Part 14 (1/2)

He found himself genuinely curious to know what was going on.

At least Sook's earlier weirdo behaviour made sense now. There was him thinking she had either a soft spot or the hots for him, when really she'd simply a.s.sumed him to be another Gaws or Mildrid.

'Falsh thought I was an agitator, as well,' mused Fitz, not sure quite how to take this typecasting.

'And now Halcyon thinks you're a genius.' Sook looked at him, her sharp features caught somewhere between incredulity and real admiration. 'His mind's still recovering from the projections. He said the computational basis of those rooms you came up with was like nothing he'd ever experienced, not in any of his studies of any of the schools.'

'Schools, schmools,' said Fitz. 'I just copied places I've been and squished them into the template.'

'You can't fake those kinds of equations,' Sook a.s.sured Gaws and Mildrid, who both wore polite ' oh really? oh really? ' expressions. She glanced back at Fitz. ' expressions. She glanced back at Fitz.

'Unless you've got a computer standing in for your brain.'

OmiG.o.d, thought Fitz, grinning weakly. The TARDIS. . . when recreating him, she'd modelled him on the Fitz she remembered through her telepathic circuits but at the end of the day she wasn't truly alive, not in the way he was. So some stuff she'd guessed at; some stuff she'd probably improved without even meaning to. His dreams all made sense for one thing. Plus he almost never forgot what he'd come into a room to fetch, which back on Earth had used to drive him crazy. thought Fitz, grinning weakly. The TARDIS. . . when recreating him, she'd modelled him on the Fitz she remembered through her telepathic circuits but at the end of the day she wasn't truly alive, not in the way he was. So some stuff she'd guessed at; some stuff she'd probably improved without even meaning to. His dreams all made sense for one thing. Plus he almost never forgot what he'd come into a room to fetch, which back on Earth had used to drive him crazy.

And clearly, unbeknown to him, his thoughts now had a deeper structural underpinning which machines like a PadPad could recognise and appreciate.

The grin became a little more concrete. He'd always resisted change, but sometimes. . . he guessed it could be good.

'So you're well in favour with Halcyon,' said Gaws. 'That must suit your own purposes very well, Kreiner.'

'Well, it is what you came here to do,' said Mildrid brightly, 'isn't it?'

Sook was watching him closely. 'But on whose authority? Are you a Falsh agent? Sent to keep tabs on us?'

'Would I admit it if I was?' Fitz pointed out. 'Not that I am, obviously.'

'Then who do do you work for?' asked Gaws. you work for?' asked Gaws.

Everyone was watching him like he'd just come out of a coma, waiting eagerly to hear his first words. Certainly, now they knew Fitz was in favour, Gaws and Mildrid were taking an altogether friendlier interest in him. They thought he could be of use to them, he supposed. Well, he'd just play it cool and consider his options.

80.'Enough about me,' he said airily. 'How are you planning to get at Halcyon and Falsh, then?'

'Halcyon is asleep now, isn't he, dear?' said Mildrid worriedly.

Sook nodded. 'He won't rise till seven.'

'We're going to stage a stunt,' said Gaws. 'Cause maximum disruption. Blow his vidcast out of the water.'

Fitz looked curiously at Sook. 'You're letting this happen?'

'We couldn't do it without her,' said Mildrid. 'Sook's been leaking information to us about his activities for over a year now, allowed us to get protesters to key spots, send out newsblasts. . . '

Gaws puffed out his measly chest. 'Do you realise we ferried eight thousand agitators out by cargo thruster to save the Oort Cloud?'

'The what?'

'Big bunch of rocks at the edge of the solar system,' said Sook distantly.

'Where long-term comets come from.'

'And did you save this cloud?'

'Well, no,' Mildrid admitted.

'Halcyon and Falsh had arranged tow fleets,' said Gaws bitterly. 'Captured each rock in a gravity field and dragged them out to the frontiers. Sold Sold them! them!

To the Kilomons, Draconians, pretty much anyone.'

'Who kept the cash?' wondered Fitz.

'After deduction of operational expenses and a nominal fee for both Falsh and Halcyon, EarthCentral pocketed the lot,' said Sook. 'Helped fund expansion.'

'Pieces of Earth's heritage, flogged off to her rivals, her enemies. . . ' Gaws took a disconsolate swig of coffee. 'Not right. Not right at all.'

Fitz supposed it was like j.a.panese millionaires buying up old English castles and s.h.i.+pping them out stone by stone. 'But will anyone miss this cloud? I mean, if it's full of rocks. . . '

'Like your head!' Mildrid chided. 'The Oort Cloud was once pure conjecture, a holy grail of science and astronomy. Then it was discovered. . . Then the probes went. . . Then the humans humans went. . . ' went. . . '

'Yes, they went there all right.' Gaws took up the tirade, which was probably a set text in the old preserver handbook. 'First they mined it out. Then the first colonists used it as a stopping-off point on the long way out to the stars.

When the long-haul ion drives came in, its strategic value was ended.'

'And it became a hazard to traffic,' Sook added. Gaws glared at her. 'Well, it did!'

'It's senseless, pointless destruction,' said Gaws, his face turning meaner and greyer. 'But it's so trendy, isn't it? Halcyon is the President's darling, so of course everything he does is lapped up and feted and celebrated all over 81 the Empire. They'll be tuning in in their billions to see him strip Jupiter bare, rus.h.i.+ng out to buy the holovids. . . ' By now his moustache was bristling like it was about to take off from his face. 'It's purely about egos!'

'And being trendy,' Fitz reminded him.

'Halcyon showing the Empire what a big man he is,' Gaws railed on, 'demonstrating his mastery over the elements!'

Sook sighed, an I-wish-I-could-let-this-lie-but-you're-so-wrong-I-can't sort of sigh. 'None of the sites are of cultural importance,' she said wearily. 'The demolition notices were posted on every satellite relay '

'How could you debase your craft this way, Sook?' said Mildrid, tutting like a Christian to a fallen woman.

'And so we come to the point of my being here.' Sook gave Fitz a sour look.

'I used to be one of Halcyon's teachers in Feng Shui.'

Fitz gave her a puzzled smile. 'You taught taught him?' him?'

'Yes.' She rubbed her eyes like she was tired. 'I taught him corrective, constructive and predictive formula in the Xuan Kong, the Xuan Kong Fey Xing, the sixty-four hexagons method. . . '

'Those disciplines are thousands of years old,' chimed Mildrid.

'So how'd you become the hired help?' Fitz asked.