[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
kilometers and glowing the oceanic blue she had seen around the circular
barrier. The floor of the corridor was still visible on all sides but reduced
in defmitiou and overlaid by the plasma's new color.
Directly ahead, two broad cubes were strung in succession along the pale
thread of the singularity. Each of the visible faces of the cubes were marked
with a broad horizontal cleft; the front of the foremost cube welcomed the
singularity through a large hemispheric dimple, marked by glimmering spokes.
At the center of the indentation was a red hole, and there the singularity was
engulfed.
Beyond the cubes--and several times as broad--was a cylinder, rotating around
its central axis, the line of the singularity. Its outer surface sparkled
with thousands of lights; the side facing her was dark but for a series of
five radiating arrays of beacons.
Next in line after the cylinder, three curved vanes stretched outward to the
Page 152
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
structure's maximum radius, perhaps ten kilometers. The vanes seemed to touch
or support the plasma tube, making it glow blue-white around the outermost
edge of each vane. Whatever else was beyond the cylinder was effectively
blocked from view.
"Home," Olmy said behind her. She turned and looked at him, blinking.
"The first segments are navigation and power stations, all automatic.
The rotating cylinder is Axis Nader.
We can't see them from this perspective, but beyond lie Central City,
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (258 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt
Axis Thoreau and Axis Euclid."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"We'll enter a dock in Axis Nader."
"How large is the city?"
"Do you mean, how extensive, or how many people?"
"Both, I suppose." · "It stretches forty kilometers down the Way, and it has
a population of about ninety milliontwenty million corporeal, embodied;
seventy million stored in City Memory."
"Oh." She turned back to the screen and watched in silence as the craft moved
inward, past the doubled cubes and along the dark side of the rotating
cylinder. · "I suppose, in your time, you would have called Axis City a
necropolis, a city of the dead," Olmy continued.
"But the distinction isn't so precise for us. I, for example, have died twice
performing my duty to the Nexus."
"They revived you?" Patricia asked.
"They made me over again," he replied.
.She did not turn away from the screen, even though her back prickled.
The Presiding Minister had advised Olmy to report to Ser Oligand Toiler
immediately upon his arrival. Toiler, advocate for Tees van Hamphuis, the
President of the Hexamon Nexus,
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (259 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt was a radical C-eshel
who had chosen to maintain a completely human appearance. That the appearance
bore no relation to his natal design---it had been adapted for maximum
leadership qualitiesdid not mitigate the unusual conservatism; most radical
Geshels, including the President, had chosen neo-morph shapes, which bore
little relation to natural human forms.
What Olmy had to say, the P.M. judged, would be of extreme interest to the
President. The President himself was unavailable, involved in a long-term
conference on the problem of the impending Jart offensive;
Toiler' was a kind of unofficial replacement.
This did not please the Naderites, or even the members of van
Hamphuis's immediate staff. Toiler was not an easy man to deal with.
Olmy had met the advocate once before, and had not liked him at all, though he
had gained a healthy respect for his abilities.
Toiler kept his office in the most desirable professional wedge of
Central City, no more than a few minutes tracting and just a few seconds shaft
ascent from the Nexus Chambers in the precinct's core.
Once Olmy had made arrangements for Patricia's quarters, but before he had had
a chance to confer with his own advocate, he went to To!ler's office.
Toiler had decorated the small rectangular space in the most simple and
adaptable Oeshel style. Decoration was spate; the major texture theme was
platinum and steel, and the overall effect was harsh and unyielding.
The President's advocate was not pleased with the news Olmy brought.
Page 153
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"The P.M. had no suspicion of this when you alone were sent?"
Toiler picted. The symbols that flashed between the two men came from pictor
torques around their necks, devices which generated and projected the
graphicspeak that had developed over the centuries in the
Thistledown and in the Axis City.
"His information was highly equivocated," Olmy said.
"All he knew was that the Thistledown had been reoccupied."
Toiler picted an unpleasant image of a roiling nest of snakelike creatures.
"This is extraordinary news, Ser Olmy. Coming from anyone else, I would find
it difficult to believe ....
But then, you've brought one of them back with you, haven't you?"
"Her name is Patricia Luisa Vasquez."
"A genuine . . . ancestor?"
Olmy nodded.
"Why did you bring her back? As evidence?"
"I could not leave her; she was close to discovering how to modify sixth
chamber machinery." ·Toller raised his eyebrows and picted four orange
circles of surprise.
"What is this woman?"
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (260 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt
"A young mathematician," Olmy said, "highly regarded by her superiors."
"And you did nothing else to correct this situation you found on the
Thistledown?"
"The situation is highly unstable there; they will not be able to organize for
some time, and I thought it best to consult with the
President and the Nexus." 'I'll inform the President, but you're aware we
have our own major difficulties now. This conference . . . it could
determine the whole course of the Axis City. And there's been considerable
unrest and speculation among the Naderites--especially the
Korzenowski faction. If they learn of this . . ." The picte nt of
serpent-like creatures glowed a furious orange-red. Secfilde this woman and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
kilometers and glowing the oceanic blue she had seen around the circular
barrier. The floor of the corridor was still visible on all sides but reduced
in defmitiou and overlaid by the plasma's new color.
