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That open candor in her attracted him as much as the cheoad, the devil’s advocate, the challenger I a the pawns
And he knew he did not have ht hand him an iht ood on their unspoken threat to cut this project off at the pockets as soon as they dared
There was no er in Waela - it betrayed itself in her stride (a bit too eht he was not looking But she would get to Panille and ask all of the proper questions That was the i
Thoer as they stepped into the glaring light and bustle at the testing apron where the new sub was cradled She was all business as she stared up at this creation which had eed from Thomas’ cohtly elongated, its LTA attache reminiscent of the backbone of an antediluvian Earthside monster The principle was relatively silobe of the gondola at the core Only the drive ainst the sea’s pressures The carrier had one more important function now visible to her eyes: Vertical lines of plaz-bubble lights extended up and down its sides - each bubble four centiht therahts could play back The kelp’s patterns would be its patterns, the kelp’s rhythms its rhythms
The chief of Construction Services, Hapat Lavu, cahted area He was a slender, driving ray eyesand accusatory tongue which delivered reprimands with thin-lipped fury, he was one of the best-liked Colonists The common assessment was, "You can depend on Hap"
Dependability gained highfor his reputation Of all the equipment from his shops, only the subs had failed to match Pandora’s demands Sixteen had been lost without a trace; there had been survivors froe of three others had been located on the bottoiant strands of kelp
Lavu’s assessment was the opinion of many: "That damn stuff can think and it’s a killer"
He had beco their short association Thomas had taken the accepted sub-con The only parts of the plan Lavu distrusted involved coreeted Tho better than the rocketsonde They fail, y’know"
"We’ll stick with it," Thomas said
He kneorried Lavu The ubiquitous ’lectrokelp not only clogged the seas, but their electrical activity jahter exhibited similar phenomena Was there a relationship? There was no pattern to the janal activity Because of this, they depended on high power and line-of-sight relays waterside Even then, a cloud of hylighters rising from the sea could block transmissions
"You’ll have to surface before you can communicate," Lavu said "Now, if you’d let me adapt the anchor cable t"
"Too le in them"
"Then pray that y’can lift above interference for the relays to take your talk-talk"
Thooon, slip down the anchor cable in a vertical dive and stay clear of the kelp barriers
"We’ll observe, play back their light patterns and seek any new coherent patterns in the lights or their electrical activity," he had said
It was a workable plan Several subs had survived exploratory dives by giving a wide berth to the kelp It hen the subs went in to take specimens that violence occurred
Workabl but with unavoidable weaknesses
Their LTA would hang at the surface, tethered on its anchor-line and awaiting the sub’s return froondola anchored or standing by aloft had been scratched The winds were too unpredictable and it was argued that two LTAs anchored in the sa problems The necessary size of such an LTA ht quarters The standard procedure at the hangar was to winch the the downhaul hawser Instead, their LTA bag had been triple-reinforced with coh Thomas’ mind as he studied the new submersible
Was it worth the risk? He felt that he was challenging Ship, but the stakes were the highest
Will You let me die here, Ship?
No answer, but Ship had said that his destiny was his o That was a rule of this game
If the kelp is sentient and we can etable! Did it WorShip? It could be the key to Ship’s deent and that could be another twist of this game Should he doubt?
It occurred to Thoht be close to ied by human intrusion, they had never seen dead kelp
Did it live forever?
"Do y’still reject a standby LTA?" Lavu asked
"How long could you hold one in sight of us?" Thomas asked
"Depends on the weather, as y’well know"
There was resentment in Lavu’s voice He took it personally that so many of his creations had been destroyed, all of them equipped as best he knew for underwater survival The answer, of course, was that Pandora’s planet-wide sea contained perils beyond those they knew Lavu felt that the entire project was now a challenge to him He did not want to quit It was o out as crew
"How else can I learn what’s needed if I don’t go out m’self?"
"No," Tho throw of the dice
Devil, why do you persist in such overly dramatic poses? This time, he expected the response and was ready for it
Because they won’t listen to er than life to theer than itself
Lavu patted the outer surface of the sub as Waelato the undertones in the conversation between Thomas and Lavu
What drives Thomas? she wondered
She had only the barest details about him Out of hyb and into co, he said
Why?
"She’s heavier than any of the others," Lavu said, thinking that the question in Waela’s mind "I defy any Pandoran monster to break it"
"Did you solve the proble the LTA?" Thoet your final inflation outside," Lavu said, "I’ve laid on extra perier’n I like"
"The sub itself?" Waela asked
"We’ve rigged guide cables up through the doors That’s it"
Instinctively, Tholanced up at the iris closure of the skydoors
"She’ll be ready by oh-six hundred at the latest," Lavu said "You’ll have a full nightside of rest before going out Who’s to ride with y’?"
"Not you, Hap," Thomas said
"Bu "
"A new fellow nao with us," Thomas said
"So I’ve heard Untrained A poet? Is that the truth?"
"An expert in communication," Thomas said
"Well, then, let’s run the tank test," Lavu said He turned and waved a hand signal at an aide
"We’ll ride it with you," Thomas said "What pressure will you take it to?"
"Five hundred ave the barest inclination of her head to indicate agreement, then returned her attention to the sub It curved over her, ht at the thickest part of the teardrop near its bow The outer carrier concealed all but the upper bubble of the plaz gondola within it The induction propeller at the stern had been shielded in a co systeainst kelp fouling
Workers ran a ladder up the side of the hull now, cushioned it with a foahts clean, and steadied it while Lavu mounted He spoke as he climbed
"We’ve installed the nal opens your hatch You’ll have to undog it by hand every time y’open it"
No surprises there, Thoht That had been Waela’s idea There were suspicions that the kelp could control signals in a wide scanning spectrum and that some of the lost subs had merely been opened underwater by scanner-activation of their hatchThomas to follow They were already inside when he reached the open hatch He paused there to peer along this craft he would command In a way, it was a small Voidship The stabilizer fins were like solar panels Exterior sensors for all of the cardinal directions were like a Voidship’s hull eyes And every knoeak point had been multiple-reinforced
Backup systems piled on backup syste of the access ladder with a foot and stepped down into the gondola It was red-lighted gloom there with Lavu and Waela already at their positions Waela was bent over her console, checking her instru the line of her left cheek visible to Thoht How tender and beautiful that line was, he thought Ih
Well,