The Diamond Deep Page 20

Lya smiled. “We will witness. We will tell the people of the Fire of all that you do. See that you do good.”

  Before Ruby could respond to Lya, SueAnne said, “It is for all of us to hold all of us accountable. And if you choose to follow Ruby everywhere, she will not be able to lead, and I will hold you accountable. You may be setting yourselves up to choose between helping the children and the old, or sitting in jail.”

  Ruby winced. This is not what she would have said, or what she would have had SueAnne say. But then, SueAnne took a fierce pride in being tough, probably from being the only woman with power for so long.

  Ruby looked into Lya’s eyes once more. They remained full of unruffled serenity. “We must look to the future and not the past,” she said. “It is my preference that you help me to do that, that we do that together.”

  She started up the stairs. For a moment she didn’t think that Lya would move, but then she slowly stepped aside and allowed Ruby to approach her own door. Chitt and Samara stood beside her as she opened the door, and Lya and her women hissed and whispered, “Witness. Witness. Witness.”

  Ruby closed the door.

  Onor opened his eyes. They were crusty and dried. His nose and mouth were parched. His head ached. He fisted his hand and rubbed at his eyelids—slowly—until he could see blue above him. Sky? There had been birds. He remembered birds. But there couldn’t be sky. He hadn’t thought there could be birds, but he was certain there could not be sky.

  Besides it was too close. It must be paint. Although a faint light seemed to emanate from the whole ceiling.

  Moving sent pain shooting from his limbs into his head.

  Naveen.

  A memory of walking with Naveen, or more accurately, of being helped by Naveen.

  He managed to wrestle his body to a sitting position. He wore only his underwear and a silky sheet that had tangled around his legs. A couch. That probably explained why he hadn’t fallen off. Beside him, a pitcher of water, a glass and his slate. There was a note on his slate. Drink the water and you’ll feel better. Take a shower. I’ve laid out clothes. I’ll be back. Please don’t leave.

  A light blue powder filled the bottom of the glass. Onor stared at it, trying to think, which seemed particularly hard at that moment.

  He’d chosen to trust Naveen.

  He poured water into the glass and stirred it with his finger. The water was barely tinted blue, and smelled like water always smelled except a touch sweeter. He put his lips to the glass and found himself gulping, almost inhaling, pouring a glass of plain water and finishing that, too.

  His body reacted almost immediately, membranes softening, vision clearing, the headache disappearing.

  He’d have to ask about the powder. More of that would be good.

  Now that he felt human, he looked around. The room had a simple taste and elegance at odds with Naveen’s way of dressing. Rounded corners softened everything. Bright swatches of textiles accented the grays and off-whites that formed the basic color-palette. Here and there, plants hung in glass orbs. Naveen had been right that it looked far better than Ash. But then, if this one set of rooms belonged wholly to Naveen, the primary difference might be the amount of space.

  Shower.

  Except now his stomach screamed.

  Onor’s gait wobbled, but he managed to hit the privy and the shower and pull on the clothes: a pair of thin light-blue pants that sparkled around the waistband and the ankles and a light brown shirt that—thankfully—didn’t sparkle. The outfit was so soft and light he still felt naked, and so strange and smooth he felt out of sorts and odd.

  If this was Naveen’s home, it was more opulent than anything on the Fire. Maybe not more than what he’d seen last night.

  They would have expected him home.

  The slates had communication capability. One of the wonders of Diamond Deep that hadn’t been—quite—true on the Fire. He picked his slate up and stared at it. There were messages from Ruby, Joel, and Marcelle.

  He thumbed through the pictures on the slate. He only clearly remembered seeing about two-thirds of the things he’d taken pictures of. He selected one of a bird and sent it to Ruby with the words, “I’m okay.” He chose a tree for Marcelle with the same message and a picture of the whole aviary complete with trees and the tiny colored forms of birds for Joel. He smiled. That would give them pause.

