[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
couple of minutes, won't we?"
The access sandpainting appeared on the zenat. Ooljee approached, made the
necessary adjustment with his right hand, and stepped back as the image gave
way to the coruscating infinity that was the web. Nothing leaped out of it to
attack him. Nothing suggested that access was now in any way restricted or
forbidden.
Ooljee didn't hesitate.' 'Have you recently been accessed by the individual
Yistin Gaggii?"
"Yes," came the prompt reply.
The sergeant glanced with relief at his companions, addressed the zenat again.
"Where did this occur?"
"Near the place Shungopavi."
Samantha Grayhills was puzzled. "That's on Hopi lands. What's he doing there?"
Seeing the confusion on Moody's face, she explained, "The Hopi lands sit in
the middle of the Navaho territories, like a square hole in a square
doughnut."
Ooljee queried the web anew. "Does he have a destination?"
"He is going to the place Cameron."
Grayhills' confusion deepened. "I wonder why Cameron? As I remember it, there
is nothing there except a few tourist facilities and a Northern Arizona
University science extension."
But Moody saw the possibilities immediately. "Mollys!
232
Rlan Dean Foster
Webworic. He's looking to replace the equipment we've denied him."
She sounded dubious. "Not unless he's easily satisfied. There's nothing fancy
up there. It's all typical university facilities. Pure research stuff, no
heavy-duty analytic equipment."
Moody looked disappointed. "Nothing else?"
"Just administrative offices and labs. Mostly geology and high-energy physics.
Not my department, really. I saw a short vidpiece on NAU last year. It
mentioned the extension."
"But no intense mollyware?"
"Sorry. Nothing more than they need for local support. Cameron itself is a
tiny town, an academic outpost."
' 'Maybe that's not his final destination." Moody regarded the compliant
zenat. "Maybe he's just going to be passing through. What else is in the
area?"
"There's the main NAU campus down in Flagstaff. It's home to the biggest
network between L.A. and
Albuquerque."
"Now, that makes sense. We need to alert the security people there, and get
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the local police to organize a cordon.''
"Maybe we can find out what he is up to." Ooljee looked back at the screen.
"Do you know what Yistin Gaggii is going to do in Cameron? Is that his final
destination or only a stop on his journey to somewhere else?"
"I do not know," replied the vocomposite, "because he does not know himself."
"That makes no sense," said Moody. "Ask it again."
Ooljee complied, the web replied. "I cannot divine purpose."
"Well, that's real helpful."
"Unless one of you can think of a better question, I am going to turn it off,"
Ooljee told them.
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx
t (87 of 117) [1/16/03 6:39:58 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx
t
Moody had no new ideas. He watched while his partner
CYBER UJflY
233
ran through the shutdown procedure, relaxed when the screen was once more
dominated by the familiar harmless lines of the Kettrick sandpainting.
The security door was unsealed and a lieutenant stuck his head through the
opening. He did not look especially happy. Moody sensed other bodies crowding
close behind, trying to see inside.
"Everything okay in here?"
"Everything is fine," Ooljee assured him.
"The lights and-work stations upstairs have been going nuts. What are you
working with, anyway?"
"This." Ooljee picked up his machine. "Department spinner. Mine, as a matter
of fact. You can see that."
"Yeah, I can see that. I just do not want to see the department's electric
bill for the month." He backed out. As he shut the door behind him, Moody
could hear him arguing with unseen people out in the hall.
Ooljee moved to cut the power, paused at Grayhills' gesture. "Leave it on.
It's pretty, and it's nice to be able to study it on a big screen. You can see
the details better." The sergeant shrugged, clipped his spinner to his belt.
"I don't know much about sandpaintings." She stared at the monitor. ' 'Just
what every kid on the
Rez grows up hearing, along with whatever other traditional lore your parents
decide you should know about."
"That's more than me," Moody reminded her.
"I know more about them than I want to." Ooljee took a seat with his back to
the monitor.
"What's that part there, left of center?" She pointed at the painting. "The
part with all the birds."
Ooljee gave his partner a look, turned resignedly.
"That is one portion we have been able to identify. Its full name is
'Scavenger Being Carried
Through the Skyhole by Eagles and Hawks Assisted by Snakes with Bud Power.' As
you can see, it is very complex even for a sandpainting. It conies from the
Bead Chant.
33M
Plan Dean Foster
"Now over there," he said, pointing, "you might expect to find something
related, but as near as I
have been able to determine, that has something to do with the Red Ant Way. Up
near the top of the painting is an excerpt from the House of Moving Points. It
is as if a painter decided to take bits and pieces of different Ways and slap
them all together in one place, linked by devices of his own design, without
rhyme or reason. Except that in this case the use of yellow sand is just such
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
a hidden device."
Grayhills rose and approached the monitor. Moody followed, curious; watched as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
couple of minutes, won't we?"
