The Old One's fraud needed just the top level recollections, and a brash personality. Look under the surface,
复件 (66) air max1, Pham. I think you'll find a whole lot of nothing." A dream of competence, too closely confronted. The redhead had crossed his arms and was tapping his sleeve with a finger. When she finally ran out of words,
复件 (27) air max2, his smile grew broad and patronizing. "Ah, silly Ravna. Even now you don't understand how far superior the Powers are. Old One is not some Middle Beyond tyranny, brainwashing its victims with superficial memories. Even a Transcendent fraud has more depth than the image of reality in a human mind. And how can you know this really is a fraud? So you looked through the Relay archives, and didn't find my Qeng Ho." My Qeng Ho. He paused. Remembering? Trying to remember? For an instant Ravna saw a gleam of panic on his face. Then it was gone, and there was just the lazy smile. "Can any of us imagine the archives of the Transcend, all the things Old One must know about humanity? Vrinimi Org should be grateful to Old One for explaining my origins; they could never have learned that by themselves. "Look. I am truly sorry I can't help. Even if it's otherwise a fool's errand, I'd like to see those kids rescued. But don't worry about the Blight. It's near maximum expansion now. Even if you could destroy it,
复件 (37) air max1,
Just Beats Solo On-ear Headphones with ControlTalk?, you wouldn't make things better for the poor wights who've been absorbed." He laughed, a little too loudly. "Well, I have to go; Old One has some other errands for me this afternoon. He wasn't happy about this being face-to-face, but I insisted. The perks of detached duty, y'know. You and I ... you and I had some good times, and I thought it would be nice to chat. I didn't mean to make you mad." Pham cut in his agrav and floated off the sand. He waved a laconic salute. Staring up,
复件 (8) air max, Ravna lifted her hand to wave back. His figure dwindled,
复件 (52) air max2, acquired a faint nimbus as he left the Docks' breathable atmosphere and his space suit cut in. Ravna watched a few moments more, till the figure became one more commuter in the indigo sky. Damn. Damn. Damn. Behind her there was the sound of wheels crunching across sand. Blueshell and Greenstalk had rolled out of the water. Wetness glistened on the sides of their skrodes, transforming their cosmetic stripes into jagged rainbows. Ravna walked down to meet them. How do I tell them there's no help coming? With someone like Pham Nuwen fronting for it, Old One had seemed so different from what she imagined in her classes back at Sjandra Kei. She'd almost thought she could make a difference just by talking. What a joke. She had caught a glimpse just now, behind the front: of a being who could play with souls the way a programmer plays with a clever graphic, a being so far beyond her that only its indifference could protect her. Be happy, little Ravna moth. You were only dazzled by the flame. .Delete this paragraph to shift page flush CHAPTER 16 The next few weeks went surprisingly well. Despite the Pham Nuwen debacle, Blueshell and Greenstalk were still willing to fly the rescue. Vrinimi Org even kicked in some extra resources. Every day, Ravna took a tele-excursion out to the repair yards. The Out of Band II might not be getting any Transcendent enhancements, but when the refitting was complete, the ship would be something extraordinary: Now it floated in a golden haze of structors, billions of tiny robots regrowing sections of the hull into the characteristic form of a bottom lugger. Sometimes the ship seemed to Ravna like a fragile moth ... and sometimes an abyssal fish.