard and Nicole through the octo spider domain.  Nicole tried
to study one of the lights, but quickly gave up because it was too
bright for her eyes.  Unless I miss my guess, she thought, all this
illumination is provided by clusters of those fireflies that led us
here.

Was it fatigue or excitement or a combination of both that caused
Nicole to lose her equilibrium?  Whatever the reason, while she was
gazing at the green dome above her, Nicole began to feel as if she were
spinning around.  She stumbled and reached out a hand for Richard.  The
burst of adrenalin that accompanied her dizziness and sudden fear
caused her heart-rate to surge.

"What is it, Mother?"  Ellie said, alarmed at her mother's pallor.

"Nothing," said Nicole, breathing slowly and deliberately.

"It's nothing ... I was just dizzy for a moment."

Nicole glanced down at the ground to steady herself.  The street was
paved with brightly coloured squares that looked like ceramics.

Sitting on the street no more than fifty centime tres in front of her
were three of the strangest creatures that Nicole had ever seen.  They
were about the size of basketballs.  Their hemispherical tops were of a
royal-blue, undulating material that resembled, in some ways, both
human brains and the pan of a jellyfish that floats on top of the
water.  In the centre of this constantly moving mass was a dark, round
hole, out of which were poking two thin antennae, perhaps twenty
centime tres long, with ganglia or knots roughly two or three centime
tres apart.  When Nicole involuntarily recoiled, stepping back because
she felt instinctively threatened by these bizarre animals, their
antennae spun around and the trio scampered quickly to the side of the
avenue.

Nicole glanced quickly around her.  Bands of colour were streaming
around the heads of all the octo spiders she could see.  Nicole knew
that they were dissecting her latest reaction.  She suddenly felt
naked, lost and completely overwhelmed.  From somewhere deep inside her
came an ancient and powerful signal of distress.  Nicole was afraid
that she was about to scream.

"Ellie," she said quietly,

"I think I've had enough for today .  . .

Can we go inside soon?"

Ellie took her mother by the arm and guided her towards a doorway in
the second structure on the right of the avenue.

"The octos have been working day and night to convert these quarters
... I hope they are satisfactory."

Nicole continued to stare fixedly at the octo spider street" scene,
but what she was seeing was no longer penetrating deep into her
cognitive mind.  This is a dream, she thought, as a group of thin green
creatures, that looked like bowling-balls on stilts, walked through her
field of view.  There cannot really be a place like this anywhere.

"I too was feeling a little overwrought," Richard was saying.

"We had that scare in the forest.  And we have walked a long way in
three days, especially for old folks .  . . It's not surprising that
your mother became disorientated that scene outside was weird."

"Before he left," Ellie said,

"Archie apologised in three different ways.  He tried to explain that
they had permitted free access to the gate area, thinking that you and
Mother would be fascinated ... He hadn't thought about the fact that it
might be a little too much .  .

."

Nicole sat up slowly in her bed.

"Don't worry, Ellie," she said.

"I

haven't really become that fragile ... I guess I just wasn't prepared,
especially after so much exercise and emotion."

"So would you like to rest some more.  Mother, or would you prefer to
have something to eat?"

"I'm fine, really," Nicole reiterated.

"Let's go on with whatever you have planned ... By the way, Eponine,"
she said, turning to the French' woman who had said very little since
their initial greetings outside the city,

"I must apologise for our rudeness.  Richard and I have been so busy
talking with Ellie and seeing everything ... I forgot to tell you that
Max sends his love.  He made me promise that if I saw you, I would tell
you that he misses you terribly."

"Thanks, Nicole," Eponine replied.

"I have thought of Max and the rest of you every day since the octo
spiders brought us here."

"Have you been learning the octo spider language too, like Ellie?"

Nicole asked.

"No," Eponine answered slowly,

"I've been doing something altogether different .  . She glanced around
for Ellie, who had stepped out momentarily, presumably to arrange
dinner.

"In fact," Eponine continued,

"I had hardly seen Ellie for two weeks until we started making plans
for your arrival."

There was a strange silence for several seconds.

"Have you and Ellie been prisoners here?"  Richard then asked in a low
voice.

"And have you figured out why they kidnapped you?"

"No, not exactly," Eponine replied.

She stood up in the small room.

"Ellie," she shouted, 'are you out there?  Your father is asking
questions .  . ."

"Just a minute," they all heard Ellie yell.  A few moments later she
returned to the room with the octo spider Archie behind her.  Ellie
read
the look on her father's face.

"Archie is all right," Ellie said.

"And we agreed that when we told you everything, he could be here ...
To explain and clarify and maybe answer questions that we can't .  .
."

The octo spider sat down among the humans and there was another
temporary silence.

"Why do I have the feeling that this entire scene has been rehearsed?"
Richard asked at length.

A worried Nicole leaned forward and took her daughter's hand.

"There's not any bad news, is there Ellie?  You did tell us that you
would be coming back with us .  . ."

"No, Mother," Ellie said.

"There are just a few things that Eponine and I want to tell you .  . .
Ep, why don't you go first?"

Bands of colour were streaming around Archie's head as the octo spider
who had obviously been following the conversation closely, changed his
position to be more directly opposite Eponine.  Ellie watched the bands
carefully.

"What is he ... or it saying?"  Nicole asked.  She was still stunned by
her daughter's proficiency with the alien language.

'"It" would be strictly proper, I guess," Ellie said with a short
laugh.  "At least that's what Archie told me when I explained pronouns
. . . But Ep and I have been using "he" and "him" when we refer to both
Archie and Dr Blue .  . . Anyway, Archie wants us to inform you that
both Eponine and I have been cared for very well, that we have not
suffered in any way, and that we were only kidnapped by the octo
spiders because they had not been able to figure out how to establish a
non-hostile and communicative interaction with us .  . ."

"Kidnapping is not exactly the proper way to begin," Richard
interrupted.

"I have explained all that to Archie and the others, Daddy," Ellie
continued, 'which is why he wants me to set the record straight now .

. . They have treated us magnificently, and I have seen no indication
that their species is even capable of hostile acts .  . ."

"All right," Richard said, 'your mother and I understand the gist of
this preamble .  . ."

They were delayed momentarily by some comments in colour from Archie.

After Ellie explained to the octo spider the meanings of 'gist' and
'preamble', she looked across at her parents.

"Their intelligence is really staggering," Ellie said.

"Archie has never asked me the meaning of any word more than once."

"When I arrived here," Eponine began,

"Ellie was just beginning to understand the octo spider language ... At
first everything was terribly confusing .  . . But after a few days
Ellie and I understood why the octo spiders had kidnapped us."

"We talked about it an entire evening," Ellie interjected.

"We were both
flabbergasted ... We couldn't figure out how they could possibly have
known .  . ."

"Known what?"  Richard said.

"I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm having trouble following .  . ."

"They knew that I had RV-4I," Eponine said.

"And both Archie and Dr Blue, he's another octo spider a physician we
call him Dr Blue because when he's talking his cobalt-blue band spills
way outside the normal boundaries .  . ."

"Wait a minute," Nicole said now, shaking her head vigorously.

"Let me get this straight.  You're telling us the octo spiders knew
that Eponine had the RV-4I virus.  How can that be possible?"

Archie went through a long colour sequence that Ellie asked him to
repeat.

"He says that they have been monitoring all our activities very closely
ever since we left New Eden.  The octos deduced from our actions, he
says, that Eponine had an incurable disease of some kind."

Richard began to pace.

"That is one of the most amazing statements that I have ever heard," he
said with passion.  He turned towards the wall, temporarily lost in his
thoughts.  Archie reminded Ellie that he could not understand anything
unless Richard was facing him.  At length Richard spun around.

"How could they possibly.  . . look, Ellie, aren't the octo- spiders
deaf?"  : When Ellie nodded affirmatively, Richard and Nicole learned
their first little bit of the octo spider language.  Archie flashed a
broad crimson band (indicating the following sentence would be
declarative - a broad purple band, Ellie explained, always precedes an
interrogative sentence), followed by a magnificent aquamarine.

"Well, if they're deaf," Richard exclaimed, 'how in the world could
they have figured out that you had RV-4I, unless they are masters of
mind-reading, or have a record of every .  . . no, even then it's not
possible."

He sat back down.  There was another period of silence.

"Should I continue?"  Eponine asked eventually.  Richard nodded.

"As I was saying, Dr Blue and Archie explained to Ellie and me that
they were really very advanced in biology and medicine .  . . and if we
would try to co-operate with them, they would see if perhaps they had
techniques that could cure me ... Assuming, of course, that I would be
willing to submit to all the procedures .  . ."

"When we asked them why they wanted to cure Eponine," Ellie said, "Dr
Blue told us that the octo spiders were trying to make a grand gesture
of friendship, something that would pave the way for harmonious
interactions between our two species."

Richard and Nicole were both absolutely astounded by what they were
hearing.  They looked at each other in disbelief as Ellie continued.

"Because I was still a beginner at the language," Ellie said, 'it was
very difficult to communicate what we knew about RV-4I.  Eventually,
after many long, intense language sessions, we were able to tell the
octo spiders what we knew."

"Both Ellie and I tried to remember everything Robert had ever said
about the disease.  All along, Dr Blue, Archie, and a couple of the
other octo spiders were around us.  They never took a single note that
we could see.  But we never, ever told them the same information
twice."

"In fact," Ellie added, 'whenever we inadvertently repeated ourselves,
they reminded us that we had told them that before."

"About three weeks ago," Eponine continued, 'the octo spiders informed
us that their information-gathering process was over, and that they
were now ready to subject me to some tests.  They explained that the
tests might be painful at times, and were extraordinary by human
standards .  . ."

"Most of the tests," Ellie said, 'involved inserting living creatures,
some microscopic and some that Eponine could actually see, into her
body either by injection .  . ."

"Or by allowing the creatures to enter through my, uh, I guess the best
word would be orifices."

Archie interrupted here and asked for the meanings of 'inadvertently'
and 'orifices'.  While Ellie was explaining, Nicole leaned over to
Richard.  "Sound familiar?"  she asked.

Richard nodded.

"But I never had any kind of interaction, at least not that I can
remember ... I was isolated .  . ."

"I have experienced some weird feelings in my life," Eponine was
saying, 'but nothing quite like I felt the day five or six tiny worms,
no bigger than a pin, crawled into the lower part of my body."  She
shivered.

"I told myself that if I survived the days of having my insides
invaded, I would never again complain about any physical discomfort."

"Did you believe that the octo spiders were going to be able to cure
you?"  Nicole asked.

"Not at first," Eponine replied.

"But as the days passed, I began to think that it was possible.  I
certainly could see that they possessed medical capabilities altogether
different from ours .  . . And I had the feeling they were making
progress .  . .

"Then one day, after the testing was over, Ellie showed up in my room -
throughout this time I was kept somewhere else in the city, probably in
their equivalent of a hospital and told me that the octo spiders had
isolated the RV-4I virus and understood how it operated on its host,
namely me.  They had Ellie tell me then that they were going to insert
a "biological agent" into my system which would seek out the RV-4I
virus and destroy it completely.  The agent would not be able to reduce
the damage already done by the virus, which they assured me through
Ellie
Wt --.

was not that severe, but it would absolutely cleanse my system of

RV4I."

"I was told to explain to Eponine also," Elite said, 'that there could
be some side-effects from the agent.  They didn't know exactly what to
expect, for of course they had never used the agent in humans before,
but their "models" predicted nausea and possibly headaches."

"They were correct about the nausea," Eponine said.

"I threw up every three or four hours for a couple of days.  At the end
of that time, Dr Blue, Archie, Ellie, and the other octo spiders all
gathered beside my bed to tell me that I was cured."

"Whaaat?"  said Richard, jumping to his feet again.

"Oh, Eponine," Nicole said immediately,

"I'm so happy for you."  She stood up and hugged her friend.

"And you believe this?"  Richard said to Nicole.

"You believe that the octo spider doctors, who can't possibly yet
understand very well how the human body works, could accomplish in
several days what your brilliant son-in-law and his staff at the
hospital could not do in four years?"

"Why not, Richard?"  Nicole said.

"If it had been done by The Eagle at The Node, you would have accepted
it immediately.  Why can't the octo spiders be much more advanced than
we are in biology?  Look at everything we saw .  . ."

"All right," said Richard.  He shook his head a few times and then
turned to Eponine.

"I'm sorry," he said, 'but it's just difficult for me to ...
Congratulations.  I too am delighted."  He embraced Eponine
awkwardly.

While they had been talking, someone had noiselessly stacked fresh
vegetables and water just outside their door.  Nicole saw the materials
for their feast when she went to use the bathroom.

"That must have been an astonishing experience," she said to Eponine
when she returned to where everyone else was sitting.

"That's an understatement," Eponine said.  She smiled.

"Even though I feel in my heart that I'm cured, I can't wait to have it
confirmed by you and Dr Turner."

Both Richard and Nicole were extremely tired after their large
dinner.

Ellie told her parents that there were some other items she wanted to
discuss with them, but that she could wait until after Richard and
Nicole had slept.

"I wish I could remember more about my period with the octo spiders
before we reached The Node," Richard said, when he and Nicole were
lying together on the large bed their hosts had provided.

"Then maybe I would understand better what I feel about the story that
Ellie and Eponine told."

"Do you still doubt that she's cured?"  Nicole asked.

"I don't know," Richard said.

"But I will admit that I am rather puzzled
by the difference in behaviour between these octo spiders and the ones
who examined and tested me years before ... I cannot believe that the
octos in Rama II would ever have rescued me from a voracious plant."

"Maybe octo spiders are capable of widely varying behaviour.  That's
certainly true for human beings.  In fact, it's true for all
higher-order mammals on Earth.  Why should you expect all octo spiders
to be the same?"

"I know you're going to say that I'm being xenophobic," Richard said,
'but it's difficult for me to accept these "new" octo spiders They seem
too good to be true.  As a biologist, what do you think is their
payoff, to use your word, for being "nice to us"?"

"It's a legitimate question, darling," Nicole replied, 'and I do not
know the answer.  The idealist in me, however, wants to believe that we
have encountered a species that behaves, most of the time, in a moral
fashion because doing good is its own reward."

Richard laughed.

"I should have expected that answer.  Especially after our discussion
about Sisyphus back in New Eden."

"You would find their language fascinating.  Daddy," Ellie was saying
when Nicole finally awakened after sleeping for eleven hours.  Richard
and Ellie were already eating breakfast.

"It's extremely mathematical.

They use sixty-four colours altogether, but only fifty-one are what we
would call alphabetical.  The other thirteen are clarifiers they are
used to specify tenses, or as counters, or even to identify
comparatives and superlatives.  Their language is really quite
elegant."

"I can't imagine how a language can be elegant your mother is the
linguist in the family," Richard said.

"I managed to learn to read German, but my speaking skills were
atrocious."

"Good morning, everybody," Nicole said, stretching in her bed.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Some new and different vegetables ... or maybe they are fruits, for
there's really no equivalence in our world .  . . Almost everything the
octo spiders eat is what we would probably call a plant, deriving its
energy from light.  Worms are about the only thing the octo spiders eat
regularly that does not get its primary energy from photons."

"So all the plants in the fields that we passed are powered by a kind
of photosynthesis?"

"Something similar," Ellie replied, 'if I understood properly what
Archie told me ... Very little is wasted in the octo spider society .
.

. Those creatures that you and Daddy call "giant fireflies" hover over
each field for precisely scheduled periods of time each week or month .
. . And all the water is managed as carefully as the photons."

"Where's Eponine?"  Nicole asked while she surveyed the food laid out
on the table in the middle of the room.

"She's off packing her things," Ellie said.

"Besides, she thought that she really shouldn't participate in this
morning's conversation."

"Are we going to be shocked again, like last night?"  Nicole asked
lightly.

"Perhaps," Ellie said slowly.

"I really don't know how you are going to react... do you want to
finish your breakfast before we start, or should I tell Archie we're
ready?"

"You mean the octo spider is going to be part of the conversation and
Eponine is not?"  Richard asked.

"It was her choice," Ellie said.

"Besides, Archie, at least in his capacity as a representative of the
octo spiders is far more involved in the subject- matter than
Eponine."

Richard and Nicole looked at each other.

"Do you have any idea at all what this is about?"  Richard said.

Nicole shook her head.

"But we might as well begin," she said.

After Archie took his seat among the Wakefields, Ellie informed her
parents, and everyone laughed, that this time Archie would provide the
'preamble'.  Ellie translated, at times hesitantly, as Archie began
with an apology to Richard for the way Richard had been treated by
Archie's 'cousins' years previously.  Archie explained that those octo
spiders the ones the humans had encountered in Rama II prior to
arriving at The Node, were from a separate, splinter colony, only
remotely related to the octo spiders that were currently on board.

Archie emphasised that it was not until Rama III came into their sphere
of influence that the octo spiders as a species, concluded that the
great cylindrical spacecraft were important.

A few of the survivors of that other octo spider colony, a 'vastly
inferior group' according to Archie (this is one of the places where
Ellie asked him to repeat what he was saying), were still passengers on
Rama III when the spacecraft was intercepted, early in its trajectory,
by the current octo spider colony that had been specifically selected
to represent their species.  The splinter-group survivors were removed
from the vehicle, but all their records were preserved.  Archie and the
others in his colony learned the details of what had happened to
Richard at that time and they now wished to make amends for that
treatment.

"So all this preamble, in addition to being fascinating," said Richard,
'is an elaborate apology to me?"

Ellie nodded and Archie flashed the broad crimson followed by the
brilliant aquamarine.

"May I ask a question before we continue?"  Nicole said.  She turned
towards the octo spider

"I assume, from what you told us, that you and your colony boarded Rama
III during the period that we were all asleep.  Did you know we were
there?"

Archie answered that the octo spiders had presumed the humans were
living inside the far northern habitat, but had not known for certain
until the external seal of the human habitat was first broken.  By that
time, according to Archie, the octo spider colony had already been in
place for twelve human years.

"Archie insisted that he make this apology himself," Ellie said,
glancing at her father and then waiting for him to respond.

"OK, I accept, I guess," Richard replied.

"Although I nave no idea what the proper protocol should be .  . ."

Archie asked Ellie to define 'protocol'.  Nicole laughed.

"Richard,"

she said, 'sometimes you are so stiff."

"Anyway," Ellie said again, 'in the interest of time, I will tell you
everything else myself.  According to Archie, the records from the
splinter colony show that they conducted a number of experiments on
you, most of which are outlawed in those octo spider colonies Archie
refers to as "highly developed".  One experiment, Daddy, as you have
often suggested, involved inserting into your brain a series of
specialised microbes to void all your memory of the time you stayed
with the octo spiders I have reported to Archie and the others that the
memory experiment was mostly but not completely successful .  . .

"The most complex experiment they conducted on your body was an attempt
to alter your sperm.  The splinter colony of octo spiders knew no more
about where Rama II was going than our family did.  They thought that
perhaps the humans and octo spiders on board would be coexisting for
centuries, maybe even aeons, and the octo spiders determined that it
was absolutely essential for the two species to communicate.

"What they attempted to do was to change the chromosomes in your sperm
so that your offspring would have both expanded language capability and
greater visual resolution of colours.  In short, they tried to engineer
me genetically for I was the only child born to you and Mother after
your long odyssey so that I would be able to communicate with them
without undue difficulty.  To accomplish this, they introduced a set of
special creatures into your body .  . ."

Ellie stopped.  Both Richard and Nicole were staring at her with
astonishment.

"So you are some kind of hybrid?"  Richard asked.

"Maybe a little," said Ellie, laughing to defuse the tension.

"If I understand correctly, only a few thousand of the three billion
kilo bases that define my genome have been altered .  . . And speaking
of that, Archie and the octo spiders would like to revalidate, for
their scientific research, that I am indeed the result of an altered
sperm. They would like blood and other cell samples from both of you,
so that they can conclude unequivocally that I could not have come from
a "normal" union of the two of you.  Then they would know for certain
that my facility with their language was indeed "engineered" and not
just incredible good luck."

"What difference does it make at this point?"  Richard asked.

"I would think that all that matters is that you can communicate .  .
."

"I'm surprised at you.  Father you who have always been such a
knowledge junkie .  . . The octo spider society places information at
the top of the value scale.  They are already virtually certain, as a
result of
the tests they have performed on me plus the records kept by the
splinter group, that I am indeed the result of an altered sperm.

Looking at both your genomes in detail, however, would allow them to
confirm it."

"All right," said Nicole after only a brief hesitation.

"I'm willing."

She walked over and hugged Ellie.

"Whatever caused you to be, you are my daughter and I love you with all
my heart."  Nicole glanced back at Richard.

"And I'm certain your father will agree as soon as he has had time to
think about it."

Nicole smiled at Archie.  The octo spider flashed the broad crimson,
followed by a more narrow cobalt blue and a bright yellow.  The
sentence meant

"Thank you' in the octo spider language.

The next morning Nicole wished that she had asked a few more questions
before volunteering to help the octo spiders with their scientific
research.  Just after breakfast, their constant alien companion Archie
was joined by two other octo spiders in the humans' small suite.  One
of the newcomers, introduced by Ellie as

"Dr Blue a most distinguished medical scholar', explained what was
going to occur.

Richard's procedure would be simple and straightforward.  Essentially,
the octos only wanted enough data on Richard to corroborate the
historical record of his visit to the splinter colony years before.

As for Nicole, since the octo spider database contained no
physiological information on her, and the octos had already learned
from their detailed examination of Ellie that the way in which human
genetic characteristics are expressed is dominated by the mother's
contribution to the offspring, a much more elaborate procedure would be
required. Dr Blue proposed to perform a complex series of tests on
Nicole, the most important of which involved data-gathering inside her
body by a dozen tiny, coiled creatures that were about two centime tres
long and the width of a pin.  Nicole recoiled with horror when the octo
spider doctor held up an equivalent of a plastic bag and Nicole first
saw the writhing, slimy creatures that were going to be inside her.

"But I thought all you needed was my genetic code," Nicole said, 'and
that's contained in each and every cell... It shouldn't be necessary
.

. ."

Bright colours circled Dr Blue's head as the octo spider interrupted
before Nicole had a chance to finish her protest.

"Our techniques of extracting your genome information," Dr Blue said
through Ellie, 'are not yet very advanced.  Our methods work best if we
have many cells, chosen from several different organs and biological
subsystems."

The doctor then politely thanked Nicole again for her cooperation,
finishing with the sequence of cobalt blue and bright yellow bands she
had already learned to interpret.  The blue part of the 'thank you'
spilled down the side of Dr Blue's head, producing a beautiful visual
effect that
momentarily distracted the linguist in Nicole.  So keeping those^-Slow
bands regular must be a learned behaviour, she thought.  And our doctor
has a kind of speech impediment.

Nicole's attention was forcibly returned to the pending procedure a few
moments later when Dr Blue explained that the coiled creatures would
burrow through her skin into her body and then remain inside her for
half an hour.  Yuch, thought Nicole immediately, they are like
leeches.

One was placed on her forearm.  Nicole raised her arm up in front of
her face and watched the tiny animal screw its way through her skin.

Nicole felt nothing while the creature was invading her, but when it
had disappeared she shuddered involuntarily.

Nicole was asked to lie down on her back.  Dr Blue then showed her two
small eight-legged creatures, one red and one blue, each the size of a
fruit-fly.

"You may feel some discomfort soon," Dr Blue said to Nicole through
Ellie, 'as the coilers reach your internal organs.

These little guys can be used for anaesthesia if you would like some
relief from the pain."

Less than a minute later Nicole experienced a sharp stabbing sensation
in her chest.  Nicole's first thought was that something was cutting
into one of the chambers of her heart.  When Dr Blue saw Nicole's face
wrenched in pain, he placed the two anaesthetic bugs on Nicole's
neck.

In only seconds Nicole was suspended in a peculiar state between waking
and dreaming.  She could still hear Ellie's voice, continuing to
explain what was happening, but she could not feel anything occurring
inside her body.

Nicole found her gaze fixed on the front of the head of Dr Blue, who
was supervising the entire procedure.  Much to her astonishment, Nicole
thought that she was beginning to recognise emotional expressions in
the subtle surface wrinkles of the octo spider face.  She remembered
once as a child being certain that she had seen her pet dog smile.

There's so much to seeing, her floating mind thought, so much more than
we ever use.

She felt astonishingly peaceful.  Nicole closed her eyes briefly and
when she opened them again she was a ten-year-old girl, weeping beside
her father as her mother's bier was consumed by flames in a burial
ceremony befitting the Senoufo queen.  The old man, her
great-grandfather Omeh, dressed in a frightening mask to scare off any
demons that might try to accompany Nicole's mother to the afterlife,
came over beside her and took her hand.

"It is as the chronicles prophesied, Ronata," he said, using Nicole's
Senoufo name, 'our blood has been scattered to the stars."

The variegated mask of the shaman disappeared into another set of
colours, these in bands streaking around Dr Blue's head.  Again Nicole
heard Ellie's voice.  My daughter is a hybrid, she thought to herself
without
emotion.  i have given birth to something that is more than human.  A
new kind of evolution has begun.

Her mind drifted again and she was a great bird/ plane flying high in
the dark above the savannahs of the Ivory Coast.  Nicole had left the
Earth, turned her back on the Sun, and blasted like a rocket towards
the blackness and void beyond the solar system.  In her mind's eye she
could clearly see Omeh's face.

"Ronata," he called into the night sky in the Ivory Coast, 'do not
forget.  You are the chosen one."

And could he really have known, Nicole thought, still in the twilight
zone between waking and sleeping, all those years ago, in Africa, on
Earth?  And if so, how?  Or is there still another dimension to seeing
that we have only just begun to understand?

Richard and Nicole were sitting together in the near-darkness.  They
were temporarily alone.  Ellie and Eponine were out with Archie, making
all the arrangements for the departure the next morning.

"You've been very quiet all day," Richard said.

"Yes, I have," Nicole answered.

"I have felt strange, almost drugged, ever since that last procedure
this morning .  . . My memory is unusually active.  I've been thinking
about my parents.  And Omeh.  And visions I had years ago."

"Were you surprised at the results of the tests?"  Richard asked after
a short silence.

"Not really.  I guess so much has happened to us ... And you know,
Richard, I can still remember when Ellie was conceived .  . . You were
not really yourself again yet."

"I talked to Ellie and Archie quite a bit this afternoon while you were
napping.  The changes the octo spiders induced in Ellie are permanent,
like mutations.  Nikki probably has some of the same characteristics it
depends on the exact genetic mixture.  Of course hers will be diluted
by another generation .  . ."

Richard didn't finish his thought.  He yawned, and then reached over
for Nicole's hand.  They sat quietly together for several minutes
before Nicole broke the silence.

"Richard, do you remember my telling you about the Senoufo
chronicles?

About the woman from the tribe, the daughter of a queen, who was
prophesied to carry the Senoufo blood "even unto the stars"?"

"Vaguely," Richard answered.

"We haven't spoken about it for a long time."

"Omeh was certain that I was the woman in the chronicles .  . . "the
woman without companion", he called her ... Do you believe there is any
possible way that we can have knowledge of the future?"

Richard laughed.

"Everything in nature follows certain laws.  Those
laws can be expressed as differential equations in time.  If we^ know
precisely the initial conditions of the system at any given epoch, and
the exact equations representing the laws of nature, then theoretically
we can predict all outcomes.  We can't, of course, because our
knowledge is always imperfect, and the rules of chaos limit the
applicability of our estimation techniques .  . ."

"Suppose," Nicole said, propping herself up on an elbow, 'there were
individuals or even groups who did not know mathematics, but could
somehow see or feel both the laws and the initial conditions you
mentioned.  Couldn't they perhaps intuitively solve at least part of
the equations, and predict the future using insight that we cannot
model or quantify?"

"It's possible," said Richard.

"But remember, extraordinary claims require .  . ."

'. . . extraordinary evidence.  I know," said Nicole.  She paused for a
moment.

"I wonder what destiny is, then.  Is it something we humans make up
after the fact?  Or is it real?  And if destiny really exists as a
concept, how can it be explained by the laws of physics?"

"I'm not following you, darling," Richard said.

"It's confusing even to me," Nicole said.

"Am I who I am because, as Omeh insisted when I was a little girl, it
was always my destiny to travel in space?  Or am I the person I am
because of all the choices I have personally made and the skills I have
consciously developed?"

Richard laughed again.

"Now you're very close to one of the fundamental philosophical
conundrums, the debate between God's omniscience and man's free
will."

"I didn't mean to be," said Nicole reflectively.

"I just can't shake the notion that nothing that has happened in my
absolutely incredible life would have been a surprise to Omeh."

Their departure breakfast was a feast.  The octo spiders provided more
than a dozen different fruits and vegetables, as well as a hot, thick
cereal made, according to Archie and Ellie, from the very tall grasses
just north of the power-plant.  While they were eating, Richard asked
the octo spider what had happened to the avian hatchlings Tammy and
Timmy, as well as the manna melons and the sessile material.  He was
not satisfied with the translated, somewhat vague response that all the
other species were fine.

"Look, Archie," Richard said in his characteristic, brusque manner.

He was now comfortable enough with his alien host no longer to feel it
necessary to be overly polite.

"I have far more than a casual interest in those creatures.  I rescued
them, and raised them from birth by myself.  I would like to see them,
even if only briefly .  . . Under any circumstances, I think I deserves
more definitive answer to my question."

Archie stood up, ambled out the door of the suite, and returned in a
few minutes.

"We have arranged for you to see the avians for yourself, later on
today during our journey back to your friends," he said.

"As for the other species, two of the eggs have just completed
germination and are in the infant myrmicat stage.  Their development is
being closely monitored on the other side of our domain and it is not
possible for you to visit them."

Richard's face brightened.

"Two of them germinated!  How did you accomplish that?"

"Eggs of the sessile species must be placed in a thermally controlled
liquid for a month of your time before the embryonic development
process will even begin," Ellie interpreted Archie's colours very
slowly.

"The temperature must be maintained within an extremely small range,
less than a degree by your measures, at the same value that is optimal
for the myrmicat manifestation of the species.  Otherwise the growth
and development process does not occur."

Richard was on his feet.

"So that's the secret," he said, nearly shouting.  "Damnit, I should
have figured it out.  I certainly had plenty of clues, both from the
conditions inside their habitat and those murals they
showed me .  . He began to pace around the room.

"But hffwdid the octo spiders know?"  he said, with his back to
Archie.

Archie replied quickly after Ellie's translation.

"We had information from the other octo spider colony," Archie
replied.

"Their records explained the entire metamorphosis of the sessiles."

It seemed too simple to Richard.  For the first time, he suspected that
maybe their alien colleague was not telling him the whole truth.

Richard was ready to ask some more questions when Dr Blue came into the
suite, followed by three other octo spiders two of whom were carrying a
large hexagonal object, wrapped in a paper like material.

"What's this?"  Richard asked.

"This is our official farewell party," Ellie answered.

"Together with a present from the residents of the city."

One of the new octos asked Ellie if all the humans could gather
outside, on the avenue, for the departure ceremony.  The humans picked
up their belongings and walked through the hallway out into the
brighter lights.  Nicole was surprised by what she saw.  Except for the
octo spiders who filed out of their suite behind them, the avenue was
deserted.  Even the colours of the gardens seemed more muted, as if
they had somehow been temporarily brightened by all the surrounding
activity two days earlier when Richard and Nicole had arrived.

"Where is everyone?"  Nicole asked Ellie.

"It's very quiet, on purpose," her daughter replied.

"The octos didn't want to overwhelm you again."

The five octo spiders arranged themselves in a line, in the middle of
the avenue, with the pyramid-shaped building directly behind them.  The
two octos on the right side balanced the hexagonal package between
them.  It was larger than they were.  The four humans were lined up
opposite the octo spiders just in front of the gates to the city.  The
octo spider in the centre, whom Ellie had finally introduced as the
"Chief Optimiser' (after several failed attempts to find an exactly
correct human word for Archie's description of the duties of the octo
spider leader), stepped forward and began to speak.

The Chief Optimiser expressed its gratitude to Richard, Nicole, Ellie
and Eponine, including a personal note with each 'thank you', and said
that it hoped this brief interaction would be the 'first of many' that
would lead to more understanding between the two species.  The octo
spider then indicated that Archie was going to return with the humans,
not only so that the interaction could be continued and expanded, but
also to demonstrate to the other humans that a mutual trust between the
two species now existed.

During a brief pause Archie shuffled forward into the zone between the
two lines and Ellie symbolically welcomed him to their travelling
party.  The two octos on the right then unveiled the present, which
was a magnificent, detailed painting of the sight that Richard and
Nicole had seen at the moment of their entrance into the Emerald City.
The painting was so lifelike that Nicole was momentarily stunned.  A
few moments later the humans all moved closer to the painting to study
its details.  All the weird creatures were in the picture, including
the three royal-blue undulators, whose two long, upright, knobby
antennae thrust upward from a teeming body-mass reminded Nicole how
disorientated she had been the previous day.

As she examined the painting and wondered how it could have been
created, Nicole recalled the near-swoon that had accompanied her actual
viewing of the scene.  Was I having a premonition of danger then?  she
mused.  Or was it something else?  She glanced away from the painting
and watched the octo spiders talking among themselves.

Perhaps it was an epiphany, she thought, an instant burst of
recognition of something way beyond my understanding.  Some force or
power never before experienced by any human being.  A chill ran down
her back as the gates of the Emerald City began to open.

Richard was always concerned about naming things.  After less than a
minute of inspection of the creatures they were going to ride, he
called them 'ostrichsaurs'.

"That's not very imaginative, darling," Nicole chided him.

"Maybe not," he said, 'but it is a perfect description.  They are just
like a giant ostrich with the face and neck of one of those herbivorous
dinosaurs."

The creatures had four birdlike legs, a soft, feathery main body with
an indented bowl in the middle where four humans could easily sit, and
a long neck that could be extended three me tres in any direction.

Since the legs were about two me tres long, the neck could reach the
surrounding ground without difficulty.

The two ostrichsaurs were surprisingly swift.  Archie, Ellie and
Eponine rode on one of the creatures, on whose side the large hexagonal
painting had been tied with a kind of twine.  Nicole and Richard were
by themselves on the other ostrichsaur.  There were no reins or other
obvious means of controlling the creatures; however, before the group
had departed from the Emerald City, Archie had spent almost ten minutes
'talking' to the ostrichsaurs.

"He's explaining the entire route," Ellie had said at the time.

"And also outlining what to do in case of an accident."

"What kind of an accident?"  Richard had shouted, but Ellie had simply
shrugged in reply.

At first both Richard and Nicole had hung on to the 'feathers' that
surrounded the bowl in which they were sitting, but after a
few-minutes they had relaxed.  The ride was very smooth, with very
little up-and-down motion.

"Now do you suppose," Richard said after the Emerald City had faded
from view, 'these animals naturally evolved this way, with this
near-perfect bowl in the middle of their backs?  Or did the octo spider
generic engineers somehow breed them for transportation?"

"There's no doubt in my mind at all," Nicole replied.

"I believe that most of the living things we have encountered,
certainly including those dark, wriggling coiled things that crawled
through my skin, have been designed for a specific function by the octo
spiders How could it be otherwise?"

"But you can't believe these animals were designed from scratch,"

Richard said.

"That would suggest an incredible technology, far beyond anything we
can even imagine."

"I don't know, darling," Nicole said.

"Maybe the octo spiders have travelled to many different planetary
systems, in each place finding life-forms that could be slightly
altered to fit into their grand symbiotic schemes .  . . But I can't
accept for a minute the idea that this harmonious biology just happened
by natural evolution."

The two ostrichsaurs and their five riders were guided by three of the
giant fireflies.  After a couple of hours, the group approached a vast
lake stretching to the south and the west.  Both the ostrichsaurs
squatted on the ground so that Archie and the four humans could
descend.

"We're going to have lunch and a drink of water here," Archie said to
the others.  He handed Ellie a container filled with food and then led
the two ostrichsaurs over to the lake.  Nicole and Eponine walked off
in the direction of some blue plants growing at the edge of the water,
leaving Richard and Ellie by themselves.

"Your proficiency in their language is very impressive, to say the
least," Richard said in between bites of food.

Ellie laughed.

"I'm afraid I'm not as good as you think.  The octos purposely keep
their sentences very simple for me.  And they speak slowly, with broad
bands .  . . But I am improving .  . . You realise, don't you, that
they are not using their true language when speaking to us.  It's just
a derivative form."

"What do you mean?"  Richard asked.

"I explained it to Mother, back at the Emerald City.  I guess she
didn't have a chance to tell you .  . ."  Ellie swallowed before
continuing.

"Their true language has sixty-four colour symbols, just as I
mentioned, but eleven of them are not accessible to us.  Eight lie in
the infra-red part of the spectrum, and another three in the
ultraviolet.  So we can only distinguish clearly fifty-three of their
symbols.  This was quite a problem in the beginning .  . . Luckily,
five of the eleven outside symbols are clarifiers.

Anyway, for our benefit they have developed what amounts to a new
dialect of their language, using only the colour wavelengths that we
can see .  . . Archie says that this new dialect is already being
taught in some of their advanced classes .  . ."

"Amazing," Richard said.

"You mean they have adjusted their language to accommodate our physical
limitations?"

"Not exactly.  Father.  They still use their true language when talking
to each other.  That's why I cannot always understand what they are
saying .  . . However, this new dialect has been developed, and is now
being expanded, just to make communications with us as easy as
possible."

Richard finished his lunch.  He was about to ask Ellie another question
about the octo spider language when he heard Nicole yell.

"Richard,"

she shouted from fifty me tres away, 'look over there, in the air,
towards the forest."

Richard craned his neck and shaded his eyes.  In the distance he could
see two birds flying towards them.  For some reason his recognition was
delayed until he heard the familiar shrieking sound.  Then he jumped up
and ran in the direction of the avians.  Tammy and Timmy, now full
grown swooped down out of the sky and landed beside him.  Richard was
overcome with joy as his wards jabbered incessantly and pressed their
velvet underbellies against him for a rub.

They looked perfectly healthy.  There was not a trace of sadness in
their huge expressive eyes.  Both Richard and the avians enjoyed the
reunion for several moments before Timmy stepped away, shrieked
something in a very loud voice, and became airborne.  Within a few
minutes Timmy returned with a companion avian, a female with an orange
velvet covering unlike any Richard had ever seen before.

Richard was a little confused, but he did realise that Timmy was trying
to introduce him to his mate.

The remainder of the reunion with the avians lasted only ten or fifteen
minutes.  Archie insisted, after he first explained that the vast lake
system supplied almost half of the fresh water in the octo spider
domain, that the entourage needed to continue on its journey.  Richard
and Nicole were already in the bowl on the back of their ostrichsaur
when the three avians departed.  Tammy hovered over them for a goodbye
jabber, obviously disturbing the creature on which they were riding. At
length she followed her brother and his mate in their flight towards
the forest.

Richard was strangely quiet as their mounts also headed north in the
direction of the forest.

"They really mean a lot to you, don't they?"

Nicole said.

"Absolutely," her husband replied.

"I was all alone, except for the hatchlings, for a long time.  Timmy
and Tammy depended on me for their survival.  . . Committing myself to
rescuing them was probably the
first selfless act of my life.  It exposed me to new dimensiofls "of
both anxiety and happiness."

Nicole reached over and took Richard's hand.

"Your emotional life has had an odyssey of its own," she said softly,
'every bit as diverse as the physical journey you have experienced."

Richard kissed her.

"I still have a few demons that are not yet exorcised," he said.

"Maybe, with your help, in another ten years I will be a decent human
being."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, darling," Nicole said.

"To my brain I give plenty of credit," Richard said with a grin,
changing the tone of the conversation.

"And do you know what it is thinking right now?  Where did that avian
with the orange underbelly come from?"

Nicole looked puzzled.

"From the second habitat," she replied.

"You yourself told us that there must have been a population of almost
a thousand before Nakamura's troops invaded .  . , The octo spiders
must have rescued a few also."

"But I lived there for months," Richard protested.

"And I never ever saw an avian with an orange underbelly.  Not one.  I
would have remembered."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing.  Your explanation is definitely consistent with Occam's
Razor.  But I'm starting to wonder if maybe our octo spider buddies
have some secrets they have not yet discussed with us."

They reached the large igloo hut not far from the Cylindrical Sea after
several more hours.  The tiny glowing igloo that had been beside it was
gone.  Archie and the four humans dismounted.  The octo spider and
Richard untied the hexagonal painting and stored it against the side of
the igloo.  Then Archie led the ostrichsaurs aside and gave them
directions for their homeward trek.

"Can't they stay a little while?"  Nicole asked.

"The children would be absolutely delighted with them."

"Unfortunately no," Archie replied.

"We have only a few and they are very much in demand."

Although Eponine, Ellie, Richard and Nicole were all tired from their
journey, they were still extremely excited about the forthcoming
reunion.  Before leaving the igloo hut, first Eponine and then Ellie
used the mirror and freshened their faces.

"Please, all of you,"

Eponine said,

"I ask one favour.  Don't say anything about my cure to anybody until I
have had a chance to tell Max in private.  I want it to be my
surprise."

"I hope Nikki still recognises me," Ellie said nervously as they
descended the first staircase and entered the corridor that led to the
landing.  The whole group had a momentary panic, fearing the others
might be asleep, until Richard did a computation with his master 9
schedule algorithm and assured everyone that it was the middle of the
morning under the rainbow dome.

All five of them walked out on to the landing and gazed at the circular
floor below them.  The twins Kepler and Galileo were playing a game of
tag, with little Nikki watching them and laughing.  Nai and Max were
unloading food from a subway that had apparently recently arrived.
Eponine could not restrain herself.

"Max," she shouted, "Max!"

Max reacted as if he had been shot.  He dropped the food he was
carrying and turned towards the landing.  He saw Eponine waving at him
and broke like a thoroughbred for the cylindrical staircase.  It could
not have been more than two minutes before he emerged on to the landing
and threw his arms around Eponine.

"Oh, Frenchie," he said, lifting her half a metre off the ground and
hugging her fiercely, 'how I have missed you!"

Archie could do all kinds of tricks with the coloured balls.  The octo
spider could catch two balls at once and then throw them in distinctly
different directions.  Archie could even juggle all six of the balls
simultaneously, using four tentacles, for he needed only the other four
tentacles on the ground to maintain his balance.  The children loved
him to swing all three of them at the same time.

Archie never seemed to tire of playing with the smaller humans.

In the beginning, of course, the children had been afraid of their
alien visitor.  Little Nikki, despite Ellie's repeated assurances that
Archie was friendly, was especially wary because of her memory of the
terror of her mother's kidnapping.  Benjy was the first to accept
Archie as a; playmate.  The Watanabe twins were not coordinated enough
to play complicated games, so Benjy was delighted to discover that
Archie would gladly join him for an active game of catch or Benjy's
version of dodge-ball.

Max and Robert were both disturbed by Archie's presence.  Within an
hour after the arrival of the four humans and the octo spider in
fact.

Max had confronted Richard and Nicole in their bedroom.

"Eponine tells me," Max had said angrily, 'that the damn octo spider is
going to live with us here.  Have you all lost your minds?"

"Think of Archie as an ambassador, Max," Nicole had said.

"The octos want to establish regular communications with us."

"But these same octo spiders kidnapped your daughter and my girlfriend,
and held them against their will for over a month .  . . Are you
telling me that we are to ignore their actions altogether?"

"There were extenuating reasons for the kidnappings," Nicole had
replied, exchanging a brief glance with Richard.

"And the women were treated very well .  . . Why don't you talk to
Eponine about it?"

"Eponine has nothing but praise for the octo spiders Max had said.

"It's almost as if she has been brainwashed ... I thought you two would
be more reasonable."

Even after Eponine had informed Max that the octo spiders had cured her
of RV-4I, he was still sceptical.

"If it's true," he had said, 'then it's
the most wonderful news I've received since those little robots showed
up at the farm and confirmed that Nicole had safely reached New York.

But I am having a very hard time seeing those eight-legged monsters as
our benefactors.  I want Doc Turner to examine you very carefully.  If
he tells me you're cured, then I'll believe it."

Robert Turner was overtly hostile to Archie from the beginning.

Nothing Nicole or even Ellie could say could neutralise the anger that
he still felt over Ellie's kidnapping.  His professional pride was also
severely wounded by the apparent ease with which Eponine had been
purportedly cured.

"You're expecting too much, Ellie, as always," Robert said on the
second night they were together.

"You come in here, all full of glowing reports about these aliens who
snatched you away from Nikki and me, and you expect us to embrace them
immediately.  That's not fair.  I need time to understand and to
synthesise everything you're telling me ... Don't you realise that both
Nikki and I were traumatised by your kidnapping?  We have deep
emotional scars caused by these same creatures you now want me to
regard as friends ... I cannot change my opinion overnight."

Robert was also troubled by Ellie's information about the genetic
changes made in Richard's sperm, even though it did explain why his
wife's genome had defied classification in the tests his colleague Ed
Stafford had conducted back in New Eden.

"How can you be so calm about discovering that you're a hybrid?"  he
said to Ellie.

"Don't you understand what it means?  When the octo spiders altered
your DNA to improve your visual resolution and to make learning their
language easier, they tampered with a robust genetic code that has
evolved naturally over millions of years.  Who knows what disease
susceptibilities, infirmities, or even negative changes in fertility
may show up in you or subsequent generations?

The octos may have unwittingly doomed all our grandchildren."

Ellie was not able to mollify her husband.  When Nicole began working
with Robert to ascertain whether Eponine had indeed been cured of
RV-4I, she noticed that Robert bristled every time Nicole made a
favourable statement about Archie or the octo spiders

"We must give Robert more time," Nicole counselled her daughter a week
after their return.

"He still feels that the octo spiders violated him, not only by
kidnapping you, but also by contaminating the genes of his daughter."

"Mother, there is another problem as well... I almost feel that Robert
is jealous in some peculiar way.  He thinks that I spend too much time
with Archie ... He doesn't seem to accept the fact that Archie cannot
communicate with anyone else unless I am there to interpret."

"As I said, we must be patient.  Eventually Robert willlccept the
situation."

But in private Nicole had her doubts.  Robert was determined to find
some remnant of the RV-4I virus in Eponine and, when test after test
with his relatively unsophisticated portable equipment showed no
evidence of the pathogen in her system, he continued to request
additional procedures.  In Nicole's professional opinion, there was
nothing to be gained from more testing.  Although there existed a very
small probability that the virus had eluded them and did still dwell
somewhere in Eponine, Nicole felt that it was virtually certain that
Eponine had been cured.

The two doctors clashed the day after Ellie had confided to her mother
that Robert was jealous of Archie.  When Nicole suggested that they
terminate the tests on Eponine and pronounce her healthy, she was
shocked to hear her son-in-law say that he proposed to open up
Eponine's chest cavity and take a direct sample from the tissues around
her heart.

"But Robert," Nicole said, 'have you ever had a case where so many
other tests have been virus-negative, but the pathogen was still
locally active in the cardiac region?"

"Only when death was imminent, and the heart had already deteriorated,"
he admitted.

"But that doesn't preclude that the same situation could occur earlier
in the cycle of the disease."

Nicole was staggered.  She did not argue with Robert, for she could
tell from the rigid set of his muscles that he had already decided on
his next course of action.  But open heart surgery of any kind is
risky, even in his skilled hands, she thought.  In this environment any
kind of accident could result in death.  Please, Robert, come to your
senses.  If you do not, I will be forced to oppose you on Eponine's
behalf.

Max asked to talk to Nicole privately very soon after Robert
recommended that the heart surgery be performed.

"Eponine is frightened," Max confided, 'and I am too ... She came back
from the Emerald City more full of life than I have ever seen her.
Robert originally told me that the tests would be over in a couple of
days .

. . They have dragged on for almost two weeks and now he says he wants
to take a tissue sample from her heart .  . ."

"I know," said Nicole grimly.

"He told me last night he was going to recommend the open-heart
procedure."

"Help me, please," Max said.

"I want to make certain that I understand the facts properly.  You and
Robert have examined her blood many times, as well as several other
bodily tissues that sometimes show minute quantities of the virus, and
all the specimens have been unambiguously negative?"

"That's correct," Nicole said.

"Isn't it true also that every other time that Eponine has been
examined, ever since she was first diagnosed as RV-4I positive years
ago, her blood samples have indicated the presence of the virus?"

"Yes," Nicole replied.

"Then why does Robert want to operate?  Does he simply not want to
believe that she is cured?  Or is he just being extra-careful?"

"I cannot answer for him," Nicole said.

She looked searchingly at her friend and knew both what his next
question would be and how she would answer it.  There are difficult
decisions that all of us must make in life, she thought.  When I was
younger I consciously tried to avoid placing myself in a position where
I would be forced to make such decisions.  Now I understand that by
avoiding them I allow others to decide for me.  And sometimes they are
wrong.

"If you were the doctor in charge, Nicole," Max asked, 'would you
operate on Eponine?"

"No, I would not," Nicole replied carefully.

"I believe that it is almost certain that Eponine was indeed cured by
the octo spiders and that the risk of the operation cannot be
justified."

Max smiled and kissed his friend on the forehead.

"Thank you," he said.

Robert was outraged.  He reminded everyone that he had dedicated more
than four years of his life to studying this particular disease, as
well as trying to find a cure, and that he certainly knew more about
RV-4I than all of them put together.  How could they possibly trust an
alien cure more than his surgical talent?  How could his own
mother-in-law, whose knowledge of RV-4I was limited to what he himself
had taught her, have dared to offer an opinion different from his?  He
could not be placated by any of the group, not even by Ellie whom he
eventually banished from his presence after several unpleasant
exchanges.

For two days Robert refused to come out of his room.  He did not even
reply when his daughter Nikki wished him

"Sweet dreams, Daddy' before her naps and bedtime.  His family and
friends were deeply troubled by Robert's torment, but could not figure
out how to ease his pain.  The question of Robert's mental stability
came up in several discussions.

Everyone agreed that Robert had seemed 'out of place' ever since the
escape from New Eden, and that his behaviour had become even more
erratic and unpredictable after Ellie's kidnapping.

Ellie confided to her mother that Robert had been 'peculiar' with her
since their recent reunion.

"He has not approached me even once, as a woman," she said
sorrowfully.

"It has been as if he felt I was contaminated by my experience ... He
keeps saying weird things like, "Ellie, did you want to be
kidnapped"?"

"I feel sorry for him," Nicole replied.

"He is carrying sdtrr a heavy emotional burden, going all the way back
to Texas.  This has all been simply too much.  We should have .  . ."

"But what can we do for him now?"  Ellie interrupted.

"I don't know, darling," Nicole said.

"I just don't know."

Ellie tried to pass the difficult time helping Benjy with his octo
spider language lessons.  Her half-brother was absolutely fascinated by
everything about the aliens, including the hexagonal octo spider
painting that had been brought back from the Emerald City.

Benjy stared at the picture several times a day, and never missed an
opportunity to ask questions about the amazing creatures depicted in
the painting.  Through Ellie, Archie always patiently answered whatever
Benjy asked.

Benjy had decided, soon after he began playing regularly with Archie,
that he wanted to learn to recognise at least a few phrases in the octo
spider lexicon.  Benjy knew that Archie was able to read lips and he
wanted to show the octo spider that even a 'slow human', if properly
motivated, could pick up enough understanding of the octo spider
language for a simple conversation.

Ellie and Archie started Benjy with the fundamentals.  He learned the
octo spider colours for 'yes', 'no', 'please' and 'thank you' without
any difficulty.  The numbers were fairly easy as well, because both the
cardinals and the ordinals were essentially combination sequences of
two basic colours, blood red and malachite green, that were used in a
binary fashion and marked in the flow of the sentence by a salmon
clarifier.  What gave Benjy the most trouble was comprehending that the
individual colours by themselves did not have any meaning.  A burnt
sienna band, for example, represented the verb 'to understand' if
followed by a mauve and then a clarifier; however, if the burnt sienna/mauve
combination was followed by a vermilion, the three-band symbol
meant 'flowering plant'.

Nor were the individual colours members of an alphabet in the strictest
sense.  Sometimes the width of the colours, when compared with others
in the longer sequence defining a single word, completely changed the
meaning.  The burnt sienna/ mauve combination only meant 'to
understand' if the two bands were of approximately equal width.

The word defined by a narrow burnt sienna followed by a mauve of
roughly double the width was 'capacity'.

Benjy struggled with the language, doing all the required repetitions,
with an uncommon zeal.  His ardour for learning warmed Ellie's heart at
a time when she was deeply troubled.  She did not know how the crisis
with Robert would resolve itself.

At the beginning of the third day of Robert's self-imposed exile in his
room, the subway pulled into its slot, as expected, with their
semiweekly
supply of food and water.  Only this time there were two new octo
spiders on the train.  They disembarked and had a detailed conversation
with Archie.  The family gathered together, expecting some unusual
news.

"Human troops are again in New York," Archie reported, 'and they are in
the process of breaking the seal to our lair.  It's just a matter of
time until they discover the subway tunnels."

"So what should we do now?"  Nicole asked.

"We would like for you to come and live with us in the Emerald City,"

Archie replied.

"My colleagues anticipated this possibility and have already finished
the design of a special section in the city just for you.  It could be
ready in a few more days."

"And what if we don't want to go?"  Max asked.

Archie conferred briefly with the other two octo spiders

"Then you can stay here and wait for the troops," he said.

"We will provide as much food as we can, but we will begin dismantling
the subway as soon as we have evacuated all our associates on the
northern side of the Cylindrical Sea."

Archie continued speaking but Ellie stopped translating.  She asked the
octo spider to repeat his next few sentences several times before
turning, a little pale, to her friends and family.

"Unfortunately," she translated, 'we octo spiders must be concerned for
our own welfare.  Therefore, any of you who decide not to come with us
will have your short-term memories blocked, and will not be able to
recall in detail any events from the last several weeks."

Max whistled.

"So much for friendship and communication," he said.

"When push comes to shove, all of the species use power."

He walked over to Eponine and took her hand.  She looked at him
quizzically as Max pulled her over in front of Nicole.

"Will you marry us, please?"  he said.

Nicole was flustered.

"Right now?"  she asked.

"Right this very goddamn minute," Max answered.

"I love this woman beside me and I want to have an orgy of a honeymoon
with her up in that igloo hut before all hell breaks loose."

"But I'm not qualified .  . ."  Nicole protested.

"You're the best available," Max interrupted.

"Come on, at least do a good approximation."  The speechless bride was
beaming.

"Do you.  Max Puckett, take this woman, Eponine," Nicole said
hesitantly, 'to be your wife?"

"I do and should have done months ago," Max replied.

"And do you, Eponine, take this man.  Max Puckett, to be your
husband?"

"Oh, yes, Nicole, with pleasure."

Max pulled Eponine towards him and kissed her passionately.

"Now,
Ar-chi-bald," he said as he and Eponine headed for the staircBse, 'in
case you're wondering, Frenchie and I intend to go with you to that
Emerald City she talks so much about.  But we'll be gone for the next
twenty-four hours or so, maybe longer if Eponine's energy holds out,
and we do not want to be disturbed."

Max and Eponine walked briskly over to the cylindrical staircase and
disappeared.  Ellie had almost finished explaining to Archie what was
going on with Max and Eponine, when the newlyweds emerged on the
landing and waved.  Everyone laughed as Max pulled Eponine back towards
the corridor.

Ellie sat by herself against the wall in the dim light.  It's now or
never, she thought.  i must try one more time.

She recalled the angry scene several hours earlier.

"Of course you want to go with your friend, Archie the octo spider
Robert had said bitterly.  "And you expect to take Nikki with you."

"Everyone else is going to accept the invitation," Ellie had replied,
not even attempting to hide her tears.

"Please come with us, Robert.

They are a very gentle, very moral species."

"They have brainwashed all of you," Robert had said.

"Somehow they have seduced you into believing that they are even better
than your own; kind."  Robert had then looked at Ellie with disgust.

"Your own kind,"

he had repeated.

"What a joke.  Why, I guess you're as much an octo spider as you are a
human."

"That's not true, darling," Ellie had said.

"I've told you several times that only very small changes were made . .
. I'm as human as you are .  . ."

"Why, why, whyT Robert had suddenly shouted.

"Why did I let you talk me into coming to New York in the first place?
I should have stayed behind, where I was surrounded by things I
understood .  . ."

Despite her pleas, Robert had been adamant.  He was not going to the
Emerald City.  He had even seemed strangely pleased that his short-term
memory would be blocked by the octo spiders

"Perhaps," he had said, laughing harshly,

"I will have no memory at all of your return.  I will not recall that
my wife and daughter are both hybrids, and that my closest friends have
no respect for my professional abilities .  . .

Yes," he had continued,

"I will be able to forget this nightmare of the last few weeks and
remember only that you were stolen away from me, as my first wife was,
while I still loved you desperately."

Robert had stalked around the room in anger.  Ellie had tried to soothe
and comfort him.

"No, no," he had shouted, recoiling from her touch.

"It is too late.  There is too much pain.  I can't stand any more."

In the early hours of the evening Ellie had sought counsel from her
mother.  Nicole had not been able to provide Ellie with any relief.

Nicole
had agreed that Ellie should not give up, but had cautioned her
daughter that nothing in Robert's behaviour suggested that he might
change his mind.

At Nicole's suggestion, Ellie approached Archie and asked a favour of
the octo spider If Robert insisted on not going with them, Ellie
entreated, would it be possible for Archie, or one of the other octo
spiders to take Robert back to the lair where he would be found quickly
by the other humans?  Archie reluctantly agreed.

i love you, Robert, Ellie said to herself as she finally stood up.  And
Nikki does too.  We want you to come with us, for you are my husband
and her father.  Ellie took a deep breath and entered her bedroom.

Even Richard had tears in his eyes as a mumbling Robert Turner, after
exchanging a final hug with his wife and daughter, walked off haltingly
behind Archie towards the subway only twenty me tres away.

Nikki was crying softly, but the girl couldn't have realised fully what
was occurring.  She was still too young.

Robert turned, waved slightly, and entered the train.  In a few seconds
it accelerated into the tunnel.  Less than a minute later the sombre
mood was broken by cries of joy from the landing above them.

"All right, down there," Max shouted, 'you'd better be ready for a big
party."

Nicole looked up under the dome and even at that distance, in the dim
light, she could see the radiant smiles of the newlyweds.  And so it
is, she thought, her heart still heavy from her daughter's loss.

Sorrow and joy.  Joy and sorrow.  Wherever there are humans.  On
Earth.

In new worlds beyond the stars.  Now and for ever.

The Emerald City
The small driverless transport stopped at a circular plaza from which
streets extended in five directions.  A dark woman with grey hair and
her octo spider companion descended together from the car, leaving it
empty.  As the octo spider and the human walked slowly away from the
plaza, the transport departed with its interior lights now
extinguished.

A solitary giant firefly preceded Nicole and Dr Blue as they continued
their conversation in the near darkness.  Nicole was careful to
exaggerate each word so that her alien friend would have no difficulty
reading her lips.  Dr Blue replied in broad swaths of colour, using
simple sentences that he knew Nicole understood.

When they reached the first of four cream-white, single-storey
dwellings at the end of the cul-de-sac, the octo spider lifted one of
his tentacles from the street and shook hands with Nicole.

"Good night," she replied with a wan smile.

"It was quite a day .  . . Thank you for everything."

After Dr Blue went inside his house, Nicole walked over to the
decorative fountain forming an island in the centre of the street and
drank from one of the four spigots jetting forth a continuous stream of
water at waist-level.  Some of the water that touched Nicole's face
fell back into the basin, causing a flurry of activity in the shallow
pool.  Even in the dim light Nicole could see the swimming creatures
darting to and fro.  The cleaners are everywhere, she thought,
especially when we're around.  The water that touched my face will be
purified in seconds.

She turned and approached the largest of the three remaining dwellings
in the cul-de-sac.  When Nicole crossed the threshold of her house, the
outside firefly flew quickly down the street to the plaza.  In the
atrium, Nicole tapped the wall lightly, one time, and in a few seconds
a smaller firefly, barely glowing, appeared in the hallway in front of
her.  She stopped in one of the family's two bathrooms and then paused
at the doorway of Benjy's room.  He was snoring loudly.

Nicole watched her son sleep for almost a full minute and then
continued down the hallway to the master bedroom she shared with her
husband.

Richard was also asleep.  He did not respond to Nicole's soft
greeting.

She took off her shoes and left the bedroom.  When she reached the
study,
 e Nicole tapped on the wall twice more and the
illuminatioirincreased.

The study was cluttered with Richard's electronic components, which he
had had the octo spiders gather for him over a period of several
months. Nicole laughed to herself as she picked her way through the
mess to her desk.  He always has a project, she thought.  At least the
translator will be very useful.

Nicole sat in the chair at her desk and opened the middle drawer.  She
pulled out her portable computer for which the octo spiders had finally
provided acceptable new power and storage subsystems.  After calling up
her journal from the menu, Nicole began typing on the keyboard,
intermittently glancing at the small monitor to read what she was
writing.

Day 221 I have arrived at home very late and, as I expected, everyone
is asleep.

I was tempted to take off my clothes and snuggle into bed beside
Richard, but this day has been so extraordinary that I feel compelled
to write while my thoughts and feelings are still fresh in my mind.

I had breakfast, as always, with our entire human clan here about one
hour after dawn.  Nai talked about what the children were going to do
in school before their long nap, Eponine reported that both her
heartburn' and morning sickness had abated, and Richard complained that
the 'biological wizards' (our octo spider hosts, of course) were
mediocre electrical engineers.  I tried to participate in the
conversation, but my growing anticipation and anxiety about this
morning's meetings with the octo- spider doctors kept occupying my
thoughts.

My stomach was full of butterflies when I arrived at the conference
room in the pyramid just after breakfast.  Dr Blue and his medical
colleagues were prompt, and the octos launched immediately into a
lengthy discussion of what they had learned from Benjy's tests.

Medical jargon is hard enough to understand in one's own native
language it was nearly impossible for me at times to follow what they
were saying with their colours.  Often I had to ask them to repeat.

It did not take long for their answer to be apparent.  Yes, the octo
spiders could definitely see, by comparison, where Benjy's genome was
different from everyone else's.  Yes, they agreed that the specific
string of genes on chromosome 14 was almost certainly the source of
Whittingham's syndrome.  But, no, they were sorry, they didn't see any
way not even using something I interpreted as a gene transplant that
they could cure his problem.  It was too complex, the octo spiders
said, involving too many amino-acid chains, they had not had enough
experience with human beings, there were too many chances that
something might go terribly wrong .  . .

I wept when I understood what they were telling me.  Had I expected
otherwise?  Had I thought that somehow the same miraculous medical
capability that had freed Eponine from the curse of the RV-4I virus
might be successful in curing Benjy's birth defect?  I realised, in my
despair, that I had indeed been hoping for a miracle, even though my
brain recognised very clearly the significant difference between a
congenital ailment and an acquired virus.  Dr Blue tried his best to
console me.  I let my mother's tears flow there, in front of the octo
spiders knowing that I would need my strength when I returned home to
tell the others.

Nai and Eponine both knew the results as soon as they saw my face.

Nai adores Benjy and never stops praising his determination to learn in
spite of the obstacles.  Benjy is amazing.  He spends hours and hours
in his room, working laboriously through all his lessons, struggling
for days to grasp a concept in fractions or decimals that a gifted
nine-year-old might learn in half an hour.  Only last week Benjy beamed
with pride when he showed me he could find the lowest common
denominator to add the fractions i, 5, and 5.

Nai has been his main teacher.  Eponine has been Benjy's pal.  Ep
probably felt worse than anybody this morning.  She had been certain,
because the octo spiders had healed her so quickly, that Benjy's
problem as well would succumb to their medical magic.  It was not to
be. Eponine sobbed so hard and so long this morning that I became
concerned about the welfare of her baby.  She patted her swollen belly
and told me not to worry.  Ep laughed and said that her reaction was
probably mostly due to her over-active hormones.

All three of the men were clearly upset, but they did not exhibit much
outward emotion.  Patrick left the room quickly without saying
anything.  Max expressed his disappointment with an unusually colourful
set of four-letter words.  Richard just grimaced and shook his head.

We had all agreed, before the examination began, not to say anything to
Benjy about the actual purpose of all the tests the octo spiders were
conducting.  Could he have known?  Might he have surmised what was
going on?  Perhaps.  But this morning, when I told him that the octo
spiders had concluded that he was a healthy young man, I saw nothing in
Benjy's eyes that even hinted he was aware of what had taken place. 
After I hugged him hard, fighting against another set of tears
threatening to destroy my facade, I returned to my room and allowed the
sorrow of my son's handicap to overcome me one more time.

I'm certain that Richard and Dr Blue conspired together to keep my mind
busy the rest of the day.  I had not been in my room for more than
twenty minutes when there was a soft knock on the door.  Richard
explained that Dr Blue was in the atrium, and that two other octo
spider scientists were waiting for me in the conference room.  Had I
forgotten
that a detailed presentation" on the octo spider digestive system had
been scheduled for me today?

The discussion with the octo spiders turned out to be so fascinating
that I was indeed able temporarily to forget that my son's handicap was
beyond their medical magic.  Dr Blue's colleagues showed me complex
anatomical drawings of octo spider insides, identifying all the major
organs of their digestive sequence.  The drawings were made on some
kind of parchment or hide, and were spread out across the large table.
The octo spiders explained to me, in their wonderful language of
colours, absolutely everything that happens to food inside their
bodies.

The most unusual feature of the octo spider digestive process is the
two large sacs, or buffers, at both ends of the system.  Everything
they eat goes directly into an intake buffer, where it can sit for as
long as thirty days.  The octo spider body itself, based on the
activity level of the individual, automatically determines the rate at
which the food in the bottom of the sac is accessed, broken down
chemically, and distributed to the cells for energy.

At the other end is a waste buffer, into which is discharged all the
material that cannot be converted into useful energy by the octo spider
body.  Every healthy octo spider I learned, has an animal called a
'waster' (that's my best translation of their colours for the tiny,
centipede like creatures one of the doctors placed a couple in my hands
when they were describing its life cycle) living in its waste buffer. 
This animal grows from a minuscule egg deposited by its predecessor
inside the host octo spider The waster is essentially omnivorous.  It
consumes 99 per cent of the waste deposited in the buffer during the
human month that it takes to grow to maturity.  When the waster reaches
adulthood, it deposits a pair of new eggs, only one of which will
germinate, and then leaves for ever the octo spider in which it has
been living.

The intake buffer is located just behind and below the mouth.  The octo
spiders eat very rarely; however, they absolutely gorge themselves when
they do have meals.  We had a long discussion about their eating
habits.  Two of the facts that Dr Blue told me were extremely
surprising - first, that an empty octo intake buffer leads to immediate
death, in less than a minute, and second, that a baby octo spider must
be taught to monitor the status of its food supply.

Imagine!  It does not know instinctively when it is hungry!  When Dr
Blue saw the astonishment on my face, he laughed (a jumbled-up sequence
of short colour-bursts) and then hastened to assure me that unexpected
starvation is not a leading cause of death among the octo spiders

After my three-hour nap (I still cannot make it through the long octo
spider day without some sleep of our group only Richard is capable of
forgoing the nap on a regular basis), Dr Blue informed me that,
because
of my keen interest in their digestive process, the octo spiders had
decided to show me a couple of other unusual characteristics of their
biology.

I boarded a transport with the three octos, passed through one of the
two gates out of our zone, and crossed the Emerald City.  I suspect
that this field trip was also planned to mitigate my disappointment
about Benjy.  Dr Blue reminded me while we were travelling (it was hard
for me to pay close attention to what he was saying once we were
outside our zone, there were all kinds of fascinating creatures beside
our car and along the street, including many of the same species that I
saw briefly during my first few moments in the Emerald City) that the
octo spiders were a poly morphic genus and that there were six separate
adult manifestations of the particular octo species that had colonised
our Rama spacecraft.

"Remember," he told me in colour, 'that one of the possible parameter
variations is size."

There is no way that I could have been prepared for what I saw about
twenty minutes later.  We descended from the transport outside a large
warehouse.  At each end of the windowless building were two mammoth,
drooling octo spiders with heads at least seven me tres in diameter,
bodies that looked like small blimps, and long tentacles that were
slate-grey instead of the usual black and gold.  Dr Blue informed me
that this particular morph had one, and only one, function: to serve as
a food repository for the colony.

"Each "replete" (my translation of Dr Blue's colours) can store up to
several hundred full buffers'-worth of food for an ordinary adult octo-
spider," Dr Blue said.

"Since our individual intake buffers hold thirty days'-worth of normal
sustenance, forty-five on a reduced-energy diet, you can see what a
vast storehouse a dozen of these rep letes represent."

As I watched, five octo spiders approached one of their huge brothers
and said something in colour.  Within seconds the creature leaned
forward, bent its head down almost to the ground, and ejected a thick
slurry from the enlarged mouth just below its milky lens.  The five
normal-sized octos gathered around the mound of slurry and fed
themselves with their tentacles.

"We practise this several times every day, with every replete," Dr Blue
said.

"These morphs must have practice, for they are not very smart.  You may
have noticed that none of them spoke in colour.  They do not have any
language-transmission capability, and their mobility is extremely
limited.  Their genomes have been designed so that they can efficiently
store food, preserve it for long periods of time, and regurgitate it to
feed the colony upon request."

I was still thinking about the huge rep letes when our transport
arrived at what I was told was an octo spider school.  I commented,
while we were crossing the grounds, that the large facility seemed
deserted. One of the other doctors said something about the colony not
having had a 'recent
replenishment', if I interpreted the colours correctly, but I never
received a clear explanation of just what was meant by his remark.

At one end of the school facility, we entered a small building that had
no furnishings.  Inside were two adult octo spiders and about twenty
juveniles, maybe one-half the size of their larger companions.  From
the activity it was obvious that a repetitive drill of some kind was
under way.  I could not, however, follow the conversation between the
juveniles and their teachers, both because the octo spiders were using
their full alphabet, including the ultraviolet and the infra-red, and
because the juvenile 'talk' did not flow in the neat, regular bands
that I have learned to read.

Dr Blue explained that we were witnessing part of a 'measuring class',
where the juveniles were being trained to perform assessments of their
own health, including estimating the magnitude of food contained in
their intake buffers.  After Dr Blue told me that 'measuring' was an
integral part of the early learning curriculum for their juveniles, I
inquired about the irregularity of the juvenile colours.  Dr Blue
informed me that these particular octos were very young, not much past
'first colour', and were barely able to communicate distinct ideas.

After we returned to the conference room, I was asked a set of
questions about human digestive systems.  The questions were extremely
sophisticated (we went through the Krebs citric acid cycle step by
step, for example, and discussed other elements of human biochemistry
that I could barely remember), and I was struck again by how much more
the octo spiders know about us than we know about them.  As always, it
was never necessary for me to repeat an answer.

What a day!  It began with the pain of discovering that the octo
spiders were not going to be able to help Benjy.  Later on I was
reminded of how resilient the human psyche is when I was actually
lifted out of my despondency by the stimulation of learning more about
the octo spiders

I remain astonished by the range of emotions we humans possess and how
very quickly we can change and adapt.

Eponine and I were talking last night about our life here in the
Emerald City, and how our unusual living-conditions will affect the
attitudes of the child she is carrying.  At one point Ep shook her head
and smiled.  "You know what's so amazing?"  she said.

"Here we are, an isolated human contingent living in an alien domain
inside a gargantuan spacecraft hurtling towards an unknown destination
. . .

Yet our days here are full of laughter, elation, sadness and
disappointment, just as they would be if we were still back on
Earth."

"This may look like a waffle," Max said, 'and it may feel like a waffle
when you first put it in your mouth, but it damn sure doesn't taste
like a waffle."

"Put more syrup on it," Eponine said, laughing.

"And pass the plate over here."

Max handed the waffles across the table to his wife.

"Shit, Frenchie,"

he said, 'these last few weeks you've been eating everything in
sight.

If I didn't know better I would think that you and that unborn child of
ours both had one of those "intake buffers" Nicole was telling us
about."

"It would be handy, though," Richard said distractedly.

"You could load up on food and not have to stop work just because your
stomach was calling."

"This cereal is the best yet," little Kepler said from the other end of
the table.

"I bet even Hercules would like it .  . ."

"Speaking of whom," Max interrupted in a lower voice, glancing from one
end of the table to the other, 'what is his, or its purpose?  That damn
octo spider shows up every morning, two hours after dawn, and just
hangs around.  If the children are having school with Nai, he sits in
the back of the room .  . ."

"He plays with us.  Uncle Max," Galileo shouted.

"Hercules is really a lot of fun.  He does everything we ask .  . .
Yesterday he let me use the back of his head as a punching-bag."

"According to Archie," Nicole said between bites,

"Hercules is the official observer.  The octo spiders are curious about
everything.  They want to know all about us, even the most mundane
details."

"That's great," Max replied, 'but we have a slight problem.  When you
and Ellie and Richard are gone, nobody here can understand what
Hercules is saying.  Oh, sure, Nai knows a few simple phrases, but
nothing that's involved.  Yesterday, for example, while everyone else
was taking the long nap, that damned Hercules followed me into the crap
per Now I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to do my business
even with Eponine within earshot.  With an alien staring at me from a
few me tres away, my sphincter was absolutely paralysed."

"Why didn't you tell Hercules to go away?"  Patrick said, laughing.

"I did," Max answered.

"But he just stared at me with fluid running around in his lens and
kept repeating the same colour-pattern that was totally unintelligible
to me."

"Can you remember the pattern?"  Ellie said.

"Maybe I can tell you what Hercules was saying."

"Hell, no, I can't remember it," Max replied.

"Besides, it doesn't make any difference now .  . . I'm not sitting
here trying to shit."

The Watanabe twins broke into howls of laughter and Eponine frowned at
her husband.  Benjy, who had said very little during breakfast, asked
to be excused.

"Are you all right, dear?"  Nicole asked.

The child-man nodded' and left the dining-room in the direction of his
bedroom.

"Does he know anything?"  Nai said quietly.

Nicole shook her head quickly and turned to her granddaughter.

"Are you finished with your breakfast, Nikki?"

"Yes, Nonni," the little girl replied.  She excused herself and moments
later was joined by Kepler and Galileo.

"I think that Benjy knows more than any of us give him credit for,"

Max said as soon as the children were gone.

"You could be right," Nicole said softly.

"But yesterday, when I talked to him, I saw no indication that he .  .
." Nicole stopped in mid-sentence and turned to Eponine.

"By the way," she said, 'how are you feeling this morning?"

"Great," Eponine replied.

"The baby was very active before dawn.  He kicked hard for almost an
hour I could even watch his feet moving around on my tummy.  I tried to
get Max to feel one of his kicks, but he was too squeamish."

"Now why do you call that baby "he", Frenchie, when you know damn well
that I want a little girl who looks just like you .  . ."

"I don't believe you for a moment.  Max Puckett," Eponine
interrupted.

"You only say you want a girl so that you won't be disappointed.

Nothing would please you more than a boy you can raise to be your buddy
. . . besides, as you know, it's customary in English to use the
pronoun "he" when the sex is not known or specified."

"Which brings me to another question for our octo spider experts," Max
said after taking a sip of quasi-coffee.  He glanced first at Ellie and
then at Nicole.

"Do either of you know what sex, if any, our octo spider friends might
be?"  He laughed.

"I certainly haven't seen anything on their naked bodies that gives me
a clue .  . ."

Ellie shook her head.

"I don't really know.  Max.  Archie did tell me that Jamie is not his
child, and not Dr Blue's either, at least not in the strictest
biological sense."

"So Jamie must be adopted," Max said.

"But is Archie the man and Dr Blue the woman?  Or vice versa?  Or are
our next-door neighbours a gay couple raising a child?"

"Maybe the octo spiders don't have what we call sex," Patrick said.

"Then where do new octo spiders come from?"  Max asked.

"They certainly don't just materialise out of thin air."

"The octo spiders are so advanced biologically," Richard said, 'that
they may have a reproduction process that would seem like magic to
us."

"I have asked Dr Blue about their reproduction several times," Nicole
said.

"He says it's a complicated subject, especially since the octo spiders
are poly morphic and that they'll explain it to me after I understand
the other aspects of their biology."

"Now if I were an octo spider Max said with a grin,

"I would want to be one of those fat slobs Nicole saw yesterday.
Wouldn't it be great if your only function in life was to eat and eat,
storing food for all your brethren .  . . What an existence!  I knew a
pig-farmer's son back in Arkansas who was like a replete Only he kept
all the food for himself.  Wouldn't even share it with the pigs ... I
think he weighed almost three hundred kilograms when he died at the age
of thirty."

Eponine finished her waffle.

"Fat jokes in the presence of pregnant women show a lack of
sensitivity," she said, feigning indignation.

"Oh, shit, Ep," Max replied, 'you know that none of that crap applies
any more.  We're zoo animals here in the Emerald City, and we're stuck
with each other.  Humans only worry about what they look like if
they're worried about being compared with someone else."

Nai excused herself from the table.

"I have a few more preparations to complete for today's school
lessons," she said.

"Nikki will be starting on consonant sounds she has already breezed
through the alphabet drills."

"Like mother, like daughter," Max said.  After Patrick left the dining
room, leaving only the two couples and Elite at the table.  Max leaned
forward with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Are my eyes deceiving me," he said, 'or is young Patrick spending a
lot more time with Nai than he did when we first arrived?"

"I believe you are correct, Max," Ellie said.

"I have noticed the same thing.  He told me he feels useful helping Nai
with Benjy and the children.  After all, you and Eponine are engrossed
with each other and the baby that is coming, my time is completely
occupied between Nikki and the octo spiders Mother and Father are
always busy .  . ."

"You're missing the point, young lady," Max said.

"I'm wondering if we have another cup-el forming in our midst."

"Patrick and Nai?"  Richard asked, as if the idea had just occurred to
him for the first time.

"Yes, dear," Nicole said.  She laughed.

"Richard belongs to that category of genius with very selective
observational skills.  No detail from one of his projects, no matter
how small, goes unnoticed.

Yet he misses obvious changes in people's behaviour.  I remember once
in New Eden, when Katie started wearing low-cut dresses .  . ."

Nicole stopped herself.  It was still difficult for her to talk about
Katie without becoming emotional.

"Kepler and Galileo have both noticed that Patrick is around every
day," Eponine said.

"Nai says that Galileo has become quite jealous."

"And what does Nai say about Patrick's attention?"  Nicole asked.

"Is she happy with it?"

"You know Nai," Eponine replied.

"Always gracious, always thinking
Nicole was dreaming.  She was also dancing to an African rhythm around
a camp-fire in an Ivory Coast grove.  Omeh was leading the dance.  He
was dressed in the green robe he had been wearing when he had come to
visit her in Rome a few days before the launch of the Newton.  All of
her human friends in the Emerald City, plus their four closest octo
spider acquaintances, were also dancing in the circle around the
campfire.  Kepler and Galileo were fighting.  Ellie and Nikki were
holding hands.  Hercules the octo spider was dressed in a bright purple
African costume.  Eponine was very pregnant and heavy on her feet.

Nicole heard her name being called from outside the circle.  Was it
Katie?  Her heart raced as she strained to recognise the voice.

"Nicole," Eponine said beside her bed.

"I'm having contractions."

Nicole sat up and shook the dream from her head.

"How often?"  she asked automatically.

"They're irregular," Eponine replied.

"I'll have a couple about five minutes apart, and then nothing for half
an hour."

Most likely they're Braxton-Hicks, Nicole was thinking.  She's still
five weeks short of full term.

"Come lie down on the couch," Nicole said, putting on her robe.

"And tell me when the next contraction begins."

Max was waiting in the living-room after Nicole finished washing her
hands.

"Is she having the baby?"  he asked.

"Probably not," Nicole said.  She began putting slight pressure on
Eponine's mid-section, trying to locate the baby.

Meanwhile Max paced fitfully around the room.

"I would absolutely kill for a cigarette right now," he mumbled.

When Eponine had another contraction, Nicole noticed that there was
some slight pressure on the undilated cervix.  She was worried because
she wasn't absolutely certain where the baby was.

"I'm sorry, Ep,"

Nicole said after a second contraction five minutes later.

"I think this is false labour, a kind of practice exercise your body is
going through, but I could be wrong .  . .I've never dealt with a
pregnancy at this stage before without some kind of monitoring
equipment to help me .  . ."

Nicole was dreaming.  She was also dancing to an African rhythm around
a camp-fire in an Ivory Coast grove.  Omeh was leading the dance.  He
was dressed in the green robe he had been wearing when he had come to
visit her in Rome a few days before the launch of the Newton.  All of
her human friends in the Emerald City, plus their four closest
ocrospider acquaintances, were also dancing in the circle around the
campfire.  Kepler and Galileo were fighting.  Ellie and Nikki were
holding hands.  Hercules the octo spider was dressed in a bright purple
African costume.  Eponine was very pregnant and heavy on her feet.

Nicole heard her name being called from outside the circle.  Was it
Katie?  Her heart raced as she strained to recognise the voice.  ;
"Nicole," Eponine said beside her bed.

"I'm having contractions."

Nicole sat up and shook the dream from her head.

"How often?"  she asked automatically.

"They're irregular," Eponine replied.

"I'll have a couple about five minutes apart, and then nothing for half
an hour."

Most likely they're Braxton-Hicks, Nicole was thinking.  She's still
five weeks short of full term.

"Come lie down on the couch," Nicole said, putting on her robe.

"And tell me when the next contraction begins."

Max was waiting in the living-room after Nicole finished washing her
hands.

"Is she having the baby?"  he asked.

"Probably not," Nicole said.  She began putting slight pressure on
Eponine's mid-section, trying to locate the baby.

Meanwhile Max paced fitfully around the room.

"I would absolutely kill for a cigarette right now," he mumbled.

When Eponine had another contraction, Nicole noticed that there was
some slight pressure on the undilated cervix.  She was worried because
she wasn't absolutely certain where the baby was.

"I'm sorry, Ep,"

Nicole said after a second contraction five minutes later.

"I think this is false labour, a kind of practice exercise your body is
going through, but I could be wrong .  . . I've never dealt with a
pregnancy at this stage before without some kind of monitoring
equipment to help me .  . ."

"Some women do have babies this early, don't they?"  EponinE'asked.

"Yes.  But it's rare.  Only about one per cent of first-time mothers
deliver more than four weeks before their due date.  And it's almost
always due to some kind of complication.  Or heredity ... Do you know
by any chance if you or any of your siblings were premature?"

Eponine shook her head.

"I never knew anything at all about my natural family," she said.

Damnit, Nicole thought.  I'm almost positive that these are
Braxton-Hicks contractions .  . . If only I could tell for certain .
.

.

Nicole told Eponine to dress and return to her home.

"Keep a record of your contractions.  What is especially important is
the interval between the start of successive contractions.  If they
start occurring regularly, every four minutes or so without significant
gaps, then come and get me again."

"Might there be a problem?"  Max whispered to Nicole while Eponine was
dressing.

"Unlikely, Max, but there is always that possibility."

"What do you think about asking our friends the biological wizards for
some help?"  Max asked.

"Please forgive me if I am offending you, it's just .  . ."

"I'm ahead of you, Max," Nicole said.

"I had already decided to consult with Dr Blue in the morning."

Max was nervous long before Dr Blue started to open what Max called the
bug-jar.

"Hold on.  Doc," Max said, gently putting his hands on the tentacle
holding the jar.

"Would you mind explaining to me just what you're doing before you let
those creatures out?"

Eponine was lying down on the sofa in the Puckett living-room.  She was
naked, but mostly covered by a pair of octo spider sheets.  Nicole had
been holding Eponine's hand during most of the several minutes that the
three octo spiders had been setting up the portable laboratory.  Now
Nicole walked over beside Max so that she could translate what Dr Blue
was saying.

"Dr Blue is not an expert in this field," Nicole interpreted.

"He says that one of the other two octo spiders will have to explain
the details of the process."

After a short conversation among the three octo spiders Dr Blue moved
aside and another alien stood directly in front of Nicole and Max.  Dr
Blue then informed Nicole that this particular octo, whom he called the
'image engineer', had only recently started learning the simpler octo
spider dialect used to communicate with humans.

