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.There is another moment's pause, and then Constantine says, "Sorya is going toCharna.Tomorrow.I am dining with her late third shift to say good-bye.These things must be done properly farewells gracefully said, closurescorrectly made.Aiah pictures the ransacking of files that must be going on in Sorya'sdepartment now, information plundered to be carried off to Charna, ordestroyed to keep from the hands of her successor.And then, she thinks, thePage 280ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlgracious dinner in Constantine's apartment while minions stuff secret aftersecret into Sorya's trunks."Tomorrow, and after," Constantine says, "I am available to you.I hope tosee you as soon as you can find the time.Tomorrow, Aiah thinks, if this all goes wrong, she may be dead or hiding fromTaikoen.If she is hiding, Constantine will have to decide between Aiah andTaikoen, could not keep them both, might decide that he loved her and turnagainst his monster.For a wild, irrational minute she hopes that the attempt will fail, that thisaffirmation will come to pass.The moment fades.She knows what Constantine is, what truly moves his heart.It is not tender affections that are important to him, but his dreams,realizing in stone and steel the glorious phantasm city that, all his life, hehas constructed in his mind."I hope I will see you as well," she says.If she is still alive."Remember," Constantine says, voice kind and confident now, certain that hehas won her, "remember that in less than four months' time we have anappointment beyond the Shield.We will change the world together."I hope so," Aiah says."I know we will." Smoothly.Anger flares darkly in Aiah, anger at the creamin Constantine's voice, at his confidence, his assumptions that she willremain his instrument forever.She will show him otherwise, she thinks.He has made her a power, but shewill not be the Apprentice for all time; the Golden Lady lives by other rules,she must have new arrangements, a new disposition."I have to go," she says."I'll talk to you when I can."I hope it will be soon," Constantine says.Soon, Aiah thinks.Soon I will have solved your greatest problem for you.And then, as she returns the headset to its hook, she thinks, / wonder if youwill be grateful."GOLDEN LADY SOCIETY" BANNED IN JABZI"SUBVERSIVE THOUGHT" CONDEMNED BYSECURITY CHIEFThe sanctuary of the Dreaming Sisters stands gray beneath itsgleaming copper dome, a maze within a maze.Aiah waits telepresent acrossCold Canal, her PMDS, which turns out to be the plasm-modulation detectingsen-sorium, prepared to venture into the ASoO, the assumed site of operations.Aratha had called plasm into the small PED operations room, had a ball ofbright reality dancing on her fingertips; she pulsed modulations through it,complex and shimmering patterns, and let the others tune their perceptions toit, distinguish it from a ball of undifferentiated plasm she was holding onthe palm of her other hand.Thus they hope to detect Taikoen once he is free of his mortal mask.If, ofcourse, Taikoen is not some other modulation altogether, if he is notsomething entirely other than what they have been led to believe.Ministry workers have cut the plasm mains around the sisters' building, andonce their little plasm accumulator is empty, there will be nothing more.Itis hoped that Taikoen, battered by his pursuers, will be trapped in the plasmwell as it drains, and die."The aerial tram is coming into Seahorse Station." Alfeg's voice, echoingthrough Aiah's mind from the operations center.Alfeg has been followingRefiq all day.Refiq had picked the fastest mode of transportation availablefor crossing the city, the swift-flying trams.Aiah's sensorium can see the swaying tram car sliding into its bay atop thesilver tower, sees through windows the tiny figures crowding the exits.Soon.Aiah shifts her weight in her chair, t-grip held lightly in a damp palm.Thesong of plasm in her veins is louder than the snarl of the Adrenaline Monster,than her own doubts.She is the Golden Lady again, invincible, a perfectwarrior, all reality at her call.Page 281ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Refiq's taking a water taxi from the station," Alfeg reports."Who's that?" Khorsa's voice, a little excited."Over the temple look!Aiah looks with ectomorphic eyes configured to see plasm, and beneath a skyflaming with adverts sees someone's anima just hanging above the sisters'copper dome.As if someone telepresent is gazing down at the neighborhood, orperhaps trying to work out the nature of the complex carvings on the DreamingSisters' refuge."Is that one of ours?" Aiah asks, and receives only negatives from the peoplearound her."Khorsa," she orders, "backtrack the sourceline.See if it's local.Khorsa flies off from her perch over Cold Canal, a silver track across thesky."Not from the district," she reports."The sourceline tracks a goodmany radii to the southeast.Do you want me to follow it all the way to itsorigin?"No." Aiah considers.She doesn't want a bystander hovering nearby, nomatter who he might be.Taikoen might well attack him, thinking him an enemyor simply not caring, and then the stranger could end up in some padded room,mind scorched to madness by the encounter."No," she repeats, "I want you to wait where you are and cut the stranger'ssourceline as soon as the operation commences.Then return to the operationssite and join the rest of us, ne?"Da."Taxi turning into Cold Canal," reports Alfeg.Aiah can see it, a dingy white motorboat with a cracked windscreen."Stand by," she says.The taxi motors to the sisters' rusting pier.Refiq, Aiah thinks, looks likehell: he leans heavily on the gunwale, one hand swaying over the bright greenwater.His powerful body rolls listlessly with the waves, and the facebeneath the shock of black hair is pale and slack, eyes wide and staring atnothing.For a moment Aiah wonders if he is already dead.The little gray embryo cabman hops over Refiq's outstretched legs to tie upthe cab, and then Refiq rises slowly to his feet, takes several shufflingsteps toward the cabman, pays him, and accepts the little fellow's helpgetting to the pier.Taikoen has nearly worn this body out.Refiq crosses the pier with quicktottering steps, like a man recovering from a stroke, and then takes his timeclimbing the metal stair to the paved area in front of the Dreaming Sisters'retreat.The cabman casts off and motors away.He moves fast, not bothering to lookfor customers in this battered neighborhood.Refiq reaches the top of the stair and takes a few steps into the plaza.Oncethere he pauses and looks with a strange resignation at the mass of carvedstone.And then Aiah's heart leaps into her throat as the stranger, the telepresentstranger hovering over the copper dome, descends on his plasm tether towardRefiq."What's he doing?" Alfeg's startled voice [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]