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become heroes of the Hundred Planets, using First Lifewave knowledge to solve
current problems.We were wrong. It was this kind of thing that destroyed the
First Lifewave.
"This, too, is very confidential," said the Brenilak, looking at the three of
them. "The Guild is adopting a new policy. We will honor all existing
contracts, but we will accept no new contracts on First Lifewave research."
"You mean you're against progress?" asked Ley in-credulously.
"Not really. Most of the archeological work of an In-terface can be done by a
number of people hand-program-ming the information into the data banks and
then writing their own correlation programs. It will merely take them longer.
If this information is brought to light in small bits over a long time, our
civilization will be better able to adapt to it."
"It's a dangerous path," said Khelin, agreeing. "I won-der if the alternative
is more dangerous."
"I think it might be," said Zref, his opinion beginning to crystalize. "I'm
with the Guild."
"I'm glad to hear that," said Zaviv, "because I've brought you a proposition.
The Guild is in grave danger. Fourteen Master Interfaces have been lost in
this battle. Over the last few years, we've barely been able to maintain our
numbers from volunteers. To replace the lost and maintain our strength is
going to take a massive effort. If we can't do it, we won't be able to fulfill
our contracts."
"You mean in a year or two, we could be in danger of this same kind of
collapse again?" Zref asked.
"There is hope," countered Zaviv. "What we learned about the Wild Interface
seems to be applicable to the research I once told you about involving kren
volunteers and the Mautri practices."
"Khelin and I have a job," said Ley, too loudly.
The Interface's eyes flicked aside for an instant, masking the blankness of
his gaze as he checked the data banks. Zref watched that gesture with avidity.
The Brenilak had added another bit of social finesse to his manner.
"I see," said Zaviv, "with Lantern as crisis consultants." He focused on
Zref. "The new research program is asking for human volunteers, people who are
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or have been in a bhirhir relationship, but they need not have any connection
to the Mautri. With this new data, we should be able to bring such a human
through surgery successfully, where we have failed consistently in the past."
Khelin and Ley seemed to be shrinking from the Breni-lak, but Zref said, "I'm
interested."
"Zref, no!" said Ley.
"You don't have to do this," said Khelin.
Zref had never seen the kren so upset. The blue priest was actually raising
venom.
Ley shoved his chair closer to Khelin's and said, "Zref, we'll help you find
something you really want to do."
Zaviv said, "I'm not here to persuade you to volunteer. The danger is no
secret. For every two thousand who apply to the Guild, only one and a half are
selected, and not all of those survive the alterations to the brain. Some
survive but fail to master the Interface; they spend the rest of their
lives in our hospitals. Where bhirhir is involved, there have beenno
successes."
"Well then, it's about time there were," said Zref.
He remembered Sudeen's vision of him wearing the In-terface medallion. The
Guild had destroyed the outlaws who had killed his parents, Sudeen, and Tess,
and they'd almost destroyed themselves in the process. He fingered the Wassly
trinket, and the certainty grew in him that despite the air of final triumph
pervading the issue, they had not heard the last of 'Ossminid.'
Zref took a few days to think it all through. Meanwhile, the news carried the
story of the Guild's battle. The con-fidentiality of the files was guaranteed
again, and Inter-faces went back to work. Items began to appear on the
hardships caused by the sudden dearth of Interfaces, and two or three times
Zref caught stories regarding various archeological projects held up for lack
of an Interface. Then he saw a huge ad from Lantern Enterprises offering
fantas-tic salaries to programmers who knew archeology.
Three government-Guild contracts came up for renewal, and the Guild provided
complete service to the two planets that did not have official First Lifewave
projects and ignored the one that did. Through all the bitterness and cries of
favoritism, the Guild remained silent.
Lantern hired another translation team to complete the work his parents had
started, and they disappeared behind a security screen a parsec deep. Zref
concluded that Lan-tern was as unconvinced of 'Ossminid' 's demise as he was.
Somewhere there was a criminal with the power to create Wild Interfaces, with
most of the translation of a clue to the location of the City of a Million
Legends, where they once created Persuaders.
Zref told himself that he was just fantasizing. There was no evidence that
any of those criminals had survived. But the thought nagged at him. He had
rubbed the Wassly trinket almost to a thin wafer on the many sleepless nights
when he could not close his eyes without his mind replaying the nightmarish
events of the attack on his home. He would find himself sitting bolt upright
in bed, with Sudeen's scream echoing in his mind, not in the dark room. And he
would get up to sit by the window, his heart thundering, knowing that he had
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to do something to prevent a second 'Ossminid.'
If ever there's a breakthrough on finding the City, or the mazeheart object,
or another Wild Interface, it would be known to the Guild first.If Iwere an
Interface, I'd always know the very latest news. I could help keep the lid on [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]