"He might be a little difficult to understand," Dr Blue told her.

"The tiny beings in the jar," Nicole said several seconds later as
the
colours began streaming around the engineer's head, 'are called .  .
.

image quadroids, I guess would be a satisfactory translation .  . .

Anyway, they are living miniature cameras that will crawl inside
Eponine and take pictures of the baby.  Each quadroid has the
capability of ... several million photographic picture elements that
can be allocated to as many as 512 images per octo spider nil let They
can even create a moving picture if you choose."

She hesitated and turned to Max.

"I'm simplifying all this, if that's all right.  It's highly technical,
and all in their octal mathematics.

The engineer was explaining there at the end all the different ways in
which the user can specify pictures Richard would have absolutely loved
it."

"Remind me again how long a nil let is," Max said.

"About twenty-eight seconds," Nicole replied.

"Eight nil lets in a feng, eight fengs in a woden, eight wodens in a
tert, and eight terts in an octo spider day.  Richard calculates their
day at thirty-two hours, fourteen minutes, and a little more than six
seconds."

"I'm glad somebody understands all this," Max said quietly.

Nicole faced the image engineer again and the conversation continued.

"Each image quadroid," she translated slowly, 'enters the specified
target area, takes its pictures, and then returns to the image
processor that's the grey box over against the wall where it "dumps"
its images, receives its reward, and returns to the queue."

"What?"  said Max.

"What kind of reward?"

"Later, Max," Nicole said.  She was struggling to understand a sentence
that she had already asked the octo spider to repeat.  Nicole was
silent for a few seconds before she shook her head and turned to Dr
Blue.

"I'm sorry," she said, 'but I still don't understand that last
sentence."

The two octo spiders had a rapid exchange in their natural dialect and
then the image engineer faced Nicole again.

"OK," she said at length, "I think I've got it now .  . . Max, the grey
box is some kind of a programmable data-manager, both storing the data
in living cells and preparing the outputs from the quadroids for
projection on the wall, or wherever we want to see the image, according
to the protocol selected .  . ."

"I have an idea," Max interrupted.

"This is all way beyond me ... If you're satisfied that this
contraption is not going to hurt Ep in any way, why don't we get on
with it."

Dr Blue had understood what Max had said.  At a signal from Nicole, he
and the other octo spiders walked outside the Puckett home and
retrieved what looked like a covered drawer from the parked
transport.

"In this container," Dr Blue said to Nicole, 'are a group of twenty or
thirty of the smallest members of our species, morphs whose primary
function is to communicate directly with the quadroids and the other
tiny creatures that make this system work .  . . The morphs will
actually manage the procedure."

"Well I'll be god damned," said Max when the drawer opened and the tiny
octo spiders only a couple of centime tres tall, scampered into the
middle of the room.

"Those .  . ."  Max stammered excitedly, 'are what Eponine and I saw
back in the blue maze, in the lair on the other side of the Cylindrical
Sea."

"The midget morphs," Dr Blue explained, 'take our directions and then
organise the entire process.  It is they who will actually program the
grey box .  . . Now all we need to start is a few specifications on
what kind of images you want and where you want to see them."

The large coloured picture on the wall in the Puckett living-room
showed a perfectly formed, handsome boy foetus filling almost all of
his mother's womb.  Max and Eponine had been celebrating for an hour,
ever since they had first been able to distinguish that their unborn
child was indeed a boy.  As the afternoon had progressed, and Nicole
had learned better how to specify what she wanted to see, the quality
of the pictures had improved markedly.  Now, the twice-life-size image
on the wall was stunning for its clarity.

"Can I watch him kick one more time?"  Eponine asked.

The image engineer said something to the lead midget morph and in less
than a nil let there was a replay of young Master Puckett kicking
upwards against his mother's tummy.

"Look at the strength of those legs," Max exclaimed.  He was more
relaxed now.  After he had recovered from the shock of the initial
images, Max had become concerned about all the 'paraphernalia'
surrounding his son in the womb.  Nicole had calmed the first-time
father by identifying the umbilical cord and the placenta, and then
assuring Max that everything was normal.

"So I'm not going to deliver my son any time soon?"  Eponine asked when
the replay of the movie was over.

"No," Nicole answered.

"My guess is you have five or six more weeks.

Often first babies are a little late .  . . You may still have some of
those intermittent contractions between now and the birth, but don't
worry about them."

Nicole thanked Dr Blue profusely, as did Max and Eponine.  Then the
octo spiders gathered up all the components, both biological and non
biological of their portable laboratory.  When the octos had departed,
Nicole crossed the room and took Eponine's hand.

"Es-tu heureuse?"  she asked her friend.

"Absolument," Eponine replied.

"And relieved as well.  I thought that something had gone wrong."

"No," Nicole said.

"It was just a simple false alarm."

Max crossed the room and gave Eponine a hug.  He was beaming.  Nicole
withdrew slightly and watched the tender scene between her friends.

There is no time a couple love each other as much, she thought, as just
before the birth of their first baby.

Nicole started to leave the house.

"Wait a minute," said Max.

"Don't you want to know what we're going to name him?"

"Of course," Nicole replied.

"Marius Clyde Puckett," Max said proudly.

"Marius," Eponine added, 'because he was the waif Eponine's dream lover
in Les Miserables1 longed for a Marius during my long and lonely nights
at the orphanage.  And Clyde, after Max's brother back in Arkansas."

"It's an excellent name," Nicole said, smiling to herself as she turned
to leave.

"An excellent name," she repeated.

Richard could not contain his excitement when he came home later that
afternoon.

"I have just spent two absolutely fascinating hours over in the
conference room with Archie and the other octo spiders he said to
Nicole in his loudest voice.

"They showed me the entire apparatus they used with you and Eponine
earlier today.  Amazing.  What incredible genius!  No, wizardry is a
better term I've said it from the beginning, the damn octo spiders are
biological wizards.

"Just imagine .  . . They have living creatures that are cameras,
another set of microscopic bugs that read the images and carefully
store each individual pixel, a special genetic warping of themselves
that controls the process, and a limited amount of electronics, where
necessary, to perform the mundane data-management tasks .  . . How many
thousands of years did it take for all this to occur?  Who engineered
it in the first place?  It is absolutely mind-boggling!"

Nicole smiled at her husband.

"Did you see Marius?  What did you think?  .  . ."

"I saw all the pictures from this afternoon," Richard continued to
shout.  "Do you know how the midget morphs communicate with the image
quadroids?  They use a special wavelength range in the far ultraviolet
part of the spectrum.  That's right.  Archie told me those little bugs
and the midget octo spiders actually have a common language.  And
that's not all.  Some of the morphs know as many as eight different
micro species languages.  Even Archie himself can communicate with
forty other species, fifteen using their basic octo spider colours, and
the rest in a range of languages that includes signs, chemicals, and
other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum."

Richard stood still for a moment in the middle of the room.

"This is incredible, Nicole, simply incredible."

He was about to laundh'-into another monologue when Nicole asked him
how the regular octos and the midget morphs communicated.

"I never saw any colour-patterns on the heads of the morphs today," she
said.

"All their conversation is in the ultraviolet," Richard said, starting
to pace again.  Suddenly he turned and pointed at the centre of his
forehead.  "Nicole," he said, 'that lens thing in the middle of their
slit is a veritable telescope, able to receive information at
practically any wavelength .  . . It's staggering.  Somehow they have
organised all these life-forms into a grand symbiotic system of
complexity far beyond anything we could ever conceive of .  . ."

Richard sat down on the couch next to Nicole.

"Look," he said, showing his arms to her,

"I still have goose-bumps ... I am in absolute awe of these creatures .
. . Jesus, it's a good thing they are not hostile."

Nicole looked at her husband with a furrowed brow.

"Why do you say that?"

"They could command an army of billions, maybe even trillions.  I bet
they even talk to their plants'.  You saw how quickly they took care of
that thing in the forest.  . . Imagine what it would be like if your
enemy could control all the bacteria, even the viruses, and make them
do their bidding .  . . What a frightening concept!"

Nicole laughed.

"Don't you think you're getting carried away?  Just because they have
genetically engineered a set of living cameras, it does not follow .  .
."

"I know," said Richard, jumping up from the couch.

"But I can't help thinking about the logical extension of what we have
seen here today .

. . Nicole, Archie admitted to me that the sole purpose of the midget
morphs is to be able to deal with the world of the tiny.  The midgets
can see things as small as a micro metre that's one-thousandth of a
millimetre .  . . Now extend that idea another several orders of
magnitude.  Imagine a species whose morphs span four or five
relationships similar to the one between the normal octos and the
midgets.  Communication with bacteria might not be impossible after
all."

"Richard," Nicole said at this juncture, 'don't you have anything at
all to say about the fact that Max and Eponine are going to have a son?
And that the boy looks perfectly healthy?"

Richard stood silent for a few seconds.

"It is wonderful," he said a little sheepishly.

"I guess I should go next door and congratulate them."

"You can probably wait until after dinner," Nicole said, glancing at
one of the special watches Richard had made for them.  The watch kept
human time in an octo spider frame of reference.

"Patrick, Ellie, Nikki and Benjy have been over at Max and Eponine's
for the last hour," Nicole continued, 'ever since Dr Blue stopped by
with some parchment photographs of little Marius in the womb."  She
smiled.  "As you would say, they should be home in about a feng."

Nicole finished brushing her teeth and gazed at her reflection in the
mirror.  Galileo was right, she thought.  i am an old woman.

She began rubbing her face with her fingers, methodically massaging the
wrinkles that seemed to be everywhere.  She heard Benjy and the twins
playing outside, and then both Nai and Patrick calling them to school.
i was not always old, she said to herself.  There was a time when I too
went to school.

Nicole closed her eyes, attempting to remember what she had looked like
as a young girl.  She was unable to conjure up a clear picture of
herself as a child.  Too many other pictures from the intervening years
blurred and distorted Nicole's image, of herself as a schoolgirl.

At length she reopened her eyes and stared at the image in the
mirror.

In her mind she painted out all the bags and wrinkles on her face.  She
changed the colour of her hair and eyebrows from grey to a deep
black.

Finally she managed to see herself as a beautiful woman of
twenty-one.

Nicole felt a brief but intense yearning for those days of her youth.

For we were young, and we.  knew that we would never die, she
remembered.

Richard stuck his head around the corner.

"Ellie and I will be working with Hercules in the study," he said.

"Why don't you join us?"

"In a few minutes," Nicole answered.  While she touched up her hair,
Nicole reflected on the daily patterns of the human clan in the Emerald
City.  They usually all gathered for breakfast in the Wakefields'
dining- room.  School ended before lunch.  Then everyone except Richard
napped, their accommodation to the eight-hours-longer day.  Most
afternoons Nicole and Ellie and Richard were with the octo spiders
learning more about their hosts or sharing experiences from the planet
Earth.  The other four adults spent almost all their time with Benjy
and the children in their enclave at the end of the cul-de-sac.

And where does all this take us?  Nicole suddenly wondered.  For how
many years will we be the guests of the octo spiders And what will
happen if and when Rama reaches its destination?

They were all questions for which Nicole had no answers.  Even Richard
had apparently stopped worrying about what was going on outside the
Emerald City.  He was completely absorbed by the octo spiders and his
translator project.  Now he only asked Archie for celestial navigation
data every two months or so.  Each time Richard would report to the
others, without editorial comment, that Rama was still headed in the
general direction of the star Tau Ceti.

Like little Marius, Nicole thought, we are content here in our womb.

As long as the outside world does not force itself upon us, we do not
ask the overwhelming questions.

Nicole left the bathroom and walked down the hall to the study.

Richard was sitting on the floor between Hercules and Ellie.

"The easy part is tracking the colour-pattern, and having the sequence
stored in the processor," he was saying.

"The hardest part of the translation is automatically converting that
pattern into a recognisable English sentence."

Richard faced Hercules and spoke very slowly.

"Because your language is so mathematical, with every colour having an
acceptable angstrom range defined a priori, all the sensor has to do is
identify the stream of colours and the widths of the bands.  The entire
information content has then been captured.  Because the rules are so
precise, it's not even difficult to code a simple fault-protection
algorithm, for use with juveniles or careless speakers, in case any
single colour errs to the left or the right in the spectrum.

"Changing what an octo spider has said into our language, however, is a
much more complex process.  The dictionary for the translation is
straightforward enough.  Each word and the appropriate clarifiers can
be readily identified.  But it's damn near impossible to make the next
step, into sentences, without some human intervention."

"That's because the octo spider language is fundamentally different
from ours," Ellie commented.

"Everything is specified and quantified, to minimise the possibility of
misunderstanding.  There is no subtlety or nuance.  Look how they use
the pronouns we, they and you.  The pronouns are always marked with
numerical clarifiers, including ranges when there are uncertainties. An
octo spider never says "a few wodens", or "several nil lets - always a
number, or a numerical range, is used to specify the length of time
more precisely."

"From our point of view," Hercules said in colour, 'there are two
aspects of human language that are extremely difficult.  One is the
lack of precise specification, which leads to a massive vocabulary.

The other is your use of indirectness to communicate ... I still have
trouble understanding Max because often what he says is literally not
what he means."

"I don't know how to do this in your computer," Nicole now spoke to
Richard, 'but somehow all the quantitative information contained in
each octo spider statement must be reflected by the translation.

Almost every
verb or adjective they ua'has a connected numerical clarifier.  How,
for example, did Ellie just translate "extremely difficult" and
"massive vocabulary"?  What Hercules said, in octo spider was
"difficult", with the number five used to clarify it, and "big
vocabulary", with the number six as a clarifier for "big".  All
comparative clarifiers address the question of the strength of the
adjective.  Since their base-number system is octal, the range for the
comparatives is between one and seven.  If Hercules had used a seven to
clarify the word "difficult", Ellie would have translated the phrase as
"impossibly difficult".  If he had used a two as a clarifier in the
same phrase, she might have said "slightly difficult"."

"Mistakes in the strengths of the adjectives, although important,"

Richard said as he fiddled absent-mindedly with a small processor,
'almost never lead to misunderstandings.  Failure to interpret properly
the verb clarifiers, however, is another issue altogether ... as I have
learned recently from my preliminary tests.  Take the simple octo
spider verb "to go", which means, as you know, to move unaided, without
transport.  The maroon-purple-lemon yellow strip, each colour the same
width, covers several dozen words in English, everything from "walk" to
"stroll", "saunter", "run", and even "sprint"."

"That's the same point I was just making," Ellie said.

"There is no translation without full interpretation: of the clarifiers
. . . For that particular verb, the octos use a double clarifier to
address the issue of "how fast?".  In a sense, there are sixty-three
different speeds at which they "go" ... To make matters even more
complex, they may use a range clarifier as well, so their statement

"Let's go" is subject to many, many possible translations."

Richard grimaced and shook his head.

"What's the matter, Father?"  Ellie asked.

"I'm just disappointed," he answered.

"I had hoped to have a simplified version of the translator completed
by now.  But I made the assumption that the gist of what was being said
could be determined without tracking all the clarifiers.  To include
all those short colour-strips will both increase the storage required
and significantly slow down the translation.  I may have trouble ever
designing a translator that works in real time."

"So what?"  Hercules asked.

"Why are you so concerned about this translator?  Ellie and Nicole
already understand our language very well."

"Not really," Nicole said.

"Ellie is the only one of us who is truly fluent with your colours.  I
am still learning daily."

"Although I originally began this project both as a challenge and as a
means to force myself to become familiar with your language," Richard
replied to Hercules,

"Nicole and I were talking last week about how important the translator
has become.  She says, and I agree with her, that our human clan here
in the Emerald City is dividing into two groups.

Ellie, Nicole and I have made our life more interesting because of our
increasing interactions with your species.  The rest of the humans,
including the children, remain essentially isolated.  Eventually, if
the others don't have some way of communicating with you, they will
become dissatisfied and/ or unhappy.  A good automatic translator is
the key that will open up their lives here."

The map was wrinkled and torn in a few places.  Patrick helped Nai
unroll it slowly and tack it to the wall other dining-room, which
doubled as the schoolroom for the children.

"Nikki, do you remember what this is?"  Nai asked.

"Of course, Mrs Watanabe," the little girl replied.

"It's our map of the Earth."

"Benjy, can you show us where your parents and grandparents were
born?"

"Not again," Galileo muttered audibly to Kepler.

"He'll never get it right.  He's too dumb."

"Galileo Watanabe," came the swift response.

"Go to your room and sit on your bed for fifteen minutes."

"That's all right, Nai," Benjy said as he walked up to the map.

"I'm used to it by now."

Galileo, almost seven years old by human accounting, stopped at the
door to see if his sentence would be reprieved.

"What are you waiting for?"  his mother scolded.

"I told you to go to your room."

Benjy stood quietly in front of the map for about twenty seconds.

"My mother he said at length, 'was born here in France."  He backed
away from the map briefly and located the United States on the opposite
side of the Atlantic Ocean.

"My father," Benjy said, 'was born here in Bos-ton, in Amer-i-ca."

Benjy started to sit down.

"What about your grandparents?"  Nai prompted.

"Where were they born?"

"My mother mother my grand-mother Benjy said slowly, 'was born in
Af-ri-ca."  He stared at the map for several seconds.

"But I do not re-mem-her where that is."

"I know, Mrs Watanabe," said little Nikki immediately.

"May I show Benjy?"

Benjy turned and looked at the pretty girl with the jet-black hair.  He
smiled.

"You can tell me, Nikki."

The girl rose from her chair and crossed the room.  She placed her
finger on the western section of Africa.

"Nonni's mother was born here," she said proudly, 'in this green
country .  . . It's called the Ivory Coast."

"That's very good, Nikki," Nai said.

"I'm sorry, Nai," Benjy now said.

"I've been working so hard on
fractions I haven't had^ any time for geog-ra-phy."  His eyes followed
his three-year-old niece back to her seat.  When he turned to face Nai
again, Benjy's cheeks were wet with tears.

"Nai," he said, "I don't feel like school to-day ... I think I'll go
back to my own house."

"OK, Benjy," Nai said softly.  Benjy moved towards the door.  Patrick
started to come over to his brother but Nai waved him away.

The schoolroom was uncomfortably quiet for almost a minute.

"Is it my turn now?"  Kepler finally asked.

Nai nodded and the boy walked up to the map.

"My mother was born here, in Thailand, in the town of Lamphun.  That's
where her father was also born.  My grandmother on my mother's side was
also born in Thailand, but in another city called Chiang Saen.  Here it
is, next to the Chinese border."

Kepler took one step to the east and pointed at Japan.

"My father Kenji Watanabe and both his parents were born in the
Japanese city of Kyoto."

The boy backed away from the map.  He seemed to be struggling to say
something.

"What is it, Kepler?"  Nai asked.

"Mother," the small boy said after an agonising silence, 'was Daddy a
bad man?"

"Whaat?"  said Nai, completely stunned.  She bent down to her son's
level and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Your father was a wonderful human being ... He was intelligent,
sensitive, loving, humorous an absolute prince of a person.  He .  .
."

Nai had to stop herself.  She could feel her own emotions ready to
erupt.  She stood up, gazed at the ceiling for a brief moment, and
regained her composure.

"Kepler," she then said, 'why are you asking such a question?  You
adored your father.  How could you have possibly .  . ."

"Uncle Max told us that Mr Nakamura came from Japan.  We know that he
is a bad man.  Galileo says that since Daddy came from the same place .
. ."

"Galileo," Nai's voice thundered, scaring all the children.

"Come here immediately."

The boy scampered into the room and gave his mother a puzzled look.

"What have you been saying to your brother about your father?"

"What do you mean?"  Galileo said, trying to look innocent.

"You told me that Daddy may have been a bad man, since he came from
Japan like Mr Nakamura .  . ."

"Well, I don't remember Daddy very clearly.  All I said was that maybe
. . ."

It took all of Nai's self-control to keep her from slapping Galileo.

She grabbed the boy by both of his shoulders.

"Young man," she said, 'if I ever hear you say one word against your
father again .  . ."

Nai could not finish her sentence.  She did not know what to threaten,
or even what to say next.  She suddenly felt completely overwhelmed by
everything in her life.

"Sit down, please," she said at length to her twin sons, 'and listen
very carefully."  Nai took a deep breath.

"This map on the wall," she said, pointing, 'shows all the countries on
the planet Earth.  In every nation there are all kinds of people, some
good, some bad, most a complex mixture of good and bad.  No country has
only good people, or bad people.  Your father grew up in Japan.  So did
Mr Nakamura.  I agree with Uncle Max that Mr Nakamura is a very evil
man.  But the fact that he is bad has nothing to do with his being
Japanese.  Your father, Mr Kenji Watanabe, who was also Japanese, was
as good a man as ever lived.  I'm sorry that you cannot remember him,
and never really knew what he was like .  . ."

Nai paused for a moment.

"I will never forget your father," she said in a softer voice, almost
to herself.

"I can still see him returning to our home in New Eden in the late
afternoon.  The two of you always shouted together,

"Hi Daddy, hi Daddy", as he entered the house.  He would kiss me, lift
both of you in his arms, and take you out to the swing set in the
backyard.  Always, no matter how trying his day had been, he was
patient and caring .  . ."

Her voice trailed off.  Tears flooded Nai's eyes and she felt her body
beginning to tremble.  She turned her back and faced the map.

"Class dismissed for today," she said.

Patrick stood beside Nai as the two of them watched the twins and Nikki
playing with a big blue ball in the cul-de-sac.  It was half an hour
later.  "I'm sorry, Patrick," Nai said.

"I didn't expect to become .  . ."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," the young man replied.

"Yes, I do," Nai said.

"Years ago I promised myself that I would never show such feelings in
front of Kepler and Galileo.  They can't possibly understand."

"They've forgotten it already," Patrick said after a brief silence.

"Look at them.  They're totally engrossed in their game."

At that moment the twins were having one of their typical arguments.

As usual, Galileo was trying to gain an advantage for himself in a game
that did not have rigorous rules.  Nikki stood beside the boys,
following every word of their dispute.

"Boys, boys," Nai called out.

"Stop it ... If you can't play without arguing, then you'll have to
come inside."

A few seconds later the blue ball was bouncing down the street towards
the plaza and all three children were running gleefully after it.

"Would you like something to drink?"  Nai asked Patrick.

"Yes, I would .  . . do^ou have any more of that light green melon
juice that Hercules brought last week?  It was really tasty."

"Yes," answered Nai, bending down to the small cabinet in which they
kept cool drinks.

"By the way, where is Hercules?  I haven't seen him for several
days."

Patrick laughed.

"Uncle Richard has recruited him to work full-time on the translator.
Even Ellie and Archie are there with them every afternoon."  He thanked
Nai for the glass of juice.

Nai took a sip of her own drink and walked back into the living-room.

"I know you wanted to comfort Benjy this morning," she said.

"I only stopped you because I know your brother so well .  . . He is
very proud.  He does not want anyone's pity."

"I understood," Patrick said.

"Benjy realised this morning, at some level, that even little Nikki
whom he still thinks of as a baby will quickly surpass him in school.
The discovery shocked him, and reminded him again of his own
limitations."

Nai was standing in front of the map of Earth, which was still affixed
to the wall.

"Nothing on this map means anything significant to you, does it?"  she
said.

"Not really," Patrick replied.

"I have seen many photographs and movies, of course, and when I was
about the twins' age my father used to tell me about Boston, and the
colour of the leaves in New England during the autumn, and the trip he
took to Ireland with his father .  .

. But my memories are of other places .  . . The lair in New York is
quite vivid, as well as the astonishing year we spent at The Node."

He was silent for a moment.

"And The Eagle!  What a creature!  I remember him even more clearly
than my father."

"So do you consider yourself to be an Earthling?"  Nai asked.

"That's an interesting question," Patrick replied.  He finished his
drink.  "You know, I've never really thought about it ... Certainly I
consider myself to be a human.  But an Earthling?  ... I guess not."

Nai reached out and touched the map.

"My home town of Lamphun, if it were larger, would have appeared here,
just south of Chiang Mai.

Sometimes it doesn't seem possible to me that I actually lived there as
a child."

Nai's fingers ran over the outline of Thailand as she stood quietly
beside Patrick.

"The other night," she said at length,

"Galileo threw a cup of water on my head, while I was bathing the boys,
and I suddenly had an incredibly vivid memory of the three days I spent
in Chiang Mai, with my cousins, when I was fourteen years old ... It
was the time of the Songkran Festival, in April, and everyone in the
city was celebrating the Thai New Year.  There were parades and
speeches the usual stuff about how all the Chakri kings since the first
Rama had prepared the Thai
people for their important role in the world but what I remember most
clearly was riding around the city at night in the back of an electric
pick-up with my cousin Oni and her friends.  Everywhere we went we
threw a bucket of water on somebody and they threw one on us.  We
laughed and laughed."

"Why was everyone throwing water?"  Patrick asked.

"I've forgotten now," Nai said with a shrug.

"It had something to do with the ceremony .  . . But the experience
itself, the shared laughter, and even what it felt like to have my
clothes absolutely soaked, and suddenly to be hit by another burst of
water all that I can recall in detail."

They were again silent as Nai reached up to take the map off the
wall.

"So I guess Kepler and Galileo will not consider themselves to be
Earthlings either," she mused.  She rolled up the map very carefully.

"Maybe even studying the geography and history of the Earth is a waste
of time."

"I don't think so," Patrick said.

"What else are the children going to study?  And besides, all of us
need to understand where we came from."

Three young faces peered into the living-room from the atrium.

"Is it lunch-time yet?"  asked Galileo.

"Almost," Nai replied.

"Go and wash first .  . . One at a time," she said, as the young feet
pounded down the hallway.

Nai turned around abruptly and caught Patrick staring at her in an
unusual way.  She smiled.

"I have very much enjoyed your company this morning," she said.

"You have made it easier for me to deal with everything."  Nai extended
both her arms and took Patrick's hands in hers.  "You have been a big
help to me with Benjy and the children these last two months," she
said, her eyes meeting his.

"And it would be foolish of me not to acknowledge that I have not felt
nearly as lonely since you began spending your days with us."

Patrick made an awkward step towards Nai but she held his hands firmly
in place.

"Not yet," she said gently.

"It's still too early."

Less than a minute after the great firefly clusters in the Emerald
City dome announced that another day had begun, little Nikki was in her
grandparents' room.

"It's light, Nonni," she said.

"They'll be coming for us soon."

Nicole rolled over and gave her granddaughter a hug.

"We still have a couple of hours, Nikki," she said to the excited
girl.

"Boobah is still sleeping .  . . why don't you go back to your room,
and play with your toys while we take a shower."

When the disappointed girl finally left, Richard was sitting up,
rubbing his eyes.

"Nikki has talked about nothing but this day for the last week," Nicole
said to him.

"She is always in;Benjy's room, looking at the painting.  Nikki and the
twins have even given names to all those bizarre animals."

Nicole reached unconsciously for the hairbrush beside the bed.

"Why is it that small children have such difficulty understanding the
concept of time?  Even though Ellie has made her a calendar, and has
been counting off the days one by one, Nikki has asked me every morning
if "today's the day"."

"She's just excited.  Everybody is," Richard said, rising from the
bed.

"I hope that we're not all disappointed."

"How could we be?"  Nicole replied.

"Dr Blue says that we will see sights even more amazing than those you
and I saw when we entered the city for the first time."

"I guess the whole menagerie will be out in force," Richard said.

"By the way, do you understand what the octo spiders are
celebrating?"

"Sort of ... I guess the closest equivalent holiday I know about would
be the American Thanksgiving.  The octos call this

"Bounty Day".  They set aside a day to celebrate the quality of their
life ... At least that's the way Dr Blue explained it to me."

Richard started to go to the shower but stuck his head back in the
room.

"Do you think our invitation to participate today is connected in any
way to your telling them about our family discussion at breakfast two
weeks ago?"

"You mean when Patrick and Max indicated that they would like to
return to New Eden?"

Richard nodded.

"Yes, I do," Nicole answered.

"I think the octo spiders had convinced themselves that we were all
completely content here.  Having us attend their celebration is part of
their attempt to integrate us more into their society."

"I wish I had all the damn translators finished," Richard said.

"As it is I only have two .  . . and they're not completely checked
out.

Should I give the second one to Max?"

"That would be a good idea," Nicole said, crowding her husband in the
doorway.

"What are you doing?"  Richard said.

"I'm joining you in the shower," Nicole answered with a laugh, 'unless,
of course, you're too old to have company."

Jamie came over from next door to tell them that the transport was
ready.  He was the youngest of their three octo spider neighbours
(Hercules lived by himself just on the other side of the plaza), and
the humans had had the least contact with him.  Jamie's 'guardians',
Archie and Dr Blue, explained that Jamie was very much involved with
his studies and was approaching a major milestone in his life.

Although at first glance Jamie looked almost exactly like the three
adult octo spiders the clan saw regularly, he was a little smaller than
the older octos, and the gold stripes in his tentacles were slightly
brighter.

The humans had briefly been in a quandary about what to wear for the
octo spider celebration, but they had soon realised that their clothing
was of absolutely no significance.  None of the alien species in the
Emerald City wore any coverings, a fact that the octo spiders had often
commented upon.  When Richard had once suggested, only partly in jest,
that perhaps the humans too should dispense with clothing while they
were in the Emerald City "When in Rome .  . he had said the group had
quickly understood how fundamental clothing was to human psychological
comfort.

"I could not be naked, even among you, my closest friends, without
being extremely self-conscious," Eponine had said, summa rising all
their feelings.

The motley contingent of eleven humans and their four octo spider
colleagues traipsed down the street to the plaza.  The very pregnant
Eponine was at the back of the group, walking slowly and keeping one
hand on her stomach.  The women had all chosen to dress up a little Nai
was even wearing her colourful Thai silk dress with the blue and green
flowers - but the men and children, except for Max (who had on the
outrageous Hawaiian shirt he saved for special occasions), were in the
T-shirts and
jeans that had been the^ regular costume since the first day they had
arrived at the Emerald City.

At least all their clothes were clean.  In the beginning, finding a way
to do the laundry had been an acute problem for the humans.  However,
once they had explained their difficulty to Archie, it was only a few
days before he introduced them to the dromos, insect-sized beings that
automatically cleaned their clothes.

The group boarded the transport at the plaza.  Just before the gate
marking the end of their zone, the transport stopped, and two octo
spiders they had never seen before climbed into the car.  Richard
practised using his translator during the ensuing conversation between
Dr Blue and the newcomers.  Ellie read her father's monitor over his
shoulder and commented on the accuracy of the translation.  In general,
the fidelity of the translation was fairly good, but the speed, at
least at the normal octo spider conversation rate, was much too slow.
One sentence would be translated while three were 'spoken', causing
Richard to reset the system regularly.  II He could not, of course,
glean much from a conversation in which he missed two out of three
sentences.

Once on the other side of the gate, the view from the transport became
fascinating.  Nikki's eyes stayed open at their widest levels as she,
Benjy, and the twins, with much shouting, identified most of the
animals from the octo spider painting.  The broad streets were full of
traffic.  There were not only many transports, which moved in both
directions on rails like a city tram, but also pedestrians of all
species and sizes, creatures riding wheeled vehicles like unicycles and
bicycles, and an occasional mixed group of beings on an ostrichsaur.

Max, who had never once been outside the human zone since his arrival,
punctuated his observations with 'shits', 'damns' and some of the other
words Eponine had requested that he remove from his vocabulary before
the birth of their child.  Max became quite anxious about Eponine's
welfare when, at the first transport stop after the gate, a small
assemblage of new creatures crowded on to their car.

Four of the newcomers headed immediately in Eponine's direction to
examine the special 'seat' the octo- spiders had installed in the
transport because of her advanced pregnancy.  Max stood protectively
beside her, holding on to one of the vertical rails that were scattered
throughout the ten-metre length of the car.

A pair of the new passengers were what the children called 'striped
crabs', eight-legged, red and yellow creatures about Nikki's size, with
round bodies covered with a hard shell and fearsome-looking claws. Both
of them began immediately rubbing their antennae against one of
Eponine's bare legs below her dress.  They were only being curious, but
the combination of the peculiar sensation and the unusual appearance of
the aliens caused Eponine to recoil with fright.  Archie, who was
standing on
the other side of Eponine, reached down quickly with a tentacle and
pushed the aliens gently away.  One of the striped crabs then reared up
on its back four legs, its claws snapping the air in front of Eponine's
face, and apparently said something threatening with its rapidly
vibrating antennae.  An instant later the octo spider Archie extended
two tentacles, lifted the hostile striped crab off the floor of the
transport, and deposited the creature on the street outside.

The scene dramatically altered the mood of all the humans.  As Archie
explained what had occurred to Max and Eponine, with Ellie translating
(Max was too shaken to try to use the translator), the Watanabe twins
huddled up close to Nai, and Nikki stretched out her arms for her
grandfather to pick her up.

"That species is not very intelligent," Archie told his human friends,
'and we have had difficulty engineering out its aggressive
tendencies.

The particular creature that I threw off the bus has been a
troublemaker before.  The optimiser responsible for the species had
already marked it - you may have noticed with the two small green dots
at the rear of the carapace .  . . This latest transgression will
certainly result in termination."

When Ellie finished with the translation, the humans methodically
inspected the other aliens on the transport, checking for the presence
of any more green dots.  Relieved that all the other creatures on board
were safe, the adults relaxed somewhat.

"What did that "thing" say?"  Richard asked Archie as the transport
approached another stop.

"It was a standard threat response," Archie replied, 'typical of
animals with constrained intelligence capability ... Its
antenna-patterns conveyed a crude message, with very little real
information content."

The transport continued down the avenue for eight or ten more nil lets
stopping twice to receive additional passengers, including half a dozen
octo spiders and about twenty other creatures representing five
different species.  Four of the royal-blue animals, the ones with the
hemispherical tops containing the brain like undulating material,
squatted right opposite Richard, who was still holding Nikki.  Their
collective assortment of eight knotted antennae extended upwards
towards Nikki's feet and became intertwined, as if they were
communicating.  When the human girl moved her feet slightly, the
antennae were quickly retracted back into the strange mass that formed
the bulk of the bodies of the alien creatures.

By this time it was very crowded in the transport.  An animal the
humans had never seen before, which Max later described accurately as a
Polish sausage with a long nose and six short legs, raised itself up on
one of the vertical bars and grabbed Nai's small handbag with its two
front paws.  Jamie interceded before any damage was done to either
the
handbag or Nai, but a fw-seconds later Galileo kicked the sausage
hard, causing it to lose its grip on the bar.  The boy explained that
he had thought the sausage was preparing for another grab at the
handbag.  The creature backed away into another section of the
transport, its solitary eye fixed warily on Galileo.

"You'd better be careful," Max said with a grin, tousling the boy's
hair.  "Or the octos will place two green dots on your behind."

The avenue was lined with one- and two-storey buildings, almost all
painted with geometric patterns in brilliant colours.  Garlands and
wreaths of brightly-coloured flowers and leaves festooned the doorways
and the roofs.  On one long wall, which Hercules told Nai was the back
of the main hospital, a huge rectangular mural, four me tres high and
twenty me tres long, depicted the octo spider physicians ministering to
their own injured, as well as helping many of the other creatures that
lived in the Emerald City.

The transport slowed slightly and began to ascend a ramp.  The vehicle
crossed a bridge, several hundred me tres long, over a wide river or
canal that contained boats, many frolicking octo spiders and several
other unknown marine creatures.  Archie explained that they were
entering the heart of the Emerald City, where all the main ceremonies
took place and the 'most important' optimisers lived and worked.

"Over there," he said, pointing at an octagonal building about thirty
me tres tall, 'is our library and information centre."

In response to Richard's question, Archie said that the canal, or moat,
completely encircled the 'administrative centre'.

"Except on special occasions, like today, or for some official purpose
approved by the optimisers," Archie said, 'only octo spiders are
allowed access to this area."

The transport parked in a large, flat plain beside an oval structure
that looked like a stadium, or perhaps an outdoor auditorium.  Nai told
Pat- rick, after they descended from the car, that she had felt more
claustrophobic during the last part of the ride than at any time since
she had been on the Kyoto subway at rush-hour, during her trip to meet
Kenji's family.

"At least in Japan," Patrick said with a brief shudder, 'you were
surrounded by other human beings .  . . Here it was so weird ... I felt
as if I were being scrutinised by all of them.  I had to close my eyes
to maintain my sanity."

As they disembarked and began moving towards the stadium, the humans
walked in a group, surrounded by their four octo spider friends and the
other two octos who had boarded the transport before it had left the
human zone.  These six octo spiders protected Nicole and the others
from the teeming hordes of living creatures swarming in all directions.
Eponine started feeling faint, as much from the combination of sights
and smells as from the walking, so Archie stopped their procession
about every fifty me tres Eventually they entered one of the gates and
the octo spiders led the humans to their assigned section.

There was only one seat in the section that had been reserved for the
humans.  In fact, Eponine may have had the only seat in the stadium.

Looking around the upper deck of the arena with Richard's binoculars,
Max and Patrick saw many beings leaning against, or holding on to, the
sturdy vertical poles scattered throughout the terraces, but nowhere
else could they find any seats.

Benjy was fascinated by the cloth bags that Archie and a few of the
other octo spiders were carrying.  The bags, all of which were
identical, were about the size of a woman's handbag and were off-white
in colour.  They hung at what might be called octo spider hip level,
attached over the head with a simple strap.  Never before had any of
the humans seen an octo with an accessory.  Benjy had noticed the bags
immediately, and had asked Archie about them while they had been
standing together at the plaza.  Benjy had assumed that Archie had not
understood his question at that time, and Benjy had in fact forgotten
it himself, until they reached the stadium and he saw the other similar
bags.

Archie was uncharacteristically vague in his explanation of the purpose
of the bag.  Nicole had to ask the octo spider to repeat his colours
before she told Benjy what had been said.

"Archie says it's equipment he might need to protect us in an
emergency."

"What kind of e-quip-ment?"  Benjy asked, but Archie had already moved
several me tres away and was talking with an octo spider in an adjacent
section.

The humans were separated from the other species both by two strips of
taut metal rope around the tops and bottoms of the vertical poles on
the outside of their enclave, and by their octo spider protectors (or
guards, as Max called them), who stationed themselves in the empty area
between the different species.  Beside the humans, on the right, was a
group of several hundred of the aliens with the six flexible arms, the
same creatures who had built the staircase under the rainbow dome.  On
the left and below the human clan, on the other side of a large empty
area, were as many as a thousand brown, chunky, iguana like animals,
with long tapered tails and protruding teeth.  The iguanas were the
size of domestic cats.

What was immediately obvious was that the entire stadium was rigidly
segregated.  Each species was sitting with its own kind.  What's more,
except for the 'guards', there were no octo spiders on the upper
deck.

All fifteen thousand of the octos (Richard's estimate) who were present
as spectators were silting in the lower deck.

"There are several reasons for the segregation," Archie explained, with
Ellie translating for everyone else.

"First, what the Chief Optimiser says
is going to be broadcasrtn thirty or forty languages simultaneously.

If you look carefully, you'll see that each special section has an
apparatus - here's yours, for example, what Richard calls a speaker
that presents what's being said in the language of that species.  All
the octos, including the various morphs, can understand our standard
language of colours.  That's why we're all down on the lower deck,
where there is no special translation equipment .  . .

"Let me show you what I'm talking about.  . . Look over there (Archie
extended a tentacle), do you see that group of striped crabs?  See the
two large vertical wires on that table at the front of their section?

When the Chief Optimiser starts to speak, those wires will activate and
present what is being said in their antenna language."

Far below them, over the top of what would have been a sunken field in
an Earth stadium, a vast cover with coloured stripes was suspended from
stanchions attached to the bottom sections of the lower deck.

"Can you read what it says?"  Ellie said to her father.

"What?"  said Richard, still stunned by the magnitude of the
spectacle.

"There is a message on the cover," Ellie said, pointing downward.

"Read the colours."

"So there is."  Richard read very slowly.

"Bounty means food, water, energy, information, balance and .  . what's
the last word?"

"I would translate it as "diversity"," Ellie said.

"What does the message mean?"  Eponine asked.

"I guess we're going to find out."

A few minutes later, after Archie had told the humans that another
reason for the species segregation was to confirm the octo spiders
census statistics, the field cover was rolled up on two long, thick
poles by two pairs of giant black animals.  The pairs started on
opposite sides of the middle of the arena, and then moved towards the
ends of the stadium, wrapping the cover around their poles to unveil
the entire field.

Simultaneously, an additional cluster of fireflies descended from far
above the stadium so that all the spectators could clearly see not only
the abundance of fruits, vegetables and grains, slacked in hundreds of
piles on both ends of the field, but also the two collections of
diverse beings that were in separate regions on the floor of the arena,
on either side of its middle.  The first group of aliens was walking
around in a large circle on a normal dirt surface.

They were attached to each other by some kind of rope.  Next to them
was a large pool of water, in which another thirty or forty species,
also connected to each other, were swimming in a second large circle.

In the absolute centre of the field was a raised platform; empty except
for some scattered black boxes, with ramps descending in the
direction
of the two adjacent regions.  As everyone watched, four octo spiders
broke from the circle in the swimming-pool and climbed the ramp on to
the platform.  Another four octo spiders left the group walking on the
dirt surface and joined their colleagues.  One of these eight octos
then stood up on a box in the middle of the platform and began to speak
in colour.

"We have gathered here today," the voice from the speaker startled the
humans.  Little Nikki began to cry.  At first it was extremely
difficult for them to understand what they were hearing, for each
syllable was stressed exactly the same and, although carefully
pronounced, the sounds were not quite right, as if they were made by
someone who had never heard a human speak.  Richard was flabbergasted.
He immediately abandoned his attempt to use his translator and bent
down to study the device out of which the sounds were coming.

Ellie borrowed Richard's binoculars so that she could follow the
colours more readily.  Even though she had to guess at some of the
words, because of the strip-pieces outside her visible range, it was
easier for her to watch than to concentrate fully on what was coming
out of the octo spider audio equipment.

Eventually the adults tuned their ears somewhat to the cadence and
pronunciation of the alien voice and caught most of what was being
said.  The octo spider Chief Optimiser indicated that all was well in
their bountiful realm, and that the continued success of their complex
and diverse society was reflected in the variety of foods found on the
field.  "None of this bounty," the speaker said, 'could have been
produced without strong inter-species cooperation."

Later in his brief message the Chief Optimiser handed out kudos for
exceptional performance.  Several specific species were singled out for
example, production of the honey like substance had apparently been
outstanding, for a dozen hovering fireflies spot lighted the
snout-nosed beetle section for a few moments.  About three fengs into
the speech, the humans grew tired of the strain of listening to the
strange voice and stopped following the speech altogether.  The group
was therefore surprised when the fireflies appeared over their heads
and they were introduced to the alien multitudes.  Thousands of strange
eyes were aimed in their direction for half a nil let

"What did he say about us?"  Max asked Ellie, who had continued to
translate the colours.  Max had been talking to Eponine during the most
recent part of the Chief Optimiser's speech.

"Just that we were new in the domain, and that they were still learning
about our capabilities .  . . Then there were some numbers that must
have been some way of describing us.  I didn't understand that pan."

After another two species had been briefly introduced, the Chief
Optimiser started summa rising the main points of his speech.

"Mommy,
Mommy," Nikki's terrified Scream suddenly overpowered the alien
voice.

Somehow, while the adult humans were absorbed in the speech and the
spectacle surrounding them, Nikki had climbed over the lower barrier
around their section and entered the open space separating them from
the iguana creatures.  The octo spider Hercules, who had been
patrolling that area, had apparently not noticed her either, for he was
unaware that one of the iguanas had stuck its head in the gap between
the two metal ropes around its section and grabbed Nikki's dress with
its sharp teeth.

The terror in the child's voice momentarily paralysed everyone but
Benjy.  He acted instantly, leaping over the barrier, rushing to
Nikki's aid and smashing the iguana creature in the head with all his
strength.  The startled alien let go of Nikki's dress.  Pandemonium
ensued.  Nikki raced back to her mother's arms, but before Hercules and
Archie could reach Benjy, the enraged alien had forced itself through
the gap and jumped upon Benjy's back.  He screamed from the intense
pain of the iguana's teeth in his shoulder and began to flail about,
trying to shake the creature off.  A few seconds later the creature
dropped to the ground, completely unconscious.  Two green spots were
clearly visible where the creature's tail joined the rest of its
body.

The entire incident had occurred in less than a minute.  The speech had
not been interrupted.  Except in the immediately surrounding sections,
there had been no notice of the event.  But Nikki was hopelessly
frightened, Benjy was seriously injured, and Eponine had started having
a contraction.  Below them, the angry iguanas were straining against
their metal ropes, disregarding the threats of the ten octo spiders who
had now moved into the space between the two species.

Archie told the humans that it was time for them to leave.  There was
no argument.  Archie escorted them out of the stadium in a hurry with
Ellie carrying her sobbing daughter and Nicole frantically rubbing an
antiseptic from the medical bag into Benjy's wound.

Richard rose up on his elbows when Nicole came into the bedroom.

"Is he all right?"  Richard asked.

"I believe so," Nicole said with a heavy sigh.

"I'm still worried that there may be chemicals in that creature's
saliva that could injure him .  . . Dr Blue has been very helpful.  He
has explained to me that the iguanas have no toxic venom, but he agrees
we must watch out for some kind of allergic reaction in Benjy .  . .
The next day or two will tell us whether or not we have a problem."

"And the pain?  Has that subsided?"

"Benjy refuses to complain ... I think that he is actually quite proud
of himself as well he should be and doesn't want to say anything that
would detract from his moment as the hero of the family."

"And Eponine?"  Richard said after a brief silence.

"Is she still having contractions?"

"No, they've stopped temporarily.  But if she delivers in the next day
or so, Marius will not be the first baby whose birth was induced by
adrenalin."

Nicole started to undress.

"Ellie's taking it the hardest .  . . She says that she is a terrible
mother, and that she will never forgive herself for not keeping a
closer eye on Nikki ... A few minutes ago she even sounded like Max and
Patrick.  She was wondering aloud if maybe we should all go back to New
Eden and take our chances with Nakamura.  "For the children's sake,"
she said."

Nicole finished undressing and climbed into bed.  She kissed Richard
lightly and put her hands behind her head.

"Richard," she said, 'there is a very serious issue here ... Do you
think the octo spiders would even permit us to return to New Eden?"

"No," he said after a pause.

"At least not all of us."

"I'm afraid I agree with you," Nicole said.

"But I don't want to say so to the others .  . . Maybe I should bring
the question up with Archie again."

"He'll try to evade it, as he did the first time."

They lay together, holding hands, for several minutes.

"What are you thinking about, darling?"  Nicole asked when she noticed
that Richard's eyes were still open.

"Today," he said.

"Everything that happened today.  I'm going back over it in my mind,
scene by incredible scene.  Now that I'm old, and my memory isn't as
good as it once was, I try to use refresh techniques .  . ."

Nicole laughed.

"You're impossible," she said.

"But I love you anyway."

Max was agitated.

"I, for one, do not want to stay in this place one minute longer than
necessary.  I no longer trust them .  . . Look, Richard, you know damn
well I'm right.  Did you see how fast Archie took that tube thing out
of his bag when the alien iguana jumped on Benjy's back?  And he didn't
hesitate a second to use it.  Pffft, was all I heard, and presto, that
lizard was either dead or paralysed.  He would have done the same thing
to one of us if we had misbehaved."

"Max, I think you're over-reacting," Richard said.

"Am I?  And is it another over-reaction that the entire scene yesterday
reinforced in my mind just how powerless we are .  . ."

"Max," Nicole interrupted, 'don't,you think this is a discussion that
we should have at another time, when we're not so emotional?"

"No," Max replied emphatically.

"I do not ... I want to have it now, |?  this morning.  That's why I
asked Nai to feed the children breakfast in her house."

"But surely you're not suggesting that we should leave at this moment,
when Eponine is due any minute?"  Nicole said.

"Of course not," Max said.

"But I think we should get our butts out of here as soon as she is able
to travel .  . . Jesus, Nicole, what kind of life can we have here
anyway?  Nikki and the twins are now scared shit less I bet they won't
be willing to leave our zone again for weeks, maybe not ever .  . . And
that doesn't even address the bigger question of why have the octo
spiders brought us here in the first place?  Did you see all those
creatures in that stadium yesterday?

Didn't you get the impression that all of them work for the octo
spiders in one way or another?  Isn't it likely that we too will soon
be occupying some niche in their system?"

Ellie spoke for the first time since the conversation started.

"I have always trusted the octo spiders she said.

"I still do.  I do not believe they have some kind of diabolical plot
to integrate us into their overall scheme in a way that is unacceptable
to us ... But I did learn something yesterday, or I should say I
relearned something.

As a mother, it is my responsibility to provide for my daughter an
environment in which she can
flourish and have a chance to be happy ... I no longer think that's
possible here in the Emerald City."

Nicole looked at Ellie with surprise.

"So you would like to leave too?"  she said.

"Yes, Mother."

Nicole glanced around the table.  She could tell from Eponine's and
Patrick's expressions that they agreed with Max and Ellie.

"Does anyone know how Nai feels about this subject?"  she inquired.

Patrick blushed slightly when Max and Eponine looked at him, as if he
were expected to answer.

"We talked about it last night," he said at length.

"Nai has been convinced, for some time, that the children have too
narrow a life isolated here in our own zone.  But she is also worried,
especially after what happened yesterday, that there are significant
dangers to the children if we try to live freely in the octo spider
society."

"I guess that settles it," Nicole said with a shrug.

"I will talk to Archie about our leaving at the first opportunity."

Nai was a good story-teller.  The children loved the school days when
she would dispense with the planned activities and simply tell them
stories instead.  She had been telling the children both Greek and
Chinese myths, in fact, the first day that Hercules had appeared to
observe them.  The children had given the octo spider his name after he
had helped Nai move the furniture in the room into a different
configuration.

Most of the stories that Nai told had a hero.  Since even Nikki still
had some memory of the human biots in New Eden, the children were more
interested in stories about Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln and Benita
Garcia than they were in historic or mythical characters with whom they
had had no personal involvement.

On the morning after Bounty Day, Nai explained how, during the last
phases of the Great Chaos, Benita Garcia used her considerable fame to
help the millions of poor people in Mexico.  Nikki, who had inherited
the compassion of her mother and grandmother, was moved by the story of
Benita's courageous defiance of the Mexican oligarchy and the Ameri-
can multinational corporations.  The little girl proclaimed that Benita
Garcia was her hero.

"Heroine," the always precise Kepler corrected.

"And what about you, Mother?"  the boy said a few seconds later.

"Did you have a hero or heroine when you were a little girl?"

Despite the fact that she was in an alien city on an extraterrestrial
spacecraft at an unbelievable distance away from her home town of
Lamphun, in Thailand, for an extraordinary fifteen or twenty seconds
Nai's memory transported her back to her childhood, and she saw herself
clearly, in a simple cotton dress, walking barefoot into the Buddhist
temple to pay homage to Queen Chamatevi.  Nai could also see the monks
in their saffron robes, and she believed that for a moment she could
even smell the joss in the viharn in front of the temple's principal
Buddha.

"Yes," she said, quite moved by the power other flashback,

"I did have a heroine .  . . Queen Chamatevi of the Haripunchai."

"Who was she, Mrs Watanabe?"  Nikki said.

"Was she like Benita Garcia?"

"Not exactly," Nai began.

"Chamatevi was a beautiful young woman who lived in the Mon kingdom in
the south of Indo-China over a thousand years ago.  Her family was
rich, and closely connected to the king of the Mons.  But Chamatevi,
who was exceedingly well educated for a woman of that time, longed to
do something different and unusual.

Once upon a time, when Chamatevi was nineteen or twenty years old, a
soothsayer visited .  . ."

"What's a soothsayer.  Mother?"  Kepler asked.

Nai smiled.

"Someone who predicts the future, or at least tries to,"

she answered.

"Anyway, this soothsayer told the king that there was an ancient legend
saying that a beautiful young Mon woman, of noble birth, would go north
through all the jungles, to the valley of the Haripunchai, and unite
all the warring tribes of the region.i This young woman, the soothsayer
continued, would create a kingdom whose splendour would equal the Mons,
and she would be known in many lands for her outstanding leadership.
The soothsayer told this story during a feast at the court, and
Chamatevi was listening.  When the story was completed, the young woman
came forward to the king of the Mons, and told him that she must be the
woman in the legend.

"Despite her father's opposition, Chamatevi accepted the king's offer
of money and provisions and elephants, even though there was only
enough food to last the five months of trekking through the jungle to
the land of the Haripunchai.  If the legend had not been true, and the
many tribes of the valley had not accepted Chamatevi as their queen,
then she would not have been able to return to the Mons and would have
been forced to sell herself as a slave.  But never for a moment was
Chamatevi afraid.

"Of course the legend was fulfilled, the valley tribes embraced her as
their queen, and she reigned for many years in what is known in Thai
history as the Golden Age of the Haripunchai .  . . When Chamatevi was
very old, she carefully divided her kingdom into two equal parts, which
she gave to her twin sons.  She then retired to a Buddhist monastery to
thank God for His love and protection.  Chamatevi remained alert and
healthy until she died at the age of ninety-nine."

For reasons she did not completely understand, Nai felt herself
becoming very emotional while she was telling the story.  When she was
finished,
Nai could still see, in her mind's eye, the wall-panels in the temple
in Lamphun that illustrated Chamatevi's story.  Nai had been so
engrossed in her story that she had not even noticed that Patrick,
Nicole and Archie had all come into the schoolroom and were sitting on
the floor behind the children.

"We have many similar stories," Archie said a few minutes later, with
Nicole translating, 'which we also tell to our juveniles.  Most of them
are very, very old.  Are they true?  It doesn't really matter to an
octo spider The stories entertain, they instruct, and they inspire."

"I'm sure the children would love to hear one of your stories," Nai
said to Archie.

"In fact, all of us would."

Archie did not say anything for almost a nil let His lens fluid was
very active, moving back and forth, as if he were carefully studying
the human beings staring at him.  At length the coloured strips began
to roll out of his slit and circumnavigate his grey head.

"A long, long time ago," he began, 'on a far-away world blessed with
bounteous resources and beauty beyond description, all the octo spiders
lived in a vast ocean.  On the land there were many creatures, one of
which, the .  . ."

"I'm sorry," Nicole said both to Archie and the others,

"I don't know how to translate the next colour-pattern."

Archie used several new sentences to try to define the word in other
terms.

"Those that have gone before .  . ."  Nicole said to herself.

"Oh, well, it's probably not essential for the story that every word be
exactly correct .  . . I'll simply call them the Precursors."

"On the land portions of this beautiful planet," Nicole continued for
Archie, 'were many creatures, of whom by far the most intelligent were
the Precursors.  They had built vehicles that could fly into the air,
they had explored all the neighbouring planets and stars, they had even
learned how to create life from simple chemicals, where there had been
no life before.  They had changed the nature of the land, and of the
oceans, with their incredible knowledge.

"It happened that the Precursors determined that the octo spider
species had enormous untapped potential, capabilities that had never
been expressed during their many, many years of existence, and they
began to show the octo spiders how to develop and use their latent
abilities.  As the years passed the octo spider species, thanks to the
Precursors, became the second most intelligent on the planet and
evolved a very complicated and close relationship with the
Precursors.

"During this time the Precursors helped the octo spiders learn to live
outside the water by taking oxygen directly from the air of the
beautiful planet.  Entire colonies ofoctos began to spend their whole
lives on land.  One day, after a major meeting between the chief
optimisers of the
Precursors and the ocKSSpiders, it was announced that all octo spiders
would become land-creatures and give up their colonies in the oceans.

"Down at great depths in the sea was one small colony of octo spiders
no more than a thousand altogether, that was managed by a local
optimiser who did not think the chief optimisers of the two species had
come to a correct decision.  This local optimiser resisted the
announcement and, although he and his colony were ostracised by the
others and did not share in the bounty offered by the Precursors, he
and many generations that followed him continued to live their
isolated, uncomplicated life on the bottom of the ocean.

"It happened that a great calamity struck the planet, and it became
impossible to survive on the land.  Many millions of creatures died and
only those octo spiders who could live comfortably in the water
survived the thousands of years that the planet lay waste.

"When, eventually, the planet recovered and a few of the ocean octo
spiders ventured out on land, they found none of their kindred and none
of the Precursors either.  That local optimiser who had lived thousands
of years before had been visionary.  Without his action every single
octo spider might have perished .  . . And that's why, even today,
smart octo spiders retain their capability to live either on land or in
water."  ; Nicole had recognised, early in the story, that Archie was
sharing with them something altogether different from anything he had
ever told them before.  Was it because of their conversation that
morning, when she had told Archie that they wanted to return to New
Eden soon after the Puckett child was born?  She wasn't certain.  But
she did know that the legend Archie had related told them things about
the octo spiders that the humans could never have figured out in any
other way.

"That was truly marvelous," Nicole said, touching Archie lightly.

"I

don't know if the children enjoyed it .  . ."

"I thought it was neat," Kepler said.

"I didn't know you guys could breathe water."

"Just like an unborn baby," Nai was saying when an excited Max Puckett
raced through the door.

"Come quickly, Nicole," Max said.

"The contractions are only four minutes apart."

As Nicole rose, she turned to Archie.

"Please tell Dr Blue to bring the image engineer and the quadroid
system.  And hurry!"

It was amazing to watch a birth from the outside and inside
simultaneously.  Nicole was giving directions to both Eponine and the
octo- spider image engineer through Dr Blue.

"Breathe, you must breathe through your contractions," she would shout
at Eponine.

"Move them
closer, lower in the birth canal, with a little more light," she would
say to Dr Blue.

Richard was absolutely fascinated.  He stood out of the way, over to
one side of the bedroom, his eyes darting back and forth from the
pictures on the wall to the two octo spiders and their equipment.  What
was being shown in the images was delayed an entire contraction from
what was happening on the bed.  At the end of each contraction, Dr Blue
would hand Nicole a small round patch, which Nicole would suck on the
inside of Eponine's upper thigh.  Within seconds the tiny quadroids
that had been inside Eponine for the last contraction would race to the
patch, and the new ones would then scramble up the birth canal.  After
a twenty- or thirty-second delay for data processing, another set of
pictures would appear on the wall.

Max was driving everybody crazy.  When he heard Eponine scream or moan,
as she occasionally did near the peak of each contraction, he would
rush over to her side and grab her hand.

"She's in terrible pain," he would say to Nicole, 'you must do
something to help her."

Between contractions, when, at Nicole's suggestion, Eponine would stand
up beside the bed to let the artificial gravity help with the birthing
process, Max was even worse.  The image of his unborn son wedged
tightly in the birth canal, struggling with discomfort from the
pressure of the previous contraction, would send him into a tirade.

"Oh my God, look, look," Max said after a particularly severe
contraction.

"His head is squashed.  Oh, fuck.  There's not enough room.  He's not
going to make it."

Nicole made a couple of major decisions a few minutes before Marius
Clyde Puckett entered the universe.  First, she concluded that the baby
boy was not going to be born without some help.  It would be necessary,
she decided, for her to perform an episiotomy to mitigate the pain and
tearing of the actual birth.  Nicole also concluded that Max should be
removed from the bedroom before he became hysterical and/ or did
something that might interfere with the birthing process.

Ellie sterilised the scalpel at Nicole's request.  Max looked at the
scalpel with wild eyes.

"What are you going to do with that?"  he asked Nicole.

"Max," Nicole said calmly as Eponine felt the advent of another
contraction,

"I love you dearly, but I want you to leave the room.

Please.  What I am about to do will make it easier for Marius to be
born, but it won't look pretty .  . ."

Max didn't move.  Patrick, who was standing in the doorway, put a hand
on his friend's shoulder as Eponine began to moan again.  The baby's
head was clearly pressing against the vaginal opening.  Nicole began to
cut.  Eponine screamed in pain.

"No," a frantic Max cried at the first sight of blood, We.  . , Oh,
shit .  . . Oh, shit."

Wow.  . . leave now!"  Nicole yelled imperiously as she concluded the
episiotomy.  Elite was swabbing up the blood as fast as she could.

Patrick turned Max around, gave him a hug.  and led him into the
living-room.

Nicole checked the picture on the wall as soon as it was available.

Little Marius was in perfect position.  What a fantastic technology,
she thought fleetingly.  It would change birthing altogether.

She had no more time to reflect.  Another contraction was beginning.

Nicole reached up and took Eponine's hand.

"This could be it," she said.  "I want you to push with all your might
... All the way through the whole contraction."  Nicole told Dr Blue
that no more images would be needed.

"Push," Nicole and Ellie yelled together.

The baby crowned.  They could see swatches of light brown hair.

"Again," Nicole said.

"Push again."

"I can't," Eponine wailed.

"Yes you can .  . . push."

Eponine arched her back, took a deep breath, and moments later baby
Marius squirted into Nicole's hands.  Ellie was ready with the scissors
to cut the umbilical cord.  The boy cried naturally, without needing to
be incited.  Max rushed into the room.

"Your son has arrived," Nicole said.  She finished wiping off the
excess fluid, tied off the umbilical, and handed the baby to the proud
father.

"Oh my ... oh my .  . . What do I do now?"  said the flustered but
beaming Max, who was holding the child as if Marius were as fragile as
glass and as precious as diamonds.

"You could kiss him," Nicole said with a smile.

"That would be a good start."

Max lowered his head and kissed Marius very gently.

"And you might bring him over to meet his mother," Eponine said.

Tears of joy were streaming down the new mother's cheeks when she
looked at her baby boy, close up, for the first time.  Nicole helped
Max lay the child across Eponine's chest.

"Oh, Frenchie," Max then said, squeezing Eponine's hand, 'how I love
you .  . . how very much I love you."

Marius, who had been crying steadily since moments after his birth,
quieted down in his new position on his mother's chest.  Eponine
reached down with the hand that Max was not holding and tenderly
caressed her new son.  Suddenly Max's eyes exploded with tears.

"Thank you, darling," he said to Eponine.

"Thank you, Nicole.  Thanks, Ellie."

Max thanked everybody in the room multiple times, including the two
octo spiders For the next five minutes Max was also a veritable hugging
machine.  Not even the octo spiders escaped from his grateful
embraces.

Nicole knocked lightly on the door and then stuck her head into the
room.

"Excuse me," she said.

"Is anybody awake?"

Eponine and Max both stirred, but no eyes opened to greet Nicole.

Little Marius was nestled between his parents, sleeping contentedly.

At length Max mumbled,

"What time is it?"

"Fifteen minutes after the scheduled time for our examination of
Marius," Nicole said.

"Dr Blue will be back in a little while."

Max groaned and nudged Eponine.

"Come on in," he said to Nicole.  Max looked terrible.  His eyes were
red and puffy and both of them had double bags underneath.

"Why do babies not sleep for more than two hours at a time?"  he asked
with a yawn.

Nicole stood in the doorway.

"Some do, Max .  . . But every baby is different.  Just after they're
born they usually follow the same routine they were comfortable with in
the womb."

"What are you complaining about anyway?"  Eponine said, struggling to
sit up.

"All you have to do is listen to some cries, change a diaper
occasionally, and go back to sleep ... I have to stay awake while he
nurses .  . . Have you ever tried to fall asleep while a little munch
king is sucking on your nipples?"

"What's this?"  said Nicole, laughing.

"Have our new parents lost their neophyte aura in only four days?"

"Not really," said Eponine, forcing a smile as she put on her
clothes.

"But Jesus, I am so tired!"

"That's normal," Nicole said.

"Your body has been through a trauma.

You need rest... As I told you and Max the day after Marius was born,
when you insisted that we have a party, the only way you'll get enough
sleep in the first two weeks is if you adapt your schedule to conform
with his: "I believe you," Max said.  He stumbled out of the door with
his clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Eponine glanced at the light blue rectangular pad that Nicole had just
taken out of her bag.

"Is that one of the new diapers?"  she said.

"Yes," Nicole answered.

"The octo spider engineers have made some
more improvements .  . ."$y the way, their offer about the special
waster is still open.  They don't have anything yet for Marius's urine,
but they calculate that with the waster he would only poop .  .

."

"Max is completely against the idea," Eponine interrupted.

"He says that his little boy is not going to be an experiment for the
octo spiders

"I wouldn't exactly call it an experiment," Nicole said.

"The special waster species they have designed is only a slight
modification from the ones that have been cleaning our toilets for six
months now.  And think of the trouble you would avoid .  . ."

"No," Eponine said firmly.

"But thank the octo spiders anyway."  When Max returned he was dressed
for the day, although still unshaven.

"I

wanted to tell you, Max," Nicole said, 'before Dr Blue comes back, that
I did finally have a long conversation with Archie about our leaving
New Eden .  . . When I explained to Archie that we all wanted to go,
and tried to give him some of the reasons why, he told me it was not in
his power to approve our leaving."  "What does that mean?"

Max asked.  "Archie said it was an issue for the Chief Optimiser."

"Aha!  So I must have been right all along," Max said.

"We really are prisoners here, and not guests."  i "No, not if I
understood correctly what Archie said.  He told me that it "can be
arranged, if necessary", but only the Chief Optimiser understands "all
the factors" well enough to make an informed decision."  "More goddamn
octo spider gobbledegook," Max grumbled.  "I don't think so," Nicole
replied.

"I was actually encouraged .  . . But Archie said we will not be able
to schedule a meeting with the Chief Optimiser until after the
Matriculation is over .  . . That's the process that has been taking
all of Jamie time.  Apparently it only happens every two years or so
and involves the whole colony."  "How long does this Matriculation
thing last?"  Max asked.  "Only another week.  Richard, Blue, and I
have been invited to participate in some facet of the process tonight
... It sounds intriguing."

"Marius and I won't be able to leave for several weeks anyway,"

Eponine said to Max.

"So waiting a week is certainly no problem."

At that moment Dr Blue knocked on the door.  The octo spider entered
the bedroom with the specialised equipment that was going to be used in
the examination of Marius.  Max looked askance at a pair of plastic
bags containing writhing creatures that looked like black pasta.

"What are those damn things?"  Max asked with a scowl.  Nicole finished
laying out her own instruments on the table beside the bed.

"Max,"

she said with a smile, 'why don't you go next door for the next fifteen
minutes or so?"

Max's brow furrowed.

"What are you going to do to my little boy?  Boil him in oil?"

"No," Nicole laughed.

"But from time to time it may sound as if that's what we're doing."

Ellie picked up Nikki and gave her a hug.  The little girl momentarily
stopped crying.

"Mommy is going out with Nonni and Boobah and Archie and Dr Blue," she
said.

"We'll be back after your bedtime .  . . You'll be fine here with Mrs
Watanabe and Kepler .  . ."

"I don't want to stay here," Nikki said in her most unpleasant voice.

"I want to go with Mommy."  She kissed Ellie on the cheek.  The little
girl's face was expectant.

When Ellie put the child back down on the floor a few seconds later,
Nikki's beautiful face scrunched up and she began to wail.

"I don't want to .  . ."  she screamed as her mother walked out of the
door.

Ellie shook her head as the five of them strolled towards the plaza.

"I wish I knew what to do for her," Ellie said.

"Ever since that incident in the stadium, she has been clinging to me .
. ."

"It could be just a normal phase," Nicole said.

"Children change very rapidly at her age .  . . And Nikki's no longer
the centre of attention, now that Marius is here."

"I think the problem's deeper than that," Ellie said several seconds
later.  She turned to Nicole.

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I believe Nikki's insecurity has more to do
with Robert than with Marius."

"But Robert has been gone for over a year," Richard said.

"I don't think that matters," Ellie replied.

"At some level Nikki must still remember what it was like to have two
parents ... To her it probably seems like firs; I abandoned her, then
Robert.  No wonder she is insecure."

Nicole touched her daughter gently.

"But Ellie, if you're right, why is she just now reacting so
strongly?"

"I can't say for certain," Ellie said.

"Maybe the encounter with the iguana thing reminded her how vulnerable
she was .  . . And how much she misses the protection other father .  .
."

They heard Nikki's loud wail behind them.

"Whatever is bothering her," Ellie said with a sigh,

"I hope she outgrows it soon.  When she cries like that I feel as if a
hot knife were cutting into my stomach."

There was no transport at the plaza.  Archie and Dr Blue kept on
walking, heading for the pyramid where the octo spiders and the humans
usually held their conferences.

"This is a very special evening," Dr Blue explained, 'and there are
many things that we must tell you before we leave your zone."

"Where is Jamie?"  Nicole asked as they were entering the building.

"I

thought originally he was going with us ... And while I'm at it, what
ever happened to Herculasst-We haven't seen him since Bounty Day."

While they walked together up the ramp to the second floor of the
pyramid, Dr Blue informed them that Jamie was with his fellow
matriculating octo spiders that evening, and that Hercules had been
'reassigned'.

"Goodness," said Richard jokingly,

"Hercules didn't even say goodbye."

The octo spiders who still hadn't learned to recognise human humour
very well, apologised for Hercules' lack of manners.  They then
mentioned that there would no longer be an octo spider among the humans
as a daily observer.

"Was Hercules fired for some reason?"  Richard asked, still in a
lighter vein.  The two octo spiders ignored the question altogether.

They entered the same conference room where Nicole had learned about
the digestive process of the octo spiders Several large sheets of the
parchment or hide on which the octos made their drawings and diagrams
were over in the corner facing the wall.  Dr Blue asked Richard, Nicole
and Ellie to sit down.

"What you are going to see later tonight," Archie then said, 'has never
been seen by a non-octo spider since our colony was formed here in
Rama. We are taking you with us in an attempt to increase the quality
of communication between our two species.  It is imperative that you
understand, before we leave this room and head for the Alternate
Domain, not only what you are going to see, but also how you are
expected to behave."

"Under no circumstances," Dr Blue added, 'are you to disturb the
proceedings, or to try to interact with anyone or anything along the
way, either coming or going.  You are to follow our instructions at all
times.  If you cannot, or do not want to accept these conditions, then
you must tell us now, and we will not take you with us."

The three humans looked at each other with alarm.

"You know us well,"

Nicole said at length.

"I trust that we're not going to be asked to do something that is
inconsistent with our values and principles.  We could not .  . ."

"That's not our concern," Archie interrupted.

"We are simply asking you to be passive observers, no matter what you
see or experience.  If you become confused or frightened and for some
reason cannot locate one of us, sit down, wherever you are, with your
hands at your sides, and wait for us to come."

There was a brief pause.

"I cannot stress too much," Archie continued, 'how important your
behaviour is this evening.  Most of the other optimisers objected when
I requested that you be allowed to attend.  Dr Blue and I have
personally vouched for your ability not to do anything untoward."

"Are our lives in danger?"  Richard asked.

"Probably not," Archie replied.

"But they could be ... And if tonight were to turn into some kind of a
fiasco, because of something that one
of you did, I'm not certain .  . ."  In a very unusual action for an
octo spider Archie did not finish his sentence.

"Are you telling us," Nicole now said, 'that our request to return to
New Eden is somehow tied up in all this?"

"Our relationship," Archie said, 'has reached a cusp.  By sharing a
critical portion of our Matriculation process with you, we are
attempting to attain a new level of understanding.  In that sense, the
answer to your question is

"Yes"."

They spent almost half a ten, two human hours, in the conference
room.

Archie began by explaining what the Matriculation activity was all
about.  Jamie and his companions, the octo spider told them, had
finished their adolescence and were about to make the transition to
adulthood.  As juveniles, their lives had been mostly controlled, and
they had not been allowed to make any decisions of great significance.
At the end of the Matriculation, Jamie and the other young octos would
make a single monumental decision, one that would fundamentally alter
the rest of their lives.  It was the purpose of the Matriculation, and
even much of the final year prior to the transition, to provide the
adolescent octo spiders with information that would help them make that
important decision.

"Tonight," Archie said, 'the juveniles will all be taken, as a group,
over to the Alternate Domain to see a .  . ."

Neither Ellie nor Nicole could figure out at first how to translate
into English what the young octo spiders were going to see.

Eventually, after some discussion between them, and several sentences
of clarification from Dr Blue and Archie, the women decided that the
best interpretation for what Archie had said in colour was 'morality
play'.

For the next several minutes the conversation digressed as Dr Blue and
Archie explained, in response to questions from the humans, that the
Alternate Domain was a specific section of the octo spider realm that
was not under the dome.

"South of the Emerald City," Archie said, 'there is another settlement
with a decidedly different life-style from ours.  About two thousand
octo spiders live in the Alternate Domain at the present time, along
with another three or four thousand other creatures representing a
dozen different species.

Their lives are chaotic and unstructured.  The alternate octo spiders
have no dome over their heads to protect them, no assigned tasks, no
planned entertainment, no access to the information in the library, no
roads or homes except those they collectively build for themselves, and
a life expectancy about one-tenth that of the average octo spider in
the Emerald City."

Ellie thought about how the Avalon area had been created by Nakamura to
deal with the problems that the colonists in New Eden wanted to forget.
She thought that perhaps the Alternate Domain was a similar
settlement.

"Why," she acked, 'have so many of your kindred over 10 per cent if my
arithmetic is accurate been forced to live outside the dome?"

"No octo spider has been forced to live in the Alternate Domain," Dr
Blue said.

"All of them are there as the result of a critical choice."

Dr Blue went over to the corner and retrieved a few of the charts.  The
two octo spiders used the diagrams extensively during the long
discussion that followed.  First they explained that hundreds of
generations earlier their biologists had correctly identified the
connection between sexuality in their species and many other behaviour
al characteristics, including personal ambition, aggression,
territorial ky and ageing, to name the most important.  This discovery
had been made during a period of octo spider history when the
transition to Optimisation was first occurring, but despite the
supposedly universal acceptance of what was theoretically a superior
basis for the structure of octo spider society, the transition was
severely impeded by regular outbreaks of warfare, tribal dissension and
other mayhem.  The octo biologists at the time speculated that only a H
sexless society, or one in which only a small fraction of the
population was sexual, would be able to abide by the principles of
Optimisation, in which the desires of the individual were subordinated
to the welfare of the colony as a whole.  , A seemingly endless
succession of conflicts convinced all of the forward- looking octo
spiders of the period that Optimisation was only a foolish dream unless
some method or technique could be found to combat the individualism
that inevitably blocked acceptance of the new order.  But what could be
done?  It was several more generations before a brilliant discovery was
made that there existed special chemicals in a sugarcane- like product
called bar rican that actually slowed down sexual maturation in the
octo spiders Within several hundred years the octo genetic engineers
had succeeded in designing and producing a variation of this bar rican
which, if ingested regularly, stopped the advent of sexual maturity
altogether.

Test cases and test colonies succeeded beyond the wildest dreams both
of the biologists and of the progressive political scientists.

Sexually immature octos were more responsive to the group concepts of
Optimisation.  And not only did sexual maturity not occur in those octo
spiders eating bar rican regularly, but also ageing was severely
retarded in those octos as well.  Ageing, the octo spider scientists
then learned very quickly, was tied to the same internal clock
mechanism as puberty, and in fact the enzymes causing the cells not to
replenish properly in older octo spiders did not even activate until a
specified period after sexual maturity.

Octospider society underwent rapid changes, Archie and Dr Blue both
asserted, after these colossal discoveries.  Optimisation took a firm
hold
everywhere.  Octospider social scientists began to envisage a society
in which the individual octos would be nearly immortal, dying only from
accidents or the sudden failure of a major and critical organ.

Sexless octo spiders populated all the colonies and, as the biologists
had predicted, personal ambition and aggression became almost
nonexistent.

"All this history took place many generations ago," Archie said, 'and
is primarily background information to help you understand what the
Matriculation is all about.  Without going into the complex intervening
history, Dr Blue will summa rise where we are today, in our particular
colony."

"Every octo spider that you have encountered so far," Dr Blue said,
'except for the midget morphs and the rep letes both of whom are
permanently sexless, is a creature whose sexual maturity has been
retarded by the bar rican Many years ago, before a rogue biologist
showed how a different kind of sexuality could be genetically
engineered into our species, only an octo spider queen could produce
offspring .  . .

"Among the normal adult octo spider population there were two sexes,
but the only significant differentiation between them was that one of
the two had the ability, if mature, to fertilise a queen.  Sexual
adults copulated for pleasure, but because there was no issue from this
contact, the distinctions between the sexes were blurred.  In fact,
long-term bonding in the colony was more frequent among members of the
same sex, because of similar feelings and common points of view .  .
.

"Now the situation is vastly more complicated.  In our octo spider
species, thanks to the genetic engineering genius of our predecessors,
an adult female octo is capable of producing, as the result of a sexual
union with a mature male octo spider a single, infertile juvenile of
limited life expectancy and somewhat reduced capability.

You have not yet seen one of these morphs because all of them live in
the Alternate Domain."

Dr Blue paused and Archie continued.

"Each juvenile citizen of our colony decides whether he or she wishes
to become sexually mature in the immediate post-Matriculation period.
If the answer is no, then the octo places his or her sexuality in trust
with the Optimisers and the colony as a whole.  That's what Dr Blue,
who is a female, and I both did long ago.  Under octo spider law, it is
only immediately after Matriculation that an individual can make his
own sexual choice without any consequences.  The Optimisers are not
lenient toward those who decide to undergo a sexual metamorphosis,
without explicit colony permission, after their careers have been
carefully structured and planned."

Again Dr Blue spoke.

"As we have presented it tonight, it might seem unlikely that a
juvenile octo spider would ever make the decision for early sexual
maturity.  However, in the interest of fairness we should point out
that there are compelling reasons, at least in the minds of some
young
octo spiders for choosin^to become alternates.  First and foremost; a
female octo knows that her chances of ever bearing offspring are
significantly diminished if she chooses to remain non-sexual after
Matriculation.  Our history suggests that only in an emergency will a
large number of these females ever be called upon to produce juvenile
octo spiders In general, the reduced capability and infertility of this
kind of offspring makes them less desirable, from the point of view of
the colony as a whole, unless of course more octos are needed to
support the infrastructure of the society.

"Some of the young octo spiders also find the regimentation and
predictability of our life in the Emerald City unacceptable, and desire
an existence where they can make all their own decisions.

Others fear that the Optimisers will place them in an inappropriate
career.  All of those choosing early sexuality see the Alternate Domain
as a free and exciting place, full of glamour and adventure.

They discount what they are giving up ... and in their momentary
exuberance, the quality of their life is more important than its likely
duration .  . ."

Throughout the long conversation, Richard, Nicole and Ellie interrupted
occasionally, asking for clarification of the most significant points.
They were able to confirm, each time, that they had indeed properly
translated what the octo spiders were explaining to them.  As the
evening progressed, all three of the humans started feeling
overwhelmed.  There was just too much information to digest in a single
discussion.

"Wait a minute," Richard said abruptly when Archie indicated it was
past time for them to leave.

"I'm sorry .  . . There's something fundamental about this that I still
don't understand.  Why is this choice permitted at all?  Why do the
Optimisers not simply decree that all the octo spiders will always eat
the bar rican and remain sexless until the colony has a requirement for
reproduction?"

"That's a very good question," Archie replied, 'with a complex
answer.

Let me oversimplify, in the interests of time, by saying that our
species believes in permitting some free choice.  Also, as you will see
tonight, there are some functions for which the alternates are uniquely
suited and from which the whole colony derives benefits."

After leaving their zone, the transport followed a different route
from the one that had taken the humans to the stadium on Bounty Day.

This time it stayed on dimly lit streets on the periphery of the city.
The party encountered none of the busy, colourful scenes that they had
seen in their previous excursion.  After several fengs the transport
approached a large, closed gate very much like the one through which
they had initially entered the Emerald City.

Two octo spiders came over and peered in the car.  Archie said
something to them in colour, and one of the octo spiders returned to
what must have been their equivalent of a guardhouse.  In the distance
Richard could see colours flashing on a flat wall.

"She's checking with the authorities," Dr Blue told the humans.

"We're outside our expected arrival interval, so our exit code is no
longer valid."

During a wait of several more nil lets the other octo spider entered
the transport and inspected it thoroughly.  None of the humans had ever
experienced such stringent security precautions in the Emerald City,
not even at the stadium.  Ellie's discomfort was heightened when the
octo- spider security officer, without saying anything to her, opened
up her handbag to see its contents.  Eventually the inspector returned
Ellie's handbag and disembarked.  The gates swung open, the transport
moved out from under the green dome, and then it parked in the dark
less than a minute later.

The transport was surrounded in the parking-lot by thirty or forty
other vehicles.

"This area," Dr Blue explained as they descended from the car and a
pair of fireflies joined them, 'is called the Arts District.  It and
the Zoo, which is not too far from here, are the only two sections of
the Alternate Domain visited with any regularity by the octo spiders
who live in the Emerald City.  The Optimisers do not approve many
visitation requests to the alternate living-areas that are farther
south in fact, for most octo spiders the only comprehensive view of the
Alternate Domain that they ever have is the tour during the last week
of Matriculation."

The air was much colder than it had been in the Emerald City.  Archie
and Dr Blue both started walking faster than the humans had ever seen
an octo spider move befwe.

"We must hurry," Archie turned and said, 'or we will be late."  The
human trio ran to keep up with the fast pace.

As they neared an illuminated area about three hundred me tres from
their transport, Archie and Dr Blue moved to either end of the line of
humans, so that they were walking five abreast.

"We're entering Artisans' Square," Dr Blue said, 'which is where the
alternates offer their artistic works for transfer."

"What do you mean, "transfer"?"  Nicole asked.

"The artists need credits for food and other essentials.  They offer
their works of art to an Emerald City resident who has credits to
spare," Dr Blue replied.

As much as Nicole might have wanted to pursue the conversation, she was
immediately sidetracked by the dazzling array of unusual objects,
makeshift stalls, octo spiders and other animals that greeted her eyes
in Artisans' Square.  The square, a large plaza seventy or eighty me
tres on a side, was directly across a broad avenue from the theatre
that was their destination.  Archie and Dr Blue, at the ends of their
line, each extended a single tentacle along the collective backs of the
humans, so that the five of them moved as one across the bustling
square.

The group was confronted by several octo spiders holding out objects to
transfer.  Richard, Nicole and Ellie quickly confirmed what Archie had
told them during the long meeting, namely that the alternates did not
conform to the official language specification used by the octo spiders
in the Emerald City.  There were no neat colour-bands sweeping around
the heads of these octo spiders only sloppy sequences of coloured
blotches of widely variable heights.  One of the hawkers who accosted
them was small, obviously a juvenile, and he or she, after being waved
away by Archie, gave Ellie a sudden fright by wrapping a tentacle
around Elite's arm for a few fractions of a second.  Archie seized the
offender with three of his own tentacles and hurled him roughly out of
the way, in the direction of one of the octo spiders with a cloth bag
over its shoulder.  Dr Blue explained that the bag identified the octo
as a policeman.

Nicole was walking so fast, and there was so much around her to see,
that she found herself holding her breath.  Although she had no idea
what to make of many of the objects being offered for transfer in the
square, she could recognise and appreciate the occasional painting or
piece of sculpture, or those tiny representations, in wood or some
similar medium, of all the different animals who lived in the Emerald
City.  In one section of the square there were displays of coloured
patterns pressed upon the parchment material Dr Blue explained later,
when they were inside the theatre, that the particular art-form
represented by the patterns was a combination, as he understood the
human terms, of both poetry and calligraphy.

Just before they crossed the street Nicole caught sight, on a wall
twenty me tres away on her left, of a large mural that was
astonishingly beautiful.  The colours were bold and eye-catching, the
composition the work of an artist who understood both structure and
optical appeal. The technical skill was also extremely impressive, but
it was the emotions rendered in the bodies and faces of the octo
spiders and other creatures in the mural that fascinated Nicole.

"The Triumph of Optimisation," Nicole mumbled to herself as she craned
her neck to read the title in colours across the upper portion of the
mural.  The painting had a spacecraft against a star background in one
section, an ocean teeming with living things in another, and both a
jungle and a desert in opposite corners.  The central image, however,
was a giant octo spider carrying a staff and standing on a pile of
thirty or forty disparate animals, who were squirming in the dust
underneath its tentacles.  Nicole's heart nearly jumped out of her body
when she saw that one of the trampled beings was a young human woman,
brown in colour, with piercing blue eyes and short curly hair.

