Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in the Sky

VIP免费

2024-12-05 0 0 1.39MB 529 页 5.9玖币

侵权投诉

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

A DEEPNESS

THE SKY

ALSO BY VERNOR VINGE

Tatja Grimm’s World

The Witling

True Names and Other Dangers(collection)

Threats. . .and Other Promises(collection)

Across Realtime

comprising:

The Peace War

“The Ungoverned”

Marooned in Realtime

*A Fire Upon the Deep

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (1 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

*A Deepness in the Sky

*True Names and the Opening of the

Cyberspace Frontier(forthcoming)

*denotes a Tor book

To Poul Anderson,

In learning to write science fiction, I have had many great models, but Poul Anderson’s work has meant

more to me than any other. Beyond that, Poul has provided me and the world with an enormous treasure

of wonderful, entertaining stories—and he continues to do so.

On a personal note, I will always be grateful to Poul and Karen Anderson for the hospitality that they

showed a certain young science-fiction writer back in the 1960s.

—V.V.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful for the advice and help of: Robert Cademy, John Carroll, Howard L. Davidson, Bob

Fleming, Leonard Foner, Michael Gannis, Jay R. Hill, Eric Hughes, Sharon Jarvis, Yoji Kondo, Cherie

Kushner, Tim May, Keith Mayers, Mary Q. Smith, and Joan D. Vinge.

I am very grateful to James Frenkel for the wonderful job of editing he has done with this book and for his

timely insight on problems with the earlier drafts.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (2 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

This novel takes place thousands of years from now. The connection with our languages and writing

systems is tenuous. But, for what it’s worth, the initial sound in “Qeng Ho” is the same as the initial sound

in the English word “checker.” (Trixia Bonsol would understand the problem!)

PROLOGUE

The manhunt extended across more than one hundred light-years and eight centuries. It had always been a

secret search, unacknowledged even among some of the participants. In the early years, it had simply

been encrypted queries hidden in radio broadcasts. Decades and centuries passed. There were clues,

interviews with The Man’s fellow-travelers, pointers in a half-dozen contradictory directions: The Man

was alone now and heading still farther away; The Man had died before the search ever began; The Man

had a war fleet and was coming back upon them.

With time, there was some consistency to the most credible stories. The evidence was solid enough that

certain ships changed schedules and burned decades of time to look for more clues. Fortunes were lost

because of the detours and delays, but the losses were to a few of the largest trading Families, and went

unacknowledged. They were rich enough, and this search was important enough, that it scarcely mattered.

For the search had narrowed: The Man was traveling alone, a vague blur of multiple identities, a chain of

one-shot jobs on minor trading vessels, but always moving back and back into this end of Human Space.

The hunt narrowed from a hundred light-years, to fifty, to twenty—and a half-dozen star systems.

And finally, the manhunt came down to a single world at the coreward end of Human Space. Now

Sammy could justify a fleet specially for the end of the hunt. The crew and even most of the owners

would not know the mission’s true purpose, but he had a good chance of finally ending the search.

Sammy himself went groundside on Triland. For once, it made sense for a Fleet Captain to do the detail

work: Sammy was the only one in the fleet who had actually met The Man in person. And given the

present popularity of his fleet here, he could cut through whatever bureaucratic nonsense might come up.

Those were good reasons. . .but Sammy would be down here in any case.I have waited so long, and in a

little while we’llhave him.

“Why should I help you find anyone! I’m not your mother!” The little man had backed into his inner

office space. Behind him, a door was cracked five centimeters wide. Sammy caught a glimpse of a child

peeking out fearfully at them. The little man shut the door firmly. He glared at the Forestry constables

who had preceded Sammy into the building. “I’ll tell you one more time: My place of business is the net.

If you didn’t find what you want there, then it’s not available from me.”

“ ’Scuse me.” Sammy tapped the nearest constable on the shoulder. “ ’Scuse me.” He slipped through the

ranks of his protectors.

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (3 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

The proprietor could see that someone tall was coming through. He reached toward his desk.Lordy. If he

trashed the databases he had distributed across the net, they’d get nothing out of him.

But the fellow’s gesture froze. He stared in shock at Sammy’s face. “Admiral?”

“Um, ‘Fleet Captain,’ if you please.”

“Yes, yes! We’ve been watching you on the news every day now. Please! Sit down. You’re the source of

the inquiry?”

