The pictures in her mind became altogether different. Now Nicole was seeing some images of scenes that she believed were from the home planet of the sessiles, ones that Richard had once excitedly described to her.
Nicole had purposely positioned her right hand next to the control panel of her wheelchair when she had entered the web. When she now pressed the power button and then reverse, the slight motion of the chair immediately registered with the sessile. The images stopped instantly, and the threads of the creature were subsequently withdrawn.
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6
T:
he next day, an hour before the beginning of the lunch period, a part of one wall in each starfish apartment transformed into a large television screen. The residents were then informed that an important announcement was forthcoming in thirty minutes.
‘This is only the third time,” Max told Nicole as they waited, “that we have had any kind of general transmission. The first was immediately after we arrived here and the second was when it was decided to segregate our living quarters.”
“What’s going to happen now?” Marius asked.
“I suspect we’re going to find out the details of our move,” Max answered. “At least that’s the leading rumor.”
At the appointed time, the Eagle’s face appeared on the monitor. “Last year, when you were all awakened and moved from Rama,” the Eagle said, simultaneously giving the same message in colored strips moving across his forehead, “we told you that this vehicle would not be your
permanent home. We are now ready to transfer you to other locations, where your living conditions will be markedly better.”
The Eagle paused a few seconds before continuing. “All of you will not be transferred to the same place. About one-third of the current starfish residents will move to the Carrier, that huge, flat spacecraft that has been stationed near the Node for most of the last week. During the next few hours, the Carrier will finish its business over at the Node and move in this direction. Those of you who are transferring to the Carrier will do so after dinner tonight.
‘The rest of you will be moved to the Node in another three or four days. Nobody will be left here on the starfish. I would like to stress again that the accommodations in both places will be excellent and far superior to those in this vehicle.”
The Eagle stopped for almost half a minute, as if he were allowing time for his audience to react to what he had already said. “When this meeting is over,” the Eagle then said, “each of the apartment television screens will repeatedly cycle through the list of all creatures on board, ordered by apartment number, and display the transfer assignments. Reading the displays is very simple. If your name and/or identification code appears on the monitor in black letters against a white background, you will be transferred to the Carrier. If your name is written in white letters against a black background, you will remain here for the next few days and will eventually be moved over to the Node.
“For your information, on the Carrier each species will have its own self-contained living area. There will be no interspecies mixing, except of course for the required symbiotic arrangements. By contrast—;”
‘That ought to please the leaders of the Council,” Max commented quickly. “They have been agitating for complete separation for months.”
“—the living situation at the Node will involve regular interspecies communication and activity. We have attempted, in assigning individuals to the two locations, to place each of you in the environment best suited for his personality.
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Our selections were done carefully, based upon our observations both here at the starfish and during the years on Rama.
“It is important that all of you realize that there will be no interaction between the two groups after the ^transfers take place. Let me say that in another way, to make certain there is no misunderstanding. Those moving to the Carrier tonight will never again see any of the residents who are going to be transferred to the Node.
“If you have been assigned to the Carrier,” the Eagle continued, “you should begin packing immediately and should be completely ready to move before you come to dinner. If you are among those who have been designated to move to the Node and do not believe that your assignment is appropriate, you may request that your assignment be reconsidered. Tonight, after all residents currently assigned to the Carrier have completed their transfers, I will meet in the cafeteria with those who think they want to switch from the Node to the Carrier.
“If any of you have questions, I will be at the big desk in the lounge for the next hour.”
“What did the Eagle say to you?” Max asked Nicole.
“The same thing he said to the twenty other people in the lounge who were asking the same question,” Nicole replied. “No changes are possible for those who have been assigned to the Carrier. Reconsideration will only be given to those scheduled for transfer to the Node.”
“Was that when Nai . . . uh, broke down?” Eponine asked.
“Yes,” Nicole said. “Until then she had held herself together fairly well. When she initially came over to our apartment, after the lists had been shown for the first time, I thought she was remarkably calm. She obviously must have convinced herself initially that Galileo’s assignment was some kind of clerical mistake.” fc
“I can understand how she must feel,” Eponine said. “I’ll admit that my heart skipped a few beats until I saw that
all the rest of us were together on the list to be transferred to the Node.”
“I bet that Nai is not the only one upset by the assignments,” Max said. He stood up and started to walk around the room. “This is really a mess,” he said, shaking his head. “What in the world would we have done if Marius had been assigned to the Carrier?”
“That’s easy,” Eponine answered quickly. “You and I would both have applied to go with our son.”
“Yep,” said Max after a momentary pause. “I suspect you’re right.”
“That’s what Patrick and Nai are now discussing next door,” Nicole said. ‘They asked the young people to leave so they could talk in private.”
“Do you think Nai can handle all this additional stress so soon after the … incident?” Eponine asked.
“She really has no choice,” Max said. ‘They only have a couple more hours to make a decision.”
“She seemed much better to me twenty minutes ago,” Nicole said. ‘The light sedative had definitely taken effect. Both Patrick and Kepler were being very gentle with her. I think Nai frightened herself most of all with her outburst.”
“Did she actually attack the Eagle?” Eponine asked.
“No. One of the blockheads restrained her.immediately when she screamed,” Nicole said. “But she was out of control—she might have done anything.”
“Shit,” said Max, “if you had told me while we were living in the Emerald City that Nai even had the capacity for violence, I would have told you—”
“Only someone who has been a parent,” Nicole interrupted, “can possibly understand the powerful feelings that a mother has where her children are concerned. Nai has been frustrated for months. I can’t condone her reaction, but I can certainly understand—”
Nicole stopped. The knock on the door repeated. Patrick entered the room a few seconds later. His face betrayed his anxiety. “Mother,” he said, “I need to talk to you.”
“Eponine and I can go out in the hallway,” Max said. “If that would help.”
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“Thanks, Max. Yes, I would appreciate it,” Patrick said with difficulty. Nicole had never seen him so upset.
“I don’t know what to do,” Patrick said as soon as he was alone with Nicole. “Everything is happening so fast. I don’t think Nai is being rational, but I don’t seem to be able . . .” His voice trailed off. “Mother, she wants us all to apply for reconsideration. Everyone. You, me, Kepler, Maria, Max … all of us. She says otherwise Galileo will feel abandoned.”
Nicole looked at her son. He was close to tears. He ham’t had enough life to deal with a crisis like this, she thought quickly. He’s only been awake for a little more than ten years.
“What is Nai doing now?” Nicole said softly.
“She’s meditating,” Patrick answered. “She said it would calm and heal her spirit . . . and give her strength.”
“And are you supposed to convince the rest of us?”
“Yes, I guess. But Mother, Nai has not even considered that anyone might not agree with what she is proposing. She believes that what we should all do is absolutely clear.”
Patrick’s pain was obvious. Nicole wished that she could reach out, touch him, and make his agony go away. “What do you think we should do?” Nicole asked after a period of silence.