Part 36 (1/2)

”So simple.” Gyasi shook his head. ”You said you had a theory about Angelma.s.s. Did it have something to do with possible structure?”

”I don't know,” Kosta said. ”Maybe.”

”Well, spit it out,” Chandris said.

Kosta braced himself. ”What would you say,” he said, ”if I told you I think Angelma.s.s has become sentient?”

For a long minute the only sound in the room was the humming of the computer cooling fans. ”I'd probably say you'd been working too hard,” Gyasi said at last. ”Jereko, it's a black hole. A fruitcake would have more chance of spontaneously developing sentience than it would.”

”Would it?” Kosta countered. ”You're forgetting Che and his nine angels.”

”Easy,” Gyasi warned, jerking his head urgently toward Chandris. ”We're keeping that quiet, remember?”

”Keeping what quiet?” Chandris asked.

”Che Kruyrov found that a cubic array of nine angels mimics a Lantryllyn logic circuit,” Kosta told her. ”That was a system that people once thought could form the basis for a fully sentient computer.”

Chandris blinked. ”So now your quanta of good have become quanta of sentience?””We don't know what it means,” Gyasi said, looking pained. ”But I'm sure it doesn't mean you can make a jump from a single Lantryllyn circuit straight to a sentient black hole.”

”It attacks hunters.h.i.+ps,” Kosta said flatly. ”It's done it twice, firing dead-on at moving targets.”

”Maybe more than twice,” Chandris said, staring at the white line as the image on the screen

continued its slow rotation. ”You said there were other radiation surges before the one that hit the Hova's Skyarcher. Were they all pointed at hunters.h.i.+ps?””I don't know,” Kosta said grimly. ”We'll have to check on that. And it's had to alter its internal structure and even its gravitational field to do so.””A black hole hasn't got an internal structure,” Gyasi snapped.”Then it's altered its event-horizon environment,” Kosta said. ”I don't know what the h.e.l.l it's doing, or how it's doing it. But you can't deny it is doing something.”

Gyasi snorted. ”Next you're going to try to tell me this has some bearing on the increase in angel production you calculated.”

”As a matter or fact, I'm sure it does,” Kosta said. ”Hawking radiation is caused by strong tidal

forces at the event horizon. A side effect of Angelma.s.s's gravitational and radiation surges could

well be an increase in the number of angels it turns out.”

Gyasi exhaled loudly, looking back at the display showing the rotating vector field. Kosta stirred, as if preparing to speak; Chandris touched his arm warningly, and he subsided.

”So what do we do?” Gyasi asked at last. ”We put something like this on the net and we're going to

have a lot of scared people out there.”

”Agreed,” Kosta said. ”I was thinking of telling Director Podolak and a couple of others. Dr.

Qhahenlo, certainly, and probably Che and Dr. Frashni, too.”

”What are you going to use for data?” Chandris asked.

Kosta frowned at her. ”What do you mean? The angel, of course.”

”The Daviees' angel?” she asked pointedly. ”The one it's illegal for them to have?”

”Yes, the-” Kosta broke off. ”Illegal?”

”I looked it up earlier, while I was waiting for you to show,” Chandris told him. ”Angel hunters are required by law to turn in any angel they find.”

Gyasi waved a hand impatiently. ”Sure, but in this case-”

”No,” Chandris said flatly.

”She's right,” Kosta seconded. ”They've got enough trouble right now, with Hanan in the hospital and a half-wrecked s.h.i.+p.” He looked at Chandris. ”Anyway, I promised we'd put the angel back when we were done testing it.”

”Then what do we do?” Gyasi asked.

”We dig up some independent data,” Kosta said. ”Let's start by seeing if we can find evidence of anti- angels.”

He reached for the terminal; checked the motion with a muttered curse. ”Yaezon, if you would?” he

said. ”Check for me when the last time was anyone went out looking for one.”