Gregory Benford Furious Gulf
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upside-down body. He remembered suddenly the "art" that the Mantis had
displayed years ago.
Human artworks. These crude monuments to human evil had a strangely similar
quality.
He took a few steps toward them before he saw the cloud of insects that
whispered and buzzed around each. He approached the nearest on wooden legs,
scarcely believing the sight of hundreds of mites swarming over the inverted
body. They buzzed angrily as he came near and stooped to see the congested,
blood-black face.
"This is Anedlos]" Killeen cried, TIDES OF LIGHT
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Jocelyn tugged him away. "Don't look. They put him up days ago. Yes'day he
died. Other two are Tribe--from Card Suit."
Stunned, Killeen stammered, "Anedlos--Anedlos was a good crafter. He... he..."
"He wouldn't take part in their religious service. He argued with His
Supremacy."
"And for that--" Killeen made himself stop, try to think.
"What did you do?"
"His Supremacy? I pleaded, but--"
"Pleaded? That's all?"
"What could I do?" Jocelyn asked defiantly.
"Tell that maniac that nobody hands out justice in Family
Bishop 'cept Family Bishop."
"That's... that's not the way things work here."
"No decision by the Tribe can set aside a Family's justice, you know that."
Jocelyn spread her hands in a gesture of futility. "Old rules don't work here.
His Supremacy says he's God's embodiment and what he says is law."
"He's crazy."
"Yeasay, but he has many, many Families who think he's God."
"Killing mechs doesn't make you God."
Jocelyn shrugged. "These Families, they always had Gods and stuff. His
Supremacy pulled it all together some way."
Killeen remembered the Nialdi Aspect he had carried years before, an ardently
religious man. Nialdi was never any real use, though the Aspect had given
guidance to Cap'ns down through the ages. As soon as he became Cap'n, with
power over Aspect assignments, he had put Nialdi in chipstore.
Religious fervor... typically arises in times... of unsettling change. End of
the Chandelier Epoch saw... much ardor... Nialdi . . . came from... shortly
after...
seems likely His Supremacy carries . . . several such personalities
. . . and may give him . . . charismatic power
over the Tribe...
His Grey Aspect whispered weakly. Killeen saw her point. Nialdi applied the
apparent truths of that time to the present. His
Supremacy was doing the same. Maybe the trick of hiring his people out to mech
cities had given the man enough power to let the underlying powerful Aspects
come into play.
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Gregory Benford
Killeen said, "Still, we can't let--"
"Look," she said heatedly, "I been tryin' ever'thing. His Supremacy put me in
charge since we thought you were dead. It's all
I can do, just getting food. We were pretty bad off when we landed. These
people took us in. We're lucky--"
"Crazy man will do you in bad, you follow him," Killeen said, exasperated.
He stalked back to the woman, unsheathing a tool to unwind the wires. They
were hard to free because the wire had cut deeply into her wrists. Before he
was through he saw that blood was running out of her mouth, spattering the
gray mud and mingling with the spitting rain that came blowing into the gully.
She was dead.
Back in the Bishops' camp he assembled Cermo and Joeelyn and Shibo and
questioned them closely. He started with the escape.
Shibo had led the flight from the station. She had even reactivated the
Flitter where Joeelyn was hiding. The Cybers who captured Killeen had ignored
the eraft. As soon as they moved away and lifted their control of it, Shibo
had commanded it to join the dispersed Flitter fleet that carried the Family.
They had been very lucky. When the cosmic string stopped spinning Shibo saw
their chance. Her deft handling of the shuttles'
microminds had brought them on a steep dive into the atmosphere. One
shuttlecraft had come apart with four Bishops aboard. She guided them to a
rough landing a day's hardmarch from here. They had come down at night. The
watch here had sent a runner to see who they were.
"Thing is, who're they?" Killeen asked.
"Tribe of Cards. They've got pasteboards they play games with, got their
Family names on 'em," Cermo said. His face was drawn and crusted with beard.
"Urn. Seems funny, makin' Family from some game," Killeen said. "But they're
all we got here."
Shibo said, "A Niner told me our Families come from a game."
Killeen snorted in disbelief. "Bishops 'n' Kings 'n' Rooks?"
Shibo shrugged. Cermo said, "I bet they made that up. Just
'cause we thought was funny they're named for lfl cards."
Killeen said thoughtfully, "We got lot in common though.
Tribes, Families, even same rules."
Shibo said, "Must've come from same place."
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Jocelyn nodded. "His Supremacy says we're all from same
Chandelier."
Cermo asked, "How's he know?"
"His Aspects," Jocelyn said. "I bet Aspects kept us all 'bout the same. Rules
and such--Aspects're big on those."
"And talk," Killeen said. "Aspects always nag about speakin'."
Shibo said, "That might explain why we can still understand these Cards."
"Makes sense," Jocelyn said. "Our language changes, we couldn't understand our
Aspects. Or trade 'era with these Cards."
Killeen said carefully, "Who says we'd do that?"
"His Supremacy," she answered.
"Why?"
"Pool our tech."
Killeen said, "The Sebens' Cap'n didn't seem interested in that."
"Well, His Supremacy says he wants to check out the Aspects the Bishop
officers use."
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They looked at each other.
Shibo said, "Maybe he thinks we don't have enough God-loving
Aspects?"
Jocelyn said, "All I know is what His Supremacy tells me."
"Which sure's not much," Cermo said.
"I can deal with him," Jocelyn said proudly. "! got us food and tents."
Killeen remembered how, years before they left Snowglade, the Family had been
surprised at night and had to leave behind all their bedding and tents and a
lot of cooking gear. Though they had fallen far from the wonderful,
hypnotically exotic comforts of
Argo, he was glad to see that the Family had adjusted quickly to the hardships
of the land.
Nearby a metal-crafter was fashioning a carryrack from some wrecked mech
tubing. The Bishop camp stirred with effort as old talents came into play
again, and Killeen could see on faces a reborn confidence that came from
finding the old methods still good and true.
He covered the arrangements Jocelyn had made with the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