The change in manner was like a flower opening to the sunlight. Apparently the Qeng Ho was just as

popular with the city folk as it was with the Forestry Department. In a matter of seconds, the

proprietor—the “private investigator,” as he called himself—had pulled up records and started search

programs. “. . .Hmm. You don’t have a name, or a good physical description, just a probable arrival date.

Okay, now Forestry claims your fellow must have become someone named ‘Bidwel Ducanh.’ ” His gaze

slid sideways to the silent constables, and he smiled. “They’re very good at reaching nonsense

conclusions from insufficient information. In this case . . .” He did something with his search programs.

“Bidwel Ducanh. Yeah, now that I search for it, I remember hearing about that fellow. Sixty or a hundred

years ago he made some kind of a name for himself.” A figure that had come from nowhere, with a

moderate amount of money and an uncanny flare for self-advertisement. In a period of thirty years, he had

gathered the support of several major corporations and even the favor of the Forestry Department.

“Ducanh claimed to be a city-person, but he was no freedom fighter. He wanted to spend money on some

crazy, long-term scheme. What was it? He wanted to . . .” The private investigator looked up from his

reading to stare a moment at Sammy. “He wanted to finance an expedition to the OnOff star!”

Sammy just nodded.

“Damn! If he had been successful, Triland would have an expedition partway there right now.” The

investigator was silent for a moment, seeming to contemplate the lost opportunity. He looked back at his

records. “And you know, he almost succeeded. A world like ours would have to bankrupt itself to go

interstellar. But sixty years ago, a single Qeng Ho starship visited Triland. Course, they didn’t want to

break their schedule, but some of Ducanh’s supporters were hoping they’d help out. Ducanh wouldn’t

have anything to do with the idea, wouldn’t even talk to the Qeng Ho. After that, Bidwel Ducanh pretty

much lost his credibility.. . .He faded from sight.”

All this was in Triland’s Forestry Department records. Sammy said, “Yes. We’re interested in where this

individual is now.” There had been no interstellar vessel in Triland’s solar system for sixty years.He is

here!

“Ah, so you figure he may have some extra information, something that would be useful even after what’s

happened the last three years?”

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (4 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

Sammy resisted an impulse to violence. A little more patience now, what more could it cost after the

centuries of waiting? “Yes,” he said, benignly judicious, “it would be good to cover all the angles, don’t

you think?”

“Right. You’ve come to the right place. I know city things that the Forestry people never bother to track. I

really want to help.” He was watching some kind of scanning analysis, so this was not completely wasted

time. “These alien radio messages are going to change our world, and I want my children to—”

The investigator frowned. “Huh! You just missed this Bidwel character, Fleet Captain. See, he’s been

dead for ten years.”

Sammy didn’t say anything, but his mild manner must have slipped; the little man flinched when he

looked up at him. “I-I’m sorry, sir. Perhaps he left some effects, a will.”

It can’t be. Not when I’m so close.But it was a possibility that Sammy had always known. It was the

commonplace in a universe of tiny lifetimes and interstellar distances. “I suppose we are interested in any

data the man left behind.” The words came out dully.At least we have closure —that would be the

concluding line from some smarmy intelligence analyst.

The investigator tapped and muttered at his devices. The Forestry Department had reluctantly identified

him as one of the best of the city class, so well distributed that they could not simply confiscate his

equipment to take him over. He was genuinely trying to be helpful.. . .“There may be a will, Fleet

Captain, but it’s not on the Grandville net.”

“Some other city, then?” The fact that the Forestry Department had partitioned the urban networks was a

very bad sign for Triland’s future.

“. . .Not exactly. See, Ducanh died at one of Saint Xupere’s Pauper Cemeteria, the one in Lowcinder. It

looks like the monks have held on to his effects. I’m sure they would give them up in return for a decent-

sized donation.” His eyes returned to the constables and his expression hardened. Maybe he recognized

the oldest one, the Commissioner of Urban Security. No doubt they could shake down the monks with no

need for any contribution.

Sammy rose and thanked the private investigator; his words sounded wooden even to himself. As he

walked back toward the door and his escort, the investigator came quickly around his desk and followed

him. Sammy realized with abrupt embarrassment that the fellow hadn’t been paid. He turned back, feeling

a sudden liking for the guy. He admired someone who would demand his pay in the face of unfriendly

cops. “Here,” Sammy started to say, “this is what I can—”

But the fellow held up his hands. “No, not necessary. But there is a favor I would like from you. See, I

have a big family, the brightest kids you’ve ever seen. This joint expedition isn’t going to leave Triland

for another five or ten years, right? Can you make sure that my kids, even one of them—?”

