The Angels of Life and Death by Eric Brown

Author:Eric Brown [Brown, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: infinity plus
Published: 2013-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

~

Twelve hours after the operation Sabine takes the sub-orb from Montreal and rendezvous with Østergaart in Rome. She is aware of a slight discomfort at the base of her skull, where the teflon bulge of the occipital computer obtrudes through her skin, and from time to time she suffers acute, stabbing migraines. But this is a small price to pay for the banishment of the scream. For the first time in months she can relax without the constant, piercing presence of the nightmare in her head.

At Rome, the cortical implant bleeds instructions into her consciousness. She locates Østergaart in the arrivals lounge and he leads her from the terminal to a waiting ground-effect vehicle. A chauffeur steers them from the parking stack and into the hills.

Østergaart remains silent for a while, then glances across at her. “The implant becomes you,” he murmurs, referring to the ring of black metal that encircles her neck like a choker.

Sabine ignores him, leans back and stares into the night sky. She finds the blue-shifted haze of the Nilakantha Stardrift, a shimmering veil a degree above the horizon. Somewhere out there, she knows, the Pride of Udaipur is lighting back through the void to Earth. Without the cerebral verification of the scream she finds it almost impossible to believe.

Østergaart clears his throat, then says casually, “While you were under... there was a report from the Androids piloting the Udaipur.”

Sabine stares at him, suddenly aware of her heartbeat.

“The first officer died on Kalki II. The rest of the crew are in suspension now.”

“But the scream...?” Sabine is almost pleading. “What happened to them?” Though when she says ‘them’ she is thinking only of Laxmi.

Ø looks away. He seems reluctant to divulge this information. “According to reports received, the landing party was attacked by the natives of the planet. Only the intervention of the Andys saved further casualties.”

“Attacked...?” Sabine is incredulous.

“Perhaps we’ll find out more when you probe Xian Cheng.”

In less than an hour they arrive at their destination.

The hotel is a towering needle supported by three scimitar-shaped legs. Between the flaring stand, and beneath the obelisk of the hotel itself, a vast glass bauble slowly rotates. Inside, a party is in progress. The sight of air-taxis landing, and affluent guests stepping out, triggers an information release in Sabine’s implant. The party is in celebration of the successful Procyon probe, and the guests are the crew of the Leonardo da Vinci and executives from the Fellini Organisation. Østergaart has managed to obtain tickets, and they pass inside.

Sabine and Ø separate and circulate. This is the first time since the operation that Sabine is aware she is no longer telepathic. Her ability is switched off, and the party seems dead to her. Usually, she would be picking up a thousand different emotions from the party-goers, and responding to them on an individual basis. However, when she finds herself among a group of Italian spacers recalling the spiraldown to the surface of Procyon IV, she learns that she has been programmed with all the technical information about the probe.

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