He let the propellers free-wheel for a bit, then fed in the power again. He still felt very head-down heavy, but that was the worst he experienced. His headlong plummet became a slow fall, the thick air stopped shaking him and the slipstream became a gentle breeze. Finally he stopped. He thought the better of trying to balance on the ankle bracelet motors. He would activate the cape and let it float him back up.
He hung there, head down, effectively motionless as the ankle motors spun lazily in the thick air.
His eyes narrowed.
There was something down there, something far below, almost but not quite lost in the haze. A shape. A very big shape, filling about the same part of his visual field as his hand would have, held outstretched, and yet still so far away that it was barely visible in the haze. He squinted, looked away and looked back.
There was definitely something there. From the finned airship shape, it looked like another behemothaur, though Yoleus had let it be known that Muetenive had taken them unfashionably, hurtfully, almost unprecedentedly and arguably disgracefully low, and so Uagen thought it very strange to see another of the giant creatures so much deeper still beneath the courting couple. The shape, also, did not look quite right. There were too many fins, and in plan — making the very reasonable assumption that he was looking down on its back — the thing looked asymmetrical. Very unusual. Even alarming.
There was a fluttering noise nearby. ‘Here is your hat.’
He turned to look at 974 Praf, flapping her wings slowly in the dense air and holding his tasselled box hat in her beak.
‘Oh, thank you,’ he said, and rammed the hat on tight.
‘You have the stylo?’
‘Umm. Yes. Yes, I do. Look; down there. Can you see something?’
974 looked down. Eventually she said, ‘There is a shadow.’
‘Yes, there is, isn’t there? Does it look like a behemothaur to you?’
The Interpreter cocked her head. ‘No.’
‘No?’
The Interpreter turned her head the other way. ‘Yes.’
‘Yes?’
‘No and yes. Both at once.’
‘Ah-ha.’ He looked down again. ‘I wonder what it can be.’
‘I wonder too. Shall we return to the Yoleus?’
‘Umm. I don’t know. Do you think we ought?’
‘Yes. We have fallen a long way. I cannot see the Yoleus.’
‘Oh. Oh dear.’ He looked up. Sure enough, the creature’s giant shape had disappeared in the haze above. ‘I see. Or rather, we can’t see. Ha ha.’
‘Indeed.’
‘Umm. Still, I do wonder what that is down there.’
The shadowy outline beneath appeared to be stationary. Air currents in the haze made it almost disappear for a few moments, so that all that was left was the bias in the eye, making the assumption that it must still be there. And then it was back, distinguishable, but still no more than a shape, a one-shade- deeper blue shadow against the colossal gulf of air below.
‘We should return to the Yoleus.’
‘Do you think Yoleus will have any idea what it is?’
‘Yes.’
‘It does look like a behemothaur, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes and no. Maybe sick.’
‘Sick?’ ‘Injured.’
‘Injured? What can — how can behemothaurs become injured?’
‘It is very unusual. We should return to the Yoleus.’
‘We could take a closer look,’ Uagen said. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to, but he felt he ought to say it. It was interesting, after all. On the other hand, it was a little disturbing, too. As 974 Praf had said, they had lost visual contact with Yoleus. It ought to be easy enough to find it again — Yoleus had not been moving quickly and so simply going straight back up would probably still bring them up almost underneath the creature — but, well, even so.
What if Muetenive decided to make a bolt for the anticipated convection bubble now, rather than in a day or two? Good grief, he and 974 Praf could both be left stranded. Yoleus might not have noticed that they’d gone. If it had realised they were no longer aboard, and then took off after a suddenly frisky Muetenive, it would probably leave some raptor scouts behind to protect them and, escort them back. But there was no guarantee that it did know he and 974 Praf were not safely within its foliage.
Uagen looked around for falficores. He didn’t even have a weapon; when he’d refused any sort of bodyguard device the university had insisted he at least take a pistol with him, but he’d never even unpacked the damn thing.
