trade because the War was over? No. She'd lay odds that there'd been no far-off victory. She'd also lay odds Mallory
had
sent
Finity
back to merchant trade—for one urgent reason, to do exactly what James Robert had done with her: cut deals only James Robert could cut. He'd evidently come to her first, to get Pell lined up behind him, counting on her ability to deliver Pell's vote.
After that, he was going to seek general merchanter approval—and where better to do it but along the string of stars that were the stations
almost Union and
almost Alliance , and doing a delicate ballet of relationship with both,
Mariner. Voyager. Esperance.
Then the merchanters themselves. No station, no government, no military organization could sway several hundred highly independent merchanter captains from a trade they thought was their God-given right to conduct, as no one could get the same merchanter captains to agree to set up other merchanter captains in business to compete with them. But this man might.
In the vids that came from Old Earth there were blue sky days. There never were on Downbelow. The clouds had endless patterns, sometimes smooth, sometimes with bubbled bottoms, sometimes with layers and sheets that traveled at different speeds in the fierce winds aloft. Great Sun usually appeared through thick veils—so that if the sun ever did show an edge of fire the downers took it for an event of great importance.
But while downers revered Great Sun, and wanted to stand in polite respect and wait for Great Sun's rare appearances, the time between those appearances was just too long to endure.
So they made the Watchers, great-eyed and reverent statues that sat gazing at the sky in lieu of living downers.
There were several such statues on a forested hill near the Base, only knee-high, so you'd trip over them if you didn't know they were there. Two looked up. One looked a little downward from the hill, and if you looked where it was looking, you could see the Base itself through the trees,
Fletcher already knew where the site was, so he knew where Melody and Patch were going when they climbed that hill. He followed, and Bianca trekked after him.
"Where are they going?" Bianca panted And then stopped cold as she saw the images mostly hidden in the weeds. "Oh,—my."
She was impressed. Fletcher felt a warmth go through him.
"Bring watch sky" Patch said, with a wave of his arm all about. "Good see sky!"
Great view, was what Patch meant, and today it was on the downers' agenda to look at the sky, for some reason—or maybe to show Bianca this special place, as they'd shown it to him early last fall,
"It's wonderful," Bianca said "Do they know at the Base, I mean, do they know this place is here?"
"I don't know," Fletcher said. "It's none of the researchers' business, is it, if the hisa don't tell."
He had that attitude about it. He didn't know whether if he looked it up on the computers back at the Base he'd find it was known to the researchers, and off-limits especially to juniors in the program; but juniors in the program didn't have personal hisa guides to bring them here, either.
It was a mark of how much Melody and Patch had accepted Bianca, he thought, that all of a sudden this morning they'd snagged him away from brush-cutting and wanted him to get Bianca.
"Banky," they'd called her when she came, addressing her directly. "Walk, walk, walk."
That meant a fair hike. Three walks.
So Bianca had slipped out of her work this morning, too. It was easy. The job got done sometime today. On the station they'd have had inquiries out after two teens under supervision who took a morning break.
Here, they found a secret place and watched the clouds scud overhead.
"The clouds are really moving," Bianca said, pointing aloft as they sprawled flat on their backs beside Melody and Patch. "There must really be a wind up there."
"Rains come," Melody said, and reached out her hand and held Fletcher's tightly in her calloused
had
sent
Finity
back to merchant trade—for one urgent reason, to do exactly what James Robert had done with her: cut deals only James Robert could cut. He'd evidently come to her first, to get Pell lined up behind him, counting on her ability to deliver Pell's vote.
After that, he was going to seek general merchanter approval—and where better to do it but along the string of stars that were the stations
almost Union and
almost Alliance , and doing a delicate ballet of relationship with both,
Mariner. Voyager. Esperance.
Then the merchanters themselves. No station, no government, no military organization could sway several hundred highly independent merchanter captains from a trade they thought was their God-given right to conduct, as no one could get the same merchanter captains to agree to set up other merchanter captains in business to compete with them. But this man might.
In the vids that came from Old Earth there were blue sky days. There never were on Downbelow. The clouds had endless patterns, sometimes smooth, sometimes with bubbled bottoms, sometimes with layers and sheets that traveled at different speeds in the fierce winds aloft. Great Sun usually appeared through thick veils—so that if the sun ever did show an edge of fire the downers took it for an event of great importance.
But while downers revered Great Sun, and wanted to stand in polite respect and wait for Great Sun's rare appearances, the time between those appearances was just too long to endure.
So they made the Watchers, great-eyed and reverent statues that sat gazing at the sky in lieu of living downers.
There were several such statues on a forested hill near the Base, only knee-high, so you'd trip over them if you didn't know they were there. Two looked up. One looked a little downward from the hill, and if you looked where it was looking, you could see the Base itself through the trees,
Fletcher already knew where the site was, so he knew where Melody and Patch were going when they climbed that hill. He followed, and Bianca trekked after him.
"Where are they going?" Bianca panted And then stopped cold as she saw the images mostly hidden in the weeds. "Oh,—my."
She was impressed. Fletcher felt a warmth go through him.
"Bring watch sky" Patch said, with a wave of his arm all about. "Good see sky!"
Great view, was what Patch meant, and today it was on the downers' agenda to look at the sky, for some reason—or maybe to show Bianca this special place, as they'd shown it to him early last fall,
"It's wonderful," Bianca said "Do they know at the Base, I mean, do they know this place is here?"
"I don't know," Fletcher said. "It's none of the researchers' business, is it, if the hisa don't tell."
He had that attitude about it. He didn't know whether if he looked it up on the computers back at the Base he'd find it was known to the researchers, and off-limits especially to juniors in the program; but juniors in the program didn't have personal hisa guides to bring them here, either.
It was a mark of how much Melody and Patch had accepted Bianca, he thought, that all of a sudden this morning they'd snagged him away from brush-cutting and wanted him to get Bianca.
"Banky," they'd called her when she came, addressing her directly. "Walk, walk, walk."
That meant a fair hike. Three walks.
So Bianca had slipped out of her work this morning, too. It was easy. The job got done sometime today. On the station they'd have had inquiries out after two teens under supervision who took a morning break.
Here, they found a secret place and watched the clouds scud overhead.
"The clouds are really moving," Bianca said, pointing aloft as they sprawled flat on their backs beside Melody and Patch. "There must really be a wind up there."
"Rains come," Melody said, and reached out her hand and held Fletcher's tightly in her calloused
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