  He expected Naveen to show up right away, but he didn’t. Onor prowled the space. He tried to send Naveen a note, but he couldn’t figure out how to address one to him, nor remember the last name that Koren had given for him.

  There was a door he hadn’t opened. Maybe Naveen was in there. He knocked. No answer.

  He pushed the door open quietly.

  Inside, the walls were full of moving pictures. Videos and stills flashed on and off, all silent. Ruby featured in most of them. Some were of her standing beside Joel, some of the last concert in the cargo bar. Some were Joel, some Onor, some the Fire itself. A few featured Koren or her robots talking to people.

  Onor stood and stared, watching.

  He noticed a picture of Ruby singing at Owl Paulie’s funeral.

  Naveen hadn’t taken that.

  Onor had no access to it, nor Ruby, nor any of them.

  It had to have come from Ix.

  Ruby was dressed for their trip out with Koren, and waiting for Joel to return from a morning meeting with his councilors. She curled up on a small black couch, one hand holding a glass of what passed for stim here, far enough away from her nose that she didn’t need to smell the bitter edge of it. In her other hand, she held her slate. The picture Onor had sent her was quite remarkable.

  A bird.

  Ever since she was young, she had been fascinated with images of birds. She had thought they only lived on planets. And here Onor had seen one, and sent her evidence.

  She took a sip of the stim, glad it didn’t taste as bad as it smelled. It seemed harder to wake since they had left the Fire, as if no matter how much she slept it wasn’t enough.

  Perhaps she would see a bird today.

  The door opened. Joel came in and stood there, looking at her in a way she had recognized meant he felt uncomfortable. “There are women outside the door. They chanted at me.”

  Oh. She hadn’t quite forgotten them, but she hadn’t really expected them to stay. “Sorry.”

  “They were chanting your name, and something about betrayal.”

  She sighed. “They seem to think I don’t care about them anymore.”

  He raised an eyebrow, “Maybe I should explain how many times you remind me to spend time with them.”

  “Maybe you should spend more time with them.”

  He frowned. “Will they go away?”

  “I hope so. They say they’re going to follow me around until I listen to them.” She forced a smile and stood. “I heard from Onor. He sent me a picture of a bird.”

  “And he sent me a picture of a space bigger than where we live full of trees and birds. He’s going to miss the tour.”

  Ruby frowned. “Are you bringing guards?”

  “Of course. And SueAnne.”

  Lya was going to have fun with this one. “Is it too late to add someone else? Like The Jackman, or Conroy, or Marcelle?”

  “In trade for you.”

  “No.”

  “Then no changes. Koren said up to five total. That’s me, you, SueAnne, KJ, and I was going to bring Onor.”

  “You could trade Conroy for Onor.”

  “I will choose one of our personal guards.”

  She wondered if the women outside their door had gotten under his skin, or something else. “Is Chitt or Samara okay?”

  “We’ll take Dayn.”

  “I’d like to have someone from gray.”

  “Yet you keep telling me there are no more colors, no more levels. That means I can choose whoever best fits the job.” The look on his face told her his mind was made up.

  She forced herself to accept, the compromise acid i
n her stomach, especially with Lya and the other women outside her door. They were wrong, but Joel was doing everything possible to make them look right.

  If she rejected Joel and her place here, she would be able to give them nothing. Not that she could bear to leave him. She stood close enough to him to smell his sweat and worry, and to touch his hand with hers. “Do you think we’ll see birds?”

  “I’m more interested in a way forward.”

  “Me, too. But a bird would be amazing.”

  He kissed her hair and she sighed, leaning into him.

  The group of whispering women outside their door was about twenty strong, their murmurs an echo—a chorus—in her ears. Lya and her women followed behind her, a long line like a weight dragging at Ruby’s feet.

  Joel looked stoic but his eyes blazed.