"Look," she yelled suddenly to the others, 'over there, at that
mural."

At that moment some kind of small animal was making itself a nuisance
around their feet.  It succeeded in distracting everyone's attention.

The two octo spiders dealt with the animal and pulled the line again
towards the theatre.  As she moved into the street, Nicole glanced back
at the mural to make certain that she had not imagined the presence of
a young woman in the picture.  From the added distance the face of the
woman and her features were vague, but Nicole was nevertheless
convinced that she had definitely seen a human being in the artwork.
But how is that possible?  Nicole was asking herself as they entered
the theatre.

Preoccupied with her discovery, Nicole listened with only half an ear
to Richard's discussion with Archie about how he intended to use his
translator during the play.  She didn't even look when, after they took
their standing positions in the fifth row above a theatre in the round,
Dr Blue pointed out with one of his tentacles the sector to the left of
them containing Jamie and the other matriculating octo spiders i must
have made a mistake, Nicole thought.  She was seized by a powerful
impulse to run back to the square and verify what she had seen.  Then
she remembered what Archie had told them about the importance of
carefully following instructions on this particular evening.  i know I
saw a woman in that painting, Nicole told herself as three large
fireflies flew down and hovered over the stage in the centre of the
theatre.  But if I did, what does it mean?

There were no intermissions in the play, which lasted slightly more
than two wodens.  The action was continuous, with one or more of the
octo-
spider actors occupying the4 it stage at all times.  No props were
used and no costumes.  At the beginning of the play the seven main
'characters' came forward and briefly introduced themselves two
matriculating octos, one of either sex, a pair of adoptive parents for
each, and one alternate male whose bright and beautiful colours spread
all the way to the end of his tentacles when he spoke.

The first several minutes of the actual play established that the two
matriculating juveniles had been best friends for years and that,
despite the good and sound advice of their assigned parents, they had
selected early sexual maturity together.

"My desire," the young female octo spider said in her first monologue,
'is to produce a baby from a union with my cherished companion."  Or at
least that's how Richard translated what she said.  He was gleeful at
the performance of his much-improved translator and, after remembering
that the octo spiders were deaf, he talked intermittently throughout
the performance.

The four octo parents came together in the centre of the stage and
expressed anxiety about what would happen when the 'powerful new
emotions' that accompanied the sexual transformation were first
encountered by their adopted children.  They did, however, try to be
fair, and all four of the adults admitted that their own choices not to
become sexually mature after Matriculation meant that they could not
give advice based on any actual experience.

In the middle of the play the two young octo spiders were isolated at
opposite corners of the stage, and the audience concluded from the
pyrotechnics of the fireflies, plus a few brief statements from the
octo- spider actors, that each of them had stopped eating the bar rican
and was alone in some kind of Transition Domain.

When later the two transformed octo spiders walked across the stage and
met in the centre, the colour-patterns in their conversation had
already altered.  It was a powerful effect, however it was achieved by
the actors, because not only were the individual colours brighter than
they had been before the transition, but also the rigid, nearly perfect
strips that had characterised the early conversations between the two
juveniles were already marked with some different and interesting
individual designs.  Around them on the stage at this point were half a
dozen other octo spiders all alternates judging from their language,
and a couple of Polish-sausage animals chasing anything they could
find.  The pair were now clearly in the Alternate Domain.

Enter from the darkness off-stage the alternate male introduced at the
beginning of the play.  With a brilliant display, in which the octo
spider actor first made with his colours horizontal and vertical
patterns moving in both directions, and then created advanced
wave-action, geometric structures, and even fireworks-like explosions
of colour starting at
random locations around his head, the newcomer mesmerised the young
female octo and won her away from the best friend of her childhood.

Not many nil lets later the older alternate with the amazing colours,
who had obviously pa rented the baby octo being carried in the frontal
pouch of the female, left her 'weeping' (Richard's translation for
sitting in the corner of the stage and sending out pulse after
unstructured pulse of mixed colours) and alone.

At this point in the play the male octo spider who had matriculated in
the earlier scenes stormed into the light, saw his true love in despair
with her baby, and jumped off into the darkness surrounding the stage.
Moments later he returned with the alternate who had corrupted his
girl-friend, and the two male octos engaged in a horrible but
fascinating fight in the middle of the stage.  Their heads a riot of
expletive colour, they beat, twisted, choked and battled each other for
an entire feng.  The younger male octo eventually won the fight, for
the alternate lay motionless on the stage when the action was over. The
sadness expressed in the closing remarks of the hero and the heroine
made certain that the moral of the play was very clear.  When the play
was finished, Richard glanced at Nicole and Ellie and commented, with
an irreverent grin, "This is one of those downer plays, like Othello,
where everyone dies in the end."

Under the supervision of the octo spider ushers, all with bags, the
matriculating youngsters left the theatre first, followed next by
Archie, Dr Blue and their human companions.  The orderly procession
stopped just outside a few minutes later, and formed a crowded ring
around three other octo spiders who were in the middle of the avenue.

Richard, Nicole and Ellie felt the presence of their friends' powerful
tentacles across their back as they moved into position to see what was
taking place.  Two of the octo spiders in the centre of the street were
holding staffs and wearing bags, while the third octo, who was
crouching between them, was transmitting the colour message, in broad
and unstructured bands,

"Please, help me."

"This octo spider one of the policemen said in crisp, measured strips,
'has consistently failed to earn her credits since coming to the
Alternate Domain after her Matriculation four cycles ago.  Last cycle
she was warned that she had become an unacceptable drain upon our
common resources and recently, two days before Bounty Day, she was told
to report for termination.  Since that time she has been hiding among
friends in the Alternate Domain .  . ."

The crouching octo spider suddenly bolted and leaped into the audience
near where the humans were standing.  The crowd sagged back from the
impact and Ellie, who was nearest the point where the escape attempt
occurred, was knocked to the ground in the melee that ensued.  In
less
than a nil let the police, with help from Archie and several of the
matriculating juveniles, again had the fugitive under control.

"Failure to report for a scheduled termination is one of the worst
crimes an octo spider can commit," the policeman then said.

"It is punishable by immediate termination upon apprehension."  One of
the policemen pulled several wriggling, worm like creatures from its
shoulder-bag.  The outlaw octo struggled hard the first time the two
policemen tried to force the worm like creatures into her mouth.

However, after each of the policemen hit the renegade twice with a
staff, the doomed octo spider collapsed between her captors.  Ellie,
who had regained her footing by this time, was unable to suppress a
scream of terror as the creatures entered the octo's mouth, and she
began to regurgitate.  Death came quickly.

None of the humans said a word as they walked arm in arm with Archie
and Dr Blue across the square and into the parking-area where their
transport was waiting.  Nicole was so stunned by what she had witnessed
that she did not even remember to look for the painting that she
thought had included a human face.

In the middle of the night Nicole, who had not been able to sleep,
heard a noise in the living-room.  She rose from her bed quietly and
slipped into a robe.  Ellie was sitting on the couch in the dark.

Nicole sat down beside her daughter and took her hand.

"I couldn't sleep, Mother," Ellie said.

"I have been going over everything in my mind and it doesn't make any
sense ... I feel as if I have been betrayed."

"I know, Ellie," Nicole said.

"I feel the same way."

"I thought I knew the octo spiders Ellie said.

"I trusted them ... In many ways I thought they were superior to us,
but after what I saw tonight .  . ."

"None of us is comfortable with killing," Nicole said.

"Even Richard was horrified at first .  . . But after we were in bed,
he told me that he was certain the street scene was carefully staged
for the benefit of the matriculators ... He also said that we should be
careful not to jump to too many conclusions, or to let ourselves react
emotionally to one isolated incident .  . ."

"I have never before watched an intelligent being murdered before my
very eyes .  . . And what was her crime?  Failure to report for
termination?"

"We cannot judge them as we would judge human beings.  The octo spiders
are an entirely different species, with a completely separate social
organisation, one that may be even more complex than ours.  We are only
beginning to understand them .  . . Have you already forgotten that
they cured Eponine of RV-4I?  And allowed us to use their technology
when we were worried about Marius's birth?"

"No, I haven't," Ellie replied.  She was silent for several seconds.

"You know, Mother, I'm feeling as frustrated now as I did often in New
Eden, when I kept wondering how human beings, who are capable of so
much that is good, could possibly tolerate a tyrant like Nakamura .  .
. Now it looks as if the octo spiders can be just as bad in their own
way . . . There is so much inconsistency everywhere .  . ."

Nicole consoled her daughter with a hug.  There are no easy answers, my
darling Ellie, Nicole thought.  In her mind's eye Nicole again saw a
highlight montage of the night's incredible activities, including the
fleeting glimpse in which she believed she had seen an unknown human
woman in an octo spider mural.  And what was that about, old woman? 
she asked herself.  Was it really there, that face, or did your tired
and imaginative brain create it to confuse you?

Max finished shaving and washed the rest of the approximation to
shaving-cream off his face.  Moments later he pulled the plug and the
water disappeared from the stone basin.  After wiping his face
thoroughly with a small towel, Max turned to Eponine, who was sitting
on the bed behind him, nursing Marius.

"Well, Frenchie," he said with a laugh,

"I must admit I'm damn nervous.  I've never met a Chief Optimiser
before."  He walked over beside her.

"Once, when I was in Little Rock for a farmer's convention, I sat next
to the Governor of Arkansas during a banquet ... I was a little nervous
then, too."

Eponine smiled.

"It's hard for me to imagine you being nervous," she said.

Max stood silently for several seconds, watching his wife and infant
son.  The baby made soft cooing sounds as he ate.

"You really enjoy this nursing business, don't you?"

Eponine nodded.

"It's a pleasure unlike any I have ever experienced.

The sense of... I don't know the exact word, maybe communion would be
close ... is indescribable."

Max shook his head.

"Ours is an amazing existence, isn't it?  Last night, when I was
changing Marius, I thought of how similar we probably were to millions
of other human couples, doting on our first child ... yet just outside
that door is an alien city run by a species .  . ."  He did not finish
his thought.

"Ellie has been different since last week," Eponine said.

"She's lost her spark, and talks about Robert more .  . ."

"She was horrified by the execution," Max commented.

"I wonder if women are naturally more sensitive to violence.  I
remember after Clyde and Winona got married, when he brought her back
to the farm, the first time she watched us slaughter a couple of pigs,
her face became very white .  . . She didn't say anything, but she
never came to watch again."

"Ellie won't talk much about that night," Eponine said, switching
Marius over to the other breast.

"And that's not like her at all."

"Richard asked Archie about the incident yesterday, when he requested
the components to build translators for the rest of us ... According
to Richard, the damn octo was real foxy, and did not give many straight
answers.  Archie would not even confirm what Dr Blue told Nicole about
their basic termination policy."

"It's pretty scary, isn't it?"  she said.  Eponine grimaced before
continuing.

"Nicole insisted that she made Dr Blue repeat the policy to her several
times, and she even tried several different versions in English, in Dr
Blue's presence, to make certain that she had understood it
correctly."

"It's simple enough," Max said with a forced grin, 'even for a
farmer.

"Any adult octo spider whose total contribution to the colony over a
defined period of time is not at least equal in worth to the resources
necessary to sustain that individual, will be entered on the
termination list.  If the negative account is not corrected in a
prescribed amount of time, the octo spider will then be terminated."

"According to Dr Blue," Eponine said after a short silence, 'it's the
Optimisers who interpret the policies.  They are the ones who decide
what everything is worth .  . ."

"I know," Max said, reaching down and caressing his baby son's back,
'and I think that's one of the reasons Nicole and Richard are anxious
about today.  Nobody has said anything explicit, but we have been using
a lot of resources for a long time and it's pretty damn hard to see
what we've been contributing .  . ."

"Are you ready, Max?"  Nicole stuck her head round the door.

"Everyone else is out here by the fountain."

Max bent down to kiss Eponine.

"Will you and Patrick be able to handle Benjy and the children?"  he
asked.

"Certainly," Eponine replied.

"Benjy's no effort, and Patrick has been spending so much time with the
children that he's become a child care specialist."

"I love you, Frenchie," Max said, waving goodbye.

There were five chairs for them outside the Chief Optimiser's
operating- area.  Even when Nicole explained the word 'office' to
Archie and Dr Blue a second time, their two octo spider colleagues
still insisted that 'operating-area' was a better translation into
English for the place where the Chief Optimiser worked.

"The Chief Optimiser is sometimes a little late," Archie said
apologetically.

"Unexpected events in the colony can force her to deviate from the
planned schedule."

"There must be something really unusual going on," Richard said to
Max.

"Punctuality is one of the hallmarks of the octo spider species."

The five humans waited silently for their meeting, each engrossed in
his or her own thoughts.  Nai's heart was pounding rapidly.  She was
both
apprehensive and excitedrShe remembered having had a similar feeling,
as a schoolgirl, when she was waiting for her audience with the king of
Thailand's daughter, the Princess Suri, after Nai had won a top prize
in a nation-wide academic competition.

A few minutes later an octo spider bade them enter the next room, where
they were informed they would be joined in a moment by the Chief
Optimiser and a few of her advisers.  The new room had transparent
windows.  They could see activity all around them.  Where they were
sitting reminded Richard of a control area for a nuclear power-plant,
or perhaps for a manned space flight.  Octospider computers and visual
monitors were everywhere, as were octo spider technicians.  Richard
asked a question about something happening in a distant area, but
before Archie could answer three octo spiders entered the room.

All five humans rose in a reflex action.  Archie introduced the Chief
Optimiser, the Deputy Chief Optimiser for the Emerald City, and the
Optimiser Security Chief.  The three octos each extended a tentacle to
the humans and handshakes were exchanged.  Archie motioned for the
humans to sit down and the Chief Optimiser began speaking
immediately.

"We are aware," she said, 'that you have requested, through our
representative, that you be allowed to return to New Eden to rejoin the
other members of your species in Rama.  We were not completely
surprised by this request because our historical data indicate that
most intelligent species with strong emotions, after a period of time
living in an alien community, develop a sense of disconnection, and
yearn to return to a more familiar world .  . . What we would like to
do this morning is provide some additional information for you that
could influence your request that we permit you to return to New
Eden."

Archie asked all the humans to follow the Chief Optimiser.  The group
passed through a room similar to the two in which they had been sitting
and then entered a rectangular area with a dozen wall-screens spread
around the sides at octo spider eye-level.

"We have been monitoring closely the developments in your habitat,"

the Chief Optimiser said when they were all together, 'ever since long
before your escape.  This morning we want to share with you some of the
events that we have recently observed."

An instant later all the wall-screens switched on.  Each contained a
motion-picture segment from the daily life among the humans remaining
in New Eden.  The quality of the videos was not perfect, and no segment
was continuous for longer than a few nil lets but there was no
mistaking what was being presented on the screens.

For several seconds the humans were all speechless.  They stood
transfixed, glued to the images on the wall.  On one of the screens
Nakamura, dressed as a Japanese shogun, was making a speech to a large
crowd in
the square in Central City.  He was holding up a large, hand-drawn
picture of an octo spider Although the videos were silent, it was
apparent from his gestures and the pictures of the crowd that Nakamura
was exhorting everyone to action against the octo spiders

"Well, I'll be god damned," Max said, his eyes moving from one screen
to another.

"Look over here," Nicole said.

"It's El Mercado in San Miguel."

In the poorest of the four villages of New Eden, a dozen white and
yellow toughs with karate-bands around their heads were beating up four
black and brown youths in full view of a pair of New Eden policemen and
a sorrowful crowd of perhaps twenty villagers.  Tiasso and Lincoln
biots picked up the broken, bloodied bodies after the beatings and
placed them in a large tricycle carriage.

On another screen a segment showed a well-dressed crowd, mostly white
and Oriental, arriving for a party or a festival in Nakamura's Vegas.

Bright lights beckoned them to the casino, over which a huge sign
proclaimed

"Citizen Appreciation Day' and announced that every partygoer would
receive a dozen free lottery tickets to celebrate the occasion.  Two
large posters of Nakamura, chest shots showing him smiling and wearing
a white shirt and tie, flanked the sign.

A monitor on the wall behind the Chief Optimiser showed the interior of
the Central City jail.  A new felon, a female with a multicoloured
hair-do, was being placed in a cell that already contained two other
convicts.  It appeared as if the newcomer were complaining about the
crowded conditions, but the policeman just pushed her into the cell and
laughed.  When the policeman returned to his desk, the video revealed
two photographs on the wall behind him, one of Richard and the other of
Nicole, under both of which the word REWARD was written in large block
letters.

The octo spiders waited patiently as the humans' eyes moved from screen
to screen.

"How in the world?"  Richard kept asking, shaking his head.  Then the
screens went suddenly blank.

"We have put together a total of forty-eight segments to show you
today," the Chief Optimiser said, 'all taken from observations made
during the last eight days in New Eden.  The Optimiser you call Archie
will have a catalogue of the segments, which have been classified
according to location, time, and event description.  You may spend as
much time here as you like, looking at the segments, talking among
yourselves, and asking questions of the two octo spiders who
accompanied you here.  I, unfortunately, have other tasks to perform
... If, at the end of your viewing, you wish to communicate with me
again, I will make myself available."

The Chief Optimiser then departed, followed by her two assistants.

Nicole sat down in one f*the chairs.  She looked pale and weak.  Ellie
walked over beside her.

"Are you all right, Mother?"  Ellie asked.

"I think so," Nicole replied.

"Right after the videos began to play I felt a sharp pain in my chest
probably due to the surprise and excitement - but it has subsided
now."

"Do you want to go home and rest?"  Richard asked.

"Are you kidding?"  said Nicole with her characteristic smile.

"I

wouldn't miss seeing this show even if there was a chance that I would
drop dead in the middle."

They watched the silent movies for almost three hours.  It was clear
from the videos both that there was no longer any individual freedom in
New Eden and that most of the colonists were struggling to sustain even
a meagre existence.  Nakamura had consolidated his hold on the colony
and crushed all the opposition.  But the colony he ruled was peopled
mostly by gloomy and unhappy citizens.

At first all the humans watched the same segment together, but after
three or four had been played Richard suggested that it was terribly
inefficient for them to watch the segments one at a time.

"Spoken like a true optimiser," Max said, who nevertheless agreed with
Richard.

There was one segment in which Katie briefly appeared.  It was a
late-night scene from Vegas.  The street prostitutes were plying their
trade outside one of the clubs.  Katie approached one of the women, had
a brief conversation about some unknown subject, and then disappeared
from view.  Richard and Nicole commented to each other that Katie
looked very thin, even gaunt.  They asked Archie to rerun the segment
several times.

Another sequence was entirely devoted to the hospital in Central
City.

No words were needed for the viewers to understand that there were
shortages of critical medicines, not enough staff members, and problems
with equipment falling into disrepair.  One particularly poignant scene
showed a young woman of Mediterranean extraction, possibly Greek, dying
after a painful breached childbirth.  Her delivery room was lit with
candles while the monitoring equipment that might have identified her
difficulties, and saved her life, lay inexplicably unpowered beside the
bed.

Robert Turner was everywhere in the hospital segment.  The first time
Ellie saw him walking through the halls, she burst into tears.  She
sobbed throughout the segment, and then immediately requested a replay.
Only when she was watching for a third time did she make any comment.

"He looks haggard," she said, 'and overworked.  He has never learned to
take care of himself."

When they were all emotionally exhausted, and nobody requested the
replay of another segment, Archie asked the humans if they wished to
speak with the Chief Optimizer again.

"Not now," Nicole said, reflecting everyone's opinion.

"We haven't had time to digest what we've seen."

Nai asked if perhaps they could take some of the segments back to their
homes in the Emerald City.

"I would like to see them again," she said, 'at a more leisurely pace.
And it would be great if we could show them to Patrick and Eponine."
Archie replied that he was sorry, but the segments could only be viewed
in one of the octo spider communication cent res

On the ride back to their zone, Richard was conversing with Archie and
showing the octo spider how well the realtime translator was working.
Richard had just finished his final tests the day prior to the meeting
with the Chief Optimiser.  The translator could translate either the
octo spiders natural dialect, or the language specifically tailored to
the visual spectrum of the humans.  Archie acknowledged that he was
impressed.

"By the way," Richard added, in a louder voice, so that all his
compatriots could hear him,

"I guess there's not much chance that you'd tell us how you managed to
obtain all those video segments from New Eden, is there?"

Archie did not hesitate to answer.

"Flying image quadroids," he said.

"More advanced genus.  Much smaller."

Nicole translated for Max and Nai.

"Fuck me," Max muttered under his breath.  He rose and walked to the
opposite end of the transport, shaking his head vigorously.

"I have never seen Max so solemn or so tense," Richard said to
Nicole.

"Nor have I," she answered.  They were taking an exercise walk an hour
after having finished dinner with their family and friends.  A lone
firefly kept pace above Richard and Nicole as they repeated multiple
times the walk from the end of their cul-de-sac to the plaza at the
other end of the street.

"Do you think Max will change his mind about leaving?"  Richard asked
as they circled the fountain again.

"I don't know," Nicole replied.

"I think he's still in shock, in a way ... He detests the fact that the
octo spiders are able to watch everything we do.  That's why he insists
that he and his family will return to New Eden, even if everyone else
stays here."

"Have you had a chance to talk with Eponine alone?"

"The day before yesterday she brought Marius over just after
nap-time.

While I was putting some medication on his diaper rash, she asked me if
I had mentioned to Archie that they wanted to leave .  . . She seemed
frightened."

They marched briskly into the plaza.  Without stopping, Richard pulled
out a small cloth and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Everything has Hi changed," he said, as much to himself as to
Nicole.

"I'm certain it's all part of the octo spider plan," Nicole replied.

"They didn't show us those videos only to demonstrate that all is not
well in New Eden.  They knew how we would react after we had had time
to assess the real significance of what we had seen."

The pair walked silently back in the direction of their temporary home.
On the next swing around the fountain, Richard said,

"So do they observe everything we do, including even this
conversation?"

"Of course," Nicole replied.

"That was the primary message the octo spiders transmitted to us by
allowing us to see the videos .  . . We can have no secrets.  Escape is
out of the question.  We are completely in their power ... I may be the
only one, but I still do not believe that they intend to harm us ...
And they might even allow us to return to New Eden .  . .
Eventually."

"It will never happen," Richard said.

"Then they would have wasted a lot of resources for no measurable
return, a decidedly non-optimal situation .  . . No, I'm certain the
octo spiders are still trying to figure out our proper placement in
their overall system."

Richard and Nicole walked at top speed on their final lap.  They
finished at the fountain and both of them drank some water.

"How do you feel?"  Richard asked.

"Fine," Nicole answered.

"No pains, no shortness of breath.  When Dr Blue examined me yesterday,
she found no new pathology.  My heart is just old and weak ... I should
expect intermittent problems."

"I wonder what niche we'll occupy in the octo spider world," Richard
said a few moments later when they were washing their faces.

Nicole glanced at her husband.

"Aren't you the one," she said, 'who laughed at me some months ago for
making inferences about their motives?  .  . . How can you be so
certain now that you understand what the octo spiders are trying to
accomplish?"

"I'm not," Richard said.  He grinned.

"But it's natural to assume that a superior species would at least be
logical."

Richard woke Nicole up in the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry to bother you, darling, but I have a problem."

"What is it?"  Nicole asked, sitting up in bed.

"It's embarrassing," Richard said.

"That's why I haven't mentioned it earlier ... It started right after
Bounty Day ... I thought it would go away, but this last week the pain
has become unbearable .  . ."

"Come on, Richard," Nicole said, a little irritated at having her sleep
disturbed, 'get to the point .  . . What pain are you talking about?"

"Every time I urinate, I have this burning sensation .  . ."

Nicole tried to stifle a yawn while she was thinking.

"And have you been urinating more frequently?"  she asked.

"Yes .  . . how did you know?"

"Achilles should have been held by his prostate when he was dipped in
the River Styx," she said.

"It is certainly the weakest structure in the male anatomy .  . . Roll
over on your stomach and let me examine you."

"Now?"  said Richard.

"If you can wake me from a deep sleep because of your pain," Nicole
laughed, 'then the least you can do is grit your teeth while I try to
verify my instant diagnosis."

Dr Blue and Nicole were sitting together in the octo spider house.  On
one of the walls four quadroid frames were projected.

"The image on the far left," Dr Blue said, 'shows the growth as it
looked that first morning, ten days ago, when you asked me to confirm
your diagnosis.  The second frame is a much magnified picture of a pair
of cells taken from the tumour.  The cell abnormalities what you call
cancer are marked with the blue stain."

Nicole smiled wanly.

"I'm having a little difficulty re orientating my thinking," she
said.

"You never use the colours for "disease" when you describe Richard's
problem only the word which in your language I define as
"abnormality"."

"To us," Dr Blue responded, 'a disease is a malfunction caused by an
outside agent, such as a bacterium or a hostile virus.  An irregularity
in the cell chemistry leading to the manufacture of improper cells is a
completely different kind of problem.  In our medicine the treatment
regimens are completely different for the two cases.  This cancer in
your husband is more closely related to ageing, generically, than it is
to a disease like your pneumonia or gastroenteritis."

Dr Blue extended a tentacle towards the third picture.

"This image,"

she said, 'shows the tumour three days ago, after the special chemicals
carried by our microbiological agents had been carefully dispersed at
the site of the abnormality.  The growth has already begun to shrink
because the production of the malignant cells has stopped.  In the
final image, taken this morning, Richard's prostate again looks normal.
By this time all the original cancer cells have died, and no new ones
have been produced."

"So will he be all right now?"  Nicole asked.

"Probably," Dr Blue answered.

"We can't be absolutely certain because we still do not have as much
data as we would like on the life cycle of your cells.  There are a few
unique characteristics about your cells as there always are in species
that have undergone an evolution distinct from
any of our previously exaiiaed beings that might permit a recurrence
of the abnormality.  However, based on our experience with many other
living creatures, I would have to say that the development of another
prostate tumour is unlikely."

Nicole thanked her octo spider colleague.

"This has been incredible,"

she said.

"How wonderful it would be if your medical knowledge could somehow be
transported back to Earth."

The images vanished from the wall.

"There would be many social problems created as well," Dr Blue said,
'assuming that I have properly understood our discussions of your home
planet.  If individual members of your species did not die from
diseases or cell abnormalities, life expectancy would increase markedly
. . . Our species went through a similar upheaval after our Golden Age
of Biology, when octo spider lifespans doubled in just a few
generations ... It wasn't until Optimisation became firmly implanted as
our governing structure that any kind of societal equilibrium was
reached. We have plenty of evidence that without sound termination and
replenishment policies, a colony of nearly immortal beings undergoes
chaos in a relatively short period of time."

Nicole's interest was piqued.

"I can appreciate what you're saying, at least intellectually," she
said.

"If everyone lives for ever, or nearly so, and the resources are
finite, the population will soon overwhelm the available food and
living-space.  But I must admit, especially as an old person, that even
the idea of a "termination policy" frightens me."

"In our early history," Dr Blue said, 'our society was structured much
like yours, with almost all of the decision-making power resting with
the older members of the species.  It was easier to restrict
replenishment, therefore, after life expectancy dramatically increased,
than it was to deal with the difficult issue of planned terminations.
After a comparatively brief period of time, however, the ageing society
began to stagnate.  As Archie or any good optimiser would explain, the
"ossification" coefficient of our colonies became so large that
eventually all new ideas were rejected.  These geriatric colonies
collapsed, basically because they were not able to deal with the
changing conditions of the universe around them."

"So that's where Optimisation comes in?"

"Yes," said Dr Blue.

"If every individual embraces the precept that the welfare of the
overall colony should be awarded the highest weight in the master
objective function, then it quickly becomes clear that planned
terminations are a critical element of the optimal solution.  Archie
would be able to show you quantitatively how disastrous it is, from the
point of view of the colony as a whole, to spend huge amounts of
collective resource on those citizens whose integrated remaining
contribution is comparatively low.  The colony benefits most by
investing in those
members who have a long, healthy lifetime still available and
therefore a high probability of repaying the investment."

Nicole repeated back to Dr Blue some of the octo spider key sentences,
just to make certain that she had understood properly.

Then she was silent for two or three nil lets

"I suppose," Nicole said eventually, 'that even though your ageing is
delayed both by postponing sexual maturity and by your amazing medical
capability, at some point preserving the life of an old octo spider
becomes prohibitively expensive, by some measure."

"Exactly," Dr Blue replied.

"We can extend the life of an individual almost for ever.  However,
there are three major factors that make extra life extension decidedly
non-optimal for the colony.  First, as you mentioned, the cost of the
effort to extend life increases dramatically as each biological
subsystem, or organ, begins to operate at less than peak efficiency.
Secondly, as an individual octo spider time becomes more and more
consumed with the process of simply staying alive, the amount of energy
that he or she might have to contribute to the colony's welfare lessens
considerably.  Thirdly, and the sociological optimisers proved this
controversial point many years ago, although for some number of years
after mental quickness and learning ability start to drop, accumulated
wisdom more than compensates, in terms of value to the colony, for the
diminished brain-power, there comes a time in the life of every octo
spider when the sheer weight of his or her past experience makes any
additional learning extremely difficult.  Even in a healthy octo spider
this phase of life, called the Onset of Limited Flexibility by our
Optimisers, signals a reduced ability to contribute to the colony."

"So the Optimisers determine when it is termination time?"

"Yes," said Dr Blue, 'but I don't know exactly how they do it.  There
is a probationary period first, during which time the individual octo
spider is entered on the termination list and given time to improve his
or her net balance.  This balance, if I have understood Archie's
explanation, is calculated for each octo spider by comparing its
contributions made with the resources necessary to sustain that
particular individual.  If the balance does not improve, then
termination is scheduled."

"And how do those selected for termination react?"  Nicole asked,
involuntarily shuddering as she remembered facing her own execution.

"In different ways," Dr Blue replied.

"Some, especially those who have been unhealthy, accept that they are
not going to be able to redress the unsatisfactory balance, and plan
for their deaths in an organised fashion.  Others ask for optimiser
counselling and request new assignments that have a higher probability
of allowing them to meet their contribution quotas .  . . That's what
Hercules did just before your arrival."

Nicole was momentarily speechless.  A chill ran down her back.

"Are
you going to tell me whafcbappened to Hercules?"  she said, finally
summoning her courage.

"He was severely reprimanded for not providing proper protection for
Nikki on Bounty Day," Dr Blue said.

"Hercules was then reassigned and informed by the Termination Optimiser
that there was virtually no way he could recover from the high negative
assessment of his recent work .  . . Hercules requested early and
immediate termination."

Nicole gasped.  In her mind's eye she saw the friendly octo spider
standing in the cul-de-sac, juggling many balls to the delight of the
children.  And now Hercules is dead, she thought.  Because he didn't do
his job.  That's cruel and merciless.

Nicole stood up and thanked Dr Blue again.  She tried to tell herself
that she should be rejoicing because Richard's prostate cancer had been
cured, and should not be concerned about the death of a relatively
meaningless octo spider But the image of Hercules continued to haunt
her.  They are an altogether different species, she told herself.  Do
not judge them by human standards.

As she was about to leave Dr Blue's house, Nicole suddenly had an
overpowering desire to know more about Katie.  She remembered that one
recent night, after an especially vivid dream involving Katie, she had
awakened and wondered if perhaps the octo spider records might allow
her to see more of Katie's life in New Eden.

"Dr Blue," Nicole said as she was standing in the door,

"I would like to ask a favour.  I don't know whether to ask you, or
Archie ... I don't even know if what I'm asking is possible."

The octo spider asked her what the favour was.

"As you know," Nicole said,

"I have another daughter who is still living in New Eden.  I saw her
very briefly in one of the videos the Chief Optimiser showed us last
month ... I would like very much to know what is happening in her
life."

During a conversation the next day, Archie told Nicole that her
request to see videos of Katie could not be granted.  Nevertheless,
Nicole persisted, taking advantage of every opportunity when she was
alone with Archie or Dr Blue to reiterate her request.  Because neither
of the octo- spiders ever indicated that images from Katie's life in
New Eden did not exist in their files, Nicole was certain that the
video data were available.  Viewing these data became an obsession with
her.

"Dr Blue and I talked today about Jamie," Nicole said late one night
after she and Richard were in bed.

"He has decided to enter optimiser training."

"That's good," said Richard sleepily.

"I told Dr Blue that she was lucky, as a guardian, to be able to
participate in the events in her child's life.  . . I then expressed
again our concern about knowing so little about what's happened to
Katie.  . . Richard, "Nicole said in a slightly louder voice,

"Dr Blue did not say today that I would not be allowed to see the
videos of Katie.  Do you think that signals a change in their attitude?
Am I wearing down their resistance?"

Richard did not respond at first.  After some prompting, he sat up in
bed.

"Can't we go to sleep, just this one night, without another discussion
of Katie and the damn octo spider videos?  Jesus, Nicole, you've talked
about nothing else for over two weeks.  You're losing your balance .  .
."

"I am not," Nicole interrupted defensively.

"I'm simply concerned about what has happened to our daughter.  I'm
certain that the octo spiders have many, many segments they could put
together to show us.  Don't you want to know .  ."

"Of course I do," Richard said, sighing heavily.

"But we've had this same conversation several times already.  What is
to be gained from having it again at this hour?"

"I told you," Nicole said.

"I sensed a possible change in their attitude today.  Dr Blue did not .
. ."

"I heard you," Richard interrupted crossly, 'and I don't think it means
anything.  Dr Blue is probably as tired of discussing the subject as I
am."

Richard shook his head.  ^t,eok, Nicole, our little group is coming
apart at the seams .  . . We desperately need some wisdom and sanity
from you.  Max grumbles every day about the octo spiders invasion of
his privacy, Ellie is downright lugubrious except during the rare
moments when Nikki causes her to smile, and now, in the middle of
everything, Patrick has announced that he and Nai want to get married .
. . But you are so obsessed with Katie and the videos that you aren't
even able to give advice to anybody else."

Nicole gave Richard a harsh glance and lay down on her back.  She
didn't reply to his last comment.

"Please don't be sullen, Nicole," Richard said about a minute later.

"I'm only asking you to be as objective about your own behaviour as you
usually are about the actions of others."

"I'm not being sullen," Nicole replied, 'and I'm not ignoring everyone
else.  Anyway, why must I always be the one who is responsible for the
happiness of our little family?  Why can't somebody else play the role
of group mother occasionally?"

"Because nobody else is you," Richard said.

"You have always been everyone's best friend."

"Well, now I'm tired," Nicole said.

"And I have a problem of my own, an "obsession", according to you ...
By the way, Richard, I'm disappointed at your apparent lack of
interest.  I always thought Katie was your favourite .  . ."

"That's unfair, Nicole," Richard said quickly.

"Nothing would please me more than to know that Katie was all right . .
. But I do have other things on my mind .  . ."

Neither of them said anything for about a minute.

"Tell me something, dear," Richard said then in a softer tone.

"Why has Katie become so important all of a sudden?  What has changed?
I don't remember your being so incredibly concerned about Katie
before."

"I have asked myself the same question," Nicole said.

"And I don't have a straightforward answer.  I do know that Katie has
been in my dreams a lot lately, since even before we saw her in the
video, and that I have been having an intense desire to talk with her .
. .

Also, my first thought after Dr Blue told me about Hercules' death was
that I had to see Katie again before I died ... I don't really know
why, and I don't know either what I want to say to her, but the
relationship still seems terribly incomplete to me .  . ."

Again there was a long silence in the bedroom.

"I'm sorry that I was a little insensitive just now," Richard said.

It's all right, Richard, Nicole thought.  It wasn't the first time. Nor
will it be the last.  Even the best marriages have breakdowns in
communication,
Nicole reached over and caressed her husband.

"I accept your apology,"

she said, and she kissed him on the cheek.

Nicole was surprised to see Archie so early in the morning.  Patrick,
Nai, Benjy and the children had just left to go next door to the
schoolroom.  The rest of the adults had still not finished breakfast
when the octo spider appeared in the Wakefield dining-room.

Max was rude.

"Sorry, Archie," he said, 'but we don't allow visitors at least not
those we can see before our morning coffee, or whatever this shit is
that we drink with breakfast each day."

Nicole rose from the table as the octo spider turned to leave.

"Don't pay any attention to Max," she said, 'he is in a permanent bad
mood."

Max now jumped up from his chair, holding one of the mostly empty
packages in which there was a little cereal remaining.  He swooped the
container through the air, first in one direction, then in another,
before sealing it tight and handing the package to Archie.

"Have a few quad- raids," Max said in a loud voice.

"Or did they move too quickly for me?"

Archie did not reply.  The rest of the humans felt awkward and
embarrassed.  Max returned to his place at the table beside Eponine and
Marius.  "Shit, Archie," he said, facing the octo spider

"I guess pretty soon you'll be marking me with a pair of those green
dots.  Or will you just terminate me instead?"

"Max," Richard shouted.

"You're out of line ... At least think of your wife and son."

"That's all I've been thinking about, friend," he said, 'for almost a
month now.  And you know what, Richard?  This Arkansas farm-boy cannot
figure out anything he can do to change .  . ."  His voice trailed
off.

Suddenly Max slammed his fist against one of the chairs.

"Goddamn it!"

he yelled.

"I feel so useless."

Marius began to cry.  Eponine scooted away from the table with the baby
and Elite went to help her.  Nicole took Archie with her into the
atrium, leaving Richard and Max alone.  Richard leaned across the
table.  "I think I know what you're feeling.  Max," he said gently,
'and I empathise with you .  . . But we don't improve our situation any
by insulting the octo spiders

"What difference does it make?"  Max looked up at Richard with sullen
eyes.

"We are prisoners here, that's obvious.  I have allowed my son to be
born into a world where he will always be a prisoner.  What kind of a
father does that make me?"

While Richard was trying to soothe Max, Nicole was receiving from
Archie the message that she had been seeking for weeks.

"We have obtained permission," the octo spider said, 'for you to use
the data library
today.  We have compileA'wdeos featuring your daughter Katie from our
historical files."

Nicole made Archie repeat his colours to make certain that she had not
misunderstood.

Archie and Nicole did not converse as the transport carried them,
without stopping, across the Emerald City to the tall building that
housed the octo spider library.  Nor did Nicole pay much attention to
the street scenes outside the transport.  She was completely immersed
in her own emotions and her thoughts of Katie.  In her mind's eye she
recalled, one after another, key moments from her life when Katie was a
child.  In the longest memory segment, Nicole relived both the terror
and the joy of her descent into the octo spider lair, years before, to
find her missing four-year-old daughter.  You've always been missing,
Katie, Nicole thought.  In one way or another.  I have never been able
to keep you safe.

Nicole could feel her heart pounding furiously when Archie finally led
her into a room that was empty except for a chair, a large desk and a
wall-screen.  Archie indicated that Nicole should sit down in the
chair.  "Before I show you how to use the equipment," the octo spider
said, 'there are two things that I want to tell you.  First, I want to
respond officially, as the optimiser for your group, to the request by
some of you to rejoin the others of your species in New Eden."

Archie paused.  Nicole collected herself.  It was difficult for her to
put Katie temporarily out of her mind, but she knew she had to
concentrate completely on what Archie was about to tell her.  The
others in the group would expect a verbatim report.

"I'm afraid," Archie continued a few moments later, 'that it is not
possible for any of you to leave in the near future.  I am not at
liberty to tell you anything more than that the issue was considered by
the Chief Optimiser herself, in a major staff meeting, and that your
request was denied for security reasons."

Nicole was stunned.  She had not expected this news, certainly not at
this time.  She had told everyone that she thought they would be
allowed .  . .

"So Max is right," she said, fighting the tears that were threatening
to flow.

"We are your prisoners."

"You must interpret the decision for yourself," Archie said.

"But I will tell you that, in so far as I understand your language, I
think the term "prisoner", which Max has often used lately, is not
correct."

"Then give me a better word, and some more explanation," Nicole said
angrily, rising from her chair.

"You know what the others will say .  .

."

"I cannot," Archie replied.

"I have transmitted our entire message."

Nicole paced around the room, her emotions swinging wildly from
rage to depression.  She knew how Max would react.  Everyone would be
angry.  Even Richard and Patrick would remind her that she had been
wrong.  But why won't they explain?  she thought.  It's not like
them.

Nicole felt a slight pain in her heart and slumped into her chair.

"And what's the second thing you want to tell me?"  Nicole said at
length.

"I have personally worked with the data engineers," Archie said, 'to
prepare the video files you are about to access .  . . From what I know
about human beings, and you specifically, I think that if you see this
material, it will cause you extreme distress ... I would like to ask
you to consider not looking at the files at all."

Archie had chosen carefully what he had said, doubtless because he
understood how important the videos were to Nicole.  His message was
clear.  What I am about to see will cause me grief, she thought.  But
what choice do I have?  Between nothing and grief, she remembered, i
will choose grief.

After Nicole had thanked Archie for his concern and informed the octo
spider that she wanted to see the videos anyway, Archie pushed the
chair in which she was sitting closer to the desk.  He then showed
Nicole how to control the data access.  The time code had been
translated by the octo spiders into human numbers, in terms of days
before the present, and there were four speeds at which the images
could be shown, covering four octal orders of magnitude, from
one-eighth real time to sixty-four times normal speed.

"The data on Katie is nearly complete," Archie said, 'for about the
last six months of your time.  It is our normal data-management process
to filter and compress older data, based on its importance.

The extended files on Katie show most of the key events for the past
two years, but are fairly scarce before that."

Nicole reached out for the controls.  As she dialled up the most recent
data entry and saw Katie's face appear on the screen, she felt Archie
tapping on her shoulder.

"You may use this facility the rest of today," the octo spider said to
her when she turned around, 'but that is all ... Since the amount of
data available is enormous, I suggest you use the high speeds to locate
events of interest."

Nicole took a deep breath and turned back around to the screen.

She felt as if she could not cry any more.  Her eyes were nearly
swollen shut from the constant stream of tears.  Nicole had watched
Katie inject herself with the drug kokomo at least half a dozen times
already, but as she saw her daughter tie the rubber cord around her
upper arm and plunge the needle into a bulging vein again, a new set of
burning tears found their way into Nicole's eyes.

What she had seen iniBhnost ten hours was so much worse than her most
horrible imaginings that Nicole was utterly destroyed.  Despite the
fact that there was no sound with any of the pictures, it had been easy
for Nicole to understand what Katie's life was all about.  First, her
daughter was a hopeless drug addict.  At least four times a day, more
if life was not going well for her, Katie retreated to her fancy
apartment, either by herself or with friends, and used the elegant drug
paraphernalia that she kept in a large, locked box in her
dressing-room.

Katie was charming immediately after the drug rush.  She was friendly,
funny, and full of both energy and apparent self-confidence.  But if
the drugs wore off while she was still partying, Katie was quickly
transformed into a screaming-, hostile bitch who ended many evenings
alone with her needle in her apartment.

Katie's official job was the management of the Vegas prostitutes.  In
that position Katie was also responsible for recruiting new talent.  At
first Nicole's broken heart was unwilling to acknowledge what her eyes
were telling her.  But one long, sordid sequence, which began with
Katie befriending a lovely but poor teenage Hispanic in San Miguel, and
ended with the girl, now magnificently dressed and bejewelled, becoming
a temporary concubine for one of Nakamura's zaibatsu chiefs a few days
later, forced Nicole to admit to herself that her daughter had
absolutely no morals or scruples.

After Nicole had been watching the videos for many hours, Archie
entered the room and offered her something to eat.  Nicole declined.

She knew that in her agitated state there was no way she could have
retained any food in her stomach.

Why did Nicole keep watching for so long?  Why didn't she just switch
off the controls and leave the room?  Later she would ask herself the
same questions.  Nicole concluded, a posteriori, that after the first
several hours she began, at least subconsciously, to search for the
existence of some signs of hope in Katie's life.  It was not in her
nature to accept without argument that her daughter was fundamentally
corrupt.  Nicole longed desperately to see something in the videos that
would suggest to her that Katie's future might be different.

Nicole eventually found two elements in Katie's unhappy life that she
somehow convinced herself were signs that her daughter might one day
break out of her self-destructive pattern.  During Katie's terrible
bouts of depression, which occurred most often when her supply of drugs
was low, Katie would often fly into a frenzy, smashing everything she
could find in her apartment.  Except for her framed photographs of
Richard and Patrick.  Towards the end of these frenetic tantrums, when
her energy was exhausted, Katie would always take those two pictures
off her dresser and lay them gently on her bed.

She would then lie beside the photographs
and sob for twenty to thirty minutes.  To Nicole, this recurrent
behaviour indicated that Katie still retained some love for her
family.

The other hopeful element, in Nicole's mind, was Franz Bauer, the
police captain who was Katie's regular consort.  Nicole did not pretend
to understand their bizarre relationship one night the pair would have
a terrible, obscene fight, and the next Franz would read Katie the
poems of Rainer Maria Rilke as a prelude to several hours of endless,
energetic sex but she thought she could tell from the videos both that
Franz loved Katie, in his own strange way, and that he did not approve
of her drug addiction.  During one of their fights, in fact, Franz
picked up Katie's drug supply and threatened to flush it down the
toilet.  Katie went completely berserk and attacked Franz wildly with a
hairbrush.

Hour after hour, Nicole continued to watch in an attempt to comprehend
her daughter's tragic life.  As the long day progressed and Nicole
scanned through the earlier videos, some as early as the first days of
Katie's drug addiction, Nicole discovered that Katie had even had an
unseemly sexual involvement with Nakamura himself, and that the New
Eden tyrant had regularly provided Katie with drugs during the time
they were sexual partners.

By this time Nicole was numb.  She was also so emotionally drained that
she did not have the strength to move.  When she finally switched off
the controls, she put her head down on the desk, cried for a few more
minutes, and then fell asleep.  Archie woke her four hours later and
told her it was time to return home.

It was dark.  The transport had been parked at the plaza for ten
minutes but Nicole had still not disembarked.  Archie was standing
beside her.

"There is to way that I can tell Richard about what I have seen today,"
she said, glancing up at the octo spider

"He will be absolutely destroyed."

"I understand," Archie said sympathetically.

"Now you see why I suggested that you not watch the videos."

"You were right," Nicole said, slowly releasing her grasp on the
vertical bar and resignedly extending one leg out of the car, 'but it's
too late now.  I can't erase the horrible pictures that are in my
mind."

"You told me earlier," Archie said as soon as they were outside the
transport, 'that it was obvious from the videos that Patrick had known
something about the life Katie was leading before his escape.  He
elected not to tell you and Richard the worst details.  Is it a
violation of your personal principles to do something similar?"

"Thanks, Archie," Nicole said, patting the octo spider on the shoulder
and almost smiling, 'for reading my mind .  . . You're beginning to
know us too well."

"We have a difficult time with truth in our society also," Archie
Richard was asleep when Nicole arrived home.  She was thankful that
she did not need to explain anything right away.  Nicole slipped into
her night-gown and climbed gently into bed.  But she could not fall
asleep.  Her mind kept jumping back and forth between the horrible
images she had seen during the day and thoughts about what she was
going to tell Richard and the others.

In her twilight state Nicole suddenly saw herself sitting on the
terraces in Rouen, beside her father, in the square where Joan of Arc
had been burned to death eight hundred years earlier.  Nicole was a
teenager again, as she had been when her father had actually taken her
to Rouen to see the conclusion of the Joan of Arc pageant.  The ox-cart
carrying Joan was coming into the square and the people were
shouting.

"Daddy," the teenage Nicole said, yelling to be heard above the din,
'what can I do to help Katie?"

Her father had not heard the question.  His attention was completely
focused on the Maid of Orleans, or rather the French girl who was
playing Joan.  Nicole watched as the girl, who had.  the same clear and
piercing eyes attributed to Joan, was tied to the stake.  The girl
began to pray softly as one of the bishops read her death sentence.

"What about Katie?"  Nicole said again.  There was no response.  The
audience around her on the terraces gasped as the piles of wood
surrounding Joan were set on fire.  Nicole stood up with the crowd as
the flames spread quickly around the base of the huge wooden stake.

She could clearly hear the prayers of St Joan, invoking the blessing of
Jesus.

The flames moved closer to the girl.  Nicole looked at the face of the
teenager who had changed history and a cold shudder ran down her
back.

"Katie," she screamed.

"No!  No!"

Nicole tried desperately to find some way out of the bleachers, but she
was blocked on all sides.  There was no way she could save her burning
daughter.

"Katie!  Katie!"  Nicole screamed again, flailing wildly at the people
around her.

She felt arms around her chest.  It took a few seconds for Nicole to
Richard was asleep when Nicole arrived home.  She was thankful that
she did not need to explain anything right away.  Nicole slipped into
her night-gown and climbed gently into bed.  But she could not fall
asleep.  Her mind kept jumping back and forth between the horrible
images she had seen during the day and thoughts about what she was
going to tell Richard and the others.

In her twilight state Nicole suddenly saw herself sitting on the
terraces in Rouen, beside her father, in the square where Joan of Arc
had been burned to death eight hundred years earlier.  Nicole was a
teenager again, as she had been when her father had actually taken her
to Rouen to see the conclusion of the Joan of Arc pageant.  The ox-cart
carrying Joan was coming into the square and the people were
shouting.

"Daddy," the teenage Nicole said, yelling to be heard above the din,
'what can I do to help Katie?"

Her father had not heard the question.  His attention was completely
focused on the Maid of Orleans, or rather the French girl who was
playing Joan.  Nicole watched as the girl, who had the same clear and
piercing eyes attributed to Joan, was tied to the stake.  The girl
began to pray softly as one of the bishops read her death sentence.

"What about Katie?"  Nicole said again.  There was no response.  The
audience around her on the terraces gasped as the piles of wood
surrounding Joan were set on fire.  Nicole stood up with the crowd as
the flames spread quickly around the base of the huge wooden stake.

She could clearly hear the prayers of St Joan, invoking the blessing of
Jesus.

The flames moved closer to the girl.  Nicole looked at the face of the
teenager who had changed history and a cold shudder ran down her
back.

"Katie; she screamed.

"No!  No!"

Nicole tried desperately to find some way out of the bleachers, but she
was blocked on all sides.  There was no way she could save her burning
daughter.

"Katie!  Katie!"  Nicole screamed again, flailing wildly at the people
around her.

She felt arms around her chest.  It took a few seconds for Nicole to
realise that she had been dreaming.  Richard was staring at her with
alarm.  Before Nicole could speak, Ellie walked into the bedroom in her
robe.

"Are you all right.  Mother?"  she asked.

"I was up checking on Nikki and I heard you scream Katie's name .  .
."

Nicole glanced first at Richard, then at Ellie.  She closed her eyes.

She could still see Katie's anguished face, contorted in pain, just
above the flames.  Nicole opened her eyes again and looked at her
husband and daughter.

"Katie is very unhappy," she said, and then she burst into tears.

Nicole could not be consoled.  Each time that she would start to tell
Richard and Ellie the details of what she had seen, she would start
crying again.

"I feel so frustrated, so helpless," Nicole said when she could finally
control herself.

"Katie is in dire straits and there is absolutely nothing any of us can
do to help her."

Summarising Katie's life without omitting anything except some of the
more kinky sexual escapades, Nicole abandoned her tentative plan to
soften her report.  Both Richard and Ellie were stunned and saddened by
the news.

"I don't know how you managed to sit there and watch for all those
hours," Richard said at one point.

"I would have been out of there in a few minutes."

"Katie's so lost, so utterly lost," said Ellie, shaking her head.  A
few minutes later little Nikki wandered into the bedroom looking for
her mother.  Ellie embraced Nicole and took Nikki back to their room.

"I'm sorry I was so distraught, Richard," Nicole said a few minutes
later, just before they went back to sleep.

"It's understandable," Richard said.

"The day must have been absolutely horrible."

Nicole wiped her eyes for the umpteenth time.

"I can only remember one other time in my life when I cried like this,"
she said, managing a tiny smile.

"Back when I was fifteen.  My father told me one day that he was
thinking about proposing to this Englishwoman he was dating.  I didn't
like her she was a cold and distant woman but I didn't think it was
proper for me to say anything negative to my father .  . . Anyway, I
was devastated.  I picked up my pet mallard Dunois and raced down to
our pond at Beauvois.  I rowed out into the middle of the pond, brought
the oars into the boat, and cried for several hours."

They lay in silence for a few minutes.  Then Nicole leaned over to kiss
Richard.

"Thanks for listening to me," she said,

"I needed the support."

"It's not easy for me either," Richard said.

"But at least I didn't actually see Katie, so somehow it seems .  .
."

"Oh, Jesus," Nicole interrupted,

"I almost forgot .  . . Archie also told me today that none of us would
be permitted to return to New Eden.  He said it was a security issue .
. . Max will be furious."

"Don't worry about it now," Richard said softly.

"Try to get some sleep.  We'll talk about it in the morning."  Nicole
snuggled into Richard's arms and fell asleep.

"For see-cw-i-tee reasons," Max yelled.

"Now just what the fuck does that mean?"

Patrick and Nai both rose from the breakfast-table.

"Just leave your food," Nai said, motioning the children to follow
her.

"We can have some fruit and cereal in the schoolroom."

Both Kepler and Galileo were reluctant to leave.  They sensed that
something important was going to be discussed.  Only when Patrick came
around the table towards them did they push back their chairs and
rise.

Benjy was allowed to remain after he promised Nicole he would not
repeat any of the conversation to the children.  Eponine left the table
to nurse the waking Marius in one of the corners of the room.

"I don't know what it means," Nicole said to Max after the children had
departed.

"Archie would not elaborate."

"Well, this is just god-damn wonderful," Max said.

"We can't leave, but those slimy friends of yours won't even tell us
why .  . . Why didn't you demand to see the Chief Optimiser, right
there on the spot?  Don't you think they owe us some kind of
explanation?"

"Yes, I do," Nicole replied.

"And perhaps we should all ask for another audience with the Chief
Optimiser .  . . I'm sorry, Max, but I didn't handle the situation very
well... I was prepared to watch the videos of Katie and, quite frankly,
Archie's pronouncement caught me off guard .  . ."

"Shit, Nicole," Max said,

"I don't blame you personally .  . . Anyway, since Ep, Marius and I are
the only ones who still want to return to New Eden, it's our job to
appeal this decision ... I doubt if the Chief Optimiser has ever seen a
two-month-old baby human in the flesh."

The rest of the breakfast conversation was mostly about Katie and what
Nicole had seen the day before in the videos.  The family explained the
gist of Katie's unhappy life without too many specifics.

When Patrick returned, he reported that the children were already busy
with their lessons.

"Nai and I have been talking about a lot of things," he said,
addressing everyone at the table.

"First, Max, we would like to ask you to be a little more careful in
front of the children with your negative comments about the octo
spiders . . . They are now quite fearful when Archie or Dr Blue are
around, and their reactions must be based on what they have overheard
in our conversations."

Max bridled and started to reply.

"Please, Max," Patrick added quickly, 'you know that I'm your friend .
. . Let's not argue about it.  Just think
about what I've said andrfemember that we may all be staying here with
the octo spiders for a long time .  . .

"Secondly," he continued,

"Nai and I both feel, especially in view of what we learned this
morning, that the children should be learning the octo spider language.
We want them to start as soon as possible .  . .

We think we need Ellie or Mother, plus an octo spider or two .  . . not
just to teach, but also to familia rise the children again with their
alien hosts .  . . Hercules has been gone for a couple of months now
.

. . Mother, will you talk to Archie about this, please?"

Nicole nodded and Patrick excused himself, saying that he needed to
return to the classroom.

"Pat-rick has be-come a good teacher," Benjy volunteered.

"He is very patient with me and the children."

Nicole smiled to herself and looked across the breakfast-table at her
daughter.  Considering everything, she thought, our children have
turned out fine.  I should be thankful for Patrick, Ellie, and Benjy.

And not worry myself sick about Katie.

In one of the corners of her bedroom, Nai Watanabe finished her
meditation and said the Buddhist morning prayers that had been pan of
her daily routine since she was a small child in Thailand.  She crossed
into the living-room, heading for the other bedroom to wake the twins,
and found, much to her surprise, that Patrick was asleep on the couch.
He was still dressed and her electronic reader was lying on his
stomach.

She shook him gently.

"Wake up, Patrick," she said.

"It's morning .  .

. You've slept the whole night here."

Patrick awakened quickly and apologised to Nai.  As he was leaving he
told Nai that he had several issues to discuss with her, about Buddhism
of course, but he guessed that they could wait until a more convenient
time.  Nai smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek, before telling
him that she and the boys would be over for breakfast in half an
hour.

He is so young and earnest, Nai said to herself as she watched him walk
away.  And I do enjoy his company .  . . But can anyone ever replace
Kenji as my husband?

Nai recalled the previous night.  After the twins had fallen asleep,
Patrick and she had had a long and serious talk.  Patrick had pressed
for an early marriage.  She had replied that she would not be hurried,
that she would agree to a specific date only when she felt entirely
comfortable with the idea.  Patrick had then awkwardly inquired about
the possibility of what he called 'more sexual interaction' while they
were waiting.  Nai had reminded Patrick that she had told him from the
beginning that there would be nothing but kisses until their wedding.
To assuage his feelings, Nai had reassured Patrick that she found him
very attractive physically, and was definitely looking forward to
love-making after they
were married, but for all the reasons they had discussed a dozen
times, Nai insisted that their 'sexual interaction' remain constrained
for the time being.

Most of the rest of the evening the pair had talked about either the
twins or Buddhism.  Nai had expressed concern that their marriage might
have a bad impact on Galileo, especially since the boy often cast
himself in the role of his mother's protector.  Patrick told Nai that
he did not believe that his frequent clashes with Galileo had anything
to do with jealousy.

"The boy just resents all authority,"

Patrick had said, 'and resists discipline .  . . Kepler, on the other
hand .  . ."

How many times in the past six years, Nai thought, has someone started
a comment with the phrase,

"Kepler, on the other hand' .  . . She remembered when Kenji was still
alive, and the boys were just starting to walk.  Galileo was constantly
falling down and running into things.  Kepler, on the other hand, was
careful and precise in his steps.  He almost never fell.

The giant fireflies had still not brought dawn to the Emerald City.

Nai continued to let her mind roam freely, as she often did after a
peaceful meditation.  She noted to herself that she had been making a
lot of comparisons recently between Kenji and Patrick.  That's unfair
of me, she told herself.  i cannot marry Patrick until that process has
completely stopped.

Again she thought of the previous night.  Nai smiled when she recalled
their ardent discussion about the life of Buddha.  Patrick still has a
child's naively, a pure idealism, Nai said to herself.  It's one of the
things about him I love the most.

"I admire both Buddha's basic philosophy and his approach," Patrick had
said.

"I really do ... But I have a few problems .  . . How can you worship a
man, for example, who leaves his wife and son and goes off to be a
beggar .  . . What about his responsibility to his family?"

"You're taking Buddha's action out of its historical context," Nai had
replied.

"First, twenty-seven hundred years ago, in northern India, being a
wandering mendicant was an acceptable way of life.  There were some in
every village, many in the towns.  When a man wanted to seek 'the
truth', his normal first step was to disavow all material comforts .  .
. Besides, you have forgotten that Buddha came from a very wealthy
family.  There was never any question about whether or not his wife and
child would have food, shelter, clothing, or any other essential .  .
."

They had talked for two hours or so, and then kissed for a while before
Nai had gone alone to her bedroom.  Patrick had already returned to his
reading about Buddhism by the time Nai had whispered good-night from
her doorway.

How difficult it is, Nai mused as the firefly dawn burst upon the octo-
spider city, to explain the relevance of Buddhism to someone who has
never seen the Earth .  . . Yet even here, in this strange alien world
among the stars,
about what I've said andrfemember that we may all be staying here with
the octo spiders for a long time .  . .

"Secondly," he continued,

"Nai and I both feel, especially in view of what we learned this
morning, that the children should be learning the octo spider language.
We want them to start as soon as possible .  . .

We think we need Ellie or Mother, plus an octo spider or two .  . . not
just to teach, but also to familia rise the children again with their
alien hosts .  . . Hercules has been gone for a couple of months now
.

. . Mother, will you talk to Archie about this, please?"

Nicole nodded and Patrick excused himself, saying that he needed to
return to the classroom.

"Pat-rick has be-come a good teacher," Benjy volunteered.

"He is very patient with me and the children."

Nicole smiled to herself and looked across the breakfast-table at her
daughter.  Considering everything, she thought, our children have
turned out fine.  I should be thankful for Patrick, Ellie, and Benjy.

And not worry myself sick about Katie.

In one of the corners of her bedroom, Nai Watanabe finished her
meditation and said the Buddhist morning prayers that had been part of
her daily routine since she was a small child in Thailand.  She crossed
into the living-room, heading for the other bedroom to wake the twins,
and found, much to her surprise, that Patrick was asleep on the couch.
He was still dressed and her electronic reader was lying on his
stomach.

She shook him gently.

"Wake up, Patrick," she said.

"It's morning .  .

. You've slept the whole night here."

Patrick awakened quickly and apologised to Nai.  As he was leaving he
told Nai that he had several issues to discuss with her, about Buddhism
of course, but he guessed that they could wait until a more convenient
time.  Nai smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek, before telling
him that she and the boys would be over for breakfast in half an
hour.

He is so young and earnest, Nai said to herself as she watched him walk
away.  And I do enjoy his company .  . . But can anyone ever replace
Kenji as my husband?

Nai recalled the previous night.  After the twins had fallen asleep,
Patrick and she had had a long and serious talk.  Patrick had pressed
for an early marriage.  She had replied that she would not be hurried,
that she would agree to a specific date only when she felt entirely
comfortable with the idea.  Patrick had then awkwardly inquired about
the possibility of what he called 'more sexual interaction' while they
were waiting.  Nai had reminded Patrick that she had told him from the
beginning that there would be nothing but kisses until their wedding.
To assuage his feelings, Nai had reassured Patrick that she found him
very attractive physically, and was definitely looking forward to
love-making after they
were married, but for all the reasons they had discussed a dozen
times, Nai insisted that their 'sexual interaction' remain constrained
for the time being.

Most of the rest of the evening the pair had talked about either the
twins or Buddhism.  Nai had expressed concern that their marriage might
have a bad impact on Galileo, especially since the boy often cast
himself in the role of his mother's protector.  Patrick told Nai that
he did not believe that his frequent clashes with Galileo had anything
to do with jealousy.

"The boy just resents all authority,"

Patrick had said, 'and resists discipline .  . . Kepler, on the other
hand .  . ."

How many times in the past six years, Nai thought, has someone started
a comment with the phrase,

"Kepler, on the other hand' .  . . She remembered when Kenji was still
alive, and the boys were just starting to walk.  Galileo was constantly
falling down and running into things.  Kepler, on the other hand, was
careful and precise in his steps.  He almost never fell.

The giant fireflies had still not brought dawn to the Emerald City.

Nai continued to let her mind roam freely, as she often did after a
peaceful meditation.  She noted to herself that she had been making a
lot of comparisons recently between Kenji and Patrick.  That's unfair
of me, she told herself.  i cannot marry Patrick until that process has
completely stopped.

Again she thought of the previous night.  Nai smiled when she recalled
their ardent discussion about the life of Buddha.  Patrick still has a
child's naively, a pure idealism, Nai said to herself.  It's one of the
things about him I love the most.

"I admire both Buddha's basic philosophy and his approach," Patrick had
said.

"I really do ... But I have a few problems .  . . How can you worship a
man, for example, who leaves his wife and son and goes off to be a
beggar .  . . What about his responsibility to his family?"

"You're taking Buddha's action out of its historical context," Nai had
replied.

"First, twenty-seven hundred years ago, in northern India, being a
wandering mendicant was an acceptable way of life.  There were some in
every village, many in the towns.  When a man wanted to seek 'the
truth', his normal first step was to disavow all material comforts .  .
. Besides, you have forgotten that Buddha came from a very wealthy
family.  There was never any question about whether or not his wife and
child would have food, shelter, clothing, or any other essential .  .
."

They had talked for two hours or so, and then kissed for a while before
Nai had gone alone to her bedroom.  Patrick had already returned to his
reading about Buddhism by the time Nai had whispered good-night from
her doorway.

How difficult it is, Nai mused as the firefly dawn burst upon the octo-
spider city, to explain the relevance of Buddhism to someone who has
never seen the Earth.  . . Yet even here, in this strange alien world
among the stars,
Richard bounced out of bed, with more than his usual enthusiasm, and
began jabbering at Nicole.

"Wish me luck," he said as he dressed.

"Archie said that we'll be gone all day."

Nicole, who always woke up very slowly and intensely disliked frenetic
activity of any kind in the early morning hours, rolled over and tried
to enjoy the last few moments of her rest.  She opened one eye
slightly, saw that it was still dark, and closed it again.

"I haven't been this excited since I made those two final breakthroughs
on the translator," Richard said.

"I know that the octo spiders are serious about putting me to work .  .
. They're just trying to find the right task for me."

Richard left the bedroom for several minutes.  From the noises in the
kitchen the half-asleep Nicole could tell that Richard was preparing
breakfast for himself.  He returned eating one of the large pink fruits
that had become his favourite.  He stood beside the bed, chewing
noisily.

Nicole opened her eyes slowly and looked at her husband.

"I assume,"

she said with a sigh, 'that you are waiting for me to say something."

"Yes," he said.

"It would be nice if we could exchange a few pleasantries before I
leave.  After all, this could be the most important day for me since we
arrived in the Emerald City."

"You're certain," Nicole said, 'that Archie intends to find a job for
you?"

"Absolutely," Richard replied.

"That's the whole purpose of today.  He is going to show me some of
their more complex engineering systems and try to ascertain where my
talents can best be used ... At least that's what he told me yesterday
afternoon."

"But why are you leaving so early?"  Nicole asked.

"Because there's so much to see, I guess .  . . Anyway, give me a
kiss.

He'll be here in a few minutes."

Nicole kissed Richard dutifully and closed her eyes again.

The Embryo Bank was a large, rectangular building located far to the
south of the Emerald City, very close to where the Central Plain
ended.

Richard bounced out of bed, with more than his usual enthusiasm, and
began jabbering at Nicole.

"Wish me luck," he said as he dressed.

"Archie said that we'll be gone all day."

Nicole, who always woke up very slowly and intensely disliked frenetic
activity of any kind in the early morning hours, rolled over and tried
to enjoy the last few moments of her rest.  She opened one eye
slightly, saw that it was still dark, and closed it again.

"I haven't been this excited since I made those two final breakthroughs
on the translator," Richard said.

"I know that the octo spiders are serious about putting me to work .  .
. They're just trying to find the right task for me."

Richard left the bedroom for several minutes.  From the noises in the
kitchen the half-asleep Nicole could tell that Richard was preparing
breakfast for himself.  He returned eating one of the large pink fruits
that had become his favourite.  He stood beside the bed, chewing
noisily.

Nicole opened her eyes slowly and looked at her husband.

"I assume,"

she said with a sigh, 'that you are waiting for me to say something."

"Yes," he said.

"It would be nice if we could exchange a few pleasantries before I
leave.  After all, this could be the most important day for me since we
arrived in the Emerald City."

"You're certain," Nicole said, 'that Archie intends to find a job for
you?"

"Absolutely," Richard replied.

"That's the whole purpose of today.  He is going to show me some of
their more complex engineering systems and try to ascertain where my
talents can best be used ... At least that's what he told me yesterday
afternoon."

"But why are you leaving so early?"  Nicole asked.

"Because there's so much to see, I guess .  . . Anyway, give me a
kiss.

He'll be here in a few minutes."

Nicole kissed Richard dutifully and closed her eyes again.

The Embryo Bank was a large, rectangular building located far to the
south of the Emerald City, very close to where the Central Plain
ended.

Less than a kilometer from where the bank had been built, a set of
three staircases, each with tens of thousands of individual steps,
ascended the south polar bowl.  Above the Embryo Bank, in the
near-darkness of Rama, loomed the imposing, buttressed structures of
the Big Horn and its six sharply pointed acolytes, each larger than any
single engineering construction on the planet Earth.

Richard and Archie had mounted an ostrichsaur on the outskirts of the
Emerald City.  Together with an escort and a trio of fireflies, they
had passed through the Alternate Domain in only a matter of minutes.

Out in the southern reaches of the octo spider realm there were very
few buildings.  Despite the occasional fields of grain, most of the
territory through which they travelled on their southerly trek reminded
Richard, even in the dim light, of the Northern Hemicylinder in Rama
II, before the two habitats had been built.

Richard and his octo spider friend entered the Embryo Bank through a
pair of extra-thick doors that took them directly into a large
conference room.  There Richard was introduced to several other octo
spiders who were obviously expecting his visit.  Richard used his
translator and the octos read his lips, although he had to speak slowly
and distinctly because they were not nearly as skilled in the human
language as Archie.  .

After some brief formalities, one of the octo spiders led the pair to a
series of control panels housing the equivalent of keyboards made from
octo colour-strips.

"We have almost ten million embryos stored here,"

the lead octo spider said in her introduction, 'representing over a
hundred thousand distinct species and three times that many hybrids.

Their natural lifespans range in duration from half a tert to several
million days, or about ten thousand of your human years.  Their adult
sizes range from a fraction of a nanometre to behemoths nearly as large
as this building.  Each embryo is stored in what are believed to be
near-optimal conditions for its preservation.  In fact, however, only
about a thousand distinct environments, combinations of temperature,
pressure and ambient chemicals, are needed to span the range of
required conditions.

"This building also houses an immense data-management and monitoring
system.  This system automatically tracks the conditions in each of the
distinct environments, and monitors the early development of the
several thousand embryos that are always in active germination.  The
system has some automatic fault-detection and correction, a dual
parameter warning structure, and also drives the displays which can
exhibit status and/ or catalogue information, both on the walls here or
in any of the research areas on the upper floors."

Richard's brain went into overdrive as he began to understand more
clearly the purpose of the Embryo Bank.  What a fantastic concept, he
thought.  The octo spiders store here all the seeds of other plant and
animal species that might ever be needed for any purpose.

'. . . Testing is continuous," the lead octo spider was saying, 'both
to ensure the integrity of the storage and preservation systems, and to
provide specimens for the genetic engineering activities.  At any given
time approximately two hundred octo spider biologists are actively
engaged in genetic experiments here.  The goal of these many
experiments is to produce altered life-forms that will improve the
efficiency of our society .  . ."

"Can you show me an example," Richard interrupted, 'of such a genetic
experiment?"

"Certainly," the octo spider replied.  She shuffled over to the control
panel and used three of her tentacles to press a sequence of coloured
buttons.

"I believe you are familiar with one of our primary methods of power
generation," she said, as a video appeared on the wall.

"The basic principle is quite simple, as you know.  The circular marine
creatures generate and store electric charge in their bodies.  We
capture this charge along a wire mesh, against which the animals must
press to reach their food supply.  Although this system is quite
satisfactory, our engineers have pointed out that it could be improved
substantially if the behaviour of the creature could be altered
somewhat.

"Look at this fast-motion close-up of half a dozen of the marine
creatures that generate the power.  Notice that during this brief
motion picture each of the animals will go through three or four
charge-discharge cycles.  What feature of these cycles would be of
primary interest to a system engineer?"

Richard watched the video carefully.  The sand dollars are dim after
their discharge, he thought, but regain their full glow in a
comparatively short period of time.

"Assuming that the glow is a measure of the stored charge," Richard
said, suddenly wondering if he was undergoing some kind of a test, 'the
system could be made more efficient by increasing the feeding
frequency."

"Exactly," the lead octo spider responded.  Archie flashed a quick
message to the host octo that was completed before Richard had even had
a chance to aim the telescope on his translator.  Meanwhile, a
different picture appeared on the wall.

"Here are three genetic variants of the circular marine creature that
are currently under test and evaluation.  The leading replacement
candidate is the one on the left.  This prototype eats roughly twice as
frequently as the component currently being used; however, the
prototype has a metabolic imbalance that increases significantly its
susceptibility to communicable diseases.  All factors are being weighed
in the current evaluation .  . ."

* *
Richard was taken from one demonstration to another.  Arcltie
accompanied him at all times, but at each venue a different set of octo
spider specialists joined them for the prepared mini lecture and the
group discussion that always followed.  One of the presentations was
focused on the relationships between the Embryo Bank, the large zoo
that occupied considerable territory in the Alternate Domain, and the
barrier forest that formed a complete annulus around Rama, slightly
less than a kilometer north of the Emerald City.

"All living species in our realm," the presenter said, 'are either in
active symbiosis, temporary observation in an isolated domain in the
zoo, the forest, or in your specific case, in the Emerald City itself
or undergoing experimentation here at the Embryo Bank."

After a long walk down many corridors, Richard and Archie attended a
meeting of half a dozen octo spiders evaluating a recommendation to
replace an entire symbiotic chain of four different species.  The chain
was responsible for the production of a gelatinous substance that
significantly mitigated a common lens malady in the octo spiders

Richard listened with fascination as the test parameters of the
proposed new symbiosis resources consumed, reproduction rates, octo
spider interactions required, fault coefficients, and behaviour
predictability were compared with the existing system.  The outcome of
the meeting was that in one of the three manufacturing 'zones', the new
symbiosis would be installed for several hundred operational days,
after which time the decision would again be reviewed.

In the middle of the work day Archie and Richard were scheduled to be
alone for half a ten.  At Richard's request, they packed their lunches
and drinks, remounted the ostrichsaur, commandeered a pair of
fireflies, and wandered out into the cold and dark of the Central
Plain.  When he eventually dismounted, Richard walked around with his
arms outstretched and gazed up into the vastness of Rama.

"Who among you," Richard asked Archie, 'worries about, or even tries to
figure out, the significance of all this?"  He waved his arms in a
circular motion.

The octo spider replied that he didn't understand the question.

"Yes, you did, you sly thing," Richard said, smiling.

"Except that this time- period was obviously set aside by your
Optimisers for a different kind of conversation between us ... What I
want to discuss, Archie, is not in which specific engineering
department in your Embryo Bank I would like to work, so that I can make
my "contribution" that will justify the "resources" necessary to
sustain me ... what I want to talk to you about is what is really going
on here.  Why are we humans, sessiles, avians, and you with all your
menagerie on this huge, mysterious spacecraft bound for the star we
humans call Tau Ceti?"

Archie did not respond for almost thirty seconds.

"Members of our genus were told while they were at The Node, just as
you were, that some higher intelligence is cataloguing life-forms in
the galaxy, with a special emphasis on space farers We assembled a
typical colony, as requested, and established it inside this Rama
vehicle so that the required detailed observations of our species could
take place."

"So you octo spiders don't know anything more about who or what is
behind this grand scheme than we humans do?"

"No," Archie replied.

"In fact, we probably know less.  None of the octo spiders who spent
time at The Node is still part of our colony.  As I told you, that octo
spider contingent on Rama II was a different, inferior species. The
only first-hand information about The Node that exists on board this
spacecraft comes from you, your family, and whatever compressed data
may reside inside that small volume of sessile material we are still
keeping in our zoo."

"And that's it?"  Richard said.

"None of you asks any more questions?"

"We are trained as juveniles," Archie answered, 'not to waste time on
issues for which we are unable to obtain any significant data."

Richard was momentarily silent.

"How do you know so much about the avians and the sessiles?"  he then
asked abruptly.

"I'm sorry, Richard," Archie said after a brief pause, 'but I cannot
talk with you about that subject now .  . . My assignment for this
lunch period, as you surmised, is to ascertain whether or not you would
be pleased to accept an engineering assignment in the Embryo Bank and,
if so, which of the many areas you have seen today seems most
interesting to you."

"It's a hell of a commute," Richard said, laughing.

"Yes, Archie," he then added, 'everything is fascinating, especially
what I call the encyclopaedia department.  I think I would like to work
there that way I could expand my meagre knowledge of biology .  . . But
why are you asking me this question now?  Aren't we going to have more
"demonstrations" after lunch?"

"Yes," Archie said.

"But this afternoon's schedule has been included primarily for
completeness.  Almost half of the Embryo Bank is devoted to
microbiology.  Management of that activity is more complex, and
involves communication with the midget morphs.  It is difficult for us
to imagine your working in any of those departments."

Underneath the primary microbiological laboratory was a basement that
could only be entered with special credentials.  When Archie mentioned
that large quantities of flying image quadroids were produced in that
Embryo Bank basement, Richard virtually begged to observe the
process.

His official 'tour' was halted, and Richard stood idly around for
several
fengs while Archie obtained permission for them to visit the .quadroid
'nursery'.

Two other octo spiders guided them down a sequence of long ramps to the
subterranean area.

"The nursery has been purposely built far below ground level," Archie
told Richard, 'for extra isolation and protection.  We have three other
similar facilities scattered around our domain."

Holy shit, Richard said to himself when he and his three octo spider
companions walked out on a platform overlooking a large rectangular
floor.  His recognition was instant.  Several me tres below them, about
a hundred midget morphs were scattered around the facility, performing
unknown functions.  Hanging down from the ceiling were eight
rectangular lattices, each about five me tres long and two me tres
wide, that were symmetrically placed around the room.  Directly
underneath each of the lattices was a large oval object with a hardened
exterior. These eight objects resembled huge nuts, and were surrounded
by thick viny growths or webbing.

"I have seen a similar layout before, many years ago," Richard said
excitedly.

"Underneath New York.  It was just before my first personal encounter
with one of your cousins.  Nicole and I were both scared out of our
wits."

"I think I read something about that incident," Archie replied.

"Prior to our bringing Ellie and Eponine to the Emerald City, I studied
all the old files on your species.  Some of the data was compressed, so
there were not many specifics .  . ."

"I remember that incident as if it were yesterday," Richard
interrupted.  "I had placed a couple of miniature robots on a small
subway and they had disappeared into a tunnel.  They came into an area
like this one and, after climbing through some of that webbing, were
chased and captured by one of your cousins .  . ."

"Doubtless the robots had stumbled into a quadroid nursery.  Those
octos acted to protect it.  It's really very simple .  . ."  Archie
signalled their guide engineer that it was time for his explanation.

"The quadroid queens spend their gestation periods in special
compartments that are just off the main floor," the octo engineer
said.

"Each queen lays thousands of eggs.  When several million eggs have
been laid, they are collected together and placed in one of those oval
containers.  The inside of the containers is maintained at a very high
temperature, which markedly reduces the development time of the
quadroids.  The thick webbing around the containers absorbs the excess
heat so that the working conditions are acceptable for the midget
morphs who oversee the nursery .  . ."

Richard was partially listening, but his real focus was on a moment
many years earlier.  Now it is all clear, he said to himself.  And
that tiny subway was for the midget morphs.

'. . . Monitoring probes inside the containers identify exactly when
the quadroids are ready to swarm.  The lattices above are soaked with
the proper chemical agents a few fengs prior to the automatic opening
of the ovals.  The new queens fly first, attracted to the lattice
elements.  The frenzied hordes of males follow, making visible black
clouds despite their minuscule size.  The quadroids are harvested from
the lattice and go immediately into mass training .  . ."

"Very elegant," Richard said.

"But I have a simple question.  Why do the quadroids take all those
pictures for you?"

The short answer," Archie replied, 'is that they have been genetically
engineered over thousands of years to be receptive to our direction.

We, or rather our midget morph specialists, speak the chemical language
the quadroids use to communicate with each other.  If they do what is
asked of them, the quadroids are given food.  If they perform
satisfactorily over a long period of time, they are allowed the
pleasures of sex."

"Out of a given litter, or swarm, what percentage of the quadroids
follow your directions?"

"The failure rate for first picture is about ten per cent," the octo
spider engineer answered.

"Once the pattern has been established, and the reward cycle
reinforced, the failure rate drops dramatically."

"Pretty damn impressive," Richard said appreciatively.

"Maybe there's more to this biology stuff than I ever considered."

On the ride back to the Emerald City, Richard and Archie discussed the
comparative strengths and weaknesses of biological and non-biological
engineering systems.  It was mostly an esoteric, philosophical
conversation with few definitive conclusions.  They did agree, however,
that the encyclopaedia function, which was primarily the storage,
manipulation and presentation of vast amounts of information, was more
optimally handled by non-biological systems.

As they drew near to the domed city, the green glow was suddenly
extinguished.  Night had come again to the centre of the octo spider
domain.  Soon thereafter, an additional pair of fireflies appeared to
give their ostrichsaur extra light.

It had been a long day and Richard was very tired.  When they entered
the outskirts of the Alternate Domain, Richard thought he saw something
flying in the darkness off to his right.

"What has happened to Tammy and Timmy?"  he asked.

"They have both mated," Archie replied, 'and have several offspring .

. . Their young hatchlings are cared for in the zoo."

"Could I see them?"  Richard said.

"You told me once, a fw months ago, that some day it might be possible
. . ."

"I guess so," Archie replied after a short silence.

"Even though the zoo is a restricted zone, the avian compound is very
close to the entrance."

When they reached the first large structure of the Alternate Domain,
Archie dismounted and went inside the building.  When he returned, the
octo spider said something to the ostrichsaur.

"We are only cleared for a brief visit," Archie said as their mount
turned off the main path and began to thread its way through the
smaller lanes of the community.

Richard was introduced to the zoo-keeper, who drove them in a cart to a
compound only about a hundred me tres inside the zoo entrance.  Both
Tammy and Timmy were present.  They recognised Richard immediately, and
their jabbers and shrieks of pleasure filled the darkened skies.

The avians presented Richard to the hatchlings in their group.  The
juveniles were extremely shy in the presence of their first human
being.  Richard felt powerful emotions as he stroked the velvet
underbellies of his alien friends and recalled the days when he had
been their sole protector in the lair underneath New York.

He said goodbye to his wards and boarded the cart with Archie and the
zoo-keeper.  Half-way back to the zoo entrance he heard a sound that
jolted him into alertness and made his skin crawl with goose-bumps.  He
sat perfectly still and concentrated.  The sound was repeated just
before the silent cart came to a stop.

"I could not possibly be mistaken," Richard insisted to Nicole.

"I

heard it twice.  There is no other sound like the cry of a human
child."

"I'm not doubting you, Richard," Nicole said.

"I'm just trying to exclude logically all other possible sources for
the sound you heard.

Juvenile avians do have a particular shriek that can sound a little
like a baby crying .  . . and you were, after all, in a zoo.  It could
have been another animal."

"No," said Richard.

"I know what I heard.  I have lived with enough children and heard
enough cries in my life."

Nicole smiled.

"Now the shoe is on the other foot, isn't it, darling?

Do you remember your response when I told you I had seen a woman's face
in that mural, the night we went to see the octo spider play?  You
scoffed at me, and told me that I was "absurd", if I remember
correctly."

"So what's the explanation?  Did the octo spiders somehow kidnap some
other humans from Avalon?  And the incident was never reported?  But
how could they have .  . ."

"Did you say anything to Archie?"  Nicole asked.

"No.  I was too stunned.  At first I was amazed that neither he nor the
zoo-keeper made any comment, and then I remembered that the octo
spiders are deaf."

They were both silent for several seconds.

"You weren't supposed to hear that cry, Richard," Nicole then said.

"Our nearly perfect hosts have made a non-optimal slip-up."

Richard laughed.

"Of course, they are recording this conversation.  By tomorrow they
will know that we know .  . ."

"Let's not say anything just yet to the others," Nicole said.

"Maybe the octos will decide to share their secret with us ... By the
way, when do you start to work?"

"Whenever I want," Richard replied.

"I told Archie I had a few tasks of my own to finish first."

"Sounds as if you had a fascinating day," Nicole said.

"Everything was mostly quiet around here.  Except for one thing.
Patrick and Nai have set a date for their wedding .  . . Three weeks
from tomorrow."

"What?"  Richard said.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Nicole laughed.

"I didn't have a chance .  . . You came in here talking non-stop about
cries in the zoo, and avians, and quadroids, and the Embryo Bank ... I
knew from experience that my news would have to wait until you wound
down."

"Well, mother of the groom," Richard said a few seconds later, 'how do
you feel?"

