Its doing its best, Mortimer said, his voice sinking to a mere whisper. You can be sure that itll carry on beating, and hoping, as long as it possibly can.
No sooner had he said this, however,
than his eyes lit up in surprise. He had been sinking into a torpor, but a fresh draught of oxygen had startled his lungs.
Whats that? he asked. A miracle?
No sir, said the silver. I merely improvised a chemical reaction in certain equipment that is superfluous to our present requirement, whose effect was to release a little extra oxygen. It will not prolong our lives, but it will enable you to remain conscious for a while longer, if that is your wish.
I had known men who would have preferred to go peacefully to sleep in such circumstances, but I was not one of them. Nor was Mortimer Gray.
Thats good, he said. Not that theres anything constructive to do or say, of course but time is always precious, even to an emortal. I havent always been sufficiently grateful for the time Ive had, or for the opportunities for communication that time has allowed, but Im wiser now than I used to be. I know how important it was that Emily and I talked so incessantly when we were aboard that life raft in the Coral Sea. I told myself at the time that I was talking for her sake, to take her mind off the awfulness of our situation, but I knew I wasnt being honest with myself.
What did you talk about? asked the silver except that it wasnt the silver.
I wouldnt have guessed if Rocambole hadnt whispered in my ear, but he was enthusiastic to be my friend: a duty which included doing what was necessary to keep me up to speed. This is new, he said. The first time around, he fell unconscious. This is what might have happened if there really had been a chemical reaction to be improvised that would release more oxygen.
I wasnt arrogant enough to believe that la Reine had got the idea from me. On the contrary, I assumed instead that she had known all along what I would do in response to seeing Christine Caine reenact her past. All of this was part of the same game.
How widely are you broadcasting this? I asked, remembering that the unwitting Mortimer had had an audience of billions the first time around. Are the posthumans listening in as well as the AMIs?
I certainly hope so, said Rocambole, but there are no guarantees. We dont know whether the communication systems will cooperate. In any case, light being the slowcoach it is, the entire audience will be hours behind us. We dont know yet who might have heard what weve already put out, or what the spectrum of their reactions might have been were just taking it for granted that theyre hungry for more. Whatever the situation is, the show must go on.
And the show did go on.
Forty-Eight
There But for Fortune
We talked about everything, was Mortimers reply to la Reines question. I cant remember the conversation in any detail, but I know that we said a lot about the future prospects of the colonization of the solar system, the colonization of the galaxy. Reports from the stars had just begun to come back from the kalpa probes. We talked about the future development of the solar system; the Type 2 crusaders were just then enjoying one of their brief bursts of publicity. Emily said that she wanted to go into space when she was older. She said it as if it were something shed always wanted, but I think it was an ambition that formulated itself there and then, not so much in response to all the stuff I was telling her about as to the realization that she was in trouble. She was a bright girl, and shed always known that there was a long future ahead of her, but it wasnt until she found that future under threat that her mind was sharpened sufficiently to focus her expectations.
I think I know how she felt, said la Reine des Neiges.
I thought I knew how Emily felt, Mortimer said, reflectively. I think I told her that there was a lot I wanted to see. She told me that she didnt just want to see things; she wanted to make things. Not just things, but worlds. I didnt understand what she meant, and I think I betrayed my own resolution by telling her how difficult I thought it would be for people like us to make a home in space.
I realize now how different we are, Emily and I. I really did think of the future in terms of seeing things, of being a lifelong observer, always analyzing, explaining, criticizingand she really did think of it in terms of making things, including worlds. First she built ice palaces, then she built cities, thenshe hasnt finished yet, not by a long chalk.
I dont know where she stands nowadays on the Type 2 crusade, but Id be willing to bet that if we ever do build a shell around the sun to conserve its energy shell be there, helping to determine its architecture. And if we
ever do commit ourselves to lighting up one of the gas giants as an alchemical furnace producing heavy elements shell be there too. Last time we spoke she favored Uranus as the fusion furnace, because weve already invested too much in the Jovian and Saturnian satellites.