decided he liked this Lychel. "We have some things in common."
"So it seems. Forgive me, George, but I'm surprised to meet a lone human trader—your people are 'newbies', just recently logged onto the Galactic Net. But perhaps I'm encountering data lag?"
"No. We're new to starfaring, that much is true. Not long ago we were confined to one planet." He took another swig of beer. "I came into some money and had a starship outfitted on my own. Blew half my inheritance on her, found the know-how on the G-Net. Other humans will follow behind me sooner or later."
He refrained from adding "darn them".
"I take it your people detected one of the introductory tachyon signals?" Lychel sucked juice from his cocoanut-thingy.
"That's right," George said. "The governments tried to keep the space signals secret, but they couldn't. The first to decode the instructions for building an ansible modem was a graduate student in a place called Oxford, Mississippi."
"Oh, my!" Lychel said. "You don't mean he built one on his own initiative?"
"Yep. Plugged it right into our worldwide computer web."
Lychel gave a high-pitched keening sound which George's databand informed him was the equivalent of 'hearty laughter'.
George nodded. "You know the rest."
"Several scenarios spring to mind. It went well?"
George shrugged. "I guess it went smooth, though it probably didn't seem like it then. But when the Galactic Net invaded and took over our old Internet, there was no going back. I've read about the chaos that's occurred elsewhere, and I think we came off lucky. What about your planet?"
"Computers weren't common when the transition took place," Lychel said. "It was orderly enough. What became of the graduate student?"
"Roger Goode, his name was. He caught all kinds of hell, but became a folk hero in the end. Anyway, several others did the same thing that week. Those signals aren't all that hard to decipher."
"Your authorities were displeased?"
"Of course they were. But after all, the result of what they did wasn't bad. There was panic on Earth at first but the outcome was, humans now had access to all sorts of incredible stuff. Accessible from the privacy of your own home."
Lychel waggled his eyestalks. "There was another aspect to it, wasn't there? Now the Galaxy knew about you."
George nodded. "Our first visitors were a pack of Yulian contractors offering to build us some wormholes."
Again came the keening laughter, more subdued this time. "Ever the opportunists. Did they find customers?"
"Indeed they did." George gulped some beer. "But soon we realized all the information anyone could ever need about wormhole engineering was available on the Galaxy Wide Web."
The Reeshi chose that moment to return. It seemed flustered to find the Dalhou with George. "Really, good sir!" it scolded Lychel. "This creature wanted to sit by itself."
"It's all right," said George. "I'm enjoying his company."
"You're certain I'm not intruding?" asked Lychel.
"Not at all. I haven't had anyone to talk to lately, and I'm a long way from home. I don't suppose either of you has seen a human before."
"Oh, I've seen one!" said the Reeshi. "Quite recently, in fact."
George felt a rush of emotion. "Really? Where?"
"Right here in this saloon. A female."
"How interesting," said Lychel. He was still for a moment, consulting the web. "I'd like to meet her. I wish to see how she differs from a male such as yourself."
George felt his face turning red. It was an absurd reaction, but he was faintly embarrassed. The intense bipolar nature of human sexuality wasn't unique, but apparently it wasn't the pattern followed by Lychel's species.
He consulted his databand, and then wished he hadn't. The mechanics of reproduction for Lychel's kind involved oral ingestion by one Dalhou of secretions from another. A Dalhou could even clone itself by ingesting its own secretions.
George shuddered. There times he wished he'd never left Gainesville.
"I'd like to meet her too," he said. "You guys excuse me a minute, would you?"
"Certainly, George," said Lychel.
"I wanted to check on you," said the Reeshi. "Would you like another drink?"
"Not just now, thanks."
"I've duties elsewhere." It bustled off.
George closed his eyes. He queried the local web about other humans in the vicinity.
he asked.
George smiled crookedly. Computers didn't think to lie to you. If there were no humans around, its reply should simply be .
If this mysterious woman wished to remain anonymous, he wouldn't be able to find her. Perhaps it was for the best? But maybe he'd try again later.
