Read Online Poseidon's Wake by Alastair Reynolds - Free Book Online Page B

still present.
    ‘I’ll ask again: what happened?’
    ‘You were seriously injured in the Reclamationist incident. It killed you, in fact. But we brought you back to life, stabilised you and set about rectifying the damage.’
    He felt he needed a drink now. He tilted some water into the glass and brought it to his lips.
    ‘The others?’
    ‘Garudi and Lucien were killed outright – the flier was too close when the wreck came down.’
    Kanu absorbed this news, but for the moment it was just there, unprocessed.
    ‘And Korsakov?’
    ‘Injured, but not too severely. He made it out of the wreck of the flier and his suit retained its life-support capabilities until he was rescued.’
    ‘But you saved me.’
    ‘It took a tremendous concentration of machine resources. We might have attempted to save one of the others, but the likelihood of failure would have been greater.’ After a silence, Swift added, ‘I am sorry to lose both Garudi and Lucien. But I am very glad we were able to save you.’
    ‘Does the world know I’m here?’
    ‘Not yet. We issued a statement through the usual diplomatic channels shortly after the incident. That was almost three weeks ago. We said we had recovered human remains and that they would be returned to the rightful authority in due course. Now we can proceed with the significantly better news that we have brought you back to life.’
    ‘Why didn’t you say so sooner?’
    ‘We didn’t wish to raise false hopes. Your survival was far from guaranteed.’
    ‘I’ll need to speak to my people.’
    ‘Of course. Your great powers are still knocking heads over the whole incident, deciding who is and isn’t to blame for wiping out three-quarters of an intergovernmental diplomatic party.’
    ‘Half,’ Kanu corrected. ‘I didn’t die.’
    ‘For long,’ Swift replied.
     
    When the machines deemed him well enough to leave their care – which was only two days after his first intimation of consciousness – Kanu was provided with transport back to the embassy. He was glad when the flier brought him to the summit and the embassy’s landing deck opened to welcome him home.
    Swift accompanied him from the flier.
    ‘We’ve issued the formal announcement concerning your survival,’ the robot said as they made their way down to the level of the main staterooms. ‘News is spreading, and of course there is criticism of our actions. I trust we can count on you to argue our side of things?’
    ‘I’ll give them the truth, Swift – no more, no less. You have nothing to apologise for.’
    ‘I hope it will not create difficulties for you in the wider sphere of human discourse.’
    Kanu pushed open one of the heavy oak doors and stepped through into a room that felt larger and colder than he remembered. ‘Why should I care what they think of me beyond Mars? Everything that matters to me is here. This is my life. Pretty soon they’ll assign new ambassadors and we’ll carry on as we were before.’
    ‘But you must be mindful of the opinions of others. We have not often spoken of private matters – surely you have friends and loved ones elsewhere in the system?’
    ‘Not as many as you’d think.’
    ‘But you have lived a great many years.’
    ‘Thanks for reminding me. The truth is, though, that you burn through friends and lovers when you live as long as I have. I am what I am, Swift – an old merman. Too ancient and strange for most people to feel comfortable around.’ He paused to survey the stateroom, finding everything exactly as it had been before the expedition to the wreck, but at the same time every note of the room jarringly off-key.
    Dalal had left a book open on one of the tables. Kanu walked to it and stroked a finger across the pages. The text was in Urdu, one of her four or five languages. He stared at the script, trying to remember how it felt to have the words resolve before his eyes, mysteries disclosed. How it had been before the Age of Babel.
    ‘I’ll miss