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Choices resulted from information He had learned that lesson well

But how can you know the result of every choice?

Oakes shook his head and resuers was an acute pressure in his breast But there was no stopping this, short of death His feet turned hirariue even if he had not recognized the wide cart tracks leading through an autoh the lock and found hily unbounded space

It was nightside here too Even plants required that diurnal pulse An internally illuminated yelloall map at his left showed him his location and the best access routes out It also showed this agrariuest extrusions of the ship were monopolized for food production, but he had not entered one of those co that first atte before they had gained their Colony foothold on the Egg

Kingston’s first big mistake

Oakes stepped closer to the rarium but more interested in this syrariue as the central core of the ship It spread out, fanlike, froures he had been initialing took on a new reality here And the map’s explanatory footnote was an exclahtside shift of agrarium workers broke for their nal passed aether into the diht of the WorShip alcove

They believe! Oakes thought, they really believe that the ship is God!

As the shift supervisor led them in their litany, Oakes found himself washed in a sadness that cae of tears He realized then that he envied them their faith, their small comfort of the ritual that was so much bother to hied man with dirt on his hands and knees, led them in the Chant of Sure Growth

"Behold the bed of dirt," and he dropped a pinch of dirt to the floor

"And the seed asleep in it," the crew responded, lifting their bowls and setting them down

"Behold water," he dribbled sos," they raised their glasses

"Behold light," he lifted his face to the U-V racks overhead

"And the life it opens," they spread their hands, palrain, the thickness of the leaf," he spooned from the communal pot, into the bowl to his left

"And the seed of life it plants in us," each worker spooned a helping for the Shipives" The supervisor sat down

"And the joy of company to share it," they said, and sat to eat

Oakes turned away unnoticed

The joy of company! he snorted to himself If there were less cohtthe rim of the ship’s outer hull then, raw space only a few rariu people, they could count agraria and add the support figures! He knew that groundside shiphty percent of Colony stores Here was a key to real numbers! Why had they not seen that before?

Even as he experienced elation at this thought, Oakes knew the ship would frustrate such an attempt The damned ship did not want them to kno many people it supported It blocked their attempts to count; it hid hyb coless corridors

It brought a naroundside project outside of Shiproundside, too And even a precious Ceepee from Ship could walk into a fatality

What difference did it make? The new Ceepee was probably a clone Oakes had seen the earliest records: Clones were property Soned with the initials MH had said it And there was an aura of power around that statement Clones were property