404 lines
21 KiB
HTML
404 lines
21 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<TITLE>THE EYES OF GOD: A Novel of the Pinch</TITLE>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Keywords" CONTENT="writer, science, fiction, poetry, Kreighbaum">
|
|
<BODY BGCOLOR="BLACK" TEXT="#FFFFFF" LINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#00FFFF" ALINK="#00FFFF">
|
|
<IMG SRC="teog.gif" align="left" hspace="5" width="401" height="292" ALT="Cover of THE EYES OF GOD">
|
|
<a name="start"></a>
|
|
<p> </p>
|
|
<H1 ALIGN=center>HighWire</h1><br>
|
|
<h2 align=center>The New Atari WWW Browser</h2>
|
|
<h4 align=center>By Robert Goldsmith</h4>
|
|
<h2 align=left>
|
|
What is planned:</h2><br>
|
|
<h3 align=center>
|
|
Multiple thread downloading<br>
|
|
HTML 4<br>
|
|
JavaScript<br>
|
|
Various other Plugins<br>
|
|
</h3>
|
|
<h2 align=left>What We Already have ...</h2><br>
|
|
<h3 align=center>2 * faster than CAB in loading<bR>
|
|
Very fast redraws<br>
|
|
Most of HTML 3.2<br>
|
|
multithreading ready</h3><p>
|
|
<H2 align=CENTER>THE EYES OF GOD: A NOVEL OF THE PINCH</H2>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>by Mark Kreighbaum
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER><I>Excerpt</I></H3>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<div align=center><a href="#end">Go to the end</a><br>
|
|
<H3 align=left> Wan met Vida on the way to the reception, on time and
|
|
sober, for once. He wore an odd sarong-like garment that wrapped
|
|
tightly around his shoulders and hips. The fabric was some sort
|
|
of tartan weave. Any other man would have looked foolish, but
|
|
Wan cut a striking figure with his wide shoulders, slim hips,
|
|
sculpted features and long dark hair flowing down over his
|
|
shoulders. He looked like a wild warrior out of a holonovel.
|
|
The media outside the reception hall couldn't stop taking
|
|
pictures.<P>
|
|
"You look very nice tonight, Sé Wan," said Vida, still
|
|
feeling a warm glow from her afternoon with Rico.<P>
|
|
Karlo's son gave her a sour look. Vida noticed that Wan's
|
|
factor, Lenobai, had failed to show up again. She would have to
|
|
have a talk with Wan about replacing his drinking buddy with
|
|
somebody competent. Samante often ended up doing Leni's work as
|
|
well as her own at these gatherings, which was unfair.<P>
|
|
Wan plucked at his clothes with a disgusted expression.<P>
|
|
"I feel ridiculous," said Wan. "This thing is hot as
|
|
hell."<P>
|
|
Vida suppressed a smile and tried to affect a look of
|
|
sympathy.<P>
|
|
"Well, shall we go in?"<P>
|
|
He shrugged, but offered his arm. Vida could smell a faint
|
|
musk on Wan. Hm. Maybe he'd had a little playtime of his own
|
|
today. Well, none of her business. They'd slept together a
|
|
handful of times since their marriage; it couldn't be avoided
|
|
with Karlo so intent on his heirs that even without a birth
|
|
permit, he expected them to practice. Each session was awful in
|
|
its own way, but she had to admit that her husband had a fine
|
|
body and knew what he was doing in bed, more than Rico in some
|
|
ways. He just didn't give a damn about her pleasure and she
|
|
certainly didn't arouse any passion in him--she remembered
|
|
vividly that he hadn't even touched her on their wedding night.
|
|
It was humiliating. She guessed it wasn't much fun screwing a
|
|
woman because your father thought you were a lousy heir.<P>
|
|
The reception hall had been decorated to resemble one of the
|
|
great Theaters on Souk. All the walls had been switched to
|
|
transparency and holos filled the room with stelae, columns that
|
|
swirled with color and were programmed to interact with guests in
|
|
a variety of ways. Arm in arm, she and Wan strolled the
|
|
perimeter of the hall, pausing to chat with everyone they met.
