Poseidon's Wake by Alastair Reynolds Page A

anything to be done about Ru, any more than you can turn Mposi around.’
    ‘I hope things aren’t that desperate for either of us.’
    ‘I can’t speak for you and Mposi, but Ru and I are past any point of reconciliation. We’ve said everything, had every argument. There’s nothing left for either of us. Sooner or later – certainly before I leave – we’re going to have to talk about formalising our separation.’
    Ndege looked stunned, as if she had never foreseen this development.
    ‘Divorce?’
    ‘Kinder on both of us,’ Goma answered, with an easy-going shrug that still left her ripped inside. ‘Ru can get on with her life back on Crucible. One day she might even be able to forgive me.’
    ‘There’s nothing to forgive.’
    ‘You would say that.’
    ‘You’re my daughter, and I’m allowed to think the best of you. You’ll always be in my thoughts, Goma, even when the ship’s left – even when you’re too far away for communication.’
    ‘I don’t want to think about that day.’
    ‘That’s not going to keep it from happening.’ Ndege let out a sigh. ‘With that in mind, there’s something else I want to talk to you about.’
    ‘Something besides Ru?’
    ‘Yes, and I wish you weren’t so glad of the fact.’ Without warning, Ndege scraped back her chair, rose from the table and moved to one of the bookcases. ‘It’s a delicate thing and it could get both of us in trouble, so you’d best keep it from my brother for now. Did I ever speak to you about Travertine?’
    Goma nodded vaguely. ‘Some old friend of yours.’
    ‘Much more than that. A staunch ally to my mother, on the holoship. Then a loyal friend to me, after your father died and the world decided I needed burning. Other than Mposi, Travertine was one of the few people who’d still give me the time of day. I could never pay ver back for the love and loyalty ve showed me.’
    Goma had seen public images of Travertine in the government halls of Namboze and Guochang. Peevish and stern, severe of countenance, it was hard to square the face she remembered from those pictures with warmth and companionship.
    ‘What has Travertine got to do with any of this?’
    ‘Ve shared my interest in Mandala – it was a scientific puzzle, after all. Catnip to Travertine. Ve helped me design the communications protocol – the shades and illuminators we used to project light and darkness onto the walls. We cobbled them together with solar panels, mirrors, dome material, sheets of agricultural membrane – anything we could get our hands on and rig into place quickly. All very crude, but it worked.’
    Goma managed a smile at her mother’s customary understatement.
    ‘After the event,’ Ndege went on, ‘I did my best to obscure Travertine’s involvement. Ve already had a stain on ver character from the Zanzibar days – this would have been too much. I took more than my share of the responsibility, but since I was going down anyway it was a small price to pay. Regardless, Travertine remained my friend and never allowed me to forget ver gratitude. That is why ve gave me the list.’
    ‘What list?’
    Ndege’s fingers hovered over a row of books, finally settling on a slim, dusty-looking volume. She brought it to the table, holding it upright between both hands, like a shield.
    ‘ Gulliver’s Travels ,’ Ndege said. ‘Have you read it?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Good – I wouldn’t recommend it.’ Ndege sat down again, then opened the book and paged through it until a slip of paper fell out onto the table. Goma saw a list of handwritten names running down one column, and numbers in the other.
    ‘What are those?’
    Ndege coughed to clear her throat, touching a hand to her windpipe. ‘After the Mandala event – after my crime – a great deal of attention was paid to the destruction of Zanzibar .’
    ‘There would be.’
    ‘Well, yes. It was clear that I had triggered some sort of response from Mandala. The public focus was on the obvious