agencies won’t support any more work in this area, Tom. You’re going to have to leave. We can’t get you directly back to the States. But we can chopper you to Moscow, then to a military base near Berlin, and then by civilian charter to London.”
I kept my mouth shut, knowing from long experience that while he might listen to Sonia, he certainly wouldn’t listen to
me.
At length Tom said miserably, “All right. But the sequencing project—”
“That will go on,” Sonia said brightly. “They have robots to do this sort of thing now.” She stood up. “I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll, umm, I’ll leave you to it.”
She pushed her way out of the tent, and Tom and I were left together, inarticulate, joined by electronics, separated by more than distance. We started to make plans. I would fly to England to meet him in person, if I could.
But even as we talked it through I was thinking over what had happened here, and in a corner of my mind I wondered what would happen if
all
those icy methane deposits, all around the poles of the planet, decided to yield up their treasures in one mighty global burp.
Chapter 8
On the ocean world, in the shelter of the flitter, Reath continued Alia’s education.
“Have you thought any more about what I’ve told you?”
“You haven’t told me anything,” she said sourly. “Nothing but that list of names. The Implications of This and That—”
He laughed. “Of Indefinite Longevity. Of Unmediated Communication. Of Emergent Consciousness.”
“What am I supposed to think? They’re just names!”
“Isn’t that enough? Alia, do you imagine I have a set of textbooks for you? To become a Transcendent is a process of discovery about yourself.”
“You mean I have to figure it all out?”
“You may discover more wisdom in yourself than you imagine. Let’s start with the first stage, for instance—”
“Indefinite Longevity.”
“What do you imagine that means?”
She thought about it. “Not dying.”
“Why is this important?”
“Because the Transcendence was created by immortals.” Every child knew that, even though it sounded like nothing but a scary story.
“Do you think extreme longevity is possible?”
She shrugged. “On the
Nord
we expect to live to five hundred or so, barring accidents. In Michael Poole’s day, it was rare to live much beyond one hundred. Surely it would be possible to come up with a treatment to stop the aging process altogether.”
“An immortality pill?”
“Yes.”
“And if I had such a pill, and gave it to you, you would expect to live forever?”
“Not
forever.
There will always be accidents. This stupid platform might fly up and tip me off into the sea any second.”
He laughed. “Yes. Undying, then, if not immortal. But, statistically, with luck, you could expect a much longer life span. An indefinite life span, in fact.”
“Indefinite Longevity.”
He smiled. “You see, we don’t just pluck these terms out of the air. And how would
that
make you feel?”
“It would be a wonderful gift. So much extra life—”
“Don’t spout clichés, child,” he said.
She was taken aback; he rarely snapped at her.
“Think it through,” he said. “Suppose it were true. How would you
feel
?”
To know you would certainly die one day was one thing. To know that there was at least a chance that you might live on and on and on, without limit, would change everything. How would she feel? “Different.”
“How? What about other people? You’ve just had an almighty row with your family. Would you feel differently about that if you thought that you might face millennia more of life?”
“I wouldn’t have had the row at all,” she said immediately. If her mother were to die before they could be reconciled, Alia would always regret it. And if she lived for tens of millennia or more, that regret would burn away at her soul, irresolvable. “It would drive me crazy, in the end. If I knew I was not going to
I kept my mouth shut, knowing from long experience that while he might listen to Sonia, he certainly wouldn’t listen to
me.
At length Tom said miserably, “All right. But the sequencing project—”
“That will go on,” Sonia said brightly. “They have robots to do this sort of thing now.” She stood up. “I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll, umm, I’ll leave you to it.”
She pushed her way out of the tent, and Tom and I were left together, inarticulate, joined by electronics, separated by more than distance. We started to make plans. I would fly to England to meet him in person, if I could.
But even as we talked it through I was thinking over what had happened here, and in a corner of my mind I wondered what would happen if
all
those icy methane deposits, all around the poles of the planet, decided to yield up their treasures in one mighty global burp.
Chapter 8
On the ocean world, in the shelter of the flitter, Reath continued Alia’s education.
“Have you thought any more about what I’ve told you?”
“You haven’t told me anything,” she said sourly. “Nothing but that list of names. The Implications of This and That—”
He laughed. “Of Indefinite Longevity. Of Unmediated Communication. Of Emergent Consciousness.”
“What am I supposed to think? They’re just names!”
“Isn’t that enough? Alia, do you imagine I have a set of textbooks for you? To become a Transcendent is a process of discovery about yourself.”
“You mean I have to figure it all out?”
“You may discover more wisdom in yourself than you imagine. Let’s start with the first stage, for instance—”
“Indefinite Longevity.”
“What do you imagine that means?”
She thought about it. “Not dying.”
“Why is this important?”
“Because the Transcendence was created by immortals.” Every child knew that, even though it sounded like nothing but a scary story.
“Do you think extreme longevity is possible?”
She shrugged. “On the
Nord
we expect to live to five hundred or so, barring accidents. In Michael Poole’s day, it was rare to live much beyond one hundred. Surely it would be possible to come up with a treatment to stop the aging process altogether.”
“An immortality pill?”
“Yes.”
“And if I had such a pill, and gave it to you, you would expect to live forever?”
“Not
forever.
There will always be accidents. This stupid platform might fly up and tip me off into the sea any second.”
He laughed. “Yes. Undying, then, if not immortal. But, statistically, with luck, you could expect a much longer life span. An indefinite life span, in fact.”
“Indefinite Longevity.”
He smiled. “You see, we don’t just pluck these terms out of the air. And how would
that
make you feel?”
“It would be a wonderful gift. So much extra life—”
“Don’t spout clichés, child,” he said.
She was taken aback; he rarely snapped at her.
“Think it through,” he said. “Suppose it were true. How would you
feel
?”
To know you would certainly die one day was one thing. To know that there was at least a chance that you might live on and on and on, without limit, would change everything. How would she feel? “Different.”
“How? What about other people? You’ve just had an almighty row with your family. Would you feel differently about that if you thought that you might face millennia more of life?”
“I wouldn’t have had the row at all,” she said immediately. If her mother were to die before they could be reconciled, Alia would always regret it. And if she lived for tens of millennia or more, that regret would burn away at her soul, irresolvable. “It would drive me crazy, in the end. If I knew I was not going to
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