|
|
Vida did most of the talking, while Wan plastered on a fake smile
|
|
and murmured platitudes. His thoughts were obviously light years
|
|
away. In fact, she felt as if she were being escorted by a
|
|
ghost, until Wan saw his father, without Dukayn for once, burst
|
|
into the reception in a swarm of media, politicians, and
|
|
entourage. The muscles in his forearm became stone and a shadow
|
|
of hatred crossed his face. A moment later, he had a drink in
|
|
his free hand.<P>
|
|
Aleen had very definite theories about working a room and
|
|
Vida tended to follow her principles--spiral in, focus on
|
|
individuals but plan for the next encounter, and work to make
|
|
every contact pleasant and memorable. But with such a large
|
|
gathering of people from all different sects, guilds and even
|
|
planets, the effort drained her very soon. She kept looking out
|
|
for Samante. Vida hadn't realized how much the Interpreter acted
|
|
as a subtle buffer and her language skills and cultural knowledge
|
|
were invaluable in a situation like this. Wan was no help,
|
|
though surprisingly he had a gift for languages and often spoke
|
|
the native tongue of the people they met with an offhand fluency
|
|
that annoyed her. Since their marriage, she'd discovered that
|
|
Wan had talents that he chose to keep hidden from everyone,
|
|
especially his father. She couldn't understand why he preferred
|
|
to be seen as a stupid drunken buffoon by Karlo when it was clear
|
|
that he had some intelligence.<P>
|
|
He detached from her early on, in any case, to flow into a
|
|
raucous crowd of younger people, mostly soldiers and Interstellar
|
|
guildmembers. She sighed. It wouldn't be long before he was
|
|
drunk and making an ass of himself.<P>
|
|
"Sé Vida, how nice to see you again." The round little
|
|
Countess of Motta clasped Vida's hands in her soft warm grip.<P>
|
|
"And you, Countess. I'm sorry I couldn't stop by to see you
|
|
today, but I did wave as we passed over your plantations. I
|
|
loved the arrangement of the rice paddies, in the shape of your
|
|
family's gene-glyph, aren't they?"<P>
|
|
The Countess clapped her hands and laughed with delight.
|
|
The group of hangers-on and would-be entourage all laughed
|
|
heartily with her, like little echoes.<P>
|
|
"You know, you are the first person to notice that? I feel
|
|
that anything worth doing is worth doing artfully, don't you?"<P>
|
|
"I do. My guardian is very fond of art and she had me tour
|
|
all the galleries on the Map when I was a girl."<P>
|
|
"Have you been to the Nomadia's Collection, then?"<P>
|
|
"Oh yes! The Hirrel have such a unique visual sense. I
|
|
adore their poetry. I've often thought that 'Iai i' is meant to
|
|
be part of some larger idea, all those rivers flowing into each
|
|
other. I confess that I don't understand the poem, even in
|
|
translation."<P>
|
|
Suddenly, Samante stepped into view. She was wearing a long
|
|
black smartsilk gown that pooled around her like liquid shadow.
|
|
Her icelight pin shone where it clasped up her braids. Vida
|
|
wondered how long the Interpreter had been standing there, silent
|
|
and unobserved. "The Sh'mil version is a poor translation,
|
|
hackwork. May I offer my interpretation, Sé Vida?"<P>
|
|
"Oh, please do," said the Countess, her face open with
|
|
honest interest, or an exceptionally good imitation.<P>
|
|
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind, Sé Samante."<P>
|
|
Samante inclined her head.<P>
|
|
"First, I will give you the poem in Relzhu. It would be a
|
|
shame not to hear it first in the Hirrel's native tongue:<P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
Iaiai uani i zhuris
|
|
zhuri i oma
|
|
omamiu aoa w'orina
|
|
i maro iai maro iaimi
|
|
zhur"
|
|
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
Samante paused. The little group around them was an island
|
|
of complete silence. Vida hadn't realized what a pure singing
|
|
voice Samante possessed.<P>
|
|
"The extant translations all attempt to make false rhymes,
|
|
or obey some artificial metrical structure; Sh'mil is famous for
|
|
being a slave to forms. There is always the human tendency to
|
|
try and make alien art fit our own preconceptions." Samante
|
|
gazed off into some distant place.<P>
|
|
|
|
<PRE>
|
|
"Love knows no river,
|
|
rivers don't sing,
|
|
singers believe in star-swimming,
|
|
not moments. Kiss moments of passion.
