Im okay, I assured her, although I still didnt feel confident that I could put the shirt and trousers on.
So Handsel said, she told me. She seemed to know what she was doing, so we let her get on with it. By this time she had managed to maneuver herself into a situation which was as close to face-to-face as was feasible. I moved closer to the nearest pile of crates so that I could use its mass to steady myself a little.
It was you, wasnt it? she said.
I knew what she meant, so I just nodded my head.
Thanks, she said. I already knew I mean, Id worked it out when I went through it for the second time but it really helped me to get a grip on things. None of the other stories ever really worked. It was good to hear the one that did retold.
Youre welcome, I said. They fixed me up the same way, but my friends froze me down before I was used. Thats why they brought us back. The AMIs may be ultrasmart, but they dont know how much they dont know about the world before their advent. They brought us back because they wanted to know about the kinds of weapons that had been hidden away long before they had a chance to take notes, and never dusted off in the interim.
I know, she said. I worked it out. She wasnt trying to show off her cleverness she was sympathizing with me, because she knew what I must have gone through when I figured it out.
Somehow, I got into the clothes. I knew that I ought to take a shower first, but I had to take things one step at a time.
We have light and elementary life support, she told me, but its all emergency backup. All the smart systems are dead, even the sloths. This cave seems to be the only empty space of any size hereabouts, although theres a network of tunnels we havent begun to explore. All the surfaces are covered in machinery housed in some kind of glassy fabric, and there are masses of machinery in what used to be other rooms, but its all dead. Theres a com system of sorts, but its useless. We cant even send a mayday, unless Lowenthal and Horne can repair it and power it
up. Theyre trying.
Others know were here, I told her. By now, that must include people as well as other machines. Every smart spaceship in the system knows our location, and Im as sure as I can be that theyre on our side. The bad guys cant win in space, no matter how much damage they can do in the wells. They killed Eido and they killed the Snow Queen, but someone will come for us. Its just a matter of time.
We hope, she said. She spoke as if she were humoring me, so I knew that some of what Id said had come across as gibberish. She probably thought that Id had a bad dream.
I looked down again at the cocoon from which I had been wrenched. It had died while I was nestling in its womb, and it had not had time to wake me before spitting me out. My expulsion had not been an easy birth, and might have been counted a stillbirth if Michael Lowenthals faithful servant hadnt been on hand to force me back to life. The other pods arranged alongside it were in an equally parlous state, but none was sealed and there were no corpses littering the parts of the floor that I could see.
I looked away, satisfied that all was well, but suddenly looked back, having become aware that something was not quite right. I counted the pods, then counted them again.
There were ten. All ten showed every evidence of having disgorged a living body.
We noticed that too, Christine confirmed. The extra man doesnt seem to be in the cave but the people who started hollowing out the asteroid dug a lot of tunnels. We cant tell how far the maze extends. I hope its a long way, because that would mean that we have a lot of oxygen to spare, and the carbon dioxide wont build up too rapidly, even though the recycling equipment is worse than crude. I dont suppose you have any idea who the extra person might have been.
Rocambole, I murmured. It seemed to be the most obvious jumpable conclusion.
Who?
More likely a what than a who, I told her. But that doesnt mean that he couldnt take the precaution of equipping himself with the kind of body that could survive
That was when it hit me that if Rocambole could do that, la Reine should have been able to do likewise. There were only ten cocoons here, but there was also a maze of tunnels that the optimistic microworlders had excavated before their grand plan went awry.
I had shared la Reines death but she was no mere human. Perhaps
Are you all right now? As ever, it was the solicitous Mortimer Gray.
I think so, I said, trying to sound confident. You?
We all got out in good time. Adam and Christine werent conscious, but at least they were breathing.
I looked around for Adam Zimmerman, but I couldnt see him. Niamh Horne was deep in conversation with Michael Lowenthal and Solantha Handsel, but I couldnt see Davida Berenike Columella or Alice Fleury either.
Solantha Handsel was examining her hand, apparently anxious that she might have damaged it by hitting me too hard, but she looked up when she became aware that I was paying attention.