Part 52 (2/2)

”You. Grant will be all right here, my word on it. Absolutely no one is going to lay a hand on him. We just don't need complications. Defense is going to be d.a.m.ned nervous about Reseune. We've got some careful navigation to do. I'm telling you, son, Administration is watching you very, very closely. You've been immaculate. If you-and Jordan-can get through the next few years-there's some chance of getting a much, much better situation. But if this situation blows up, if anything-if anything anything goes wrong with Ari-I don't make any bets. For any of us.” goes wrong with Ari-I don't make any bets. For any of us.”

”Dammit, doesn't anybody care about the kid kid?”

”We care. You can answer this one for yourself. Right now, Reseune is in a major financial mess and Defense is keeping us alive. What happens to her-if Defense moves in on this, if this project ends up-under that Bureau instead of Science? What happens to any of us? What happens to the direction all of Union Union will take after that? Changes, that much is certain. Imbalance-in the whole system of priorities we've run on. I'm no politician. I hate politics. But, d.a.m.n, son, I can see the pit ahead of us.” will take after that? Changes, that much is certain. Imbalance-in the whole system of priorities we've run on. I'm no politician. I hate politics. But, d.a.m.n, son, I can see the pit ahead of us.”

”I see it quite clearly. But it's not ahead of us, Yanni. I live in it. So does Jordan.”

Yanni said nothing for a moment. Then: ”Stay alive, son. You, and Grant, -be d.a.m.n careful.”

”Are you telling me something? Make it plain.”

”I'm just saying we've lost something we couldn't afford to lose. We. Everybody, dammit. So much is so d.a.m.n fragile. I feel like I've lost a kid.”

Yanni's chin shook. For a moment everything was wide open and Justin felt it all the way to his gut. Then: ”Get,” Yanni said, in his ordinary voice. ”I've got work to do.”

xiii Ari walked with uncle Denys out of the lift in the big hall next to Wing One, upstairs, and it was not the kind of hall she had expected. It was polished floors, it was a Residency kind of door, halfway down, and no other doors at all, until a security door cut the hallway off.

”I want to show you something,” uncle Denys had said.

”Is it a surprise?” she had asked, because uncle Denys had never shown her what he had said he would show her; and uncle Denys had been busy in his office with an emergency day till dark, till she was glad glad Nelly was still with them: Seely was gone too. Nelly was still with them: Seely was gone too.

”Sort of a surprise,” uncle Denys had said.

She had not known there were were any apartments up here. any apartments up here.

She walked to the door with uncle Denys and expected him to ring the Minder; but: ”Where's your keycard?” he said to her, the way the kids used to tease each other and make somebody look fast to see if it had come off somewhere. But he was not joking. He was asking her to take it and use it.

So she took it off and stuck it in the key-slot.

The door opened, the lights came on, and the Minder said: ”There have been twenty-seven entries since last use of this card. Shall I print?” ”There have been twenty-seven entries since last use of this card. Shall I print?”

”Tell it save,” uncle Denys said.

She was looking into a beautiful apartment, with a pale stone floor, with big furniture and room, room, more room than maman's apartment, more room than uncle Denys', it was huge; and all of a sudden she put together more room than maman's apartment, more room than uncle Denys', it was huge; and all of a sudden she put together last use of this card last use of this card and and twenty-seven twenty-seven and the fact it was and the fact it was her her card. card.

Hers. Ari Emory's.

”This was your predecessor's apartment,” uncle Denys said, and walked her inside as the Minder started to repeat. ”Tell it save.”

”Minder, save.”

”Voice pattern out of parameters.”

”Minder, save,” uncle Denys said.

”Insert card at console.”

He did, his card. And it saved. The red light went off. ”You have to be very careful with some of the systems in here,” uncle Denys said. ”Ari took precautions against intruders. It took Security some doing to get the Minder reset.” He walked farther in. ”This is yours. This whole apartment. Everything in it. You won't live here on your own until you're grown. But we are going to get the Minder to recognize your voice.” He walked on, down the steps, across the rug and up again, and Ari followed, skipping up the steps on the far side to keep close to him.

It was spooky. It was like a fairy-tale out of Grimm. A palace. She kept up with uncle Denys as he went down the hall and opened up another big room, with a sunken center, and a couch with bra.s.s trim, and woolwood walls-pretty and dangerous, except the woolwood was coated in thick clear plastic, like the specimens in cla.s.s. There were paintings on the walls, along a walkway above the sunken center. Lots of paintings.

Up more steps then, past the bar, where there were still gla.s.ses on the shelves. And down a hall, to another hall, and into an office, a big big office, with a huge black desk with built-ins like uncle Denys' desk. office, with a huge black desk with built-ins like uncle Denys' desk.

”This was Ari's office.” Uncle Denys pushed a b.u.t.ton, and a terminal came up on the desk. ”You always have a 'base' terminal. It's how the House computer system works. And this one is quite-protective. It isn't a particularly good idea to go changing these base accesses around, particularly on my base terminal... or yours. Sit down, Ari. Log on with your CIT-number.”

She was nervous. The House Computer was a whole different system than her little machine in her room. You didn't log-on until you were grown, or you got in a lot of trouble with Security. Florian said some of the systems were dangerous.

She gave uncle Denys a second nervous look, then sat down and looked for the switch on the keyboard.

”Where's the on on?”

”There's a keycard slot on the desk. At your right. It'll ask for a handprint.”

She turned in the chair and gave him a third look. ”Is it going to do something?”

”It's going to do a security routine. It won't gas the apartment or anything. Just do it.”

She did. The handprint screen lit up. She put her hand on it.

”Name,” the Minder said. the Minder said.

”Ariane Emory,” she told it.

The red light on the terminal went on and stayed on.

The monitor didn't come up from the console.

”What's it doing?”

”Checking the date,” he said. ”Checking all the House records. It's finding out you've been bora and how old you are, since it's found similarities in that handprint and probably in your voiceprint, but it knows it's not the original owner. It's checking Archives for all the Ari handprints and voiceprints it has. It's going to take a minute.”

It wasn't wasn't like the ordinary turn-on. She had seen uncle Denys do that, just talking to his computer through the Minder. She looked at this one working, the red light still going, and looked at Denys again. ”Who wrote this?” like the ordinary turn-on. She had seen uncle Denys do that, just talking to his computer through the Minder. She looked at this one working, the red light still going, and looked at Denys again. ”Who wrote this?”

”Good question. Ari would have asked that. The fact is, Ari did. She knew you'd exist someday. She keyed a lot of things to you, things that are very, very important. When the prompt comes up, Ari, I want you to do something for me.”

”What?”

”Tell it COP D/TR comma Bl comma E/IN.”

Take program: Default to write-files. ”What's Bl? What's IN?” ”What's Bl? What's IN?”

”Base One. This is Base One. Echo to Instore. That means screen and Minder output into the readable files. If I thought we could get away with it I'd ask it IN/P, and see if we could snag the program out, but you don't take chances with this Base. There!”

The screen unfolded from the desktop and lit up.

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