"Considering everything," Nicole said,

"I'm very pleased .  . . You know how I feel about Nai ... It just
strikes me as a strange time and place to start a marriage."

They were sitting in the Wakefield living-room waiting for the
appearance of the bride.  Patrick was nervously wringing his hands.

"Be patient, young man," Max said, crossing the room and putting his
arm around Patrick.  "She'll be here ... A woman wants to look her
finest on her wedding-day."

"I didn't," Eponine said.

"In fact, I don't even remember what I was wearing on my
wedding-day."

"I remember it well, Frenchie," Max said with a grin, 'especially up in
the igloo.  As I recall, most of the time you were wearing your
birthday suit."

Everyone laughed.  Nicole entered the room.

"She'll be here in a few more minutes.  Ellie is helping Nai with the
final arrangement of her dress."  She glanced around.

"Where are Archie and Dr Blue?"  she asked.

"They went to their house for a minute," Ellie said.

"They have a special present for the bride."

"I don't like having those octo spiders around," Galileo said in a
nasty voice.

"They give me the creeps."

"Starting next week, Galileo," Ellie said gently, 'there will be an
octo- spider with you in school nearly all the time .  . . She'll help
you learn their language .  . ."

"I don't want to learn their language," the boy said defiantly.

Max walked over next to Richard.

"So how is the work going, amigo?  We haven't seen much of you these
last two weeks."

"It's absolutely fascinating.  Max," Richard said enthusiastically.

"I'm working on an encyclopaedia project, helping them design a new set
of software to display all the critical information about the hundreds
of thousands of species found in the Embryo Bank .  . . The octo
spiders accumulate such an enormous wealth of data in their testing,
yet they are surprisingly limited in their knowledge of how to manage
it efficiently.  Just yesterday, I began working with some recent test
data on a set of microbiological agents that are classified, in the
octo spider taxonomy, by the range of plants and animals for which they
are lethal .  . ."

Richard stopped.  Archie and Dr Blue entered together carrying a box,
about a metre tall, that was wrapped with their parchment.  The octo-
spiders set their present down in the corner and stood at the side of
the room.  Ellie arrived a moment later, humming Mendelssohn's wedding
march.  Nai followed her.

Patrick's bride was wearing her Thai silk dress.  It was adorned by the
brilliant yellow and black flowers that the octo spiders had given to
Ellie.  She had pinned them to the dress at strategic locations.

Patrick rose to stand beside Nai in front of his mother.  The couple
held hands.

Nicole had been asked to perform the ceremony, and to keep it as simple
as possible.  As she prepared to begin her brief statement, Nicole's
mind was suddenly flooded by memories of other wedding-days in her
life.  She saw Max and Eponine, Michael O'Toole and her daughter
Simone, Robert and Ellie .  . . Nicole shuddered involuntarily as the
memory of the sound of gunshots intruded into her mind.  Once again,
Nicole thought, forcing herself to return to the present, we have
gathered here together.

She could barely speak.  Nicole was overwhelmed by her feelings.  This
is my last wedding, she realised, almost thinking out loud.  There will
not be another.

A tear ran down her left cheek.

"Are you all right, Nicole?"  the always sensitive bride asked quietly.
Nicole nodded and smiled.

"Friends," Nicole said, 'we have joined together today to witness and
celebrate the wedding of Patrick Ryan O'Toole and Nai Buatong Watanabe.
Let us form a circle around them, locking arms to show our love and
support for their marriage."

Nicole gestured to the two octo spiders as the circle was forming and
they too put their tentacles around the humans beside them.

"Do you, Patrick," Nicole said, her voice cracking, 'take this woman,
Nai, to love and cherish as your wife and partner in life?"

"I do," said Patrick.

"And do you, Nai," Nicole continued, 'take this man, Patrick, to love
and cherish as your husband and partner in life?"

"I do," said Nai.

"Then I announce that you are husband and wife."  Patrick and Nai
embraced, and everyone shouted.  The newlyweds shared their first
married hug with Nicole.

"Did you ever talk to Patrick about sex?"  Nicole asked Richard after
the party was over and the crowd had dispersed.

"No," said Richard.

"Max volunteered .  . . But it shouldn't be necessary.  After all, Nai
has been married before .  . . Goodness, you were certainly emotional
tonight.  What was that all about?"

Nicole smiled.

"I was thinking about other weddings, Richard.  Simone and Michael's,
Ellie and Robert's .  . ."

"That's one I would likejo forget," Richard said.

"For many reasons."

"I thought, during the ceremony, that I was crying because this was
probably the last wedding I would ever attend.  But later, during the
party, I thought of something else.  Has it ever bothered you, Richard,
that we have never had an official ceremony?"

"No," Richard said, shaking his head.

"I had a ceremony with Sarah, and that was enough .  . ."

"Bwyou have had a wedding, Richard.  I never have.  I have given birth
to children from three different fathers, but I have never once been a
bride."

Richard was silent for several seconds.

"And you think that's why you were crying?"

"Maybe," Nicole said.

"I don't know for certain."

Nicole walked around while Richard was in deep thought.

"Wasn't that a magnificent statue of Buddha the octo spiders gave to
Nai?"  she said.

"The artistry was superb ... I really thought both Archie and Dr Blue
were enjoying themselves.  I wonder why Jamie came to get them so early
. . ."

"Would you like to have a wedding ceremony?"  Richard asked suddenly.

"At our age?"  Nicole laughed.

"We're already grandparents."

"Still, if it would make you happy .  . ."

"Are you proposing to me, Richard Wakefield?"

"I guess so," he said.

"I wouldn't want you to be unhappy because you've never been a
bride."

Nicole crossed the room and kissed her husband.

"It might be fun,"

she said.

"But let's not plan anything until Patrick and Nai are settled.  I
wouldn't want to steal their limelight."

Richard and Nicole walked towards the bedroom with their arms around
each other.  They were startled to find their passage blocked by Archie
and Dr Blue.

"You must come with us right away," Archie said.

"This is an emergency."

Wow?"  Nicole replied.

"At this hour?"

"Yes," said Dr Blue.

"Only the two of you.  The Chief Optimiser is waiting .  . . She'll
explain everything."

Nicole felt her heart-rate surge as the adrenalin poured into her
system.  "Do I need a coat?"  she said.

"Will we be leaving the city?"

For some reason, Nicole's first thought had been that the summons was
related to the child's cry that Richard had heard after his first visit
to the Embryo Bank.  Was the child sick?  Perhaps dying?  Then why
weren't they going directly to the zoo, which was outside the dome, in
the Alternate Domain?

The Chief Optimiser and her staff were indeed waiting.  Two chairs
were in the room.  As soon as Richard and Nicole were seated, the octo
spider leader started speaking in colour.

"We have a major crisis under way," she said, 'one that could
unfortunately lead to war between our two species."  She waved a
tentacle and video images began to appear on the wall.

"Early today, two helicopters began ferrying human troops from the
island of New York to the northernmost section of our domain, right
next to the Cylindrical Sea.  Our quadroid data indicates not only that
your species is preparing to launch an assault against us, but also
that your leader Nakamura has convinced the human populace that we are
your enemy.  He has obtained the support of the Senate for the war
effort and, in a comparatively short period of time, has created an
arsenal that could inflict substantial damage on our colony."

The Chief Optimiser stopped while Richard and Nicole watched video
snapshots showing bombs, bazookas, and machine-guns being manufactured
in New Eden.

"Investigative forays have been carried out during the last four days
by small groups of humans on the ground, and the pair of helicopters in
the air.  These reconnaissance missions have penetrated as far south as
the barrier forest and have covered the entire cylindrical range of our
territory.  Almost thirty per cent of our food, power and water supply
is contained in the region that the humans have reconnoitred.

"There has been no combat, for we have offered no resistance to the
exploration activities.  We have, however, placed signs in key places,
using what we know of your language, informing the human troops that
the entire southern hem icy Under is the realm of another advanced, but
peaceful, species, and requesting that the humans return to their own
region.  Our signs have been ignored.

"Two days ago a troublesome incident occurred.  While we were
harvesting grain from one of our large fields, there was a helicopter
overflight.  The vehicle made a nearby landing and dispatched four
soldiers.  Without any provocation, these humans executed the three
animals doing the harvesting the same six-armed creatures the two of
you saw on your initial tour of our domain and set fire to the
grain-field.  Since that incident, the content of our signs has
changed, and we have made it clear that any other similar behaviour
will be considered an act of war.

"Nevertheless, it is apparent from actions earlier today that our
warnings have not been heeded and that your species is planning to
start a conflict it cannot possibly win.  I was today considering
announcing a declaration of war, an extremely grave event in an octo
spider colony, with ramifications at every level of our society.

Before I took the irrevers-
ibie action, however, Irfonsulted with those other optimisers whose
opinions I most respected.

"The majority of my staff favoured the war declaration, seeing no way
of convincing your fellow humans that a conflict with us would be a
disaster for them.  The octo spider you call Archie, however, made a
proposal to my staff that we think has some small probability of
working.  Even though our statistical analysts say war is still the
most likely outcome, our principles demand that we do everything
possible to avoid war .  . . Since Archie's proposal requires your
involvement and cooperation, we have called you here tonight."

The Chief Optimiser stopped speaking in colours and shuffled to the
side of the room.  Richard and Nicole glanced at each other.

"Did your translator follow all that?"  she asked.

"Most of it," Richard replied.

"I certainly understand the gist of the situation ... Do you have any
questions?  Or should we suggest they proceed with Archie's
proposal?"

Nicole nodded in Archie's direction and their friend moved to the
centre of the room.

"I have volunteered," the octo spider said, 'to negotiate personally
with the human leaders in an attempt to stop this conflict before it
escalates into full-scale war.  To accomplish this, however, I must
obviously have some help.  If I suddenly appear in the camp of the
human soldiers, they will kill me.  Even if they do not, they will have
no way of understanding what I am telling them.

So some human who understands our language must accompany me, to
translate my colours, or there's no way that a meaningful dialogue can
be started .  . ."

After Richard and Nicole told the Chief Optimiser that they had no
disagreement with the basic concept proposed by Archie, the two humans
and their octo spider colleague were left alone to discuss the
details.

Archie's idea was straightforward.  Nicole and he would approach the
camp near the Cylindrical Sea together and would request a meeting with
Nakamura and the other human leaders.  At that meeting Archie and
Nicole would explain that the octo spiders were a peace-loving species
who had no territorial claims on the north side of the Cylindrical Sea.
Archie would request that the humans withdraw from their camp and cease
their overflights.  If necessary, as a token of the goodwill of the
octo spiders Archie would offer to supply quantities of food and water
to help the humans through their current difficulties.  A permanent |
relationship between the two species would be established and a treaty
drafted to codify the agreement.

"Jesus," Richard said after he finished translating Archie's
comments.

"And I thought Nicole was an idealist!"

Archie did not understand Richard's remark.  Nicole patiently
explained to the octo spider that the leaders of New Eden were not
likely to be as reasonable as Archie was assuming.

"It is entirely possible," Nicole said, to stress the danger of what
Archie was proposing, 'that they will kill us both, before we are ever
allowed to say anything."

Archie kept insisting that what he was proposing was bound to be
accepted, eventually, because it was clearly in the best interests of
the humans living in New Eden.

"Look, Archie," Richard responded in frustration, 'what you said is
just not right.  There are many human beings, including Nakamura, who
do not give a shit what is good for the colony.  In fact, the common
welfare is not even a factor in the subconscious objective function, to
use your terms, that governs their behaviour.  All they care about is
themselves.  Every decision is weighed in terms of whether or not it
will increase their own personal power or influence.  In our history,
leaders have often destroyed their own countries, or colonies, in
attempts to retain their power."

The octo spider was stubborn.

"What you are describing just cannot be true in an advanced species,"
Archie insisted.

"The fundamental laws of evolution clearly indicate that those species
whose primary value is the welfare of the group will outlast those in
which the individual is supreme .  . . Are you suggesting that human
beings are an aberration of some kind, a freak of nature violating a
fundamental .  . ."

Nicole interrupted.

"This is all very interesting, you two," she said, 'but we have some
more pressing business.  We must design a plan of action that has no
pitfalls .  . . Richard, if you don't like Archie's plan, what do you
suggest?"

Richard reflected for several seconds before speaking.

"I believe that Nakamura has committed New Eden to this action against
the octo spiders for many reasons, one of which is to preclude
criticism of the domestic failures of his government.  I do not think
he will be dissuaded from his course unless the citizens are
overwhelmingly against the war and, I'm sorry to say, I don't think
that will happen unless the colonists are convinced the war will be a
disaster."

"So you think threats are necessary?"  Nicole said.

"As a minimum.  What would be perfect would be a demonstration of
military might by the octo spiders Richard said.

"I'm afraid that's impossible," Archie commented, 'at least under the
current circumstances."

"Why?"  Richard asked.

"The Chief Optimiser spoke with confidence about winning any war that
might occur.  If you were to attack and utterly destroy that camp .  .
."

"Now it is you who do not understand us," Archie said.

"Because war, or any conflict that can result in deliberate deaths, is
such a non-optimal way of resolving disputes, our colony has very
strict regulations governing
concerted hostile actions.  (Controls are built into our society to
make war absolutely the solution of the last resort .  . . We have no
standing army and no stockpile of weapons, for example .  . . And there
are other restraints as well.  All optimisers participating in a
decision to declare war, as well as all octo spiders engaging in an
armed conflict, are immediately terminated after the war."

"Whaaat?"  said Richard, not believing his translator.

"That's not possible."

"Yes, it is," Archie said.

"As you can imagine, these factors significantly deter our
participation in non-defensive hostilities.

The Chief Optimiser knows that she signed her own death warrant two
weeks ago when she authorised the beginning of war preparations.  All
eighty of the octo spiders now living and working in the War Domain
will be terminated when this war is either concluded or the threat of
war has officially passed ... I myself, since I was part of the
discussions today, will be placed on the termination lists if war is
declared."

Richard and Nicole were speechless.

"The only possible justification for war to an octo spider Archie
continued, 'is an unambiguous threat to the very survival of the
colony.  Once that threat is identified and acknowledged, our species
undergoes a metamorphosis and prosecutes the war, without mercy, until
either the threat is obliterated or our colony has been destroyed .  .
. Generations ago, some very wise optimisers realised that those
individual octo spiders who were engaged in killing, and the design of
killing, were so psychologically altered by their experiences that they
became a significant detriment to the operation of a peaceful colony.
That's why the termination codicils were enacted."

Richard and Nicole were still silent even after Archie had finished
talking.  At length Richard started to ask Archie to leave the room, so
that he could speak privately to his wife, but he quickly remembered
the ubiquitous quadroids.

"Nicole, darling," he said finally,

"I

don't think Archie's plan is quite right for several reasons.  For one
thing, I should be going with him instead of you .  . ."

When Nicole started to interrupt, Richard gestured with his hands for
her to remain quiet.

"Now hear me out," he said.

"Throughout our marriage, especially since we left The Node, you have
always been the one out front, giving of your time and energy for the
benefit of the family, or the colony .  . . Now it's my turn ... In
this particular instance, I believe that I am also better suited to the
proposed task.  I can more easily scare our fellow humans by conjuring
up images of doomsday blows delivered by the octo spiders .  . ."

"But you don't speak their language well," Nicole protested.

"Without your translator .  . ."

"I've thought about that," Richard said.

"And I think that Ellie and
Nikki should go with Archie and me.  First, with a child among us, the
probability that we will be killed by the advance force is
significantly reduced.  Second, Ellie is completely fluent in the octo
spider language, and can back me up if my translator is either not
available or inadequate.  Third, and this may be the most important
reason, the only crime that Nakamura and his minions can possibly be
attributing to the octo spiders is Ellie's kidnapping.  If she shows
up, healthy and praising the alien enemy, then the war effort will be
undermined."

Nicole frowned.

"I don't like the idea of Nikki going along .  . . It's much too
dangerous.  I would never forgive myself if something happened to that
child .  . ."

"Nor would I," Richard said.

"But I don't think Ellie will go without her .  . . Nicole, there are
no good plans .  . . We will be forced to choose the least
unsatisfactory option."

During a brief pause in the conversation Archie spoke in colour.

"Richard's points are all excellent," the octo spider said to Nicole.

"And there is one additional reason why it might be belter for you to
remain here in the Emerald City the rest of the humans who stay behind
will need your leadership in the difficult days ahead."

Nicole's mind was racing.  She had not been prepared for Richard to
volunteer to go.

"Are you telling me, Archie," she said, 'that you endorse Richard's
suggestions, including taking Ellie and Nikki with you?"

"Yes," the octo spider replied.

"But Richard," Nicole then said, turning to her husband, 'you know how
you hate what you call political crap.  Are you certain you have
thought this through?"

Richard nodded.  Nicole shrugged.

"All right then," she said.

"We'll talk to Ellie.  If she agrees, we have a plan."

The Chief Optimiser thought that the amended proposal had some chance
of success, but felt compelled to remind everyone that, based on the
octo spider analysis, there was still a high probability that both
Archie and Richard would be killed.  Nicole's heart skipped a beat when
she translated the octo spider leader's reminder.  The Chief Optimiser
was not telling her anything that Nicole did not already know; however,
Nicole had been so involved in the planning and discussions that she
had not yet confronted any of the likely outcomes of their decisions.

Nicole said very little while the principals all agreed upon a baseline
timetable.  When she heard Richard say that Archie and he, with or
without Ellie and Nikki, would leave the Emerald City one tert after
dawn the next day, Nicole shuddered.  Tomorrow, flashed quickly through
her mind.  Tomorrow our lives will change again.

She remained quiet on the transport ride back to their zone.  While
Richard and Archie talk^ about many different subjects, Nicole tried
to wrestle with the growing fear inside her.  An inner voice, one that
she had not heard for years, was telling her that she would never see
Richard again after tomorrow.  Is this perhaps some peculiar reaction
on my part?  she asked herself critically.  Am I having trouble letting
Richard be the hero?

The strength of the premonition grew, despite Nicole's attempts to
combat it.  She remembered a terrible night many, many years before,
when she had been in her bedroom in the little house in Chilly-Mazarin.
Nicole had awakened screaming from a violent and vivid nightmare.
"Mommy is dead," the ten-year-old girl had cried at the time.

Her father had tried to console her, and had explained that her mother
was just away on a trip, visiting her family in the Ivory Coast.  The
telegram announcing her mother's death had arrived at the house seven
hours later.

"If you don't have any weapons stockpiled, and no trained soldiers,"

Richard was saying, 'how in the world can you prepare for a war fast
enough to defend yourself?"

"I cannot tell you that," Archie replied.

"But believe me, I know for a fact that a conflict at this time,
between our two species, could result in the annihilation of the human
civilisation in Rama."

Nicole could not calm her tormented soul.  No matter how many times she
told herself that she was over-reacting, the premonitory fear did not
diminish.  She reached over and took Richard's hand.  He wrapped his
fingers through hers and continued his conversation with Archie.

Nicole gazed intently at him.  i am proud of you, Richard, she thought,
but I am also frightened.  She felt the tears creeping into her eyes.

And I am not yet ready to say goodbye.

It was very late when Nicole went to bed.  She had awakened Ellie
gently, without disturbing Nikki and the Watanabe twins, who were
sleeping in the Wakefield house so that Patrick and Nai could have
their wedding- night alone.  Ellie of course had had many questions.

Richard and Nicole had explained the plan, including everything
important they had learned from Archie and the Chief Optimiser earlier
in the evening.  Ellie had been fearful, but had finally agreed that
Nikki and she would accompany Richard and Archie the next day.

Nicole could not fall into a deep sleep.  After tossing and turning for
an hour, she began a sequence of short, chaotic dreams.  In her final
dream Nicole was again seven years old back in the Ivory Coast, in the
middle of her Poro ceremony.  She was half-naked, out in the water,
with the lioness prowling around the perimeter of the pond.  Little
Nicole took a deep breath and dived under the water.  When she surfaced
Richard was standing on the shore where the lioness had been.  It was a
young
Richard smiling at her initially, but as Nicole watched he aged
rapidly and became the same Richard who was beside her that moment in
the bed.  She heard Omeh's voice in her ear.

"Look carefully, Ronata,"

the voice said.

"And remember .  . ."

Nicole woke up.  Richard was sleeping peacefully.  She sat up in the
bed and tapped on the wall one time.  A solitary firefly appeared in
the doorway, shining some light into the bedroom.  Nicole stared at her
husband.  She looked at his hair and beard, grey from age, and
remembered them both when they had been black.  She recalled fondly his
ardour and humour during their courtship in New York.  Nicole grimaced,
took a deep breath, and kissed her index finger.  She placed the finger
on Richard's lips.  He did not stir.  Nicole sat quietly for several
more minutes, studying every feature of her husband's face.

Soft tears flowed down her cheeks and dropped from her chin on to the
sheets.

"I love you, Richard," she said.

 War in Rama
REPORT Number 319 Time of Transmission: 156 307 872 574.2009 Time
since First Stage Alert: 111.9766 References: Node 23419 Spacecraft 947
Spacefarers 47 249 (A & B) 32 8o6 2 666 During the last interval the
structure and order in the space faring communities inside the
spacecraft have continued to disintegrate.

Despite the warnings of the octo spiders space farer # 2 666) and their
laudable attempts to avoid a broad conflict with the humans (# 32 8o6),
it is now even more likely that a disastrous war between the two
species, which could leave only a few survivors, may take place in the
next several intervals.  The situation therefore meets all the
prerequisite conditions for a stage two intercession.

Prior inter cessionary activity has been declared a failure, primarily
because the more aggressive of the two species, the humans, are
fundamentally insensitive to the entire range of subtle inter
cessionary techniques.  Only a few of the humans have responded to the
many attempts to alter their hostile behaviour, and those who did react
were unable to stop the genocide of the avians and sessiles (#47 249 -
A & B) perpetrated by their rulers.

The humans are organised in the rigid, hierarchical manner often
observed in pre-space faring species.  They continue to be dominated by
a leadership whose focus is the retention of personal power.  The
welfare of the human community and even its survival are subordinated
in the implicit objective function of the current human leaders to the
continuation of a political system which gives them absolute authority.
There is consequently little likelihood that the threatened expanded
conflict between the humans and the octo spiders can be avoided by any
logical appeals.

A small cadre of humagg^including almost all of the family that lived
at The Node for over a year, remains in residence in the main octo
spider city.  Their interaction with their hosts has demonstrated that
it is possible for the two species to live together in harmony.

Recently a mixed delegation of those humans and one octo spider have
decided to make a concerted effort to prevent a full-scale inter
species war by contacting the leaders of the human colony directly. 
However, the probability that this delegation will be successful is
very low.

Thus far the octo spiders have taken no overt hostile action.

Nevertheless, they have begun the process of preparing for a war
against the humans.  Although they will fight only if they determine
that the survival of their community is in jeopardy, the advanced
biological capabilities of the octo spiders makes the outcome of such a
war a foregone conclusion.

What is not certain is how the humans will react once the conflict
escalates and they suffer heavy losses.  It is possible that the war
may terminate quickly and, in time, the two surviving communities may
again reach a near-equilibrium status.  Based on the available
observational data on the humans, however, there is a non-trivial
probability that this species will continue the battle until most or
all of them perish.  Such an outcome would destroy all the vestiges of
at least one of the two space faring societies remaining in the
spacecraft.  To preclude such a disadvantageous result for the project,
consideration of a stage two intercession is recommended.

Nicole was awakened by the sound of the three children playing in the
living-room.  As she was slipping on her robe, Ellie came to the door
of the bedroom and asked her if she had seen Nikki's favourite doll.

"I

think it's under her bed," Nicole replied.

Ellie returned to her packing.  Nicole could hear Richard in the
bathroom.  It won't be long now, she was thinking when her
granddaughter suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Mommy and I are leaving, Nonni," the little girl said with a smile.

"We're going to see Daddy."

Nicole opened her arms and the little girl ran over for a hug.

"I

know, darling," Nicole said.  She held the girl tightly in her arms and
then began to stroke her hair.

"I will miss you, Nikki," she said.

A few seconds later the Watanabe twins both bounded into the room.

"I'm hungry, Mrs Wakefield," Galileo said.

The too," Kepler added.

Nicole reluctantly released her granddaughter and started walking
across the bedroom.

"All right, boys," she said.

"I'll have your breakfast ready in a few minutes."

When the three children were almost finished eating.  Max, Eponine and
Marius arrived at the door.

"Guess what.  Uncle Max," Nikki said before Nicole had even had a
chance to greet the Pucketts,

"I'm going to see my daddy."

The four hours flew by quickly.  Richard and Nicole explained
everything twice, first to Max and Eponine and then to the newlyweds,
both of whom were still radiant from the pleasures of their
wedding-night.  As the time neared for the departure of Richard, Ellie
and Nikki, the excitement and energy that had characterised the morning
conversation began to wane.  Butterflies started fluttering in Nicole's
stomach.  Relax and smile, she told herself.  You won't make it any
easier by being sad.

Max was the first to say goodbye.

"Come over here.  Princess," he said to Nikki, 'and give your Uncle Max
a kiss."  The girl obediently followed directions.  Max then stood up
and crossed the room to where Ellie was talking with her mother.

"Take care of that little girl, Ellie," he said,
embracing her, 'and don'fclet the bastards get away with anything."

Max shook hands with Richard and then called the Watanabe twins to join
him outside.

The mood in the room was swiftly altered.  Despite her promise to
herself that she would remain calm, Nicole felt a surge of panic as she
suddenly realised that she had only a few minutes to complete her
farewells.  Patrick, Nai, Benjy and Eponine had followed Max's cue and
were hugging the departing trio.

Nicole tried to embrace Nikki again but the little girl scurried away,
running outside to play with the twins.  Ellie finished saying goodbye
to Eponine and turned to Nicole.

"I will miss you, Mother," she said brightly.

"I love you very much."

Nicole struggled to maintain her emotional equilibrium.

"I couldn't have asked for a better daughter," she said.  While the two
women hugged, Nicole spoke softly in her daughter's ear.

"Be careful," she said.

"There's a lot at stake .  . ."

Ellie pulled away and looked in her mother's eyes.  She took a deep
breath.

"I know, Mother," she said sombrely, 'and it frightens me.  I hope I
don't disappoint .  . ."

"You won't," Nicole said lightly, patting her daughter's shoulders.

"Just remember what the cricket said in Pinocchio."

Ellie smiled.  '"And always let your conscience be your guide.""
"Archie's here!"  Nicole heard Nikki shout.  She looked around for her
husband.  Where's Richard?  she thought in a fright.  I haven't said
goodbye .  . . Ellie was a blur as she headed for the door carrying two
backpacks.

Nicole could hardly breathe.  She heard Patrick say,

"Where's Uncle Richard?"  and a voice from the study reply,

"I'm back here."

She ran down the hall to the study.  Richard was sitting on the floor
amidst electronic components and his own open backpack.  Nicole stood
in the doorway for a second, catching her breath.

Richard heard her behind him and turned around.

"Oh, hi, darling," he said nonchalantly.

"I'm still trying to figure out how many backup components I should
take for my translators."

"Archie's here," Nicole said quietly.

Richard glanced at his watch.

"I guess it's time to go," he said.  He picked up a handful of
electronic parts and stuffed them into his backpack.  Then he stood up
and walked towards Nicole.

"Uncle Richard," Patrick yelled.

"I'm coming," Richard shouted.

"Just a minute."

Nicole began to tremble the moment Richard put his arms around her.

"Hey," he said, 'it's all right .  . . We've been apart before."

The fear inside Nicole had become so strong that she could not speak.

She tried desperately to be brave, but it was impossible.  She knew
that this was the last time she would ever touch her husband.

She put one hand behind Richard's head and pulled away slightly so that
she could kiss him.  Tears were now streaming down her cheeks.

Nicole wanted to stop time, to make this one moment last an eternity.

Her eyes took a photograph of Richard's face, and she kissed him gently
on the lips.

"I love you, Nicole," he said.

For an instant she didn't think she was going to be able to reply.

"I

love you too," she finally managed to say.

He hoisted his backpack and gave a little wave.  Nicole stood in the
doorway and watched him walk towards the door.

"Remember," she heard Omeh's voice say inside her head.

Nikki could hardly believe her good fortune.  There, in front of her,
barely outside the gates of the Emerald City, an ostrichsaur was
waiting for them, just as Archie had said.  She moved about impatiently
as her mother zipped her coat.

"Can I feed it, Mother?"

she said.

"Can I?  Can I?"

Even with the ostrichsaur sitting on the ground, Richard had to help
Nikki mount the animal.

"Thank you, Boobah," the girl said when she was comfortably nestled in
the bowl.

"The timing has been worked out very carefully," Archie told Richard
and Ellie while they were moving along the path through the forest.

"We will arrive at the camp when all the troops are starting breakfast.
That way everyone will see us."

"How will we know precisely when to appear?"  Richard asked.

"Some of the quadroids are being managed from the far northern
fields.

Soon after the first soldiers are awake, and are moving around outside
their tents, your avian friend Timmy, carrying a written announcement
of our imminent arrival, will fly over their heads in the dark.  Our
message will indicate that we will be preceded by the fireflies, and
that we will be waving a white flag, as you suggested."

Nikki noticed some strange eyes looking out at them from the dark of
the forest.

"Isn't this fun?"  she said to her mother.  Ellie did not respond.

Archie stopped the ostrichsaur about a kilometer south of the human
camp.  The lanterns and other lights outside the distant tents in front
of them looked like stars twinkling in the night.

"Timmy should be dropping our message just about now," Archie said.

They had been moving cautiously in the dark for almost a ten, not
wanting to use the fireflies because of the slight possibility that
they might be noticed too early.  Nikki was sleeping peacefully, her
head in her
mother's lap.  Both Richait-and Ellie were tense.

"What are we going to do," Richard had inquired before they stopped,
'if the troops fire on us before we can say anything?"

"We'll turn around and retreat as fast as we can," Archie had
replied.

"And what happens if they come after us with the helicopters and the
searchlights?"  Ellie had asked.

"At full speed it will take the ostrichsaur almost four wodens to reach
the forest," Archie had said.

Timmy returned to the group and reported, in a brief jabber and colour
conversation with Archie, that he had accomplished his mission.

Richard and Timmy then said farewell to each other.  The avian's large
eyes expressed an emotion Richard had not seen before as Richard rubbed
his underbelly.  A few moments later, as Timmy flew away in the
direction of the Emerald City, a pair of fireflies ignited beside the
path, and then headed in the direction of the human camp.  Richard led
the procession, clutching the white flag in his right hand.  The
ostrichsaur followed, about fifty me tres behind, carrying Ellie,
Archie and the sleeping child.

Richard could see the soldiers with his binoculars when their party was
about four hundred me tres away.  The troops were standing around,
looking in their general direction.  Richard counted twenty-six of them
altogether, including three with rifles poised and another pair
scanning the darkness with binoculars.

As planned, Ellie, Nikki and Archie dismounted when they were about two
hundred me tres from the camp.  The ostrichsaur was sent back to the
Emerald City before the four of them walked towards the human soldiers.
Nikki, who had not been ready to awaken, complained at first but became
quiet when she sensed the importance of her mother's request to remain
silent.

Archie walked between the two adult humans.  Nikki was holding her
mother's hand and scampering to keep up with the pace.

"Hello, there,"

Richard shouted when he thought he was within earshot.

"This is Richard Wakefield.  We come in peace."  He waved the white
flag vigorously.

"I am with my daughter Ellie, my granddaughter Nikki, and an octo
spider representative."

They must have been an amazing sight for the soldiers, none of whom had
ever seen an octo spider before.  With the fireflies hovering over the
heads of the troops, Richard and his party emerged from the Raman
dark.

One of the soldiers stepped forward.

"I am Captain Enrico Pioggi," he said, 'the commanding officer of this
camp... I accept your surrender on behalf of the armed forces of New
Eden."

Because the announcement of their impending arrival had been
delivered
to the camp less than half an hour earlier, the New Eden chain of
command had not had time to formulate a plan of what to do with the
prisoners.  As soon as he had confirmed that a party of a man, a woman,
a child and an alien octo spider were indeed approaching his camp,
Captain Pioggi had again radioed the front headquarters in New York and
requested instructions on how to proceed.  The colonel in charge of the
campaign told him to 'secure the prisoners' and 'stand by for further
orders'.

Richard had anticipated that none of the officers would be willing to
take any definitive action until Nakamura himself had been consulted.

He had told Archie, during their long ride on the ostrichsaur, that it
would be important to use whatever time they might have with the
soldiers in the camp to start rebutting the propaganda that the New
Eden government was spreading.

"This creature," Richard said in a loud voice after the prisoners had
been searched and the curious troops were nul ling around them, 'is
what we call an octo spider All octo spiders are very intelligent in
some ways more intelligent than we are and about fifteen thousand of
them live in the Southern Hemicylinder, which extends from here to the
base of the south polar bowl.  My family and I have been living in
their realm for over a year, of our own choice I might add, and we have
found the octo spiders to be moral and peace-loving.  My daughter Ellie
and I have come forward with this octo spider representative, whom we
call Archie, to try to find some way of stopping a military
confrontation between our two species."

"Aren't you Dr Robert Turner's wife?"  said one of the troops.

"The one who was kidnapped by the octo spiders

"Yes, I am," Ellie said in a clear voice.

"Except that I wasn't kidnapped in the truest sense of the word.  The
octo spiders wanted to establish communications with us, and had been
unable to do so.  I was taken because they believed that I had the
capacity to learn their language."

"That thing talksy another soldier said with disbelief.

Until that moment Archie, as planned, had been silent.  The troops all
stared dumbfounded as colours began pouring out of the right side of
his slit and circumnavigating his head.

"Archie says greetings," Ellie translated.

"He asks each of you to understand that neither he, nor any member of
his species, wishes you any harm.  Archie also wants me to inform you
that he can read lips, and will be happy to answer any questions you
might have .  . ."

"Is this for real?"  a soldier said.

Meanwhile a frustrated Captain Pioggi was standing off to the side,
providing an eyewitness account by radio to the colonel in New York.

"Yes, sir," he was saying, 'colours on its head ... all different
colours, sir, red, blue, yellow .  . . like rectangles, moving
rectangles, they go
around its head, and then-more of them follow .  . . What's that,
sir?

. . . The woman, the doctor's wife, sir ... she apparently knows what
the colours mean .  . . No, sir, there aren't any coloured letters,
just the coloured strips .  . .

"Right now, sir, the alien is talking to the soldiers .  . . No, sir,
they are not using colours .  . . According to the woman, sir, the octo
spider can read lips .  . . like a hearing-impaired person, sir ...
same technique I guess .  . . anyway, it then answers in colour and the
doctor's wife translates .  . .

"No weapons of any kind, sir ... plenty of toys, clothes, weird-looking
objects prisoner Wakefield says are electronic components .  . . Toys,
sir, I said toys .  . . the little girl had a lot of toys in her
backpack .  . . No, we don't have a scanner up here .  . . Right, sir
... do you have any idea how long we might be waiting, sir?"

By the time Captain Pioggi finally received orders to send the
prisoners to New York in one of the helicopters, Archie had thoroughly
impressed all the soldiers at the camp.  The octo spider had begun the
demonstration of his prodigious mental abilities by multiplying five-
and six-place numbers in his head.

"Now how do we know that the octo spider thing is really coming up with
the right answer?"  one of the younger soldiers had asked.

"All it does is show a string of colours."

"My man," Richard had replied with a laugh, 'didn't you just verify on
the lieutenant's calculator that the number my daughter gave was
correct?  Do you think she computed the product in her head?"

"Oh, yeah," the youth said.

"I see what you mean."

What really overwhelmed the soldiers was Archie's phenomenal memory.

At Richard's urging, one of the troops listed a sequence of several
hundred numbers on a sheet of paper and then read the sequence to
Archie, a single number at a time.  The octo spider repeated them back
through Ellie, without any errors.  Some of the soldiers thought that
there had been a trick involved, that maybe Richard was Hashing coded
signals to Archie.  However, when Archie duplicated his feat under
carefully controlled conditions, all the doubters were convinced.

The atmosphere in the camp was relaxed and amiable by the time the
orders were received to transport the prisoners to New York.  The first
part of their plan had succeeded beyond their wildest imaginings.

Nevertheless, Richard was not over-confident when they climbed aboard
the helicopter to cross a portion of the Cylindrical Sea.

They only stayed in New York for about an hour.  Armed guards met the
prisoners at the helicopter pad in the western plaza, confiscated
their
backpacks over Richard and Nikki's loud protests, and marched them to
The Port.  Richard carried Nikki in his arms.  He barely had time to
admire his favourite skyscrapers looming overhead in the dark.

The yacht that carried them across the northern half of the Cylindrical
Sea was similar to the pleasure-boats that Nakamura and his cronies
used on Lake Shakespeare.  At no time during the crossing did any of
the guards speak to them.

"Boobah," Nikki whispered to Richard after several of her questions had
gone unheeded, 'don't these men know how to talk?"  She giggled.

A rover was waiting for them on a dock that had been recently
constructed to support the new activities in New York and the Southern
Hemicy Under.  At considerable effort and expense, the humans had cut
an opening through the southern barrier wall, in an area adjacent to
the avian/ sessile habitat, and had built a large docking facility.

Richard wondered at first why he and his companions had not been flown
directly back to New Eden in the helicopter.  After a few quick mental
calculations, however, he correctly concluded that because of the
enormous height of the barrier wall, which extended well up into the
region where the artificial gravity caused by the spinning Rama
spacecraft began to drop substantially, as well as the probable lack of
skilled pilots, there was an upper limit placed on the altitude at
which the hastily built helicopters were allowed to fly.  That means,
Richard was thinking as he boarded the rover, that the humans must move
all their equipment and personnel either through this dock or by means
of the moat and tunnel underneath the second habitat.

Their rover was driven by a Garcia biot.  In front and behind them were
two other rovers, both with armed humans.  They sped across the
darkness of the Central Plain.  Richard sat in the front seat, beside
the driver, with Archie, Ellie and Nikki in the back.  Richard had
turned around in his seat, and was reminding Archie of the five kinds
of biots in New Eden, when the Garcia interrupted him.

"The prisoner Wakefield is to face forward and remain silent," the biot
said.

"Isn't that just a little bit ridiculous?"  Richard said lightly.

The Garcia pulled its right arm off the steering-wheel and struck
Richard hard in the face with the back of its hand.

"Face forward and remain silent," the biot repeated, as Richard
recoiled from the force of the slap.

Nikki started crying after the sudden display of violence.  Ellie tried
both to quiet and to comfort her.

"I don't like the driver, Mommy,"

the little girl said.

"I really don't."

It was night inside New Eden after they were ushered through the
check-point at the entrance to the habitat.  Archie and the three
humans were placed into an open electric car driven by another Garcia
biot.

Richard noticed immediately that it was almost as cold in New Eden as
it had been in Rama.  The car bounced down the road, which was in an
acute state of disrepair, and turned north at what had once been the
train station for the village ofPositano.  Fifteen or twenty people
were huddled around camp-fires on the concrete areas surrounding the
old station, and another three or four were stretched out and sleeping
underneath cardboard boxes and old clothing.

"What are those people doing.  Mommy?"  Nikki asked.  Ellie did not
answer because the Garcia turned around quickly with a hostile stare.

The neon lights of Vegas could already be seen in front of them when
the car took a sharp left turn, on to a residential lane in a wooded
section that had once been part of Sherwood Forest.  The car came to an
abrupt halt in front of a large, rambling ranch-house.  Two Oriental
men, armed with both pistols and daggers, approached the car.  They
gestured for the passengers to climb out of the car and then dismissed
the biot.

"Come with us," said one of the men.

Archie and his human companions entered the house and were taken down a
long flight of stairs into a basement with no windows.

"There is food and water on the table," the second man said.  He turned
and started to climb the stairs.

"Wait a minute," Richard said.

"Our backpacks ... we need to have our backpacks."

"They will be returned," the man said impatiently, 'as soon as all the
contents have been carefully checked."

"And when do we see Nakamura?"  Richard inquired.

The man shrugged.  His face was expressionless.  He walked quickly up
the stairs.

The days passed very slowly.  Richard, Ellie and Nikki were without a
time-reference at first, but they soon learned that octo spiders have a
wonderfully precise inner clock that is calibrated and enhanced during
their juvenile education.  After they converted Archie to using human
time-measurements (Richard used his oft-quoted

"When in Rome .  . ."

to convince Archie to abandon, at least temporarily, his terts, wodens,
fengs and nil lets they discovered, by sneaking glances at their
guard's digital watch when he brought food or water, that Archie's
internal timing accuracy was better than ten seconds out of every
twenty-four hours.

Nikki amused herself by constantly asking Archie the time.  As a
result, after repeated observation Richard and even Nikki learned how
to read Archie's colours for time-references and small numbers.  In
fact, as the days passed, the regular conversation in the basement
significantly improved Richard's overall comprehension of the octo
spider language.  Although his skill in understanding the colour-strips
was still not as advanced as Ellie's, after a week Richard could
comfortably converse with Archie without needing Ellie as an
interpreter.

The humans slept on futons on the floor.  Archie curled up behind them
for the few hours each night that he slept.  One or other of the two
Oriental men replenished their supplies once each day.  Richard never
failed to remind the guards that they were still waiting for their
backpacks and for their audience with Nakamura.

After eight days the daily sponge-baths in the wash-basin adjoining the
basement toilet were no longer satisfactory.  Richard asked if they
could have access to a shower and some soap.  Several hours later a
large laundry- tub was carried down the stairs.  Each of the humans
bathed, although Nikki was at first surprisingly reluctant to be naked
in front of Archie.  Richard and Ellie felt sufficiently better after
bathing to manage to share some optimism.

"There's no way he can keep our existence a secret for ever," Richard
said.

"Too many of the troops saw us ... and it would not be possible for
them not to say anything, no matter what Nakamura ordered."

"I'm certain they will come for us soon," Ellie added brightly.

By the end of their weond week of imprisonment, however, their
temporary optimism had waned.  Richard and Ellie were beginning to lose
hope.  It didn't help that Nikki had become a complete brat, announcing
regularly that she was bored and complaining about not having anything
to do.  Archie began to tell Nikki stories to keep her occupied.  His
octo- spider 'legends' (he had a long discussion with Ellie about the
exact meaning of the word before he finally accepted the term)
delighted the little girl.

It helped that Ellie's translations rang with the resonant phrases the
girl already associated with bedtime fairy-tales.

"Once upon a time, back in the days of the Precursors .  . ."  Archie
would begin a story, and Nikki would squeal with anticipation.

"What did the Precursors look like, Archie?"  the little girl asked
after one such story.

"The legends never say," Archie replied.

"So I guess you can create whatever image of them you want in your
imagination."

"Is that story true?"  Nikki asked Archie on another occasion.

"Would the octo spiders really never have left their own planet if the
Precursors had not taken them into space first?"

"So the legends indicate," Archie replied.

"They say that almost everything we knew until about fifty thousand
years ago was taught to us originally by the Precursors."

One night, after Nikki was asleep, Richard and Ellie asked Archie about
the origin of the legends.

"They have been around for tens of thousands of your years," the octo
spider said.

"The earliest documented records from our genus contain many of the
stories I have shared with you these last few days .  . . There are
several different opinions about how factual the legends are ... Dr
Blue believes that they are basically accurate, and probably the work
of some master story-teller, an alternate of course, whose genius was
not recognised in his or her lifetime.

"If the legends can be believed," Archie said in answer to another of
Richard's questions, 'many, many years ago we octo spiders were simple,
seafaring creatures whose natural evolution had produced only minimal
intelligence and awareness.  It was the Precursors who discovered our
potential by mapping our genetic structure, and they who altered us
over many generations into what we had become when the Great Calamity
occurred."

"What exactly happened to the Precursors?"  Ellie asked.

"There are many stories, some contradictory.  Most or all of the
Precursors living on the primary planet we shared with them were
probably killed in the Great Calamity.  Some of the legends suggest
that their remote colonial outposts around nearby stars survived for
several hundred years, but ultimately succumbed as well.  One legend
says that the Precur-
sors continued to thrive in other, more favourable star systems, and
became the dominant form of intelligence in the galaxy.  We do not
know.  All that is known for certain is that the land portion of our
primary planet was uninhabitable for many, many years, and that when
the octo spider civilisation again ventured out of the water, none of
the Precursors was alive."

The group of four in the basement developed their own diurnal rhythm as
the days stretched into weeks.  Each morning, before Nikki and Ellie
awakened, Archie and Richard would talk about a wide range of topics of
mutual interest.  By this time, Archie's lip-reading was nearly
flawless, and Richard's comprehension of the octo spider colours was so
good that the octo spider was only rarely asked to repeat what he had
said.

Many of the conversations were about science.  Archie was especially
fascinated by the history of science in the human species.  He wanted
to know what discoveries were made when, what prompted the key
investigations or experiments in the first place, and what inaccurate
or competing models explaining the phenomena were discarded as a result
of each new understanding.

"So it was actually war that accelerated the development of both
aeronautics and nuclear physics in your species," Archie said one
morning.  "What an amazing concept!  .  . . You cannot possibly
appreciate," the octo spider added a few seconds later, 'how staggering
it is for me to experience, even vicariously, your incremental process
of learning about nature .  . . Our history is totally different.  In
the beginning our species was completely ignorant.  Shortly thereafter
a new kind of octo spider was created, one that could not only think,
but -also observe the world and understand what it was seeing.  Our
mentors and creators, the Precursors, already had explanations for
everything.  Our task as a species was quite simple.  We learned what
we could from our teachers.

Naturally, we did not have any concept of the trial and error that is
involved in science.  For that matter, we had no idea at all of how any
component in a culture evolves.  The brilliant engineering of the
Precursors allowed us to skip hundreds of millions of years of
evolution.

"Needless to say, we were woefully unprepared for taking care of
ourselves after the Great Calamity occurred.  According to the more
historical of our legends, our primary intellectual activity for the
next several hundred years was to accumulate and understand as much of
the Precursor information as we could find and/ or remember.  In the
meantime, with our benefactors no longer around to provide ethical
guidelines, our sociological progress was negative.  We entered a long,
long period in which it was questionable whether or not the new,
intelligent octo spiders created by the Precursors would indeed survive
. . ."

Richard was overwhel--d by the idea of what he called a 'derivative
technological species'.

"I had never imagined," he told Archie one morning with his usual
excitement of discovery, 'that there might exist a space- faring
species that had never worked out, on its own, the laws of gravity, and
had never derived, in a long sequence of experiments, the essentials of
physics, such as the characteristics of the electromagnetic spectrum.
It is a mind-boggling thought .  . .

But now that I understand what you are telling me, it seems quite
natural.  If species A, who are advanced space farers encounter species
B, intelligent but somewhere lower on the technological ladder, it is
perfectly logical to assume that, after contact, species B would skip
the rungs between .  . ."

"Our case, of course," Archie explained that same morning, 'was even
more unusual.  The paradigm that you are describing is indeed quite
natural, and has happened, according to both our history and the
legends, with great frequency.  More space farers are derivative, to
use your word, than naturally evolved.  Take the avians and the
sessiles, for example.  Their symbiosis, which developed without any
outside interference, had already existed in a star system not far from
our home planet for thousands of years when they were first visited on
an exploratory mission by the Precursors.  The avians and sessiles
would almost certainly never have developed a space faring capability
on their own.  However, after meeting the Precursors and seeing their
first spacecraft, they asked for and received the technology necessary
to achieve space flight .  . .

"Our situation is generically different, and definitely much more
derivative.  If our legends are true, the Precursors were already space
farers when we octo spiders were still totally insentient.  At that
epoch we were not even capable of conceiving of the idea of a planet,
much less of the space surrounding it.  Our fate was decided' by the
advanced beings with whom we shared our world.  The Precursors
recognised the potential in our genetic structure.  Using their
engineering skills, they improved us, gave us minds, shared their
information with us, and created an advanced culture where none would
probably have ever existed .  . ."

A deep bonding developed between Richard and Archie as a result of the
regular early-morning conversations.  Unencumbered by any distractions,
the two were able to share their fundamental love of knowledge.  Each
expanded the understanding of the other, thereby enriching their mutual
appreciation for the wonders of the universe.

Nikki almost always woke up before Ellie.  Soon after the girl had
finished her breakfast, the group entered the second segment of their
daily schedule.  Although Nikki occasionally played games with Archie,
she spent most of what might be called her morning in informal classes.
She had three teachers.  Nikki read a little, did elementary addition
and subtraction, talked to her grandfather about science and nature,
and had
lessons with Archie on morals and ethics.  She also learned the octo
spider alphabet and a few simple phrases.  Nikki was very quick with
the language of colour, a fact that the others attributed both to her
altered genes and to her natural intelligence.

"Our juveniles spend a significant amount of their schooling time
discussing and interpreting case studies that raise critical moral
problems," Archie told Richard and Elite one morning during a
discussion of education.

"Real-life situations are chosen as examples - although the actual
facts may be slightly altered to sharpen the issues and the young octo-
spiders are asked to assess the acceptability of various possible
responses.  They do this in open discussion."

"Is this to expose the juveniles at an early age to the concept of
Optimisation?"  Richard asked.

"Not really," Archie replied.

"What we are trying to do is to prepare the young for the real task of
living, which involves regular interaction with others, with many
behaviour al choices.  Each juvenile is strongly encouraged to use the
case studies to develop his or her own value system.  Our species
believes that knowledge does not exist in a vacuum.  Only when
knowledge is an integral part of a way of living does it achieve any
real significance .  . ."

Archie's case studies presented Nikki with simple but elegant ethical
problems.  The basic issues of lying, fairness, prejudice and
selfishness were all covered in the first eight lessons.  The girl's
responses to the situations often drew upon examples from her own
life.

"Galileo will always say or do whatever he thinks will allow him to
have his own way," Nikki remarked during one lesson, showing that she
understood the fundamental principle being raised by the case in
question.

"To him, what he wants is more important than anything else .  . .
Kepler is different.  He never makes me cry .  . ."

Nikki napped in the afternoon.  While she was sleeping, Richard, Ellie
and Archie often exchanged comments and insights that highlighted the
similarities and differences between the two species.

"If I have understood correctly," Ellie said one day after a lively
conversation about how intelligent, sensitive beings should handle
members of their community who exhibit antisocial behaviour, 'your
society is much less tolerant than ours .  . . There is clearly a
"preferred way of living" that is advanced by your communities.  Those
octo spiders who do not embrace that preferred model are not only
ostracised early, but also denied participation in many of life's more
rewarding activities, and "terminated" after a shorter-than- normal
lifespan .  .

."

"In our society," Archie said in reply, 'what is acceptable is always
clear - there is no confusion as there is in yours.  Thus our
individuals make their choices with full knowledge of the consequences
. . . Incidentally,
the Alternate Domain isnuM like one of your prisons.  It is a place
where octo spiders and other species as well, can live without the
regimentation and optimisation necessary for the continued development
and survival of the colony.  Some of the alternates live to be very
old, and are quite happy .  . .

"Your society, at least what I have observed of it, seems not to
understand the fundamental inconsistency between individual freedom and
the common welfare.  The two must be carefully balanced.  No group can
survive, let alone thrive, unless what is good for the overall
community is more important than individual freedom .  . . Take, for
example, resource allocation.  How can anyone with any intelligence
possibly justify, in terms of the overall community, the accumulation
and hoarding of enormous material assets by a few individuals when
others do not even have food, clothing and other essentials?  .  . ."

In the basement Archie was not the reticent and/ or evasive octo spider
he had sometimes been in the Emerald City.  He spoke openly about all
aspects of his civilisation, as if the common mission he was
undertaking with his human colleagues had somehow freed him from all
constraints.  Was Archie consciously sending a message to the other
humans who were almost certainly monitoring the conversation?

Perhaps.  But how much of the conversation could Nakamura's men have
understood, since they knew nothing of the language of colour?  No, it
was more likely that Archie, better than any of the humans, realised
that his death was imminent, and wanted his final days to be as
meaningful and stimulating as possible.

One night before Richard and Elite went to sleep, Archie said that he
had something 'personal' to tell them.

"I do not want to alarm you,"

the octo spider said, 'but I have consumed almost all of the supply
ofbarrican that is in my intake buffer.  If we stay here much longer,
and my bar rican runs out, as you know, I will begin to undergo sexual
maturity.  According to our files, I will become more aggressive and
possessive at that time.  I hope that I will not .  . ."

"Don't worry about it," Richard said with a laugh.

"I have dealt with teenagers before.  Certainly I can handle an octo
spider who no longer has a perfect temperament."

One morning the guard bringing their food and water told Ellie to
prepare herself and the girl to leave.

"When?"  Ellie said.

"Ten minutes," the guard replied.

"Where are we going?"  Ellie inquired.

The guard said nothing and disappeared up the stairway.

While Ellie was doing her best to freshen herself and Nikki (they had
brought only three changes of clothes with them and had had
difficulty
cleaning them), she reviewed with Richard and Archie what she would
say if she were able to meet Nakamura or any of the other colony
leaders.

"Don't forget," her father stressed in a rapid whisper over in one
corner of the room, 'although it is all right to say that the octo
spiders are a peace-loving species, we will not be able to stop any war
unless we convince Nakamura that he cannot possibly win an armed
conflict.  The point must be made that their technology has advanced
far beyond ours."

"But what if they ask for specifics?"

"You wouldn't be expected to know any details.  Tell them that I can
supply all the specifics."

Ellie and Nikki were taken by electric car to the colony hospital in
Central City.  They were whisked through the emergency entrance and
into a small, sterile office with two chairs, a couch or bed used for
examinations, and some complex electronic equipment.  Ellie and Nikki
sat alone for ten minutes before Dr Robert Turner walked into the
room.

He looked very old.

"Hi, Nikki," he said, smiling and squatting down with his arms
outstretched.

"Come give your daddy a hug."

The girl hesitated for a moment and then ran across the room to her
father.  Robert picked her up and swung her around in his arms.

"It's so good to see you, Nikki," he said.

Ellie stood up and waited.  After several seconds Robert put his
daughter back down on the floor and looked at his wife.

"How are you, Ellie?"  he asked.

"Fine," Ellie replied, suddenly feeling awkward.

"How azeyou, Robert?"

"About the same," he said.

They met in the middle of the room and embraced.  Ellie tried to kiss
him tenderly but their lips merely brushed before Robert turned away.

She could sense the tension in his body.

"What is it, Robert?"  Ellie said softly.

"What's wrong?"

"I've just been working too hard, as usual," he replied.  He moved over
beside the examination bed.

"Would you take off your clothes and lie down here, please Ellie?  I
want to make certain you're all right."

"Right this minute?"  an incredulous Ellie asked.

"Before we even talk about what has happened to us during the months
that we have been separated?"

"I'm sorry, Ellie," Robert said with a trace of a smile.

"I'm very busy tonight.  The hospital is terribly understaffed.  I
talked them into releasing you by promising .  . ."

Ellie had walked around the bed and was standing very close to her
husband.  She reached down and took his hand.

"Robert," she said gently, "I am your wife.  I love you.  We have not
seen each other for over a year.  Surely you can take a minute .  .
."

Tears had formed in Robert's eyes.

"What is it, Robert?  Tell me."

Ellie
had a sudden fright.  He'wuarried someone else, she thought in
panic.

"What has happened to you, Ellie?"  he said suddenly in a loud voice.

"How could you possibly tell those soldiers that you were not
kidnapped, and that the octo spiders were not hostile?  .  . . You have
made me a laughing-stock.  Every single citizen in New Eden has heard
me, on television, describing that terrible moment that you were
abducted .  . . My memories are so horribly clear .  . ."

Ellie had backed up at first when Robert began his outburst.  As she
stood there listening, still holding his hand, his anguish was
obvious.

"I made those comments, Robert, because I was, and am, trying to do
whatever I can to stop any conflict between the octo spiders and us ...
I am sorry if my remarks caused you pain."

"The octo spiders have brainwashed you, Ellie," Robert said bitterly.

"I knew it as soon as Nakamura's men showed me the reports.  Somehow
they have tampered with your mind so that you are no longer in touch
with reality."

Nikki had started whimpering when Robert had first raised his voice.

She did not understand what the disagreement between her parents was
about, but she could tell that everything was not all right.  She began
to cry and to cling to her mother's leg.

"It's all right, Nikki," Ellie said soothingly.

"Your father and I are just talking."

When Ellie glanced up Robert had taken a transparent skull-cap out of a
drawer and was holding it in his hand.

"So you're going to give me an EEG," she said nervously, 'to make
certain that I haven't become one of them?"

"It's not funny, Ellie," Robert replied.

"My EEGs have all been weird since I returned to New Eden.  I can't
explain it, nor can the neurologist on my staff.  He says he has never
seen such radical changes in an individual's brain activity, except in
the case of severe injury."

"Robert," Ellie said, taking his hand again.

"The octo spiders planted a microbiological block in your memory when
you departed.  To protect themselves .  . . That could be part of the
explanation for your peculiar brain waves

Robert looked at Ellie for a long time without speaking.

"They kidnapped you," he said.

"They tampered with my brain .  . . Who knows what they may have done
to our daughter .  . . How can you possibly defend them?"

Ellie submitted to the EEG and the results showed neither any
irregularities nor any major differences from the routine brain-testing
that she had undergone during the early days of the colony.  Robert
seemed genuinely relieved.  He then told Ellie that Nakamura and the
government
were prepared to drop all charges against her, and would let her
return home with Nikki, under house arrest temporarily of course, if
she would provide information about the octo spiders Ellie thought
about the request for a few minutes and then agreed.

Robert smiled and gave her a brisk hug.

"Good," he said.

"You'll start tomorrow .  . . I'll tell them right away."

Richard had warned Ellie during the ride on the ostrichsaur that
Nakamura might try to use her in some way, most likely to justify his
continued prosecution of the war.  Ellie knew that by agreeing
ostensibly to help the New Eden government she was committing herself
to a very dangerous course.  i must be careful, she told herself as she
soaked in a hot bath-tub, never to say anything that would hurt Richard
or Archie.  Or that would give Nakamwa's troops an unfair advantage in
a possible war.

Nikki had been unfamiliar with her old bedroom at first, but after an
hour or so of playing with some of her toys, she seemed quite
content.

She came into the bathroom and stood next to the tub.

"When will Daddy be home?"  she asked Ellie.

"He'll be late, darling," Ellie replied.

"After you've gone to bed."

"I like my room, Mommy," Nikki said.

"It's much better than that old basement."

"I'm glad," Ellie replied.  The little girl smiled and left the
bathroom.  Ellie took a deep breath.  It would have served no purpose,
she rationalised, if I had refused and we had been returned to
confinement.

Katie had not finished with her make-up when she heard the buzzer
sound.  She took a drag on the cigarette burning in the ashtray beside
her and pushed the

"Talk' button.

"Who is it?"  she said.

"It's me," came the reply.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the day?"

"I have some important news," Captain Franz Bauer said.

"Buzz me up."

Katie inhaled deeply on the cigarette and stubbed it out.  She stood up
and looked at herself in the full-length mirror.  She adjusted her hair
slightly just before the knock on her door.

"This had better be important, Franz," Katie said, letting him into the
room, 'or your ass is mud.  You know I have a disciplinary meeting with
two of the girls in a few minutes and I hate to be late."

Franz grinned.

"You caught them skimming again?  .  . . Jesus, Katie, I'd hate for you
to be my boss."

Katie looked at Franz impatiently.

"Well?"  she said.

"What was too important for the telephone?"

Franz had begun to walk around the living-room.  The room was
tastefully decorated, with a black and white sofa and love-seat, two
matching chairs, and several interesting objets dart on both the end
tables and the coffee-table.

"There's not any chance that your apartment is bugged, is there?"

"You tell me, Mr Police Captain," Katie said.

"Now really, Franz," she added, glancing at her watch,

"I don't have .  . ."

"There is a reliable report," Franz said, 'that your father is in New
Eden at this very moment."

"Whaat?"  said Katie.

"How is that possible?"  She was stunned.  She sat down on the couch
and reached for another cigarette from the coffee-table.

"A lieutenant of mine is close friends with one of your father's
guards.  He was told that Richard and one of those ociospider creatures
are being held in the basement of a private residence not far from
here."

Katie crossed the room and picked up the telephone.

"Daria," she said,
'tell Lauren and Atsuko that the meeting today is off ... Something
has come up ... Reschedule for two o'clock tomorrow afternoon .  . .

Oh, that's right, I forgot .  . . Damnit ... All right, make it eleven
in the morning ... No, eleven-thirty, I don't want to get up any
earlier than necessary."

Katie returned to the couch and picked up her cigarette.  She took a
huge drag and blew smoke-rings into the air over her head.

"I want to know everything that you have heard about my father."

Franz informed Katie that, according to his sources, her father, her
sister Ellie, her niece and an octo spider had suddenly appeared,
carrying a white flag, at the troop encampment on the southern edge of
the Cylindrical Sea about two months ago.  They had been quite relaxed
and had even joked with the soldiers, Franz said.  Her father and
sister had told the troops that they had come forward, with an octo
spider representative, to see if an armed conflict between the two
species could be avoided through negotiation.  Nakamura had ordered
that the entire affair be kept secret, and had taken them .  .

.

Katie was pacing around the room.

"My father is not only alive," she said excitedly, 'he is here, in New
Eden .  . . Have I ever told you, Franz," she said, 'that my father is
absolutely the smartest human being who ever lived?"

"About a dozen times," Franz said.  He laughed.

"I can't imagine how anyone could be smarter than you."

Katie waved her hand.

"He makes me look like an absolute idiot .  . .

He was always such a dear.  I could get away with anything."  She
stopped her pacing and inhaled on her cigarette.  Her eyes sparkled as
she exhaled the smoke.

"Franz," she said,

"I must see him ... I absolutely must."

"That's impossible, Katie," he said.

"Nobody is even supposed to know that he's here.  I could be fired, or
worse, if anyone ever found out that I told you .  . ."

"I'm pleading with you, Franz," Katie said, crossing the room and
grabbing him by the shoulders.

"You know how I hate asking anyone for favours .  . . but this is very
important to me."

Franz was delighted that for once, Katie was requesting something from
him.  Nevertheless, he told her the truth.

"Katie," he said, 'you still don't understand.  There is an armed guard
around the house at all times.  The entire basement is bugged with
audio and video monitors.  There is just no way."

"There's always a way," Katie said emphatically, 'if something is
important enough."  She reached inside his shirt and began tweaking his
right nipple.

"You do love me, don't you, Franz?"  She kissed him, a full open
mouthed kiss with her tongue darting teasingly across his.

Katie pulled away slightly, continuing to play with his nipple.

"Of course I love you, Katie," Franz said, already very much
aroused.

"But I'm not crazy."

Katie marched off into her bedroom and returned less than a minute
later with two stacks of notes.

"I am going to see my father, Franz,"

she said, throwing the money on the coffee-table.

"And you are going to help me ... You can bribe anyone you want with
this money."

Franz was impressed.  The money was more than adequate.

"And what are you going to do for me?"  he said almost jokingly.

"What am I going to do for you?"  Katie said.

"What am I going to do for you?"  Katie took him by the hand and led
him to the bedroom.

"Now, Captain Bauer," she said in an accented voice, 'you just take off
all your clothes and lie here on your back.  You'll see what I am going
to do for you."

Katie's apartment had a sitting/ dressing-room adjacent to her
bedroom.

She walked into the smaller room and closed the door.  With a key she
unlocked a large, decorated box on the top of the counter and pulled
out one of the full syringes she had prepared earlier in the day.

Katie lifted her dress and tied a tight tourniquet around her upper
thigh with a piece of small black tubing.  She waited momentarily until
she could clearly identify a blood-vessel in the mass of bruises on her
thigh, and then she deftly inserted the syringe.  After pressing all
the fluid into her bloodstream, Katie waited a few seconds for the
fantastic rush, and then removed the tourniquet.

"What am I supposed to do while I'm waiting?"

"Rilke is in my electronic reader, darling," she said, 'both in German
and English.  I'll only be a few more minutes."

Katie was flying.  She started humming a dance-tune while she threw the
syringe away and returned the tourniquet to the box.  She took off all
her clothes, stopping twice to admire her body in the mirror, and put
them in a pile upon the vanity stool.  Then she opened a large drawer
in the vanity and pulled out a blindfold.

She paraded into the bedroom.  Franz's eyes feasted admiringly upon her
lithe body.

"Look carefully," Katie said, "cause this is all you're going to see
this afternoon."

Katie draped her naked body casually across his and kissed him
intermittently while she attached the blindfold.  She made certain that
the blindfold was snug and then jumped down from the bed.

"What happens now?"  Franz asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Katie said teasingly as she
rummaged through a large drawer at the bottom of her dresser.  The
drawer contained a smorgasbord of sexual paraphernalia, including
electronic aids of all kinds, lotions, ropes and other bondage
equipment, masks and assorted models of genitalia.  Katie selected a
small bottle of lotion, a vial of white powder, and some beads strung
along a piece of thin cord.

Still humming and laughing to herself, Katie rejoined Franz on the bed
and began to run her fingers over his chest.  She kissed him
provocatively with her body pressed against his and then sat up.  After
pouring the lotion on her hands, and rubbing them together vigorously,
Katie spread his legs, crawled on to his stomach with her back toward
Franz's face, and began to apply the lotion to his most sensitive
parts.

"Ummm," Franz murmured as the warm lotion began to take effect.

"That's wonderful."

Katie dusted his genitalia with the white powder and then mounted him
very slowly.  Franz was in ecstasy.  Katie rocked back and forth in an
easy rhythm for a few minutes.  When she could tell that Franz was
nearing a climax, she halted her motion temporarily, and reached under
him to insert the beads.  She rocked two or three more times and then
halted again.

"Don't stop now," Franz shouted.

"Repeat after me," Katie said with a chuckle, moving slowly back and
forth one more time,

"I promise .  . ."

"Anything," Franz yelled, 'just don't stop again."

"I promise," she continued, 'that Katie Wakefield will see her father
some time in the next few days."

Franz repeated the promise and Katie rewarded him.  When she pulled the
cord just after he started his climax, Franz screamed at the top of his
lungs like an animal in the forest.

Ellie did not like her two interrogators.  They were both dry,
humourless individuals who treated her with complete disdain.

"This isn't going to work, gentlemen," she said in an exasperated tone
at one point during the first day of questioning, 'if you insist on
asking the same questions over and over ... I understood that I was
being asked to supply some information about the octo spiders .  . .

Thus far the questions, which you are now repeating, have all been
about my mother and my father."

"Mrs Turner," the first man said, 'the government is trying to gather
all possible information about this case.  Your mother and father have
both been fugitives for many .  . ."

"Look," Ellie interrupted,

"I have already told you that I know nothing whatsoever about how,
when, or even why either of my parents left New Eden.  Nor do I have
any knowledge if they were helped to escape, in any way, by the octo
spiders .  . . Now unless you are prepared to change the line of
questioning .  . ."

"It is not you, young lady," the second man said, his eyes flashing,
'who decides what are appropriate questions in this inquiry.  Perhaps
you do not understand the seriousness of your situation.  You will be
granted
freedom from prosecution, on a very serious charge I might dd, only if
you co-operate totally with us."

"Just what is the charge against me," Ellie asked.

"I'm curious ... I have never been a criminal before."

"You can be charged with first-degree treason," the first man said.

"Deliberately aiding and abetting the enemy during a period of declared
hostilities."

"That's absurd," Ellie replied, frightened nevertheless.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do you deny that during the period of time that you were staying with
the aliens, you freely gave them information about New Eden that could
be useful during a war?"

"Of course I did," Ellie said laughing nervously.

"I told them as much as I could about our colony.  And they
reciprocated.  The octo spiders shared all the same information with
us."

Both men scribbled furiously on their pads.  How did they get like
this?"  Ellie wondered suddenly.  How can a laughing, curious child be
transformed into such a grim and hostile adult?  Is that environment,
or heredity?

"Look, gentlemen," Ellie said when the next question was asked, 'this
is not going well for me.  I would like to declare a recess and
organise my thoughts.  Maybe I'll even make a few notes before we
reconvene .  . . ; I had envisaged an altogether different process,
something much more relaxed .  . ."

The two men agreed to the break.  Ellie walked down the hallway to
where a government sitter was staying with Nikki.

"You can go now, Mrs Adams," Ellie said.

"We're taking time off for lunch."

Nikki could read the worried look on Ellie's face.

"Are those men being mean to you.  Mommy?"  she asked.

At length Ellie smiled.

"You could say that, Nikki," she said.

"You certainly could say that."

Richard completed the last of his walking laps around the basement and
headed for the wash-basin in the corner of the room.  He stopped first
at the table for a quick drink of water.  Archie remained motionless on
the floor behind Richard's mattress.

"Good morning," Richard said as he wiped his sweat with a piece of
cloth.

"Are you ready for some breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," the octo spider replied in colour.

"You have to eat something," Richard said cheerfully.

"I agree with you that the food is terrible, but you can't survive on
water alone."

Archie did not move or say anything.  For the last several days, ever
since the supply of his stored bar rican had been exhausted, the octo
spider had not been very good company.  Richard had been unable to
engage Archie in their usual stimulating conversation and had become
concerned
about the octo spider health.  Richard put some grain in a bowl,
sprinkled water on it, and carried it over to his friend.

"Here," he said gently, 'try to eat a little."

Archie lifted a pair of tentacles and took the bowl.  As he began to
eat, a bright orange burst came out of his slit and moved half-way down
one of his other tentacles before fading away.

"What was that?"  Richard asked.

"An emotional expression," Archie answered, his response accompanied by
more irregular colour-bursts.

Richard smiled.

"OK," he said, 'but what kind of emotion?"

After a long pause, Archie's coloured strips were more regimented.

"I

guess you would call it depression," the octo spider said.

"Is that what happens when the bar rican is gone?"  Richard asked.

Archie did not reply.  At length Richard returned to the table and
prepared himself a big bowl of grain.  Then he came back and sat beside
Archie on the floor.

"You might as well talk about it," Richard said softly.  "We have
nothing else to do."

From the motion in Archie's lens Richard could tell that the octo was
studying him carefully.  Richard took several spoonfuls of his
breakfast before Archie began to speak.

"In our society," Archie said, 'the young males and females who are
undergoing sexual maturation are taken away from their everyday lives
and placed in a highly appropriate environment with individuals who
have been through the process before.  They are encouraged to describe
what they are feeling and are reassured that the new and complex
emotions they are experiencing are completely normal.  Now I understand
why such a program of intense attention is necessary."

Archie paused for a moment and Richard smiled sympathetically.

"These last few days," the octo spider continued, 'for the first time
since I was a very young juvenile, my emotions have not accepted the
domination of my mind.  During optimiser training, we learned how
important it was, whenever a decision was to be made, to sift carefully
through all the available evidence and remove all prejudice that might
be due to personal emotional responses.  With the intensity of the
feelings I am having presently, it would be quite impossible to
relegate them to a low priority."

Richard laughed.

"Please don't misunderstand me, Archie I'm not laughing at you but you
just described, in a typical, octo spider phrase, what most humans feel
all the time.  Very few of us ever achieve the control of our "personal
emotional responses" that we would like .  . . This may be the first
time that you have ever been able to really understand us, if you know
what I mean."

"It's terrible," Archie said.

"I am feeling both an acute sense of loss I miss Dr Blue and Jamie and
powerful anger towards Nakamura for
holding us prisoner ... I fear that my outrage will cause me-to take
some action that is non-optimal."

"But the emotions you are describing are not usually connected, at
least in humans, with sexuality," Richard said.

"Does the bar rican also act as some kind of tranquilliser, subduing
all feelings?"

Archie finished his breakfast before responding.

"You and I are very different creatures and, as I have mentioned
before, it is dangerous to project from one species to another ... I
remember our initial discussions about humans at the Optimisers'
meeting just after you had breached the integrity of your habitat ...
In the middle of the meeting, the Chief Optimiser stressed that we must
not look at your species in our terms.  We must observe carefully, she
said, obtain data, and correlate it consistently, without colouring the
data with our own experience .  . .

"I suppose this all amounts to a disclaimer, in some sense, of what I
am about to tell you.  Nevertheless, it is my personal opinion, based
on my observations of humans, that sexual desire is the driving force
behind all the strong emotions in your species .  . . We octo spiders
undergo a step discontinuity at sexual maturation.  We change from
being completely sexless to sexual in a very short period of time.  In
humans the process is much slower, and more subtle.  Sexual hormones
are present, in varying quantities, from early in your foetal
development.  I contend, and have told the Chief Optimiser this, that
it is possible that all your uncontrollable emotions can be traced to
these sexual hormones.  A human without any sexuality might be capable
of the same optimised thought as an octo spider

"What an interesting idea!"  Richard said excitedly, standing up and
beginning to pace.

"So are you suggesting that even such things as a child's unwillingness
to share a toy, for example, might be linked in some way to our
sexuality?  .  . ."

"Perhaps," Archie replied.

"Maybe Galileo is practising the possessiveness of his adult sexuality
when he refuses to share one of his toys with Kepler .  . . Certainly
the human child's devotion to the parent of the opposite sex is a
precursor of adult attitudes .  .

."

Archie stopped, for Richard had turned his back and had increased his
pacing.

"I'm sorry," he said, returning a few moments later and again sitting
on the floor beside the octo spider

"Something occurred to me just now, something I thought about briefly
earlier this morning, when we were talking about controlling our
emotions .  . . Do you remember an earlier conversation in which you
dismissed the concept of a personal God as an "evolutionary aberration"
necessary for all developing species as a temporary bridge during
transition from the first awareness phase to the Information Era?  Have
the recent changes in you altered in any way your attitude about
God?"

A broad burst of multicoloured strips, which Richard recognised as
laughter, spilled over most of the octo spider upper body.

"You humans," Archie said, 'are absolutely preoccupied with this notion
of God.  Even those, like you, Richard, who profess not to believe,
still spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about or discussing
the subject ... As I explained to you months ago, we octo spiders value
information foremost, as we were taught by the Precursors .  . . There
is no verifiable information available about any God, especially not
one who is involved in any way with the daily affairs of the universe .
. ."

"You didn't exactly understand my question," Richard interrupted, 'or
maybe I didn't phrase it precisely enough .  . . What I want to know
is, in your new, more emotional state, can you understand why other
intelligent beings might create a personal God, as a device to give
them comfort, and also to explain all those things that they cannot
comprehend?"

Archie laughed again with bursts of colour.

"You're very clever, Richard," the octo spider said.

"You want me to confirm what you think, namely that God also is an
emotional concept, born out of a yearning not unlike sexual desire.
Therefore God too is derived from sexual hormones ... I cannot go that
far.  I do not have enough information.

But I can say, based on the turmoil inside me these last few days, that
I now understand this word "yearning" which was meaningless to me
before .  . ."

Richard smiled.  He was pleased.  Their exchanges had been like this
daily before Archie's supply of bar rican had run out.

"It would be great, wouldn't it," Richard said suddenly, 'if we could
still talk with all our friends back in the Emerald City?"

Archie knew what Richard was suggesting.  The two of them had been
careful never to mention the quadroids, or even to hint that the octo
spiders had an intelligence-gathering system.  They did not want to
alert Nakamura and their guards.  Now, as Richard watched silently,
bands of colour streamed around Archie's head.  Although the octo
spider was no longer using the derivative language that had been
developed for communication with the humans, Richard was able to
understand the gist of the transmission.

After formally greeting the Chief Optimiser and apologising for the
lack of success of their mission, Archie sent two personal messages, a
short one to Jamie, and a longer one to Dr Blue.  During the
transmission to his life partner Dr Blue, variegated bursts of colour
broke out of the measured pattern of Archie's message.  Richard, who
had grown to know his basement companion well in their two months
together, was both fascinated and touched by this beautiful display of
uninhibited emotion.

When Archie was finished, Richard came over and put a hand on the octo
spider back.

"Do you feel better now?"  he asked.

"In some ways," Archie replied.

"But I also feel worse at the same time.  I am more aware now than I
was before that I may never see Dr Blue or Jamie again .  . ."

"Sometimes I imagine what I would say to Nicole," Richard interrupted,
'if I could talk to her on the telephone."  He spoke his words very
correctly, exaggerating the movements of his mouth.

"I miss you very much, Nicole," he said, 'and I love you with all my
heart."

Richard did not have vivid dreams.  Therefore external sounds were not
likely to be incorporated into an ongoing dream.  When he heard what he
thought was a shuffling of feet above him in the middle of the night,
he awakened quickly.

Archie was sleeping.  Richard looked around and realised that the
night- light in the toilet area was extinguished.  Alarmed, he awakened
his octo- spider companion.

"What is it?"  Archie asked in colour.

"I heard something unusual upstairs," Richard whispered.

There was a sound of the door to the basement stairs opening slowly.

Richard heard a soft footstep, then another, on the top of the
stairs.

He strained his eyes, but Richard could see nothing in the
near-darkness.

"It's a woman, and a policeman," Archie said, his lens picking up the
infra-red heat of the intruders.

"They have stopped for the moment on the third step."

We're going to be killed, Richard thought.  A powerful fear swept
through him and he drew closer to Archie.  He heard the slow closing of
the basement door and then the footsteps descending the stairs.

"Where are they now?"  he whispered.

"At the bottom," Archie said.

"They are coming ... I think the woman is .  . ."

"Dad," Richard heard a voice from his past.

"Where are you, Dad?"

Holy shit!  It's Katie!

"Over here, Katie," Richard replied, too loud.

"Over here," he repeated, trying to contain his excitement.

A very small flashlight beam wandered around the wall behind his
mattress and eventually landed on his bearded face.  A few seconds
later Katie tripped over Archie and literally fell into her father's
arms.

She kissed and hugged him, tears running down her cheeks.  Richard was
so startled by the entire event that he was at first unable to respond
to any of Katie's questions.

"Yes .  . . yes, I'm fine," he said eventually.  "I can't believe it's
you .  . . Katie, oh Katie .  . . Oh, yes, that grey mass over there,
the one you kicked a moment ago, is my friend and fellow prisoner,
Archie the octo spider .  . ."

Several seconds later Richard exchanged a firm handshake in the dark
with a man Katie introduced only as 'my friend'.

"We don't have much
time," Katie said hurriedly after several minutes of conversation
about the family.

"We've short-circuited the power systems in this entire residential
area, and they should be repaired before too much longer."

"Are we going to escape then?"  Richard asked.

No," Katie said.

"They would certainly catch and kill you ... I just wanted to see you .
. . When I heard the rumour that you were being held somewhere in New
Eden .  . . Oh, Daddy, how I have missed you!  I love you so very much
. . ."

Richard put his arms around his daughter and held her as she wept.  She
is so thin, he thought, virtually a wraith.

"I love you too, Katie,"

Richard said.

"Here," he added, pulling away slightly, 'shine the light on your face
... let me see your beautiful eyes."

"No, Daddy," Katie said, burying herself again in his embrace.

"I look old, and used ... I want you to remember me as I was.  I have
lived a hard .  . ."

"It's unlikely that they will be keeping you here much longer, Mr
Wakefield," the male voice in the dark interrupted.

"Almost everyone in the colony has heard the story of your appearance
at the soldiers' camp."

"Are you all right, Daddy?"  Katie said after a short silence.

"Are they feeding you properly?"

"I'm fine, Katie .  . . but we haven't talked any about you.  What have
you been doing?  Are you happy?"

"I've had another promotion," she said rapidly.

"And my new apartment is beautiful .  . . you should see it ... and I
have a friend who cares about me .  .."

"I'm so glad," Richard said as Franz reminded Katie that they needed to
be going.

"You were always the smartest of the children .  . . you deserve some
happiness."

Katie suddenly began sobbing and lowered her head against her father's
chest.

"Daddy, oh Daddy," she said through her tears, 'please hold me."

Richard put his arms around his daughter.

"What is it, Katie?"  he said softly.

"I don't want to lie to you," Katie said.

"I work for Nakamura, managing prostitutes.  And I'm a drug addict... A
complete and total drug addict."

Katie cried for a long time.  Richard held her tightly and patted her
on the back.

"But I do love you.  Daddy," Katie said when she finally raised her
head.

"I always have, and I always will .  . . I'm terribly sorry that I have
disappointed you."

"Katie, we must be leaving now," Franz said firmly.

"If the power is restored while we are still in the house, we'll be in
deep shit."

Katie kissed her father hurriedly on the lips and stroked his beard
affectionately with her fingers one final time.

"Take care o^-yourself, Daddy," she said.

"And don't give up hope."

The flashlight beam was a thin finger of light preceding the visiting
pair as they quickly crossed the room to the bottom of the stairs.

"Goodbye, Daddy," Katie said.

"I love you too, Katie," Richard said as he heard the sound of his
daughter's feet running up the stairs.

The octo spider on the table was unconscious.  Nicole handed Dr Blue
the small plastic container that the alien physician had requested and
watched as the tiny creatures were dumped on to the greenish-black
fluid that covered the open wound.  In less than a minute the fluid was
gone and her octo spider colleague deftly sewed up the incision using
the forward five centime tres of three of her tentacles.

"That's the last one for today," Dr Blue said in colour.

"As always, Nicole, we thank you for your help."

The two of them walked together out of the operating-area into an
adjacent room.  Nicole had not yet accustomed herself to the cleaning
process.  She took a deep breath before removing her protective gown
and placing her arms in a large bowl filled with dozens of silverfish
like animals.  Nicole fought against her personal revulsion as the
slimy things clambered all over her arms and hands.

"I know this pan is not pleasant for you," Dr Blue said, 'but we really
have no choice now that the forward water supply has been contaminated
by the bombing .  . . And we can't take a chance that anything here
might be toxic for you."

"Is everything destroyed north of the forest?"  Nicole asked while Dr
Blue finished cleaning herself up.

"Almost," the octo spider replied.

"And it looks as if the human engineers have now finished their
modifications to the helicopters.

The Chief Optimiser fears that they will make their first nights over
the forest in another week or two."

"And there have been no replies to the messages you have sent?"

"None at all... We know that Nakamura has read them .  . . but they
captured and killed the last messenger near the power-plant.  . .

Despite the fact that our octo spider was carrying a white flag."

Nicole sighed.  She remembered something Max had said the night before
when she had expressed bewilderment that Nakamura was
ignoring all the messages.

"Of course he is," Max had shouted angrily.

"That man understands nothing but force .  . . All those stupid
messages say is that the octos want peace, and will be forced to defend
themselves if the humans don't desist .  . . The threats that follow
are meaningless.  What is Nakamura to think when his troops and
helicopters move around unimpeded, destroying everything in sight?  .

. . Hasn't the Chief Optimiser learned anything about humans?  The octo
spiders must engage Nakamura's army in some kind of battle .  . ."

"That's not their way," Nicole had replied.

"They do not involve themselves in skirmishes or limited wars.  They
only fight when their survival is threatened .  . . The messages have
spelled this all out very carefully and have repeatedly urged Nakamura
to talk to Richard and Archie .  . ."

In the hospital, Dr Blue was flashing colours at Nicole.  She shook her
head and returned to the present.

"Are you going to wait today for Benjy?"  the octo spider asked.

"Or will you go directly over to the administrative centre?"

Nicole checked her watch.

"I think I'll go now.  It usually takes me a couple of hours to digest
all the quadroid data from the day before .

. . So much is happening .  . . Please tell Benjy to tell the others
that I'll be home for dinner."

She walked out of the hospital a few minutes later and headed for the
administrative centre.  Even though it was daytime, the streets of the
Emerald City were nearly deserted.  Nicole passed three octo spiders
all hurrying on the other side of the road, and a pair of crab biots,
who looked strangely out of place.  Dr Blue had told Nicole that the
crab biots had been recruited for Emerald City garbage duty.

The city has changed so much since the decree, Nicole thought.  Most of
the older octos are now over in the War Domain.  And we never saw a
single biot here until a month ago, after most of the support creatures
had supposedly been moved to another location.  Max thinks many of them
might have been terminated because of the shortages.  Max always thinks
the worst of the octo- spiders.

Often after work Nicole would accompany Benjy to the transport stop.