He wondered at her motive. Could she be in some sort of trouble? He began to feel uneasy.
He opened his eyes. "I couldn't reach her," he told Lychel.
"Perhaps she's busy. Did you leave a message?"
"No human but me has an active link right now. I couldn't learn about inactive ones. I'm guessing she requested the net not to tell anyone about her."
"She must want privacy."
George shrugged. "Or she's running from someone."
"That's conjecture on your part, George."
"It might be something else," George said. "A human thing. It's called intuition."
He remembered his suspected stalker. Maybe something out there was hostile to humans? He took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"I'm sure she's fine," said Lychel.
"You're probably right."
"So the G-Net infected humanity's computer web—this happened in your lifetime?"
He was an ardent conversationalist, all right.
"In my father's time," said George. "Long before I was born. The year was 2039, by our local calendar."
The Dalhou was silent a long moment. "Forgive me. I see you're short-lived creatures."
"That's okay," said George. "You know, it troubled folks that there was no official notice of us. No formal greetings, no emissaries."
"No central authority," said Lychel.
"Eventually we figured that out," said George. "Power is vested in the G-Net. Admission to which means humans never have to discover anything on our own again. I wonder if that's wholly a good thing?"
"Your species might have followed an interesting path by itself, but now you don't need to."
George realized he was more than a little drunk. He raised his glass in salute. "Ah, the almighty G-Net! It gives answers to all questions, wisdom free for everybody."
"Wisdom can consist of knowing which questions to ask."
"What if you have questions about the G-Net itself?"
"Such as?"
"Is it sentient?" asked George. "It never gives a straight answer to that one."
"In my opinion it isn't," said Lychel.
"Opinion?"
"Some of my people don't share it."
"But you're the expert."
"Do you only hold opinions on matters in which you're expert, George?"
George smiled. "Point taken. But it has its own agenda, you know? Wormholes must be open to all travelers. With the exception of military forces. No conquest permitted."
"Nothing objectionable there," said Lychel.
"Trading ships may go armed," continued George. "In case the locals prove hostile somewhere. Colonization allowed on uninhabited planets or abandoned ones, one species per world. Unless all parties can work things out, otherwise it's first come first served. And some other items I could mention."
"A highly benevolent agenda."
"How could it have one without consciousness?"
"It was instilled by those who created it, perhaps?"
"Which begs the question, who was that?" George asked. "It's reticent about its past."
"Some ancient assembly of now-vanished races," Lychel replied. "That's the accepted explanation. We know it came into being eons ago. None of the species that currently utilize it existed th
en. If you were to dig through its earliest databases you could probably discover the specifics—"
"Not in a human lifetime, you couldn't," George said. "Anyway, hasn't that been tried in recent memory?"
"Yes, but not with success," Lychel said.
"That's what I'm getting at! Doesn't that strike you as ominous?"
Lychel hesitated. "It does strike some beings that way."
"Well, there you go."
The conversation drifted to other subjects. Eventually Lychel had to leave for an appointment.
"I've enjoyed meeting you, George," he said.
"Same here," George said. "Maybe we could get together again."
"Why, certainly. Maybe we can even do some business. Would you be willing to send me the cargo specs of your vessel?"
"Sure. I'll attend to it soon as I get back."
They exchanged commcodes. Lychel rose to his feet, and they bid each other good-bye.
George finished his beer, and then got up to go. As he left, he paid his bill with a credit-spurt from his databand. He included a generous tip for the little Reeshi who had been so solicitous of him.
3
Outdoors, the temperature had fallen, and his nemesis was nowhere in sight. George supposed he must be rid of it.
He donned his jacket. The climate here was blustery; a yellow mass of sulfurous dark clouds had rolled into the sky while he had been inside. The low, moaning wind, ever constant, had picked up.
That explained the empty streets today. Nobody got caught in this planet's weather if they could help it. He hastened along at a brisk pace, hands jammed into his pockets.
Anyway, the Spire wasn't far. He could see it from where he walked, towering up into the dense, dark clouds. He looked up once, to get his bearings—and his heart gave a lurch in his chest. The