Part 14 (1/2)
”What's that mean?”
”Depends. She might he there temporarily. A lot of the cute ones go from the Peak to Heaven. A lot of the smart ones stay to help manage. A few of the older kids are trustees- they have the guns, and they watch what goes on below.
Avidore picks some to be recruiters. My guess is that your Fenelia is on her way to Heaven '
”What's going to happen to her there?”
Lusela shakes her head. ”You don't want to know.” She consults the computer again. ”I can get you into the Upper City; a friend of mine there will help you reach the Peak. From there you're on your own.”
Doku nods. ”Thank you.”
”It's late, and we'll have to get you into the Upper City before morning. Robbie, take your friends to the kitchen and tell Ca.s.sie to find you something to eat. I have a few contacts to make, then you're on your way.”
I touch Lusela, softly, with Shalit's right hand. ”Do not fear. Little One. The Hlutr will set things right.”
”I-I thank you.”
The Upper City is haphazard, its dwellings nothing more than prefabricated shelters and hastily-erected wooden huts. Robbie, who has insisted on coming with us, trembles as we drop from the top of the wall; his mind seethes with anxiety. I do what I can to quiet him.
It is somewhat easier than before. More of my brethren pay attention to events here upon Karphos; the planet is surrounded by tenuous eddies of Hlut-song, and I draw power from the concentration of my folk. As yet the Hlutr are only mildly interested...yet there is a hint of a stronger fascination to come.
Why? What is one world to the Hlutr Elders, one world dead so long it is but a legend, one world populated only by seventy seventies of Human children?
The Elders are concerned to know everything about Humans. And when the matter concerns Human children, it is that much more vital. Two hundred Human generations ago the Elders recognized Human youngsters as the hope of this strange race; for five millennia only the children have consistently spoken in the voice which needs no sound, the true voice of the soul. If that voice is encouraged, nurtured and cherished, then the child grows into a truly mature adult.
As child is the key to the development of adult, perhaps Karphos is a key to the development of the race. Of course the Elders listen and watch. Learning of Karphos, they could do no less.
But will they do more?
And although I quiet Robbie's apprehension, I can do nothing to ease Doku's mounting distress. Her mind, far more developed than Robbie's and yet far less sensitive to the Inner Voice, is all but closed to me. Doku is disturbed by Karphos, and she broods as we walk.
Soon enough, following Lusela Holic's precise instructions, we have made our way to a certain building which perches on an outcropping and overlooks the grid of the Middle City as well as the slaughterhouses of the Lower. Before Doku can knock upon the door, it opens to reveal a tall, dark Human male whose face I know well: Nen Basilus.
His eyes widen and he shakes his head. ”Get inside,” he hisses, and we obey.
Inside, a large darkened room is crowded with sleeping children. Nen closes the door, then solemnly puts a finger to his lips. He beckons, and we silently follow him past slumbering bodies.
It is dark, but not too dark for Shalit's gifted eyes. Not a few of the sleeping children clutch dolls, most just stuffed rags sewn together...but all the dolls, disturbingly, have the same painted face. And some of those blank faces turn to follow us as we pa.s.s, almost as if the dolls are awake while their owners rest.
Nen lets us into a small office where a half dozen terminals supply a pale, eerie light. With the office door shut behind us, Nen sighs heavily.
”I didn't expect you,” he says to Doku. ”You must be in some trouble, to need help from Lusela this soon.”
Doku straightens and looks him in the eye. ”You might as well know the truth- ”
”Keep your voice down.” He looks toward the door. ”Don't you know anything?”
Before she can reply, I touch her on the shoulder. ”The dolls, Doku.”
”You talk!” Nen draws back.
I face him. ”Are you surprised to hear an unfamiliar organism speak, in a world where dolls watch and listen? They do, don't they?”
”You're right. Everything they monitor winds up in Avidore's files. So watch out.” He nods at Doku. ”Finish what you were saying. Tell me what's going on.”
Quietly,m Doku explains: her ident.i.ty, our homes, our mission to find Fenelia. All through her story, Robbie keeps his eyes on her, even though I know he does not comprehend what she says. ”So Lusela sent us to see you,” she finishes. ”She seemed to think that you could help us.”
”Oh, she did, did she? We'll see about that.” He reaches to a terminal, taps on the keyboard, and in a second Lusela Holic's image appears on the screen.
”Are you scrambled?” she hisses.
”Of course. I've got some kids here who say that I'm going to help them find some other brat. What do you know about it?”
”I sent them,” Lusela answers.
”Are you insane? I told you, I've had it with this. Last time Avidore almost caught me. I'm not going to take a chance like that again.”
”Trust me, Nen. Please. This one is important.”
”No.” His Inner Voice sings with an awful dread...Avidore will find out what he's doing, and Avidore will punish him. ”I mean it, Lusey. I can't do this, not even for you.”
She sighs.” All right. Send them back to me.”
”What are you going to do?”
”You haven't left me with many choices, have you? I'll take them to the Peak myself.”
Now a new fear strikes Nen. ”You can't. You're safe in the city, but if Avidore get ahold of you on the Peak, it'll be the hunt for sure.”
”That's a chance I'll have to take, won't I?”
”Don't do this to me!” Fear battles fear within Nen Basilus. ”d.a.m.n it, Lusey, I can't let you walk up there to get killed. What would I do without you? Don't force me into this.”
”I'm not forcing you. I believe that these kids can really make a difference. I'm willing to take chances for that. If you're not, then it's my choice.”
For long moments Nen sits paralyzed between dread and terror...then he pounds his fist on the desk. ”All right, d.a.m.n it, I'll do what I can to help them. Better that than . . .”
Lusela Holic smiles. ”Thank you, Nen. I didn't want to do it alone.” She lowers her head. ”Please be careful.”
”Count on it.”
”I love you.”
”You too.” He punches the terminal, and Lusela's image fades into darkness. Then Nen turns to us.
”You'd better sit down. This isn't going to be easy.” With a deep breath, Nen begins. ”I don't remember your friend- I bring in too many kids, and they all look the same in hibernation. If she's on the Peak this soon after arrival, chances are that she's waiting for transfer to Heaven.”
”What does that mean?”
His skin, dark as night, flushes. ”Avidore has a lot of customers. People pay him to take care of their kids- they don't know what goes on here, they think it's just a vacation for the children. People also pay him for...other things. Some folks come to the Peak, or here to the Upper City, and make selections among the kids. Those they pick get sent up to Heaven.”