Her son was also helping the short-handed staff at the hospital.  As
Benjy had become more aware of what was occurring in the Emerald City,
it had grown increasingly difficult for Nicole to hide the seriousness
of their situation.

"Why are our people fighting the octo-spiders?"  Benjy had asked the
previous week.

"The octos don't want to hurt .  . ."

"The colonists in New Eden don't understand the octo spiders Nicole had
replied.

"And they won't let Archie and Uncle Richard explain anything."

"Then they're stupider than I am," Benjy had said gruffly.

Dr Blue and the other members of the octo spider hospital staff who
had not been reassigned because of the war were all very impressed with
Benjy.  In the beginning, when he had volunteered to help, the octo
spiders had had reservations about what he could do with his limited
capabilities.  Once a simple task had been explained to him by Nicole,
however, and he had repeated it back to her, Benjy never made a
mistake.  With his strong, youthful body, he was especially helpful
performing heavy labour, a valuable attribute now that so many of the
larger creatures were no longer around.

While Nicole was walking towards the administrative centre, her head
full of pleasant thoughts about Benjy, an image of Katie popped into
her mind and juxtaposed itself next to a smiling portrait other
retarded son.  In her mind's eye Nicole glanced back and forth between
the two images.  As parents, she sighed, we spend too much time
focusing on intellectual potential, and not enough on other, more
substantive qualities.  What matters most is not how much intellect the
child has, but rather what he or she decides to do with it.  . .

Benjy has succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings, primarily because of
who he is inside .  . . As for Katie, never, in my worst nightmares . 
. .

Nicole broke her train of thought as she entered the building.  An octo
spider guard waved at her and she smiled.  When she reached her usual
viewing-room, Nicole was surprised to find the Chief Optimiser waiting
for her.

"I wanted to take this opportunity," the head octo spider said, 'both
to thank you for the contribution you are making in this difficult
period, and to reassure you that all your family and friends here in
the Emerald City will be cared for as if they were members of our
species, no matter what happens in the next few weeks."

The Chief Optimiser started to leave the room.

"The situation is deteriorating then?"  Nicole asked.

"Yes," the octo spider replied.

"As soon as the humans fly over the forest we will be forced to
retaliate."

When the Chief Optimiser was gone, Nicole sat down in front of her
console to scan through the quadroid data from the day before.  She was
not allowed access to all the information from New Eden, but she was
permitted to call up the images of the daily activities of all the
members of her family.  Nicole could see each day what was happening in
the basement with Richard and Archie, how Ellie and Nikki were
adjusting to being back in New Eden, and what was occurring in Katie's
world.

As time passed, Nicole watched Katie less and less.  It was simply too
painful for her.  Observing her granddaughter Nikki, by contrast, was
pure delight.  Nicole especially enjoyed watching Nikki on those
afternoons when the little girl went to the Beauvois playground to play
with the other children of the village.  Although the images were
soundless,
ignoring all the messages.

"Of course he is," Max had shoufd'-angrily.

"That man understands nothing but force ... All those stupid messages
say is that the ocios want peace, and will be forced to defend
themselves if the humans don't desist .  . . The threats that follow
are meaningless.  What is Nakamura to think when his troops and
helicopters move around unimpeded, destroying everything in sight?  .

. . Hasn't the Chief Optimiser learned anything about humans?  The octo
spiders must engage Nakamura's army in some kind of battle .  . ."

"That's not their way," Nicole had replied.

"They do not involve themselves in skirmishes or limited wars.  They
only fight when their survival is threatened .  . . The messages have
spelled this all out very carefully and have repeatedly urged Nakamura
to talk to Richard and Archie .  . ."

In the hospital, Dr Blue was flashing colours at Nicole.  She shook her
head and returned to the present.

"Are you going to wait today for Benjy?"  the octo spider asked.

"Or will you go directly over to the administrative centre?"

Nicole checked her watch.

"I think I'll go now.  It'usually takes me a couple of hours to digest
all the quadroid data from the day before .

. . So much is happening .  . . Please tell Benjy to tell the others
that I'll be home for dinner."

She walked out of the hospital a few minutes later and headed for the
administrative centre.  Even though it was daytime, the streets of the
Emerald City were nearly deserted.  Nicole passed three octo spiders
all hurrying on the other side of the road, and a pair of crab biots,
who looked strangely out of place.  Dr Blue had told Nicole that the
crab biots had been recruited for Emerald City garbage duty.

The city has changed so much since the decree, Nicole thought.  Most of
the older octos are now over in the War Domain.  And we never saw a
single biot here until a month ago, after most of the support creatures
had supposedly been moved to another location.  Max thinks many of them
might have been terminated because of the shortages.  Max always thinks
the worst of the octo- spiders.

Often after work Nicole would accompany Benjy to the transport stop.

Her son was also helping the short-handed staff at the hospital.  As
Benjy had become more aware of what was occurring in the Emerald City,
it had grown increasingly difficult for Nicole to hide the seriousness
of their situation.

"Why are our people fighting the octo-spiders?"  Benjy had asked the
previous week.

"The octos don't want to hurt .  . ."

"The colonists in New Eden don't understand the octo spiders Nicole had
replied.

"And they won't let Archie and Uncle Richard explain anything."

"Then they're stupider than I am," Benjy had said gruffly.

Dr Blue and the other members of the octo spider hospital staff who
had not been reassigned because of the war were all very impressed with
Benjy.  In the beginning, when he had volunteered to help, the octo
spiders had had reservations about what he could do with his limited
capabilities.  Once a simple task had been explained to him by Nicole,
however, and he had repeated it back to her, Benjy never made a
mistake.  With his strong, youthful body, he was especially helpful
performing heavy labour, a valuable attribute now that so many of the
larger creatures were no longer around.

While Nicole was walking towards the administrative centre, her head
full of pleasant thoughts about Benjy, an image of Katie popped into
her mind and juxtaposed itself next to a smiling portrait of her
retarded son.  In her mind's eye Nicole glanced back and forth between
the two images.  As parents, she sighed, we spend too much time
focusing on intellectual potential, and not enough on other, more
substantive qualities.  What matters most is not how much intellect the
child has, but rather what he or she decides to do with it.  . .

Benjy has succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings, primarily because of
who he is inside .  . . As for Katie, never, in my worst nightmares . 
. .

Nicole broke her train of thought as she entered the building.  An octo
spider guard waved at her and she smiled.  When she reached her usual
viewing-room, Nicole was surprised to find the Chief Optimiser waiting
for her.

"I wanted to take this opportunity," the head octo spider said, 'both
to thank you for the contribution you are making in this difficult
period, and to reassure you that all your family and friends here in
the Emerald City will be cared for as if they were members of our
species, no matter what happens in the next few weeks."

The Chief Optimiser started to leave the room.

"The situation is deteriorating then?"  Nicole asked.

"Yes," the octo spider replied.

"As soon as the humans fly over the forest we will be forced to
retaliate."

When the Chief Optimiser was gone, Nicole sat down in front of her
console to scan through the quadroid data from the day before.  She was
not allowed access to all the information from New Eden, but she was
permitted to call up the images of the daily activities of all the
members of her family.  Nicole could see each day what was happening in
the basement with Richard and Archie, how Elite and Nikki were
adjusting to being back in New Eden, and what was occurring in Katie's
world.

As time passed, Nicole watched Katie less and less.  It was simply too
painful for her.  Observing her granddaughter Nikki, by contrast, was
pure delight.  Nicole especially enjoyed watching Nikki on those
afternoons when the little girl went to the Beauvois playground to play
with the other children of the village.  Although the images were
soundless,
Nicole could almost hear the squeals of mirthful delight as<N*kki and
the others tumbled over one another in pursuit of an elusive soccer
ball

Nicole had become very concerned about Ellie.  Despite her daughter's
heroic efforts, Ellie was not having any luck resuscitating her
marriage.  Robert had remained withdrawn in his workaholic pattern,
using the demands of the hospital to keep him from facing all emotions,
including his own.  He was a dutiful but restrained parent with Nikki,
only rarely showing any true delight.  He did not make love with Ellie,
and would not talk about it, except to say that he was 'not ready' when
she tearfully brought up the subject three weeks after they had been
reunited.

During the long solitary viewing-sessions Nicole often wondered whether
it was possible, as a parent, to observe one's offspring in difficulty
without asking what might have been done, by the parent, that would
have made the child's life easier.  Parenting is an adventure with no
guaranteed outcomes, Nicole thought, wincing while nipping quickly
through the images of Ellie crying quietly at night.

The only thing you know for certain is that you will never convince
yourself you have done enough.

She always saved Richard for last.  Although Nicole never really shook
the premonition that she would not touch her beloved husband again, she
did not let that feeling detract from the daily joy she experienced
sharing his life in the basement in New Eden.  She especially enjoyed
his conversations with Archie, even though it was often difficult for
her to read his lips.  Their discussions reminded Nicole of earlier
days, after her escape from prison and New Eden, when Richard and she
would talk and talk about everything.  Watching Richard always left
Nicole feeling uplifted, and much more able to deal with her own
loneliness.

The reunion between Richard and Katie caught her by surprise.  She had
not been following Katie's life closely enough to know that her
daughter and Franz had successfully designed a plan to secure a short
visit with Richard.  Because the quadroid images covered the infrared
portion of the spectrum as well as the visible, Nicole actually had a
better view of the reunion than the participants.  She was deeply moved
by Katie's action, and even more by Katie's sudden admission (which
Nicole watched over and over, in super-slow motion, to make certain she
was properly reading Katie's lips) that she was a drug addict.  The
first step to overcoming a problem, Nicole remembered from somewhere,
is to admit to someone you love that the problem exists.

There were tears in Nicole's eyes as she rode the nearly empty
transport back to the human enclave in the Emerald City.  But they were
happy tears.  Despite the fact that the bizarre world around her was
deteriorating into chaos, for once Nicole was optimistic about Katie. *
* *
Patrick and the twins were outside when Nicole stepped off the
transport at the end of the street.  As she drew closer, she could tell
that Patrick was trying to adjudicate one of the boys' innumerable
disputes.

"He always cheats," Kepler was saying.

"I told him that I wasn't going to play with him any more and he hit
me."

"That's a lie," Galileo replied.

"I hit him because he made a face at me .  . . Kepler's a sore loser.
If he can't win he thinks it's all right to quit."

Patrick separated the two boys and sent them, as punishment, to sit
against opposite corners of the house.  He then greeted his mother with
a kiss and a hug.

"I have some big news," Nicole said, smiling at her son.

"Richard had a surprise visitor today Katie!"

Of course Patrick wanted to know all the details of the visit between
his sister and Richard.  Nicole summarised what she had seen quickly
and concisely, admitting that she was encouraged by Katie's confession
of her drug habit.

"Don't read too much into her action," Patrick admonished.

"The Katie I knew would rather die than be without her precious
kokomo."

Patrick had turned around, and was almost ready to tell the twins that
they could resume playing, when a pair of rockets raced skyward,
bursting into bright red balls of light just underneath the dome.

Moments later the city was plunged into darkness.

"Come on, boys,"

Patrick said.  "We must go inside."

"That's the third time today," Patrick commented to Nicole as they
followed Kepler and Galileo into the house.

"Dr Blue said they extinguish the city lights the moment any helicopter
rises to within twenty me tres of the top of the forest canopy.  Under
no circumstances do the octo spiders want to risk showing the location
of the Emerald City."

"Do you think Archie and Uncle Richard will ever have a chance to meet
Nakamura?"  Patrick asked.

"I doubt it," Nicole replied.

"If he were going to see them, it should have happened before now."

Eponine and Nai greeted Nicole and embraced her.  The three women
talked briefly about the blackout.  Eponine was holding little Marius,
who had become a fat, happy baby with a major drooling habit, on her
hip.  She wiped his face with a cloth so that Nicole could kiss him.

"Aha," she heard Max say behind her, 'the Queen of Frowns is now
kissing the Prince of Drools."

Nicole turned around and gave Max a hug.

"What's this Queen of Frowns bit?"  she said lightly.

Max handed her a glass containing some clear liquid.

"Here, Nicole, I want you to drink this.  It's not tequila; but it's
the best substitute the
octo spiders could make from my description .  . . We're all Iw^ing
that maybe you'll find your sense of humour before you finish the
drink."

"Come on, Max," Eponine said.

"Don't make Nicole think that we're all somehow involved .  . . This
was your idea, after all.  The only thing that Patrick, Nai and I did
was agree with you that she had been very serious lately."

"Now, my lady," Max said to Nicole, raising his glass and clinking it
against hers,

"I want to propose a toast ... To all of us, who have absolutely no
control over our future.  May we love each other and share laughter
until the end, whenever and however it may come."

Nicole had not seen Max drunk since before she went to prison.  At his
insistence she took a small drink.  Her throat and oesophagus burned
and her eyes watered.  The drink contained a lot of alcohol.

"Before dinner tonight," Max now said, opening his arms in a dramatic
flourish, 'we are going to tell farm jokes .  . . This will provide us
with some much-needed comic relief.  You, Nicole des Jardins Wakefield,
as our leader by example if not by election, will have the floor
first."

Nicole managed a smile.

"But I don't know any farm jokes," she protested.

Eponine was relieved to see that Nicole was not offended by Max's
behaviour.

"That's all right, Nicole," Eponine said, 'none of us do ... Max knows
enough farm jokes for all of us."

"Once upon a time," Max began a few moments later, 'there was a farmer
from Oklahoma who had a fat wife named Whistle.  She was called Whistle
because, at the climax of her love-making, she would close her eyes,
screw up her mouth, and make a long whistling sound."

Max belched.  The twins giggled.  Nicole worried that maybe it was not
appropriate for the children to hear Max's story, but Nai was sitting
behind her boys, laughing with them.  Relax, Nicole told herself.  You
really have become the Queen of Frowns.

"Now one night," Max continued, 'this farmer and Whistle had a big
brouhaha that's a fight to you, boys and she went to bed early and
fuming.  The farmer sat by himself at the table, drinking some fine
tequila.  As the evening progressed, he became sorry that he had been
such an ornery son of a bitch and began to apologise in a loud voice.

"Meanwhile ole Whistle, who was now angry all over again because the
farmer had awakened her, knew that when he finished drinking, her
husband was going to enter the bedroom and try to seal his apology with
some wild love-making.  While the farmer emptied the bottle of tequila,
Whistle slipped out of the house, went over to the pig-pen, and carried
the youngest and smallest of the sows back into their bedroom.

"When the drunken farmer staggered into the dark bedroom later that
night, singing one of his favourite hymns, Whistle was watching from
the corner and the sow was in the bed.  The farmer took all his
clothes off and jumped under the sheets.  He grabbed the sow by the
ears and kissed her on the lips.  The sow squealed and the farmer
pulled back.

"Whistle, my love," he said, "did you forget to brush your teeth
tonight?"

"His wife bolted from the corner and began beating the farmer on the
head with a broom .  . ."

Everyone was laughing.  Max was so amused by his own joke that he could
not sit upright.  Nicole glanced around the room.  Max is right, she
thought.  We need this.  We have all been worrying too much.

'. . . My brother Clyde," Max was saying, 'knew more farm jokes than
anyone I ever met.  He courted Winona with them, or so he claimed.

Clyde used to tell me that a "laughing woman already has one hand on
her panties" .  . . When we would go duck-hunting with the guys, we'd
never shoot a single goddamn duck.  Clyde would start telling stories,
and we'd be laughing and drinking .  . . After a while we'd forget why
we got up at five ayem to go and sit in the cold .  . ."

Max stopped talking and there was a momentary quiet in the room.

"Damn," he said after the brief silence.

"For a while there I was imagining I was back in Arkansas."  He stood
up.

"I don't even know now which way Arkansas is from here, or how many
billions of kilometres away it is .  . ."  Max shook his head.

"Sometimes, when I'm dreaming and it's real lifelike, I think the dream
is reality.  I believe I'm back in Arkansas.  Then when I wake up I am
lost, and I think for a few seconds that this life we're living here in
the Emerald City is the dream."

"The same thing happens to me," Nai said.

"Two nights ago I dreamed I was doing my morning meditation in the
hawng pra in my family home in Lamphun.  As I was reciting my mantra,
Patrick awakened me.  He told me that I was talking in my sleep.  For a
few seconds, however, I didn't know who he was ... it was
frightening."

"All right," Max said after a protracted silence.  He turned to
Nicole.

"I guess we're ready for the news of the day.  What do you have to tell
us?"

"The quadroid videos today were very peculiar," a smiling Nicole
replied.

"For the first few minutes, I was certain I had entered the wrong
database .  . . Image after image showed a pig, or a chicken, or a
drunken Oklahoma farm-boy trying to court a sweet young thing ... In
the last series of pictures that farmer was trying to drink tequila,
eat fried chicken, and make love with his sweetheart all at the same
time .  . . which reminds me, that chicken sure looked good, is anyone
else hungry?"

"I think they were somewhat reassured by what the Chief Optimiser told
me," Nicole said to Dr Blue.

"Max, of course, had his doubts ... He doesn't believe taking care of
us will be a very high priority if the situation really becomes
desperate."

"That's very unlikely," the octo spider replied.

"Any further escalation of hostilities will be met by a massive
retaliation .  . .

Many octo spiders have been working on our war plans for almost two
months."

"Have I understood correctly then," Nicole asked, 'that every
individual member of your species who has been involved in the design
and prosecution of this war will be terminated when it is over?"

"Yes," Dr Blue replied.

"Although they will not all die immediately .

. . They will be notified that they have been placed on the termination
list .  . . The new Chief Optimiser will define the exact schedule for
the terminations, depending on the needs of the colony and the pace of
replenishment."

Nicole and her octo spider colleague were sharing lunch at the
hospital. They had spent the morning trying unsuccessfully to save the
lives of two of the six-armed utility creatures who had been blasted by
human troops while they were working in one of the few remaining
grain-fields on the north side of the forest.

During their lunch, a centipede biot trundled by in the hall beside
them.  Dr Blue noticed the quizzical look on Nicole's face.

"When we first came inside Rama, before we had developed our full cadre
of support animals, we used the available biots for routine tasks, like
maintenance .  . . Now we need their help again."

"But how do you give them instructions?"  Nicole asked.

"We were never able to communicate with them at all."

"Their programming is done in firmware, at the time of their
manufacture .  . . What we did in the early days, using a kind of
keyboard analogous to the one you had in your lair, was request the
Ramans to alter the programming for our specific uses .  , .  That's
what all the biois are here for ... to be turned into useful servants
by the passengers on board."

Well, Richard, Nicole thought, that's at least one concept we missed
altogether.  In fact, I don't think the idea ever even occurred to us
.

. .

'. . . We wanted our settlement here in Rama to be indistinguishable
from any of our other colonies," Dr Blue was saying, 'so as soon as we
no longer needed the biots, we requested that they be removed from our
domain in Rama."

"And since then you have had no direct contact at all with the
Ramans?"

"Not much," Dr Blue replied.

"But we have maintained the capability to communicate with the
high-technology factories underneath the surface .  . . primarily so
that we can request the manufacture of certain raw materials that we do
not have in our warehouses .  . ."

A door opened from the corridor and an octo spider entered.  It talked
rapidly with Dr Blue in their language, using very narrow colour-bands.
Nicole recognised the words 'permission' and 'this afternoon', but very
little else.

After the visitor had departed, Dr Blue told Nicole that she had a
surprise for her.

"Today one of our queens is going to have her egg rush.  Her attendants
are estimating it will take place in a little less than a tert.  The
Chief Optimiser has approved my request for you to observe .  . . To my
knowledge, you are the only alien, except for the Precursors of course,
who has ever had the privilege of witnessing an egg rush ... I think
you will find it very interesting."

During the transport ride to the Queen's Domain, which was in a part of
the Emerald City that Nicole had never visited before, Dr Blue reminded
Nicole of some of the more unusual aspects of octo spider
reproduction.

"In normal times, each of the three queens in our colony is fertilised
once every three to five years, and only a small fraction of the
fertilised eggs is permitted to grow to maturity.

Because of the war preparations, however, the Chief Optimiser recently
declared a Replenishment Event.  All three of our queens are now
producing a full set of eggs.  They have been fertilised by the new
warrior males, those octo- spiders selected for the war effort who have
recently passed through sexual transition.  This activity is very
important, for it ensures, at least symbolically, that each of these
octo spiders will have continued genetic involvement in the colony .
.

. Remember, they know, as soon as they are designated as warriors, that
their termination time is not too far away."

Whenever I think that we have a lot in common with the octo spiders
Nicole was thinking, i see something so bizarre that I am reminded how
very different we are.  But, as Richard would say, how could it be
otherwise?  They are the product of a process totally alien to us.

'. . . Don't be alarmed at the size of the queen .  . . and please,
under no circumstances should you express anything but delight at what
you see.  When I first suggested that you attend the egg rush, one of
the Chief Optimiser's staff members objected, saying that there was no
way you
could fully appreciate what you were seeing.  Some of that other staff
members were worried that you might display discomfort, or even
disgust, and thereby detract from the experience for the other octo
spiders in attendance ..."

Nicole assured Dr Blue that she would do nothing untoward during the
ceremony.  She was indeed nattered that she had been included in the
activity, and was feeling considerable excitement when the transport
deposited them outside the thick walls of the Queen's Domain.

The building she entered with Dr Blue was dome-shaped and built of
blocks of white rock.  It was about ten me tres tall inside, and
covered a ground area of roughly thirty-five hundred square me tres
There was a large map just inside the door, in the atrium area, and a
written message in colour identifying where the egg rush would take
place.

Nicole followed Dr Blue and several other octo spiders up a pair of
ramps, and then down a long corridor.  At the end of the hallway, they
turned right and entered a balcony area that overlooked a rectangular
floor fifteen me tres long and five or six me tres wide.

Dr Blue took Nicole to the front row, where a railing a metre high
prevented the audience from falling on to the floor four me tres
below.

Behind them the five elevated rows filled up quickly.  Across the way
there was another, similar viewing-area that would hold about sixty
octo spiders

Looking down, Nicole could see a pool of water, resembling a canal,
that ran the length of the floor and then disappeared under an arch on
the right.  There were narrow walkways on either side of the pool.  On
the opposite side, however, the walkway expanded into a broad platform
three me tres or so before it encountered the rock wall that formed the
entire left side of the large room.  This wall, painted with many
different colours and designs, contained a hundred or so protruding
silver rods, or spikes, each standing out a metre from where it was
embedded in the wall.  Nicole noticed immediately the similarity
between the wall and the vertical corridor, shaped like a barrel, that
she and her friends had descended inside the octo spider lair beneath
New York, Less than ten minutes after the two balcony areas were
filled, the Chief Optimiser shuffled through a doorway on the lower
level, stood on the walkway beside the pool, and made a short speech.
Dr Blue clarified the parts of the speech that Nicole was unable to
interpret.  The Chief Optimiser reminded the onlookers that the exact
timing of an egg rush was never known, but that it was likely the queen
would be ready to enter the room in several more fengs.  After making a
few comments about the critical importance of replenishment in the
continuity of the colony, the Chief Optimiser made her exit.

The wait began.  Nicole passed the time observing the octo spiders in
the balcony area across from her, and trying to eavesdrop on their
conversations.  She could understand a little of what was being said,
but not everything.  Nicole commented to herself that she still had a
long way to go before she would be fluent in their natural language.

Finally the great doors at the left end of the far walkway opened and
the massive queen lumbered in.  She was huge, at least six me tres
tall, with a gigantic, swollen body above her eight long tentacles. 
She stopped on the platform and said something to the audience.  Bright
colours spilled in profusion all over her body, creating a vivid
spectacle.  Nicole could not understand what the queen was saying
because she could not follow the exact sequence of colours pouring out
of the slit.

The queen slowly turned towards the wall, extended her tentacles, and
began the laborious process of pulling herself up on to the spikes.

Throughout the climb disordered bursts of colour decorated her body.

Nicole assumed these were emotional expressions of some kind, perhaps
pain and fatigue.  Nicole noticed, by looking again at the other
balcony, that there was no conversation of any kind in the audience.

When the queen had finally positioned herself in the centre of the
wall, she wrapped all eight tentacles around the spikes and exposed her
cream- coloured underbelly.  While she had been working in the
hospital, Nicole had become quite familiar with octo spider anatomy,
but she had never imagined that the soft tissue underneath their
bellies could be distended to such an extent.  As Nicole watched, the
queen began rocking slightly, moving forwards and backwards, gently
bouncing off the rock wall with each motion.  The emotional
colour-display continued.  The colours reached their peak intensity
when a geyser of greenish-black fluid spewed forth from the queen's
underside, followed immediately by an immense outpouring of white
objects of different sizes contained in a thick, viscous fluid.

Nicole was stupefied.  Below her, a dozen or so octo spiders on either
side of the pool were hurriedly brushing some eggs and fluid from the
walkways into the water.  Another eight octos were pouring the unknown
contents of huge containers into the pool.  The water was now teeming
with octo spider blood, eggs and the high viscosity fluid that was
ejected along with the eggs.  In less than a minute the entire slurry
in the pool moved under the arch to the right.

The queen had not yet changed position.  Once the pool below them was
clear running water again, all lenses turned to watch the queen.

Nicole was staggered by how much the octo spider had already shrunk.

She estimated that the queen must have lost half her body-weight in the
fraction of a second it took the egg mass and accompanying fluids to
pour forth from her body.  The queen was bleeding still, and two
normal-sized octo spiders had climbed up the wall to minister to her.

At this point Dr Blue tapped Nicole on the shoulder, indicating it was
time to leave.

Sitting by herself in one of the small rooms in the octo spider
hospital, Nicole played the egg-rush scene over and over in her mind. 
She had not expected that the event would affect her so emotionally. 
Nicole had only half watched while Dr Blue had explained to her, after
they had returned to the hospital, that the containers emptied into the
slurry were full of tiny animals that would seek out and kill specific
embryos.  In that way the octo spiders controlled, he said, the exact
composition of the next generation, including the number of queens, rep
letes midget morphs, and all the other variations.

The mother in Nicole was struggling to understand what it would feel
like to be an octo spider queen during an egg rush.  In some
undefinable way, Nicole felt deeply connected to that mammoth creature
that had crawled up on to the spikes.  During the instant of the egg
rush, Nicole's loins had contracted, and she had recalled both the pain
and the exhilaration of her own six births.  What is there about the
birth process, she wondered, that unites all creatures who have ever
experienced it?

She remembered a long-past conversation in Rama II, after Simone and
Katie had been born, when she had tried to explain to Michael O'Toole
what it felt like to give birth to a child.  Nicole had reluctantly
concluded, after hours of talking, that it was an experience that could
never be adequately transferred from one person to another.  The world
is divided into two groups, she had said at the time.  Those that have
experienced birth and those that have not.  Now, tens of years and
billions of kilometres later, she wanted to add a corollary to her
earlier observation.  Those who are mothers have more in common,
fundamentally, with mothers of other species than they have with humans
who have never given birth.

As she continued to reflect on the scene that she had witnessed, Nicole
was overwhelmed by a desire to communicate with the queen octo spider
to know what that other intelligent mother had been thinking and
feeling just prior to and during the egg rush.  Had the queen, amidst
the pain and wonder of the moment, felt an epiphanic serenity, a vision
of her own offspring and their offspring continuing, into the
unforeseen future, the miraculous cycle of life?

Had there been a deep and ineffable peace in the seconds just after the
rush, a peace unlike any the creature had ever known at any time other
than immediately after birth?

Nicole knew that the imaginary conversation she was having with the
queen could never take place.  Again she closed her eyes, attempting to
reconstruct the exact bursts of colour she had seen on the queen's body
immediately before and after the event.  Had those surges of colour
told the other octo spiders what the queen was feeling?  Were they
somehow able, Nicole wondered, with their rich language of colour, to
communicate complex feelings like ecstasy better than humans with their
limited language of words?

There were no answers.  Nicole realised that there were tasks waiting
for her outside the room, in the octo spider hospital, but she was not
ready for her solitude to end.  She did not want the strong emotions
she was feeling to be diminished by the demands of everyday life.

As the time passed, Nicole began also to experience a profound
loneliness.  She did not at first connect her loneliness directly to
the egg rush.  Nicole was, however, quite aware that what she was
feeling was a strong desire to talk to a close friend, preferably
Richard.  She wanted to share with someone what she had seen and felt
in the Queen's Domain.  In her isolation Nicole suddenly remembered a
few lines from a relevant poem by Benita Garcia.  She opened her
portable computer and, after a short search, found the entire poem.

In moments of deep doubt or intense pain, When I am overpowered by my
life, I search around me everywhere I can For kindred souls who know
what I know not, For those who have the strength to mitigate What makes
me tremble, weep, and often brood.  They tell me that I cannot live my
way Where all my feelings rule my conscious mind.  I must control
myself before the act, Or else accept what I have long endured, The
brutal days of feeling lost and blind.

There have been times, not many but a few, When someone has possessed
the soothing balm, Providing surcease for my angst or pain.  But age
has taught me now one simple rule.  Inside myself I must the screams
contain, Whatever devils must be wrestled there, The lessons learned
will not be lost again.  We walk alone upon our final trip.  No hand
can help us on that day of death.  It's best we learn, while time is
still our friend, To trust ourselves, and save our precious breath.

Nicole read the words several times.  Immediately thereafter she
realised that she was completely exhausted.  Nicole put her head down
on the only desk in the room and fell asleep.

Dr Blue tapped gently on Nicole's shoulder with one of her tentacles.

Nicole stirred, and opened her eyes.

"You've been asleep for almost two
hours," the octo spider said.

"They have been expecting yov^wer at the administrative centre."

"What's going on?"  Nicole asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Why is anyone waiting for me?"

"Nakamura has made a major speech in New Eden.  The Chief Optimiser
wants to discuss it with you."

Nicole jumped up quickly, and then reached out to touch the desk.  In a
few seconds her dizziness was gone.

"Thank you again, Dr Blue, for everything," she said.

"I'll be on my way in another minute."

"I really don't think Nikki should be allowed to watch the speech,"

Robert said.

"It will certainly scare her."

"What Nakamura says will affect her life as much as it will ours,"

Ellie replied.

"If she wants to watch, I think we should let her .  .

. After all, Robert, she has lived with the octo spiders .  . ."

"But she can't possibly understand what any of this really means,"

Robert argued.

"She's not even four years old yet."

The issue remained unresolved until a few minutes before the New Eden
dictator was scheduled to appear on television.  At that time Nikki
approached her mother in the living-room.

"I'm not going to watch,"

the little girl said with astonishing insight, 'because I don't want
you and Daddy to fight."

One of the rooms in Nakamura's palace had been converted into a
television studio.  It was from this studio that the tyrant usually
addressed the citizens of New Eden.  His last speech had been three
months earlier, when he had announced that troops were going to be
deployed in the Southern Hemicylinder to confront the 'alien menace'.

Although the government-controlled newspapers and television had
regularly been featuring news items from the front, many of them
fabricating the 'intense resistance' being offered by the octo spiders
this would be Nakamura's first public comment on the progress and
direction of the war in the south.

For the address, Nakamura had ordered his tailors to make him a new
shogun's outfit, complete with ornamented sword and dagger.  He was
appearing in Japanese martial dress, he told his aides, to stress his
role as the 'lead warrior and protector' of the colonists.  On the day
of the broadcast Nakamura's attendants helped him put on a pair of
heavy constraining girdles so that he would project the 'powerful and
menacing' look of the warrior.

Mr Nakamura spoke standing up, staring directly at the camera.  His
scowl never changed during his entire speech.

"We have all sacrificed in recent months," he began, 'to support our
valiant soldiers doing battle south of the Cylindrical Sea with a
heinous
and ruthless alien enemy.  Our intelligence now informs us^ bat these
octo spiders who were described to you in detail by Dr Robert Turner
after his brave escape, are planning a major attack against New Eden in
the very near future.  At this critical moment in our history, we must
redouble our resolve and stand united against the alien aggressor.

"Our generals at the front have recommended that we penetrate beyond
the barrier forest protecting most of the octo spider domain and
interdict their supplies and war materiel before they can launch their
attack.  Our engineers, working night and day for the survival of the
colony, have made modifications to our helicopter fleet that will
permit this interdiction to take place.  We will strike in the near
future.  We will convince the aliens that they cannot attack us with
impunity.

"Meanwhile, our warriors have finished securing the entire area of Rama
between the Cylindrical Sea and the barrier forest.  During the fierce
battles, we have destroyed many hundreds of the enemy, as well as water
and power facilities.  Our casualties have been modest, primarily
because of our superb battle plans and the heroism of our troops.  But
we must not become over-confident.  On the contrary, we have every
reason to believe that we have not yet even engaged the elite Death
Corps that Dr Turner heard mentioned while he was being held captive.
It is this Death Corps, we are certain, that will be in the alien
vanguard if we do not move quickly to preclude an attack on New Eden.
Remember, time is our enemy.  We must strike now and totally demolish
their war- making capability.

"There is one other brief item I would like to report tonight.

Recently the traitor Richard Wakefield and an octo spider companion
surrendered to our troops in the south.  They say that they are
representing the alien military command and have come forward to talk
about peace.  I suspect a trick here, a Trojan horse of some kind, but
it is my duty as your leader to conduct a hearing into this matter in
the next few days.  Rest assured that I will not negotiate away our
security.  I will report the outcome of this hearing very soon after it
is completed."

"But, Robert," Ellie said, 'you know that much of what he is saying is
a lie .  . . There is no Death Corps, and the octo spiders have not
offered any resistance.  How can you say nothing?  How can you let him
attribute statements to you that you never made?"

"It's all politics, Ellie," Robert replied.

"Everybody knows that.

Nobody really believes .  . ."

"But that's even worse.  Don't you see what is happening?"

Robert started to leave the house.

"Where are you going now?"  Ellie asked.

"Back to the hospital," Robert replied.

"I have rounds to make."

Ellie couldn't believe it.  She stood there for a few seconds, staring
at her husband.  Then she erupted.

"That's your response," she shouted.  "Business as usual.  A lunatic
announces a plan that will most likely result in all of us being
killed, and for you it's business as usual .  . . Robert, who are you?
Don't you care about anything?"

Robert moved towards her angrily.

"Don't start again with that "holier than thou" attitude," he said.

"You are not always right, Ellie, and you do not know for certain that
we'll all be killed.  Maybe Nakamura's plan will work .  . ."

"You're kidding yourself, Robert.  You turn the other way and tell
yourself that as long as your little world is not affected, maybe it's
OK .  . . You're wrong, Robert.  Dead wrong.  And if you won't do
anything about it, then I will."

"And what will you do?"  Robert said, his voice rising.

"Tell the world that your husband is a liarf Try to convince everyone
that those slimy octo spiders are peaceful?  No one will believe you,
Ellie .  . . And I'll tell you one more thing, the minute you open your
mouth, you'll be arrested and tried for treason.  They'll kill you,
Ellie, just like they're going to kill your father ... Is that what you
want?  Never to see your daughter again?"

Ellie recognised the mixture of pain and anger in Robert's eyes.  I
don't know him, flashed through her mind, followed by How can this be
the same man who has spent thousands of uncompensated hours caring for
terminally ill patients?  It doesn't make any sense.

Ellie chose not to say anything more.

"I'm going now," Robert said at length.

"I'll be home around midnight."

She walked to the back of the house and opened Nikki's door.  Luckily
the girl had slept through the argument.  Ellie was deeply depressed
when she returned to the living-room.  She wished more than ever that
she had stayed in the Emerald City.  But she hadn't, so what was she
going to do now?  It would be so easy if I didn't have Nikki to think
about, Ellie said to herself.  She shook her head slowly, back and
forth, and finally allowed herself to shed the tears she had been
restraining.

"So, how do I look?"  Katie said, pirouetting in front of Franz.

"Beautiful, ravishing," he replied.

"Better than I have ever seen you look."

She was wearing a simple black dress, custom-fitted to her thin body.

The dress had a defining white stripe running down both sides.  It was
cut low in the front, highlighting her necklace of diamonds and gold,
but was not so low that it would be considered improper.

Katie glanced at her watch.

"Good," she said.

"For once I'm early."

She crossed the room to the table and lit a cigarette.

Franz's uniform was newly pressed and his shoes perfect shined.  "Then
I guess we have time," he said, following Katie to the couch, 'for my
surprise."  He handed her a small velvet box.

What's this?"  Katie asked.

"Open it," Franz said.

Inside was a diamond ring, a solitaire.

"Katie," Franz said awkwardly, 'will you marry me?"

Katie glanced at Franz and then looked away.  She inhaled slowly on her
cigarette and blew the smoke into the air above her.

"I'm nattered, Franz," she said, standing up and kissing him on the
cheek, "I really am .  . . but it just wouldn't work."  She closed the
box and handed him back the ring.

"Why not?"  Franz asked.

"Don't you love me?"

"Yes, I do ... I guess ... if I'm capable of such an emotion .  . . But
Franz, we've been through this before.  I'm just not the kind of woman
you should marry."

"Why can't you let me decide that, Katie?"  Franz said.

"How do you know what "kind of woman" I need?"

"Look, Franz," Katie said, showing some agitation,

"I'd rather not talk about this now ... As I said, I'm very nattered .
. . but I'm already nervous about this hearing for my father and you
know I don't deal well with too much shit at once .  . ."

"You'll always have some reason for not wanting to talk about it,"

Franz said angrily.

"If you love me, I think I deserve more of an explanation.  And now . .
."

Katie's eyes flashed.

"You want an explanation now.  Captain Bauer ... All right, I'll give
you one .  . . Follow me, if you please .  . ."

Katie led him into her dressing-room.

"Now stand there, Franz, and watch very closely."

Katie reached into her dresser.  She pulled out a syringe and a piece
of black tubing.  She placed her right leg on the vanity stool and
hiked her dress up above the bruises on her thigh.  Franz instinctively
turned his head away.

"No," Katie said, reaching out with one hand and turning his head back
to face her.

"You cannot look away, Franz .  . . You must see me as I am."

She pulled down her panty-hose and tied the tube in place.  Katie
glanced up to make certain Franz was still watching.  There was pain in
her eyes.

"Don't you see, Franz?"  she said.

"I cannot marry you because I'm already married ... to this magic drug
that never disappoints me .  . . Don't you understand?  .  . . There's
no way that you could ever compete with kokomo."

Katie plunged the syringe into a vein and waited several seconds for
the rush.

"You might be fine for a few weeks, or even months," Katie said now,
speaking more rapidly, 'but sooner or later you'd come up short .  . .
And I would replace you in my heart with old reliable again."

She wiped off the two drops of blood with a tissue and placed the
syringe in the sink.  Franz looked distraught.

"Cheer up," Katie said, patting him lightly on the cheek.

"You haven't lost your bed partner .

. . I'll still be here for whatever kinky things we can dream up
together .  . ."

Franz turned away and placed the velvet box back in one of the pockets
of his uniform.  Katie walked over to the table and took one final drag
from the cigarette that had been left burning in the ashtray.

"Now, Captain Bauer," Katie said, 'we have a hearing to attend."

The hearing was held in the ballroom on the main floor of Nakamura's
palace.  About sixty chairs had been set up, in four rows along the
walls, for 'special guests'.  Nakamura himself, wearing the same
Japanese costume in which he had appeared on television two days
earlier, sat in a large embroidered chair above a raised platform at
one end of the room.  Two bodyguards, also in samurai dress, were
beside him.  The ballroom was completely decorated in a
sixteenth-century Japanese style, adding to the image Nakamura was
trying to create of himself as the all-powerful shogun of New Eden.

Richard and Archie, who had only been told the hearing was going to
occur four hours before they left the basement, were brought in by
three policemen and instructed to sit on small pillows on the floor,
twenty me tres in front of Nakamura.  Katie noticed that her father
looked tired, and very old.  She resisted an impulse to run out and
talk to him.

A functionary announced that the hearing was now under way and reminded
all the spectators that they were to say nothing and interfere in no
way with the proceedings.  As soon as the announcement was completed,
Nakamura stood up and swaggered down the two broad steps connecting his
chair to the raised platform.

"This hearing has been convened by the New Eden government," he said
gruffly, walking back and forth, 'to determine if the alien enemy
representative is prepared, on behalf of his species, to accept the
unconditional surrender that we demand as a necessary prerequisite for
ceasing the hostilities between us.  If ex-citizen Wakefield, who is
able to communicate with the alien, has been able to convince the alien
of the wisdom of accepting our demands, including relinquishing all
weapons of war and preparing for our occupation and administration of
all alien lands, then we are prepared to be merciful.  As a reward for
his services in ending this terrible conflict, we would be willing to
commute Mr Wake- field's death sentence to life imprisonment.

"If, however," Nakamura now raised his voice, 'this convicted traitor
and his alien accomplice surrendered to our victorious troops as part
of some treacherous plot to undermine our collective will to punish the
aliens for their aggressive attacks against us, then we will use these
two, as examples, to send an unambiguous message to our enemy.

We want the alien leaders to know that the citizens of New Eden stand
steadfast against their expansionist aims."

Up until this moment Nakamura had been addressing the entire
audience.

Now he turned to face the two prisoners isolated in the middle of the
ballroom floor.

"Mr Wakefield," he said, 'does the alien beside you have the authority
to speak for his species?"

Richard stood up.

"To the best of my knowledge, yes," he answered.

"And is the alien then prepared to ratify the document of unconditional
surrender that you have been shown?"

"We only received the document a few hours ago and have not yet had
time to talk about all its contents.  I have explained the most
important parts to Archie, but I don't yet know .  . ."

"They are stalling," Nakamura thundered, addressing the audience and
waving a piece of paper in the air.

"This single sheet contains all the terms of the surrender."  He turned
again to face Richard and Archie.  "The question requires only a simple
answer," Nakamura said.

"Is it yes or no?"

Colour-bands rolled around Archie's head and there was a murmur in the
audience.  Richard watched Archie, whispered a question to his octo
spider colleague, and then interpreted Archie's response.  He looked at
Nakamura.

"The octo spider wants to know," Richard said, 'exactly what happens if
the document is ratified.  What are the events that take place then,
and in what order none of this is spelled out in the agreement."

Nakamura paused briefly.

"First, all the alien soldiers must come forward, with their weapons,
and surrender to our troops now in the south.  Second, the alien
government, or whatever is its equivalent, must turn over to us a
complete inventory of everything that exists in their domain.  Third,
they must announce to all members of their species that we are going to
occupy their colony, and that all aliens are to co-operate in every way
with our soldiers and citizens."

Richard and Archie had another brief conversation.

"What will happen to all the octo spiders and the other animals who
support their society?"  Richard asked.

"They will be permitted to resume their normal lives, with some
constraints of course.  Our laws and our citizens will be put in place
as the acting government of the occupied lands."

"And will you then," Richard said, 'write an amendment or an appendix
to this surrender document, guaranteeing the lives and safety of the
octo spiders as well as the other animals, providing they do not
violate any of the laws promulgated in the occupied territory?"

Nakamura's eyes narrowed.

"Except for those individual aliens who are found to have been
responsible for the aggressive war that has been launched against us, I
will personally guarantee the safety of those octo- spiders who obey
the laws of occupation .  . . But these are details.  They do not need
to be written in the surrender document."

This time Richard and Archie engaged in a long discussion.  From the
side of the room, Katie watched her father's face closely.  She thought
in the beginning that he was disagreeing with the octo spider but later
in the conversation Richard seemed subdued, almost resigned.  It looked
as if her father were memo rising something .  . .

The long pause in the proceedings was irritating Nakamura.  The special
guests were starting to whisper among themselves.  Finally Nakamura
spoke again.

"All right," he said.

"That's enough time.  What is your answer?"

Colours were still streaking around Archie's head.  At length, the
patterns stopped and Richard took a step forward towards Nakamura.

Richard hesitated a moment before speaking.

"The octo spiders want peace," he said slowly, 'and would like to find
a way to end this conflict.  If they were not a moral species, they
might agree to ratify this surrender document just to buy some time.

But the octo spiders are not like that.  My alien friend, whose name is
Archie, would not make an agreement for his species unless he was
certain both that the treaty was proper for his colony, and that his
fellow octo spiders would honour it."

Richard paused.

"We do not need a speech," Nakamura said impatiently, 'just answer the
question."

"The octo spiders Richard said in a louder voice, 'sent Archie and me
to negotiate an honourable peace, not to surrender unconditionally.  If
New Eden is not willing to negotiate, and to make an agreement that
respects the integrity of the octo spider domain, then they have no
choice .  . . Please," Richard now shouted, looking back and forth at
the guests on both sides of the room, 'understand that you cannot win
if the octo- spiders really fight.  So far they have put up no
resistance at all.  You must convince your leaders to enter into
balanced discussions .  . ."

^Seize the prisoners," Nakamura ordered.

'. . . or you will all perish.  The octo spiders are much more advanced
than we are.  Believe me.  I know.  I have been living with them for
more than .  . ."

One of the policemen struck Richard on the back of the head and he fell
to the floor, bleeding.  Katie jumped up but Franz restrained her
with
both arms.  Richard was holding the side of his head as Arch^ and he
were ushered out of the room.

Richard and Archie were in a small jail cell at the police station in
Hakone, not far from Nakamura's palace.

"Is your head all right?"

Archie asked in colour.

"I think so," Richard answered.

"Although it is still swelling."

"They'll kill us now, won't they?"  Archie asked.

"Probably," Richard said grimly.

"Thanks for trying," Archie said after a short silence.

Richard shrugged.

"It didn't do much good .  . . Anyway, it's you who should be thanked.
If you hadn't volunteered, you would still be safe and sound in the
Emerald City."

Richard walked over to the wash-basin in the corner to clean the cloth
he was holding against his head-wound.

"Didn't you tell me that most humans believe in life after death?"
Archie asked after Richard had rejoined him in the front of the cell.

"Yes," Richard replied.

"Some people believe we're reincarnated, and return to live again, as
another human, or even as some other animal.

Many others believe that if a good life has been lived, there is a
reward, an eternal life in a beautiful, stress less place called Heaven
. . ."

"And you, Richard," Archie's colours interrupted, 'what do you
personally believe?"

Richard smiled and thought for several seconds before answering.

"I've always believed that whatever there was in us that was unique,
and defined our special, individual personality, disappeared at the
moment of death.  Oh, sure, our chemicals may be recycled into other
living creatures, but there is no real continuity, not in terms of what
some humans call the soul .  . ."

He laughed.

"Right now, however, when my logical mind says I could not possibly
have much more time to live, a voice inside is begging me to embrace
one of those fairy-tales about the afterlife ... It would be easy, I
admit.  . . But such a last-minute conversion would be inconsistent
with the way I have lived all these years .  . ."

Richard walked slowly over to the front of their cell.  He put his
hands on the bars and stared down the corridor for several seconds
without saying anything.

"And what do octo spiders think happens after death?"  he asked softly,
turning around to face his cellmate.

"The Precursors taught us that each life is a finite interval, with a
beginning and an end.  Any individual creature, although a miracle, is
not that important in the overall scheme of things.  What matters, the
Precursors said, is continuity and renewal.  In their view each of us
is immortal, not because anything related to a specific individual
lives for
ever, but because each life becomes a critical link, either culturally
or genetically or both, in the never-ending chain of life.  When the
Precursors engineered us out of ignorance, they taught us not to fear
death, but to go willingly in support of the renewal that would
follow."

"So you experience no sorrow and no fear as your death approaches?"

"Ideally," Archie replied.

"That is the accepted way in our society to face death ... It is far
easier, however, if an individual is surrounded, at the time of
termination, by friends and others who represent the renewal that his
death will enable."

Richard walked over and put his arm around Archie.

"You and I have only each other, my friend," he said.

"Plus the knowledge that we have tried, together, to stop a war that
will probably end up killing thousands.  There can't be many causes . .
."

He stopped when he heard the door to the cell block open.  The local
police captain, along with one of his men, stood to the side as four
biots, two Garcias and two Lincolns, all wearing gloves, came down the
hallway to their cell.  None of the biots spoke.  One of the Garcias
opened the door and all four of the biots crowded into the cell with
Richard and Archie.  Moments later the lights went out, there was the
sound of a scuffle for several seconds, Richard screamed, and a body
fell against the bars of the cell.  Then it was quiet.

"Now Franz," Katie said as they opened the door to the police station,
'don't be afraid to pull rank.  He's just a local captain.  He's not
going to tell you that you can't see the prisoners."

They walked inside a few seconds after the two local officers closed
the cell-block door behind the biots.

"Captain Miyazawa," Franz said in his most official tone,

"I am Captain Franz Bauer, from headquarters .  . . I have come to
visit the prisoners."

"I have strict orders from the highest authority.  Captain Bauer," the
policeman replied, 'not to allow anyone into that cell block."

The room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"What's going on?"  Franz said.

"We must have blown a fuse," Captain Miyazawa replied.

"Westermark, go outside and check the circuit-breakers."

Franz and Katie heard a scream.  After what seemed to be an eternity,
they heard the cell-block door open and the sound of footsteps.  Three
biots disappeared out of the front door of the station as the lights
flickered on again.

Katie ran to the door.

"Look, Franz," she yelled.

"Blood, they have blood on their clothes."  She spun around, frantic.

"We must see my father."

Katie outran the three police officers down the corridor.

"Oh, God,"

she screamed as she neared the cell and saw her father lying gn-the
floor against the bars.  There was blood everywhere.

"He's dead, Franz," Katie wailed.

"Daddy's dead!"

Nicole had watched the video twice before.  Despite her swollen eyes
and utter emotional exhaustion, she asked if she could see it one more
time.  Beside her Dr Blue handed her a cup of water.

"Are you certain?"  the octo spider asked.

She nodded.  One more time, Nicole thought, is not too much.  I want
every frame, no matter how horrible, preserved for ever in my mind.

"Please start at the hearing," Nicole requested.

"Normal speed until the biots enter the cell block.  Then slow it down
to one-eighth."

Richard never wanted to be a hero, Nicole was thinking as the video
replayed the scene at the hearing.  That wasn't his style.  He only
went with Archie so that it wouldn't be necessary for me.  She winced
when the guard struck Richard and he tumbled to the floor.  The plan
was hopeless from the beginning, she told herself as the New Eden
policemen led Richard and Archie out of Nakamura's palace.  The octo
spiders all knew it.  I knew it.  Why didn't I speak up after my
premonition?

Nicole asked Dr Blue to fast-forward the video to the final minutes.

At least they had each other at the end, she thought as Richard and
Archie were sharing their final conversation.  And Archie tried to
protect him .  . . The four biots appeared on the screen and the video
slowed.  Nicole saw surprise change to fear in Richard's eyes as the
biots entered the cell.

When the lights were extinguished, the picture quality changed.  The
infra-red images taken by the quadroids were more like photo negatives,
highlighting the heat-levels in each frame.  The biots looked eerie.
Their eyes bulged out of their heads in the infra-red pictures.

The instant the cell was dark, one of the Garcias grabbed Richard by
the throat.  The other three took off their gloves, exposing sharp,
pointed fingers and knife-edged hands.  Four of Archie's powerful
tentacles en wrapped the Garcia trying to strangle Richard.  As the
Garcia's frame crumbled and the biot collapsed in a heap on the floor
of the cell, the other three biots attacked Archie furiously.  Richard
tried to help in the battle.  A Lincoln caught Archie's neck with a
savage blow from its hand and nearly decapitated the octo spider

Richard screamed as he was
drenched by Archie's internal body fluid.  With Archie out i the
fight, the remaining biots devastated Richard, puncturing his body over
and over with jabs from their fingers.  He fell against the front of
the cell and slipped down on to the floor.  His blood and Archie's,
which were different colours in the infra-red image, ran together and
formed a pool on the floor of the cell.

The video continued but Nicole was no longer seeing anything.  Now, for
the first time, she understood that her husband Richard, the only
really close friend she had ever had in her adult life, was actually
dead.  On the screen Franz led the sobbing Katie down the corridor and
then the monitor went blank.  Nicole did not move.  She sat perfectly
still, staring forward where the images had been just seconds before.

There were no tears in her eyes, her body was not trembling, she seemed
completely in control.  Yet she could not move.

A low level of light came on in the viewing-room.  Dr Blue was still
sitting beside her.

"I don't think," Nicole said slowly, surprised that her voice sounded
so far away, 'that I realised the first two times ... I mean, I must
have been in shock .  . . maybe I still am .

. ."  She couldn't continue.  Nicole was having trouble breathing, "You
need a drink of water and some rest," Dr Blue said.

Richard has been killed.  Richard is dead.

"Yes, please," Nicole said; faintly.  i will never see him again.  I
will never talk to him again.

"Cold water, if you have any."  i saw him die.  Once.  Twice.  Three
times.  Richard is dead.

There was another octo spider in the viewing-room.  They were talking
but Nicole could not follow their colours.  Richard is gone for ever. I
am alone.  Dr Blue held the water up to Nicole's lips but she could not
drink.  Richard has been killed.  There was nothing but blackness.

Someone was holding her hand.  It was a warm, pleasant hand, gently
caressing hers.  She opened her eyes.

"Hello, Mother," Patrick said softly.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Nicole closed her eyes again.  Where am I?  she thought.  Then she
remembered.  Richard is dead.  I must have fainted.

"Ummm," she said.

"Would you like some water?"  Patrick asked.  "Yes, please," she
whispered.  Her voice sounded strange.  Nicole tried to sit up and
drink the water.  She could not make it.  "Take it easy," Patrick
said.

"There's no hurry."  Her mind began to work.  i must tell them, she
thought.  Richard and Archie are dead.  The helicopters are coming.  We
must be very careful and protect the children.

"Richard," she managed to say.  "We know, Mother," Patrick replied.

How do they know?  Nicole thought.  I'm the only one left here who can
read colours .  . .

"The octo spiders went to a lot of trouble to write everything down. 
It wasn't perfect English, but we certainly understood what they were
telling us ... They told us about the war, too .  . ."

Good, Nicole thought.  They know.  I can sleep.  From somewhere in her
head there was still an echo.  Richard is dead.

"From time to time I can hear the bombs, but as far as I can tell none
of them yet has hit the dome."  It was Max's voice.

"Maybe they haven't figured out where the city is."

"It would be completely dark from the outside," Patrick said,

"They have thickened the canopy and there are no lights on the
streets."

"The bombs must be hitting the Alternate Domain.  There would be no way
the octos could hide its existence," Max said.

"What are the octo spiders doing?"  Patrick asked.

"Do we even know if they're counterattacking?"

"Not for certain," Max replied, 'but I can't believe they're still
sitting around doing nothing."

Nicole heard soft footsteps in the hallway.

"The boys are really developing a bad case of cabin fever," Nai said.

"Do you think it would be all right if I let them play outside?  .  . .
The all-clear flares were half an hour ago."

"I don't see why not," Patrick said.

"But tell them to come in if they see a flare, or hear any bombs."

"I'll be out there with them," Nai said.

"What's my wife doing?"  Max asked.

"Reading with Benjy," Nai replied.

"Marius is asleep."

"Why don't you ask her to come over for a few minutes?"

Nicole rolled over on her other side.  She thought about trying to sit
up, but she felt so tired.  She began day-dreaming, remembering her
childhood.  What does it take to be a princess?  little Nicole asked
her father.  Either a king for a father, or a prince for a husband, he
answered.  He smiled and kissed her.  Then I'm already a princess, she
told him.  For you're a king to me .  . .

"How is Nicole?"  Eponine asked.

"She stirred again this morning," Patrick replied.

"Dr Blue's note said that she may be able to sit up tonight or
tomorrow.  It also said they have verified that the attack was not
severe, that the heart was not permanently damaged, and that she is
responding well to the treatment."

"Can I see her now?"  Benjy asked.

"No, Benjy, not yet," said Eponine's voice, 'she's still resting."

"The octo spiders have really been great, haven't they?"  Patrick
said.

"Even in the middle of this war, they have taken time to wri^us such
complete messages .  . ."

"They've even made a believer out of me," Max said.

"And I never thought that was possible."

So I had a heart attack, Nicole thought.  i didn't just collapse
because Richard .  . . she could not complete the sentence at first .

. . because he is gone.

She drifted in the twilight zone between waking and sleeping until she
heard a familiar voice calling her name.  Is that you, Richard?  Nicole
said excitedly.  Yes, Nicole, he answered.  Where are you?  I want to
see you, she said, and his face appeared in a cloud in the middle of
her dream-screen.  You look great, she said, are you all right?  Yes,
Richard answered, but I must talk to you.

What is it, darling?  Nicole asked.  You must go on without me, he
said, you must set an examplefor the others.  His face began to alter
as the shapes of the clouds changed.  Of course, Nicole said, but where
are you going?  She could not see him any more.  Goodbye, his voice
said.

Goodbye, Richard, Nicole answered.

When she woke up the next time, her mind was clear.  Nicole sat up in
bed and looked around her.  It was dark, but she could tell she was in
her own room in the house in the Emerald City.

Nicole could hear no sounds.  She assumed it was night.  She pushed off
the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.  So far, so
good, she thought.  Nicole eased herself off the bed and stood up very
slowly.  Her legs were wobbly.

There was a glass of juice on the end table beside the bed.  Nicole
took two cautious steps, holding on to the bed with her right hand, and
picked up the glass.  The juice was delicious.  Pleased with herself,
Nicole started toward the closet to find some clothes.  She became
woozy after a few steps, however, and headed back towards the bed.

"Mother," she heard Patrick say, 'is that you?"  She could see his
silhouette in the doorway.

"Yes, Patrick," she answered.

"Here," he said, 'why don't we have some light?"  He knocked on the
wall and a firefly flew into the middle of the room.

"Goodness," he said, 'what are you doing up?"

"I can't stay in bed for ever," Nicole answered.

"But you should take it easy at first," Patrick said, coming over
beside her, and helping her the rest of the way to bed.

She grabbed his arm.

"Listen to me, son," Nicole said.

"I have no intention of being an invalid, nor do I want to be treated
like one.  I expect to be my old self in a few days, a week at the
most."

 Yes, Mother," Patrick said with a concerned smile.

Dr Blue was delighted with her recovery.  After four more days Nicole
walked, albeit slowly, and with a little help from Benjy, all the way
to the transport stop and back to the house.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Dr Blue told Nicole during an evening
examination.

"You're doing great, but I worry .  . ."

When the octo spider was finished, and preparing to leave the room, Max
entered and announced that two more octo spiders were waiting at the
front door.  Dr Blue hurried out, returning a few minutes later with
the Chief Optimiser and one of the members of her staff.

The Chief Optimiser first apologised, both for coming unexpectedly and
for not waiting until Nicole had completely recovered.

"However,"

the octo spider leader then said, 'we are now in an emergency situation
and we felt that we needed to communicate with you immediately."

Nicole felt her pulse-rate rise and tried to calm herself.

"What has happened?"  she said.

"You have probably noticed that there have been no bombings for the
last several days," the Chief Optimiser said.

"The humans temporarily stopped the helicopter attacks while they were
evaluating our ultimatum .  . . Five days ago we took the same written
message to each of three troop encampments.  The message said that we
could no longer tolerate the bombings, and that we would use our
superior technology to launch a decisive attack if the hostilities were
not ceased immediately ... As an illustration of our technological
capabilities, we included in the message a nil let by nil let
chronology of everything both Nakamura and Macmillan had done during
two work days last week.

"The human leaders were frantic.  They suspected that we had somehow
bribed some high official of the government, and now knew all of their
war plans as well.  Macmillan recommended accepting our cease-fire and
withdrawing from our territory.  Nakamura was furious.  He banished
Macmillan from his presence and reorganised his command structure.

Privately, he admitted to his security chief that any retreat would
ruin his position in the colony.

"The day before yesterday someone suggested to Nakamura that perhaps
your daughter Ellie might have some knowledge of how we had obtained
our information.  She was taken to the palace and interrogated by
Nakamura himself.  At first slightly co-operative, Ellie acknowledged
that in certain fields we were more advanced than the humans.  She also
said that she believed it was entirely within our capabilities to
obtain information about events in New Eden without using any spies or
other conventional means of gathering intelligence.

"Because she was so forthright, Nakamura became convinced that Ellie
knew more than she was telling.  He asked her questions for hews,
about many subjects, including our military capabilities and the
geography of our domain.  Ellie astutely avoided giving away any
critical information - she never mentioned the Emerald City, for
example and repeatedly answered that she had never seen any weapons, or
even any soldiers.  Nakamura did not believe her.  At length he had her
thrown in prison, and beaten.  Since then Ellie has remained defiantly
silent, despite additional rough treatment."

The Chief Optimiser paused.  Nicole had paled noticeably during her
description of Ellie's mistreatment.  The octo spider leader turned to
Dr Blue.

"Should I continue?"  she said.

Max and Patrick were standing in the doorway.  They could not, of
course, understand what the Chief Optimiser was saying, but they could
see the pallor on Nicole's face.  Patrick walked into the room.

"My mother has been quite ill .  . he said.

"It's all right," Nicole said, waving him away.  She took a deep
breath.  "Please go on," she said to the Chief Optimiser.

"Nakamura," the Chief Optimiser continued, 'has now convinced himself
and his main lieutenants that our threat is a bluff.  He believes that
even though our technology is very advanced in some areas, we possess
no military capabilities ... In his last staff meeting, only a few
terts ago, he agreed to a plan to bomb us into submission, using all
available fire-power.  The first of the massive raids will come in the
morning.

"We have therefore reluctantly concluded that we must now fight back.

Failure to act could put the survival of our colony in jeopardy.

Before coming to see you, I authorised implementation of War Plan
number 41, one of our intermediate-strength responses.  This plan does
not result in the annihilation of the colonists in New Eden, but should
be devastating enough to bring the war to a quick end.  Our analysts
estimate that between twenty and thirty per cent of the humans will die
. . ."

The Chief Optimiser stopped when she saw the pained expression on
Nicole's face.  Nicole asked for something to drink.

"Are we allowed to know any more details about your attack?"  Nicole
said slowly after she finished drinking the glass of water.

"We have chosen a microbiological agent, chemically much like an
enzyme, that interferes with cell reproduction in your species.  Young,
healthy humans below the age of forty or so have sufficiently strong
natural de fences to be able to withstand the onslaught of the agent.

Older or unhealthy humans will succumb quickly.  Their cells will not
be able to reproduce properly and their bodies will simply stop
functioning .  . . We have used blood, skin and other cells taken from
all of you here in the Emerald City to verify our theoretical
predictions.  We are quite certain that the young will be unharmed."

"Our species regards biological warfare as immoral," Nicole said after
a brief pause.

"We are aware," the Chief Optimiser said, 'that within your system of
values, some kinds of warfare are more acceptable than others.  To us,
all war is unacceptable.  We fight only if we absolutely must.  We
can't imagine it makes any difference to the dead being if it has been
killed by a gun, a bomb, a nuclear weapon or a biological agent .  .
.

Besides, we must fight back with whatever weapons we possess."

There was a long silence.  Nicole sighed and shook her head.

"I guess,"

she said at length,

"I should be thankful that you have told us what is happening in this
stupid war, even though the spectre of so many deaths is very
frightening.  I wish there could have been some other outcome .  . ."

The three octo spiders prepared to leave the room.  Max and Patrick
were asking Nicole questions before the visitors had even departed from
the house.

"Hold it," Nicole said wearily.

"Call the others in here first.  I only want to explain what the octo
spiders told me a single time."

Nicole could not sleep.  No matter how hard she tried, she could not
stop thinking about the people who were going to die in New Eden.

Faces, older faces mostly, faces of people that Nicole had known and
worked with during her active days in the colony, swam in and out of
her mind.

And what about Katie and Ellie, Nicole thought.  What if the octo
spiders have made a mistake?  She pictured Ellie as she had last seen
her, in her house with her husband and her daughter.  Nicole recalled
the arguments that she had witnessed between Ellie and Robert. His
tired, worn visage remained fixed in her mental image.

And Robert, she thought, oh, my God.  He's older, and doesn't take care
of himself at all.

Nicole squirmed in her bed, frustrated by her inability to do anything.
Finally she decided to sit up in the darkness.  i wonder if it's too
late, Nicole asked herself.  Again she thought of Robert.  i don't
agree with him.  I'm not even certain he's a good husband for Ellie.
But he is still Nikki's father.

A plan had begun to develop in her mind.  Nicole gingerly slid out of
bed and walked across to the closet.  She put on some clothes.  i might
not be able to help, she was thinking, but at least I'll know that I
tried.

Nicole was especially quiet in the hall.  She did not want to wake
Patrick or Nai, who had been sleeping in Ellie's room since her heart
attack.  They would just make me go back to bed.

Outside, in the Emerald City, it was almost as dark as it had been
inside the house.  Nicole stood at the doorway, hoping that her eyes
would adjust enough for her to find the house next door.  Eventually
she could make out some shadows.  She stepped off the porch to the
right.

Her progress was slow.  She would take half a dozen steps and then
stop to look around.  It took her several minutes to reach the^ttium
of Dr Blue's house.

Now, with any luck, Nicole thought, remembering, she should be sleeping
in the second room on the left.  When she entered the octo spider
sleeping- quarters, Nicole tapped lightly on the wall.  A firefly dimly
illuminated a pair of octo spiders in a single heap.  Dr Blue and Jamie
were sleeping with their bodies pressed together and their tentacles
tangled in a confusing pattern.  Nicole walked over and touched Dr Blue
on the top of the head.  There was no response.  She tapped a little
harder the second time and Dr Blue's lens material began to move
around.

"What are you doing here?"  Dr Blue said in colour a few seconds
later.

"I need your help," Nicole answered.

"It's important."

The octo spider moved very slowly, trying to untangle her tentacles
without disturbing Jamie.  She was unsuccessful.  The younger octo
spider awakened anyway.  Dr Blue told Jamie to go back to sleep and
shuffled into the atrium with Nicole.

"You should be in bed," Dr Blue said.

"I know," Nicole replied.

"But this is an emergency.  I need to talk to the Chief Optimiser, and
I would like for you to go with me."

"At this time of night?"

"I don't know how much time we have," Nicole said.

"I must see the Chief Optimiser before those biological agents start
killing people in New Eden .  . . I'm worried about Katie, and all of
Ellie's family as well .  . ."

"Nikki and Ellie will not be harmed.  Katie should be young enough too,
if I understood .  . ."

"But Katie's system is screwed up by all the drugs," Nicole interrupted
the colours.

"Her body probably acts as if it's old .  . .

and Robert is all worn out from working all the time .  . ."

"I'm not certain I understand what you are telling me," said Dr Blue.

"Why is it that you want to see the Chief Optimiser?"

"To plead for special treatment for Katie and Robert, assuming of
course that Ellie and Nikki are all right .  . . There must be some
way, with your biological magic, that they can be singled out and
spared .  . . that's why I want you to come with me .  . . To support
my case."

The octo spider didn't say anything for several seconds.

"All right, Nicole," she said finally,

"I will go with you.  Even though I think you should be resting in bed
. . . And I doubt if there's anything that can be done."

"Thank you very much," Nicole said, forgetting herself for a moment and
hugging Dr Blue around the neck.

"You must promise me one thing," Dr Blue said as they walked together
out of the front door.

"You must not push yourself too hard tonight .

. . Tell me if you are feeling weak."

"I'll even lean on you as we walk," Nicole said with a smile.

They moved slowly into the street, the unlikely pair.  Two of Dr Blue's
tentacles were supporting Nicole at all times.  Nevertheless, the day's
activities and emotions had taken a toll on Nicole's meagre energy
supply.  She was feeling fatigue before they reached the transport
stop.

She stopped to rest.  The distant sounds she had been hearing, but not
noticing, became more prominent.

"Bombs," Nicole said to Dr Blue, 'a lot of them."

"We were told to expect helicopter raids," the octo spider said,

"But I wonder why there were no flares .  . ."

Suddenly part of the domed canopy over their heads exploded in a great
fireball.  Moments later Nicole heard a deafening sound.  She held
tightly to Dr Blue and stared at the inferno above her.  In the flames
she thought she could see the remnants of a helicopter.  Burning pieces
of the dome were falling from the sky, some landing no more than a
kilometer away.

Nicole could not catch her breath.  Dr Blue could see the strain on her
face.

"I'll never make it," Nicole said.  She clutched the octo spider with
all the strength she had remaining.

"You must go and see the Chief Optimiser without me," she said.

"As my friend.  Ask her, no, beg her to do something for Katie and
Robert .  . . Tell her it's a personal favour .  . . For me .  . ."

"I'll do what I can," Dr Blue replied.

"But first, we must take you back .  . ."

"Mother," Nicole heard Patrick yell behind her.  He was running down
the street towards them.  When he reached them, Dr Blue boarded the
transport.  Nicole looked up at the dome just as the helicopter blade,
wrapped in burning foliage, fell out of the sky and crashed in the
distance.

Katie dropped the syringe in the sink and looked at herself in the
mirror.  "There," she said out loud, 'that's much better .  . . I'm not
trembling any more."  She was wearing the same dress she had worn to
her father's hearing.  Katie had made that decision also the week
before, when she had Cold Franz what she was planning to do.

She turned around, watching her reflection critically.  What is that
swelling on my forearm?  she wondered.  Katie had not noticed it
before.

On her right arm, half-way between her elbow and her wrist, there was a
lump the size of a golf ball.  She rubbed it.  The swelling felt tender
when she pressed it, but it neither hurt nor itched unless she touched
it directly.

Katie shrugged and walked into her living-room.  The papers she had
prepared were lying on the coffee-table.  She smoked a cigarette while
she organised the document.  Then she placed the papers in a large
envelope.

The phone call from Nakamura's office had come that morning.  The sweet
female voice had told Katie that Nakamura could see her at five o'clock
in the afternoon.  When she had put down the phone, Katie had hardly
been able to contain herself.  She had almost given up hope that she
would be able to see him at all.  Three days earlier, when she had
called to make an appointment 'to talk about their mutual business',
Nakamura's receptionist had told her that he was extremely busy with
the war effort and was not scheduling unrelated meetings.

Katie checked her watch again.  It was fifteen minutes until five.  To
walk from her apartment to the palace would take ten minutes.  She
picked up the envelope and opened the door of her apartment.

The wait was destroying her self-confidence.  It was already six
o'clock and Katie had not even been admitted yet to the inner sanctum,
the Japanese part of the palace where Nakamura worked and lived.  Twice
she had gone to the rest-room, both times inquiring on her way back to
her seat if the wait would be much longer.  The girl at the desk next
to the door had twice responded with a vague, unknowing gesture.

Katie was struggling with herself.  The kokomo was starting to wear
off, and she was having doubts.  While smoking a cigarette in the rest
9 room, she had tried to forget her anxieties by thinking about
Franz.

She had remembered the last time that they had made love.  His eyes had
been heavy with sadness when he had departed.  He does love me, Katie
thought, in his own way .  . .

The Japanese girl was standing at the door.

"You may go in now," she said.  Katie crossed back through the
waiting-room and entered the main part of the palace.  She took off her
shoes, placed them on a shelf, and walked on the tatami in her
stockinged feet.  An escort, a policewoman named Marge, greeted her and
instructed Katie to follow her.  Clutching her envelope of papers in
her hand, Katie walked behind the policewoman for ten or fifteen me
tres until a screen opened on their right.

"Please go in," Marge said.

Another policewoman, Oriental but not Japanese, was waiting in the
room.  She was wearing a gun in a holster on her hip.

"Security around Nakamura-san is especially tight right now," Marge
explained.

"Please take off all your clothes and jewellery."

"All my clothes?"  Katie asked.

"Even my panties?"

"Everything," the other woman said.

Her clothes were all folded neatly and placed in a basket marked with
her name.  The jewellery went into a special box.  While Katie was
naked, Marge checked her everywhere, including her private parts.  She
even inspected the inside of Katie's mouth, holding her tongue
depressed for almost thirty seconds.  Katie was then handed a blue and
white yukata and a pair of Japanese slippers.

"You may now go with Bangorn to the last waiting-room," Marge said.

Katie picked up her envelope and started to leave.  The Oriental
policewoman stopped her.

"Everything stays here," she said.

"But this is a business meeting," Katie protested.

"What I want to discuss with Mr Nakamura is in this envelope."

The two women opened the envelope and took out the papers.  They held
each individual paper up to the light and then passed it through some
kind of screening-machine.  Finally they replaced the papers in the
envelope and the woman named Bangorn motioned for Katie to follow
her.

The final waiting-room was another fifteen me tres down the hall. 
Again Katie had to sit and wait.  She could feel herself starting to
shake.

How could I have ever thought this might work?  she said to herself.

What a fool I am!

As she sat, Katie began to yearn desperately for some kokomo.  She
could not recall ever wanting anything so much.  Fearful that she was
going to start crying, she asked Bangorn if she could go again to the
rest-room.  The policewoman accompanied her.  At least Katie was able
to wash her face.

When the two of them returned, Nakamura himself was standing in the
waiting-room.  Katie thought her heart was going to jump out of her
chest.  This is it, said her inner voice.  Nakamura was wearing a
yellow and black kimono covered with bright flowers.

"Hello, Katie," he said with a leering smile.

"I have not seen you for a long time."

"Hello, Toshio-san," she replied with her voice breaking.

Katie followed him into his office and sat down, cross-legged, at a low
table.  Nakamura was opposite her.  Bangorn stayed in the room,
standing unobtrusively over in a corner.  Oh no, Katie said to herself
when the policewoman did not leave, what do I do now?

"I thought," Katie said to Nakamura a moment later, trying to sound
normal, 'that a report on our business was long overdue."  She pulled
the document out of the envelope.

"Despite the poor economy, we have managed to increase our profits by
ten per cent.  In this summary sheet," she said, handing a page to
Nakamura, 'you can see that although the Vegas revenues are down, the
local take, where the prices are cheaper, is up substantially.  Even in
San Miguel .  . ."

He glanced at the paper quickly and then put it down on the table.

"You don't need to show me any data," Nakamura said.

"Everyone knows what a superb businesswoman you are."  He reached over
to his left and retrieved a large black lacquer box.

"Your performance has been outstanding," he said.

"If times were not so tough, you would definitely merit a large rise
... As it is, I would like to offer you this gift as a token of my
appreciation."

Nakamura pushed the box across the table to Katie.

"Thank you," she said, admiring the mountains and snow inlaid on its
top.  It was indeed beautiful.

"Open it," he said, reaching for one of the wrapped candies in the bowl
on the table.

Katie opened the box.  It was full of kokomo.  A genuine smile of
delight crossed her face.

"Thank you, Toshio-san," she said.

"You are most generous."

"You may sample it," he said, now grinning.

"You won't insult me."

Katie put a small amount of the powder on her tongue.  It was top
quality Without hesitation, she pinched a chunk of powder out of the
box and held it against her left nostril with her little finger.

Closing off the right nostril, Katie inhaled deeply.  She took slow,
deep breaths while the rush took effect.  Then she laughed.

"Whewee,"

Katie said uninhibitedly.

"That's great stuff!"

"I thought you would like it," Nakamura said.  He idly tossed his
candy- wrapper in the small waste-basket next to the table.  It will be
in there somewhere, Katie heard Franz say inside her head.  In some
inconspicuous spot.  Look in the waste-baskets.  Look behind the
curtains.

The New Eden dictator was smiling at her from across the table.

"Was there anything else?"  he asked.

Katie took a deep breath as she smiled.

"Only this," she said.  She stretched forward, put her elbows on the
table, and kissed him on the lips.  She felt the policewoman's rough
hands on her shoulders moments later.

"That's a small token of my thanks for the kokomo."

She had not misjudged him.  The lust in his eyes was unmistakable.

Nakamura waved Bangorn away.

"You may leave us," he said to the policewoman as he rose from his
sitting position.

"Come over here, Katie.  Give me a real kiss."

Katie checked the small waste-basket as she danced around the table.

There was nothing except candy-wrappers in it.  Of course, she
thought.

That would be too obvious .  . . Now I must make this good.  She teased
Nakamura first with one kiss, and then with another.  Her tongue
tickled his lips and tongue.  Then she pulled away, quickly, still
laughing.  Nakamura started to follow her.

"No," she said, backing up towards the door.

"Not yet ... we're just getting started."

Nakamura stood still and grinned.

"I had forgotten how talented you are," he said.

"Those girls are lucky to have you as a mentor."

"It takes an exceptional man to bring out the best in me," Katie said,
locking and bolting the door.  Her eyes roamed quickly around the
office and landed on another small waste-basket, over in the far
corner.  That would be the perfect place, she said to herself
excitedly.

"Are you just going to stand there, Toshio," Katie said now, 'or are
you going to get me a drink?"

"Of course," Nakamura said, moving towards the hand-carved liquor
cabinet under the solitary window.

"Straight whiskey, wasn't it?"

"Your memory is phenomenal," Katie said.

"I remember you very well," Nakamura said as he prepared two drinks.

"How could I ever forget all those games especially the princess and
the slave, that was my favourite .  . . We had such fun there for a
while."

Until you insisted on bringing in others.  And golden showers.  And
even more disgusting things, Katie thought.  You made it clear that I
was not enough by myself.

"Boy," she barked suddenly in an imperious tone,

"I am thirsty .  . . Where is my drink?"

A quick frown crossed Nakamura's face before he broke into a wide
smile.

"Yes, Your Highness," he said, bringing her a drink with his head held
low.  He bowed.

"Is there anything else.  Your Highness?"  he said obsequiously.

"Yes," Katie responded, taking the drink with her left hand and
reaching aggressively under Nakamura's kimono with her right.  She
watched
him close his eyes.  Katie kissed him hard while continuing^ to arouse
him.

She pulled away abruptly.  While he was watching her, Katie slowly took
off her yukata.  Nakamura advanced.  Katie stuck out her arms.

"Now, boy," she ordered, 'turn down those lights and lie over there on
the mat, on your back, next to the table."

Nakamura dutifully complied.  Katie walked over to where he was
lying.

"Now," she said in a gentler tone, 'you do remember what your princess
needs, don't you?  Slowly, very slowly, without any hurry."

She reached down and fondled him.

"I do believe that Musashi is almost ready .  . ."

Katie kissed Nakamura, caressing his face and neck with her fingers.

"Now close your eyes," she whispered in his ear, 'and count to ten,
very slowly."

"Ichi, nisan .  . he said breathlessly.

With astonishing celerity, Katie swept across the room to the other
waste-basket.  She pushed aside some papers and found the gun.

'. . . shi, go, ryoku .  . ."

Her heart pounding furiously, Katie picked up the gun, turned around,
and headed back towards Nakamura.

'. . . shichi, ha chi kyu .  . ."

"This is for what you did to my father," Katie said, sticking the
barrel of the gun against his forehead.  She pulled the trigger just as
the astonished Nakamura opened his eyes.

"And this is for what you did to me," she said, firing three bullets
into his genitals in rapid succession.

The guards broke down the door in seconds.  But she was too quick.

"And this, Katie Wakefield," she said in a loud voice, sticking the gun
in her mouth, 'is for what you did to yourself."

Ellie awakened when she heard the keys rustling in the lock on her
cell.  She rubbed her eyes.

"Is that you, Robert?"  she asked.

"Yes, Ellie," he said.  He came into the cell just as she stood up.

Robert put his arms around Ellie and hugged her fiercely.

"I'm so glad to see you," he said.

"I came as soon as Hans told me the guards had abandoned the
station."

Robert kissed his puzzled wife.

"I'm terribly sorry, Ellie," he said.

"I was very, very wrong."

It took Ellie a few seconds to gather her bearings.

"They abandoned the station?"  she said.

"Why, Robert?  What's going on?"

"Complete and total chaos," he said heavily.  He looked utterly
defeated.

"What do you mean, Robert?"  Ellie said, suddenly afraid.

"Nikki's all right, isn't she?"

"She's fine, Ellie .  . . But people are dying in droves .  . . And we
don't know why ... Ed Stafford collapsed an hour ago and was dead
before I could even examine him .  . . It's some kind of monstrous
plague."

The octo spiders Ellie thought immediately, they have finally fought
back.  She held her husband against her while he wept.  After several
seconds he pulled away and spoke.

"I'm sorry, Ellie .  . . There has been so much turmoil .  . . Are you
all right?"

"I'm OK, Robert.  . . No one has questioned or tortured me for several
days.  But where's Nikki?"

"She's with Brian Walsh at our house.  You remember Brian, Patrick's
computer friend?  He's been helping me take care of Nikki since you've
been gone .  . . Poor guy, he found both his parents dead the day
before yesterday when he woke up."

Ellie walked out of the police station with Robert.  He was talking
continuously, rambling from subject to subject, but Ellie was able to
comprehend a few things from his almost incoherent chatter.  According
to Robert, there had been over three hundred unexplained deaths in New
Eden in just the last two days.  And the end was nowhere in sight.

"It's strange," he muttered.

"Only one child has died .  . . Most of the victims have been old."

In front of the Beauvois police station, a desperate woman in her
mid-thirties recognised and then grabbed Robert.

"You must come with me, doctor, immediately," the woman yelled in a
shrill voice.

"My husband is unconscious ... He was sitting there with me, eating
lunch, and he began to complain of a headache.  When I came back from
the kitchen, he was lying on the floor .  . . I'm afraid he's dead."

"You see .  . ."  Robert said, turning to Ellie.

"Go with her," Ellie said, 'and then to the hospital if you must.  .
.

I'll go home and take care of Nikki.  We'll be waiting for you."  She
leaned over and kissed him.  Ellie started to say something to Robert
about the octo spiders but decided against it.

"Mommy, Mommy," Nikki yelled.  She ran down the hall and jumped into
Ellie's arms.

"I've missed you, Mommy."

"And I have missed you, my angel," Ellie said.

"What have you been doing?"

"I've been playing with Brian," Nikki answered.

"He's a very nice man.

He reads to me, and teaches me all about numbers."

Brian Walsh, who was in his early twenties, came around the corner
holding a children's book.

"Hello, Mrs Turner," he said.

"I don't know if you remember me .  . ."

"Of course I do, Brian.  And I'm just Ellie ... I really do want to
thank you for helping with Nikki .  . ."

"I'm glad to do it, Ellie.  She's a great kid .  . . She's kept ny. 
mind off a lot of painful thoughts .  . ."

"Robert told me about your parents," Ellie interrupted.

"I'm terribly sorry."

Brian shook his head.

"It was so weird.  They were both perfectly fine the night before, when
they went to bed."  Tears came into his eyes.

"They looked so peaceful .  . ."

He turned away and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

"Several of my friends say this plague, or whatever it is, was caused
by the octo- spiders.  Do you think that maybe .  . . ?"

"Possibly," Ellie said.

"We may have pushed them too far."

"Are we all going to die now?"  Brian asked.

"I don't know," Ellie answered.

"I really don't."

They stood in awkward silence for several seconds.

"Well, at least your sister got rid of Nakamura," Brian said
suddenly.

Ellie was certain she had not heard the sentence correctly.

"What are you talking about, Brian?"  she asked.

"You didn't hear about it?  ... Four days ago Katie assassinated
Nakamura, and then killed herself."

Ellie was stunned.  She stared at Brian in utter disbelief.

"Daddy told me about Aunt Katie yesterday," Nikki said to her mother.

"He said he wanted to be the one to tell me."

Ellie could not say anything.  Her head was spinning.  She managed to
say goodbye to Brian and to thank him again.  Then she sat down on the
couch.  Nikki crawled up beside her mother and put her head on Elite's
lap.  They sat together quietly for a long time.

"And how has your father been while I've been gone?"  Ellie finally
asked.

"Mostly fine," the little girl replied.

"Except for the lump."

What lump?"  Ellie said.

"On his shoulder," Nikki said.

"As big as my fist.  I saw it there when he was shaving, three days
ago.  He said it must be a spider bite or something."

"Benjy and I are leaving for the hospital," Nicole announced.

The others were still finishing their breakfast.

"Sit down, Nicole, please," said Eponine.

"At least finish your coffee."

"Thanks, anyway," she replied.

"But I promised Dr Blue we would come in early today.  There were a lot
of casualties in yesterday's raid."

"But you've been working very hard, Mother," Patrick said.

"And not sleeping nearly enough."

"It helps to stay busy," Nicole said.

"That way I don't have any time to think .  . ."

