Tides of Light Read Online Free Page A

that, though, was an older
     theme. The original, living Ling had come from the fabled Great Times, or possibly even beyond. The Aspect’s memory flattened
     time distinctions, so it was hard to tell which facet of Ling was speaking. The sensation of having at the back of his head
     a voice from an unimaginably grand past, when humans had lived free of mech dominance, made Killeen uneasy. He felt absurd,
     maintaining the persona of a confident Cap’n when he sensed the supremely greater power of lost ages.
    As he climbed up the axis, saluting crew as he passed, he was uncomfortably aware of the scuffs and dings the walls had suffered.
     Here a yellow stain covered a hatchway. There someone had tried to cut away a chunk of hardboard and had given up halfway
     through, leaving a ragged sawtooth slash. Random chunks of old servos and electronics packages had been chucked aside and
     left, once they proved useless for whatever impulse had made crew yank them out of some locker.
    Argo’
s systems could handle nearly any threat, but not the insidious barrage of ignorance that Family Bishop served up. Their lifelong
     habits told them to strip away and carve up, haul off and make do, confident that mech civilizations would unthinkingly replenish
     everything. Scarcely the talents appropriate to a starship crew. It had takenKilleen quite a while, and some severe public whippings, to get them to stop trying to harvest random gaudy bits from the
     ship’s operating parts.
    He would have to order a general cleanup again. Once clutter accumulated, crew slid back into their old habits. The last week,
     distracted by the mech escort, he had let matters slide by.
    Breakfast was waiting in his cramped quarters. He slurped a hot broth of savory vegetables and gnawed at a tough grain cube.
     The day’s schedule shimmered on the tabletop, a 3D graphic display of tasks to be done about the ship.
    He did not know how this was done, nor did he care to learn. These last years had so saturated him with the Byzantine lore
     of the
Argo
that he was content to master what he had to, and leave much else to the crew. Shibo had ferreted out this particular nicety;
     she had an unerring instinct for the ship’s control systems. He wished she were here to share breakfast, but she was on watch
     already at the helm.
    A knock at the door proved to be Cermo. Killeen had to smile at the man’s promptness; on Snowglade he had been called Cermo-the-Slow.
     Something in
Argo’
s constrictions had brought out a precision in the man that contrasted wildly with his muscular bulk. Cermo now wore an alert
     expression on a face which Killeen had for so long seen as smooth and merry. Short rations had thrust the planes of his cheeks
     up through round hills of muscle.
    “Permission to review the day, Cap’n?” Cermo asked snappily.
    “Certainly.” Killeen gestured to a seat across the table.
    Killeen wondered idly if one of Cermo’s Aspects had been a starship crewman. That might explain how naturally the man adjusted
     to ship life. Cermo’s round, smooth face split with a fleeting grin of anticipation whenever Killeengave an order, as though it summoned up pleasant memories. Killeen envied that. He had never gotten along well with his Aspects.
    Cermo launched into a summary of the minor troubles that each day brought. They were all hard-pressed, running a huge star-sailing
     machine bequeathed to them by their ancient forefathers and foremothers. Though each crewman carried Aspects of former Family
     members—which could help with some of the arcane ship’s lore—vexing problems cropped up daily.
    As Killeen talked with Cermo his left hand automatically tapped his cube of baked grain on the shiny ceramic table. Two years
     before, a crop-tending crewmember had been browsing among the agricultural storehouse. She had mistakenly read a label wrong
     and not bothered to consult with one of her Aspects to get it right. Blithely she had accidentally