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (5 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

Sammy cocked his head. Favors connected with mission success came very dear. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said

as gently as he could. “Your children will have to compete with everyone else. Have them study hard in

college. Have them target the specialties that are announced. That will give them the best chance.”

“Yes, Fleet Captain! That is exactly the favor that I am asking. Would you see to it—” He swallowed and

looked fiercely at Sammy, ignoring the others. “—would you see to it that they are allowed to undertake

college studies?”

“Certainly.” A little grease on academic entrance requirements didn’t bother Sammy at all. Then he

realized what the other was really saying. “Sir, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank you. Thank you!” He touched his business card into Sammy’s hand. “There’s my name and stats.

I’ll keep it up-to-date. Please remember.”

“Yes, uh, Mr. Bonsol, I’ll remember.” It was a classic Qeng Ho deal.

The city dropped away beneath the Forestry Department flyer. Grandville had only about half a million

inhabitants, but they were crammed into a snarled slum, the air above them shimmering with summer

heat. The First Settlers’ forest lands spread away for thousands of kilometers around it, virgin terraform

wilderness.

They boosted high into clean indigo air, arcing southward. Sammy ignored the Triland “Urban Security”

boss sitting right beside him; just now he had neither the need nor the desire to be diplomatic. He punched

a connection to his Deputy Fleet Captain. Kira Lisolet’s autoreport streamed across his vision. Sum

Dotran had agreed to the schedule change: all the fleet would be going to the OnOff star.

“Sammy!” Kira’s voice cut across the automatic report. “How did it go?” Kira Lisolet was the only other

person in the fleet who knew the true purpose of this mission, the manhunt.

“I—”We lost him, Kira. But Sammy couldn’t say the words. “See for yourself, Kira. The last two

thousand seconds of my pov. I’m headed back to Lowcinder now. . .one last loose end to tie down.”

There was a pause. Lisolet was fast with an indexed scan. After a moment he heard her curse to herself.

“Okay. . .but do tie that last loose end, Sammy. There were times before when we were sure we’d lost

him.”

“Never like this, Kira.”

“I said, you make absolutely sure.” There was steel in the woman’s voice. Her people owned a big hunk

of the fleet. She owned one ship herself. In fact, she was the only operational owner on the mission. Most

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (6 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

times, that was not a problem. Kira Pen Lisolet was a reasonable person on almost all issues. This was

one of the exceptions.

“I’ll make sure, Kira. You know that.” Sammy was suddenly conscious of the Triland Security boss at his

elbow—and he remembered what he had accidentally discovered a few moments earlier. “How are things

top-side?”

Her response was light, a kind of apology. “Great. I got the shipyard waivers. The deals with the

industrial moons and the asteroid mines look solid. We’re continuing with detailed planning. I still think

we can be equipped and specialist-crewed in three hundred Msec. You know how much the Trilanders

want a cut of this mission.” He heard the smile in her voice. Their link was encrypted, but she knew that

his end was emphatically not secure. Triland was a customer and soon to be a mission partner, but they

should know just where they stood.

“Very good. Add something to the list, if it’s not already there: ‘Per our desire for the best specialist crew

possible, werequire that the Forestry Department’s university programs be open to all those who pass our

tests, not just the heirs of First Settlers.’ ”

“Of course . . .” A second passed, just enough time for a double take. “Lord, how could we miss

something like that?”We missed it because somefools are very hard to underestimate.

A thousand seconds later, Lowcinder was rising toward them. This was almost thirty degrees south

latitude. The frozen desolation that spread around it looked like the pre-Arrival pictures of equatorial

Triland, five hundred years ago, before the First Settlers began tweaking the greenhouse gases and

building the exquisite structure that is a terraform ecology.

Lowcinder itself was near the center of an extravagant black stain, the product of centuries of

“nucleonically clean” rocket fuels. This was Triland’s largest groundside spaceport, yet the city’s recent

growth was as grim and slumlike as all the others on the planet.