  This wasn’t the moment for a confrontation, not between her and Lya, not between her and Joel. But the pressure for it was there, angry words in all of their eyes.

  Near the door they had all come in, SueAnne stood waiting for them with KJ. Another level of anger, this time SueAnne looking at Ruby as if she had caused the women to choose this path.

  KJ simply looked curious.

  Dayn gave her a look that practically screamed See what you’ve done now? with a twinkle in eye that suggested he was laughing at the uncomfortable spot the whispering women had backed her into. If she could have stuck her tongue out and maintained any bit of dignity, she might have done just that.

  Once everyone was there waiting, the women quieted. Their presence cost Ruby and Joel the moments they might have had to prepare the group, to be sure everyone was ready.

  When the door opened, Koren stood behind it with four of the bright, shape-changing robots at her side.

  Ruby held her breath, willing the women not to try and follow.

  They didn’t, perhaps because KJ stood last in line, perhaps because Koren’s faceless robotic companions frightened them.

  Koren offered no more than a polite greeting, leaving Ruby and the others to feel intimidated by the silence and the robots for a full twenty-minute walk. The floor under their feet was metallic and smooth, and their shoes whispered as they went, the sound reminding Ruby of Lya and the women in white. She tried to think of the people who supported her, the ones who sat and sang with her in common and joined them around the map table on docking day. They mattered more than twenty or so disaffected women led by a woman who was half crazy. They did.

  Once they were all settled in a train car that held only them and the four robots, Koren stood at the front of the car. “This is a formal occasion. Until today, you have been a people who we studied, who we welcomed back into our fold and attempted to learn about our own history from. But you are not slaves. It is time for you to learn about the Diamond Deep and to begin to explore how you might choose to fit into our society.”

  The train pulled so smoothly away from the station that Ruby couldn’t tell how fast it was going. Koren let the train get up to speed and then she said, “There are rules here on the Diamond Deep. The most fundamental are that you must own yourselves. You must harm no one. And you must add to the collective. These are the Deeping Rules, and all other rules and customs about how to live here go back to these rules.

  “Society on the Deep is ruled by balanced forces. These are the forces of time—history and the future. As the Chief Historian, I work to see that we remember the lessons of our past. I am balanced by the Futurist, who looks to what we need to continue to grow. The Architect oversees the constant rebuilding of the station—the creation of the new and the destruction of the old. The Biologist cares for our food supply and our health. The Economist assures we remain a commercially viable society. He or she manages the Exchanges and the value of goods and services.”

  She paused, looking around until all of them nodded.

  A slight bitterness edged Koren’s voice as she continued, “Up until now, only one of your people have been allowed to leave your area.”

  Onor. Who had seen birds but who was still gone.

  “But now you will be given leave to travel through other parts of the station and eventually you will all have travel rights everywhere. We will also allow the people of the station to come to you. Yes, you have seen my historians and my staff, but now anyone from the Diamond Deep can travel into your world and meet with you.”

  Ruby raised her hand.

  “Yes, Ruby?”

  “Why can’t we all travel?”

  Koren smiled the smile that Ruby hated. The one that seemed friendly but condescending all at once. “You have limited resources. In order to meet salvage laws, we have granted you ten percent of the value of your ship’s material and cargo. That is what paid for the homes you are living in, and what pays for the food that you eat and the air that you breathe. We have chosen how to spend that for you, providing you with the simplest and least costly options at every turn. But after today, we will turn over the management of your resources to you. Travel costs credit, and you will want to maintain control over that expense.”

  “So we are paying for this trip?” SueAnne asked.

  Koren shook her head. “This is a gift to you.”

  “So how much—resource—do you believe we have?” Joel asked.

  She approved of Joel’s careful wording. This felt like a trap.

  “Credits are exchanged for everything here, and there is a base amount of credit that each being pays to exist according to the resources they use. You pay the daily tax on breathing beings, which is two credits per person per day. Every working person makes far more than that, but since none of you earn credits yet, this is a daily expense. Tomorrow you will be able to work, and tomorrow, you will have to find a way to purchase your own food.”

