“More to the point,” said Lum, “I can’t see what advantage she would gain by lying. And I believe her when she says that we are now on our way to their headquarters. But some of her other statements struck me as false. For one thing, I don’t really believe that we’re a danger to the ship and to ourselves, just because we’re strangers here and in normal space. We didn’t get through the Planetfest trials without learning caution. We know how to be careful, and we look before we leap. I think she said we were in danger because they want us in S-space, where they can keep an eye on us. They want to be in control. Well, we can’t afford that. Sy, how’s the reprogramming going for the service robots?” “Done. They’ll obey our voice commands now. But Kallen and I have a question. Do we want it so the computer will activate the service robots in response to our voices, and no one else’s? Or should we leave it working for Ferranti and the others, too?”
“Must it be one or the other?” said Lum. “Couldn’t you set a trigger, so that we can cut people out if we choose to, based on our voice command? Then we’d be quite safe.”
Sy raised his eyebrows inquiringly at Kallen, who pursed his lips and massaged his scarred throat.
“Think so,” he said after a moment. “I’ll try it.”
“All right.” Lum nodded. “Before you do that, let’s think a bit more about what we were told by Ferranti. What about their headquarters? According to her, it’s about a light-year away from Pentecost. But why put it there? If the rest of her story is true, there are fewer colonies near the Cass system than anywhere else. It would make more sense to locate Immortal Headquarters near Tau Ceti, or some other star with more habitable planets.”
“I can answer that,” said Peron. “When I was first awakened, Ferranti referred to Sector Headquarters. That means there ought to be others, in other systems. Remember, according to Ferranti all the colonies are twenty light-years or less away from Sol. For S-space travel, that’s only at most a five-week trip. I’ll bet there are several Sector Headquarters, one near each stellar system that was colonized.”
“So where is General Headquarters?” asked Elissa. “Is there one?” “I’ll bet there is,” said Lum. “Even the Immortals would need some sort of overall organization of resources. And didn’t you get the feeling that at the headquarters we are headed for most of the rules are followed, not made?” “So where is the central one?” repeated Elissa. “Where’s main headquarters?” Lum put his hands up to his head and rubbed at his thick shock of mousy-brown hair. “Lord knows. We have to rethink everything, if travel to the stars is so easy for them. Headquarters could be a hundred light-years away from here. That’s only six months trip in S-space. But it wouldn’t make much sense. Even in S-space, it would be hard to manage an organization where messages take weeks to get around the system.”
“You’re making it hard,” said Sy softly. “Think simple.”
“You mean Sector Headquarters is the only one?”
“No. Think Sol.”
The others looked at him, then at each other.
“He’s right, as usual,” said Peron. “All the ships started from Earth. It was the center of the sphere of expansion, so it’s still the natural hub for coordinating colonies and sector headquarters. Main Headquarters ought to be Earth.”
There was another silence.
“Earth!” said Rosanne at last. Her voice was hushed, and the word came from her lips like a benediction. “If General Headquarters is back on Earth, maybe we can go there…”
“Not actually on Earth,” said Lum. “We know you can’t go down to a planet’s surface if you live in S-space.”
Kallen was shaking his head. “No. Can’t live on planet. We could visit.” He looked greatly excited.
“He’s quite right, you know,” said Sy. “We all agree that anyone in S-space wouldn’t be able to keep their balance in anything more than a micro-gravity field. But perception and physical tolerance are nothing to do with each other. Your body could stand gravity all right. You’d have to be supported and restrained, but you could visit the surface of Earth — or of Pentecost — living in S-space.”
“That would be enough,” said Rosanne suddenly. “Even a short visit, in S-space or in normal space. I want to go to Earth, see where everything began. We’ve talked about it and thought about it so much. Can you imagine flying down through the atmosphere, and walking on Earth’s surface?”
“Steady on,” said Peron. “Don’t get carried away. Sol is eighteen light-years from here. I know that’s only a few weeks travel in S-space, but it’s nearly two centuries back on Pentecost. Everyone we know there would be long dead before we even reached Earth, let alone came back to Cass.”
Rosanne shrugged. “I can’t speak for you, but I already said goodbye to all my best friends. It’s curious, but I think we were set up for it. We said our farewells before we lifted off from Pentecost. Remember, they encouraged us to do it, and we thought it was in case we died in the off-planet trials? But it makes sense. If winners go through indoctrination and move to S-space, they would outlive all their contemporaries on Pentecost in just a few S-space weeks. Do you realize that the people we left back home have already aged five years since we last saw them?”
“I’ve been thinking of that,” said Lum. “I’m not like you, Rosanne, I really miss some of the friends I left — and I’d like to see them again sometime. That’s something else we ought to be worrying about. We’ve been dealing with Olivia Ferranti on the ‘united we stand’ basis, as though we all have identical objectives and want the same things. But we don’t. I know you all well enough to be sure that’s not true. We should get our personal preferences out on the table, so we’ll know what we’re bargaining for with the Immortals.” “But what are our options?” said Elissa. “We can go to Headquarters, I suppose, and live in S-space there. Or we could return to Cass and live on The Ship, and work with the government of Pentecost. But I’m sure they won’t let us go back down to the surface of Pentecost, and live the way we used to do, even if we want to. We know too much. Maybe they’d let us go to one of the other colonies. Or maybe we can go to Earth.”
“That’s why I’d like to know what we want,” said Lum. “We each have our own desires and priorities — but what are they?”
“Why don’t you start?” said Rosanne. “It’s your question, and it gives the rest of us more time to think.”
“Fair enough.” Lum took a deep breath. “I’ve known what I want ever since the moment when I found out there are other planets and colonies, and a way to reach them in a reasonable time. Ferranti mentioned at least seven inhabited planets, and I’ll bet there are more. I want to move to S-space, and see everything. I’d like to visit every planet, and every arcology, and every headquarters. If I could do it, I’d like to see every planet in the Galaxy — even if most of them prove to be like Glug.”
Rosanne nodded. “I don’t know if that’s all possible, but at least you’re voting for a move to S-space — otherwise you’d be dead long before you reached your first colony. Sy? What about you?”
“Wandering around forever isn’t for me.” Sy was smiling, but there was something in his look that suggested his disdain for Lum’s travel plans. “I want to visit Immortal Headquarters — whichever one is the most appropriate, wherever their science is farthest developed. What we learned on Pentecost is probably generations out of date. After that, I’d like to visit the galactic center.” “That’s thirty thousand light-years!” said Peron.
“Sure it is. I don’t mind. If I have to go back to cold sleep for a while to get there, I’ll do it. The rest of us have all been under once, and it wasn’t a bad experience.”