The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [216]
‘Down here, of course, it’s a different story. The Uvovo are starting to say that some remnant of Segrana still lingers on Darien, in the daughter-forests and elsewhere. Perhaps that’s why she’s staying away – it would remind her of how much has been lost to the ash.’ He grinned ruefully. ‘On the other hand, she is adamant about getting pregnant!’
‘That seems an appropriate ambition in the circumstances,’ said the emissary.
The two shook hands and Cameron headed off downhill to join a small group waiting next to an open-top mountain-car. The emissary watched him leave thoughtfully, then took a small pouch from his jacket, tipped out a number of small black seeds and pressed them into the soil near the base of the spiraleaf sapling dedicated to Julia Bryce. Putting away the pouch, he surveyed the scene briefly and listened to the piper for several long moments. Then strode off down the grassy slope to where his own vehicle, a single-seater hire car, was parked.
Two hours later the emissary had reached Port Gagarin and was in his shuttle pod, awaiting clearance from air–orbit traffic control. An hour after that the pod had returned him to the Construct tiership, Finite Codex, and the emissary was entering the airy observation lounge/bridge. Various Rosas and Roberts were in attendance, some working at translucent holoconsoles, others engaged in thought-games or discussion.
‘I read out your speech exactly as you composed it,’ he said as he walked up the ramp to the circular balcony where the Construct waited. ‘I almost felt flattered at such lyrical praise.’
The Construct had exchanged its usual spindly metal-mech remote for a humanoid one, its skin configured to display rippling ribbons of silver and gold.
‘That is understandable,’ it said. ‘But the deceased Robert and you are experientially different.’
‘In other words, Robert,’ said a black-dressed man as he rose from an easy chair, ‘the map is not the territory. Did you plant the seeds?’
The emissary smiled. ‘Yes, Harry, I pushed the bluebell seeds into the soil around her tree. When they flower it will be a fine sight. You, on the other hand, have remained a sight draped in black. I thought you said you were thinking of a new wardrobe.’
‘I did think about it, then realised that if you’re tired of the colour black you’re tired of life!’ Harry laughed and tipped his hat back at a rakish angle. ‘Or at least the synthetic equivalent thereof. So – where are we off to next?’
The Construct looked at him.
‘Tier 19. When the Humans used the spacefold bomb to shut down the warpwell there were still many thousands of Legion cyborgs travelling up the portal’s flux conduit. And when it was switched off … ’
‘Don’t tell me – a big, nasty mess, yes?’
‘Indeed. Everything inside was crash-transitioned to whatever tier it was passing through at the time. Resonant transition effects ripped apart most of the cyborgs and left a trail of debris all the way down. But approximately three hundred somehow survived and are turning their attentions to several of the worlds in Tier 19.’
Harry’s joviality faded. ‘Invade, slaughter any opposition, then turn the remaining population into slaves to build more of their charming brethren.’
‘That is what we are going to investigate. You on the other hand once expressed an eagerness to return to the tiernet – if you are ready I can have you paradigitised and transloaded in less than a minute … ’
‘You know, actually I find that I have become attached to this autonomous physical-form experience. What’s more, it’s time that I played a more active role in this ongoing undertaking of yours. I am certain that I can make a valuable contribution, maybe even provide a new perspective.’
‘I