  “That does not answer my question,” Joel said.

  “You have credit to survive for about half a year with no one working and a low birth rate, assuming you do not use more resource than you do now. I will send someone to go over accounts with you later. In reality, there are many decisions that influence your resources. Decisions about how to add resources and how to spend them.”

  “And if we run out?” SueAnne asked.

  “Then there are jobs that we can sign you up for in trade for the minimum required to exist here. If you are unable to work, there are places on the ship where you can live and receive minimal care.”

  Great. Ruby was willing to bet some of the minimal jobs were dangerous and demeaning.

  In spite of how disturbing they were, Onor found himself so entranced by the shifting pictures on the wall in the strange room at Naveen’s that he didn’t hear Naveen came through the door. “Good morning.” He sounded quite cheerful for someone who could see he’d been caught out. “Or, almost good afternoon.”

  “I didn’t plan to stay out all night,” Onor said.

  “I know. I’m sorry. But I have more to show you today.” Not that he looked sorry.

  “I was supposed to be on a tour with Koren.”

  Naveen gave a funny grin, like a child hiding a secret. “I know. I thought I should tour you instead. There is a lot to see that she will not show you, and there are things to learn that she will not share with you.”

  “Ruby doesn’t like her, but why would she mean us harm?”

  “It’s probably not personal. There is a structure on this station, an order of things. Koren sees you very near the bottom. You have no skills we need, no unique knowledge except for your experiences, which she has already mined. I’m pretty sure Koren thinks the best thing you’re bringing is your contribution to the gene pool.”

  “Huh?”

  “You can have babies that will learn how to live here. I don’t think she expects you to thrive. You know nothing.”

  That hurt. “And you want to help us?”

  “You have assets. One of those is Ruby. Another is the rawness of your emotions—and your lives. Koren dismisses that, but it is selling on the interest webs.”

>   “So we have value because we’re stupid?” Onor kept watching the shifting pictures on the wall. Compared to the diversity of people and looks and ideas and places he’d seen so far on the station—and he’d hardly seen any of it yet—the Fire did look simple.

  “Because you’re a fresh perspective. I can make this work for you. I’ve already earned some credit showing Ruby off. The shots I took of the concert on the Fire are selling. I’ve saved some of the credit for you.”

  “Credit helps you get power?”

  Naveen laughed. “More like power buys you credit.”

  Onor frowned.

  “You’ll need me to help you navigate the traps this station sets for people.”

  Onor still felt lost. They needed what Naveen was offering. “I’ll talk to Ruby and Joel.”

  “Here,” Naveen said, reaching down and swiping across his slate. “Here’s part of the credit I’ve earned from your images so far. When the time is right, show it to Ruby and Joel. The rest will go directly to them after I get to meet with them. Ruby is entitled to a part of whatever I make selling her images. So are you—for your images.”

  “Really?”

  “Look at your slate.” When Onor complied, Naveen showed him how to get access to his credit balance. There was a new number there: two-hundred seventy credits. “Show that to them,” Naveen said. “They’ll have context for it after today.”

  Onor slid his slate back into his pocket.

  Naveen looked quite pleased with himself, as if he had imparted some great gift to Onor.

  “Thank you.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  Onor didn’t want to leave the room. “All of these pictures. I know you took some of them. But others are ours. How did you get them?”

  Naveen’s grin spread all the way across his face. “I hoped you would notice. I have a gift for you. You will need an AI. Most of the civilized groups like yours—the communities—have one. When you have enough credit, you can hire your own. Your ship’s AI is from too old a generation to be independently employable, and you have a right to it. I grabbed a copy before Koren wiped it from the ship. I’ve spent the last few weeks attaching it to a communication program that will let you speak to it, and teaching it about the Deep.”