" "And I won't do it anyway," I said firmly." "And I won't do it anyway," I said firmly. "Forgive me for being imperious, but on that I am adamant. You will not get me to give up the gene tanks." "I did not think so," she smiled. "Can you... Can I ask you a favor?" "What?" "Find me a place where I will not be bothered." I nodded. "How about on Pandora?" "Anywhere," she said. "On Pendor, Pandora... just, somewhere silent, pleasant. I do not want to be here when the Centaurs are decanted. I want to be far away, where I can forget." "Do you want the library?" She smiled. "Yes, I would like a copy of the library." "You know what that means, don't you?" "If ever an age comes when Pendor falls, I will have some responsibility for putting it all back together again," she replied. "I am prepared for that eventuality. And, I trust you, Kennet. Pendor will not fall." "Is that hope or prophecy?" "I will not say," she said, smiling at me, then diving back into the water. I hauled out the little folding terminal I carried around nowadays and waited for the connection to solidify. After a few minutes, I located a clump of isolated islands on Pandora with good weather. I ordered that the five nearest Shipping SDisks be removed from around those islands, that one of the moderate-sized islands on the outskirts of that clump be selected as a construction site, and that a robot team head there the second one was free. |