Directly ahead, two broad cubes were strung in succession along the pale
thread of the singularity. Each of the visible faces of the cubes were marked
with a broad horizontal cleft; the front of the foremost cube welcomed the
singularity through a large hemispheric dimple, marked by glimmering spokes.
At the center of the indentation was a red hole, and there the singularity was
engulfed.
Beyond the cubes--and several times as broad--was a cylinder, rotating around
its central axis, the line of the singularity. Its outer surface sparkled
with thousands of lights; the side facing her was dark but for a series of
five radiating arrays of beacons.
Next in line after the cylinder, three curved vanes stretched outward to the
Page 152
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
structure's maximum radius, perhaps ten kilometers. The vanes seemed to touch
or support the plasma tube, making it glow blue-white around the outermost
edge of each vane. Whatever else was beyond the cylinder was effectively
blocked from view.
"Home," Olmy said behind her. She turned and looked at him, blinking.
"The first segments are navigation and power stations, all automatic.
The rotating cylinder is Axis Nader.
We can't see them from this perspective, but beyond lie Central City,
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (258 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt
Axis Thoreau and Axis Euclid."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"We'll enter a dock in Axis Nader."
"How large is the city?"
"Do you mean, how extensive, or how many people?"
"Both, I suppose." · "It stretches forty kilometers down the Way, and it has
a population of about ninety milliontwenty million corporeal, embodied;
seventy million stored in City Memory."
"Oh." She turned back to the screen and watched in silence as the craft moved
inward, past the doubled cubes and along the dark side of the rotating
cylinder. · "I suppose, in your time, you would have called Axis City a
necropolis, a city of the dead," Olmy continued.
"But the distinction isn't so precise for us. I, for example, have died twice
performing my duty to the Nexus."
"They revived you?" Patricia asked.
"They made me over again," he replied.
.She did not turn away from the screen, even though her back prickled.
The Presiding Minister had advised Olmy to report to Ser Oligand Toiler
immediately upon his arrival. Toiler, advocate for Tees van Hamphuis, the
President of the Hexamon Nexus,
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (259 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt was a radical C-eshel
who had chosen to maintain a completely human appearance. That the appearance
bore no relation to his natal design---it had been adapted for maximum
leadership qualitiesdid not mitigate the unusual conservatism; most radical
Geshels, including the President, had chosen neo-morph shapes, which bore
little relation to natural human forms.
What Olmy had to say, the P.M. judged, would be of extreme interest to the
President. The President himself was unavailable, involved in a long-term
conference on the problem of the impending Jart offensive;
Toiler' was a kind of unofficial replacement.
This did not please the Naderites, or even the members of van
Hamphuis's immediate staff. Toiler was not an easy man to deal with.
Olmy had met the advocate once before, and had not liked him at all, though he
had gained a healthy respect for his abilities.
Toiler kept his office in the most desirable professional wedge of
Central City, no more than a few minutes tracting and just a few seconds shaft
ascent from the Nexus Chambers in the precinct's core.
Once Olmy had made arrangements for Patricia's quarters, but before he had had
a chance to confer with his own advocate, he went to To!ler's office.
Toiler had decorated the small rectangular space in the most simple and
adaptable Oeshel style. Decoration was spate; the major texture theme was
platinum and steel, and the overall effect was harsh and unyielding.
The President's advocate was not pleased with the news Olmy brought.
Page 153
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"The P.M. had no suspicion of this when you alone were sent?"
Toiler picted. The symbols that flashed between the two men came from pictor
torques around their necks, devices which generated and projected the
graphicspeak that had developed over the centuries in the
Thistledown and in the Axis City.
"His information was highly equivocated," Olmy said.
"All he knew was that the Thistledown had been reoccupied."
Toiler picted an unpleasant image of a roiling nest of snakelike creatures.
"This is extraordinary news, Ser Olmy. Coming from anyone else, I would find
it difficult to believe ....
But then, you've brought one of them back with you, haven't you?"
"Her name is Patricia Luisa Vasquez."
"A genuine . . . ancestor?"
Olmy nodded.
"Why did you bring her back? As evidence?"
"I could not leave her; she was close to discovering how to modify sixth
chamber machinery." ·Toller raised his eyebrows and picted four orange
circles of surprise.
"What is this woman?"
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt (260 of 504) [1/17/03
7:20:22 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%20Eon.txt
"A young mathematician," Olmy said, "highly regarded by her superiors."
"And you did nothing else to correct this situation you found on the
Thistledown?"
"The situation is highly unstable there; they will not be able to organize for
some time, and I thought it best to consult with the
President and the Nexus." 'I'll inform the President, but you're aware we
have our own major difficulties now. This conference . . . it could
determine the whole course of the Axis City. And there's been considerable
unrest and speculation among the Naderites--especially the
Korzenowski faction. If they learn of this . . ." The picte nt of
serpent-like creatures glowed a furious orange-red. Secfilde this woman and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]