|
|
Flow."
|
|
|
|
</PRE>
|
|
|
|
The Countess of Motta clapped her hands and, after a moment,
|
|
so did most of the others, including Vida.<P>
|
|
"That was beautiful, Samante, much better than the Sh'mil,"
|
|
said Vida. Then she added, ruefully, "But I still don't get
|
|
it."<P>
|
|
Everyone laughed and even Samante smiled.<P>
|
|
"It's a kind of tone-poem, meant to create an ambience for
|
|
the artwork. It helps if you've read other work by the poet of
|
|
'Iai i.' She often works with metaphors of movement. If we ever
|
|
get to Souk, I'll introduce you to her."<P>
|
|
"You know Kiltë?" exclaimed the Countess.<P>
|
|
Samante nodded. "I met her on Souk. She is the shipsib of
|
|
a friend." But now the Interpreter seemed to feel that she had
|
|
been the center of attention too long and she stepped slightly
|
|
back. "Sé Karlo asked if you might join him at some
|
|
point."<P>
|
|
Vida excused herself and fell in step with her factor. She
|
|
leaned close to her and whispered, "I like the dress, but I still
|
|
think the gold shimmy would've been better."<P>
|
|
Samante laughed and her icy manner seemed to melt away. A
|
|
saccule came up to them with a tray of various drinks balanced on
|
|
its palm. Vida took a fingertube of what looked like pink sherry
|
|
and gave a little boom of thanks. Samante kept her hands tucked
|
|
into the billowy sleeves of her gown.<P>
|
|
"You're probably right, but Greenie had, ahem, an accident
|
|
on it and this was the only clean thing I had to wear."<P>
|
|
Vida sighed theatrically. "Greenie has got to learn not to
|
|
get so excited when laying out clothes."<P>
|
|
They chatted just like usual as they crossed the floor
|
|
toward Karlo's group. Vida glanced around for Wan, but her
|
|
husband was nowhere to be seen. She hoped he hadn't just left
|
|
the reception and forgotten about the private dinner after.<P>
|
|
The First Citizen wore his Fleet uniform, the dress version
|
|
with medals and honors, and he was an impressive sight, all gold
|
|
and silver with clusters of jade and ruby. Vida had never seen
|
|
him in full regalia and found herself staring at his military
|
|
decorations. Karlo, whose blunt features concealed a quick wit,
|
|
noticed. His white teeth flashed.<P>
|
|
"I look ridiculous, don't I?"<P>
|
|
"Oh no, First Citizen," said Vida, honestly startled. In
|
|
fact, she'd been thinking that he looked wonderful, like one of
|
|
the characters in her beloved holonovels come to life.<P>
|
|
Vanna arrived, and the swirl of people around them grew.
