because they
move with darting ease in both atmosphere and deep space. Admirable for avoiding interception. That was before the Arcologies
lost control of their orbital factories. Before the mech grip on Snowglade grew so tight.
Killeen ordered some fresh squads to inspect the storage bay and estimate the carrying capacity of the Flitters. The Family
had explored only a fraction of the station, so it was no surprise that this storage-and-receiving bay had eludedthem. Killeen had hoped such a place might turn up; the incoming vessel had simply pointed the way.
A signal came on comm from Shibo.—Something’s happening with the hoop.—
Killeen quickly made his way through shafts and tunnels to the station’s disk surface. He had to juggle his elation at finding
shuttle ships which could take parties to the planet surface, against the unyielding fact that something vast was at work
on New Bishop.
The vision that confronted him was mystifying. The hoop had nearly reached the polar axis, he saw. But it was not moving inward
now. Instead, it seemed to turn as he watched. Its inward edge, razor-sharp and now ruler-straight, was cutting around the
planet’s axis of rotation. In a simulation provided by Shibo he saw the hoop spinning about its flattened edge.
—It slowed its approach to the axis,—Shibo sent.—Then started revolving.—
“Looks like getting faster,” Killeen said.
A pause.—Yeasay…the magnetic fields are stronger now, too.—
“Look, it’s slicing around the axis.”
—Like cutting the core from an apple.—
“Revolving…”
—Yeasay. Picking up speed.—
As he watched, the hoop revolved completely around the axis of New Bishop. The golden glow brightened further as if the thing
was gaining energy.
“Pretty damn fast,” Killeen said uselessly, wrestling to see what purpose such gigantic movements could have.
The simulation grew more detailed as Shibo’s uncanny sympathy with
Argo’
s computers brought up more information.
He said quizzically, “That dashed line further out—”
—That’s this station. We’re clear of the string,—Shibo sent.
“More like a cosmic ring,” he mused.
Wedding band
, he thought.
Getting married to a planet
…“It hitting anything?”
—Naysay. Nothing’s orbiting near it.—
“Looks like somethin’ in high polar orbits.” He had picked up some of the jargon from his Aspects but still had trouble with
two-dimensional pictures like this simulation.
—That’s small stuff. Too far away to tell.—
“Much around the middle?”
—The equator? More small things. And a funny signal. Looks very large one moment, then a little later it reads as small.—
“Where?”
—Close in. Just skims above the atmosphere, looks like.—
“Sounds like mechtech. We’ve poked our hands into a beehive. Damn!”
—There’s more. I’ve been scanning New Bishop. Picking up faint signals that seem human-signified.—
“People?” Killeen felt a spurt of elemental joy. A humanpresence in this strange enormity…“Great! Maybe we can still live here.”
—I can’t tell what the signals say. Might be suit comm amped way up. Like somebody talkin’ to a crowd.—
“Try getting a fix on it.”
—Yeasay, lover.—She added a playful laugh and he realized he was being too brusque and Cap’nly.
“You can get even in bed tonight.”
—That an order?—
“You can give the orders.”
—Even better.—
He laughed and turned back to the spectacle.
His mind skipped with agitated awe. It had been sheer bravado, he thought, to name this sun Abraham’s Star. A tribute to his
father, yes, and with a sudden wrenching sadness he wished desperately that he could again talk to Abraham. It seemed he had
never had enough time to learn from his father, never enough to tap that unpretentious certainty that Abraham had worn like
a second skin.
He recalled that weathered yet mirthful face, its casual broad smile and warm eyes.
move with darting ease in both atmosphere and deep space. Admirable for avoiding interception. That was before the Arcologies
lost control of their orbital factories. Before the mech grip on Snowglade grew so tight.
Killeen ordered some fresh squads to inspect the storage bay and estimate the carrying capacity of the Flitters. The Family
had explored only a fraction of the station, so it was no surprise that this storage-and-receiving bay had eludedthem. Killeen had hoped such a place might turn up; the incoming vessel had simply pointed the way.
A signal came on comm from Shibo.—Something’s happening with the hoop.—
Killeen quickly made his way through shafts and tunnels to the station’s disk surface. He had to juggle his elation at finding
shuttle ships which could take parties to the planet surface, against the unyielding fact that something vast was at work
on New Bishop.
The vision that confronted him was mystifying. The hoop had nearly reached the polar axis, he saw. But it was not moving inward
now. Instead, it seemed to turn as he watched. Its inward edge, razor-sharp and now ruler-straight, was cutting around the
planet’s axis of rotation. In a simulation provided by Shibo he saw the hoop spinning about its flattened edge.
—It slowed its approach to the axis,—Shibo sent.—Then started revolving.—
“Looks like getting faster,” Killeen said.
A pause.—Yeasay…the magnetic fields are stronger now, too.—
“Look, it’s slicing around the axis.”
—Like cutting the core from an apple.—
“Revolving…”
—Yeasay. Picking up speed.—
As he watched, the hoop revolved completely around the axis of New Bishop. The golden glow brightened further as if the thing
was gaining energy.
“Pretty damn fast,” Killeen said uselessly, wrestling to see what purpose such gigantic movements could have.
The simulation grew more detailed as Shibo’s uncanny sympathy with
Argo’
s computers brought up more information.
He said quizzically, “That dashed line further out—”
—That’s this station. We’re clear of the string,—Shibo sent.
“More like a cosmic ring,” he mused.
Wedding band
, he thought.
Getting married to a planet
…“It hitting anything?”
—Naysay. Nothing’s orbiting near it.—
“Looks like somethin’ in high polar orbits.” He had picked up some of the jargon from his Aspects but still had trouble with
two-dimensional pictures like this simulation.
—That’s small stuff. Too far away to tell.—
“Much around the middle?”
—The equator? More small things. And a funny signal. Looks very large one moment, then a little later it reads as small.—
“Where?”
—Close in. Just skims above the atmosphere, looks like.—
“Sounds like mechtech. We’ve poked our hands into a beehive. Damn!”
—There’s more. I’ve been scanning New Bishop. Picking up faint signals that seem human-signified.—
“People?” Killeen felt a spurt of elemental joy. A humanpresence in this strange enormity…“Great! Maybe we can still live here.”
—I can’t tell what the signals say. Might be suit comm amped way up. Like somebody talkin’ to a crowd.—
“Try getting a fix on it.”
—Yeasay, lover.—She added a playful laugh and he realized he was being too brusque and Cap’nly.
“You can get even in bed tonight.”
—That an order?—
“You can give the orders.”
—Even better.—
He laughed and turned back to the spectacle.
His mind skipped with agitated awe. It had been sheer bravado, he thought, to name this sun Abraham’s Star. A tribute to his
father, yes, and with a sudden wrenching sadness he wished desperately that he could again talk to Abraham. It seemed he had
never had enough time to learn from his father, never enough to tap that unpretentious certainty that Abraham had worn like
a second skin.
He recalled that weathered yet mirthful face, its casual broad smile and warm eyes.
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