"Let's go, Ma-ma," Benjy said, coming into the room and handing Nicole
her coat.  While he was standing beside his mother, Benjy smiled and
waved at the twins, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

Galileo made a bizarre face and both Benjy and Kepler laughed.

"She hasn't yet allowed herself to grieve over Katie's death," Nai said
softly a minute later, as soon as Nicole had left.

"That worries me.  Sooner or later .  . ."

"She's afraid, Nai," Eponine said.

"Maybe of another heart attack.

Maybe even for her sanity .  . . Nicole is still in denial."

"There you go, Frenchie, with that damn psychology again," Max said.

"Don't worry about Nicole .  . . She's stronger than any of us.  She'll
weep for Katie when she's ready."

"Mother hasn't been to the viewing-room since her heart attack.  When
Dr Blue told her about the assassination and Katie's suicide, I felt
certain Mother would want to see some of the videos ... to see Katie
one last time ... or at least to see how Ellie was doing .  . ."

"Best goddamn thing your sister ever did, Patrick," Max commented,
'killing that bastard.  Whatever else anybody could say about her, she
had courage."

"Katie had a lot of outstanding qualities," Patrick said sadly.

"She was brilliant, she could be charming .  . . she just had that
other side."

There was a brief silence around the breakfast-table.  Eponine was
about to say something when there was a glow of light at the front
door.

"Uh-oh," she said, standing up.

"I'm going to move Mariua <ext door.

The raids are starting again."

Nai turned to Galileo and Kepler.

"Finish up quickly, boys .  . . we're going back into that special
house Uncle Max made for us."

Galileo screwed up his face.

"Not again," he complained.

Nicole and Benjy had barely reached the hospital when the first bombs
started falling through the tattered dome.  The heavy raids had been
occurring daily.  More than half of the Emerald City ceiling was now
gone.  Bombs had fallen on almost every section of the city.

Dr Blue greeted them and immediately sent Benjy down to the
receiving-area.

"It's terrible," the octo spider physician said to Nicole.

"Over two hundred dead from yesterday alone."

"What is happening in New Eden?"  Nicole asked.

"I would have thought that by now .  . ."

"The micro-agents are working somewhat slower than predicted," Dr Blue
replied.

"But they are finally having an impact.  The Chief Optimiser says the
raids should cease in another day or two, at the most.  She and her
staff are drawing up plans for the next phase .  .

."

"Surely the colonists will not continue the war," Nicole said, forcing
herself not to think too much about what was occurring in New Eden"
'especially not with Nakamura dead."

"We feel we must be prepared for any contingency," Dr Blue said.

"But I certainly hope you're right."

As they were moving down the corridor together, they were approached by
another octo spider doctor, the one that Benjy had named Penny because
of the round mark, resembling a New Eden coin, just to the right of her
slit.  Penny described to Dr Blue the terrible scenes she had
witnessed, earlier that morning, out in the Alternate Domain.

Nicole was able to understand most of what Penny said, not only because
the octo- spider repeated herself several times, but also because Penny
used very simple sentences in their language of colour.

Penny informed Dr Blue that medical personnel and supplies were
desperately needed, immediately, to help with the wounded in the
Alternate Domain.  Dr Blue tried to explain to Penny that there were
not even enough staff members available to handle all the patients in
the hospital.  "I could go win Penny for a few hours this morning,"
Nicole suggested, 'if that would be any help."

Dr Blue glanced at her human friend.

"Are you certain you feel up to it, Nicole?"  the octo spider asked.

"I understand it's pretty gruesome out there."

"I have been getting stronger every day," Nicole replied.

"And I want to be where I'm most needed."

Dr Blue told Penny that Nicole would be able to assist her in the
Alternate Domain for a maximum of a ten, as long as Penny herself
accepted the responsibility for escorting Nicole back to the
hospital.

Penny agreed and thanked Nicole for volunteering to help.

Soon after they boarded the transport, Penny explained to Nicole what
was happening in the Alternate Domain.

"The wounded are taken to any building that is still undamaged, where
they are examined, treated with emergency medicines if necessary, and
scheduled for transportation to the hospital .  . . The situation has
been getting worse each day.  Many of the alternates have already given
up hope."

The rest of the transport ride was equally depressing.  In the light
from the few scattered fireflies, Nicole could see destruction
everywhere.  To open the south gate, the guards had to push aside two
dozen alternates, a few of them wounded, who were clamouring to enter
the city.  After the transport passed the gate, the devastation around
them increased.  The theatre where Nicole and her friends had attended
the morality play was a shambles.  More than half of the structures
near the Arts District had been flattened.  Nicole started feeling
sick.  i had no idea it was this bad, she was thinking.  Suddenly a
bomb exploded on top of the transport.

Nicole was thrown out of the car on to the street.  Dazed, she
struggled slowly to her feet.  The transport had been severed into two
twisted pieces.  Penny and the other octo spider doctor were buried in
the debris.  Nicole attempted for several minutes to reach Penny, but
eventually realised it was hopeless.  Another bomb exploded near by.

Nicole grabbed her small medical bag, which had been thrown into the
street beside her, and staggered down a side-lane in search of a
shelter.

A solitary octo spider was lying motionless in the middle of the
lane.

Nicole bent down and pulled her flashlight from her bag.  There was no
activity in the octo spider lens.  She rolled the octo over on its side
and immediately saw the wound in the back of its head.  A large
quantity of a white, corrugated material had oozed out of the wound on
to the street.  Nicole shuddered and almost gagged.  She glanced around
her quickly for something to cover the dead octo spider A bomb hit a
building not more than two hundred me tres away.  Nicole stood up and
walked on.

She found a small shed on the right side of the lane, but it was
already occupied by five or six of the little Polish-sausage animals.

They chased her away, one of them snapping at her heels for twenty or
twenty-five me tres At length the animal was gone and Nicole stopped to
catch her breath.  She spent a few minutes examining herself and
discovered, much to her amazement, that she had no significant
injuries, only a few isolated bruises.

There was a hiatus in the bombing.  The Alternate Domain was eerily
quiet.  In front of Nicole, about a hundred me tres down the street,
a
firefly was hovering over a building that appeared to be Modamaged.

Nicole saw a pair of octo spiders one of whom was obviously wounded,
enter the building.  That must be one of the temporary hospitals, she
said to herself.  She started to walk in that direction.

A few seconds later, Nicole heard a peculiar sound, barely above the
threshold of her hearing.  At first the sound did not register in her
mind, but the second time she heard the cry, Nicole stopped abruptly in
the street.  A chill ran down her spine.  That was a baby's cry, she
thought: standing completely still.  She heard nothing for several
seconds.

Could I have imagined it?  Nicole asked herself.

Nicole strained her eyes and looked in the semi-darkness to her right,
in what she imagined had been the direction of the cry.  She could make
out a wire fence, lying mostly on its side, about forty me tres down an
intersecting lane.  She glanced again at the nearby building.  The octo
spiders surely need me in there, Nicole thought.  But how can i not ...
The cry resounded in the night, clearer this time, rising and falling
in amplitude like the typical wail of a desperate human baby.

She walked hurriedly over to the toppled fence.  A broken sign in
colour was lying on the ground in front of it.  Nicole knelt down and
picked up a piece of the sign.  When she recognised the octo spider
colours for 'zoo', her heart-rate surged.  Richard heard the cry when
he was at the zoo, she; remembered.

There was an explosion about a kilometer away, on her left, and then
another, much closer.  The helicopters had returned for another
sortie.

The baby's wail became continuous.  Nicole tried to keep moving in the
direction of the cry, but her progress was slow.  It was difficult to
isolate the wail amidst the noise from the explosions.

A bomb burst in front of her, less than a hundred me tres away.  In the
silence that followed, Nicole heard nothing.  Oh no, her heart cried
out, not now.  Not when I am this close.  There was another explosion
in the distance, followed by another period of quiet.  It might be some
other kind of animal, she remembered telling Richard.  Somewhere in the
universe there may be a creature that sounds like a human baby.

All Nicole could hear was the sound of her own breathing.  What should
I do now?  she asked herself.  Continue the search and hope somehow ...
or turn around and go back .  . .

Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of the piercing wail.

Nicole moved as fast as she dared.  No, she kept saying to herself, her
mother's heart torn apart by the desperate cry, it's unmistakable.

There cannot be any other sound like that.  A battered fence ran along
the right side of the narrow lane.  She crossed through it.  In the
shadows ahead of her Nicole saw some movement.

The crying baby was sitting on the ground next to the lifeless form
of
an adult human, presumably its mother.  The woman was lying face down
on the dirt.  Blood covered the lower half of the adult's body.  After
quickly determining that the woman was indeed dead, Nicole reached down
gingerly and picked up the dark-haired child.  Astonished by the
action, the baby fought against her and split the night with a powerful
bawl.  Nicole put the child against her shoulder and patted it lightly
on the back.

"There, there," she said as the baby continued to shriek, 'everything
is going to be all right."

In the dim light Nicole could see that the child's bizarre clothes,
which were little more than two layers of heavy sacks with holes cut in
appropriate places, were smeared with blood.  Despite the baby's
protests and thrashing, Nicole gave the child a quick examination.

Except for a flesh wound in the leg, and the filth that covered her
entire body, the little girl appeared to be all right.  Nicole
estimated that she was about a year old.

Ever so gently, Nicole laid the girl down on a small, fresh cloth taken
from the medical bag.  While Nicole was cleaning up the child, she felt
the girl jerk and recoil each time a bomb exploded in the vicinity.
Nicole tried to soothe her by singing Brahms's Lullaby.

Once during the time that Nicole was dressing the leg-wound, the girl
stopped crying temporarily and stared at Nicole with her huge,
surprisingly blue eyes.  She offered no protest even when Nicole took a
damp cleansing-pad and began to wipe the dirt off her skin.  A little
later, however, when Nicole was cleaning underneath the girl's shins of
sackcloth and found, to her astonishment, a small rope necklace against
the baby's tiny chest, the child started howling again.

Nicole gathered the crying baby in her arms and stood up.  She is
undoubtedly hungry, Nicole thought, looking around the area for some
kind of hut or shelter.  There must be some food near by.  Under a
deep, overhanging rock about fifteen me tres away, which had clearly
been an enclosed area before the bombing raids began, Nicole found a
large pan of water, some small objects of unknown purpose, a
sleeping-pad, and several more of the sacks out of which the clothing
of both the woman and the child were made.  But there was no food.
Nicole tried unsuccessfully to get the girl to drink from the pan. Then
she had another idea.

Returning to the body of the dead mother, Nicole determined that there
was still some good milk left in her breasts.  The woman had obviously
died recently.  Nicole lifted the mother's torso and slid in behind her
on the ground.  Supporting the mother's body against her own, Nicole
held the baby girl against her mother's breasts and watched her eat.

The child ate hungrily.  In the middle of the feeding, a bomb blast
illuminated the dead woman's features.  It was the same face Nicole
had
seen in the octo spider painting in Artists' Square.  So I dtt^wi
imagine it, Nicole thought.

The baby girl fell asleep when she had finished nursing.  Nicole
wrapped her in one of the extra sacks and placed her softly on the
ground.  Nicole now examined the dead mother thoroughly for the first
time.  On the strength of the gaping wounds in her lower mid-section
and right thigh, Nicole surmised that two large pieces of a single bomb
had torn through the woman and that she had subsequently bled to death.
While she was inspecting the thigh-wound, Nicole felt a strange bulge
in the woman's right buttock.  Curious, she lifted the woman's body
slightly off the ground and ran her fingers over and around the bulge.
It felt as if some hard object had been implanted underneath the
skin.

Nicole retrieved her medical bag and then, with her small scissors,
made an incision just to one side of the bulge.  She pulled out an
object that appeared to be silver in the dim light.  It was the size
and shape of a small cigar, twelve to fifteen centime tres in length,
and about two centime tres in diameter.  A puzzled Nicole twirled the
object around in her right hand and tried to imagine what it could be.
It was incredibly smooth, with no discernible breaks anywhere.

Probably this is some kind of identifier for the zoo, she was thinking
when a bomb exploded near by, waking the sleeping girl.

Over in the direction of the Emerald City, bombs were falling with
increasing intensity.  While Nicole comforted the child, she thought
about what she should do next.  A large fireball raced towards the sky
as one of the falling bombs caused an even larger explosion on the
ground.  In the temporary light, Nicole could see that she and the
child were on the top of a small hill, very close to the edge of the
developed part of the Alternate Domain.  The Central Plain began no
more than a hundred me tres to the west.

Nicole stood up with the girl on her shoulder.  She was near
exhaustion.  "We're going out there, away from the bombs," she said out
loud to the baby, motioning in the direction of the Central Plain.
Nicole tossed the cylindrical object in her medical bag and grabbed a
pair of the clean sacks.  These may be useful in the cold, Nicole said,
throwing the heavy sacks over her shoulders.

It took an hour for her to trudge with the baby and the sacks to a spot
in the Central Plain that Nicole thought was far enough away from the
bombs.  She lay down on her back, the child cradled on her chest, and
wrapped the sacks around both of them.  Nicole was asleep in seconds.

Nicole was awakened by the movement of the girl.  She had been having a
conversation with Katie in her dream, but Nicole could not recall what
they had been saying to each other.  She sat up and changed the baby,
using a clean cloth from her medical bag.  The child stared at Nicole
curiously with her wide blue eyes.

"Good morning, little girl, whoever you are," Nicole said brightly. The
child smiled for the first time.

It was no longer completely dark.  Firefly clusters illuminated the
Emerald City in the distance, and the gaping holes in the dome allowed
the light to shine on the surrounding area of Rama.  The war must have
ended, Nicole thought, or at least the raids.  Otherwise there would
not be so much light in the city.

"Well, my newest friend," Nicole said, standing up and stretching after
placing the baby carefully on one of the clean sacks, 'let's see what
adventures are in store for us today."

The girl quickly crawled off the sack into the dirt of the Central
Plain.  Nicole picked her up and replaced her in the middle of the
sack.  Again she crawled towards the dirt.

"Whoa there, little one,"

Nicole said with a laugh, picking the girl up a second time.

It was difficult for Nicole to gather up their belongings while she was
holding the child in her arms.  Eventually she succeeded and began
walking slowly towards civilisation.  They were about three hundred me
tres from the closest buildings of the Alternate Domain.  During her
walk, Nicole decided that she would go first to the hospital to find Dr
Blue.  Assuming that she had correctly concluded that the war was over,
or at least had been temporarily halted, Nicole planned to spend the
morning finding out everything she could about the child.

Who were her parents, Nicole formed the questions in her mind, and how
long ago were they kidnapped from New Eden?  She was angry with the
octo spiders Why didn't you tell me there were other human beings in
the Emerald City?  Nicole intended to ask the Chief Optimiser.  And how
canyon defend the way you treated this child and her mother?

The girl, who was wide awake, would not sit still in Nicole's arms.

Nicole became uncomfortable.  She decided to stop for a rest.  While
the child was playing in the dirt, Nicole stared at the destruction in
front of her, both in the Alternate Domain and, in the distance, in the
part of the Emerald City that she could see.  Nicole suddenly felt very
sad.  What is it all for?  she asked herself.  An image of Katie
entered her mind, but Nicole pushed it aside, choosing instead to sit
down in the dirt and entertain the child.  Five minutes later they
heard the whistle.

The sound was coming from the sky, from Rama itself.  Nicole jumped to
her feet, her pulse immediately sky-rocketing.  She fell a slight pain
in her chest but nothing could diminish her excitement.

"Look," she shouted to the baby girl, 'look over there, in the
south!"

In the distant southern bowl, streamers of coloured light were playing
around the tip of the Big Horn, the massive spire that thrust upwards
along the spin axis of the cylindrical spacecraft.  The
streamew-coalesced and formed a red ring near the tip of the spire.  A
few moments later this huge red ring sailed slowly north along the axis
of Rama.  Around the Big Horn, more colours danced until they formed
into a second ring, orange in colour, which eventually followed the red
ring, also in a northerly direction in the sky of Rama.

The whistle continued.  It was not a harsh or shrill whistle.  To
Nicole it almost sounded musical.

"Something's going to happen," Nicole said exultantly to the girl,
'something good!"

The little girl had no idea what was occurring, but she laughed
heartily when the woman picked her up and tossed her sky wards And for
her the rings were definitely eye-catching.  Now a yellow and a green
ring were both crossing the black sky of Rama, and the red one in the
front of the procession had just reached the Cylindrical Sea.

Again Nicole tossed the child a foot or two in the air.  This time the
girl's necklace escaped from under her shirts and nearly flew off her
head.  Nicole caught the girl and gave her a hug.

"I had almost forgotten about your necklace," Nicole said.

"Now that we have some decent light, may I take a look at it?"

The girl giggled as Nicole pulled the rope necklace over her head.  At
the bottom of the necklace, carved on a round piece of wood about four
centime tres in diameter, was the outline of a man with arms upraised,
surrounded on all sides by what appeared to be a fire.  Nicole had seen
a similar wood-carving many years before, on Michael O'Toole's desk in
his room inside the Newton.  Saint Michael of Siena, Nicole said to
herself, turning the carving over.

On the back the word

"Maria' was carefully printed in lower-case letters.

"That must be your name," Nicole said to the girl.

"Maria .  .

. Maria."  There was no indication of recognition.  The child started
to frown just before Nicole laughed and tossed her into the air one
more time.

A few minutes later Nicole put the squirming child down again.  Maria
immediately crawled into the dirt.  Nicole kept one eye on Maria and
one eye on the coloured rings in the Rama sky.  All eight rings could
now be seen, the blue, brown, pink and purple over the Southern
Hemicylinder and the first four in the line in the sky above the north.
As the red ring vanished in the northern bowl, another red ring formed
at the tip of the Big Horn.

Just like all those years ago, Nicole thought.  But her mind was not
really focused on the rings yet.  She was searching her memory, trying
to remember every missing-person report that had ever been filed in New
Eden.  There had been a handful of boating accidents on Lake
Shakespeare she recalled, and every now and then one of the patients in
the mental hospital at Avalon had disappeared .  . . But how could a
couple
vanish like that?  And where was Maria's father?  There were many
questions that Nicole wanted to ask the octo spiders

The dazzling rings continued to float above her head.  Nicole
remembered that special day long ago when Katie, as a girl of ten or
eleven, had been so thrilled by the huge rings in the sky that she had
screamed with joy.  She was always my most uninhibited child, Nicole
thought, unable to stop herself.  Her laugh was so complete, so genuine
. . . Katie had so much potential.

Tears filled Nicole's eyes.  She wiped them away and with great effort
forced herself to concentrate on Maria.  The child was silting down,
merrily eating the dirt from the Central Plain.

"No, Maria," Nicole said, gently touching the child's hands.

"That's dirty."

The girl screwed up her beautiful face and began to cry.  Like Katie,
Nicole thought immediately.  She couldn't stand me telling her

"No'.

Memories of Katie now flooded into her mind.  Nicole saw her daughter
first as a baby, then as a precocious early adolescent at The Node,
finally as a young woman in New Eden.  The deep heartache that
accompanied the images of her lost daughter completely overwhelmed
Nicole.  Tears ran down her cheeks and her body began to shake with
sobs.

"Oh, Katie," Nicole yelled out loud,

"Why?  Why?  Why?"

She buried her face in her hands.  Maria had stopped crying and was
giving Nicole a strange look.

"It's all right, Nicole," a voice behind her said.

"It will all be over soon."

Nicole thought her mind was playing tricks.  She turned around
slowly.

The Eagle was approaching with outstretched arms.

The third red ring had reached the northern bowl and there were no more
coloured lights around the Big Horn.

"So will all the lights come on when the rings are finished?"  Nicole
asked The Eagle.

"What a good memory," he said.

"You might be right."

Nicole was again holding Maria in her arms.  She kissed the child
gently on the cheek and Maria smiled.

"Thank you for the girl,"

Nicole said.  "She is wonderful .  . . and I understand what you're
telling me."

The Eagle faced Nicole.

"What are you talking about?"  he said.

"We didn't have anything to do with the child."

Nicole searched the alien's mystical blue eyes with her own.  She had
never seen a pair of eyes that had such a wide range of expression.

But Nicole had had no recent practice reading what The Eagle was saying
with his eyes.  Was he teasing her about Maria?  Or was he serious?
Surely it wasn't just chance that she discovered the child so soon
after Katie killed herself .  . .

You're being too rigid in your thinking, Nicole recalled Richard saying
to her at The Node.  Just because The Eagle is not biological like you
and
me does not mean that he's not alive.  He's a robot all right,
bu^jie's much smarter than we are .  . . and much more subtle .  . .

"So have you been hiding in Rama all this time?"  Nicole asked several
seconds later.

"No," The Eagle replied.  He did not elaborate.

Nicole smiled.

"You've already told me that we haven't reached The Node, or an
equivalent place, and I'm certain that you didn't just drop by for a
social visit , .  . Are you going to tell me why you are here?"

"This is a stage two intercession," The Eagle said.

"We have decided to interrupt the observation process."

"OK," Nicole said, placing Maria back down on the ground,

"I

understand the concept .  . . but what exactly will happen now?"

"Everyone will go to sleep," The Eagle said.

"And after they awaken?  .  . ."  Nicole asked.

"All I can tell you is that everyone will go to sleep."

Nicole stepped away in the direction of the Emerald City and raised her
arms to the sky.  Only three coloured rings remained now, and they were
all far away, over above the Northern Hemicylinder.

"Just out of curiosity I'm not complaining, you understand .  . ."
Nicole said with a trace of sarcasm.  She paused and turned around to
face The Eagle.  "Why didn't you intercede a long time ago?  Before all
this' she waved her arm towards the Emerald City 'occurred?  Before
there were so many deaths .  . ."

The Eagle didn't answer immediately.

"You can't have it both ways, Nicole," he said at length.

"You can't have both free will and a benevolent higher power who
protects you from yourself."

"Excuse me," Nicole said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Did I mistakenly ask a religious question?"

"Not really," The Eagle replied.

"What you must understand is that our objective is to develop a
complete catalogue of all the space farers in this region of the
galaxy. We are not judge mental We are scientists.  We do not care if
it is your natural predilection to destroy yourself.  We do care,
however, if the likely future return from our project no longer
justifies the significant resources we have assigned."

"Huh?"  said Nicole.

"Are you telling me that you're not interceding to stop the bloodshed,
but for some other reason?"

"Yes," said The Eagle.

"However, I'm going to change the subject because our time is extremely
limited.  The lights will be coming on in two more minutes.  You will
be asleep a minute after that ... If you have anything you wish to
communicate to the girl child .  . ."

"Are we going to A'e?"  Nicole said, suddenly frightened.

"Not immediately," said The Eagle.

"But I cannot guarantee that everyone will live through the
sleeping-period."

Nicoie dropped down in the dirt beside the girl.  Maria had another
clod in her mouth and wet dirt lined her lips.  Nicoie wiped her face
off very gently and offered the child a drink of water from a cup.  To
Nicole's surprise, Maria sipped at the water, spilling it down her
chin.

Nicoie smiled and Maria giggled.  Nicoie stuck her finger under the
girl's chin and tickled her.  Maria's giggles erupted into laughter,
the pure, uninhibited, magical laughter of the small child.  The sound
was so beautiful, and touched Nicoie so deeply, that her eyes filled up
with tears.  If that's the last sound I ever hear, she thought, it's
all right .  . .

Suddenly all of Rama was filled with light.  It was an awesome
spectacle.  The Big Horn and its six surrounding acolytes, attached by
massive flying buttresses, dominated the sky above them.

"Forty-five seconds?"  Nicoie said to The Eagle.

The alien bird-man nodded.  Nicoie reached over and picked up the
girl.

"I know that nothing that has happened to you recently makes any sense,
Maria," Nicoie said, holding the child in her lap, 'but I want you to
know that you have already been terribly important in my life and I
love you very much."

There was a look of astonishing wisdom in the little girl's eyes.  She
leaned forward and put her head on Nicole's shoulder.  For a few
seconds Nicoie did not know what to do.  Then she began patting Maria
on the back.  And singing softly.

"Lay thee down .  . . Now and rest .

. . May thy slumber be blessed .  . ."

Return to The Node
The dreams came before the light.  They were disconnected dreams,
random images sometimes expanding into short, unified sets without
apparent purpose or direction.  Colours and geometric patterns were the
earliest dreams she remembered.  Nicole could not recall when they had
started.  At some point she had thought for the first time, I am
Nicole.  I must still be alive, but that had been long ago.  Since then
she had seen, in her mind's eye, entire scenes, including the faces of
other people.  Some she had recognised.  That's Omeh, she had said to
herself.  That's my father.  She had felt sadness as she had awakened
more each time.  Richard had been in her last several dreams.  And
Katie.  They're both dead, Nicole had remembered.  They died before I
went to sleep.

When she opened her eyes she could still see nothing.  The darkness was
complete.  Slowly Nicole became more aware of her surroundings.

She dropped her hands beside her and felt the soft texture of the foam
with her fingers.  She turned over on her side with very little
effort.

i must be weightless, Nicole thought, her mind beginning to function
after years of being dormant.  But where am I?  she asked herself
before falling asleep again.

The next time she awakened Nicole could see a solitary light-source at
the other end of the closed container in which she was lying.  She
wiggled her feet free of the white foam and held them up, in front of
the light.  They were both covered with clear slippers.  She stretched
out to see if she could touch the light-source with her toes, but it
was too far away.

Nicole put her hands in front of her eyes.  The light was so dim that
she could not see any details, only a dark outline that silhouetted all
the fingers.  There was not enough room in the container for her to sit
up, but she could manage to reach the top with one hand, if she propped
herself up with the other.  Nicole pressed her fingers against the soft
foam.  Behind the foam was a hard surface, wood or possibly even
metal.

The slight activity wore her out.  She was breathing rapidly and her
heart-rate had increased.  Her mind became more alert.  Nicole
remembered clearly the last moments before she had gone to sleep in
Rama.  The Eagle came, she thought, just after I found that baly-firl
in the Alternate Domain .  . . So where am I now?  And how long have I
slept?

She heard a gentle knocking on the container and lay back down in the
foam.  Someone has come.  My questions will be answered soon.  The lid
of the container was slowly raised.  Nicole shielded her eyes from the
light.  She saw The Eagle's face and heard his voice.

The two of them were sitting together in a large room.  Everything was
white.  The walls, the ceiling, the small round table in front of them,
even the chairs, the cup, the bowl and the spoon were white.  Nicole
took another sip of the warm soup.  It tasted like chicken broth.  Over
to her left the white container in which she had been lying rested
against the wall.  There were no other objects in the room.

'. . . About sixteen years altogether, traveller's time of course,"

The Eagle was saying.  Traveller's time, Nicole thought.  That's the
same term that Richard used.". . . We did not retard your ageing nearly
as efficiently as before.  Our preparations were somewhat hurried."

Despite the weightlessness, it seemed to Nicole that every physical act
was a monumental effort.  Her muscles had been inactive for too long.
The Eagle had helped her shuffle the few steps between the container
and the table.  Her hands had trembled a little while she had drunk the
water and eaten the soup.

"So am I now about eighty?"  she asked The Eagle in a halting voice,
one that she barely recognised.

"More or less," the alien replied.

"It would be impossible to give you a meaningful age."

Nicole stared across the table at her companion.  The Eagle looked just
the same as always.  The powder-blue eyes on either side of his
protruding grey beak had lost none of their mystical intensity.  The
feathers on the top of his head were still pure white, contrasting
sharply with the dark grey feathers of his face, neck and back.  The
four fingers on each hand, creamy white and feather less were as smooth
as a child's.

Nicole studied her own hands for the first time.  They were wrinkled
and discoloured from age-spots.  She turned them over and from
somewhere in her memory she heard a laugh.  Phthisic, Richard was
saying.  Isn't that a great word?  It means more withered than
'withered'.  . . I wonder if I'll ever have a chance to use ... The
memory faded.  My hands are phthisic, Nicole thought.

"Don't you ever age?"  she asked The Eagle.

"No," he replied.

"At least not in the sense that you use the word ... I am regularly
maintained and subsystems that are exhibiting performance degradation
are replaced."

"So you never die either?"

He hesitated for a moment.

"That's not completely accurate," The Eagle said.

"Like all members of my group, I was created for a specific purpose. If
there is no longer a need for me to exist, and I cannot be readily
programmed to accomplish some new, necessary function, then I will be
unpowered."

Nicole started to laugh but caught herself.

"Pardon me," she said,

"I

know it's not funny .  . . but your choice of words struck me as
peculiar .  . .

"Unpowered" is such a .  . ."

"It's also the correct word," The Eagle said.

"Inside me are several tiny power-sources, as well as a sophisticated
power-distribution system.  All the power elements are essentially
modular and therefore transferable from one of us to another.  If I am
no longer needed, the elements can be removed and used in another
being."

"Like an organ transplant," Nicole said, finishing her water.

"Somewhat," The Eagle replied.

"Which brings me to another issue .  . .

During your long sleep, your heart actually stopped beating twice, the
second time just after we arrived here in the Tau Ceti system .  . . We
have managed to keep you alive with drugs and mechanical stimulation,
but your heart is now extremely weak ... If you want to have an active
life for any appreciable additional period, you will need to consider
replacing your heart."

"Is that why you left me in there (Nicole pointed at the container) for
so long?"  she asked.

"Partially," said The Eagle.  He had already explained to Nicole that
most of the others from Rama had awakened much earlier, some as long as
a year ago, and that they were living in crowded conditions in another
venue not very far away.

"But we were also concerned about how comfortable you might be over in
the converted starfish .  . . We refurbished that spacecraft in a
hurry, so there are not many amenities .  . . We were also concerned
because you are by far our oldest human survivor .  . ."

That's right, Nicole said to herself.  The octo spider attack wiped out
everyone over forty or so ... I am the only old person left .  . .

The Eagle had stopped talking for a moment.  When Nicole looked at the
alien again, his mesmerising eyes seemed to be expressing an emotion.

"Besides, you are special to us ... you have played a key role in this
endeavour .  . ."

Is it possible, Nicole thought suddenly, still staring at The Eagle's
fascinating eyes, that this electronic creature actually has
feelings?

Could Richard have been right when he insisted that there are no
aspects of our humanity that could not be eventually duplicated by
engineering?

'. . . We waited as long as we could to wake you," The Eagle was
saying, 'to minimise the length of time that you would have to spend in
less than ideal conditions .  . . Now, however, we are preparing to
enter
another phase of our operations ... As you can see, thi( <oom was
emptied, except for you, long ago.  In another eight to ten days we
will begin dismantling the walls.  By then you should have recuperated
enough .  . ."

Nicole asked again about her family and friends.

"As I told you before," The Eagle said, 'everyone survived the long
sleep.  However, the adjustment to living in what your friend Max calls
the Grand Hotel has not been easy for anybody.  All of those who were
with you in the Emerald City, plus the girl Maria and Ellie's husband
Robert, were originally assigned to two large rooms, side by side, in
one section of the starfish.  Everyone was told that the
living-arrangements were only temporary, and that eventually they would
be transferred to better quarters.  Nevertheless, Robert and Galileo
were not able to adapt successfully to the unusual conditions in the
Grand Hotel."

"What happened to them?"  Nicole asked with alarm.

"They were both transferred, for sociological reasons, to another, more
highly regulated area of the spacecraft.  Robert was moved first.

He went into a severe depression shortly after he awakened from the
long sleep and was never able to break out of it.  Unfortunately, he
died about four months ago .  . . Galileo is all right, physically,
although his antisocial behaviour has continued .  . ."

Nicole felt a deep sorrow upon hearing the news of Robert's death.

Poor Nikki, she thought immediately, she never had a chance to know her
father .  . . and Ellie, your marriage didn't turn out as you had hoped
. . .

She sat in silence, wandering through her collection of memories of
Robert Turner.  You were a complicated man, Nicole thought, talented
and dedicated to your work.  Yet on a personal level you were
surprisingly dysfunction al Perhaps a critical part of you died long
ago .  . . in that courtroom in Texas, on a planet called Earth.

Nicole shook her head.

"I guess," she commented to The Eagle, 'that the energy I expended to
save Katie and Robert from the octo spider agents was wasted effort."

"Not really," The Eagle replied simply.

"It was important to you at the time."

Nicole smiled and looked at her alien colleague.  Well, my omniscient
friend, she thought, stifling a yawn.  i must admit I'm glad to be back
in your company .  . . You may not be alive yourself but you are
certainly wise about living beings.

"Let me help you back to bed," The Eagle said.

"You've been up long enough for the first time."

Nicole was very pleased with herself.  She had finally managed a full
lap around the perimeter of the room without stopping.

"Bravo," The Eagle said, coming up beside her.

"You are making fabulous progress.  We never thought that you would
walk so well in such a short period of time."

"I definitely need some water now," she said, smiling.

"This old body is sweating furiously."

The Eagle retrieved a glass of water from the table.  When she had
finished drinking, Nicole turned to her alien friend.

"Now are you going to keep your part of the bargain?"  she said.

"Do you have a mirror and a change of clothes in that suitcase over
there?"

"Yes, I do," The Eagle answered.

"And I even brought the cosmetics you requested .  . . But first I want
to examine you to see how your heart responded to the exercise."  He
held a small black device in front of her and watched some markings
appear on the tiny screen.

"That's good," he said.

"No, that's excellent .  . . No irregularities at all.  Just an
indication that your heart is working very hard, which would be
expected in a human your age."

"May I see that?"  Nicole asked, pointing at the monitoring device. The
Eagle handed it to her.

"I suppose," she said, 'that this thing is receiving signals from
inside my body .  . . but what exactly are all those squiggles and
strange symbols on the screen?"

"You have over a thousand tiny probes inside your body, more than half
in the cardiac region.  They not only measure the critical performance
of your heart and other organs, but also regulate such important
parameters as blood-flow and oxygen allocation.  Some of the probes
even supplement the normal biological functions .  . . What you are
seeing on the screen is summary data from the time-interval when you
were exercising.  It has been compressed and tele metered by the
processor inside you."

Nicole frowned.

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked.  Somehow the idea of all that electronic
junk inside me is not very comforting."

"The probes are not really electronic," The Eagle said, 'at least not
in the way you humans use the word.  And they are entirely necessary at
this point in your life.  If they weren't there you wouldn't survive
even one day .  . ."

Nicole stared at The Eagle.

"Why didn't you just let me die?"  she asked.

"Do you have some purpose for me yet that justifies all this effort?
Some function I must still perform?"

"Perhaps," The Eagle said.

"But perhaps we thought you might like to see your family and friends
one more time."

"I find it difficult to believe," Nicole said, 'that my desires play
any significant role in your hierarchy of values."

The Eagle did not respond.  He walked over to the suitcase, which was
sitting on the floor beside the table, and returned with a mirror, a
damp cloth, a simple blue dress, and a cosmetics bag.  Nicole slipped
out of the
white night-gown she had been wearing, wiped herself all ov<K-with the
cloth, and put on the dress.  She took a deep breath as The Eagle
handed her the mirror.

"I'm not certain I'm ready for this," she said with a wan smile.

Nicole would not have recognised the face in the mirror if she had not
mentally prepared herself first.  Her face looked to her like a
patchwork quilt of bags and wrinkles.  All her hair, including her
eyebrows and eyelashes, was now either white or grey.  Nicole's first
impulse was to cry, but she gamely fought back the tears.  My God, she
thought, i am so old .  . . can this really be me?

She searched the features in the mirror, guided by her memory, for
vestiges of the lovely young woman she had been.  Here and there she
could see the outlines of what was once considered to be a beautiful
face, but the eye had to know where to look.  Her heart ached as Nicole
suddenly remembered a simple incident years before, when she was a
teenager walking along a country road with her father near her home in
Beauvois.  An old woman, using a cane, had been coming towards them and
Nicole had asked her father if they could cross over the road to avoid
her.

"Why?"  her father had asked.

"Because I don't want to see her up close," Nicole had said.

"She is old and ugly .  . . She makes me shiver."

"You too will be old some day," her father had answered, refusing to
cross the road.

i am old and ugly, Nicole thought.  I even make myself shiver.  She
handed the mirror back to The Eagle.

"You warned me," she said wistfully.  "Maybe I should have listened."

"Of course you're shocked," The Eagle said.

"You have not seen yourself for sixteen years.  Most humans have a
difficult time with the ageing process even if they follow it day by
day."  He extended the cosmetics bag in her direction.

"No, thank you," Nicole said despondently, refusing the bag.

"It's a hopeless situation.  Not even Michelangelo could do anything
with this face."

"Suit yourself," The Eagle said.

"But I thought you might want to use the cosmetics before your visitor
arrives."

"A visitor!"  Nicole said, with both alarm and excitement.

"I'm going 10 have a visitor .  . . Who is it?"  She reached out for
the mirror and the cosmetics.

"I think I'll leave it as a surprise," The Eagle said.

"Your visitor will be here in a few minutes."

Nicole put on lipstick and powder, brushed her grey hair, and
straightened out and plucked her eyebrows.  When she was finished she
cast a
disapproving look in the mirror.

"That's about all I can do," she said, as much to herself as to The
Eagle.

A few minutes later The Eagle opened the door on the other side of the
room and went outside.  When he returned there was an octo spider with
him.

From across the room Nicole saw the royal-blue colour spill out of its
boundaries.

"Hello, Nicole.  How are you feeling?"  the octo spider said.

"Dr Blue!"  Nicole yelled excitedly.

Dr Blue held the monitoring device in front of Nicole.

"I will be staying here with you until you are ready to be
transferred," the octo spider physician said.

"The Eagle has other duties at present."

Bands of colour raced across the tiny screen.

"I don't understand,"

Nicole said, looking at the device upside-down.

"When The Eagle used that thing, the read-out was all in squiggles and
other funny symbols."

"That's their special-purpose technological language," Dr Blue said.

"It's incredibly efficient, much better than our colours .  . . But of
course I can't read any of it ... This device actually is poly lingual
There's even an English mode."

"So what do you speak when you communicate with The Eagle and I'm not
around?"  Nicole asked.

"We both use colours," Dr Blue responded.

"They run across his forehead from left to right."

"You're kidding," Nicole said, trying to picture The Eagle with colours
on his forehead.

"Not at all," the octo spider answered.

"The Eagle is amazing.  He jabbers and shrieks with the avians, squeals
and whistles with the myrmicats .  . ."

Nicole had never seen the word 'myrmicat' in the language of colour
before.  When she asked about the word, Dr Blue explained that six of
the strange creatures were now living in the Grand Hotel, and that
another four were about to burst forth from germinating manna melons.

"Although all the octo spiders and humans slept during the long
voyage," Dr Blue said, 'the manna melons were allowed to develop into
myrmicats and then sessile material.  They are already into their next
generation."

Dr Blue replaced the device on the table.

"So what's the verdict for today.  Doctor?"  Nicole asked.

"You're gaining strength," Dr Blue replied.

"But you're only alive because of all the supplemental probes that have
been inserted.  At some time you should consider .  . ."

'. . . replacing my heart ... I know," said Nicole.

"It may seem peculiar, but the idea does not appeal to me very much ...
I don't know exactly why I'm against it ... Maybe I haven't yet seen
what remains to live for ... I know that if Richard were still alive .
.

."

She stopped herself.  For an instant Nicole imagined she was back in
the viewing-room, watching the slow-motion frames of the last seconds
of Richard's life.  She had not thought about that moment since she
awakened.

"Do you mind if I ask you something very personal?"  Nicole said to Dr
Blue.

"Not at all," the octo spider said.

"We watched the deaths of Richard and Archie together," Nicole said,
'and I was so distraught that I could not function .  . . Archie was
murdered at the same time, and he was your lifelong partner.  Yet you
sat beside me and gave me comfort .  . . Did you not feel any sense of
loss or sadness at Archie's death?"

Dr Blue did not respond immediately.

"We octo spiders are trained from birth to control what you humans call
emotions.  The alternates, of course, are quite susceptible to
feelings.  But those of us who .  . ."

"With all due respect," Nicole interrupted softly, touching her octo
spider colleague,

"I wasn't asking you a clinical question, doctor to doctor.  It was a
question from one friend to another."

A short burst of crimson, then another of blue, unrelated, slowly
flowed around Dr Blue's head.

"Yes, I felt a sense of loss," Dr Blue said.

"But I knew it was coming.  Either then or later.  When Archie joined
the war effort, his termination became certain .  . . And besides, my
duty at that moment was to help you."

The door to the room opened and The Eagle entered.  The alien was
carrying a large box full of food, clothing and miscellaneous
equipment.  He informed Nicole that he had brought her spacesuit, and
that she was going to venture out of her controlled environment in the
very near future.

"Dr Blue says that you can speak in colour," Nicole said playfully.

"I

want you to show me."

"What do you want me to say?"  The Eagle replied in orderly narrow
colour-bands that started on the left side of his forehead and scrolled
to the right.

"That's enough," Nicole said with a laugh.

"You are truly amazing."

Nicole stood on the floor of the gigantic factory and stared at the
pyramid in front of her.  Off to her right, less than a kilometer away,
a group of special-purpose biots, including a pair of mammoth
bulldozers, were building a tall mountain.

"Why are you doing all this?"  Nicole said into the tiny microphone
inside her helmet.

"It's part of the next cycle," The Eagle replied.

"We have determined that these particular constructions enhance the
likelihood of obtaining what we want from the experiment."

"So you already know something about the new space farers

"I don't know the answer to that," The Eagle said.

"I have no assignment associated with the future of Rama."

"But you told us before," Nicole said, not satisfied, 'that no changes
were made unless they were necessary .  . ."

"I can't help you," The Eagle said.

"Come, get in the rover, Dr Blue wants to have a closer look at the
mountain."

The octo spider looked peculiar in her spacesuit.  In fact, Nicole had
laughed out loud when she had first seen Dr Blue with the glove-fitting
white fabric covering her charcoal body and her eight tentacles.  Dr
Blue also had a transparent helmet around her head, through which it
was easy to read her colours.

"I was astonished," Nicole said to Dr Blue, who was sitting beside her
as the open rover moved across the flat terrain towards the mountain,
'when we first came outside .  . . No, that's not a strong enough word
. . . You and The Eagle had both told me that we were in the factory,
and that Rama was being prepared for another voyage, but I never
expected all this."

"The pyramid was built around you," The Eagle interjected from the
driver's seat in front of them, 'while you were sleeping.  Without
disturbing your environment.  If we had not been able to do that, it
would have been necessary to awaken you much earlier."

"Doesn't this entire business just amaze you?"  Nicole continued to
face Dr Blue.

"Don't you wonder what kind of beings conceived this grand project in
the first place?  And also created artificial intelligence like The
Eagle?  It is almost impossible to imagine .  .

."

"It's not as difficult for us," the octo spider said.

"Remember, we have known about superior beings from the beginning.  We
only exist as intelligent creatures because the Precursors altered our
genes.  We have never had a period in our history when we thought we
were at the apex of life."

"Nor will we, ever again," mused Nicole.

"Human history, whatever it turns out to be, has now been profoundly
and irrevocably altered."

"Maybe not," The Eagle said from the front seat.

"Our database indicates that some species are not significantly
impacted by contact with us.  Our experiments are designed to allow for
that possibility.

Our contact occurs during a finite interval, with only a small
percentage of the population.  There is no continuous interaction,
unless the species under study takes overt action to create it ... I
doubt if life on Earth, at this very moment, is much different from
what it would have been if no Rama spacecraft had ever visited your
solar system."

Nicole leaned forward in her seat.

"Do you know that for a fact?"  she said.

"Or are you just guessing?"

The Eagle's answer was vague.

"Certainly your history was changed by
Rama's appearance," he said.

"Many major events would <fl0t have occurred if there had not been any
contact.  But a hundred more years from now, or five hundred .  . . How
different will Earth be then from what it would have been .  . ."

"But the human point of view must have changed," Nicole argued.

"Surely the knowledge that there exists in the universe, or at least
existed in some earlier epoch, an intelligence advanced enough to build
an interstellar robotic spacecraft the size of a very large city,
cannot be cast aside as insignificant information ... It creates a
different perspective for the entire human experience.

Religion, philosophy, even the fundamentals of biology must be revised
in the presence .  . ."

"I am glad to see," The Eagle interrupted, 'that at least some small
measure of your optimism and idealism has survived all these years .
.

. Recall, however, that in New Eden, the humans knew that they were
living inside a domain especially constructed for them by
extraterrestrials.  And they were told, by you and others, that they
were being continuously observed.  Even so, when it became apparent
that the aliens, whoever they were, did not intend to interfere in the
daily activities of the humans, the existence of those advanced beings
became irrelevant."

The rover arrived at the base of the mountain.

"I wanted to come over here," Dr Blue said, 'out of curiosity .  . . We
did not have any mountains, as you know, in our realm on Rama.  And not
many in my region of our home planet when I was a juvenile ... I
thought it would be nice to stand on the top .  . ."

"I have commandeered one of the large bulldozers," The Eagle said.

"Our journey to the summit will only take ten minutes .  . . You may be
frightened in spots because of the steepness of the climb, but it is
perfectly safe, as long as you wear your seat-belts."

Nicole was not too old to enjoy the spectacular climb.  The bulldozer,
as large as an office building, did not have very comfortable seats for
passengers, and some of the bumps were quite violent, but the vistas
that opened up as they ascended were definitely worth the trouble.

The mountain was over a kilometer high and about ten kilometres around
its approximately round circumference.  Nicole could clearly see the
pyramid in which she had been staying when the bulldozer was only a
quarter of the way up the mountain.  Further away, in all directions,
the horizon was dotted with isolated construction projects of unknown
purpose.

So now it all begins again, Nicole thought.  This rebuilt Rama will
soon enter another set of star systems.  And what will it find?  Who
are the space farers who will next walk across this ground?  Or climb
this mountain?

The bulldozer halted on a flat plateau very near the summit and the
three passengers disembarked.  The view was breathtaking.  As Nicole
surveyed the scene, she recalled her wonder on that very first trip
into Rama, when she had been riding down the chair-lift and the vast
alien world had stretched out in front of her.  Thank you, she thought,
addressing The Eagle in her mind, for keeping me alive.  You were
right.  This experience alone, and the memories it triggers, are more
than enough reason to continue.

Nicole turned around, to face the rest of the mountain.  She saw
something small flying in and out of some bushy-looking growths, red in
colour, that were no more than twenty me tres away.  She walked over
and captured one of the flying objects in her hand.  It was the size
and shape of a butterfly.  Its wings were decorated with a variegated
pattern without symmetry or any other design principle that Nicole
could discern.  She let one go and then captured another.  The pattern
on the second Raman butterfly was altogether different, but still rich
in both colour and decoration.

The Eagle and Dr Blue walked up beside her.  Nicole showed them what
she was holding in her hand.

"Flying biots," The Eagle said without additional comment.

Nicole marvelled again at the tiny creature.  Something astonishing
happens every day, she remembered Richard saying.  And we are then
always reminded of what a joy it is to be alive.

Nicole had barely finished her bath when the two biots entered the
room.  One was a crab, and the other looked like a gigantic toy
truck.

The crab used a combination of its powerful pincers and its formidable
array of ancillary gadgetry to cut Nicole's sleeping-container into
manageable pieces.  The pieces were then stacked in the bed of the
truck.  On its way out of the room, less than a minute later, the crab
grabbed the white bath-tub, and all the remaining chairs, and piled
them on top of the stacks in the truck-bed.  It then put the table on
its own back and disappeared from the empty room behind the truck
biot.

Nicole straightened her dress.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw a crab biot," she commented to
her two companions.

"It was on the huge screen in the Newton control centre, years and
years ago.  We were all terrified."

"So today's the day," Dr Blue said in colour several seconds later.

"Are you ready to check into the Grand Hotel?"

"Probably not," Nicole said with a smile.

"From what you and The Eagle have said, I guess I have enjoyed my last
moment of solitude."

"Your family and friends are very excited about seeing you," The Eagle
said.

"I visited them yesterday and told them you would be coming .  .

. You'll stay with Max, Eponine, Ellie, Marius and Nikki.  Patrick,
Nai, Benjy, Kepler and Maria are next door ... As I explained to you
last week, Patrick and Nai have been treating Maria as their own
daughter since shortly after everyone awakened .  . . They know the
whole story of how you rescued Maria during the bombing .  . ."

"I don't know if "rescued" is exactly the correct word," Nicole said,
remembering clearly her last hours in the old Rama spacecraft.

"I

picked her up because there was no one to look after her.  Anybody
would have done the same thing."

"You saved her life," The Eagle said.

"Not more than an hour after you left the zoo with the girl, three
large bombs devastated her compound and the two adjacent sections.
Maria certainly would have been killed if you hadn't found her."

"She is now a beautiful and intelligent young woman," Dr Blue said.

"I met her once briefly several weeks ago.  Elite says Maria is
incredibly energetic.  According to Ellie, the girl is the first one
awake in the morning, and the last one in bed at night."

Like Katie, Nicole couldn't help thinking.  Who are you, Maria?  she
wondered.  And why were you sent into my life at just that moment?

'. . . Ellie also told me that Maria and Nikki are inseparable," Dr
Blue was saying.

"They study together, eat together, and talk incessantly about
everything .  . . Nikki has told Maria all about you."

"How is that possible?"  Nicole said with a smile.

"Nikki was not yet four years old the last time that I saw her.  Human
children don't retain memories from that early .  . ."

"They definitely do if they sleep through the next fifteen years," The
Eagle said.

"Kepler and Galileo also have very clear recollections of their early
days .  . . But we can talk while we travel.  It's time for us to leave
now."

The Eagle helped Nicole and Dr Blue put on their spacesuits.  Then he
picked up the suitcase of Nicole's belongings.

"I've put your medical bag in here with your clothes, as well as the
cosmetics you've been using these last several days," he said.

"My medical bag?"  Nicole said.  She laughed.

"Goodness, I had almost forgotten ... I had it with me, didn't I, when
I found Maria?  .  . .

Thank you."

The trio walked out of the room, which was on the bottom floor of the
large pyramid.  A few minutes later they moved through the great arched
entrance 10 the building.  Outside, in the bright light of the factory,
the rover was waiting for them.

"It will take us about half an hour to reach the high-speed elevators,"
The Eagle said.

"Our shuttle is parked at The Dock, on the uppermost level."

As the rover moved away, Nicole turned around and looked behind her.

Beyond the pyramid was the tall mountain they had climbed three days
before.

"So you really have no idea why the butterfly biots are there?"  Nicole
said into the microphone in her space-helmet.

"No," said The Eagle.

"My assignment covers only your cycle."

Nicole continued to stare behind her.  The rover passed a set of tall
poles, ten or twelve altogether, connected by wires at the top, middle
and bottom.  All this will be part of the new Rama, Nicole thought.

Suddenly it occurred to her that she was about to leave the world of
Rama for the very last time.  A powerful feeling of sadness swept over
her.  This has been my home, she said to herself, and I am going away
for ever.

"Would it be possible," Nicole said to The Eagle without turning
around, 'for me to see any of the other parts of Rama before we leave
for good?"

"What for?"  The Eagle asked.  * "I'm not exactly certain .  . ."
Nicole answered.

"Maybe just so I can linger for an extra hour in my memories."

"The two bowls and the Southern Hemicylinder have already been
completely remodelled.  You would not recognise them.  The Cylindrical
Sea has been drained and removed.  Even New York is in the process of
being dismantled .  . ."

"But it's not completely destroyed yet, is it?"  Nicole asked.

"No, not yet," replied The Eagle.

"Then can we go there, please, just for a short while?"

Please indulge an old woman, Nicole thought.  Even though she does not
understand why herself.

"All right," The Eagle said, 'but we'll be delayed.  New York is in
another part of the factory."

They were standing on a parapet near the top of one of the tall
skyscrapers.  Most of New York was gone, the buildings bulldozed into
heaps by the awesome power of the large biots.  What was left was
twenty or thirty buildings around one plaza.

"There were three lairs underneath the city," Nicole was explaining to
Dr Blue.

"One for us, one for the avians, and a third occupied by your cousins
... I was down inside the avian lair when Richard came to rescue me . .
."  She stopped.  Nicole realised that she had told Dr Blue the story
before, and that octo spiders never forgot anything.

"Do you mind?"  she asked.

"Please continue," the octo spider said.

"During the whole time that we were here, none of us on this island
knew that there were entrances to some of these buildings.  Isn't that
amazing?  Oh, how I wish that Richard were still alive and I could have
seen his face when The Eagle opened the door to the octahedron ... He
would have been so shocked .  . .

"Anyway," Nicole said,

"Richard came back inside Rama to find me .  .

. And then we fell in love and figured out how to escape from the
island, using the avians ... It was such a glorious time, so many years
ago .  . ."

Nicole stepped forward, grabbed the rail with both hands, and gazed
around her.  In her mind's eye she could see New York as it had been.

Over there were the ramparts.  Out beyond was the Cylindrical Sea .  .
.

and somewhere in the middle of those ugly heaps of metal was the barn
and the pit in which I nearly died.

The tears came suddenly, surprising her.  They poured out of Nicole's
eyes and ran down her cheeks.  She did not turn around.  Five of my six
children were born over there, Nicole thought, underneath that
ground.

Just
outside our lair we found Richard after he had been gone for two
years.  He was comatose.

The memories came tumbling into her mind, one after another, each
bringing a vague heartache and a new flow of tears.  Nicole could not
stop them.  At one moment she was again descending into the octo spider
lair to save her daughter Katie, at another she was feeling the
excitement and exhilaration of soaring over the Cylindrical Sea,
attached by a harness to three avians.  We must eventually die, Nicole
thought, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, because there is
not any room left in our brains for more memories.

As Nicole gazed out across the broken landscape of New York,
transforming it in her mind's eye into what it had been years before,
she had a sharp recollection of an even earlier epoch in her life.

She remembered a cold late-autumn evening at Beauvois, during her last
days on Earth, just before Genevieve and she had gone skiing at Davos.
Nicole was sitting with her father and her daughter in front of the
fireplace in their villa.  Pierre had been very reflective that
evening.  He had shared with Nicole and Genevieve many special moments
from his courtship with Nicole's mother.

Later, at bedtime, Genevieve had asked her mother a question.

"Why does Grampa talk so much about what happened long ago?"  the
teenager had said.

"Because that is what is important to him," Nicole had answered.

Forgive me, Nicole thought, still staring out at the skyscrapers in
front of her.  Forgive me all you elderly people whose stories I
ignored.  I did not mean to be rude, or condescending.  I just did not
understand what it meant to be old.

Nicole sighed, took a deep breath, and turned around.

"Are you all right?"  Dr Blue asked.

She nodded.

"Thank you for this," Nicole said to The Eagle, her voice breaking.

"I'm ready to go now."

She saw the lights as soon as their small shuttle cleared the hangar.

Even though the lights were still over a hundred kilometres away, they
were already a magnificent sight against the background of blackness
and distant stars.

"This Node has an extra vertex," The Eagle said, 'forming a perfect
tetrahedron.  The Node you visited near Sinus did not have a Knowledge
Module."

Nicole stared out the window of their shuttle, holding her breath.  It
looked unreal, like a figment of her imagination, this illuminated
construction turning slowly in the distance.  There were four large
spheres at the vertices, connected to each other by six linear
transportation
corridors.  Each of the spheres was exactly the same size.  F each of
the six long thin lines connecting them was exactly the same length.

At this distance the individual lights inside the transparent Node
combined into a continuum, so that the entire facility appeared to be a
great tetrahedral torch in the darkness of space.

"It's beautiful," Nicole said, unable to find any other words to
express the awe she was feeling.

"You should see it from the observation deck of our living-quarters,"

Dr Blue said from beside her.

"It is dazzling.  We are close enough to be able to see the different
lights inside the spheres, and even follow the vehicles zooming back
and forth along the transportation corridors .  . . Many of the
residents at the Grand Hotel stay on deck for hours at a time, arousing
themselves by making guesses about the activities represented by the
movement of the lights inside."

Nicole felt goose-bumps rising on her arm as she stared silently at The
Node.  She heard a far-away voice, Francesca Sabatini's voice, and a
poem that Nicole had first memorised as a schoolgirl.

"Tyger!  Tyger!  burning bright, In the forests of the night, What
immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?  Nicole thought as the tetrahedron
of light continued to turn.  She remembered a late-night conversation
with Michael O'Toole while they were staying at The Node near Sirius.

"We must unfetter God after this experience," he had said.

"And remove our homocentric limitations on Him .  . . The God who
created the architects of The Node must surely be amused by our
pathetic attempts to define Him in terms we humans can readily
understand."

Nicole was fascinated by The Node.  Even from this distance, as it
turned slowly around, the different aspects presented by the
tetrahedron were hypnotising.  As she watched, the facility moved into
a position where one of the four equilateral triangles forming its
empty faces was in a plane perpendicular to the flight-path of the
shuttle.  The Node looked entirely different, as if it had no depth.

The fourth vertex, which was in reality some thirty kilometres beyond
the plane, on the other side from Nicole, appeared to be a nexus of
light in the centre of the facing triangle.

When the shuttle abruptly changed direction.  The Node was no longer
visible.  Instead, off in the distance, Nicole could see a solitary
light yellow star.

"That's Tau Ceti," The Eagle said to her, 'a star very much like your
Sun."

"And why, if I may ask," Nicole said, 'is this Node here, in the
neighbour hood of Tau Ceti?"

"It is an optimum temporary placement," The Eagle answered, 'to support
our data-acquisition activities in this part of the galaxy."

Nicole nudged Dr Blue.

"Do your engineers sometimes speak meaningless gobbledegook in colour?"
she said with a smile.

"Our host just gave us a non-answer."

"We are more humble as a species than you are," the octo spider
replied. "Again, it's probably because of our relationship with the
Precursors. We don't pretend that we should be able to understand
everything."

"We have spoken very little about your species during the time since I
awakened," Nicole said to Dr Blue, suddenly feeling self-cent red and
apologetic, 'although I do remember your telling me that your former
Chief Optimiser, her staff and all those who prosecuted the war had all
been terminated in an orderly manner.  Is the new leadership working
out all right?"

"More or less," Dr Blue answered, 'considering the difficulty of our
living-situation.  Jamie works in the lower echelons of the new staff,
and he is busy almost every waking hour.  We have not really been able
to reach anything like an equilibrium in our colony, because there is
constant outside friction."

"Most of which is caused by the humans on board," The Eagle added.

"We haven't discussed this subject before, Nicole," he continued, 'but
now is probably a good time .  . . We have been surprised by the
failure of your fellow beings to adapt to inter species living.  Only a
very few of them are comfortable with the idea that other species may
be as important and capable as they are."

"I told you that soon after we met, years ago," Nicole said.

"I

pointed out to you that for a variety of historical and sociological
reasons, there is a vast range in the way that humans respond to new
ideas and concepts."

"I know you did," The Eagle replied, 'but our experience with you and
your family misled us.  Until we woke up all the survivors, we had
reached the tentative conclusion that what happened in New Eden, with
the aggressive and territorial humans seizing control, was an anomaly,
to be explained by the particular composition of the colonists.  Now,
after watching a year of interactions at the Grand Hotel, we have
concluded that we did indeed have a typical collection of humans inside
Rama."

"It sounds as if I may be entering an unpleasant situation," Nicole
said.  "Are there other things that I need to know before we arrive?"

"Not really," The Eagle said.

"We now have everything under control.

I'm certain your colleagues will share with you the most important
details from their experiences .  . . Besides, the current situation is
only temporary, and this phase is almost over."

"At first," Dr Blue said, 'all the survivors from Rama wese^scattered
throughout the starfish.  In each ray there were some humans, some
octo- spiders, and a few of our support animals that were permitted to
survive because of their critical role in our social structure.  That
was all changed a few months later, primarily because of the continued
aggressive hostility of the humans .  . . Now the living-quarters for
each species are concentrated in a single region .

. ."

"Segregation," Nicole said ruefully.

"It is one of the denning characteristics of my species."

"Interspecies interaction occurs now only in the cafeteria and other
common rooms in the centre of the starfish," said The Eagle.

"More than half the humans, however, never leave their ray except to
eat, and they studiously avoid interaction even then .  . . From our
point of view, human beings are astonishingly xenophobic.  There are
not many examples in our database of space farers who are as
sociologically backward as your species."

The shuttle turned in a new direction and again the magnificent
tetrahedron filled their view.  They were much closer now.  Many
individual light-sources could be resolved, both inside the spheres and
in the long, slender transportation lines that connected them.

Nicole gazed at the beauty in front of her and sighed heavily.  The
conversation with Dr Blue and The Eagle had depressed her.  Maybe
Richard was right, Nicole thought to herself, maybe humanity cannot be
changed unless its entire memory is wiped clean and we begin anew, in a
fresh environment, with an upgraded operating system.

Nicole's stomach was churning as the shuttle approached the starfish.

She told herself not to worry about silly things, but she nevertheless
felt uncomfortable about her appearance.  Nicole looked in the mirror
as she touched up her make-up.  She was not able to mitigate her
anxiety.  i am old, she thought.  The children will think I'm ugly.

The starfish was not nearly as large as Rama had been.  It was easy for
Nicole to understand why it was so crowded inside.  The Eagle had
explained to her that the intercession had been a contingency plan, and
that Rama had arrived at The Node, as a result, several years earlier
than originally scheduled.  This particular starfish, an obsolete
spacecraft that had somehow been spared the recycling process, had been
remodelled into a temporary hotel to house the occupants of Rama until
they could be moved elsewhere.

"We have given strict orders," The Eagle said, 'that your entry should
be as smooth as possible.  We don't want your system taxed any more
than necessary.  Big Block and his army have cleared the halls and
common areas leading from the shuttle station to your room."

"So you will not be going with me?"  Nicole asked The Eagle.

"No," he replied.

"I have work to do over at The Node."

"I will accompany you through the observation deck, as far as the
entrance to the human ray," Dr Blue said.

"Then you will be on your own.  Luckily your quarters are not far from
the ray entrance."

The Eagle remained in the shuttle while Nicole and Dr Blue disembarked.
The alien bird-man waved goodbye to them as they entered the airlock.
When, a few minutes later, they moved into a large dressing-room on the
other side of the airlock, Nicole and Dr Blue were greeted by the robot
known as Big Block.

"Welcome, Nicole des Jardins Wakefield," the giant robot said.

"We are glad that you have finally arrived .  . . Please put your
spacesuit on the bench to your right."

Big Block, who was just under three me tres tall, almost two me tres
wide, and constructed of rectangular blocks similar to those played
with by human children, looked exactly like the robot that had
supervised the engineering tests Nicole and her family had undergone at
The Node near Sirius, years before, prior to their return to the solar
system.  The robot hovered over Nicole and the smaller octo spider

"Although I am certain," Big Block said in his mechanical voice, 'that
you will not cause any problems, I want to remind you that all commands
given by me or one of the similar, smaller robots are to be followed
without hesitation.  It is our purpose to keep order in this spaceship
. . . Now follow me, please."

Big Block turned around, pivoting on the joints in its mid-section, and
rolled forward on its single cylindrical foot.

"This large room is called the observation deck," the robot said.

"Ordinarily it is the most popular of our common rooms.  We have
emptied it temporarily tonight to make it easier for you to reach your
living-quarters."

Dr Blue and Nicole stopped for a minute in front of the huge window
facing The Node.  The view was indeed spectacular, but Nicole could not
focus her attention on the beauty and order of the superb
extraterrestrial architecture.  She was anxious to see her family and
friends.

Big Block remained on the observation deck while Nicole and her octo
spider companion walked along the wide hallway that encircled the
spacecraft.  Dr Blue explained to Nicole how to locate and identify the
places where the small trams stopped.  The octo spider also informed
Nicole that the humans were in the third ray, moving in either
direction from the shuttle station, with the octo spiders in the two
rays immediately clockwise from the station.

"The fourth and fifth rays," Dr Blue said in colour, 'are designed
differently.  All the other creatures live there, as well as those
humans and octo spiders who have been placed under guard."

"Is Galileo then in some kind of prison?"  Nicole asked.

"Not exactly," Dr Blue replied.

"There are just many more oiJbe smaller block robots in that part of
the starfish."

They stepped off the tram together after travelling half-way around the
starfish.  When they reached the entrance to the human ray, Dr Blue
held the monitoring device in front of Nicole and read the output
colours on the screen.  Based on the initial data that she saw, the
octo spider used the cilia underneath one of her tentacles to request
more information.

"Is something wrong?"  Nicole asked.

"Your heart has undergone a few palpitations in the last hour," Dr Blue
said.

"I just wanted to check the amplitude and frequency of the
irregularities."

"I'm very excited," Nicole said.

"It's normal in humans for excitement to cause .  . ."

"I know," Dr Blue said, 'but The Eagle instructed me to be very
careful."  There were no colours on the octo spider head for several
seconds while Dr Blue studied the data on her screen.

"I guess it's all right," she said finally, 'but if you experience the
slightest chest-pain, or surprising shortness of breath, do not
hesitate to push the emergency button in your room."

Nicole gave Dr Blue a hug.

"Thank you very much," she said.

"You have been wonderful."

"It has been my pleasure," Dr Blue said.

"I hope everything goes all right.  . . Your room is number forty-one,
down that hallway, about the twentieth door on the left.  The tram
stops every five rooms."

Nicole took a deep breath and turned around.  The smaller tram was
waiting for her.  She shuffled towards it, sliding her feet on the
floor, and boarded after a farewell wave to Dr Blue.  A minute or two
later Nicole was standing in front of an ordinary door with the number
forty-one- painted on it.

She knocked.  The door opened immediately and five smiling faces
greeted her.

"Welcome to the Grand Hotel," said Max, with a wide grin and his arms
open wide.

"Come in and give an Arkansas farm-boy a hug."

Nicole felt a hand on hers as soon as she stepped into the room.

"Hello, Mother," Ellie said.  Nicole turned and looked at her youngest
daughter.  Ellie was greying at the temples, but her eyes were as clear
and sparkling as ever.

"Hello, Ellie," Nicole said, breaking into tears.  They would not be
the last tears she would shed during the several hours of the
reunion.

Their room was a square, approximately seven me tres on a side.  Along
the back wall was an enclosed bathroom, with a wash-basin, a shower and
a toilet.  Next to the bathroom was a large, open closet that contained
all their clothes and other belongings.  At bedtime the sleeping-mats,
which were rolled up each day, were removed from the closet and placed
upon the floor.

The first night Nicole slept between Ellie and Nikki, with Max, Eponine
and Marius on the other side of the room beside the table and six
chairs that were the only furniture in their living-quarters.

Nicole had been so exhausted that she had fallen asleep immediately,
even before the lights had been switched off and everyone else had
finished preparing for bed.  After sleeping dreamlessly for about five
hours, Nicole had awakened abruptly, temporarily uncertain where she
was.

As she lay in the dark and the silence, Nicole thought about the events
of the previous evening.  During the reunion she had been so
overwhelmed by her emotions that she had not really had time to sort
out her reactions to what she was seeing and hearing.  Immediately
after Nicole had entered the room, Nikki had gone next door for the
others.  For the next two hours there had been eleven people in the
crowded room, at least three or four of them talking all the time.

Nicole had had brief conversations with each person individually during
those two hours, but it had been impossible for her to discuss anything
in depth.

The four young people, Kepler, Marius, Nikki and Maria, had all been
very shy.  Maria, whose stunning blue eyes stood out in contrast to her
copper skin and long black hair, had dutifully thanked Nicole for
rescuing her.  She had also politely acknowledged that she had no
memories of any kind from the time before she went to sleep.  Nikki had
been nervous and diffident in her brief tete-a-tete with her
grandmother.  Nicole thought she had detected some fear in Nikki's
eyes; however, Ellie told Nicole later that what she had seen had
probably been awe, that so many stories had been told about Nicole that
Nikki felt she was meeting a legend.

The two young men had been polite, but not forthcoming.  Once during
the evening Nicole had seen Kepler staring at her from ac roAR the
room with great intensity.  Nicole reminded herself that she was the
first really old human the boys had ever seen.  Young men in
particular, Nicole thought, have difficulty with women who are old and
phthisic.

It shatters their fantasies about members of the opposite sex.

Benjy had welcomed Nicole with an uninhibited embrace.  He had lifted
her off the floor with his strong arms and yelled with joy.

"Mama, Ma-ma," he had said, turning around in circles with Nicole's
head above his.  Benjy had seemed quite well.  Nicole had been startled
to discover that his hairline had receded, and that he now looked
decidedly avuncular.  Later she had told herself that Benjy's
appearance was really not that surprising, since he was roughly forty
years old.

Her greetings from Patrick and Ellie had been very warm.  Ellie had
looked tired, but she had said it was because she had had a full day.

Ellie had explained to Nicole that she had taken it upon herself to
stimulate inter species social activity at the Grand Hotel.

"It's the least I can do," Ellie had said, 'since I speak the octo
spider language .  . . I'm hoping that you'll give me a hand, as soon
as you have your strength."

Patrick had spoken quietly to Nicole about his concern for Nai.

"This Galileo situation is tearing her apart, Mother," her son had
said.

"She is furious because the blockheads, as we call them, removed
Galileo from the normal living-areas without much explanation, and
without anything that we would call "due process".  She is also angry
because she is not allowed to spend more than two hours a day with him
. . . I'm certain she is going to ask you for assistance."

Nai had changed.  The spark and softness were gone from her eyes and
she was uncharacteristically negative, even in her first remarks.

"We are living in the worst kind of police state here, Nicole," Nai had
said.

"Far worse than under Nakamura.  After you are settled, I have many
things to tell you."

Max Puckett and his adorable French wife Eponine had both aged, like
everyone else, but it was clear that their love for each other, and for
their son Marius, sustained them from day to day.  Eponine had shrugged
when Nicole asked her if the crowded living-conditions bothered her.
"Not really," she had replied.

"Remember, I lived in the orphanage in Limoges as a child .  . .
Besides, I'm just delighted to be alive and have Max and Marius.  For
years I never thought I would live long enough to have any grey
hair."

As for Max, he had remained his ornery, irrepressible self.  His hair
too was mostly grey, and he had lost a little of the bounce in his
step.  But Nicole could tell from his eyes that he was enjoying his
life.

"There's this fellow I see regularly in the smoking-lounge,"

Max had told Nicole during the evening, 'who is a big admirer of yours
... He somehow
escaped the plague, although his wife didn't.  . . Anyway," Max had
then grinned,

"I thought I'd fix you two up as soon as you have some free time .  . .
He's a little younger than you are, but I doubt if that will be a
problem .  . ."

Nicole had asked Max about the problems between the humans and the octo
spiders

"You know," Max had said, 'the war may have taken place fifteen or
sixteen years ago, but none of the humans has any intervening memories
to soften his anger.  Everyone here lost somebody, a friend or a
relative or a neighbour, in that horrible plague.  And they can't
quickly forget that it was the octo spiders who caused it."

"In response to the aggression of the human armies," Nicole had said.

"But most of the humans don't see it that way.  Maybe they believe the
propaganda Nakamura told them and not the "official" war history,
presented by your friend The Eagle soon after we were moved here .  .
.

The truth is that most of the humans hate and fear the octo spiders

Only about twenty per cent of the people have made any attempt to mix
socially, despite Ellie's courageous efforts, or to learn anything
about the octos.  Most of the humans stay in our ray .  . .

Unfortunately, the cramped living-quarters do not help to alleviate the
problem."

Nicole rolled over on her side.  Her daughter Elite was sleeping facing
her.  Ellie's eyes were twitching.  She's dreaming, Nicole thought, i
hope not about Robert.  . . She thought again about her reunion with
her family and friends.  i guess The Eagle knew what he was doing in
keeping me alive.  Even if he doesn't have anything specific for me to
do .  . As long as I don't become an invalid or a burden, I can be
helpful here.

"This will be your first major Grand Hotel experience," Max said to
Nicole.

"Every time I go to the cafeteria during open hours, I am reminded of
Bounty Day in the Emerald City .  . . Those weird creatures that came
along with the octo spiders may be fascinating, but I'm a damn sight
more comfortable when they're not around."

"Can't we wait until it's our period.  Dad?"  Marius asked.

"The iguanas frighten Nikki.  They gawk at us with their yellow eyes,
and make such repulsive clucking noises while they are eating."

"Son," Max said, 'you and Nikki can wait with the others until our
segregated lunch-time, if you want.  Nicole wants to eat with all the
residents.  It's a matter of principle to her .  . . Your mother and I
are going to accompany her to ensure that she learns the cafeteria
routine."

"Don't worry about me," Nicole said.

"I'm sure that Ellie or Patrick .  . ."

"Nonsense," Max interrupted.

"Eponine and I are delighted to join you .  . . Besides, Patrick has
gone with Nai to see Galileo, Ellie is over in the recreation room, and
Benjy is reading with Kepler and Maria."

"I appreciate your understanding, Max," Nicole said.

"It ifc^important for me to make the right kind of statement,
especially at the beginning .  . . The Eagle and Dr Blue didn't tell me
much about the details of the trouble .  . ."

"You don't need to explain," Max replied.

"In fact, last night after you fell asleep, I told Frenchie I was
certain that you would want to mix."  He laughed.

"Don't forget, we know you very well."

After Eponine joined them, they walked out into the hallway.  It was
mostly empty.  A few people were walking in the corridor on their left,
away from the centre of the starfish, and a man and a woman were
standing together at the entrance to the ray.

The trio waited two or three minutes for the tram to arrive.  As they
drew near to the final stop, Max leaned over to Nicole.

"Those two people standing at the ray entrance," he said, 'are not just
passing time .  . . They're both big activists on the Council.  . .
Very opinionated and very pushy."

Nicole took the arm that Max offered her as they disembarked.

"What do they want?"  she whispered as the pair started walking towards
them.

"I don't know," Max mumbled quickly, 'but we'll find out soon
enough."

"Good-day, Max .  . . Hello, Eponine," the man said.  He was a portly;
man in his early forties.  He looked at Nicole and broke into a wide
politician's smile.

"You must be Nicole Wakefield," he said, reaching out to shake hands.

"We've all heard so very much about you .  . .

Welcome .  . . Welcome .  . . I'm Stephen Kowalski."

"And I'm Renee du Font," the woman said, advancing and also extending
her hand in Nicole's direction.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Mr Kowalski asked Max what the
three of them were doing.

"We're taking Mrs Wakefield to lunch," Max replied simply.

"It's still common time," the man said with another big smile.  He
checked his watch.

"Why don't you wait forty-five minutes more and Renee and I will join
you .  . . We're on the Council, you know, and we would like very much
to speak to Mrs Wakefield about our activities .

. . Certainly the Council will want to hear from her in the very near
future."

"Thanks for the offer, Stephen," Max said.

"But we're all hungry.  We want to eat now."

Mr Kowalski's brow furrowed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max,"

he said.

"There's a lot of tension at the moment .  . . After that incident
yesterday in the swimming-pool, the Council voted unanimously to
boycott all collective activities for the next two days .  . . Emily
was especially incensed that Big Block put Garland on probation and
took no disciplinary action of any kind against the offending octo
spider .  . . That's the
fourth consecutive time that the blockheads have ruled against us."

"Come on, Stephen," Max said.

"I heard the story at dinner last night .  . . Garland was still in the
pool fifteen minutes after our special time had expired ... He grabbed
the octo first."

"It was a deliberate provocation," Renee duPont said.

"There were only three octo spiders in the pool .  . . There was no
reason for one of them to be in the lane where Garland was swimming
laps."

"Besides," Stephen said, 'as we discussed in the Council last night,
the specifics of this particular incident are not our primary concern.
It is essential that we send a message to both the blockheads and the
octo- spiders, so that they know we are united as a species .  . . The
Council is going to meet in special session again tonight to draw up a
list of grievances .  . ."

Max was becoming angry.

"Thank you for keeping us informed, Stephen,"

he said brusquely.

"Now if you'll just step aside, we would like to go to lunch."

"You're making a mistake," Mr Kowalski said.

"You will be the only humans in the cafeteria .  . . We will, of
course, report this conversation at the meeting of the Council
tonight."

"Go ahead," said Max.

Max, Eponine and Nicole walked out into the main corridor that formed
an annulus around the central core of the starfish.

"What's the Council?"  Nicole asked.

"A group, self-appointed I might add, that pretends to represent all
the humans," Max replied.

"At first they were just a nuisance, but in the last few months they
have actually begun to wield some power .  .

. They have even recruited poor Nai into their ranks by offering to
help solve the Galileo problem."

The big tram stopped about twenty me tres to their right and a pair of
the iguanas disembarked.  Two of the block robots, who had been
standing unobtrusively off to the side, walked out into the corridor
between the humans and the strange animals with the fearsome teeth.

As the iguanas passed around them, back along the wall, Nicole recalled
the attack on Nikki at the Bounty Day ceremony.

"Why are they here?"  Nicole asked Max.

"I would have thought that they were too disruptive .  . ."

"Big Block and The Eagle have both explained to full human assemblies,
on two separate occasions, that the iguanas are essential for the
production of that bar rican plant, without which the octo society
would be all screwed up ... I didn't follow all the details of the
biological explanation, but I do remember that fresh iguana eggs were a
vital link in the process .  . . The Eagle stressed repeatedly that
only the bare minimum number of iguanas were being maintained here in
the Grand Hotel."

The trio was near the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Have the.  iguanas caused much trouble?"  Nicole asked.

"Not really," Max said.

"They can be dangerous, as you know, but if you cut through all the
crap put out by the Council, you conclude that there have only been a
few incidents in which the iguanas launched an unprovoked attack .  . .
Most of the altercations have been started by humans .  . . Our boy
Galileo killed two of them one night in the cafeteria during one of his
violent outbursts."

Max noticed Nicole's strong reaction to his last comment.

"I don't want to be telling tales out of school," he said, shaking his
head, 'but this Galileo business has really torn our little family
apart ... I promised Eponine I would let you talk to Nai about it
first."

The smaller block robots were constructed from the same general pattern
as Big Block.  A dozen of them were serving food in the cafeteria, and
six or eight others were standing around the eating-area.  When Nicole
and her friends entered, four or five hundred octo spiders including
two giant rep letes and eighty or so midget morphs eating on the floor
in the corner, were sitting in the cafeteria.  Many of them turned to
watch as Max, Eponine and Nicole passed through the line.  A dozen
iguanas, seated not far from the serving line, stopped eating and eyed
the humans warily.  ; Nicole was surprised at the large variety of
things to eat.  She chose some fish and potatoes, as well as some octo
spider fruit and their orange- tasting honey for her bread.

"Where does all this fresh food come from?"  she asked Max as they sat
at a long empty table.

Max pointed up.

"There's a second level to this starfish.  All the food for everybody
is raised up there .  . . We eat very well, although the Council has
complained about the lack of meat."

Nicole took a couple of bites of her food.

"I think I ought to tell you," Max said quietly, leaning across the
table, 'that a pair of octo spiders is headed in your direction."

She turned around.  Two octo spiders were indeed approaching.  Out of
the corner of her eye Nicole also saw Big Block hurrying towards their
table.

"Hello, Nicole," the first octo spider said in colour.

"I was one of Dr Blue's assistants in the Emerald City Hospital ... I
just wanted to welcome you and thank you again for helping us out .  .
."

Nicole searched vainly for a distinguishing mark on the octo spider

"I'm sorry," she said in a friendly tone,

"I can't place you exactly .

. ."

"You called me Milky," the octo spider said, 'because at the time I was
recovering from a lens operation and I had excess white fluid .  . ."

"Ah, yes," Nicole said with a smile.

"I remember you now, Milky .  . .

Didn't we have a long discussion at lunch one day about old age?  As

I

recall, you had a hard time believing that we humans remained alive,
whether we were useful or not, until we died of natural causes."

"That's right," Milky answered.

"Well, I don't want to disturb your dinner, but my friend very much
wanted to meet you."

"And to thank you also," said Milky's companion, for being so fair
about everything .  . . Dr Blue says that you have been an example to
all of us .  . ."

Other octo spiders began to rise from where they were sitting in the
cafeteria and to line up behind the first two octos.  The colours for
'thank you' were visible on most of their heads.  Nicole was deeply
moved.  At Max's suggestion, she stood up and spoke to the line of octo
spiders "Thank you all," she said, 'for your warm welcome.  I really do
appreciate it ... I hope I have a chance to speak to each of you while
we are living here together."

Nicole's eyes drifted to the right of the line of octos and she saw her
daughter Ellie with Nikki standing beside her.

"I came as soon as I could," Ellie said, coming over and kissing her
mother on the cheek.

"I should have known .  . ."  she added with a slight smile.  She gave
Nicole a vigorous hug.

"I love you.  Mother," Ellie said.

"And I have missed you so very much."

"I explained to the Council," Nai said, 'that you had just arrived and
did not fully understand the significance of the boycott.  I believe
they were satisfied."

Nai opened the door and Nicole followed her into the laundry area.

Using the washers and driers they had seen in New Eden as a basis, the
aliens who had outfitted the Grand Hotel in a hurry had built the free
laundromat not far from the cafeteria.  Two other women were in the
large room.  Nai purposely chose to use the machines at the far
opposite side, so that she could have a private conversation with
Nicole.

"I asked you to come with me today," Nai said as she began to sort the
clothing, 'because I wanted to talk to you about Galileo .  . ."  She
paused, struggling.

"Forgive me, Nicole, my feelings on this subject are so strong .  . .
I'm not certain .  . ."

"It's all right, Nai," Nicole said softly.

"I understand .  . .

Remember, I'm a mother too."

"I'm desperate, Nicole," Nai continued.

"I need your help .  . .

Nothing that has ever happened in my life, not even Kenji's murder, has
affected me like this situation ... I am consumed by anxiety for my son
. . . Even meditation does not give me any peace."

Nai had divided the clothes into three piles.  She put them into three
washing-machines and returned to Nicole's side.

"Look," she said,

"I'll be the first to admit that Galileo's behaviour has
not been perfect .  . . After the long sleep, when we weretfioved over
here, he was very slow to become involved with the others ... He would
not participate in the classes Patrick, Ellie, Eponine and I set up for
the children, and when he did he would not do any homework .  . .

Galileo was surly, difficult, and unpleasant to everyone except
Maria.

"He never would talk to me about what he was feeling .  . . The only
thing he seemed to enjoy was going over to the recreation room for
muscle-building exercises ... He has, incidentally, become very proud
of his physical strength."

Nai paused for a moment.

"Galileo is not a bad person, Nicole," she said apologetically.

"He is just confused ... He went to sleep as a six-year- old, and woke
up at the age of twenty-one, with the body and desires of a young man .
. ."

She stopped.  Tears had formed in her eyes.

"How could he have been expected to know how to act .  . ."  Nai said
with difficulty.  Nicole reached out with her arms, but Nai did not
accept her offer.

"I have tried, but I haven't been able to help him," Nai continued,
with difficulty.

"I don't know what to do ... And I'm afraid now it's too late."

Nicole recalled her own sleepless nights in New Eden, when she had
often wept with frustration about Katie.

"I understand, Nai," she said softly.

"I really do."

"One time, only one time," Nai said after a pause, 'did I ever have a
glimpse beneath that cold exterior Galileo wears so proudly ... It was
in the middle of the night after the business with Maria, when he
returned from his session with Big Block.  We were out in the corridor
together, only the two of us, and he was wailing and beating on the
wall .  . .

"I wasn't going to hurt her.  Mom, you must believe me," he yelled,

"I love Maria ... I just couldn't stop myself"."

"What happened with Galileo and Maria?"  Nicole asked when Nai stopped
again for a few seconds.

"I haven't heard the story."

"Oh," Nai said, surprised,

"I was certain that someone would have told you about it by now."  She
hesitated for a moment.

"Max said at the time that Galileo had tried to rape Maria, and that he
might have succeeded if Benjy had not come back to the room and dragged
him off the girl .  . . Later Max admitted to me that he might have
over-reacted when he used the word "rape", but that Galileo had
definitely been "out of line" .  . .

"My son told me that Maria had encouraged him, at least initially, and
that they had dropped to the floor while kissing .  . . She was still
enthusiastically participating, according to Galileo, until he started
pulling down her pants .  . . That was when the struggle began .  .
."

Nai tried to calm herself.