|
|
The Second Citizen might be vindictive and dangerous, but she was
|
|
also a valuable ally to many families. Vanna wore white slit
|
|
skirts, a style more usual for Leps then humans. The dress
|
|
showed a lot of skin, all of it covered with elaborate blue
|
|
tattoos, a legacy of her youth in the Interstellar guild.<P>
|
|
While Karlo greeted his wife, Vida took the moment to scan
|
|
the crowd for Wan. She leaned close to Samante.<P>
|
|
"Could you please find Wan? It looks like he's forgotten
|
|
the dinner."<P>
|
|
Samante nodded and turned toward a saccule servant to
|
|
whisper instructions. Vida realized Vanna had said something to
|
|
her.<P>
|
|
"I'm sorry, Sé Vanna, I didn't hear you."<P>
|
|
The Second Citizen was a tall, muscular woman, and the
|
|
tattoos that covered her whole body vaguely unsettled Vida. She
|
|
spoke slowly, enunciating each word.<P>
|
|
"Where is your saccule? A Chief Patron should always bring
|
|
a saccule to stand behind the chair and serve as a dinner
|
|
servant."<P>
|
|
|
|
The large group of people around them consisted of a mix of
|
|
people, younger Patron-tracks from families in Vanna's debt, or
|
|
hoping to be, soldiers on leave from the Fleet, politicians and
|
|
diplomats. This little scene was bound to become a piece of
|
|
Government House gossip. Every time she saw Vanna, this sort of
|
|
thing happened. She was getting used to it. Vanna was obviously
|
|
setting her up for yet another insult.<P>
|
|
Vida fixed a polite smile on her face.<P>
|
|
"Greenie isn't feeling well." Actually, Greenie was still
|
|
clumsy and nervous. She would never dare bring the saccule to an
|
|
important social function. "I'll have to borrow one of yours,
|
|
I'm afraid. My good fortune. Everyone knows that the Makeesa
|
|
saccules are the best trained on Palace." Maybe a compliment
|
|
would deflect her this once.<P>
|
|
Vanna glanced at Samante and Vida guessed what she was going
|
|
to say a moment too late to stop her.<P>
|
|
"Sé Dinisa, perhaps you would stand for your Patron?"<P>
|
|
Samante's face drained of color.<P>
|
|
"Vanna." Karlo stepped close to his wife, but the Second
|
|
Citizen laughed.<P>
|
|
"Oh, please. It was only a joke. You weren't offended,
|
|
were you, Dinisa?"<P>
|
|
"No, Second Citizen, of course not." Vida was amazed at
|
|
Samante's level tone. "Excuse me, please, I have to run an
|
|
errand for my Patron."<P>
|
|
Samante bowed and melted into the gathering. Vida stared at
|
|
Karlo, who only shrugged. Even Karlo didn't dare confront Vanna
|
|
Makeesa unless it was a matter that concerned him and obviously
|
|
the hurt feelings of a mere factor didn't signify. Vanna laughed
|
|
again and her crowd of sycophants echoed her with weak chuckles.
|
|
What a talent she has for cruelty, Vida thought. No wonder she
|
|
has so many enemies. Maybe it was time for the L'Vars to build a
|
|
coalition against her. Vanna must have sensed something in
|
|
Vida's look, because she smiled at her with a look of inquiry.
|
|
Vida remembered the lesson of the Garang Japat and maintained a
|
|
pose of calm dignity. But it was a good thing Vanna couldn't
|
|
read her thoughts.<P>
|
|
"Perhaps we should go in to dinner?" said Vida. "I'm sure
|
|
Sé Wan will join us momentarily."<P>
|
|
The tension of the moment was past and Karlo and Vanna led
|
|
them out of the reception area to a private room in a cordoned
|
|
off area of the East Tower, where they met the guest of honor and
|
|
his companion. As they walked, Vida studied the legate and his
|
|
<I>jii</I>. He was a short Varani with a dyed goatee and clothes
|
|
whose cut and fabric even Aleen would have approved, though as
|
|
Karlo had hinted, they were very brightly colored. The
|
|
<I>jii</I> wore a simple white shift and no jewelry. She was a
|
|
tiny thing, not more than five feet tall, with no obviously
|
|
exceptional attributes, though she had a nice compact body. But
|
|
she exuded a genuine charm and her quick laughter never seemed
|
|
forced. Aleen had made Vida study the techniques of the
|
|
<I>jii</I> very carefully and it made her a bit uncomfortable to
|
|
realize how much of her own interactions with people were based
|
|
on the psychological theories of sociobiology used by <I>jii</I>
|
|
transition wives to make their husbands happy and comfortable.<P>
|
|
The dinner party was smaller than Vida had expected, only a
|
|
dozen people total, including the Souk legate, his <I>jii</I> and
|
|
a mere half dozen of his entourage. Vida felt very nervous.