Their flyer switched to fans and trundled across the city, slowly descending. The sun was very low, and

the streets were mostly in twilight. But every kilometer the streets seemed narrower. Custom composites

gave way to cubes that might have once been cargo containers. Sammy watched grimly. The First Settlers

had worked for centuries to create a beautiful world; now it was exploding out from under them. It was a

common problem in terraformed worlds. There were at least five reasonably painless methods of

accommodating the terraform’s final success. But if the First Settlers and their “Forestry Department”

were not willing to adopt any of them. . .well, there might not be a civilization here to welcome his fleet’s

return. Sometime soon, he must have a heart-to-heart chat with members of the ruling class.

His thoughts were brought back to the present as the flyer dumped down between blocky tenements.

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (7 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

Sammy and his Forestry goons walked through half-frozen slush. Piles of clothing—donations?—lay

jumbled in boxes on the steps of the building they approached. The goons detoured around them. Then

they were up the steps and indoors.

The cemeterium’s manager called himself Brother Song, and he looked old unto death. “Bidwel

Ducanh?” His gaze slid nervously away from Sammy. Brother Song did not recognize Sammy’s face, but

he knew the Forestry Department. “Bidwel Ducanh died ten years ago.”

He was lying.He was lying.

Sammy took a deep breath and looked around the dingy room. Suddenly he felt as dangerous as some

fleet scuttlebutt made him out to be.Godforgive me, but I will do anything to get the truth from this man.

He looked back at Brother Song and attempted a friendly smile. It must not have come out quite right; the

old man stepped back a pace. “A cemeterium is a place for people to die, is that right, Brother Song?”

“It is a place for all to live to the natural fullness of their time. We use all the money that people bring, to

help all the people who come.” In the perverse Triland situation, Brother Song’s primitivism made a

terrible kind of sense. He helped the sickest of the poorest as well as he could.

Sammy held up his hand. “I will donate one hundred years of budget to each of your order’s cemeteria. .

.if you take me to Bidwel Ducanh.”

“I—” Brother Song took another step backwards, and sat down heavily. Somehow he knew that Sammy

could make good on his offer. Maybe.. . . But then the old man looked up at Sammy and there was a

desperate stubbornness in his stare. “No. Bidwel Ducanh died ten years ago.”

Sammy walked across the room and grasped the arms of the old man’s chair. He brought his face down

close to the other’s. “You know these people I’ve brought with me. Do you doubt that if I give the word,

they will take your cemeterium apart, piece by piece? Do you doubt that if we don’t find what I seek here,

we’ll do the same to every cemeterium of your order, all over this world?”

It was clear that Brother Song did not doubt. He knew the Forestry Department. Yet for a moment Sammy

was afraid that Song would stand up even to that.And I will then do what I must do. Abruptly, the old man

seemed to crumple in on himself, weeping silently.

Sammy stood back from his chair. Some seconds passed. The old man stopped crying and struggled to his

feet. He didn’t look at Sammy or gesture; he simply shuffled out of the room.

Sammy and his entourage followed. They walked single-file down a long corridor. There was horror here.

It wasn’t in the dim and broken lighting or the water-stained ceiling panels or the filthy floor. Along the

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (8 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

corridor, people sat on sofas or wheeled chairs. They sat, and stared. . .at nothing. At first, Sammy

thought they were wearing head-up-displays, that their vision was far away, maybe in some consensual

imagery. After all, a few of them were talking, a few of them were making constant, complicated gestures.

Then he noticed that the signs on the walls werepainted there. The plain, peeling wall material was simply

all there was to see. And the withered people sitting in the hall had eyes that were naked and vacant.

Sammy walked close behind Brother Song. The monk was talking to himself, but the words made sense.

He was talking about The Man: “Bidwel Ducanh was not a kindly man. He was not someone you could

like, even at the beginning. . .especially at the beginning. He said he had been rich, but he brought us

nothing. The first thirty years, when I was young, he worked harder than any of us. There was no job too

dirty, no job too hard. But he had ill to say of everyone. He mocked everyone. He would sit by a patient

through the last night of life, and then afterwards sneer.” Brother Song was speaking in the past tense, but

after a few seconds Sammy realized that he was not trying to convince Sammy of anything. Song was not

even talking to himself. It was as if he were speaking a wake for someone he knew would be dead very

soon. “And then as the years passed, like all the rest of us, he could help less and less. He talked about his

enemies, how they would kill him if they ever found him. He laughed when we promised to hide him. In

the end, only his meanness survived—and that without speech.”

Brother Song stopped before a large door. The sign above it was brave and floral:TO THE SUNROOM .

“Ducanh will be the one watching the sunset.” But the monk did not open the door. He stood with his

head bowed, not quite blocking the way.