‘We should return to the Yoleus.’ The Interpreter spoke very quickly, which was as close as she ever got to sounding nervous or disturbed. 974 Praf had probably never been in a position where she couldn’t see the great creature that was her home, host, leader, parent and beloved. She must be afraid, if such beings felt fear.
Uagen was afraid, he could admit that. Not very afraid, but afraid enough to hope that 974 Praf would refuse to accompany him down to the huge shape below. And they would have to go down quite a long way further. He didn’t like to think how many more kilometres.
‘We should return to the Yoleus,’ she said again.
‘You really think so?’
‘Yes, we should return to the Yoleus.’
‘Oh, I suppose so. All right.’ He sighed. ‘Discretion, and all that. Best let Yoleus decide what to do.’
‘We should return to-the Yoleus.’
‘Yes, yes.’ He used the wrist controls to activate the stowed cape. It unfurled, collapsed slowly into a ball, then — even more slowly — began to expand.
‘We should return to the Yoleus.’
‘We are, Praf. We are. We’re going now.’ He could feel himself starting to drift upwards, and a faint pull on his shoulders began to lift him towards the horizontal.
‘We should return to the Yoleus.’
‘Praf, please. That’s what we’re doing. Don’t keep—’
‘We should return to the Yoleus.’
‘We are!’ He let the power to the bracelet-ankle motors tail off; the ballooning cape, still a perfect black sphere blossoming behind his head, slowly took all his weight and hoisted him upright.
‘We should—’
‘Praf!’
The propellers cut out and stowed themselves back in his ankle bracelets. He was floating upwards at last. 974 Praf beat her wings a little harder to keep up with him. She looked up at the still enlarging black sphere of the cape.
‘Another thing,’ she said.
Uagen was staring down, between his boots. Already the vast shape beneath was starting to disappear into the haze. He glanced at the Interpreter. ‘What?’
‘The Yoleus would like to know more of the vacuum dirigibles in your Culture.’
He looked up at the black balloon above his head. The cape produced lift by compressing itself into a ball and then expanding its surface area while leaving a vacuum inside. That vacuum was lifting him by the shoulders, up into the sky.
‘What? Oh, well.’ He wished he hadn’t mentioned the damn things now. He also wished he’d brought a more complete technical library from the Culture. ‘I’m hardly an expert. I have been a tourist on them a few times, on my home Orbital.’
‘You mentioned pumping vacuum. How is that done?’ 974 Praf seemed to be labouring to keep up with him now, flapping her wings as hard as the thickened atmosphere would allow.
Uagen adjusted the dimensions of the cape. His rate of climb tailed off. ‘Ah, well, as far as I understand it, you keep the vacuum in spheres.’
‘Spheres.’
‘Very thin-shelled spheres. You keep the spaces between the spheres full of, ah … well; helium or hydrogen, I think, depending on your inclination. Though I don’t think you get a vast amount of extra lift compared to using hydrogen or helium alone; just a few per cent. One of those things that tend to be done because they can be rather than because they need to be.’
‘One sees.’
‘Then you can pump it. Them. The spheres and the gas.’
‘One sees. And what is the manner of this pumping?’
‘Umm …‘ He looked down again, but the great shadowy shape had gone.
5
A Very Attractive System
(Recording.)
‘This is a great simulation.’
‘It’s not a simulation.’
‘Yeah. Of course. Still, it is though, isn’t it?’
‘Push! Push!’
‘I’m pushing, I’m pushing!’
‘Well, push harder!’
‘You don’t think this is a fucking simulation, do you?’
‘Oh no, not a fucking simulation.’
‘Look, I don’t know what you’re on but whatever it is it’s the wrong stuff.’
‘The flames are coming up the shaft!’
‘So get some water down it!’
‘I can’t reach the—’
‘I’m really impressed.’
‘You are on something, aren’t you?’
‘He must be glanding. Nobody can be this stupid straight.’
‘I’m so glad we waited till night, aren’t you?’
‘Absolutely. Look at the day side! I’ve never seen it shimmer like that, have you?’