Simmons, Dan - Endymion by Simmons Dan

Author:Simmons, Dan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2003-01-15T18:04:37+00:00

Endymion."

"Where are we?"

Aenea answered. "Judging from the desert, sun, and the stars last night, it's almost certain that we're on Hebron. We seem to be traveling along some aqueduct. Right now . . . well, you should see this." She supported my shoulders so I could see over the concrete lip of the canal. Nothing but air and distant hills. "We're about fifty meters up on this section of aqueduct," she said, lowering my head to the pack again. "It's been like this for the last five or six klicks. If there's been a breach in the aqueduct ..." She smiled ruefully. "We haven't seen anyone or anything . . . not even a vulture. We're waiting until we come into a city."

I frowned, feeling the stiffness in my side and arm as I shifted position ever so slightly.

"Hebron? I thought it was . . ."

"Captured by the Ousters," finished A. Bettik. "Yes, that was our information as well. It does not matter, sir. We will seek medical care for you with the Ousters as happily . . . more happily . .

. than we would with the Pax."

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I looked down at the medpak now lying next to me. Filaments ran to my chest, arm, and legs. Most of the lights on the pak were blinking amber. This was not good.

"Your wounds are sealed and cleaned," said Aenea. "We gave you all the plasma the old pak had. But you need more . . . and there seems to be some sort of infection that the multispectrum antibiotics can't handle."

That explained the terrible feverish quality I felt beneath my skin.

"Perhaps some microorganism in the sea on Mare Infinitus," said A. Bettik. "The medpak cannot quite diagnose it. We will know when we get to a hospital. It is our guess that this section of the Tethys will lead to Hebron's one large city. . . ."

"New Jerusalem," I whispered.

"Yes," said the android. "Even after the Fall, it was famous for its Sinai Medical Center."

I started to shake my head but stopped when the pain and dizziness struck. "But the Ousters ..."

Aenea moved a damp cloth across my brow. "We're going to get help for you," she said. "Ousters or no Ousters."

A thought was trying to burrow up out of my befuddled brain. I waited until it arrived. "Hebron .

. . didn't have . . . I don't think it had . . ."

"You are right, sir," said A. Bettik. He tapped the small book in his hand. "According to the guide, Hebron was not part of the River Tethys and allowed only a single farcaster terminex in New Jerusalem, even during the height of the Web. Offworld visitors were not allowed to leave the capital. They treasured privacy and independence here."

I looked out at the passing aqueduct walls. Suddenly we were off the high trestle and moving between high dunes and sunbaked rocks. The heat was terrible.

"But the book must have been wrong," said Aenea, mopping my brow again.

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