Sammy started to walk around him, then stopped, and said, “The payment I mentioned: It will be

deposited to your order’s account.” The old man didn’t look up at him. He spat on Sammy’s jacket and

then walked back down the hall, pushing past the constables.

Sammy turned and pulled at the door’s mechanical latch.

“Sir?” It was the Commissioner of Urban Security. The cop-bureaucrat stepped close and spoke softly.

“Um. We didn’t want this escort job, sir. This should have been your own people.”

Huh?“I agree, Commissioner. So why didn’t you let me bring them?”

“It wasn’t my decision. I think they figured that constables would be more discreet.” The cop looked

away. “Look, Fleet Captain. We know you Qeng Ho carry grudges a long time.”

Sammy nodded, although that truth applied more to customer civilizations than to individuals.

The cop finally looked him in the eye. “Okay. We’ve cooperated. We made sure that nothing about your

search could leak back to your. . .target. But we won’t do this guy for you. We’ll look the other way; we

won’t stop you. But I won’t do him.”

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (9 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY

“Ah.” Sammy tried to imagine just where in the moral pantheon this fellow would fit. “Well,

Commissioner, staying out of my way is all that is required. I can take care of this myself.”

The cop gave a jerky nod. He stepped back, and didn’t follow when Sammy opened the door “to the

sunroom.”

The air was chill and stale, an improvement over the rank humidity of the hallway. Sammy walked down

a dark stairway. He was still indoors, but not by much. This had been an exterior entrance once, leading

down to street level. Plastic sheeting walled it in now, creating some kind of sheltered patio.

What if he’s like the wretches in the hallway?They reminded him of people who lived beyond the

capabilities of medical support. Or the victims of a mad experimentory. Their minds had died in pieces.

That was a finish he had never seriously considered, but now . . .

Sammy reached the bottom of the stairs. Around the corner was the promise of daylight. He wiped the

back of his hand across his mouth and stood quietly for a long moment.

Do it.Sammy walked forward, into a large room. It looked like part of the parking lot, but tented with

semiopaque plastic sheets. There was no heating, and drafts thuttered past breaks in the plastic. A few

heavily bundled forms were scattered in chairs across the open space. They sat facing in no particular

direction; some were looking into the gray stone of the exterior wall.

All that barely registered on Sammy. At the far end of the room, a column of sunlight fell low and

slanting through a break or transparency in the roof. A single person had contrived to sit in the middle of

that light.

Sammy walked slowly across the room, his eyes never leaving the figure that sat in the red and gold light

of sunset. The face had a racial similarity to the high Qeng Ho Families, but it was not the face that

Sammy remembered. No matter. The Man would have changed his face long ago. Besides, Sammy had a

DNA counter in his jacket, and a copy of The Man’s true DNA code.

He was bundled in blankets and wore a heavy knit cap. He didn’t move but he seemed to be watching

something, watching the sunset.It’s him. The conviction came without rational thought, an emotional

wave breaking over him.Maybe incomplete, but this is him.

Sammy took a loose chair and sat down facing the figure in the light. A hundred seconds passed. Two

hundred. The last rays of sunset were fading. The Man’s stare was blank, but he reacted to the coolness on

his face. His head moved, vaguely searching, and he seemed to notice his visitor. Sammy turned so his

face was lit by the sunset sky. Something came into the other’s eyes, puzzlement, memories swimming up

from the depths. Abruptly, The Man’s hands came out of his blankets and jerked clawlike at Sammy’s

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/V...nge%20-%20A%20Deepness%20in%20the%20Sky.htm (10 of 529) [10/16/2004 3:16:12 PM]

文档加载中……请稍候！
如果长时间未打开，您也可以点击刷新试试。

下载文档到电脑，查找使用更方便

5.9 玖币 0人已下载

立即下载 VIP免费下载

摘要：

ADEEPNESSINTHESKYADEEPNESSINTHESKYALSOBYVERNORVINGETatjaGrimm’sWorldTheWitlingTrueNamesandOtherDangers(collection)Threats...andOtherPromises(collection)AcrossRealtimecomprising:ThePeaceWar“TheUngoverned”MaroonedinRealtime*AFireUpontheDeepfile:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ve...inge%20-%20A%20...

展开>> 收起<<

Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in the Sky.pdf

共529页,预览10页

还剩页未读，继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in the Sky

相关推荐

开通VIP享超值会员特权

作者详情

相关内容

热门标签

举报选择: