[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
inside each Nought. Instinct, reason, the whole motley company of
hormone-steeped emotions--each breathed in the veils of sex that spiced every
fervent moment.
What impossible complexity! No wonder they seemed so antic.
Their inner worlds were scenes of endless combats.
Page 205
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
This further clouded her search. Just as she despaired, though, she sniffed
her own Nought. Here it was--safe! Her antennae picked up tangs of it below,
moving fast.
Its aura mingled with another's--the Nought Quath had briefly occupied before.
The two of them were circling one of the podia.
Quath clattered downhill. If she could get within range
The two Noughts were clearly planning on assaulting the hexpodder. Quath was
too far away to be sure she could hit the podder without striking the Noughts.
Instead, she pried up the musky layers of her own Nought's mind, searching for
some inlet.
There. Quickly she injected a lump of knowledge about the hexpodder. It would
be jarring to the Nought, but perhaps it could assimilate the data.
Yes--she watched as the Noughts struck the podder cleanly with disabling
shots.
Good. She could help them somewhat. But would she be smarter to simply collect
it and scurry away?
No, there was something else. As she settled into the back recesses of her
Nought's electro-aura she felt springy threads of connection. It was linked to
others here. The web vibrated and undulated with a curious song of thick
emotion and feral, emerald instinct.
As the Noughts scampered downslope Quath struggled to understand this new
facet. Though each Nought imagined itself quite individual, beneath their
consciousness lay thick, sinewy connections.
They operated proudly alone yet yearned for union. That was why sex had such
heft for them. To disconnect the Nought from the others would do it severe
injury. While her orders from the Tukar'ramin were clearly to excise this one
Nought, she saw now that this would not work. Noughts did not live by head
alone.
She had scarcely sensed any of the depth of this Nought when
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (316 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:59 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
308
Gregory Benford she had carried it down from orbit. She had ignored its pain
of separation from its kind. Now she saw that Nought links, if severed,
damaged all.
The two Noughts met others. One produced a sharp, eager spike throughout her
own Nought's buzzing self. Here was true resonance. Her Nought felt a symphony
of urgings heavily laced with the complex musk of sex.
No, she could not yank it from these strange moorings. She would have to
devise some better way.
Meanwhile, booming shots and rattling near-misses caromed through the
foothills. Quath ran desperately toward the valley floor, where a battle was
beginning. One of Beq'qdahl's gang sighted in on her Nought below. Quath sent
a crackling blast into the podder. It tumbled over and began to smoke.
Good. This podder was a stranger to Quath, and she was able to brush away the
stigma that came welling up from her subminds.
But in the valley was Beq'qdahl, and Quath did not know what she could do
there. She felt a hard, sinewy knot of conflict arise in her. She tried to
force it down into her subminds but they would not accept the bulked fibers.
It churned in her like a bleeding pink cyst. Could she truly kill her own kind
in defense of a
Nought?
Quath could not unravel the bristly knot. She ran on.
Chapter FIFTEEN
As Killeen approached Jocelyn's small command party he checked his pace. It
was a bad idea to display haste or anxiety. That would unsteady others.
Page 206
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Then it occurred to him that he was thinking like a Cap'n. At the beginning of
the battle he had relished his freedom; now it seemed a hollow pleasure.
"Reporting," he said simply as he reached Jocelyn. She crouched behind a
broken mech-factory wall, listening intently to her comm.
Her face was drawn and smudged with dirt, but her eyes danced with nervous
energy. She had ordered him down from Shibo's position commanding the hill.
Jocelyn gave him a look of harried relief. "Killeen--good." She seemed to have
to dredge her words out of some inner struggle.
Breathing heavily, she sat down on an overturned mech carapace.
Factory debris littered everywhere. "I... I'm afraid His Suprem-
acy has decided against the breakout."
Killeen said nothing, just nodded.
Surprised, Jocelyn asked, "You think it's because we pulled out last time?"
"That guy's crazy. Pointless, tryin' figure him out."
Jocelyn pursed her lips, obviously gathering her resources. A
microwave burst hissed past nearby. Killeen saw that Cybers had moved closer
in from the hills, cutting off the cover of undulating terrain. Family Bishop
had formed a skirmish line along the river.
They maneuvered now among the shattered rock that bordered the deep fault
line. Twilight cast long blue fingers from each protrusion now. As Family
members fell back from the gullies and dry washes their shadows made them even
more prominent targets.
He watched a running woman retreat under covering fire from the Family. A UV
bolt struck her in the lower back, bathing her in crisp darting fireflies.
Dying blue sparks glowed in the gloom. She fell. It was Lanaui, an old friend.
Too far away for him to do
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (317 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:59 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
309
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt (318 of 373) [5/21/03 1:01:59 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Gregory%20Benford/Benford,%20Gregory%20-%20Tides%20of%20Light.t
xt
310
Gregory Benford anything. He strained forward, watching, hoping that the shot
had not damaged her major systems. Twangs and booms came as
Family hammered away at Cyber targets. Lanaui moved. She rolled over and
hobbled to the shelter of a burntout mech transporter.
From her gait Killeen could tell her power systems were dead. Now she would
have to flee using only normal human strength. A Cyber could run her down
easily.
"What"--Jocelyn bit her lip--"can we do?"
He said carefully, "Can't make the hills, not without cover from the Tribe."
"I agree." From her stiffness he saw that she was having trouble yielding
enough even to ask advice from him.
"Can't keep goin' either."
"No."
Microwaves rattled through Killeen's sensorium. Nearby Family members ducked,
but he just leaned against the smashed factory wall. He was afraid that if he
sat down his legs would refuse to get up.
"Night comes, we'll stand out by our body IR." Killeen felt an idea
percolating somewhere and the only way he knew to get it out was to keep
talking, let his subconscious send it floating free.
Jocelyn's eyes kept darting as she surveyed the coinbat grids in her eyes. She
Page 207
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]