|
|
Neither Wan nor Samante were back and this was her first occasion
|
|
where the Protocols really mattered. She remembered the correct
|
|
order of greeting, gave each Souk citizen the proper angle of bow
|
|
and kept her remarks short and neutral, but she continued to get
|
|
more and more anxious. If Wan didn't arrive before they sat down
|
|
to the first course and opening toast, it would be an obvious
|
|
insult to the legate. Damn the man.<P>
|
|
At the last moment, Wan and Samante entered the room. Wan's
|
|
beautiful sarong was speckled with blood, his hair was matted,
|
|
and his face was flushed. Samante's expression was as close to
|
|
genuine fury as Vida had ever seen. Wan quickly joined Vida and
|
|
stood behind his chair. The Souk legate was a master of the
|
|
Protocols, but he couldn't resist this dramatic entrance.<P>
|
|
"Sé Wan, you are not hurt, I trust?"<P>
|
|
"No, Sé Abelvaas. I'm sorry to be late."<P>
|
|
"What happened?" That was the <I>jii</I>, who was probably
|
|
the only person in the room who could get away with such an
|
|
obvious breach of etiquette, but you could sense everybody's
|
|
relief. It was the question everyone wanted to ask.<P>
|
|
"I caught Captain Wintershoal beating a saccule." Wan met
|
|
his father's glare without flinching. Wintershoal was one of
|
|
Karlo's favorite officers. "I asked him if he wanted to take on
|
|
someone a bit taller. He won't be whipping any saccules with
|
|
that silly little baton of his for a while."<P>
|
|
Abelvaas laughed delightedly. "The famous Peronida
|
|
chivalry. Well done, Wan. I despise bullies."<P>
|
|
"Yes, well done, Sé Wan," said the <I>jii</I>.<P>
|
|
With that, the dinner party got off to a splendid beginning.
|
|
The legate, previously a bit cool to Karlo and Vanna, seemed to
|
|
warm up to them and by the time desserts were served--a special
|
|
confection of klosh topped by cream--it was clear that he was on
|
|
their side in some matter of importance. Wan, a bit unused to
|
|
being treated like a hero at these things, relaxed and kept the
|
|
table enthralled with stories of hunting swampworms with the wild
|
|
gendered saccules.<P>
|
|
"They're very different from the neuters, of course, much
|
|
larger and with a wider range of sounds from their throat sacs.
|
|
But you'd be amazed at the similarities. Saccules don't see
|
|
well, but they can smell a change of light, I swear."<P>
|
|
"Souk doesn't have many saccules," said the <I>jii</I>, who
|
|
by custom did not reveal her name in public, but simply went by
|
|
the honorific. "I understand the Pope's Eye is here to determine
|
|
their sapiency?"<P>
|
|
Wan nodded, swallowing a mouthful of klosh and wiping the
|
|
cream from his chin absently. "Yeah. I've talked with her a few
|
|
times. She's serious about it. I even offered to help her find
|
|
the old research stations out in the swamp. The maps are
|
|
useless. The swamp changes every day. You can't find anything
|
|
without guides."<P>
|
|
Vida hid her surprise. Wan had met with Sister Romero? It
|
|
made sense, she supposed. But somehow Vida hadn't imagined that
|
|
Romero would spend her time with someone like Wan. But then, she
|
|
hadn't thought that a petulant drunk like Wan would care so much
|
|
about saccules, either.<P>
|
|
"I would love to go with you," said the <I>jii</I>
|
|
wistfully. Was she flirting with Wan? "We're only here for a
|
|
short visit, though, I'm afraid."<P>
|
|
Vida turned to her right, where Samante was having an
|
|
animated conversation with Abelvaas's Interpreter, a young man
|
|
with delicate features. They were speaking rapidly in a language
|
|
Vida had never even heard. Vida looked across the table and
|
|
caught Vanna staring at her intently. She didn't look away,
|
|
either. Vida turned away and pretended to be listening avidly to
|
|
Wan's explanation of the lives of neuter saccules in the swamp.