"The rest of the story, no matter who tells it, is not very pleasant. .
. Galileo admits that he hit Maria, several times,
after she started screaming, and that he held her down and continued
to pull off her pants ... He had locked the door.  Benjy broke it down
with his shoulder and threw himself at Galileo with all his force . .

. Because of the noise and the property damage, Big Block was there, as
well as many onlookers .  . ."

There were more tears in Nai's eyes.

"It must have been horrible,"

Nicole said.

"That night my life was shattered," Nai said.

"Everyone condemned Galileo.  When Big Block put him on probation and
returned Galileo to the family unit, Max, Patrick and even Kepler, his
own brother, thought the punishment was too light.  And if I ever
hinted that maybe, just maybe, beautiful little Maria might have been
partially responsible for what occurred, I was told by everybody that I
was "unbalanced" and "blind to the facts" .  . .

"Maria played her pan perfectly," Nai continued, with undisguised
acrimony in her voice.

"She admitted later that she had willingly kissed Galileo- they had
kissed twice before, she said but insisted that she had started
saying

"No" before he pulled her down on the floor.  Maria wept for an hour
immediately after the incident.

She could barely talk.  All the men tried to comfort her, including
Patrick.  They were all convinced before she even said anything that
Maria was blameless."

Soft bells sounded, indicating that the wash had completed.  Nai rose
slowly, walked over to the machines, and put the clothes in a pair of
driers.

"We all agreed that Maria should move next door, with Max, Eponine and
Ellie," Nai began again.

"I thought that time would heal the wounds.  I was wrong.  Galileo was
ostracised by everyone in the family, except for me.  Kepler would not
even speak to his brother.

Patrick was civil, but distant .  . . Galileo withdrew deeper into his
shell, stopped attending classes altogether, and spent most of his
waking hours by himself in the weight room.

"About five months ago I approached Maria and basically begged her to
help Galileo ... It was humiliating, Nicole," Nai said.

"There I was, an adult woman, pleading for favours from a teenage girl
... I had first asked Patrick, Eponine and then Ellie, each in turn, if
they would talk to Maria for me.  Only Ellie had made an effort to
intercede, and she informed me, after her attempt, that the appeal
would have to come directly from me.

"Maria finally agreed to talk to Galileo," Nai said bitterly, 'but only
after forcing me to listen to a harangue about how she still felt
"violated" by Galileo's attack.  She also stipulated that both a
sincere, written apology from Galileo should precede the meeting, and
that I should be personally present during their discussion to preclude
any unpleasantness."

Nai shook her head.

"Now I ask you, Nicole," she said, Sbttw in the world could a
sixteen-year-old girl who has been awake for only two years in her
entire life have possibly become so sophisticated?

Somebody, and my guess is Max and Eponine, had been counselling her on
how to behave.  Maria wanted to humiliate me, and to make Galileo
suffer as much as possible.  She certainly succeeded."

"I know it seems unlikely," Nicole spoke for the first time in many
minutes, 'but I have met people with incredible natural gifts, who know
intuitively, at a very early age, how to deal with any possible
situation.  Maria may be one of them."

Nai ignored her comment.

"The meeting went very well.  Galileo cooperated.  Maria accepted the
apology that he wrote for her.  For the next few weeks she seemed to go
out of her way to include Galileo in whatever the young people were
doing .  . . But he was still a stranger in their group, an outsider. I
could see it.  And I suspect that he could too.

"Then one day in the cafeteria, while the five of them were sitting
together the rest of us had eaten early, and had already returned to
our rooms a pair of iguanas sat down at the other end of their table.
According to Kepler, the iguanas were purposely repulsive.  They
lowered their heads into their bowls, noisily sucking up those
wriggling worms they love so much, and then stared at the girls,
especially Maria, with their beady yellow eyes.  Nikki made some
comment about not being hungry any more and Maria agreed with her.

"At that point Galileo rose from his seat, took a couple of steps
towards the iguanas, and said,

"Shoo, go away," or something similar.

When they didn't move, he took another step in their direction.  One of
the iguanas jumped at him.  Galileo grabbed that first iguana by the
neck and shook it ferociously.  It died of a broken neck.  The second
iguana also attacked, seizing Galileo's forearm with its powerful
teeth.  Before the blockheads arrived to break up the fracas, Galileo
had beaten the iguana to death against the top of the table."

Nai seemed surprisingly calm as she finished the story.

"They took Galileo away.  Three hours later Big Block came to our rooms
and informed us that Galileo would be permanently detained in another
part of the spacecraft.  When I asked why, the super blockhead told me
the same thing that he has told me every time when I have asked the
question since,

"We have determined that your son's behaviour is not acceptable.""
Another sequence of short bells announced that the drying cycle was
complete.  Nicole helped Nai fold the clothes on the long table.

"I'm allowed to see him only two hours each day," Nai said.

"Although Galileo is too proud to complain, I can tell that he is
suffering .  .

. The Council has listed Galileo as one of the five human beings
being "retained" with 9 out proper justification, but I do not know if
their grievances are being seriously heard by the blockheads."

Nai stopped folding clothes and put her hand on Nicole's forearm.

"That's why I'm asking you for help," she said.

"In the alien hierarchy, The Eagle ranks even higher than Big Block.
It's obvious that The Eagle pays careful attention to what you say .  .
. Would you, please, for my sake, talk to him about Galileo?"

"It's the right thing," Nicole said to Ellie, taking her belongings
from the closet.

"I should have been in the other room from the beginning."

"We talked about it before you came," Ellie said.

"But both Nai and Maria said it was all right for the girl to move back
next door so that you could be here with Nikki and me."

"Nevertheless .  . ."  Nicole said.  She put her clothes on the table
and looked at her daughter.

"You know, Ellie, I've only been here a few days, but it strikes me as
terribly peculiar how absorbed everyone is in the day-to-day trivia of
life .  . . And I'm not talking only about Nai and her concerns.  The
people with whom I have chatted in the cafeteria, or in the other
common rooms, spend an astonishingly small percentage of their time
discussing what's really going on here.  Only two people have asked me
questions about The Eagle.  And up at the observation deck last night,
while a dozen of us were staring out at that staggering tetrahedron,
nobody wanted to discuss who might have built it, and for what
purpose."

Ellie laughed.

"Everyone else has been here for a year already.

Mother.  They asked all those questions long ago, for many weeks, but
they did not receive any satisfactory answers.  It's human nature, when
we cannot answer an infinite question, to dismiss it until we have some
new information."

She picked up all her mother's things.

"Now we have told everyone to leave you alone and let you take a nap
today.  Nobody should be coming in the room for the next two hours.
Please, Mother, use this opportunity to rest .  . . When Dr Blue left
last night, she told me that your heart was showing signs of fatigue,
despite all the supplemental probes."

"Mr Kowalski was certainly not happy," Nicole commented, 'about having
an octo spider in our ray."

"I explained it to him.  So did Big Block.  Don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Ellie," Nicole said.  She kissed her daughter on the
cheek.

"Are you ready, Mother?"  Ellie said, coming through the door.

"I guess so," Nicole answered.

"Although I certainly feel foolish.

Except for the game yesterday with you, Max and Eponine, I haven't
played bridge for years."

Ellie smiled.

"It doesn't matter how well you play, Mother.  We talked about that
last night."

Max and Eponine were waiting in the hallway at the tram-stop.

"Today will be very interesting," Max said after greeting Nicole.

"I wonder how many others will show up."

The Council had voted the night before to extend the boycott again, for
three additional days.  Although Big Block had responded to the list of
grievances, and even persuaded the octo spiders who outnumbered the
humans eight to one, to yield more time in the common areas for the
exclusive use of the humans, the Council had felt that many of the
responses were still not adequate.

There had also been a discussion at the Council meeting about how to.

enforce the boycott.  Some of the more vocal participants at the
meeting had wanted to establish punishments for those who ignored the
boycott.  resolution.  The meeting had concluded with an agreement that
Council officers would 'actively engage' those humans who continued to
disregard the Council's recommendations to avoid interactions with all
other species.

The tram in the main corridor was nearly empty.  A half-dozen octo
spiders were in the first car, and three or four more octos plus a pair
of iguanas were sitting in the second.  Nicole and her friends were the
only humans aboard.

"Three weeks ago, before this latest round of tension began," Ellie
said, 'we had twenty-three tables for our weekly bridge tournament.  I
thought we were making a lot of progress.  We were averaging five or
six new human entrants each week."

"How in the world, Ellie," Nicole asked, as the tram stopped and
another pair of octo spiders boarded their car, 'did you ever think up
the idea for these bridge tournaments?  When you first mentioned
playing
cards with the octo spiders to me, I thought you were out of your
mind."

Ellie laughed.

"In the beginning, soon after we had all settled here, I knew that it
would take some kind of organised activity to encourage interaction.
People were just not going to walk up to an octo spider and begin a
conversation, not even with a blockhead or me along as an interpreter .
. . Games seemed like a pretty good way to stimulate mixing .  . . That
worked for a little while, but it quickly became obvious that there was
no game at which the most proficient human could match any of the octo
spiders Even with handicaps .  . ."

"Late in the first month," Max interrupted,

"I played chess with your buddy Dr Blue .  . . She gave me a
rook-and-two-pawn advantage to start the game, and still cleaned my
plough ... It was very demoralising .  .

."

"The final blow was our first Scrabble tournament," Ellie continued.

"All of the prizes went to the octo spiders even though all the words
used were in English!  That was when I realised that I had to come up
with a game in which humans and octo spiders did not play against each
other .  . .

"Bridge turned out to be perfect.  Each pair consists of one human and
one octo spider It is not necessary for the partners to talk to each
other.  I have prepared convention cards in both languages, and even
the dullest human can learn in one session the octo numbers from one to
seven and their symbols for the four suits ... It has worked fabulously
well."

Nicole shook her head.

"I still think you are crazy," she said with a smile.

"Although I will acknowledge a touch of brilliance as well."

There were only fourteen other people in the card room of the
recreation complex at the time the bridge tournament was scheduled to
start.  Ellie adapted well, deciding to have two separate games, one
for the 'mixed pairs', as she called them, and another contest solely
for the octo spiders

Dr Blue was Nicole's partner.  They agreed on a five-card major bidding
approach, one of six codified by Ellie, and sat down at a table near
the door.  Because the seats for the octo spiders were higher than
those for the humans, Nicole and her partner were sitting eye to eye.

Or, more appropriately, eye to lens.

Nicole had never been an exceptional bridge-player.  She had learned to
play originally as a student at the University of Tours, when her
father, concerned that she did not have enough friends, had encouraged
her to become involved in extracurricular activities.

Nicole had also played some bridge in New Eden, where the game was the
social rage during the first year after Settlement.  However, despite
some natural flair for the game, Nicole had always thought that bridge
consumed too much time, and that there were too many other, more
important, things to do.

It was apparent to Nicole from the outset that Dr Blue, as well as
the
other octo spiders who came to the table with their human fanners to
play in the duplicate tournament, was a superb card-player.  On the
second hand Dr Blue played a 'three no trump' contract that was
exceedingly difficult, using finesses and a terminal squeeze like a
human bridge professional.

"Well done," Nicole said to her octo spider partner after Dr Blue made
the contract plus one overtrick.

"It's very simple once you know where all the cards are," Dr Blue
answered in colour.

It was fascinating to watch the octo spiders handle the mechanics of
the game.  They removed the cards from the travelling boards with the
two last joints of a solitary tentacle, aided by the cilia of course,
and then held their hands in front of their lenses with three
tentacles, one on either side and a third one in the middle.  To place
a card on the table, an octo spider used whichever tentacle was closest
to the card in question, balancing it among the cilia during its
descent.

Nicole and Dr Blue engaged in their usual lively conversation between
hands.  Dr Blue had just told Nicole that the new Chief Optimiser had
been puzzled by the latest action of the Council, when the door to the
card room opened and in walked three humans, followed by Big Block and
one of the smaller blockheads.

The woman in the lead, whom Nicole recognised as Emily Bronson, the
president of the Council, glanced around the room and then headed for
Nicole's table.  A move had just been called, and Ellie and Dr Blue had
been joined by the octo spider Milky and her partner, a
pleasant-looking, middle-aged woman named Margaret.

"Why Margaret Young, I'm astonished to see you here," Emily Bronson
said.

"You must not have heard that the Council extended the boycott last
night."

The two men who had entered the room with Ms Bronson, one of whom was
Garland of the swimming-pool incident, had followed her over to
Nicole's table.  All three of them were standing over Margaret.

"Emily .  . . I'm sorry," Margaret replied with her eyes downcast.

"But you know how I love bridge .  . ."

"There's a lot more than games at stake here," Ms Bronson said.

Ellie had risen from a nearby table and now made an appeal to Big Block
to stop the disruption.  But Emily Bronson was too quick.

"All of you," she said in a loud voice, 'are showing your disloyalty by
being here.  If you leave now, the Council will not hold it against you
... If you stay, however, after having been warned .  . ."

Big Block now intervened and informed Ms Bronson that she and her
friends were indeed disrupting the game.  As the trio turned to leave,
more than half of the humans rose from their chairs to follow.

"This is preposterous," a voice with astonishing clarity and power
said.  Nicole was standing in her place, leaning on the table with one
hand.

"Sit back down," she said in the same tone.

"Do not allow yourself to be bullied by a hate monger

All the bridge-players returned to their seats.

"Shut up, old woman,"

Emily Bronson said in anger from across the room.

"This is none of your concern."  Big Block escorted her and her
companions out of the door.

"You don't have any idea, do you Mrs Wakefield, what any of the objects
are?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Maria," Nicole answered.

"They are probably items that had special meaning, in some way, for
your mother.

I thought at the time that the silver cylinder implanted under your
mother's skin was some kind of zoo identifier, but since none of the
zoo-keeping staff survived the bombing, and very few of the records
remain, it's unlikely that we will ever be able to verify my
hypothesis."

"What's a "hypothesis"?"  the girl asked.

"It's a tentative assumption, or explanation for what's happened, when
there's really not sufficient evidence to come to any definite
answers," Nicole said.

"By the way, I must say that your English is quite impressive."

Thank you, Mrs Wakefield."

They were sitting together in the communal lounge just off the
observation deck.  Nicole and Maria were both drinking fruit juice.

Although Nicole had been in the Grand Hotel for a week already, this
was the first time she had had a private moment with the girl she had
found amidst the octo spider zoo ruins sixteen years before.

"Was my mother really pretty?"  Maria asked.

"She was striking, I remember that," Nicole said, 'even though I
couldn't see her very well in the dim light.  She appeared to have your
same colouring, maybe a little lighter, and was of medium build.  I
would have guessed she was thirty-five years old, or maybe slightly
less."

"And there were no signs of my father?"  Maria asked.

"None that I saw," Nicole said.

"Of course, under the circumstances I did not make a very thorough
search .  . . It's possible that he might have been wandering somewhere
in the Alternate Domain, looking for help.  The fence that enclosed
your compound had been flattened in the bombing.  I worried, when we
woke up the next morning, that your father might have been looking for
you, but I later convinced myself, judging from what I had seen in your
shelter, that you and your mother lived alone."

"So is it your hypothesis that my father had already died?"  Maria said
shyly.

"Very good," Nicole replied.

"No, not necessarily ... I wuldn'l be that specific ... It just did not
look as if anyone else had lived there in your enclosure for some
time."

Maria took a drink of her juice and there was a momentary silence at
the table.

"You told me the other night, Mrs Wakefield," the girl said, 'when we
were talking with Max and Eponine, that you presumed my mother, or
maybe both my parents, had been kidnapped much earlier by the octo
spiders from a place called Avalon ... I didn't understand completely
what you were saying .  . ."

Nicole smiled at Maria.

"I appreciate your politeness, Maria," she said.  "But you're certainly
part of the family .  . . you can call me Nicole."  Her mind drifted
back to New Eden it seemed so long ago and then Nicole realised that
the girl was waiting for an answer to her comment.

"Avalon was a settlement outside of New Eden," Nicole said, 'in the
dark and cold of the Central Plain.  It was originally created by the
government of the colony to quarantine those people who had a deadly
virus called RV-4I.  After Avalon was built, the dictator of New Eden,
a man named Nakamura, convinced the Senate that Avalon was also a
perfect place for other "abnormal" humans, including those who
protested against the government, those who were mentally ill or
retarded .  . ."

"It doesn't sound like a very nice place," Maria commented.

Benjy was there for over a year, Nicole was thinking.  He never talks
about it.  She began feeling guilty about not having spent enough
private time with Benjy since she had awakened.  But he has never once
complained.

Again Nicole had to force herself to pay attention to her conversation
with Maria.  We old people have drifting thoughts, she said to
herself.

Because so many things we see and hear remind us of memories.

"I have done some checking already," Nicole said.

"Unfortunately, all the administrative personnel from Avalon died in
the war ... I have described your mother to a few of the people who
spent considerable time in Avalon, but none of them remembers her."

"Do you think she was a mental patient?"  Maria asked.

"That's possible," Nicole replied.

"We may never know for certain .  .

. Your necklace, incidentally, is our best clue to your mother's
identity.  She was clearly a devotee of the order of the Catholic
Church started by St Michael of Siena .  . . There are some other
Michaelites on board, Ellie says ... I intend to talk with them when I
have the time .  . ."

Nicole stopped and turned towards the observation deck, where a
commotion had started.  A few humans and a large group of octo spiders
were pointing out of the window and gesticulating wildly.  A couple of
people raced off towards the main corridor, presumably to bring back
others to observe whatever it was they were seeing.

Nicole and Maria left their table, walked up the steps to the deck,
and
looked out of the large window.  In the distance, beyond the
tetrahedron of lights, a huge, flat-topped spacecraft that resembled an
aircraft-carrier was approaching The Node.  Nicole and Maria watched
for several minutes without speaking as the new spacecraft loomed
larger and larger.

"What is it?"  Maria asked.

"I have no idea," Nicole answered.

The observation deck filled rapidly.  The doors were constantly opening
as more humans, octo spiders iguanas and even a pair of avians came
into the room.  The crowd began to press against Nicole and Maria.

The flat-topped vehicle was extremely long, longer even than the
transportation corridors connecting the spheres of The Node.  Several
dozen big transparent 'bubbles' were scattered around its surface.

The carrier stopped near one of the spherical vertices of The Node and
extended a long transparent tube that fit neatly into the side of the
sphere.

The deck was in turmoil.  All kinds of creatures were pushing, pressing
to move closer to the window.  A pair of iguanas leaped upwards against
the window in the weightlessness and were quickly joined by ten to
twenty humans.  Nicole began to feel claustrophobic and tried to move
out of the way.  There was no room through the mob.  Nicole was pushed
in all directions.  She lost contact with Maria.  A strong wave caught
Nicole from the side and smacked her against the wall.  Nicole felt a
sharp pain in her left hip upon impact.  In the ensuing melee, she
might have been trampled, and injured even more, except that Big Block
and the blockheads swept into the mob and restored order.

Nicole was badly shaken when Big Block reached her.  The pain in her
hip was unbearable.  She could not walk.

"It's just part of being old," The Eagle said.

"You must be more careful."  He and Nicole were alone in her apartment.
The others were eating breakfast.

"I do not like being fragile," Nicole said.

"Nor do I like not doing things because I'm afraid of injuring
myself."

"Your hip will heal," The Eagle said.

"But it will take a while.

You're lucky it's only badly bruised, and not broken.  At your age a
broken hip can make a human a permanent invalid."

"Thanks for the words of reassurance," Nicole said.  She took a small
sip other coffee.  She was lying on her mat with her head lifted up
slightly by several pillows.

"But enough about me ... Let's move on to more important things .  . .
What is that flat spacecraft all about?"

"The other humans have already started calling it The Carrier," The
Eagle said.

"That's a very appropriate name."

There was a short silence.

"Come on, come on," Nicole said in a cranky voice, 'don't play coy with
me ... I'm lying here, doped up and still in
pain ... It shouldn't be necessary for me to drag the informaittan out
of you."

"This phase of the operation will soon be over," the alien said.

"Some of you will be transferred to The Carrier, and the rest of you
will move over to The Node."

"And what happens then?"  Nicole asked.

"And how is it decided who goes where?"

"I can't tell you that yet," The Eagle said.

"But I will tell you that you will be going to The Node .  . . Although
if you tell anyone else what I have just shared with you, I will not in
the future give you any more advance information .  . . We want the
transition to be orderly .  . ."

"You always want things to be orderly .  . . Ouch," Nicole said as she
changed position slightly, 'and I must say you have not given me very
significant information."

"You know more than anyone else."

"Big deal," Nicole grumped, taking another sip of coffee.

"By the way, do you have any fancy doctors over there in The Node who
can wave a magic wand over this bruise and make it go away?"

"No," said The Eagle, 'but we can give you a new hip if you like.  Or a
pseudo-hip, as I guess you would call it."

Nicole shook her head.  She winced as she jostled her hip putting her
coffee-cup on the floor.

"Being old is shit," she said.

"I'm sorry," The Eagle said.  He started to leave.

"I'll look in on you whenever I can .  . ."

"Before you go," Nicole said,

"I have one other item of business .  . .

Nai wanted me to ask you to intercede on Galileo's behalf.  . . She
would like him returned to the family."

"It's irrelevant now," The Eagle said as he was leaving.

"You'll all be out of here in four or five days .  . . Goodbye, Nicole.
Don't try to walk - use the wheelchair I brought you.  Your hip won't
heal unless you keep your weight off of it."

It was early in the morning, before most of the humans had awakened.

Nicole had been out in the long hallway for half an hour, experimenting
with the controls on the arm of her wheelchair.  She had been surprised
that the chair could move so swiftly and quietly.  As she raced past
the series of conference rooms half-way down the kilometer-long
corridor, Nicole wondered what kind of advanced technology was
contained inside the sealed metal box beneath her chair.  Richard would
have loved this wheelchair, she thought.  He probably would have tried
to take it apart.

She passed a few humans out in the hallway, most shuffling along in an
attempt at a morning-exercise walk.  Nicole laughed to herself as a
pair of shufflers moved quickly out of her way.  i must look very
strange, she thought, a grey-haired old woman zooming down the hall in
a wheelchair.

She turned around just after she drove by the small tram, which was
carrying a handful of passengers towards the common areas for an early
breakfast.  Nicole continued to press the acceleration button on her
chair until she was going faster than the tram.  The people in the tram
stared at her with astonishment as she passed them.  Nicole waved and
grinned.  A few moments later, however, when a door a hundred me tres
in front of her opened abruptly and two women walked out into the
corridor, Nicole realised that it was not safe for her to be driving so
fast.  She slowed down, still chuckling to herself at the thrill the
speed had given her.

As she drew near to her own apartment, Nicole saw The Eagle standing at
the end of the ray, where it merged with the annulus encircling the
starfish.  She drove over beside him.

"You look like you're having fun," The Eagle said.

"I am," Nicole said with a laugh.

"This chair is a fantastic toy.  It has almost made me forget about the
pain in my hip."

"Did you sleep all right last night?"  The Eagle asked.

"Much better, thank you," Nicole replied.

"As you and I had discussed, I slept on my side with my injured hip
elevated.  Incidentally, whatever you gave me last night really reduced
the discomfort."

The Eagle waved towards a lounge on the other side of the annulus.

"Let's go over there, please," the alien said.

"I would like to talk to you in private."

Nicole drove her chair across the main annulus until she reached the
ramp leading to the lounge.  The Eagle, who was walking behind her,
motioned her to continue.  A dozen octo spiders were sitting around the
room.  The Eagle and Nicole chose a spot off to the right, where they
could be alone.

The Carrier has almost finished its tasks over at The Node," The Eagle
said.

"Twelve hours from now it will make a short stop near this vehicle to
pick up some more passengers ... I will announce after lunch who will
be moving to The Carrier."

The alien turned and looked directly at Nicole with his intense blue
eyes.

"Some of the humans may not be pleased with my announcement .  .

. After the decision was made to split your species into two separate
groups, it was immediately apparent to me that it would be impossible
to achieve a division that would not make some people unhappy ... I
would like some help from you in making this process as smooth as
possible."

Nicole studied the remarkable face and eyes of her alien companion.

She thought she remembered seeing, once before, a similar look from The
Eagle.  Back at The Node, she recalled, when I was asked to do the
video.

"What is it that you want me to do?"  Nicole asked.

"We have decided to allow a degree of flexibility in this process.

Although all the individuals on the list for transfer to The Carrier
must accept their assignments, we will permit some of those who are
assigned to The Node to request reconsideration.  Since there will be
no interaction between the two vehicles, in the case of strong
emotional attachments, for example, we would not want to force .  .
."

"Are you telling me," Nicole interrupted, 'that this split may
permanently break up families?"

"Yes, it may," The Eagle replied.

"In a few instances, a husband or a wife has been assigned to The
Carrier, while the spouse is on the list for The Node.  Similarly,
there are some cases where parents and their children will be separated
. . ."

"Jesus," exclaimed Nicole.

"How in the world can you, or anyone, arbitrarily decide to separate a
husband and a wife who have chosen to live together, and expect them to
be happy?  .  . . You'll be lucky if there is not a widespread revolt
after you make your announcement."

The Eagle hesitated for a few seconds.

"There was nothing arbitrary in our process," the alien said at
length.

"For months now we have been carefully studying voluminous data on
every single creature currently living in the starfish.  The records
include complete information from all
the years in Rama as well .  . . Those who have been assigned to The
Carrier do not, in one way or another, meet our necessary criteria for
transfer to The Node."

"And what exactly are those criteria?"  Nicole asked quickly.

"All I can tell you now is that The Node will feature an inter species
living-environment .  . . Those individuals who have limited
adaptability have been assigned to The Carrier," The Eagle replied.

"It sounds to me," Nicole said after a few seconds, 'as if some subset
of the humans in the Grand Hotel has been rejected, for some reason,
and not found "acceptable" .  . ."

"If I understand your choice of words," The Eagle now interrupted, 'you
are implying that this split divides the two groups on the basis of
merit.  That is not exactly the case.  It is our belief that most of
those in either group will, in the long run, be happier in the
environment to which they have been assigned."

"Even without their spouses or children?"  Nicole said.  She frowned.

"Sometimes I wonder if you have really observed what motivates the
human species.

"Emotional attachments", to use your words, are usually the most
essential component in any human's happiness .  . ."

"We know that," The Eagle said.

"We had a special review of every single case where families will be
broken apart by the split, and we made some accommodations as a result.
In our judgement, the remaining family divisions, which are not as
numerous as this discussion might suggest, are all supported by the
observational data."

Nicole stared at The Eagle and shook her head vigorously.

"Why was this split never mentioned before?  .  . . Never once in all
the discussions of the impending transfer did you ever even suggest
that we were going to be divided into two groups .  . ."

"We hadn't decided ourselves until fairly recently.  Recall that our
intercession in the affairs on Rama took us into a contingency regime
in our planning matrix .  . . Once it became clear that some kind of
split would be necessary, we didn't want to upset the status quo .  .

."

"Bullshit," Nicole said suddenly.

"I don't believe that for a moment.

You knew what you were going to do long ago .  . . You just didn't want
to listen to any objections .  . ."

Using the controls on the arm of her chair, Nicole turned around and
faced away from her alien companion.

"No," she said firmly,

"I will not be your accomplice in this matter .  . . And I am angry
that you have compromised my integrity by not telling me the truth
before now .  . ."

She pushed the acceleration button and started towards the main
corridor.

"Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?"  The Eagle said,
following her.

Nicole stopped.

"I can only imagine one scenario in which I would
help you .  . . Why don't you explain the differences bet wee 4he two
living-environments and let each individual from each species decide
for him or herself?"

"I'm afraid we can't do that," The Eagle said.

"Then count me out," Nicole said, activating her wheelchair again.

Nicole was in a foul mood by the time she reached the door to her
apartment.  She leaned forward and entered the combination into the
panel on the door.

"Patrick and Mother are out looking for you," Kepler said a few seconds
later.

"They were worried when they didn't find you in the hallway."

Nicole drove past the young man and into the room.  Benjy came out of
the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around him.

"Hello, Mama," he said with a big smile.  He noticed the look of
displeasure on Nicole's face and hurried over beside her.

"What's wrong?"  he asked.

"You haven't hurt your-self a-gain?  .  . ."

"No, Benjy," Nicole said.

"I'm fine.  I just had a disturbing conversation with The Eagle."

"What a-bout?"  Benjy said, taking her hand.

"I'll tell you later," Nicole said after a brief hesitation.

"After you dry off and get dressed."

Benjy smiled and kissed his mother on the forehead before returning to
the bathroom.  The sinking feeling in her stomach that Nicole had
experienced during her conversation with The Eagle now returned.  Oh my
God, she thought suddenly.  Not Benjy.  Surely The Eagle was not trying
to tell me that we are going to be separated from Benjy.  She
remembered The Eagle's comment about 'limited capabilities' and started
to panic.  Not now.  Please not now.  Not after all this time.

Nicole thought about a special moment from years before, when the
family had been at The Node for the first time.  She had been alone in
her bedroom.  Benjy had entered tentatively to find out if he was
welcome to join the family on its trip back to the solar system.  He
had been immensely relieved to discover that he was not going to be
separated from his mother.  He has suffered enough already, Nicole said
to herself, recalling Benjy's assignment to Avalon while she was in
prison in New Eden.  The Eagle must know that, if he has really studied
all the data.

Despite her conscious attempts to remain calm, Nicole could not stifle
the combination of fear and frustration that was rising inside her.  i
would have preferred to die in my sleep, she thought bitterly, fearing
the worst.  i cannot say goodbye to Benjy now.  It will break his
heart.  And mine too.

A solitary tear slipped out of her left eye and rolled down Nicole's
cheek.

"Are you all right, Mrs Wakefield?"  a concerned Kepler asked.

"Yes, thank you, Kepler," Nicole said, wiping her face with the back
of her hand.  She smiled.

"We old people are very emotional," she said.

"It's nothing to worry about."

There was a knock at the door.  Kepler went to answer it.  Patrick and
Nai entered the room, followed by The Eagle.

"We found this friend of yours in the hallway.  Mother," Patrick said,
greeting her with a kiss.

"He told us that the two of you had been having a conference .  . .

Nai and I had been worried .  . ."

The Eagle walked over beside Nicole.

"There was another subject I wanted to talk to you about as well," The
Eagle said.

"Could you please join me outside for another couple of minutes?"

"I guess I have no choice," Nicole answered.

"But I am not going to change my mind .  . ."

A full tram passed The Eagle and Nicole just as they exited from the
apartment.

"What is it?"  Nicole asked impatiently.

"I wanted to inform you that all the different manifestations of the
sessile species, as well as the remaining avians, will be in the group
that is transferred to The Carrier this evening.  If you still have any
desire, as you indicated to me once during a conversation shortly after
you first awakened here, to interact with the sessile, and to
experience what Richard described .  . ."

"Tell me something else first," Nicole interrupted, grabbing The Eagle
by the forearm with surprising strength.

"Will Benjy and I be separated by this split you're going to announce
this afternoon?"

The Eagle hesitated for several seconds.

"No, you will not," he said eventually.

"But I'm not supposed to be telling you any of the details .  . ."

Nicole heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said simply, managing a smile.

There was a protracted silence.

"The sessiles," The Eagle started again, 'will not be available to you
after .  . ."

"Yes, yes," Nicole said.

"That's a great idea.  Thank you very much.  I would like to pay my
respects to a sessile .  . . After I eat breakfast, of course .  . ."

The smaller block robots were very much in evidence in the ray that
housed the avians and the sessiles.  The ray was divided into several
separate regions by walls that ran from the floor to the ceiling.  The
blockheads policed the entrances and exits from these regions, and were
also stationed at each of the tram-stops.

The avians and sessiles lived at the back of the ray, in the last of
the separate compounds.  Both a blockhead and an avian were guarding
the entrance when The Eagle and Nicole arrived.  The Eagle jabbered and
shrieked in response to a series of questions from the avian.

After they
entered the compound, a myrmicat approached them.  It begaoJo
communicate with The Eagle in bursts of high-frequency sound that
originated from the small circular orifice below its dark brown, milky
oval eyes.  Nicole marvelled at the fidelity of The Eagle's whistling
response.  She also watched in fascination as the second pair of
myrmicat eyes, attached to stalks raised ten to twelve centime tres
above its forehead, continued to pivot and survey the surroundings.

When The Eagle had finished his conversation with the myrmicat, the
six-legged creature, who resembled a giant ant when standing still,
raced down the hall with the speed and grace of a cat.

"They know who you are," The Eagle said.

"They are delighted that you have come for a visit."

Nicole glanced up at her companion.

"How do they know me?"  she said.

"I have only occasionally seen a few of them in the common areas, and I
have never actually interacted .  . ."

"Your husband is a god to this species .  . . None of them would be
here if it were not for him.  They know you from your images that were
inside his memory .  . ."

"How is that possible?"  Nicole asked.

"Richard died sixteen years ago .  . ."

"But the record of his stay with them is carefully preserved in their
collective memory," The Eagle said.

"Every myrmicat emerges from its manna melon with significant knowledge
of the key components of its own culture and history .  . . The
embryonic process that occurs inside the melon not only provides
physical nourishment for the growing and developing being, but also
passes critical information directly into the brain, or its equivalent
anyway, of the fledge ling myrmicat."

"Are you telling me," Nicole said, 'that these creatures begin their
education before they are from?  And that there is stored knowledge
inside those manna melons I used to eat that is somehow implanted in
the minds of the unborn myrmicats?"

"Exactly," The Eagle replied.

"I don't see why you should be so astounded.  Physically, these
creatures are nowhere near as complex as your species.  The embryonic
development process for a human is vastly more subtle and complicated
than theirs.  Your newborns arrive in the world with a staggering array
of physical attributes and capabilities.

Your infants, however, are still dependent on other members of the
species for both their survival and their education.  The myrmicats are
born 'smarter', and therefore more independent, but they have much less
potential for total intellectual development."

They both heard a shrill sound coming from a myrmicat fifty me tres or
so down the corridor.

"It is calling us," The Eagle said.

Nicole moved her wheelchair slowly forward and settled at a speed
consistent with The Eagle's walking pace.

"Richard never told me that these creatures preserve information from
generation to generation."

"He didn't know," The Eagle said.

"He did figure out their metamorphic cycle, and that the myrmicats
passed information to the neural net or web or whatever the final
manifestation should be called .  . . But he didn't even suspect that
the most important elements of that collective information were also
stored in the manna melons, and passed to the next generation .  . .
Needless to say, it's a very strong survival mechanism."

Nicole was fascinated by what The Eagle was telling her.  Imagine, she
was thinking, if somehow human children could be born already knowing
the essentials of our culture and history.  Suppose something like the
placenta contained, in compressed form, enough information .  . . It
sounds impossible, but it can't be.  If at least one creature can do
it, then eventually .  . .

"How much data is passed through the manna melons to the newborns of
the species?"  Nicole asked as they drew near to the beckoning
myrmicat.

"About one-thousandth of one per cent of the information present in a
fully mature specimen like the one in which Richard resided.  The
primary function of the final manifestation of the species is to
manipulate, process and compress the data into a package for inclusion
in the manna melons .  . . Just how this data-management process works
is something we have been studying .  . .

"The neural net you will encounter in the next few minutes,
incidentally," The Eagle continued, 'was originally just a small sliver
of material, containing critical data compressed using what must be a
brilliant algorithm .  . . We have estimated that in that small
cylinder Richard carried to New York years ago was an information
content equivalent to the memory capacity of a hundred adult human
brains."

"Amazing," Nicole said, shaking her head.

"That's only the beginning," The Eagle said.

"Each of the four manna melons carried by Richard had its own set of
compressed data, with slight differences, I might add.  They all
germinated into myrmicats in the octo spider zoo.  The neural net now
contains all those experiences as well ... I expect that you're in for
quite an adventure."

Nicole stopped her wheelchair.

"Why didn't you tell me all this earlier?  I might have spent more time
. . ."

"I doubt it," The Eagle interrupted.

"Your first priority was to reestablish your connections to your own
species ... I don't think you were ready for this until now."

"You have been manipulating me by controlling what I see and
experience," Nicole said without rancour.

"Perhaps," The Eagle answered.

* * *
Nicole was surprisingly fearful when she finally encountered die.

neural net up close.  The Eagle and she were together in a room not
unlike the apartment Nicole shared in the human ray.  A pair of
myrmicats was sitting behind them, against the wall.  The sessile net
or web occupied about 15 per cent of the room, back in the right
corner.  There was a gap in the centre of the dense, soft, white
material that was just large enough for Nicole and her wheelchair.

Nicole complied with The Eagle's request to roll up her shirt-sleeves
and lift her dress above her knees.

"I suppose," she then said with some trepidation, 'that it expects me
to drive into that space, and that it will wrap its filaments around my
body."

"Yes," said The Eagle.

"And it has been told by one of the myrmicats to release you at your
request ... I will stay here the entire time, if that's any comfort to
you."

"Richard," Nicole said, still delaying her entrance, 'told me that it
took a long time for any real communication to develop .  . ."

"That will not be a problem now," responded The Eagle.

"Certainly part of the information stored in the original sliver was
data about methods that could be used to communicate efficiently with
human beings."

"All right then," Nicole said, passing her hand nervously through her
hair, 'here I go.  Wish me luck."

She drove into the gap in the cottony network and turned off the power
in her wheelchair.  In less than a minute the creature had surrounded
her and Nicole could not even see the outline of The Eagle across the
room.  Nicole tried to reassure herself.  This will not hurt me, she
said, as she felt first hundreds and then thousands of tiny threads
attaching themselves to her arms, legs, neck and head.  As she
expected, the density of threads was highest around her head.  She
recalled Richard's description.  The individual filaments were
incredibly thin, but they must have had very sharp parts underneath.

I didn't even realise that they were inserted well inside the outer
layers of my skin until I tried to pull one off.

Nicole stared at a particular clump of threads about a metre away from
her face.  As this ganglion eased slowly towards her, the other
elements in the delicate mesh shifted position.  A shiver ran down her
spine.  Her mind accepted, finally, that the net surrounding her was a
living creature.  It was only moments later that the images began.

She realised immediately that the sessile was reading from her
memory.

Pictures from earlier in her life flashed through Nicole's mind at a
fantastic rate, none lingering long enough even to provoke an
emotion.

There was no order to the images a childhood memory from the woods
behind her home in the Parisian suburb of Chilly-Mazarin would be
followed by a picture of Maria laughing heartily at one of Max's
stories.

This is the data-transfer stage, Nicole thought, remembering Richard's
analysis of the time he had spent inside the neural net.  The creature
is copying my memory into its own.  At a very high rate.  She wondered
briefly what in the world the sessile would do with all the images from
her memory.  Then, suddenly, in her mind's eye Nicole vividly saw
Richard himself in a large chamber that had a vast, incomplete mural on
its walls.  The image became a full motion picture set in the chamber.
The clarity of the individual frames was overwhelming.

Nicole felt as if she were watching a colour television set located
somewhere inside her brain.  She could even see the details of the
mural.  As Nicole watched, a myrmicat directed Richard's attention to
specific items in the wall-paintings.  Around the room a dozen other
myrmicats were sketching or painting the unfinished sections of the
mural.

The artwork was superb.  It had all been created to give Richard
information about what he could do to help the alien species survive.

Part of the mural was a textbook of their biology, which explained in
pictures the three manifestations of their species (manna melon,
myrmicat, and sessile or neural net) and the relationships between
them.  The images Nicole saw were so sharp that she felt she had been
transported to the room where Richard had been.  She was therefore
startled when the internal film she was watching suddenly underwent a
jump-discontinuity and presented a picture of the last goodbye between
Richard and his guide myrmicat.

Richard and the myrmicat were in a tunnel at the bottom of the brown
cylinder.  The motion picture lingered lovingly on every detail of this
final farewell.  The bearded Richard looked uncomfortable carrying the
four heavy manna melons, two leathery avian eggs and the cylinder of
web material in the pack on his back.  But even Nicole, seeing the
determination in Richard's eyes as he departed from the doomed myrmicat
habitat, could understand why he was such a hero to their species.  He
risked his life, she reminded herself, to save them from extinction.

More images flooded her mind, pictures from the octo spider zoo
recording events after the germination of the manna melons Richard had
originally carried to New York.  Despite their clarity, Nicole did not
follow these images very closely.  She was still thinking about
Richard.  Not since I awakened have I allowed myself to miss your
company, Nicole said to herself, because I thought such behaviour
showed weakness.  Now, seeing your face again so clearly, and
remembering how much we shared, I realise how ridiculous it is to force
myself not to think about you If we outlive those we have loved, why
cannot it be a perfectly acceptable source of pleasure to relive the
highlights of that love?

A fleeting image of three human beings, a man, a woman and a tiny baby,
raced through Nicole's mind, catching her attention.  Wait, Nicole
almost screamed out loud.  Back up.  There was something that ^wanted
to see.  The neural net did not read her message.  It continued with
the progression of pictures.  Nicole suspended her thoughts about
Richard and focused intently on the images appearing on the television
inside her brain.

Less than a minute later she saw the trio again, walking with the octo
spider zoo-keeper past the front of the area housing the myrmicats.
Maria was in her mother's arms.  Her father, a dark and handsome man
with grey at his temples, was dragging one of his legs as if it were
broken.  i have never seen that man before, Nicole thought.  i would
have remembered him.

There were no more images of Maria or her parents.  The stream of
pictures racing through Nicole's mind showed the transfer of the myrmi-
cats to another venue, away from the zoo and the Emerald City, some
time before the bombing began.  Nicole presumed that the last sequence
of images she was shown took place during the time that all the humans
and octo spiders in Rama were asleep.  Not long thereafter, Nicole
thought, if I understand their life cycle correctly, the four myrmicats
resulting from Richard's melons became net material.  With all these
memories intact.

The pictures in her mind became altogether different.  Now Nicole was
seeing some images of scenes that she believed were from the home
planet of the sessiles.  She recalled that Richard had described these
pictures to her during their time together after she had escaped from
New Eden.

Nicole had purposely positioned her right hand next to the control
panel on her wheelchair when she had entered the web.  When she now
pressed the power button, and then reverse, the slight motion of the
chair immediately registered with the sessile.  The images stopped
instantly, and the threads of the creature were subsequently
withdrawn.

The next day, an hour before the beginning of the lunch period, a part
of one wall in each starfish apartment transformed into a large
television screen.  The residents were then informed that an important
announcement was forthcoming in thirty minutes.

"This is only the third time," Max told Nicole as they waited, 'that we
have had any kind of general transmission.  The first was immediately
after we arrived here, and the second was when it was decided to
segregate our living-quarters."

"What's going to happen now?"  Marius asked.

"I suspect we're going to find out the details of our move," Max
answered.

"At least that's the leading rumour."

At the appointed time, The Eagle's face appeared on the monitor.

"Last year, when you were all awakened and moved from Rama," The Eagle
said, simultaneously giving the same message in coloured strips moving
across his forehead, 'we told you that this vehicle would not be your
permanent home.  We are now ready to transfer you to other locations,
where your living-conditions will be markedly better."

The Eagle paused a few seconds before continuing.

"All of you will not be transferred to the same place.  About one-third
of the current starfish residents will move to The Carrier, that huge,
flat spacecraft that has been stationed near The Node for most of the
last week.  During the next few hours, The Carrier will finish its
business over at The Node and move in this direction.  Those of you who
are transferring to The Carrier will do so after dinner tonight.

"The rest of you will be moved to The Node in another three or four
days.  Nobody will be left here on the starfish ... I would like to
stress again that the accommodations in both places will be excellent,
and far superior to those in this vehicle."

The Eagle stopped for fifteen seconds, as if he were allowing time for
his audience to react to what he had already said.

"When this meeting is over," The Eagle then said, 'each of the
apartment television screens will repeatedly cycle through the list of
all creatures on board, ordered by apartment number, and display the
transfer assignments.  Reading the
displays is very simple.  If your name and/ or identification cod
appears on the monitor in black letters against a white background, you
will be transferred to The Carrier.  If your name is written in white
letters against a black background, you will remain here for the next
few days and will eventually be moved over to The Node.

"For your information, on The Carrier each species will have its own
self-contained living-area.  There will be no inter species mixing,
except of course for the required symbiotic arrangements.  By contrast
. . ."

"That ought to please the leaders of the Council," Max commented
quickly.

"They have been agitating for complete separation for months .  . ."

'. . . the living-situation at The Node will involve regular inter
species communication and activity .  . . We have attempted, in
assigning individuals to the two locations, to place each of you in the
environment best suited for his or her personality.  Our selections
were done carefully, based upon our observations both here, at the
starfish, and during the years on Rama .  . .

"It is important that all of you realise that there will be no
interaction between the two groups after the transfers take place.

Let me say that in another way, to make certain there is no
misunderstanding.  Those moving to The Carrier tonight will never again
see any of the residents who are going to be transferred to The Node.

"If you have been assigned to The Carrier," The Eagle continued, 'you
should begin packing immediately, and should be completely ready to
move before you come to dinner.  If you are among those who have been
designated to move to The Node, and do not believe that your assignment
is appropriate, you may request that your assignment be reconsidered.
Tonight, after all residents currently assigned to The Carrier have
completed their transfers, I will meet in the cafeteria those who think
they want to switch from The Node to The Carrier .  .

.

"If any of you have questions, I will be at the big desk in the lounge
for the next hour .  . ."

"What did The Eagle say to you?"  Max asked Nicole.

"The same thing he said to the twenty other people in the lounge who
were asking the same question," Nicole replied.

"No changes are possible for those who have been assigned to The
Carrier .  . .

Reconsideration will only be given to those scheduled for transfer to
The Node."  "Was that when Nai .  . . uh, broke down?"  Eponine
asked.

"Yes," Nicole said.

"Until then she had held herself together fairly well.  When she
initially came over to our apartment, after the lists had been shown
for the first time, I thought she was remarkably calm .  . . She
obviously must have convinced herself initially that Galileo's
assignment was some kind of clerical mistake."

"I can understand how she must feel," Eponine said.

"I'll admit that my heart skipped a few beats until I saw that all the
rest of us were together on the list to be transferred to The Node."

"I bet that Nai is not the only one upset by the assignments," Max
said.  He stood up and started to walk around the room.

"This is really a mess," he said, shaking his head.

"What in the world would we have done if Marius had been assigned to
The Carrier?"

"That's easy," Eponine answered quickly.

"You and I would both have applied to go with our son."

"Yep," said Max after a momentary pause.

"I suspect you're right."

"That's what Patrick and Nai are now discussing next door," Nicole
said.

"They asked the young people to leave so they could talk in private."

"Do you think Nai can handle all this additional stress, so soon after
the .  . . incident?"  Eponine asked.

"She really has no choice," Max said.

"They only have a couple more hours to make a decision."

"She seemed much better to me twenty minutes ago," Nicole said.

"The light sedative had definitely taken effect .  . . Both Patrick and
Kepler were being very gentle with her ... I think Nai frightened
herself most of all with her outburst."

"Did she actually attack The Eagle?"  Eponine asked.

"No .  . . One of the blockheads restrained her immediately when she
screamed," Nicole said.

"But she was out of control .  . . she might have done anything."

"Shit," said Max, 'if you had told me while we were living in the
Emerald City that Nai even had the capacity for violence, I would have
told you .  . ."

"Nobody who has not been a parent," Nicole said, interrupting, 'can
possibly understand the powerful feelings that a mother has where her
children are concerned.  Nai has been frustrated for months ... I can't
condone her reaction, but I can certainly understand .  . ."

Nicole stopped.  The knock on the door was repeated.  Patrick entered
the room a few seconds later.  His face betrayed his anxiety.

"Mother,"

he said,

"I need to talk to you."

"Eponine and I can go out in the hallway," Max said.

"If that would help .  . ."

"Thanks, Max .  . . Yes, I would appreciate it," Patrick said with
difficulty.  Nicole had never seen him so upset.

"I don't know what to do," Patrick said as soon as he was alone with
Nicole.

"Everything is happening so fast ... I don't think Nai is being
rational, but I don't seem to be able .  . ."  His voice trailed off^
"Mother she wants us all to apply for reconsideration. Everyone.

You, me, Kepler, Maria, Max ... All of us ... She says otherwise
Galileo will feel abandoned."

Nicole looked at her son.  He was close to tears.  He hasn't had enough
life to deal with a crisis like this, she thought quickly.  He's only
been awake for a little more than ten years.

"What is Nai doing now?"  Nicole said softly.

"She's meditating," Patrick answered.

"She said it would calm and heal her spirit .  . . And give her
strength .  . ."

"And are you supposed to convince the rest of us?"

"Yes, I guess .  . . But Mother, Nai has not even considered that
anyone might not agree with what she is proposing.  She believes that
what we should all do is absolutely clear."

Patrick's pain was obvious.  Nicole wished that she could reach out,
touch him, and make his agony go away.

"What do you think we should do?"  Nicole asked after a period of
silence.

"I don't know," Patrick said, starting to pace around the room.

"Like everyone else, I noticed as soon as the list was posted that all
the active Council members were being transferred to The Carrier, as
well as most of the humans who had been removed from the normal
living-quarters.  The people we like and respect, as well as almost all
the octo spiders are going to The Node .  . . But I sympathise with
Nai.  She can't bear the thought that Galileo will be isolated,
permanently cut off from the only support system he has ever known .

. ."

What would you do, a voice inside Nicole's head asked her, if you were
Nai?  Didn't you panic, earlier today, when you were afraid that you
might be separated from Benjy?

'. . . Will you talk to her, Mother," Patrick was entreating, 'as soon
as she has finished meditating?  She will listen to you.  Nai has
always said how much she respects your wisdom."

"And is there anything particular that you want me to say to her?"

Nicole asked.

"Tell her , .  ."  Patrick said, wringing his hands, 'tell her it's not
her place to decide what would be best for everyone in our group.  She
should focus on her own decision."

"That's good advice," Nicole said.  She gazed at her son.

"Tell me, Patrick," she said several seconds later, 'have you decided
what you are going to do, if Nai switches to The Carrier, and none of
the rest of us does?"

"Yes, I have, Mother," Patrick said quietly.

"I will go with Nai and Galileo."

* * *
Nicole parked her wheelchair in a corner in front of the observation
window.  She was alone, as she had requested.  The afternoon had been
so emotional that she felt completely drained.  Nicole had thought
initially that her meeting with Nai had gone quite well.  Nai had
listened carefully to Nicole's advice, without much comment.  Nicole
had therefore been quite astonished an hour later when Nai, seething
with anger, had confronted her along with Max, Eponine and Ellie.

"Patrick tells me that none of you is going to come with us," Nai had
said.

"Now I see what rewards I have earned for my steadfast devotion all
these years ... I dragged my twin boys away from their own home out of
loyalty to you, my friends ... I deprived Galileo and Kepler of ever
knowing a normal childhood because of my respect and admiration for
you, Nicole, my role model .  . . And now, when for once I ask a favour
. . ."

"You're being unfair, Nai," Ellie had said softly.

"We all love you, and are deeply disturbed about this whole thing .  .
. We would go with you and Galileo if we thought .  . ."

"Ellie, Ellie," Nai had said, dropping on her knees beside her friend
and bursting into tears.

"Have you forgotten all the hours I spent with Benjy out in Avalon?  .
. . Yes, I admit that I did it of my own volition, but would I have
given so much of myself to Benjy if he was not your brother and you
were not my best friend?  ... I love you, Ellie ... I need your support
. . . Please, please come with us.  You and Nikki at least .  . ."

Ellie had also wept.  Before the confrontation was over, there was not
a dry eye in the room.  In the end Nai had apologised profusely to
everyone.

Nicole took a deep breath and stared out of the window.  She knew that
she needed a break from all the emotional turmoil.  Twice during the
afternoon she had felt twinges of pain in her chest.  Even all those
magical probes, she thought, cannot protect me if I do not take care of
myself.

The huge Carrier was now stationed only several hundred me tres away.

It was an awesome engineering construction, far larger even than it had
appeared when it was over by The Node.  The spacecraft was parked
sideways, so only a part of it could be seen from the window.  The top
of The Carrier was a long flat plane broken only by small, scattered
equipment complexes and the transparent domes, or bubbles as they had
originally been called, that were located in an orderly pattern
throughout the length and breadth of the plane.  Some of the domes were
quite large.  One, directly in front of the window, rose over two
hundred me tres above the flat plane.  Other domes were very small.

Parts of eleven of the transparent bubbles were visible from the
observation window.  During the approach of The Carrier earlier in the
afternoon, when the entire spacecraft could be seen, a total of
seventy-eight domes had been counted.

The underbelly of The Carrier had an external surface of miallic
grey.

It extended below the plane for about a kilometer, with gently sloping
sides and a rounded bottom.  From a distance the underbelly looked
insignificant compared to the vast, flat surface which was at least
forty kilometres long and fifteen kilometres wide.  However, up close
it was clear that an enormous volume was contained inside that drab
structure.

As Nicole watched in fascination, a small indentation in the side of
the grey exterior, just below the surface, expanded and grew into a
round tube moving outwards from The Carrier.  The tube drew near to the
starfish and then, after some minor vernier corrections, was affixed to
the main airlock.

Nicole smiled to herself.  Just another unbelievable day, she thought,
in my amazing existence.  She changed position in her chair and felt
some slight discomfort in her hip.  I zoish there was something I could
do for Nai, she said to herself.  But making everybody sacrifice
themselves for Galileo is not the right solution.

She felt a touch on her arm and turned to the side.  It was Dr Blue.

"How are you feeling?"  the octo spider said in colour.

"Better now," Nicole replied.

"But I had some bad moments earlier this afternoon."

Dr Blue scanned Nicole with the monitoring device.

"There were at least two major irregularities," Nicole told her
doctor.

"I remember both of them quite clearly."

The octo spider doctor studied the colours flashing on the small
monitor.

"Why didn't you call me?"  she said.

"I thought about it," Nicole answered.

"But so much was going on ... And I figured you were busy with your own
. . ."

Dr Blue handed Nicole a small flask containing a light blue liquid.

"Drink this," the octo spider said.

"It will limit your cardiac response to emotional stress over the next
twelve hours."

"And will we still be together, you and I," Nicole asked, 'after The
Carrier departs?  ... I didn't study your part of the list very
carefully."

"Yes," Dr Blue answered.

"Eighty-five per cent of our species will be transferred to The Node.
More than half the octo spiders moving to The Carrier are
alternates."

"So, my friend," Nicole said after drinking the liquid, 'what do you
make of all this transfer business?"

"Our best guess," Dr Blue said, 'is that this entire experiment has
reached a significant branch-point, and that the two groups will be
involved in radically different activities."

Nicole laughed.

"That's not very specific," she said.

"No, it's not," the octo spider replied.

* * *
There were eighty-two humans and nine octo spiders present in the
cafeteria when The Eagle convened the reconsideradon meeting five
minutes after the last starfish resident originally scheduled for
transfer to The Carrier had departed through the airlock.  Only those
who had officially requested reconsideration were permitted to attend
the meeting.  Many other members of all species were still lingering on
the observation deck and in the common areas, talking about the
departure procession and/ or waiting to learn the outcome of The
Eagle's meeting.

Nicole had returned to her post at the observation window.  She was
sitting in her wheelchair, staring out at The Carrier and reflecting on
the scenes she had witnessed during the last hour.  Most of the
departing humans had been in a festive mood, openly delighted that they
would no longer be living among aliens.  There had been some sad
farewells at the door to the airlock, but actually surprisingly few.

Galileo had been allowed to spend ten minutes with his family and
friends in the common area.  Patrick and Nai had assured the young man,
who had demonstrated very little emotion of any kind, that they and his
brother Kepler, who was still packing, would be joining him in The
Carrier before the evening was over.

Galileo had been one of the last humans to leave the starfish.  He had
been followed by the small contingent of avians and myrmicats.  The
neural-net material and the remaining manna melons had been packed in
large crates and had been carried by a contingent of the block
robots.

I'll probably never see any of your kind again, Nicole had thought as
the trailing avian had turned and issued a shriek of goodbye to the
onlookers.

"Each of you," The Eagle began the meeting in the cafeteria, 'has
requested that your assignment be reconsidered, and that you be allowed
to switch your future home from The Node to The Carrier ... At this
time I want to explain two additional differences between the living-
environments in The Carrier and The Node.  If, after weighing this new
information, you still wish to have your assignment changed, then we
will accommodate you .  . .

"As I told you this afternoon, there will be no inter species mixing in
The Carrier.  Not only will each species be isolated in its own
habitat, but also there will be no interference of any kind by any
other intelligence, including the one I represent, in the affairs of
each species.  Not now, not ever.  Each species in The Carrier will be
on its own.  By contrast, life in the inter species world at The Node
will be supervised.  Not as heavily as it has been here on the
starfish, but supervised nevertheless.  We believe that oversight and
monitoring are essential when different species are living together .

. .

"The second additional factor may be the most important of all.  There
will be no reproduction in The Carrier.  All of the individuals who
inhabit
The Carrier, of every species, will be rendered for ever starile.

Every element necessary for a long and happy life will be provided for
those living in The Carrier, but nobody will be allowed to reproduce.
By contrast, there will be no reproduction constraints imposed at The
Node .  . .

"Please let me finish," The Eagle said as several members of the
audience tried to interrupt with questions.

"You each have two more hours to decide ... If you still want to
transfer to The Carrier, simply bring the bags you have already packed,
and request Big Block to open the airlock .  . ."

Nicole was not surprised that Kepler no longer wanted to switch to The
Carrier.  The young man had clearly had a difficult time making up his
mind in the first place, and had only requested reconsideration out of
loyalty to his mother.  Since that time, he had spent most of the
afternoon with Maria, whom he obviously adored.

Kepler enlisted everyone in the extended family in case there was an
argument with his mother, but no dispute developed.  Nai agreed that
Kepler should not be deprived of the pleasure of being a father.  Nai
even magnanimously suggested that Patrick might want to re-evaluate his
own decision, but her husband was quick to point out that she was past
her child-bearing years and, besides, he had already been a father, in
many ways, to Galileo and Kepler.

Nicole, Patrick, Nai and Kepler were left alone in one of the
apartments for the very final goodbyes.  It had been a day of tears and
raging emotions.  All four of them were emotionally exhausted.  Two
mothers said goodbye, for ever, to two sons.  There was a touching
symmetry in the final comments.  Nai requested that Nicole guide Kepler
with her wisdom; Nicole asked Nai to continue to give Patrick her
unselfish, unconditional love.

Patrick then lifted both the heavy bags and threw them over his
shoulders.  As Nai and he walked out the door, Kepler stood beside
Nicole's wheelchair, holding her phthisic hand.  Only after the door
closed did the river of tears run from Nicole's eyes.  Goodbye,
Patrick, she thought with a heartache.  Goodbye Genevieve, Simone and
Katie.  Goodbye, Richard.

The dreams came one after another, sometimes without any break.  Henry
laughed at her for being black, then a supercilious colleague from
medical school stopped her from making a bad mistake during a routine
tonsillectomy.  Later Nicole walked on a sandy beach with dark clouds
hovering overhead.  A silent, caped figure beckoned in the distance.

That's Death, Nicole said to herself in the dream.  But it was a cruel
joke.  When she reached the figure and touched its outstretched hand,
Max Puckett removed his cape and laughed.

She was crawling on her bare knees in a dark, underground cement pipe.
Her knees had begun to bleed.  I'm over here, Katie's voice said.

Where are you?  Nicole asked, frustrated.  I'm be-hind you, Ma-ma,
Benjy said.  Water began to fill up the pipe.  I cannot find them.  I
cannot help them.

Nicole was swimming, with difficulty.  There was a strong current in
the pipe.  It swept her away, carried her outside, became a creek in a
forest.  Nicole's clothes caught on a bush that overhung the creek. She
stood up and brushed herself off.  She began walking on a path.

It was night.  Nicole could hear a few birds and see the moon above her
through the occasional breaks in the tall trees.  The path wound back
and forth.  She came to a junction.  Which way should I go?  Nicole
asked herself in the dream.  Come with me, Genevieve said, emerging
from the forest and taking her hand.

What are you doing here?  Nicole said.  Genevieve laughed, i could ask
you the same thing.

A young Katie was coming towards them on the path.  Hello, Mother, she
said, reaching out for Nicole's other hand.  Do you mind if I walk with
you?  Not at all, answered Nicole.

The forest thickened around them.  Nicole heard footsteps behind her
and turned around while she was still walking.  Patrick and Simone
returned her smiles.  We're almost there, Simone said.  Where are we
going?  Nicole asked.  You must know, Mrs Wakefield, Maria answered.
You told us to come.  The girl was now walking beside Patrick and
Simone.

Nicole and the five young people entered a small clearing.  larfbe
middle was a burning camp-fire.  Omeh walked around from the other side
of the fire and greeted them.  After they formed a new circle around
the fire, the shaman threw his head back and began to chant in Senoufo.
As Nicole watched, Omeh's face began to peel away, revealing his
frightening skull.  Still the chant continued.  No no, said Nicole.

No no.

"Ma-ma," Benjy said.

"Wake up, Ma-ma .  . . You're having a bad dream."

Nicole rubbed her eyes.  She could see a light on the other side of the
room.

"What time is it, Benjy?"  she said.

"It's late, Ma-ma," he answered with a smile.

"Kepler has gone to break-fast with the others .  . . We wan-ted to let
you sleep."

"Thank you, Benjy," Nicole said, moving slightly on her mat.  She felt
the pain in her hip.  She glanced around the room and remembered that
Patrick and Nai were gone.  For ever, Nicole thought briefly, fighting
the return of her sorrow.

"Would you like to take a shower?"  Benjy asked.

"I could help you un-dress, and carry you o-ver to the stall."

Nicole looked up at her balding son.  i was wrong to worry about you,
she thought.  You would do fine without me.

"Why, thank you, Benjy,"

she said.

"That would be very nice."

"I'll try to be gentle he said, unbuttoning his mother's gown.

"But please tell me if I hurt you."

When Nicole was completely naked, Benjy picked her up in his arms and
started to walk towards the shower.  He stopped after he had taken two
steps.

"What's wrong, Benjy?"  Nicole asked.

Benjy grinned sheepishly.

"I didn't think the plan through very well, Ma-ma," he said.

"I should have ad-just-ed the water first."

He turned around, set Nicole back down on her mat, and crossed the room
to the shower.  Nicole heard the water running.

"You like it med-i-um hot, don't you?"  he called out.

"That's right," Nicole answered.

Benjy returned and picked her up a few seconds later.

"I put two tow-els down on the floor," he said, 'so it wouldn't be too
hard or too cold for you."

"Thank you.  Son," Nicole said.

Benjy talked to her while Nicole sat on the towels on the floor of the
shower and let the refreshing water pour over her body.  He brought her
soap and shampoo when she requested them.  When she had finished, Benjy
helped his mother dry off and dress.  Then he carried her over to her
wheelchair.

"Bend down here, please," Nicole said, as she settled into her chair.

She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you for
everything, Benjy," she said, unable to stop the tears that were
forming in her eyes.

"You have been a marvelous help."

Benjy stood beside his mother, beaming.

"I love you, Ma-ma," he said.

"It makes me happy to help you."

"And I love you too.  Son," Nicole said, squeezing his hand again.

"Now, are you going to join me for breakfast?"

"That was my plan," said Benjy, still smiling.

Before they had finished eating, The Eagle walked up to Nicole and
Benjy in the cafeteria.

"Dr Blue and I will be waiting for you in your room," The Eagle said.

"We want to give you a thorough physical examination."

Sophisticated medical equipment had already been set up in the
apartment when Nicole and Benjy returned.  Dr Blue injected additional
microprobes directly into Nicole's chest and then, later, sent another
set of probes into her kidney region.  The Eagle and Dr Blue conversed
in the octo spider native colour language throughout the half-hour
examination.  Benjy assisted his mother when she was asked to stand or
move around.  He was completely fascinated by The Eagle's ability to
speak in colour.

"How did you learn to do that?"  Benjy asked The Eagle at one point in
the examination.

"Technically speaking," The Eagle replied,

"I didn't learn anything .

. . My designers added a pair of specialised subsystems to my
structure, one that would allow me to interpret the octo spider
colours, and the other to make the colour-patterns on my forehead."

"Didn't you have to go to school, or any-thing?"  Benjy persisted.

"No," The Eagle said simply.

"Could your de-signers do that for we?"  Benjy asked several seconds
later, when The Eagle and Dr Blue had resumed their discussion of
Nicole's condition.

The Eagle turned around and looked at Benjy.

"I'm a very slow learner," Benjy said.

"It would be wonderful if some-one could just put every-thing in-to my
brain."

"We don't quite know how to do that yet," The Eagle said.

When the examination was over, The Eagle asked Benjy to pack all of
Nicole's things.

"Where are we going?"  Nicole asked.

"We're going for a ride in the shuttle," The Eagle said.

"I want to discuss your physical condition with you in some detail, and
take you where any emergency could be quickly handled."

"I thought the blue liquid and all those probes inside me were enough .
.."

"We'll talk about it later," The Eagle said, interrupting her.  He
took
Nicole's bag from Benjy.

"Thank you for all your helpfi^the alien said.

"Let me make certain that I have understood this last half-hour of
discussion," Nicole said into the microphone of her helmet as the
shuttle neared the half-way point between the starfish and The Node.

"My heart will not last more than ten days at most, despite all your
medical magic, my kidneys are currently undergoing terminal failure,
and my liver is showing signs of severe degradation.  Is that a fair
summary?"

"It is indeed," said The Eagle.

Nicole forced a smile.

"Is there any good news?"

"Your mind is still functioning admirably, and the bruise on your hip
will eventually heal, provided the other ailments don't kill you
first."

"And what you are suggesting," Nicole said, 'is that I should check
into your equivalent of a hospital today, over at The Node, and have my
heart, kidneys and liver all replaced by advanced machines that can
perform the same functions?"

"There may be some other organs that need to be replaced as well,"

The Eagle said, 'as long as we are performing a major operation.  Your
pancreas has been malfunctioning intermittently, and your entire sexual
system is out of spec ... A complete hysterectomy should be
considered."

Nicole was shaking her head.

"At what point does all of this become senseless?  No matter what you
do now, it's only a matter of time until some other organ fails.  What
would be next?  My lungs?  Or maybe my eyes?  .  . . Would you even
give me a brain transplant if I could no longer think?"

"We could," The Eagle replied.

Nicole was quiet for almost a minute.

"It may not make much sense to you," she said, 'because it certainly
isn't what I would call logical.

. . But I am not very comfortable with the idea of becoming a hybrid
being."

"What do you mean?"  The Eagle asked.

"At what point do I stop being Nicole des Jardins Wakefield?"  she
said.  "If my heart, brain, eyes and ears are replaced by machines, am
I still Nicole?  Or am I someone, or something, else?"

"The question has no relevance," The Eagle said.

"You're a doctor, Nicole.  Consider the case of a schizophrenic, who
must take drugs regularly to alter the functions of the brain.  Is that
person still who he or she was?  It's the same philosophical question,
just a different degree of change."

"I can see your point," Nicole said after another brief silence.

"But it doesn't change my feelings .  . . I'm sorry, if I have a
choice, and you have led me to believe that I do, then I will decline
... At least for today, anyway."

The Eagle stared at Nicole for several seconds.  Then he entered a
different set of parameters into the control system of the shuttle.

The vehicle changed its heading, "So are we going back to the
starfish?"  Nicole asked.  "Not immediately," The Eagle said.

"I want to show you something else first."  The alien reached into the
pouch around his waist and pulled out a small tube containing a blue
liquid and an unknown device.

"Please give me your arm.  I don't want you to die before this
afternoon is over."

As they approached the Habitation Module of The Node, Nicole complained
to The Eagle about the 'less than forthright' way the dividing of the
starfish residents into two groups had been handled.

"As usual," Nicole said, 'you cannot be accused of telling a lie just
of withholding critical information."

"Sometimes," The Eagle said, 'there are no good ways for us to complete
a task.  In those cases we choose the least unsatisfactory course of
action .  . . What did you expect us to do?  Tell the residents in the
beginning that we couldn't take care of everyone for ever, generation
after generation?  There would have been chaos .  . .

Besides, I don't think you give us enough credit.  We rescued thousands
of beings from Rama, most of whom probably would have died in an inter
species conflict without our intervention .  . . Remember that
everyone, including those assigned to The Carrier, will be allowed to
complete his life."

Nicole was silent.  She was trying to imagine what life on The Carrier
would be like without any reproduction.  Her mind carried the scenario
into its likely distant future, when there would be only a few
individuals left.

"I wouldn't want to be the last human left alive in The Carrier," she
said.

"There was a species in this part of the galaxy about three million
years ago," The Eagle said, 'that nourished as a space farer for almost
a million years.  They were brilliant engineers, and built some of the
most amazing buildings ever seen.  Their sphere of influence spread
rapidly, until they dominated a region covering more than twenty star
systems.  This species was learned, compassionate and wise.  But they
made one fatal error .  . ."

"What was that?"  Nicole asked on cue.

"Their equivalent to your genome contained an order of magnitude more
information than yours.  It had been the result of four billion years
of natural evolution, and was extremely complicated.  Their initial
experiments with genetic engineering, both on other species and on
themselves, were an unqualified success.  They thought they understood
what they were doing.  However, without their knowledge, slowly but
surely the robustness of the genes that were being transferred from
generation to
generation was deteriorating .  . . When they finally understooj^hat
they had done to themselves, it was too late.  They had preserved no
pristine specimens from the early days, before they had begun to modify
their own genes.  They could not go back.  There was nothing they could
do.

"Imagine," The Eagle said, 'not just being the last member of your
group on an isolated spaceship like The Carrier, but being one of the
terminal survivors of a species rich in history, art and knowledge .
.

. Our encyclopaedia contains many such stories, each containing at
least one object-lesson."

The shuttle moved through an open port in the side of the spherical
module and came to a gentle stop against a wall.  Automatic gantries on
each side were deployed to keep the vehicle from drifting.  There was a
ramp from the passenger side of the shuttle to a walkway, which in turn
led towards the hub of the transportation complex.

Nicole laughed.

"I was so engrossed in our conversation," she said, 'that I didn't even
look at this module from the outside."

"You wouldn't have seen much that was new," The Eagle said.

The alien then turned to Nicole and did something very unusual.  He
reached across the shuttle and took both of her gloved hands.

"In less than an hour," he said, 'you are going to experience something
that will astound you, and also arouse your emotions.  Originally, we
had planned that this excursion would be a complete surprise.  But with
your weakened condition, we can't risk the possibility that your system
might be overpowered by emotional input .  . . Therefore, we have
decided to tell you first what we're about to do."

Nicole felt her heart-rate increase.  What is he talking about?  she
thought.  What could be so unusual .  . . ?

'. . . We will board a small car that will travel several kilometres
into this module.  At the end of this short journey you will be
reunited with your daughter Simone and Michael O'Toole."

^What?"  Nicole shouted, tearing her hands away from The Eagle and
placing them on the side of her helmet.

"Did I hear you correctly?  Did you say that I was going to see Simone
and Michael?"

"Yes," The Eagle replied.

"Nicole, please try to relax .  . ."

"My God!"  Nicole exclaimed, ignoring his comment.

"I cannot believe it.  I just cannot believe it ... I hope that this is
not some kind of cruel trick .  . ."

"I assure you that it is not .  . ."

"But how can Michael still be alive?"  Nicole asked.

"He must be at least a hundred and twenty years old .  . ."

"We have helped him with our medical magic, as you call it."

"Oh, Simone, Si-moneV Nicole cried.

"Can it be?  Can it really be?"

The tears had been delayed because of Nicole's shock.  Now they
poured out of her eyes.  Despite the pain in her hip and the unwieldy
space-helmet, Nicole almost jumped across the seat to give The Eagle a
hug.

"Thank you, oh thank you," she said.

"I cannot tell you how much this means to me."

The Eagle steadied Nicole's wheelchair on the escalator as they
descended into the centre of the main transportation complex.  She
looked around briefly.  The station was identical to the one she
remembered from The Node near Sirius.  It was about twenty me tres
tall, and laid out in a circle.  Half a dozen moving sidewalks
surrounded the central display, each running into a different arched
tunnel leading away from the complex.  Above the tunnels, to the right,
were a pair of multi-level structures.

"Do the inter module trains depart from up there?"  Nicole asked,
remembering a ride with Katie and Simone when the girls were both
young.

The Eagle nodded.  He pushed her wheelchair on to one of the moving
sidewalks and they left the centre of the station.  They travelled
several hundred me tres in a tunnel before the moving sidewalk
stopped.

"Our car should be just to the right, in the first corridor," The Eagle
said.

The small car, which opened from the top, had two seats.  The Eagle
lifted Nicole into the passenger seat, and then folded the wheelchair
into a compressed configuration no larger than a briefcase, which he
stored in a pocket area inside the vehicle.  Shortly thereafter, the
car moved forward through the maze of light cream, windowless
passageways.  Nicole was extraordinarily quiet.  She was trying to
convince herself that she was indeed about to see the daughter that she
had left in another star system years and years ago.

The ride through the Habitation Module seemed interminable.  At one
point they stopped, and The Eagle told Nicole she could remove her
helmet.

"Are we close?"  she asked.

"Not yet," he answered, 'but we are already in their atmospheric
zone."

Twice they encountered fascinating aliens, in vehicles moving in the
opposite direction, but Nicole was too excited to pay attention to
anything except what was going on inside her head.  She was barely even
listening to The Eagle.  Calm down, one of Nicole's inner voices said.
Don'1 be absurd, another voice replied, I'm about to see a daughter I
haven't seen for forty years.  There's no way I could remain calm.

'. . . In its own way," The Eagle was saying, 'their life has been as
extraordinary as yours.  Different, of course, altogether different.

When we took Patrick over to see them very early this morning .  . ."

"What did you say?"  Nicole asked abruptly.

"Did you say that Patrick saw them this morning?  You took Patrick to
see his father?"

"Yes," said The Eagle.

"We had always planned for this reunion, as
long as everything went according to schedule .  . . Ideally wither
you nor Patrick would have seen Simone and Michael and their children .
.

."

"Children!"  Nicole exclaimed.

"I have more grandchildren!"

'. . . until after you were settled at The Node, but when Patrick
requested reconsideration .  . . Well, it would have been heartless to
let him leave for ever, without ever seeing his natural father .  .
."

Nicole could no longer contain herself.  She reached over and kissed
The Eagle on his feathered cheek.

"And Max said you were nothing but a cold machine.  How wrong he was! .
. . Thank you .  . . For Patrick's sake, I thank you .  . ."

She was trembling from excitement.  A moment later Nicole could not
breathe.  The Eagle quickly stopped the small car.

"Where am I?"  Nicole said, emerging from a deep fog.

"We are parked just inside the enclosed area where Michael, Simone and
their family live," The Eagle said.

"We have been here for about four hours.  You have been sleeping."

"Did I have a heart attack?"  Nicole asked.

"Not exactly .  . . Just a significant malfunction.  I considered
taking you immediately back to the hospital, but I decided to wait
until you awakened.  Besides, I have most of the same medications here
with me .

. ."

The Eagle looked at her with his intense blue eyes.

"What do you want to do, Nicole?"  he said.

"Visit Simone and Michael, as planned, or go back to the hospital? It's
your choice, but understand .  . ."

"I know," Nicole interrupted him with a sigh,

"I must be careful not to become too excited .  . ."  She glanced at
The Eagle.

"I want to see Simone, even if it's the last act of my life .  . . Can
you give me something that will calm me, but will not make me goofy or
put me to sleep?"

"A mild tranquilliser will only help," The Eagle said, 'if you
consciously work to contain your excitement."

"All right," Nicole said.

"I'll do my best."

The Eagle eased the car on to a paved road lined with tall trees.  As
they drove Nicole was reminded of the autumn in New England that she
spent with her father when she was a teenager.  The leaves on the trees
were red, gold and brown.

"It's beautiful," Nicole said.

The car rounded a curve and drove past a white fence enclosing a grassy
area.  There were four horses in the enclosure.  A pair of human
teenagers were walking among them.

"The children are real," The Eagle said.

"The horses are simulations."

At the top of a gentle hill was a large, two-storey white house with a
sloping black roof.  The Eagle pulled into the circular drive and
stopped
the car.  The front door of the house opened an instant later and a
tall, beautiful, jet-black woman with greying hair came outside.

"Mother!"  Simone yelled as she raced for the car.

Nicole barely had time to open her door before Simone flung herself
into her mother's arms.  The two women hugged and kissed, weeping
profusely.  Neither of them could speak.

"It was a bitter-sweet visit from Patrick," Simone said, putting down
her coffee-cup.

"He was here for over two hours, but it seemed like only a few
minutes."

The three of them were sitting at a table that looked out on the
rolling farmland that surrounded the house.  Nicole was temporarily
staring out of the window at the bucolic scene.

"It's mostly an illusion, of course," Michael said.

"But a very good one .  . . Unless you knew better you would think you
were in Massachusetts, or southern Vermont."

"This whole dinner has seemed like a dream," Nicole said.

"I have not yet accepted that any of this is really happening."

"We felt that way last night," Simone said, 'when we were told that we
were going to see Patrick this morning .  . . Neither Michael nor I
slept a wink."  She laughed.

"At one point during the night we had convinced ourselves that we were
going to meet a "fake" Patrick, and we thought of questions we could
ask that nobody except the real Patrick could answer."

"Their technological skills are awesome," Michael said.

"If they wanted to create a robot Patrick and pass him off as the
genuine article, it would be very difficult for us to ascertain the
truth."

"But they didn't," Simone said.

"I knew within minutes that it was really Patrick .  . ."

"How did he seem to you?"  Nicole asked.

"In all the confusion of the last day, I didn't have a chance to talk
to him very much."

"Resigned mostly," Simone said, 'but certain that he had made the
correct decision.  He said it would probably be weeks before he had
sorted through all the emotions he had experienced in the last
twenty-four hours."

"That must be true for all of us," Nicole said.

There was a brief silence at the table.

"Are you tired.  Mother?"

Simone asked.

"Patrick told us about your health problems, and when we received the
message this afternoon that you had been delayed .  .

."

"Yes, I'm a little tired," Nicole said.

"But I certainly couldn't sleep .  . . At least not immediately .  . ."
She backed her wheelchair away from the
table and lowered her seat.

"I would, however, like to use the powder-room."

"Certainly," Simone said, jumping up.

"I'll come with you."

Simone accompanied her mother down a long hall with a simulated wooden
floor.

"So you have six children living with you here," Nicole said,
'including three that you carried?"

"That's right," Simone said.

"Michael and I had two boys and two girls by the "natural method", as
you called it ... The first of the boys, Darren, died when he was seven
. . . It's a long story.  If we have time, I'll tell it to you tomorrow
... All the rest of the children were developed from embryos in their
laboratories .  . ."

They had reached the door to the powder-room.

"Do you know how many children The Eagle and his colleagues
"developed"?"  Nicole asked.

"No," Simone answered.

"But they did tell me that they took more than a thousand healthy eggs
from my ovaries."

On the way back to the dining-room, Simone explained that all the
children that had been born by the 'natural method' had lived their
whole lives with Michael and her.  Their spouses, who were of course
also the product of Michael's sperm and her eggs, had been selected as
the result of a comprehensive genetic matching technique developed by
the aliens.

"So these were arranged marriages?"  Nicole asked.

"Not exactly," Simone said.  She laughed.

"Each natural child was introduced to several possible mates, all of
whom had passed the genetic screening."

"And you've had no problems with your grandchildren?"

"Nothing that is "statistically significant", to use Michael's term,"

Simone replied.

When they reached the dining-room, the table was empty.  Michael told
them that he had moved the coffee-pot and cups into the study.  Nicole
activated her wheelchair controls and followed them into a large,
masculine study with dark wooden bookshelves and a fire burning in the
fireplace.

"Is the fire real?"  Nicole asked.

"Indeed it is," Michael said.  He leaned forward in his soft chair.

"You have been asking about the children," he said, 'and we certainly
want you to meet them, but we did not want to overwhelm you .  . ."

"I understand," Nicole said, taking a sip from a fresh cup of coffee,
'and I agree with you .  . . We certainly could not have had such a
leisurely, informative dinner if there had been six more people .  .

."

"And don't forget the fourteen grandchildren," Simone said.

Nicole looked at Michael and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Michael," she said, 'but you are the part of this evening
that is the most unreal.

Whenever
I look at you my mind balks.  You must be forty years oldeigJhan I am,
but you look not a day over sixty, and definitely younger than when we
left you at The Node.  How is this possible?"

"Their technology is absolute magic," he said.

"They have reworked virtually every part of me.  My heart, lungs,
liver, entire digestive and excretory systems, and most of my endocrine
glands have all been replaced, some several times, by smaller, more
efficient, functional equivalents.  My bones, muscles, nerves and
blood-vessels are all buttressed by millions of microscopic implants
that not only ensure the critical functions are accomplished, but also,
in many cases, biochemically rejuvenate the aged cells.  My skin is a
special material they only recently perfected, which has all the good
properties of real human skin, but never ages or develops warts or
moles .  . . Once a year I go over to their hospital.  I'm unconscious
for two days, and when I emerge I am literally a new man."

"Would you mind coming over here," Nicole said, 'and letting me touch
you?"  She laughed.

"I don't need to put my fingers through the holes in your hands, or
anything like that, but you can certainly understand that what you are
telling me is difficult to believe."

Michael O'Toole crossed the room and knelt beside the wheelchair.

Nicole reached out and touched the skin on his face.  It was smooth and
supple, like a young man's.  His eyes were fresh and clear.

"And your brain, Michael," Nicole asked softly, 'what have they done to
your brain?"

He smiled.  Nicole noticed that there were no wrinkles in his
forehead.

"Many things," he said.

"When my memory started to slip, they reconditioned my hippocampus.
They even supplemented it with a small structure of their own, to give
me more capacity, they said .  . .

About twenty years ago they also installed what they described as a
"better operating system", to sharpen my thinking processes .  . ."

Michael was less than a metre away from her.  The light from the fire
was reflected off his face.  Nicole was suddenly swept away by a flood
of memories.  She recalled what close friends they had been in Rama, as
well as their moments of intimacy when Richard had been gone and
presumed lost.  She touched his face again.

"And are you still Michael O'Toole?"  she asked.

"Or have you become something else, part-human and part-alien?"

He stood up without saying anything and walked back to his chair.  He
moved like an athlete, not like a man who was more than one hundred and
twenty years old.

"I don't know how to answer your question," he said.

"I can remember clearly all the details of my childhood in Boston, and
every other important phase of my life.  As far as I know, I am still
more or less the same .  . ."

"Michael is still extremely interested in religion, and creation as
well," Simone spoke for the first time in a long while.

"But he has changed a little all of us are altered by our experiences
in life .

. ."

"I have remained a devout Roman Catholic," Michael said, 'and I still
say my daily prayers .  . . But naturally my view of God, and of
humanity too, has been drastically changed by what Simone and I have
seen .  . . If anything, my faith has strengthened .  . . primarily
because of my enlightening conversations with .  . ."

He stopped and glanced across the room at Simone.

"In the early years, Mother," she said, 'when Michael and I were alone
at the first Node, near Sirius, there were many difficulties .  . . We
had only each other to talk with ... I was still just a girl, and
Michael was a mature man .  . . I could not discuss physics or religion
or many of his other favourite topics .  . ."

"There were no major problems, you understand," Michael said.

"Still we were both lonely, in a peculiar sort of a way .  . . What we
had together was remarkable, and enriching .  . . But we both needed
something else, something additional .  . ."

"The Nodal Intelligence, or whatever we should call the power that was
taking care of us, sensed our difficulty.  It also recognised that The
Eagle could not fulfill our individual needs.  So a companion, like The
Eagle in a sense, was created for each of us."

"It was a stroke of genius," Simone said, 'that removed the emotional
tension that was threatening our perfect marriage.  When Saint Michael
. . ."

"Let me tell it, please, dear," Michael interrupted.

"One night, almost two years after you and the others had left, Simone
was in the bedroom of the apartment, nursing Katya, when there was a
knock on our door ... I assumed that it was The Eagle .  . . When I
opened the door, however, a young man with dark, curly hair and blue
eyes, a perfect reconstruction of Saint Michael of Siena, was standing
there.

