Read Online Bios by Robert Charles Wilson - Free Book Online

problem, too. Everything that came out of Yambuku had to be justified to Trust accountants. There was no room here for pure science, as the Kuiper-born employees were made distinctly aware. Hayes supposed the Trusts specifically liked him because he hadn’t rotated back home and immediately published a score of articles in the independent academic journals. Giving away—as the Trusts saw it—what they had paid for.
    He finished the work he was doing, microdissecting a bacterial entity that had been growing on the exterior seals, stored his results and tidied up the glove box for the afternoon shift.
    He looked up as Elam entered the lab. By now, he had learned to recognize her footsteps. Yambuku had a staff of sixteen, most of them on yearly rotation, though some, chiefly himself and Elam Mather, had lived at Yambuku for most of five years now. Kuiper folk endured such close quarters far more easily than Terrans or Martians, which meant that most of the Yambuku hands were Kuiper-born—although they came to Isis strictly as employees of the Trusts.
    â€œFresh download from the IOS,” Elam said, scroll in hand. “Do you want to look at it now or later?”
    He sighed and gave up his glove-box station to Tonya Cooper, a resident microbiologist who had been standing at a bench and tapping her foot impatiently. “We can do this over lunch, I hope?”
    â€œDon’t see why not.”

    Elam brought her scroll to the lunchroom but set it aside while they ate. Food at Yambuku consisted of uninspiring nutrient chunks of various kinds, assembled from the subgrade output of the IOS’s gardens. “Compressed protein,” Elam called it, or less kindly, “compost.”
    â€œWe need to find a more inert substance for the seals,” he said.
    â€œIs that possible?”
    He shrugged. “Ask the engineers. As it is, we’re spending more time on maintenance than on basic research. And running unnecessary risks.”
    Risking lives, he thought. Yambuku seemed eerily quiet without Mac’s roaring voice.
    Elam picked up the agenda and spread it out on the tabletop. Hayes scooted his chair closer.
    â€œItem one,” Elam said. “Zoe’s excursion suit is ready for the walkaround test, according to Tia and Kwame. Zoe, of course, can’t wait to take it out. What
we
want is a closely observed walk around the clearances, accompanied by a partner in conventional armor and with heavy tractible support.”
    â€œAnd what Zoe wants is to roam around the forest until she feels like coming back.”
    â€œYou guessed.”
    He smiled. “I can talk her out of the long hike. And I’ll partner her for the excursion.”
    â€œUh-huh.” Elam gave him a speculative look.
    â€œWhat does that mean—’uh-huh’?”
    â€œHow much do you know about our Zoe?”
    â€œThe basics. She’s clonal stock from the old genome collection, raised by Devices and Personnel.”
    â€œShe
is
a device, the way they see it. Put it together, Tam. Think of it from the Trust’s point of view. They don’t give a shit about the linguistic nuances of the diggers or the taxonomics of Isian flora. She’s here for some other reason.”
    He didn’t share her fascination with Terrestrial politics. “Devicesand Personnel doing another little dance with the Works Trust?”
    â€œMore than that, I suspect. The two factions have always been rivals, but Devices and Personnel has been in eclipse since the turn of the century. I suspect they see Isis as their chance to steal a march on the Works bureaucracy. If Zoe’s excursion technology performs as promised, it’s practically a revolution—we can expand the human presence on Isis way beyond what it is now.”
    â€œElam, we can’t even keep our external seals clean.”
    â€œAnd that’s the point. Zoe’s device isn’t just a new technology, it’s a