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.In Hyperion, on a clear day, thesky was a uniform yellow blur,file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Gaea%2002%20-%20Wizard.txt (71 of 164)[2/14/2004 1:06:22 AM]file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Gaea%2002%20-%20Wizard.txt unguessablyhigh.Only by following the sweep of the central vertical cable to where-as amere thread-it penetrated the Hyperion Window could one really define wherethe solid sky was.Even then one had to keep it firmly in mind that the cablewas five kilometers in diameter and not the slim spindle into whichperspective and the eye's timid bias transformed it.Rhea was different.For one thing, Chris was closer to the central Rheavertical cable than he had ever been to Hyperion's great column.A blackshadow that leaped from the sea, it dwindled rapidly and kept rising andrising until it vanished completely.To each side of it were the north andsouth verticals, improperly named because they both angled toward the center,though not nearly so much as the ones behind him, to the west.The cablesvanished because of the darkness, but more important, because Rhea did nothave a window arching over it.Rhea lived in the shadow of the vasttrumpet-shaped mouth known as the Rhea Spoke.Had he not known its size and shape from pictures, Chris would never havediscovered its true geometry.What he could see was a dark, wide oval highoverhead.In reality, it was more than 300kilometers above the sea.Around the edge of that mouth was a valve that couldclose like the iris of an eye, isolating the space above it from the rim.Itwas now wide open, and he could see up into a dark, oblate cylinder the upperend of which, he knew, was another 300 kilometers away, where another valveled to the hub.He could not see that far, through that much dark air.Butwhat he could see resembled the barrel of a gun that might have usedplanetoids for projectiles.It was aimed right at him, but the threat was so overblown he could not takeit seriously.He knew that between the lower valve and the radius of the Hyperion Window-avertical distance of about a hundred kilometers-the spoke flared like the bellof a horn until it became one with the relatively thin arch of roof thatstretched over the daylight areas on each side ofRhea.Try as he might, he could not see that flaring, though it had beendiscernible fromHyperion.Another trick of perspective, he concluded.There were lights somewhere up there in the spoke.He supposed they were thewindows he had read about.From here they dwindled like runway lights seenfrom a landing plane.He gradually became aware of a more immediate light, to his left and over hishead as he reclined on the deck.He sat up and turned around and saw that thesurface of Nox was being lit from below with a pearly blue luminescence.Atfirst he thought it was a hive of the sea insectsCirocco had told him about."It's a sub," said a voice to his right.He was startled; Cirocco had joinedPage 93ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhim silently."Isent messengers a few hours ago, hoping to attract one.But it looks likeshe'll be too busy to give us a tow." She pointed at the sky to the west, andChris found a big patch of deeper darkness against the night.He didn't needanyone to tell him it was a blimp, and a big one."Not many people have seen this," Cirocco said quietly."There aren't any subsin Hyperion because there're no seas.Blimps go anywhere, but subs stay wherethey're born.Ophion won't hold them."There was a piercing series of whistles from the blimp, followed by a sizzlingand hissing from the rear of Constance.Chris understood that the blimp hadasked for the fire to be put out, and the Titanides had complied.He felt Cirocco's hand on his shoulder.She pointed over the water."Rightthere," she said.He looked, still conscious of her hand, and saw tentacles writhing upward,thrashing slowly against the water.A slender stalk rose from the mass ofthem."That's her periscope eye.This is about as much of a sub as you'll ever see.Notice the long swelling there on the water? That's her body.She never comesout any more than that.""But what's she doing?""Mating.Be quiet, don't disturb them.I'll fill you in."The story was straightforward, though not obvious.The blimps and subs weremale and female of the same species.Both descended from the sexless childrenof their union, which were snakelike and nearly brainless until competitionhad reduced their swarms to a small number of twenty-meter survivors.At thatpoint they grew a brain and tapped some racial source of knowledge thatneitherGaea nor the blimp-subs had ever explained to Cirocco.It had nothing to dowith nurturing, for from the time they were spawned neither the mothers northe fathers had anything further to do with them.But they grew wise in some mysterious way, and eventually made a consciousdecision to become male or female, blimp or sub.Each entailed a hazard.Thewater contained many predators which ate young subs.There was no such risk inthe air, but a young blimp could not manufacture his own hydrogen.His fateafter metamorphosis would be to sit on the water, an empty bladder, and hope amature blimp would, so to speak, blow him up.No adult could support more thansix or seven in his squadron.If there were no openings, it was just too bad.The decision to differentiate was irrevocable.file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Gaea%2002%20-%20Wizard.txt (72 of 164)[2/14/2004 1:06:22 AM]file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Gaea%2002%20-%20Wizard.txtThe blimps and subs had little to do with each other.They might never cometogether at all at the watery interface between their worlds but for twofacts [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]