He informed me that The Eagle would no longer be interacting with us,
and that he would be my new intermediary with the intelligence
governing The Node .  . ."

"Saint Michael," Simone said, 'came equipped with a vast set of
knowledge of Earth history, and Catholicism, and physics, and all the
other subjects about which I was totally ignorant .  . ."

"Plus," Michael said, rising from his chair, 'he was willing to answer
questions about what was going on around us at The Node .  . . Not that
The Eagle wasn't, but Saint Michael was much warmer, more personal.

It was as if he had been sent by them, or by God, to be a companion for
my mind."

Nicole glanced back and forth from Michael to Simone.  Michael's face
was positively radiant.  His religious fervour has not waned,
shfthought.  It has only been redirected.

"And is this Saint Michael character still around?"  Nicole asked,
swallowing the last sip of her coffee.

"Absolutely," Michael said.

"We did not introduce Patrick to him the time was too short, as Simone
said but we definitely want you to meet him."  Michael walked across
the room, suddenly bubbling with energy.  "Do you remember all those
infinite questions Richard used to ask, about who built The Node and
Rama, and what was the purpose of this and that?  Saint Michael knows
all the answers.  And he explains everything so eloquently!"

"Goodness," said Nicole, with just a slight trace of sarcasm in her
voice, 'he sounds fantastic .  . . Much too good to be true .  . . When
will I have the privilege of meeting Saint Michael?"

"Right now, if you would like," Michael O'Toole said expectantly.

"All right," Nicole said, stifling a yawn.

"But remember I'm a tired, ailing, crotchety old woman ... I can't stay
up for ever."

Michael walked briskly to the far door of the study.

"Saint Michael,"

he called, 'would you come in please and meet Simone's mother
Nicole?"

A few seconds later what looked like a young human priest in his early
twenties, dressed in a dark blue robe, entered the room and crossed to
Nicole's wheelchair.

"I am delighted," Saint Michael said, with a beatific smile.

"I have heard about you for years."

Nicole extended her hand and studied the alien intently.  There was
absolutely nothing she could see that would identify this individual as
anything other than a human being.  My God, Nicole thought quickly, not
only is their technology fantastic, but also their rate of learning is
staggering.

"Now let's get one thing straight at the outset," she said to Saint
Michael with a wry smile, 'there are too many Michaels here.  I do not
intend to address you regularly as Saint Michael.  It's not my style.

Do I just call you Saint, or Mike, or even Mikey - what do you
prefer?"

"When they're both around I call my husband Big Michael," Simone
said.

"That seems to work fine."

"All right," Nicole said.

"As Richard always said,

"When in Rome" ... Sit down, Michael, here, close to my wheelchair .  .
. Big Michael has praised you so highly I don't want my bad hearing to
cause me to miss any of your pearls of wisdom."

"Thank you, Nicole," Saint Michael said with a smile of his own.

"Michael and Simone have extolled your virtues as well, but they
clearly understated the cleverness of your wit."

He has a personality, too, Nicole thought.  Will wonders never cease?

* * *
An hour later, after Simone had helped her to bed in the guest-room at
the end of the hall, Nicole was lying on her side staring towards the
windows.  Although she was very tired, she could not sleep.  Her mind
was too active, going over and over the events of the day.

Maybe I should ring for something to help me sleep, Nicole thought, her
hand automatically feeling for the button on the table beside her bed.
Simone said Saint Michael would come if I called.  And that he could do
anything The Eagle could.  Having assured herself that she could indeed
summon help if her insomnia persisted, Nicole turned back to her most
comfortable sleeping-position and allowed her mind to float freely.

Her thoughts focused on what she had seen or heard since she had
arrived at this isolated enclave in which Michael, Simone and their
family lived.  Saint Michael had explained that this pseudo-New England
was a small section inside the Habitation Module of The Node, and that
there were several hundred other species who were semi-permanent
residents in the near vicinity.  Why, Nicole had asked, had Big Michael
and Simone chosen an everyday existence separate from all the others?

"For years," Nicole remembered Michael O'Toole responding, 'we lived in
a multi-species environment.  In fact, both during and after our four
natural children were born, we were whisked, or so it seemed, from
place to place, testing both our adaptability and compatibility with a
wide range of other plant and animal species .  . . Saint Michael
confirmed at the time what we suspected, namely that our hosts were
purposely exposing us to a variety of environments to gather more
information about us ... Each new venue was another challenge .  . ."

Big Michael paused for a moment, as if he were struggling
emotionally.

"The psychological hardships were immense in those early days.  As soon
as we adapted to a given set of living-conditions, they were abruptly
changed ... I still believe that Darren's death would not have occurred
if everything hadn't been so strange in that underground world .  . .
And we nearly lost Katya, another time, when she was only two or so,
and her curiosity was mistaken by a squid like sea-creature as an act
of aggression .  . ."

"After we were put to sleep the second time," Simone said, 'and
transported to this Node, both Michael and I were exhausted from the
years of tests.  The children were grown by then, and starting to have
families of their own.  We requested, and were granted, some privacy
.

. ."

"We still go out into the other world," Michael added, 'but we interact
with the exotic beings from distant star systems because we want to,
not because it is a necessity .  . . Saint Michael briefs us regularly
on the comings and goings of the basketball creatures, the sky-hoppers,
and the flying turtles.  He is our information window to the rest of
The Node."

Saint Michael is extraordinary, Nicole thought, and much more
advanced
even than The Eagle.  He answers all questions with such certitude^iut
there's something about him that makes me wonder .  . . Are all those
crisp answers about God and the origin and destiny of the universe
really correct?  Or has Saint Michael somehow been programmed, on the
strength of Michael's love of catechismic processes, to be his perfect
alien companion?

Nicole rolled over in bed and considered her own relationship with The
Eagle.  Maybe I'm just jealous, she thought, because Michael seems to
have learned so much .  . . and The Eagle has been unwilling or unable
to answer my questions .  . . But who is better off, the child with a
mentor who knows and tells everything, or the one whose teacher helps
the child find her own answers?  .  . . I don't know .  .

. I don't know .  . . But that was one hell of an impressive
performance by Saint Michael at the easel.

"Don't you see, Nicole," Big Michael had jumped up from his chair for
the umpteenth time, 'we're all participating in God's great experiment.
This entire universe, not just our own galaxy, but all the galaxies
that stretch to the end of the heavens, will provide one single
data-point for God .  . . He, She or It is searching for perfection,
for that small range of initial parameters which, once the universe is
set into motion by the transformation of energy into matter, will
evolve, over billions of years, into one perfect harmony, a testimony
to the Creator's consummate skill .  . ."

Nicole had had some difficulty following the higher mathematics, but
she had certainly understood the gist of the diagrams that Saint
Michael had drawn on the easel in the study.

"So at this moment,"

Nicole had said to the alien with the curly hair and the blue eyes,
'there are countless other universes evolving, each having been started
by God with different initial conditions, and God has somehow slipped
you, The Eagle, The Node, and Rama inside this particular evolution
process to acquire information?  And the purpose of all this is so that
God can define some mathematical construct associated with creation
that will always produce a harmonious result?"

"Exactly," Saint Michael had responded.  Again he had pointed at the
diagram on the easel.

"Imagine that this co-ordinate system I have drawn is a symbolic,
two-dimensional representation of the available hyper surface of
parameters defining the creation instant, the moment that energy is
first transformed into matter.  Any arrangement or vector representing
a specific set of initial conditions for the universe may be depicted
as a single point in my diagram.  What God is, and has been, searching
for, is a very special, closed, dense set located on this mathematical
hyper surface This special set He is seeking has the property that any
of its elements, that is, any arrangement of conditions for the instant
of creation chosen from within this set, will produce a universe that
will eventually end in harmony."

"It's a nearly impossible problem," Big Michael said, 'to create a
universe that will end up with all living beings proclaiming the glory
of God.  If there is not enough matter, the explosion and inflation of
the creation instant results in a universe that expands for ever,
without sufficient interaction of the individual components during
evolution to produce and sustain life.  If there is too much matter,
then there is insufficient time for life and intelligence to develop
fully before gravity causes the Great Crunch that ends the universe."

"Chaos confounds God as well," Saint Michael explained.

"Chaos is an outgrowth of all the physical laws governing the evolution
of any created universe.  It prevents the accurate prediction of the
outcomes of large-scale processes, so God cannot, a priori, simply
calculate what is going to happen in the future and therefore, by
analytical techniques, isolate the zones of harmony .  . .
Experimentation is the only possible way for Him to discover what He is
seeking .  . ."

"The structure opposing God's design is overwhelming," Big Michael
added.

"In order for God to succeed, not only must life and intelligence
evolve from raw subatomic particles made into atoms by stellar
cataclysms, but also this life must reach such a level of both
spiritual self- awareness and technological capability that it can
actively transform everything around it .  . ."

So God, Nicole thought in her room, remembering the discussion, is the
ultimate designer, the ultimate engineer.  He or she or it shapes the
moment of creation in such a way that, billions of years later, living
beings attest to the wonder of creation .  . .

"There's a part of this I still don't understand," Nicole had said to
the two Michaels and Simone near the end of the evening.

"Why must God create so many universes to conduct this experiment? Once
the existence of a harmonious outcome has been verified, doesn't the
task become easy?  Can't the initial conditions for that universe
simply be replicated?"

"That's not a difficult enough problem for God," Saint Michael had
responded.

"God wants to know the extent of the zone of harmony in the hyper
surface of creation parameters, plus all the mathematical
characteristics of the zone .  . . Besides, I don't think you yet
appreciate the scope of God's problem.  Only a minuscule fraction of
all possible universes can end up harmonious.  The natural outcome of
the transformation of energy into matter is a universe with no life at
all, or at best, aggressive, temporary living creatures who are more
destructive than constructive.  Even a small region of harmony inside
an evolving universe is a miracle .  . . That's why the whole
enterprise is such a challenge for God."

Big Michael had then jumped up again.

"What God is looking for is a universe which, before it dies in the Big
Crunch, has achieved total harmony.  That's not just every living
species from every world working
together for the mutual good, but every subatomic particle of
ttsrfreation actively participating in that harmony .  . . For a while,
I myself couldn't comprehend the full grandeur of this concept.  Then
Saint Michael told me about a species that makes living beings out of
rock and dirt, as our biblical God did, by transmuting and rearranging
the elements.  Total harmony requires that advanced species, like us,
use our technological tools to transform inanimate and non-living
things into creatures that contribute to the harmony .

. ."

Nicole remembered that she had announced, at about this point in the
conversation, that her mind was overloaded and she wanted to go to bed.
Saint Michael had asked her to wait just a few more minutes, so that he
could summa rise what he felt had been a slightly disorganised
discussion.  Nicole had agreed.

"Going back to your original question," Saint Michael had said, 'each
of The Nodes is part of a hierarchical intelligence gathering
information throughout this particular galaxy.  Most galaxies,
including the Milky Way, have a single super station which we call the
Prime Monitor, located somewhere near their cent res The set of Prime
Monitors was created by God at the same moment the universe began, and
then deployed to learn as much as possible about the evolutionary
process.  The Nodes, The Carriers, and all the other engineering
constructs you have seen were in turn designed by the Prime Monitor.
The entire activity, including what has been going on since the first
Rama spacecraft entered your solar system years ago, has as its
objective the development of quantitative criteria, for use by the
Creator, that will enable subsequent universes to conclude in glorious
harmony, despite the chaotic tendencies of the natural laws."

Nicole had whistled.

"This conversation has been absolutely mind boggling she had said,
activating her wheelchair.

"And now I am exhausted."

But not so exhausted that I can sleep, she thought.  How could anybody
sleep after having had the purpose of the universe explained?  Nicole
laughed to herself in bed.  i can't imagine what Richard would have
said after that discussion ... A good theory perhaps, but how does it
explain the African dominance in the World Cup between 2140 and 2160?

. . . Or, is the meaning of life no longer 42?  She laughed again.

Richard would have appreciated Saint Michael, no doubt, but he would
have had hundreds of questions .  . . We would have made love as soon
as we returned to the room and then talked all night .  . .

She yawned and turned over on her side.  As she drifted off to sleep,
visions of universes exploding into being danced in her mind's eye.

Nicole woke up refreshed and with a surprising amount of energy.  She
started to push the button beside her bed, but decided against it.

Instead she struggled into her wheelchair.  She rolled over to the
windows and pulled the curtains.

It was a beautiful morning outside.  There was a little creek off to
her left, and three children, probably between eight and ten years of
age, were skipping stones across a small pool formed by the normal
course of the creek.  As Nicole gazed out of the windows at the
perfectly simulated fields and trees and rolling hills, she felt
temporarily young and full of life.

Maybe I should let them repair me after all, Nicole thought.  Replace
all my damaged and worn-out parts .  . . I could live here, with Simone
and Michael.  Maybe I could even teach my great-grandchildren a thing
or two .  .

The three children left the creek and raced across a green field to
where the horses were enclosed.  The boy ran the fastest, but he barely
beat the smaller of the two girls.  The trio laughed together and
called the horses over to the fence.

"The boy is Zachary," Big Michael said from behind her.

"The two girls are Colleen and Simone .  . . Zachary and Colleen are
Katya's children, Simone is Timothy's eldest."

Nicole had not heard him enter the room.  She turned around in her
wheelchair.

"Good morning, Michael," she said.  Nicole glanced back at the
window.

"The children are all gorgeous."

"Thank you," Michael said, walking over to the window.

"I am a very lucky man," he said.

"God has granted me a fascinating life with unbelievable riches."

They watched in silence as the children played.  Zachary mounted a
white horse and began to show off.

"I was sorry to hear about Richard's death," Michael said.

"Patrick told us the story yesterday ... It must have been horrible for
you."

"It was," Nicole replied.

"Richard and I had developed such a wonderful friendship .  . ."  They
faced each other.

"You would have been so proud of him, Michael ... He was a different
man in his last years .  . ."

"I suspected as much," Michael said.

"The Richard I knew would never have volunteered to place himself in
jeopardy, especially to save the lives of others .  . ."

"You should have seen him with his granddaughter, Nikki, Ellie's little
girl.  They were inseparable.  He was her boo bah ... He found
tenderness so late in life .  . ."

Nicole could not continue.  A sudden heartache overwhelmed her.  She
drove over to the bedside table and took a drink from the bottle of
blue liquid.

She returned to the window.  The two old friends again stared out at
the playing children.  The girls too were now on horseback and some
kind of game was under way.

"Patrick told us that Benjy had grown into a fine adult," Michael said,
'limited in some ways of course, but quite remarkable considering his
basic ability and the long periods of sleep ... He said that Benjy was
a living tribute to your talents, all of them, and that you had worked
with him tirelessly, never letting him use his handicap as an excuse .
. ."

It was Michael's turn to choke up.  He turned to Nicole with tears
easing out of both of his eyes and placed his hands in hers.

"There's no way I can ever thank you enough for raising those two boys
with such care.  Especially Benjy."

Nicole looked up at him from her wheelchair.

"They are our sons, Michael," she said.

"I love them very much."

Michael wiped his nose and eyes with a pocket handkerchief.

"Simone and I want you to meet our children and grandchildren, of
course," he said, 'but we both agreed that there was something we
should tell you first .  . . We didn't know exactly how you would
respond .  . .

However, it would not be fair not to tell you, because otherwise you
might not understand why the children are reacting .  . ."

"What is it, Michael?"  Nicole interrupted.  She smiled.

"You're certainly having a hard time coming to the point."

"I am indeed," he said, crossing the room and pushing the button beside
Nicole's bed twice in rapid succession.

"Nicole, what I am about to say is a bit delicate .  . . Remember last
night, when we told you that both Simone and I had alien companions . .
."

"Yes, Michael," Nicole said.

She was still gazing out of the window.  Michael joined her and took
her hand.  Outside, a woman in her late forties, athletic, with dark
copper skin, had left the house and was walking quickly towards the
horse compound.  Both the woman's figure and her gait seemed familiar
to Nicole.  The children saw the woman, waved, and came towards her on
their horses.

Nicole watched Zachary yell the woman's name and suddenly she
understood.  Nicole was thunderstruck.  The woman turned around briefly
and Nicole saw herself, exactly as she had been when she had left The
Node forty years before.  It was difficult for her to keep her emotions
under control.

"It was you that Simone missed the most," Michael said, acknowledging
the look of astonished recognition on Nicole's face.

"So it was only natural that the aliens fashioned a companion for her
from your image .  . . She is a remarkable simulation.  Not just her
physical appearance, which you can see for yourself, but also her
personality.

Simone and I were amazed, especially in the beginning, at what a
perfect duplication job they had done.  The alien talked like you,
walked like you, even thought like you .  . . Within a week Simone was
calling her

"Mother" and I was calling her

"Nicole".  She has been with us ever since."

Nicole gazed at the simulation of herself without saying a word.  The
facial expressions and even the gestures are correct, she thought.  She
continued to stare fixedly as the woman approached the house with the
three children.

"Simone thought you might be a little upset, or maybe feel displaced,
when you discovered that this simulation of you had been living with
the family for all these years.  But I assured her that you would be
fine, that it would simply take a little while for you to adjust to the
idea .  . . After all, as far as I know, no human being has ever been
replaced by a robot copy of herself before."

The alien Nicole picked up one of the girls and twirled her around in
the air.  Then all four of them bounded up the steps and across the
threshold of the house.

They call her Granny, Nicole thought.  She can run, and ride horses,
and toss them in the air .  . . She is not phthisic and confined to a
wheelchair.  An emotion that Nicole did not like, self-pity, began to
grow inside her.  Maybe Simone has not even missed me that much, she
said to herself.  Her 'mother' has been there all these years, at her
beck and call, never ageing, never asking for anything .  . .

Nicole sensed that she was going to cry.  She pulled herself
together.

"Michael," she said, forcing a smile, 'why don't you give me a minute
to prepare myself for breakfast."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"  he asked.

"No, no ... I'll be fine ... I just want to wash my face and put on a
little makeup."

The tears came a few seconds after the door closed.  There is no place
for me here either, Nicole said to herself.  There is already a granny,
a better one than I could ever be, even if she is only a machine .  .

.

Nicole said almost nothing on the ride back to the transportation
centre.  She was still quiet as the shuttle left the Habitation Module
and pulled out into space.

"You don't want to talk about it, do you?"  The Eagle said.

"Not really," Nicole said into the microphone in her helmet.

"Are you glad you went?"  The Eagle inquired several seconds later.

"Oh, yes.  . . Absolutely,"she replied.  "It was one of the most
outstanding experiences of my life .  . . Thank you very much."

The Eagle adjusted the flight of the shuttle so that they were moving
slowly backwards.  The huge illuminated tetrahedron dominated the view
out their window.

"The replacement procedure could be performed this afternoon," The
Eagle said.

"By early next week you would look younger than Big Michael."

"No, thanks," said Nicole.

There was another long period of silence.

"You don't seem very happy,"

The Eagle then said.

Nicole turned to look at her alien companion.

"I am," she said.

"And I am especially happy for Simone and Michael .  . . It's wonderful
that their life has been so fulfilling .  . ."  Nicole took a deep
breath.

"Maybe I'm just tired," she said.

"So much has occurred in such a short period of time."  ; "That's
probably it," The Eagle said.

Nicole was deep in thought, methodically reviewing everything that had
happened to her since she had awakened.  The faces of Simone and
Michael's six children and fourteen grandchildren swept through her
mind.  A handsome lot, she said to herself, but without much
variation.

It was another face, one she remembered clearly from her own mirror,
that returned to her mind's eye most often.  She had agreed with Simone
and Michael that the other Nicole was an unbelievable likeness, an
absolute triumph of advanced technology.  What Nicole had not even been
able to discuss with them was how strange it was meeting and carrying
on a conversation with yourself as a younger person.  Or how peculiar
one felt knowing that a machine had replaced you in the hearts and
minds of your own family.

Nicole had watched silently while the other Nicole and Simone had
laughed about an argument that Simone had had with her little sister
Katie years before at The Node.  As the alien had recalled the details
of the story, Nicole's memory too had been refreshed.  Even her memory
is better than mine .  . . What a perfect solution to the whole problem
of ageing and dying .  . . capture a person in the prime of her life,
with all her powers intact, and preserve her for ever as a legend, at
least in the eyes of her loved ones.

"How do I know for certain that the Michael and Simone that I talked
with yesterday and this morning are the real humans, and not just an
even higher-fidelity simulation than the other Nicole?"  Nicole asked
The Eagle.

"Saint Michael said you asked several pointed questions about Big
Michael's early life," The Eagle said.

"Weren't you satisfied with the answers?"

"But I realised while we were in the car an hour ago that some of that
information may have been in Michael's biographical file from the
Newton, and I know that you had access to that data .  . ."

"For what purpose would we possibly have gone to such lengths to
mislead you?"  The Eagle said.

"And have we ever behaved in a similar fashion before?"

"How many more of Simone and Michael's children are still alive?"

Nicole asked a few minutes later, changing the subject.

"Thirty-two more are here at this Node," The Eagle answered.

"And more than a hundred in other places."

Nicole shook her head.  She remembered the Senoufo chronicles.

"And her progeny shall be spread among the stars' .  . . Omeh would be
pleased, she thought.

"Have you perfected then your ex-utero development of humans from
fertilised eggs?"  Nicole said.

"More or less," The Eagle replied.

Again they flew in silence for a long time.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about the Prime Monitors?"  Nicole asked
next.

"It wasn't permitted, at least not until you awakened .  . . And since
then the subject hasn't come up."

"And is everything Saint Michael said true?  About God and chaos and
the many universes?"

"As far as we know," The Eagle said.

"At least that's what is programmed in our systems .  . . None of us
here has ever actually seen a Prime Monitor."

"And is it possible," Nicole asked, 'that the whole story is a myth of
some kind, created by an intelligence above you in the hierarchy, as
the official explanation to give out to human beings?"

The Eagle hesitated.

"That possibility exists ... I would have no way of knowing."

"Would you know if something different, some other explanation, had
ever been programmed in your systems before?"

"Not necessarily," The Eagle said.

"I am not solely responsible for what is retained in my memory."

Nicole's behaviour remained unusual.  She interrupted her protracted
periods of silence with bursts of apparently unrelated questions.  At
one point she asked why some Nodes had four modules, and others
three.

The Eagle explained that the Knowledge Module created a etrahedron out
of the Nodal triangle in about every tenth or twelfth Node.  Nicole
wanted to know what was so special about the Knowledge Module.  The
Eagle told her that it was the repository of all the acquired
information about this part of the galaxy.

"It's part-library and part-museum, containing a colossal amount of
information in a variety of forms," he said.

"Have you ever been inside this Knowledge Module?"  Nicole asked.

"No," The Eagle answered, 'but my current systems contain a complete
description of it.  . ."

"Can I go there?"  Nicole said.

"A living being must have special permission to enter the Knowledge
Module," The Eagle said.

When Nicole spoke again, she asked about what was going to happen to
the humans who would be transferred to The Node in another day or two.
The Eagle explained patiently, in response to one short question after
another, that the people would live in the Habitation Module in a test
environment with several other species, that they would be closely
monitored, and that Simone, Michael and their family might or might not
be integrated with the humans who were moving to The Node.

Nicole made her decision several minutes before they reached the
starfish.

"I want to stay here only for tonight," she said slowly.

"So that I can say goodbye to everybody."

The Eagle looked at her with a curious expression.

"Then tomorrow,"

Nicole continued, 'if you can obtain permission, I want you to take me
to the Knowledge Module .  . . Once I leave the starfish, I want all
medication suspended .  . . And I want no heroic efforts if my heart
goes into distress."

Nicole looked straight ahead, through the front of her space-helmet and
out the window of the shuttle.  is definitely the right time, she said
to herself.  If only I have the courage not to waver.

"Yes, Mother," Ellie said.

"I do understand, I really do ... But I'm your daughter.  I love you.
No matter how much logical sense it might make to you, there's just no
way I can be happy about never seeing you again."

"So what am I supposed to do?"  Nicole said.

"Let them change me into some kind of bionic woman so I can hang around
for ever?  And be the grande dame of the community, sententious and
puffed up with self importance That is certainly not very appealing to
me."

"But everyone admires you, Mother," Ellie said.

"Your family here loves you, and you could spend years getting to know
all of Simone and Michael's family .  . . You would never be a problem
to any of us .  . ."

"That's not really the issue," Nicole said.  She turned her wheelchair
around and faced one of the bare walls.

"The universe is in constant renewal," she said, as much to herself as
to Ellie.

"Everything individuals, planets, stars, even galaxies has a life
cycle, a death as well as a birth.  Nothing lasts for ever.  Not even
the universe itself .  . . Change and renewal are an essential part of
the overall process.  The octo spiders know this well.  That's why
planned terminations are an integral part of their overall
replenishment concept."

"But, Mother," Ellie said from behind her, 'unless there is a war, the
octo spiders only put individuals on the termination list who are no
longer making enough of a contribution to their society to justify the
resources being expended .  . . There is no cost to us in keeping you
alive .  . . And your wisdom and experience are still valuable."

Nicole turned around and smiled.

"You are a very bright woman, Ellie,"

she said.

"And I will acknowledge that there is truth in what you are saying. But
you are conveniently ignoring the two key elements in my decision, both
of which I have already explained at great length .  . .

For reasons neither you nor anybody else may be able to understand, it
is important to me that I be able to choose my own time of death.

I want to make that decision before I am either a burden or out of the
mainstream of activity, and while I still have the respect of my family
and friends.  Secondly, it is my feeling that I do not have any defined
niche in the post-transfer world.  Therefore I cannot justify, in my
own mind, the massive physiological intervention that will be necessary
before I can function without being a problem for others .

. . From so many different points of view, now seems to be an excellent
time for me to make my exit."

"As I told you at the very beginning," Ellie said, 'your cold, rational
analysis, whether correct or not, should not be the only consideration.
What about the feeling of loss that Benjy, Nikki, I and the others will
experience?  And our sorrow will be increased by the knowledge that
your death at this time could have been avoided .

. ."

"Ellie," Nicole said, 'one of the reasons I came back to say goodbye to
you and the others was to try to assuage any feeling of loss that you
might have after my death .  . . Again, look at the octo spiders

They do not grieve .  . ."

"Mother," Ellie interrupted, fighting the return of the tears, 'we are
not octo spiders we are human beings .  . . We grieve .  . . We feel
desolate when someone we love dies.  We know, in our minds, that death
is inevitable, and that it is all part of the universal scheme, but
nevertheless, we weep and feel an acute sense of loss .  . ."

Ellie paused for a moment.

"Have you forgotten how you felt when Richard and Katie died?  .  . .
You were devastated."

Nicole swallowed slowly and looked at her daughter.  i knevwkis would
not be easy, she thought.  Maybe I shouldn't have come back .  . .
Maybe it really would have been better if I had asked The Eagle to tell
everyone I had died of a heart attack.

"I know you were upset," Ellie said softly, 'to find out that an alien
robot had replaced you in Michael and Simone's family .  . . But you
shouldn't over-react.  Sooner or later all of their children and
grandchildren will learn that there can be no substitute for the real
Nicole des Jardins Wakefield."

Nicole sighed.  She felt she was losing the battle.

"I did acknowledge to you, Ellie, that I felt there was no place for me
in Michael and Simone's family.  But it is unfair for you to imply that
my reaction to the other Nicole is the sole, or even the main, reason
for my decision."

Nicole was becoming exhausted.  She had planned to talk first to Ellie,
then to Benjy, and finally to the rest of the group before she went to
sleep.  Ellie had been much more difficult than she had expected.  But
were you being realistic?  Nicole asked herself.  Did you really think
Ellie would say, great, Mother, it makes sense.  I'm sorry to see you
go but I understand completely.

There was a knock on the door of the apartment.  The Eagle looked at
the two women after the door was opened.

"Am I intruding?"  the alien asked.

Nicole smiled.

"I think we are ready for a short break," she said.

Ellie excused herself to go to the bathroom and The Eagle walked over
to Nicole.

"How's it going?"  he said, bending down to the level of the
wheelchair.

"Not so well," Nicole answered.

"I thought I'd drop by," The Eagle said, 'to tell you that your request
to visit the Knowledge Module has been approved.  Assuming the basic
situation you described to me in the shuttle is still valid .  . ."

Nicole brightened.

"Good," she said.

"Now if I can just summon the courage to finish what I have started."

The Eagle patted her on the back.

"You can do it," he said.

"You are the most extraordinary human we have ever encountered."

Benjy's head was resting on her chest.  Nicole was on her back and had
her arm wrapped around her son.  So this may be the last night of my
life, she thought as she drifted towards sleep.  A small tremor of fear
rushed through her and she forced it aside.  I am not afraid of death,
Nicole said to herself, not after what I have already experienced.

The visit from The Eagle had refortified her.  When her conversation
with Ellie had resumed, Nicole had admitted that there was merit in all
of Ellie's points, and that she didn't mean to cause distress for her
friends
and family, but that she was determined to proceed with her
decision.

Nicole had then pointed out to Ellie that Benjy and she, and to some
extent the others, would have an opportunity for additional individual
growth in her absence, because there would no longer be an authority
figure around to whom they could appeal.

Ellie had told Nicole that she was a 'stubborn old woman', but that,
because of her love and respect, Ellie would try to be supportive in
the few remaining hours.  Ellie had also asked Nicole if she intended
to do anything specific to hasten her death.  Nicole had laughed and
told her daughter that no unusual steps would be necessary, for The
Eagle had assured her that without supplementary medication her heart
would fail in a matter of hours.

The conversation with Benjy had not been that difficult.  Ellie had
volunteered to help explain everything and Nicole had accepted her
offer.  Benjy knew that his mother was suffering and in poor health,
and he had no knowledge that the aliens possessed the medical ability
to fix her problems.  Ellie had assured Benjy that Max, Eponine, Nikki,
Kepler, Marius and Maria would all still be part of his everyday
world.

Of the larger group, only Eponine had had tearful eyes when Nicole had
informed them of her decision.  Max had said that he wasn't completely
surprised.  Maria had expressed sadness that she hadn't spent more time
with the woman who had 'saved her life'.  Kepler, Marius and even Nikki
had all been unsure of themselves, and hadn't known what to say.

While she was preparing for bed, Nicole had promised herself that she
would locate Dr Blue first thing in the morning and say a proper
goodbye to her octo spider friend.  Just before she had switched out
the lights, Benjy had approached his mother and asked, since this would
be their last night together, if he could cuddle with her 'like I did
when I was a lit-the boy'.  Nicole had agreed, and after Benjy had
snuggled up against her, tears had run across her face, moistening her
ears and the sleeping mat below.

Nicole awakened early.  Benjy was already up and dressed, but Kepler
was still asleep on the far side of the room.  Benjy patiently helped
Nicole shower and dress, as he had before.

Max came into the apartment a few minutes later.  After waking up
Kepler, he walked over to Nicole's wheelchair and took her hand.

"I

didn't say much last night, my friend," Max said, 'because I couldn't
find the right words .  . . Even now, they seem so inadequate .  . ."

Max turned his head away.

"Shit, Nicole," he said in a breaking voice, without facing her.

"You know how I feel about you .  . . you are a beautiful, beautiful
person."

He stopped.  The only sound in the room was the water running for;
Kepler's shower.  Nicole squeezed his hand.

"Thank you.  Max," she said softly, 'it means a lot to me."

"When I was eighteen," Max said hesitantly, turning back to look at
Nicole, 'my father died of a rare kind of cancer .  . . We all knew it
was coming.  Clyde and Mom and I had watched him wither away for
several months .  . . But I still didn't believe it, even after he was
lying in the coffin .  . . We had a small service at the cemetery, just
our friends from the neighbouring farms plus an auto mechanic from De
Queen, a man named Willie Townsend who got drunk with Dad every other
Saturday night .  . ."

Max smiled and relaxed.  He loved telling stories.

"Willie was a good ole son of a bitch, a bachelor, hard as nails on the
outside, and soft as putty underneath ... He was jilted by the De Queen
High School Homecoming Queen when he was a young man and never again
had a girl-friend .  . . Anyway, Mom asked me if I would say a few
words "over my Dad" at the graveside service, and I agreed ... I wrote
them myself, memorised them carefully, and even practised once, out
loud, in front of Clyde .  . .

"Come the service, I was ready with my speech .  . .

"My father, Henry Allan Puckett, was a fine man," I began.  I then
paused, as I had planned, and looked around.  Willie was already
sniffling, and was looking down at the ground .  . . Suddenly I
couldn't remember what I was supposed
to say next.  We all stood there, in the hot Arkansas sun, for what
seemed like for ever but was probably only thirty seconds or so ... I
never did remember the rest of my speech.  Finally, out of both
desperation and embarrassment, I said

"Aw, fuck," and Willie chimed in immediately with a loud

"Amen" .  . ."

Nicole was laughing.

"Max Puckett," she said, 'there cannot be anyone like you anywhere in
this universe."

Max grinned.

"Last night, when Frenchie and I were in bed, we were talking about
that other Nicole the aliens had created for Simone and Michael, and Ep
wondered if they could make a robot Max Puckett for her.  She liked the
idea of having a perfect husband who always did exactly what she asked
. . . Even at night .  . . We laughed until our sides hurt trying to
imagine, well, you know, what that robot might or might not be able to
do in bed .  . ."

"Shame on you, Max," Nicole said.

"Actually it was Frenchie who really got imaginative .  . . Anyway,"

Max said,

"I was sent over here with a specific purpose, to inform you that we
are having a catered breakfast next door, courtesy of the blockheads,
as part of our attempt to say goodbye, or wish you "bon voyage", or
whatever is appropriate .  . . And that it will start in exactly eight
more minutes .  . ."

Nicole was delighted to discover that the mood at breakfast was light
and pleasant.  She had stressed several times the night before that her
departure should not be a time for sorrow, that it should be celebrated
as the end of a wonderful life.  Apparently her family and friends had
taken her remarks to heart, for she saw only an occasional sombre
face.

Ellie and Benjy sat on either side of Nicole at the long table set up
by the block robots.  Next to Ellie was Nikki, then Maria and Dr
Blue.

On the other side Max and Eponine were beside Benjy, then Marius,
Kepler and The Eagle.  During the meal Nicole noticed, with surprise,
that Maria was actually conversing with Dr Blue.

"I didn't know you could read colours, Maria," Nicole said, a clearly
complimentary tone in her voice.

"Only a little," the girl said, slightly embarrassed by the
attention.

"Ellie has been teaching me."

"That's great," Nicole commented.

"Of course the real linguist in this group," Max said, 'is that strange
bird-man at the end of the table .  . . We even saw him yesterday
talking to the iguanas in bizarre clicks and screeches."

"Yuch," said Nikki,

"I wouldn't want to talk to one of those nasty creatures .  . ."

"They have an altogether different way of looking at the world," The
Eagle said.

"Very simple, very primitive."

"What I want to know," Eponine said, leaning forward and directly
addressing The Eagle, 'is what I have to do to get an alien robot
companion of my own.  I'll take one that looks like Max here, except is
not ornery, and has certain other improved attributes .  . ."

Everyone laughed.  Nicole smiled to herself as she looked around the
table.  This is perfect, she thought.  i couldn't have asked for a
better farewell.

Dr Blue and The Eagle gave her one last dose of the blue liquid while
Nicole was arranging her bag.  She was glad to have a private moment to
say goodbye to Dr Blue.

"Thank you for everything," Nicole said simply, hugging her octo spider
colleague.

"We will all miss you," Dr Blue said in colour.

"The new Chief Optimiser wanted to organise a grand send-off, but I
told her I did not think it would be appropriate .  . . She asked me to
say goodbye to you on behalf of our entire species."

They all accompanied her to the airlock.  There was one final round of
smiling hugs, at wheelchair level, and then The Eagle and Nicole passed
through the airlock.

Nicole sighed as The Eagle lifted her into her seat in the shuttle and
folded the wheelchair.

"They were great, weren't they?"  Nicole said.

"They love and respect you very much," The Eagle replied.

Once they left the starfish, the great tetrahedron of light was again
turning slowly in their view.

"How do you feel?"  The Eagle asked.

"Relieved," Nicole said, 'and a little frightened."

"That's to be expected," The Eagle said.

"How long do you think I have?"  Nicole asked several seconds later.

"Before my heart gives out?"

"That's hard to say exactly."

"I know, I know," Nicole said impatiently.

"But you guys are scientists .  . . You must have done some
computations .  . ."

"Between six and ten hours," The Eagle said.

In six to ten hours I will be dead, Nicole thought.  The fear was more
palpable now.  She could not push it completely aside.

"What's it like to be dead?"  Nicole asked.

"We thought you'd ask that question," The Eagle answered.

"We were told that it's similar to being unpowered."

"Nothingness, for ever?"  Nicole said.

"I guess so."

"And the act of dying itself?"  she said.

"Is there anything special about that?"

"We don't know," The Eagle said.

"We were hoping that you would share with us as much as you can."

They flew in silence for quite a while.  Ahead of them, The Node grew
quickly in size.  At one point the spacecraft changed its orientation
slightly and the Knowledge Module moved to the centre of their window.
During the final approach, the other three vertices of The Node were
below them.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"  The Eagle said.

"Not at all," Nicole answered.  She turned and smiled at the alien
through her space-helmet.

"I hope you're not becoming timid at this late date."

"I didn't want to disturb your thoughts."

"Actually at the moment I'm not thinking about anything specific,"

Nicole said.

"My mind is just drifting."

"Why do you want to spend your final moments in the Knowledge Module?"
The Eagle asked.

Nicole laughed.

"Now that's a preprogrammed question if ever I heard one," she said.

"I can already see my answer stored in some almost endless file,
under

"Death: Human Beings", and other related categories."

The Eagle did not say anything.

"When Richard and I were marooned in New York years ago," Nicole said,
'and did not think we had much of a chance to escape, we talked about
what we would like to be doing during the last moments before our
death.  We agreed that our first choice would be making love together.
Our second choice was to be learning something new, to be experiencing
the thrill of discovery one last time .  . ."

"That's a very advanced concept," The Eagle said.

"And a practical one too," Nicole said.

"Unless I miss my guess, this Knowledge Module of yours will be so
intriguing that I will not even be aware that the last seconds of my
life are ticking away ... As committed as I am to this action, I think
fear would overpower me if I weren't actively engaged during my final
hours."

The Knowledge Module now filled their entire window.

"Before we enter," The Eagle said,

"I want to give you some information about this place .  . . The
spherical module is actually three separate concentric domains, each
with a specific purpose.  The outermost and smallest region is focused
on knowledge associated with the present, or near-present.  The next
inner region is where all the historical information about this part of
the galaxy has been stored.  The large inner sphere contains all the
models for predicting the future, as well as stochastic scenarios for
the next aeons .  . ."

"I thought you had never been inside," Nicole said.

"I haven't," The Eagle replied.

"But my Knowledge Module database was updated and expanded last night .
. ."

A door in the outer surface of the sphere opened and the shuttle
started
to enter.

"Just a minute," Nicole said.

"Do I understand that ^will almost certainly never leave this module
alive?"

"Yes," said The Eagle.

"Then will you please turn this vehicle around, slowly, and let me take
one last look at the outside world?"

The shuttle executed a slow yaw manoeuvre and Nicole, sitting forward
in her seat, gazed fixedly out the window.  She saw the other spherical
modules of The Node, the transportation corridors, and, in the
distance, the starfish, where her family and friends were packing their
bags for their transfer.  In one orientation the yellow star Tau Ceti,
so much like the Sun, was the only large object in the window, and
despite its radiance and the scattered light from The Node, Nicole
could still discern a few other stars against the blackness of space.

Nothing in this scene will be changed by my death, Nicole thought.

There will just be one pair of eyes fewer to observe its splendour.

And one collection of chemicals fewer risen to consciousness to wonder
what it all means.

"Thank you," Nicole said after the full turn was completed.

"We may now proceed."

Vehicles entering the Knowledge Module from space, as well as the
tubes arriving from the other three modules, all ended up at a long
slender station located on one side of the mid-level annulus that
completely encircled the huge sphere.

"There are only two entrances, a hundred and eighty degrees apart, into
each of the three concentric domains of the Knowledge Module,"

The Eagle said, as Nicole and he were carried swiftly along the annulus
by a moving sidewalk.  To their right was the transparent outer surface
of the module.  On their left was a cream-coloured, windowless wall.

"Will I be able to take off my suit and helmet soon?"  Nicole asked
from her wheelchair.

"Yes, after we enter the exhibits," The Eagle said.

"I had to specify some kind of tour they couldn't change the atmosphere
of the entire module overnight and in those places you will not need
your spacesuit."

"So you have already selected what we are going to see?"

"It was unavoidable," The Eagle said.

"This place is immense, much larger than one of the hemicylinders of
Rama, and absolutely crammed full of information ... I tried to design
our tour based on my knowledge of your interests, and our allocated
time ... If it turns out that there are other things .  . ."

"No, no," Nicole said.

"I wouldn't have any idea what to request.  I'm certain that what you
did was fine .  . ."

They were approaching a place where the moving sidewalk stopped and a
broad corridor went off to the left.

"By the way," The Eagle said, "I didn't explain to you that our tour is
restricted to the two outer regions .  . . The Predictions Domain is
off-limits for us."

"Why is that?"  Nicole asked, activating her wheelchair and moving
along the corridor beside The Eagle.

"I don't know for certain," he said.

"But it doesn't really matter, if I understand your purpose here. There
will be more than enough to occupy you in the two available domains."

In front of them was a high blank wall.  As The Eagle and Nicole
approached, a wide door in the wall opened inwards, revealing a tall
circular room with a ten-metre-diameter sphere in its centryThe wall
and ceiling of the room were both cluttered with small fixtures or
equipment and many strange markings.  The Eagle told Nicole that he had
no idea what any of it meant.

"What I have been told," the alien said, 'is that the orientation for
your visit to this domain is supposed to take place inside that sphere
in front of us."

The gleaming sphere divided in half at the mid-section.  The upper half
of the hollow ball lifted up just enough for The Eagle and Nicole to
pass underneath into the interior of the sphere.  Once they were
inside, the top half of the sphere returned to its original position,
and they were completely enclosed.

It was only dark for a second or two.  Then small, scattered lights
illuminated some of the side of the sphere that was facing them.

"It's decorated with a lot of detail," Nicole commented.

"What we're looking at," The Eagle said, 'is a model of this entire
domain.  Our point of view is from the inside, as if we were at the
very centre of the Knowledge Module and neither of the two inner
domains existed .  . . You'll notice that with the way the objects are
placed along and against the surface, not only in front of and behind
us, but also above and below us, nothing intrudes into the empty
central space more than ; a fixed distance.  The outer wall of the next
concentric domain is located at that spot in the real module .  . . Now
the lights will show you, on the model, where we will be going in the
next few hours."

A large sector of the inner sphere surface facing them, about 30 per
cent of the area altogether, was suddenly visible in a soft light.

"Everything in the lit region," The Eagle said, making a circular
gesture with his hand, 'is associated with space faring We will confine
our tour to this portion of the domain .  . . The blinking red light,
on the surface in front of us, is where we are presently .  .

."

As Nicole watched, a red line of lights moved quickly up the surface,
stopping at a point above her head where there was a picture of the
Milky Way galaxy.

"We will go first to the geography section," The Eagle said, pointing
at the place where the line of lights had stopped, 'then to
engineering, and finally to biology .  . . After a short break, we will
continue into the second domain .  . . Any more questions before we
start?"

They drove up what appeared to be an ascending ramp in a small car
similar to the one they had used in the Habitation Module during their
visit to Michael and Simone.  Although the path in front and behind
them was illuminated, whatever was beside the car was always in the
dark.

"What's around us?"  Nicole asked after they had been driving for
almost ten minutes.

"Data storage mostly, plus a few exhibits," The Eagle said.

"It is dark so that you are not unnecessarily distracted."

Eventually they stopped beside another tall door.

"The room you are about to enter," The Eagle said, setting up Nicole's
wheelchair, 'is the largest single room in this domain.  It is half a
kilometer across at its widest point.  Inside currently is a model of
the Milky Way galaxy.  Once we enter, we will be standing on a mobile
platform that we can command to take us to any point in the room ... It
will be mostly dark inside, and there will be displays and structures
both above us and below us.  You might feel as if you are going to
fall, but remember that you are weightless .  . ."

The view from the platform was spectacular.  Even before they began to
move towards the centre of the vast room, Nicole was overwhelmed.

Lights representing stars were everywhere in the blackness that
surrounded them.  Single stars, binaries, combination triples.  Small,
stable yellow stars, red giants, white dwarfs they even passed directly
over an exploding supernova.  In every location, in every direction,
there was something different and fascinating to see.

After a few minutes The Eagle stopped the platform.

"I thought we'd start here, where you are familiar with the territory,"
he said.

Using a pointer with multiple light beams he indicated a nearby yellow
star.

"Do you recognise this place?"

Nicole was still staring at the endless lights in all directions.

"Are all hundred billion stars in the galaxy actually modelled in this
room?"  she asked.

"No," The Eagle replied.

"What you are seeing here is only a large section of the galaxy .  . .
I'll explain more to you in a few minutes, when we go to the top of the
room and can look down on the central galactic plane ... I brought you
to this particular spot for another purpose."

Nicole recognised the Sun, and the Centauri triple, its closest
neighbour, and even Barnard's star and Sirius.  She could not remember
the names of most of the other stars in the local neighbour hood of the
Sun.  She did, however, manage to locate another solitary yellow star
not too far away.

"Is that Tau Ceti?"  she asked.

"Yes, indeed," said The Eagle.

Tau Ceti seems so close to the Sun, Nicole thought, but in reality it
is so very far away.  That means the galaxy is larger than any of us
could possibly comprehend.

"The distance from the Sun to Tau Ceti," The Eagle said, as if he were
reading her mind, 'is one ten-thousandth of the distance across the
galaxy."

Nicole shook her head as the platform began to move away from the
Sun and Tau Ceti.  There is so much more than I had ever imagined, she
thought.  Even my journeys have taken place in an in significantly
small region of space.

Off the moving platform to her right, The Eagle projected a three
dimensional line-drawing in the shape of a rectangular solid.  By
manipulating the black device that he was holding in his hand, he made
the volume of the solid alternately larger and smaller.

"We have many different ways to control what is projected in this
room," The Eagle said.

"With this device we can change the scale, and zoom in on any
particular region of the galaxy .  . . Let me show you.

Suppose I put the red light here, in the middle of the Orion nebula.

That marks the desired initial position of the platform.  Then let me
expand this geometrical shape to enclose about a thousand stars .  .
.

Now, presto .  . ."

It was pitch-black in the room for about a second.  Then, suddenly,
Nicole was again dazzled, but this time by a different set of lights.

The clusters and individual stars were much more clearly defined.  The
Eagle explained that the entire room was now contained inside the Orion
nebula, and that the longest room dimension was now the equivalent of a
few hundred light years, instead of sixty thousand light years as
before.  : "This particular area is a stellar nursery," The Eagle said,
'where stars and planets are just being born."  He moved the platform
towards the right.

"Over here, for example, is an infant star system, in the early stages
of formation, with many of the characteristics that your solar system
had four and a half billion years ago."

He inscribed a small solid figure around one of the stars, and a few
seconds later the room was filled with the light of a young sun.

Nicole' watched a gigantic solar storm move across the moiling surface.
A coronal burst arced high above her head, shooting a finger of orange
and red into the blackness of space.

The Eagle steered the platform towards a much smaller, distant body,
one of about a dozen accumulations of mass that could be identified in
the region closely surrounding the young star.  This particular planet
had a slightly reddish molten surface.  As they watched, a large
projectile crashed into the hot fluid, ejecting material from the
surface and setting up vigorous wave motion in all directions.

"According to our statistical data," The Eagle said, 'this planet has a
non-trivial probability of producing life after a few billion years of
evolution, once this period of bombardment and formation is concluded.
It will have a solitary, stable host star, an atmosphere with
sufficient climatic variation, plus all the chemical ingredients .  . .
Here, see for yourself.  Keep your eyes on that planet.  I am going to
activate a special routine
that scans quickly through the bottom half of the periodic chart and
displays quantitative data about the comparative number of atoms of
each kind that exist in that boiling stew .  . ."

A magnificent visual display appeared in the blackness above the infant
planet.  Each separate atom contained in the planet's mass was
indicated both by a specific colour and by its number of neutrons and
protons.  The size of the atom showed its comparative frequency in the
mix.  '. . . Note that there are significant densities of carbon,
nitrogen, the halogens and iron," The Eagle was saying.

"These are the critical atoms.  They were all created by a nearby
supernova, in the not-too-distant past, and have enriched the
organisation al possibilities of this forming body .  . . Without
complex chemistry, there cannot be efficient life .  . . If iron were
not available to be the central atom of haemoglobin, for example, on
your planet, the oxygen-distribution system of the many advanced
life-forms would be much more inefficient .  . ."

So the process continues, Nicole thought, aeon after aeon.  Stars and
planets form out of the cosmic dust.  A few of the planets contain the
right chemical stuff that might eventually lead to life and
intelligence.  But what organises this process?  What unseen hand
causes these chemicals to become more and more complex and structured
in time, until they reach even the state of self- awareness?  Is there
some yet-to-be-formulated natural law about matter organising itself
according to specified rules?

The Eagle was now explaining how unlikely it was that life would evolve
in star systems that contained only simple atoms like hydrogen and
helium, and none of the more complex, higher-order atoms forged by
dying stars in supernova explosions.  Nicole began to feel an
overpowering insignificance.  She longed for something on a human
scale.

"How small can you shrink this room?"  Nicole said suddenly.  She
laughed at her own awkward phraseology.

"To be more precise," she continued, 'what is the ultimate resolution
of this system?"

"The finest level of detail possible," The Eagle said, 'is at a scale
of 4096 to I. At the other extreme, we can display an intergalactic
scene with a greatest dimension of fifty million light years .  . .

Remember, our interest in activities outside the galaxy is limited .

. ."

Nicole was doing some mental calculations of her own.

"Since the longest dimension of this room is half a kilometer, at the
highest level of detail this room would be filled by a piece of real
estate roughly two thousand kilometres long?"

"That's right," The Eagle said.

"But why are you asking?"

Nicole was becoming more excited.

"Could we zoom in on the Earth?"

she asked.

"And let me fly over France?"

"Yes, I guess so," The Eagle answered after a short hesitation.

"Although that is not what I had planned .  . ."

"It would mean a lot to me."  >-- "All right," The Eagle said.

"It will take a couple of seconds to set up, but we can do it .  . ."

The flight began over the English Channel.  The Eagle and Nicole had
been sitting on the platform at the top of the dark room for
approximately three seconds when there was an explosion of light
beneath them.  After Nicole's eyes finally adjusted, she recognised the
blue water underneath them, and the shape of the Normandy coastline.
Off in the distance the Seine emptied into the Channel.

She asked The Eagle to station the platform over the mouth of the
Seine, and then to move slowly towards Paris.  The sight of the
familiar geography evoked a strong emotional response in Nicole.  She
remembered clearly the days of her youth, when she had wandered
carefree throughout this region with her beloved father.

The model below them was superb.  It was even three-dimensional when
the sizes of the geographical features and buildings below them were
above the limits of resolution of the alien system.  In Rouen, the
famous church where Joan of Arc had temporarily recanted was half a
centimetre tall and two centime tres long.  Off in the direction of
Paris, Nicole could see the familiar shape of the Arc de Triomphe
rising from the surface of the model.

When they reached Paris, the platform hovered for a few seconds over
the sixteenth arrondissement.  Nicole's eyes fell briefly upon a
particular building below her.  The sight of that building, a modern
convention centre, brought back an especially poignant moment from her
adolescence.  To my precious daughter, Nicole, and all the young people
of the world, I offer one simple insight, she heard her father's voice
say again.  He was near the end of his speech accepting the Mary
Renault Prize.  In my life I have found two things of priceless worth-
learning and loving.  Nothing else- not fame, not power, not
achievement for its own sake can possibly have the same lasting
value.

An image of her father filled Nicole's mind.  Thank you.  Papa, she
thought.  Thankyou for taking such good care of me after Mother died.

Thank you for everything you taught me .  . .

A powerful, painful yearning brought a rush of tears to Nicole's
eyes.

For an instant she was again a child, and she wanted desperately to
talk to her father about her coming death.  Slowly, deliberately,
Nicole fought against the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm
her.  This is not what I wanted to feel right now, she said to herself
with difficulty.  i wanted to leave all this behind .  . .

She turned her face away from the model of France below her.

"What is it?"  The Eagle asked.

Nicole forced a smile.

"I want to see something else," she said.

"Something spectacular .  . . and new.  How about an octo spider
city?"

"Are you certain?"  The Eagle said.

Nicole nodded.

The room became dark immediately.  Two seconds later, when Nicole
turned around to face the light, the platform was flying over a vast
ocean of deep green.

"Where are we?"  she asked.

"And where are we going?"

"We're presently about thirty light years away from your Sun," The
Eagle replied, 'on the first oceanic planet colonised by the octo
spiders after the disappearance of the Precursors .  . . We're over the
sea, obviously, about two hundred kilometres away from the most famous
of the octo spider cities."

Nicole felt a surge of excitement as the platform zoomed across the
sea.  In the distance she could already see the vague outline of some
buildings.  For a moment she imagined that she was an adventurous space
traveller, arriving at this planet for the first time, eager to see the
wonders of the fabulous cities that other interstellar travellers had
described.

This is wonderful, Nicole thought.  She momentarily turned her
attention to the ocean below her.

"Why is this water so green?"  she asked The Eagle.

"The top metre of this part of the ocean is a rich ecosystem of its
own, dominated by a special genus of photosynthesising plant whose
varied species, all green in colour, provide housing and food for as
many as ten million separate creatures .  . . Some of the individual
plants cover more than a square kilometer of territory .  . . The
Precursors created this domain originally .  . . The octo spiders found
it, and improved upon it .  . ."

When Nicole glanced up, the speeding platform had nearly reached the
city.  Hundreds of buildings of various shapes and sizes were spread
out below them.  Most of the octo spider city's buildings were built on
the land, but some appeared to be floating on the water.  The densest
collection of these structures was along a narrow peninsula that
extended slightly into the sea.  At the end of that peninsula stood
three huge green domes, very close together, that dominated the city
skyline.

At the periphery of the city was a wide outer circle of eight smaller
domes, each of which was connected by linear transportation features to
the central domes.  Each of these outer domes was a distinct and
different colour.  Almost all of the buildings in the section of the
city surrounding an outer dome had been painted with the same colour.

Out in the ocean, for example, the brilliant red dome had eight long,
slender red spokes, representing other buildings, extending outwards
from it in a balanced geometrical pattern.

All the buildings of the city lay inside the circle defined Ipythe
eight coloured domes.  Nicole's immediate favourite was a strange
brown- coloured structure floating on the water.  It appeared to be
almost as large as the huge central domes.  From above, the rectangular
building looked like twenty layers of a densely packed lattice, with
material from birds' nests filling the open areas inside each of the
hundreds of cells.

"What is that?"  Nicole asked, pointing from the platform.

"These particular octo spiders are very advanced in microbiology," The
Eagle replied.

"That structure, which extends incidentally another ten me tres deep
into the ocean, contains over a thousand different habitats for species
in the micro metre size-range .  . . What you're looking at is
essentially a supply-station, containing the excess population for each
of these tiny beings.  Octospiders needing any of these creatures come
to this building to requisition them."

Nicole's eyes feasted on the unusual architecture below her.  In her
mind's eye she could see herself walking on the streets, looking around
in amazement at a variety of creatures far greater even than the
menagerie she had encountered in the Emerald City.  i want to go there,
she said to herself.  i want to see .  . .

She asked The Eagle to move the platform directly over one of the large
green domes.

"Is the inside of this dome," Nicole asked, 'similar to, what was in
the Emerald City?"

"Not really," The Eagle replied.

"The scale is altogether different ... The octo spider realm in Rama
was a compressed microcosm.

Functions which are normally separated on their planets by hundreds of
kilometres of distance were forced, because of space limitations, to be
located in more or less the same area ... In the advanced colonies of
the octo spider genus, for example, the alternates do not have a
community just outside the city gates they live on an entirely
different planet."

Nicole smiled.  A planet full of alternates, she thought.  Now that
would be quite a sight.

'. . . This particular city is the home for more than eighteen million
octo spiders if we count all the different morphological variations,"

The Eagle was saying.

"It is also the administrative capital for this planet.  Within the
gates of the city live close to ten billion individual creatures,
representing fifty thousand species .  . . The extent of the city is
roughly equivalent to Los Angeles or any of the great urban areas on
your Earth .  . ."

The Eagle continued to tell her facts and statistics about the octo
spider city beneath their platform.  Nicole, however, was thinking
about something else.

"Did Archie live here?"  she said, interrupting her alien companion's
encyclopaedic monologue.

"Or Dr Blue, or any of the octo spiders that we met?"

"No," The Eagle replied.

"In fact, they did not even come from this planet or star system .  . .
The octo spiders in Rama came from what is known as a "frontier
colony", one especially designed genetically for interaction with other
intelligent life-forms .  . ."

Nicole shook her head and smiled.  Of course, she said to herself, i
should have suspected that they were special.  . .

She was growing tired.  After another few minutes Nicole thanked The
Eagle and said that she had seen enough of the octo spider city.  In an
instant the domes, the brown lattice structure and the deep-green sea
vanished.  The Eagle returned the platform to the top of the large
chamber.

Below Nicole the Milky Way was confined to a small space in the centre
of the room.

"The universe is an ever-expanding sequence of neighbour hoods and
voids," The Eagle was saying.

"Look how empty it is around the Milky Way.  Except for the two
Magellanic Clouds, which really don't qualify as galaxies, Andromeda is
our nearest galactic neighbour.  But it is very far away.  The distance
across the greatest dimension of the Milky Way is only one-twentieth of
the distance to Andromeda."

Nicole was not thinking about Andromeda.  She was absorbed in
delightful philosophical musings about life on different worlds, about
cities, and about the likely range of creatures made from simple atoms
who had evolved, with or without help from superior beings, into
consciousness.  She savoured the moment, knowing that very soon there
would be no more of the flights of imagination that had enriched her
life so much.

"We spent so much time in that exhibit," The Eagle said after he had
finished the scan, 'that I think maybe we should revise our tour."

They were sitting side by side in the car.

"Is that your diplomatic way of telling me that my heart is failing
more rapidly than you expected?"  Nicole asked, forcing a smile.

"No, not really," The Eagle said.

"We really did spend almost twice as much time as I had planned ... I
hadn't even considered the overflight of France, for example, or the
visit to the octo spider city .  . ."

"That part was wonderful," Nicole said.

"I wish I could go there again, with Dr Blue as my guide, and find out
more about the way they live .  . ."

"So you liked the octo spider city better than the spectacular views of
the stars?"

"I wouldn't say that," Nicole replied.

"It was all fantastic .  . .

What I have seen already has reconfirmed that I chose the right place
to .  . ."  She did not finish the sentence.

"I realised while I was on the platform that death is not just the end
of thinking and being aware," she said, 'it is also the end of feeling
... I don't know why that wasn't obvious to me before."

There was a short silence.

"So, my friend," Nicole said brightly, 'where do we go from here?"

"I thought we'd go next to engineering, where you can see models of
Nodes, Carriers and other spacecraft, after which, if we still have
enough time, I plan to take you to the biology section.  Some of your
ex-utero grandchildren are living in that region, in one of our better
Earthlike habitats.  Near by is another compound housing a community of
those intriguing aquatic eels or snakes that we encountered once
together at The Node.  And there is a taxonomic display that compares
and contrasts, physically, all the space farers that have been studied
in this region .  . ."

"It all sounds great," Nicole said.  She laughed suddenly.

"The human brain is amazing .  . . Guess what just popped into my mind
. . . The first line of Andrew Marvell's poem

"To His Coy Mistress" .  . .

"Had we but worlds enough of time, this coyness lady were no crime," .
. .

Anyway, I was going to say that since we do not have forever, let's
go
first to The Carrier display.  I would like to see the spacecraft in
which Patrick, Nai, Galileo and the others will be living .  . . After
that, we'll see how much time is left."

The car began to move.  Nicole noted to herself that The Eagle had not
said anything about the results of his scan.  The fear came back,
stronger now.

"The grave's a fine and private place', she recalled.

"But none I think do there embrace."

They were together on the flat surface of the Carrier model.

"This is a one sixty-fourth scale model," The Eagle said, 'so you have
some sense of how large The Carrier really is."

Nicole stared off into the distance from her wheelchair.

"Goodness,"

she said, 'this plane must be almost one kilometer long."

"That's a good guess," The Eagle said.

"The top of the actual Carrier is roughly forty kilometres long and
fifteen kilometres wide."

"And each of these bubbles encloses a different environment?"

"Yes," The Eagle said.

"The atmosphere and other conditions are controlled by the equipment
that is here on the surface, as well as the additional engineering
systems down below in the main volume of the spacecraft .  . . Each of
the habitats has its own spin-rate to create the proper gravity .  . .
Partitions are available to separate species, if necessary, inside one
of the bubbles.  The residents from the starfish have been placed in
the same domain, because they are comfortable in more or less the same
ambient conditions.  However, they do not have any access to each
other."

They were moving down a path among the equipment emplacements and the
bubbles.

"Some of these habitats," Nicole said, examining a small oval
protrusion rising above the plane no more than five me tres 'seem too
small and confining to hold more than just a few individuals .  .

."

"There are some very small space farers The Eagle said.

"One species, from a star system not too far from yours, is only about
a millimetre in length.  Their largest spacecraft are not even as big
as this car."

Nicole tried to imagine an intelligent group of ants, or aphids,
working together to build a spacecraft.  She smiled at her mental
picture.

"And all these Carriers just travel from Node to Node?"  she asked,
changing the subject.

"Primarily," The Eagle said.

"When there are no longer any living creatures in a particular bubble,
that habitat is reconditioned at one of the Nodes."

"Like Rama," Nicole said.

"In a way," The Eagle said, 'but with many significant differences.  We
are always intently studying whatever species are inside a Rama-class
spacecraft.  We try to place them in as realistic an
environmenfa'possible, so that we can observe them under "natural
conditions".  By contrast, we do not need any more data about the
creatures assigned to the Carrier fleet.  That's why we don't intercede
in their affairs."

"Except to preclude reproduction ... By the way, in the structure of
your ethics, is preventing reproduction somehow more humane, or
whatever your equivalent word is, than terminating the creatures
directly?"

"We think so," The Eagle replied.

They had reached a location on the top of the Carrier model where a
pathway branched off to the left, back to the ramps and hallways of the
Knowledge Module.

"I think I've accomplished what I wanted here,"

Nicole said.  She hesitated for a moment.

"But I do have a couple of other questions."

"Go ahead," The Eagle said.

"Assuming Saint Michael's description of the purpose of Rama and The
Node and everything else is correct, aren't you yourself disturbing and
changing the very process you're observing?  It seems to me that just
by being here, and interacting .  . ."

"You're right, of course," The Eagle said.

"Our presence here does slightly impact the course of evolution.  It's
a situation analogous to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle from
physics .  . . We cannot observe without influencing .  . .
Nevertheless, our interactions can be considered by the Prime Monitor,
and taken into account in the overall modelling of the process.  And we
do have rules, that minimise the ways in which we perturb the natural
evolution .  . ."

"I wish that Richard could have been with me to hear Saint Michael's
explanation of everything," Nicole said.

"He would have been fascinated, and, I am sure, would have had some
excellent questions."

The Eagle did not reply.  Nicole sighed.

"So what's next, Monsieur Ie Tour Director?"  she said.

"Lunch," said The Eagle.

"There are a couple of sandwiches, some water, and a delicious piece of
your favourite octo spider fruit in the car."

Nicole laughed and turned her wheelchair on to the pathway.

"You think of everything," she said.

"Richard didn't believe in Heaven," Nicole said as The Eagle completed
another scan.

"But if he could have constructed his own perfect afterlife, it would
definitely have included a place like this."

The Eagle was studying the weird squiggles on the monitor in his
hand.

"I think it would be a good idea," he said, looking up at Nicole, 'to
skip some of the tour .  . . And go directly to the most important
exhibits in the next domain."

"That bad, huh?"  Nicole said.  She was not surprised.  The occasional
pain she had been feeling in her chest before the visits to France and
the octo spider city had now become continuous.

The fear was constant now as well.  In between every word, every
thought, she was acutely aware that her death was not very far away.

So what are you afraid of?  Nicole asked herself.  How can nothingness
be that bad?  Still the fear persisted.

The Eagle explained that there was not enough time for an orientation
to the second domain.  They passed through the gates into the second of
the concentric spheres and drove for about ten minutes.

"The emphasis in this domain," The Eagle said while driving, 'is on the
way everything changes in time.  There is a separate section for every
conceivable element in the galaxy that is affected by, or affects, its
overall evolution ... I thought you'd be especially interested in this
first exhibit."

The room was similar to the one where The Eagle and Nicole had first
seen the Milky Way, except that it was considerably smaller.  Again
they boarded a moving platform that allowed them to move around in the
dark room.

"What you are going to watch," The Eagle said, 'requires some
explanation.  It is essentially a time-lapse summary of the evolution
ofspacefaring civilisations in a galactic region containing your Sun
and about ten million other star systems.  This is approximately one
ten-thousandth of the entire galaxy, but what you will see is
representative of the galaxy as a whole .  . .

"You will not see any stars, or planets or other physical structures in
this display, although their locations are assumed in developing the
model.  What you will see, once we begin, are lights, each representing
a star system in which a biological species has become a space farer by
at least putting a spacecraft in orbit around its own planet ... As
long as the star system remains a living centre for active space farers
the light in that particular location will stay illuminated .  . .

"I am going to start the display about ten billion years ago, soon
after what has evolved into the current Milky Way galaxy was initially
formed.  Since there was so much instability and rapid change at the
beginning, no space farers emerged for a long time.

Therefore, for the first five billion years or so, up until the
formation of your solar system, I will run the display rapidly, at a
rate of twenty million years per second .  . . For reference purposes,
the Earth will begin to accrete roughly four minutes into this process.
I will stop the display at that time."

They were together on the platform in the large chamber.  The Eagle was
standing and Nicole was sitting beside him in her wheelchair.  The only
light was a small one on the platform that allowed the two of them to
see each other.  After staring around her at the total darkness for
more
than thirty seconds, Nicole broke the silence.

"Did you start ttwprocess?"  she asked.

"Nothing's happening."

"Exactly," The Eagle replied.

"What we have observed, from watching other galaxies, some much older
than the Milky Way, is that no life emerges until the galaxy settles
down and develops stable zones.  Life requires both a few steady stars
in a relatively benign environment and stellar evolution, resulting in
the creation of the critical elements on the periodic chart that are so
important in all biochemical processes.  If all the matter is subatomic
particles and the simplest atoms, the likelihood of the origin of life
of any kind, much less space faring life, is very very small.  Not
until large stars go through their complete life cycles and manufacture
the more complex elements like nitrogen, carbon, iron and magnesium do
the probabilities for the emergence of life become reasonable."

Below them an occasional light nickered, but in the entire first four
minutes, no more than a few hundred scattered lights appeared, and only
one endured for longer than three seconds.

"Now we have reached the time of the formation of the Earth and the
solar system," The Eagle said, preparing to activate the display
again.

"Wait a moment, please," Nicole said.

"I want to make certain I understand .  . . Did you just show me that
for the first half of galactic history, when there was no Earth and no
Sun, comparatively few space farers evolved in the region around where
the Sun would eventually form?  .  . . And that of those space farers
almost all of them had a species lifespan of less than twenty million
years, and only one managed to survive for as long as sixty million
years?"

"Very good," The Eagle said.

"Now I am going to add another parameter to the display ... If a space
farer has succeeded in travelling outside his own star system, and has
established a permanent presence in another which you humans have of
course not yet done then the display acknowledges that expansion by
illuminating the other star system as well, with the same colour light.
Therefore we can follow the spread of a specific space faring species
... I am also now going to change the rate of the display by a factor
of two, to ten million years per second .  . ."

Only half a minute into the next period, a red light came on over in
one corner of the room.  Six to eight seconds later, it was surrounded
by hundreds of other red lights.  Together they shone with such
intensity that the rest of the room, with its occasional solitary
light, seemed dark and uninteresting by comparison.  The field of red
lights then abruptly vanished in a fraction of a second.  First the
inner core of the red pattern went dark, leaving small groups of lights
scattered at the edges of what had once been a gigantic region.  A
blink of the eye later and all the red lights were gone.

Nicole's mind was operating at peak speed as she watched the lights
flashing around her.  That must be an interesting story, she thought,
reflecting on the red lights.  Imagine a civilisation spread out over a
region containing hundreds of stars.  Then, suddenly, pfft, that
species is gone .  . . The lesson is inescapable .  . . For everything
there is a beginning and an end .  . . Immortality exists only as a
concept, not as a reality.

She glanced around the room.  A general recurring pattern was
developing as more and more regions hosted occasional lights,
indicating the emergence of more space faring civilisations.  Still
most of the space- farers endured but a brief moment on average, much
less than a full second, and even those that spread out and colonised
adjoining star systems only rarely came into close proximity with a
light signalling another space faring species.

There has been intelligence, and space faring in our part of the galaxy
since before there was an Earth, Nicole thought .  . . But very few of
these advanced creatures have ever had the thrill of sustained contact
with their peers .  . . So loneliness too, is one of the underlying
principles of the universe ... At least of this universe .

. .

Eight minutes later The Eagle again froze the display.

"We have now reached a point in time ten million years before the
present," he said.  "On the Earth, the dinosaurs have long since
disappeared, destroyed by their inability to adapt to the climate
changes caused by the impact of a great asteroid .  . . Their
disappearance, however, has allowed the mammals to flourish, and one of
those mammalian evolutionary lines is starting to show the rudiments of
intelligence .  . ."

The Eagle stopped.  Nicole was looking up at him with an intense,
almost pained expression on her face.

"What's the matter?"  the alien asked.

"Will our particular universe end in harmony?"  Nicole asked.

"Or will we be one of those data-points that helps God define the
region He is seeking by being outside the desired set?"

"What prompts you to ask that question right now?"  The Eagle said.

"This whole display," Nicole answered, waving with her hand, 'is an
amazing catalyst.  My mind has dozens of questions."  She smiled.

"But since I don't have time to ask them all, I thought I would ask the
most important one first .  . .

"Just look at what has happened here," she continued, 'even now, after
ten billion years of evolution, the lights are widely scattered.  And
none of the groupings that exist has become permanent or widespread,
even in this relatively small portion of the galaxy.  Surely if our
universe is going to end in harmony, sooner or later lights, indicating
space farers and intelligence, should be illuminated at almost every
star system in
every galaxy ... Or have I misinterpreted what Saint Michaahmeant by
harmony?"

"I don't think so," The Eagle said.

"Where is our solar system in this current display?"  Nicole now
asked.

"Right there," The Eagle said, using his light-beam pointer.

Nicole glanced first at the area around the Earth and then quickly
surveyed the rest of the room.

"So ten million years ago, there were about sixty space faring species
living among our closest ten thousand stellar neighbour hoods .  . .
And one of those species, if I understand that cluster of dark green
lights, originated not too far from us and had spread to include twenty
or thirty star systems altogether .  . ."

"That's correct," said The Eagle.

"Should I run the display forwards again, at a slower rate?"

"In a little while," Nicole said.

"I want to appreciate this particular configuration first .  . . Up
until now everything has been happening in this display faster than I
could possibly absorb it .  .

."

She stared at the group of green lights.  Its outer edge was no more
than fifteen light years from where The Eagle had marked the solar
system.  Nicole motioned The Eagle to start the display again and he
told her the rate would now be only two hundred thousand years a
second.

The green lights moved closer and closer to the Earth and then they
suddenly disappeared.

"Stop," yelled Nicole.

The Eagle halted the display.  He looked at Nicole with a quizzical
expression.

"What happened to those guys?"  Nicole said.

"I told you about them a couple of days ago," The Eagle said.

"They genetically engineered themselves out of existence."

They almost reached the Earth, Nicole thought.  And how different all
history would have been if they had .  . . They would have recognised
immediately the intellectual potential of the proto humans in Africa,
and would doubtless have done to them what the Precursors did to the
octo spiders Then we .  . .

In her mind's eye, Nicole suddenly had an image of Saint Michael,
calmly explaining the purpose of the universe in front of the fireplace
in Michael and Simone's study.

"Could I see the beginning?"  Nicole asked The Eagle.

"The beginning of what?"  he replied.

"The beginning of everything," Nicole said eagerly.

"The instant when this universe began, and the entire process of
evolution was set in motion."  She waved her hand towards the model
below them.

"We can do that," The Eagle said after a brief pause.

"We have no knowledge about anything before this universe was created,"
The Eagle said a moment later as Nicole and he stood together on the
platform in total darkness.

"We do assume, however, that some
kind of energy existed before the instant of creation, for we have
been told that the matter of this universe resulted from a
transformation of energy."

Nicole looked around her.

"Darkness, everywhere," she said, almost to herself.

"And somewhere in that darkness if the word "somewhere" even has any
meaning there was energy.  And a Creator ... Or might the energy have
been part of the Creator?"

"We don't know," The Eagle said after another short pause.

"What we do know is that the fate of every single element in the
universe was determined in that initial instant.  The way in which that
energy was transformed into matter denned billions of years of history
. . ."

As The Eagle spoke, a blinding light filled the room.  Nicole turned
away from the source and covered her eyes.

"Here," said The Eagle, reaching into his pouch.  He handed Nicole a
special pair of glasses.

"Why did you make the simulation so bright?"  Nicole asked after
adjusting her glasses.

"To indicate, at least in some measure, what those initial moments were
like .  . . Look," he said, pointing below them,

"I have stopped the model at io"40 seconds after the creation instant.
The universe has existed for only an infinitesimal length of time, yet
already it is rich in physical structure.  This incredible amount of
light is all coming from that tiny chunk of cosmic broth below us ...
All that "stuff" forming the early universe is completely alien to
anything we could recognise or understand.  There are no atoms, no
molecules.  The density of the quarks, leptons and their friends is so
great that a pinch of the "stuff" no larger than a hydrogen atom would
weigh more than a large cluster of galaxies in our era .  . ."

"Just out of curiosity," Nicole said, 'where are you and I at this
moment?"

The Eagle hesitated.

"Nowhere would be the best answer," he said eventually.

"For illustrative purposes we are outside the model of the universe.
But we could be in another dimension.  The mathematics of the early
universe do not work unless there were initially more than four
dimensions.  Of course everything in space-time that will later become
our universe is contained in that small volume producing the awesome
light.  The temperature over there, incidentally, if the model were a
true representation, would be ten trillion trillion times hotter than
the hottest star that will eventually evolve.

"Our model here has also distorted the concepts of size and
distance,"

The Eagle continued after a brief pause.

"In a moment I will start the simulation of the early universe again,
and we will be overpowered as that compact blob of radiation explodes
outwards at an astonishing rate .  . . While the simulation of what the
cosmologists call the Inflation Era
is occurring, the assumed size of this room will also be
increasiag'rapidly.  If we did not change the scale, you would not be
able now to see the structure of the universe at io'40 seconds without
a fantastic microscope."

Nicole stared below her at the source of light.

"So that minuscule warped globule of hot, heavy stuff was the seed of
everything?  From that tiny stew of subatomic particles came the great
galaxies you showed me in the other domain?  It doesn't seem possible .
. ."

"Not just those galaxies," The Eagle said.

"The potential for everything in the cosmos is stored in that peculiar
superheated soup .

. ."

The small globule suddenly began to expand at an enormous rate.

Nicole had the feeling that the outside of the globule was going to
touch her face at any moment.  Millions of bizarre structures formed
and disappeared in front other eyes.  Nicole watched in fascination as
the material seemed to change its nature several times, moving through
transitional states as peculiar and foreign as the earlier superheated
globule.

"I have run time forwards in the model," The Eagle said several seconds
later.

"What you see out there now, approximately one million years after
creation, would be recognisable to any dedicated student of physics.
Some simple atoms have formed three kinds of hydrogen, two of helium,
for example.  Lithium is the heaviest known atom that is plentiful .  .
. The density of the universe is now roughly equivalent to the air on
Earth, and the temperature has fallen to a comparatively comfortable
one hundred million degrees, or twenty orders of magnitude less than it
was at the time of the hot globule."

He activated the platform and guided it among the lights and clumps and
filaments.

"If we were really smart," The Eagle said, 'we would be able to look at
all this early matter and predict which "lumps" would eventually become
galactic clusters ... It was at about this time that the first Prime
Monitor appeared, the only intruder into this otherwise natural
evolution process .  . . No monitoring could have been done earlier,
because the process is so sensitive .  . . Any kind of observation
during the first second of creation, for example, would have completely
distorted the resultant evolution."

The Eagle pointed at a tiny, metallic sphere in the centre of several
huge agglomerations of matter.

"That first Prime Monitor," he said, 'was sent by the Creator, from
another dimension of the early universe, into our evolving space-time
system.  Its purpose was to observe what was occurring and to create,
as necessary, with its own intelligence, the other observing systems
that would together gather all the pertinent information on the overall
process."

"So the Sun, the Earth, and every human being," Nicole said slowly,
'resulted from the unpredictable natural evolution of this cosmos.  The
Node, Rama, and even you and Saint Michael were produced from a
directed development designed originally by that first Prime Monitor .
. ."

She paused, glancing around her, and then turned to The Eagle.

"You could have been predicted shortly after the moment of creation .
.

and even the existence of humanity, came from a process so
mathematically perverse that we could not even have been predicted a
hundred million years ago, which is only one per cent of the time since
the beginning of the universe .  . ."

Nicole shook her head and then waved her hand.

"All right," she said, 'that's enough .  . . I'm overloaded with the
infinite."

The great room became dark again except for the small lights on the
floor of the platform.

"What is it?  "The Eagle said, seeing a look of distress on Nicole's
face.

"I'm not certain," she said.

"I feel a kind of sadness, as if I had experienced a deep personal loss
... If I have understood all this, then all humans are far more special
than you, or even Rama.  The odds are very much against any creatures
even nearly like us ever arising again, either in this universe or any
other .  . . We are one of the fluke products of chaos.  You, or at
least something like you, probably exist in all those other universes
the Creator is supposedly observing .  . ."

There was a momentary silence.

"I guess I had imagined," Nicole continued, 'after listening to Saint
Michael, that there would be human voices in that harmony God was
seeking .  . . Now I realise that it is only on the planet Earth, in
this particular universe, that our songs .  . ."

Nicole felt a sharp burst of pain in her chest.  It remained intense.

She struggled to breathe, convinced for several moments that the end
was coming immediately.

The Eagle said nothing, but watched her carefully.  When Nicole finally
caught her breath, she spoke in short, broken clauses.

"You told me ... at lunch ... a personal place .  . . where I could see
family and friends .  . ."

They talked briefly in the car while the pain was momentarily bearable.
Both The Eagle and Nicole knew, without either of them saying anything,
that the next attack would be the last.

They entered another of the exhibit areas in the Knowledge Module.

This room was a perfect circle, with a space in a small floor-section
in the middle where The Eagle could stand next to Nicole's wheelchair.
They crossed to their central location and watched as human like
figures began to replay events from Nicole's adult life in each of the
six separate theatre settings that closely surrounded them.

The verisimilitude of the replays was astonishing.  Not only did all
Nicole's family and friends look exactly as they had at the UM -that
the events had taken place, but all the sets were perfect
reconstructions as well.  In one of the scenes Katie was water-skiing
boldly near the shore of Lake Shakespeare, laughing and waving with the
reckless abandon that was her trademark.  In another Nicole watched a
recreation of the party the little troupe on Rama II had held to
celebrate the one thousandth anniversary of the death of Eleanor of
Aquitaine.  Seeing Simone at age four and Katie at two, and both
Richard and herself when they were still young and vigorous, brought
tears to Nicole's eyes.

has been an astonishing life, Nicole thought.  She rolled her
wheelchair into the scene from Rama II and the action stopped.  Nicole
leaned over and picked up the robot TH that Richard had created to
amuse the little girls.  It felt properly weighted in her hands.

"How in the world did you do this?"  Nicole asked.

"Advanced technology," The Eagle replied.

"I couldn't explain it to you."

"And if I went over there, where Katie is skiing, would the water feel
wet to my touch?"

"Absolutely."

Nicole rolled out of the scene holding the pseudo-robot in her hands.

When she was gone, another thing materialised and the scene continued.  I
had forgotten, Richard, Nicole said to herself, all your brilliant
little creations.

Her heart granted her a few more minutes to enjoy the vignettes taken
from her life.  Nicole thrilled again to the moment of Simone's birth,
relived her first night of love with Richard not long after he found
her in New York, and experienced for a second time the fantastic array
of sights and creatures that had greeted Richard and her when the gates
of the Emerald City had first opened to them.

"Can you replay any event from my life that I might want?"  Nicole
asked, feeling a sudden constriction in her chest.

"As long as it happened after you arrived at Rama, and I can find it in
the archives," The Eagle replied.

Nicole gasped.  The final heart attack was under way.

"Please," she said with difficulty, 'may I see my last conversation
with Richard, before he left .  . ."

It won't be long, a voice inside Nicole said.  She clenched her teeth
and tried to concentrate on the scene that had suddenly appeared in
front of her.  Richard was explaining to pseudo-Nicole why he was the
one who should accompany Archie back to New Eden.

"I understand," pseudo-Nicole said in the scene.

I understand, the real Nicole said to herself.  That is the most
important statement anyone can ever make .  . . the whole key to life
is understanding
. . . And now I understand that I am a mortal creature whose time of
death has come.

Another surge of intense pain was accompanied by a fleeting memory of a
Latin line from an old poem.

"Timor mortis cmturbat me' .  . . but I will not be afraid because I
understand.

The Eagle was watching her closely.

"I would like to see Richard and Archie," she said, labouring, 'their
final moments ... in the cell.  .

. just before the biots came."

i will not be afraid because I understand.

"And my children, if they can somehow be here .  . . And Dr Blue."

The room became dark.  Seconds ticked by.  The pain was terrible.  i
will not be afraid .  . .

The lights came on again.  Richard and Archie were in their cell
immediately in front of Nicole's wheelchair.  She heard the biots open
the cell-block door down the hall .  . .

"Freeze it there, please," Nicole stammered.  Just to the left of the
scene with Richard and Archie, her children and Dr Blue were lined up
in a tableau, Nicole struggled to her feet and walked the few me tres
to be among them.  Tears poured from her eyes as she touched the faces
that she loved one final time.

The walls of her heart began to collapse.  Nicole stumbled into the
scene in Richard's cell and embraced the representation of her husband.
"I understand, Richard," she said.

Nicole dropped to her knees slowly.  She turned to face The Eagle.

"I

understand," she said with a smile.

And understanding is happiness, she thought.

 Acknowledgements We would like to thank Neal and Shelagh Ausman, as
well as Gerry and Michelle Snyder, for representing the readers in
making suggestions about topics that should be addressed in Rama
Revealed.  Gerry was also extremely helpful in discussions about the
details of the octo spider language.

Our Bantam editor Jennifer Hershey has been a source of strength and
support throughout the development and writing of this novel, providing
both unflagging encouragement and valuable recommendations about all
aspects of the book.  Thank you, Jennifer.  We are also indebted to
Richard Evans at Victor Gollancz for several specific editorial
remarks, including the suggestion of adding a prologue.

Lou Aronica and Russ Galen, our publisher and our agent, have helped us
in countless ways during the five years since the Rama trilogy sequel
was originally conceived.  Their many contributions have allowed us to
focus our energies on the actual writing of the novels.

Our final thanks go to our families, for their love and understanding
throughout this time.  To Stacey Kiddoo Lee especially, we extend our
heartfelt appreciation, not only for her willingness to manage a family
of four small boys in the presence of difficult (and changing)
constraints, but also for her insightful comments about Nicole and the
other leading female characters of the trilogy.



