But all his help might not be enough. If the refugee ship was as important as Ravna thought,
复件 (27) air max, there could be enormous perils awaiting any rescuers. Ravna looked across the surf. When the waves backed down the sand, she could see the Skroderiders' fronds peeping out of the spray. How she envied them; if tensions annoyed them, they could simply turn them off. The Skroderiders were one of the most common sophonts in the Beyond. There were many varieties, but analysis agreed with legend: very long ago they had been one species. Somewhere in the off-Net past, they had been sessile dwellers of sea shores. Left to themselves, they had developed a form of intelligence almost devoid of short-term memory. They sat in the surf,
复件 (84) air max, thinking thoughts that left no imprints on their minds. Only repetition of a stimulus, over a period of time, could do that. But the intelligence and memory that they had was of survival value: it made it possible for them to select the best possible place to cast their pupal seeds, locations that would mean safety and food for the next generation. Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to "help" them out. Someone had put them on mobile platforms, the skrodes. With wheels they could move along the seashores, could reach and manipulate with their fronds and tendrils. With the skrode's mechanical short-term memory, they could learn fast enough that their new mobility would not kill them. Ravna glanced away from the Skroderiders -- someone was floating in over the trees. The Emissary Device. Maybe she should call Greenstalk and Blueshell out of the water. No. Let'em bliss out a little longer. If she couldn't get the special equipment, things would be tough enough for them later.... Besides, I can do without witnesses. She folded her arms across her chest and glared into the sky. The Vrinimi Org had tried to talk to the Old One about this, but nowadays the Power would only work through its Emissary Device ... and he had insisted on a face-to-face meeting. The Emissary touched down a few meters away, and bowed. His lopsided grin spoiled the effect. "Pham Nuwen, at your service." Ravna gave a little bow in return,
mbt staka beluga, and led him to the shade of her inner office. If he thought that face-to-face would unnerve her,
复件 (2) air max, he was right. "Thanks for the meeting,
复件 (94) air max1, sir. The Vrinimi Organization has an important request of your principal," owner? master? operator? Pham Nuwen plunked himself down, stretching indolently. He'd stayed out of her way since that night at The Wandering Company. Grondr said Old One had kept him at Relay though,
复件 (73) air max1, rummaging through the archives for information about humanity and its origins. It made sense now that Old One had been persuaded to restrict Net use: the Emissary could do local processing, i.e., use human intelligence to search and summarize and then upload only the stuff that Old One really needed. Ravna watched him out of the corner of her eye as she pretended to study her dataset. Pham had his old, lazy smile. She wondered if she would ever have the courage to ask him how much of their ... affair ... had been a human thing. Had Pham Nuwen felt anything for her? Hell, did he even have a good time? From a Transcendent point of view, he might be a simple data concentrator and waldo -- but from her viewpoint he was still too human. "Um, yes. Well ... the Org has continued to monitor the Straumli refugee ship even though your principal has lost interest." Pham's eyebrows raised in polite interest. "Oh?" "Ten days ago, the simple 'I-am-here' signal was interrupted by a new message, apparently from a surviving crewmember."
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