Alastair Reynolds - Poseidon's Wake

Of course they would, but that was no reassurance at all to Goma. ‘Kanu’s still down there. I want to give him some encouragement, some reason to think she’ll be all right.’

‘This unconsciousness is partly a medical choice. I have given her as heavy a dose of neural growth factors as I dare risk. They will consolidate the damaged structures, prevent further obliteration and provoke a measure of synaptic reconstruction. But it is best that she not be awake while these processes are under way.’

‘I don’t doubt your skill, Mona. I just wish I had something concrete to give him.’

‘Tell him she is alive and receiving the best care available. That is the only honest answer I can provide. The moment there is better news, you will be the first to hear it. In the meantime, Goma?’

She wondered what was coming. ‘Yes?’

‘It was a fine thing, to have helped her. She would be dead without you, but you have given her hope. Now tell Kanu to worry about himself, and we will worry about Nissa.’

‘I shall.’

She found some chai, splashed water in her face to keep the tiredness at bay, then resumed contact with the party on the ledge. She used the general channel, addressing them all at once. Ru might have been her wife, but her concern right now was for each and every member of the party, including Hector.

‘We’re holding on,’ Ru said. ‘Supplies look good. Our suits are working fine, for now. There’s really not much to do but wait. We saw you take off — please tell me you’re planning to come back for us?’

Ru’s question might have been less than serious, but Goma was too tired to bother with anything but a straight answer. ‘Once you’re higher, we’ll break orbit and come back in again. Have you seen the firework display?’

‘Yes, and very pretty it was, too. Kanu says it must have been the Watchkeepers.’

‘He’s right,’ Goma confirmed. ‘They’ve been throwing themselves against the moons, getting sliced and diced — it’s as if they saw this as their one chance to get anywhere near the wheels. But it hasn’t worked. Looks like they’ve given up — at least, the carnage appears to be over for the time being. I don’t think that means we’ve seen the last of them — there must still be a lot more out there, waiting to see what happened. But if they expect answers from any of us, I’m not convinced they’re going to get them.’

‘Kanu might beg to differ,’ Ru said. ‘He’s been through the Terror just like Eunice did all those years ago. He said it’s given him a certain perspective.’

‘Is Kanu there?’

‘I am,’ he answered after a moment’s silence. ‘It’s good to hear you, Goma. Any news on Nissa?’

Kanu sounded more alert and focused than when she first met him on the ledge. ‘Doctor Andisa’s doing everything she can,’ Goma answered, gladdened to hear his voice. ‘We need to keep her stable until we can get her aboard Travertine . We have much better medical facilities on the big ship.’

‘It’s good to hear you, Goma. Would it be wrong to say I’m proud of you? We’ve done some good and bad things, we Akinyas. But I think I know where you stand.’

His words warmed her. ‘You too, uncle.’

‘I’m not sure which sounds less formal — uncle or Kanu. No one’s ever called me uncle before.’

‘They say you were a diplomat.’

‘Once. In another life. And a merman. I’ve been many things, in fact, and I’m not sure I’ve been terribly good at any of them.’

‘You’re being too hard on yourself.’

‘Oh, I’m not so sure. What exactly have I achieved? I betrayed my government, let down my friends, misled Nissa — all to serve the goals of machines on Mars I barely understand, let alone trust? And while Swift’s had to put up with being in my head, it’s not as if he’s really needed me for anything else. I’ve just been his vehicle, his means of reaching this place.’

‘Is Swift with you?’

‘Standing near us, polishing his pince-nez, trying not to look offended. At least one of us got what they wanted, anyway — to meet his maker.’

‘There must have been more to it than that.’

‘Some lofty ideas about deepening our understanding of the roles of the machine and the organic — trying to find a strategy for mutual coexistence. Just words, though. Meanwhile, our little jaunt has cost lives and anguish, and we’re no closer to understanding the Watchkeepers any better. Things are worse, in fact. If we hadn’t come here, none of the deaths would have happened.’

‘If there’s blame to apportion, you only get to take a share of it,’ Goma said. ‘None of us is an innocent party.’

‘Except, possibly, you.’

‘You underestimate me. I’d have climbed over a mountain of human bones to find the Tantors.’

‘Even though it was not the meeting you’d hoped for?’

‘It was a start. Ru and I spent our lives charting the fade of the Tantors — the decline of their cognitive signal. We never hoped to encounter a self-sustaining colony of Tantors, let alone the Risen. But yes, things went wrong. Human fucking stupidity. Fear and ignorance. As if the worst thing in the world would be to share it with another intelligence.’

‘People and elephants. People and robots.’

‘Maybe we should just let the elephants and robots live happily ever after,’ Goma said. ‘They seemed happy enough to take Eunice on her own terms.’

‘It can’t be that hopeless,’ Kanu answered, with a mixture of weariness and conviction. ‘I staked my life on brokering a peace between people and the Evolvarium. I’m old and foolish enough to delude myself that there’s still a chance of achieving that. Tell me you haven’t given up on the Risen?’

‘There aren’t many of them left.’

‘I gather there are a few on Orison, and shortly you’ll have a proper chance to know Hector, too. I was an ambassador to the machines, Goma. That was strange enough! Now the Risen will need to send an ambassador to us.’

‘They may need some persuasion. Earth’s not exactly their home.’

‘Mars wasn’t mine, but I found friends there.’

‘How is Hector?’ she asked.

‘No physical issues that we’re aware of. But the loss of Dakota has hit him hard.’

‘I wish I could speak to him now. Are you able to communicate?’

‘Our suits have a link, but it’s clumsy. Would you like me to pass on a message, for whatever good it may do?’

‘Tell him he is valued. Tell him that Ru and I can’t wait to hear what he has to tell us.’

‘I shall. Would you like to speak to Eunice now?’

‘Of course.’

She had been listening in all the while, naturally. ‘Goma. Good of you to remember us.’

‘As if I could forget.’

‘You did well. Kanu is right. Pride in another human being is an odd thing for me to feel — it’s usually frustration, bitterness, anger. You get used to that after a while — start to feel as if it’s the normal state of affairs. But look at you — you’ve made an old woman quietly pleased with you.’

‘That’s not why I did it.’

‘All the more reason to applaud your actions, then. You’ve had a lot to live up to, Goma, but you haven’t disappointed us.’

‘Us?’

‘Your illustrious ancestors. If I can’t speak for them, who can?’

‘I suppose you’re right.’

‘Not always. But on this occasion, yes. Very much so. Nissa is stable, you say?’

She would have gladly told Eunice how she truly felt about Nissa’s chances, but not while Kanu was still part of the conversation. ‘Mona’s doing her best.’

‘Yes. A distinct improvement on your last doctor, I must say. I much prefer her bedside manner.’