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Clones are property and that’s that!
- Morgan Hempstead, Moonbase Director
"THANK YOU for co with my invitation"
Tho at the sense of peril aroused by such a sian Oakes, Chaplain/Psychiatrist - the Ceepee, The Boss?
It was late dayside on Ship and Thoh fro-dorer Raja Flattery I am Raja Thomas,
There could be no slip in the new facade, especially here
"I have been studying your dossier, Raja Thomas," Oakes said
Thomas nodded That was a lie! The stress in the man’s voice was obvious Didn’t Oakes realize how much he betrayed himself to trained senses? You could not believe a word this man uttered! He was careless - that was it
Perhaps there are no other trained senses to test him
"I responded to a summons, not to an invitation," Tho a Raja Thomas would say
Oakes merely smiled and tapped a folder of thin Shippaper in his lap A dossier? Hardly Thomas knew that it was in Ship’s interest to conceal the real identity of this new player in the galanced around the Shipcell to which Oakes had invited hi belatedly that this once had been a cubby Oakes had taken out bulkheads to expand the cubby Then, as Thonized a ings, he suffered one of the worst shocks in this awakening
This was my cubby!
It was obvious that Ship had expanded enormously since those faraway Voidship days when it had housed only a few thousand hybernating hues he had seen on the trip here froes behind them What had happened to Ship?
This expanded cubby suggested an unsavory history The space was sybaritic with exotic hangings, deep orange carpeting, soft divans Except for a small holoprojection at Oakes’ left hand, all the cubby’s expected servosyste his visitor plenty of ti the time to return that scrutiny What was Ship’s intent with this e on Oakes’ face
Thoht by the computer-driven projection at the holofocus It was a fa a planet, all glittering green and orange and black Only the planetary system was unfamiliar; it had two suns and several ression of the ship’s orbit, he felt an odd sense of deja vu He was in motion in a ship in motion in a universe in motio and it had all happened before
Replay?
Ship said not, bu Tho them for later He did not have to be told that the planet in the focus was Pandora and that this projection represented a real-tis did not change no e of time Bickel had once
Morgan Oakes sat on a deep divan of rust velvet while Raja Thomas stood - an unsubtle accent on their positions in a hierarchy which Thomas had not yet analyzed
"I’m told you are a Chaplain/Psychiatrist," Oakes said And he thought: This man does not respond to his na, yes"
"Expert in coed
"Ahhh, yes" Oakes was pleased with himself "That remains to be tested Tell me why you have asked for the poet"
"Ship asked for the poet"
"So you say"
Oakes allowed silence to follow this challenge
Tho-on-fat, dark coray-streaked hair had been co hairline The nose was sharp and flared at the nostrils, the rimace; the chin ide and cleft The man’s eyes doht blue and they probed, boring in, always trying to penetrate every surface they found Thonosed as psychotic
"Do you like what you see?" Oakes asked
Again, Thoed
Oakes did not like this response "What is it you see in me which requires such scrutiny?"
Thonizable and that first naestive Oakes could have Lon as a middle name If Oakes were a clone instead of a replay-survivor rescued fro clue as to how Ship was playing this deadly gaan Heo director of Moonbase And there was that first name
"I’ve just been very curious toOakes and sat without invitation
Oakes scowled He knehat they called hiroundside, but politeness (not to mention politics) dictated that the term not be used in this room Best not precipitate conflict yet, however This Raja Thomas posed too many mysteries Aristocratic type! That damned better-than-you manner
"I, too, am curious," Oakes said
"I’m a servant of Ship"
"But what is it you’re supposed to do?"
"I was told you have a co about an alien intelligence"
"How very interesting What are your special capabilities in this respect?"
"Ship appears to think I’m the one for the job"
"I don’t call the ship’s process thinking Besides, who cares what opinions come out of a system of electronic bits and pieces? I prefer a human assessment"
Oakes watched Thomas carefully for a response to this open blasphemy Who was this ma really? You couldn’t trust the da to believe was that the ship was not a god Powerful, yes, but with li
"Well, I intend to have a go at the problem," Thomas said
"If I permit it"
"That’s between you and Ship," Thoestions"
"It offends m" Oakes paused, leaned back into his cushionswhen you refer to this mechanical constructio" He waved a hand to indicate the physical presence of Ship all around "as Ship The implication" He left it there
"Have you issued an order prohibiting WorShip?" Tho prospect Would Ship interfere?