|
|
She could feel the weight of Vanna's hostile gaze.<P>
|
|
". . . children. Nobody knows why. Sister Romero has some
|
|
ideas, though."<P>
|
|
"And they sell them to you?" asked the <I>jii</I>.<P>
|
|
"Right," said Wan. "The gendered saccules thought that the
|
|
Colonizers were gods and they offered them neuters as a gift. It
|
|
was only later that it became a barter situation. After the
|
|
Schism Wars, in fact."<P>
|
|
"Yes," Vida said, attempting to join the conversation. She
|
|
probably knew more about the Schism Wars than anyone at this
|
|
table--it had been a particular hobby of Aleen's. "But that
|
|
varied according to the tribe, didn't it? I seem to remember
|
|
reading somewhere that the arctic saccules <I>did</I> buy and
|
|
sell their neuters, even before the Colonizers showed up."<P>
|
|
"Well, I don't know about that," said Wan, a sulky tone
|
|
entering his voice. "They all do it now, that's for sure."<P>
|
|
"Where <I>do</I> they come from, Sé Wan?" asked the
|
|
<I>jii</I>. She focused only on Wan. She <I>was</I> flirting
|
|
with him. That was very improper for her profession. At least
|
|
the legate didn't appear to mind, though he certainly noticed.
|
|
"It seems unlikely that so many would be born neuter. Why,
|
|
Palace must have hundreds of neuter saccules. I've seen dozens
|
|
right here in Center Sect."<P>
|
|
Wan frowned, as if this thought had never occurred to
|
|
him.<P>
|
|
"There's never been a census of the wild saccules. They've
|
|
got most of the planet to themselves. There were a few attempts
|
|
to enslave them, too, but the Colonizers figured out real quick
|
|
that not even Rim tech gave them much of an advantage in the
|
|
swamp, even with swampsuits. There could be millions of 'em for
|
|
all we know. Sister Romero is planning to do a real census
|
|
soon."<P>
|
|
"Originally, the first people on Palace were researchers,"
|
|
said Vida. "They didn't become Colonizers until after the
|
|
macroshunt closed. Part of their research was a study of the
|
|
saccules. I'm sure they did a census then."<P>
|
|
The <I>jii</I> looked at her as if she were a fool. Wan
|
|
said nothing, but he seemed to have lost all interest in the
|
|
subject. Soon, he had another drink in his hand, and he and the
|
|
<I>jii</I> began to chat in Kephalese, a blatant snub. Vida felt
|
|
thoroughly off balance. Usually, she was so good in these
|
|
settings, much better than Wan. She'd thought that she and the
|
|
<I>jii</I> would hit it off, but instead the woman seemed to have
|
|
taken an immediate dislike to her. Well, why not? Vida was the
|
|
wife of this man she obviously wanted.<P>
|
|
At the head of the table, Vanna was telling a convoluted
|
|
anecdote that had the legate and most of the people up there
|
|
laughing continuously. It always surprised Vida that Vanna could
|
|
be so charming when she wanted to. Karlo was doing some kind of
|
|
business with his neighbors and Samante seemed completely
|
|
oblivious to anything but the intense conversation she and the
|
|
other Interpreter were having.<P>
|
|
It was going to be a long dinner . . . <P></H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<a name="end"></a>
|
|
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>Return to <A HREF="test2.htm#halfway">Test2.htm</A>
|
|
<br>or back to <a href="#start">The start</a></H3>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<P>
|