The access sandpainting appeared on the zenat. Ooljee approached, made the
necessary adjustment with his right hand, and stepped back as the image gave
way to the coruscating infinity that was the web. Nothing leaped out of it to
attack him. Nothing suggested that access was now in any way restricted or
forbidden.
Ooljee didn't hesitate.' 'Have you recently been accessed by the individual
Yistin Gaggii?"
"Yes," came the prompt reply.
The sergeant glanced with relief at his companions, addressed the zenat again.
"Where did this occur?"
"Near the place Shungopavi."
Samantha Grayhills was puzzled. "That's on Hopi lands. What's he doing there?"
Seeing the confusion on Moody's face, she explained, "The Hopi lands sit in
the middle of the Navaho territories, like a square hole in a square
doughnut."
Ooljee queried the web anew. "Does he have a destination?"
"He is going to the place Cameron."
Grayhills' confusion deepened. "I wonder why Cameron? As I remember it, there
is nothing there except a few tourist facilities and a Northern Arizona
University science extension."
But Moody saw the possibilities immediately. "Mollys!
232
Rlan Dean Foster
Webworic. He's looking to replace the equipment we've denied him."
She sounded dubious. "Not unless he's easily satisfied. There's nothing fancy
up there. It's all typical university facilities. Pure research stuff, no
heavy-duty analytic equipment."
Moody looked disappointed. "Nothing else?"
"Just administrative offices and labs. Mostly geology and high-energy physics.
Not my department, really. I saw a short vidpiece on NAU last year. It
mentioned the extension."
"But no intense mollyware?"
"Sorry. Nothing more than they need for local support. Cameron itself is a
tiny town, an academic outpost."
' 'Maybe that's not his final destination." Moody regarded the compliant
zenat. "Maybe he's just going to be passing through. What else is in the
area?"
"There's the main NAU campus down in Flagstaff. It's home to the biggest
network between L.A. and
Albuquerque."
"Now, that makes sense. We need to alert the security people there, and get
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the local police to organize a cordon.''
"Maybe we can find out what he is up to." Ooljee looked back at the screen.
"Do you know what Yistin Gaggii is going to do in Cameron? Is that his final
destination or only a stop on his journey to somewhere else?"
"I do not know," replied the vocomposite, "because he does not know himself."
"That makes no sense," said Moody. "Ask it again."
Ooljee complied, the web replied. "I cannot divine purpose."
"Well, that's real helpful."
"Unless one of you can think of a better question, I am going to turn it off,"
Ooljee told them.
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx
t (87 of 117) [1/16/03 6:39:58 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx
t
Moody had no new ideas. He watched while his partner
CYBER UJflY
233
ran through the shutdown procedure, relaxed when the screen was once more
dominated by the familiar harmless lines of the Kettrick sandpainting.
The security door was unsealed and a lieutenant stuck his head through the
opening. He did not look especially happy. Moody sensed other bodies crowding
close behind, trying to see inside.
"Everything okay in here?"
"Everything is fine," Ooljee assured him.
"The lights and-work stations upstairs have been going nuts. What are you
working with, anyway?"
"This." Ooljee picked up his machine. "Department spinner. Mine, as a matter
of fact. You can see that."
"Yeah, I can see that. I just do not want to see the department's electric
bill for the month." He backed out. As he shut the door behind him, Moody
could hear him arguing with unseen people out in the hall.
Ooljee moved to cut the power, paused at Grayhills' gesture. "Leave it on.
It's pretty, and it's nice to be able to study it on a big screen. You can see
the details better." The sergeant shrugged, clipped his spinner to his belt.
"I don't know much about sandpaintings." She stared at the monitor. ' 'Just
what every kid on the
Rez grows up hearing, along with whatever other traditional lore your parents
decide you should know about."
"That's more than me," Moody reminded her.
"I know more about them than I want to." Ooljee took a seat with his back to
the monitor.
"What's that part there, left of center?" She pointed at the painting. "The
part with all the birds."
Ooljee gave his partner a look, turned resignedly.
"That is one portion we have been able to identify. Its full name is
'Scavenger Being Carried
Through the Skyhole by Eagles and Hawks Assisted by Snakes with Bud Power.' As
you can see, it is very complex even for a sandpainting. It conies from the
Bead Chant.
33M
Plan Dean Foster
"Now over there," he said, pointing, "you might expect to find something
related, but as near as I
have been able to determine, that has something to do with the Red Ant Way. Up
near the top of the painting is an excerpt from the House of Moving Points. It
is as if a painter decided to take bits and pieces of different Ways and slap
them all together in one place, linked by devices of his own design, without
rhyme or reason. Except that in this case the use of yellow sand is just such
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
a hidden device."
Grayhills rose and approached the monitor. Moody followed, curious; watched as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]