The Diamond Deep

by Brenda Cooper

  The orange hand withdrew and they went on. The faces of people who came up to meet her began to blur by the time Naveen led her to a small table, and she was sure she’d lost all track of names. A large woman who sat opposite a small one got up to give Ruby her seat, going to stand behind the small one. A bodyguard, then.

  The compact woman had brown skin, deep blue eyes of a color Ruby had never seen, brighter by far than her own pale blue ones, and thick black hair that flowed down her back in soft waves. She was absolutely beautiful, but none of that beauty came from her simple yellow outfit or from makeup or baubles. Rather, there was a strength in her that Ruby recognized instinctively. She had power. Feminine power. The hand that Satyana held out was unadorned, and when Ruby shook it, she felt calluses along the ridge of the woman’s palm. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Of course. Thank you for the lovely concert.”

  “Thank you for sponsoring me, and for holding this party.”

  Satyana’s gaze was friendly, but assessing.

  Ruby’s friends, including Naveen, had been seated at a nearby table and were already ordering drinks from a human waitress. “May we get you anything?”

  “Tea, please. Something that will help give me energy. And water.”

  Satyana smiled. “Excellent.” She turned to the woman behind her. “Britta, will you also see that someone brings us a snack?”

  Britta looked taken aback by the chore, but she faded into the crowd anyway. Satyana leaned close. “I would like to tour you around the outside of the station tomorrow. Just us. It was part of what I made Naveen agree to in order to book you.”

  Ruby had promised Joel she wouldn’t go anywhere alone. “I’d like that.” After all, Joel was far away. The little defiance felt good.

  “I’ll pick you up after lunch tomorrow. Wear something comfortable.”

  Ruby liked her already. Britta appeared with blue liquid in small glasses and a plate of small candies, fruits, and round chips decorated with colorful spreads. Ruby took one of the chips. “How long have you been here?”

  She laughed softly. “Longer than you’ve been alive.” She gestured around the room. “Most of the people who could afford to attend this are older than me, and more powerful. Although entertaining well does give one some sort of power, don’t you think?”

  “I suppose.” She had not seen anyone like these people in the Exchange, not really. The guests at this party were physically soft, with calculating eyes. “Tell me stories. What do these people do?”

  Satyana sipped from her blue drink. “They run things. They manage credit, or ships, or people. A few have simply been given riches by their families. Ask me about a specific person and I’ll try and tell you.”

  Ruby pointed to a tall man with long white hair decorated in feathers. “What about that one?”

  “He created a series of healthcare bots when he was young. Made it rich early. Now he mostly looks pretty, but once in a while he starts a new company, makes a bunch of credits, sells it, relaxes for a while. At the moment, he’s in a rest period.”

  “Okay.” She pointed at a tall woman—almost everyone in here was tall—a woman who was taller than most of the rest of them, her skin and face all reddish-blue.

  “That’s Ferrell Yi. She runs Exchange Five.”

  “She owns it?”

  Satyana laughed. “No. Each Exchange has a manager. But assume she is powerful, and that she is paid well. The Exchanges are all owned by the people, by all of us.”

  Ruby raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, and run by the Council. The profit they don’t take gets used to pay for central services.”

  “Which are?”

  “Transportation. Air. Water. Basic education.”

  The blue drink tasted sweeter than Ruby liked, and she had to work to drink it. Curiously, her thoughts almost immediately seemed clearer. “What’s in this?”

  Satyana had her own cup. “Plants. They are chosen to add energy to your system.”

  “It’s good. Does the Council pay for the Brawl?”

  “Of course. Although in a way, we all do. The credit comes from the tax.” Satyana leaned over. “Turn around. It’s Stevenson.”

  The Headman appeared from behind Ruby, offering her a hand. “That was beautifully done. You grace our station.”

  He was both tall and broad, with swirling brown tattoos on his forearms and neck, a simple black shirt that flowed over black pants and black boots, and strings of colored beads that might have come from the Fire. It rocked her to see her symbol on him, silencing her voice for a moment. She swallowed her reaction—part anger and part confusion—and managed to say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for coming to hear me.”

  His smile disconcerted her almost as much as the beads around his neck. “How could I miss the newest sensation here?”

  She blushed in spite of herself. “Thank you for the greenery. It made Ash much prettier.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  She searched for words. “The Diamond Deep is quite fascinating.”

  “There is much I could show you. Will you join me for dinner next week?”

  Instinct told her no. But surely this was a man with power she needed to understand. “Naveen keeps my schedule. He’ll know if there is time.” He had eyes the color of the tattoos on his arms, a brown similar to some of the colors Naveen favored, but the irises were a very dark black. He frightened her in a way no known enemy ever had. “If it can be arranged, my assistant and my bodyguard will join us, of course.”

  His eyes actually seemed to darken. But his smile widened and he gave a half-bow toward her. “I will have my people schedule time with you through the inimitable Naveen.” He turned to Satyana. “Excellent use of your venue. You’ve done well tonight.”

  Satyana inclined her head a very tiny amount, as if acknowledging his power. “Thank you for gracing my party.”

  He turned away then, and Ruby glanced over at Naveen. He was deep in conversation with KJ, and she wasn’t even sure he had seen the Headman. But Min was staring hard at her.

  She turned back to find Satyana looking contemplative. “He likes beautiful women.” She eyed Ruby. “He does not like to be told no.”

  “I have a partner.”

  “That will not matter very much to him.” Then Satyana laughed. “You are a spitfire, aren’t you?”

  “What is that?”

  “Brave. I like brave women.” Satyana stood. She barely came to Ruby’s shoulder. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. Naveen has the details.”

  On the short train ride from the Star Bear back to their rooms, Ruby sat beside Min, her eyes so heavy she had to force them open. Her words sounded slurred even though she’d had no alcohol all night. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you yet. Thank you for coming.”

  Min gave her an odd look. “Thank you for allowing us to continue to watch you.”

  That wasn’t quite what Ruby had expected to hear. “As you’ve watched me, what have you seen?”

  Min went quiet. Ruby was almost asleep in spite of her best intentions when Min said, “I don’t know yet. You like attention, and you draw it. Men and women flock to you, and power comes to you.”

  “We need attention, and I’m working as hard as I can to see we get it.”

  A flashing light from outside of the train briefly illuminated Min’s face, emphasizing the scar. “Did you bring us here so you could have attention?”

  “To the Deep?”

  Min nodded.

  “We had to go somewhere.” It wasn’t a good answer, but she didn’t have a better one.

  Min went quiet again.

  This was not the vibrant woman she’d met in common long before they landed. “Look,” Ruby said, “You’ll get to see a lot here. There are more important things for you to watch than me.”

  Min regarded her solemnly.

  Maybe this had been a mistake. “It would help me if you could watch every
thing. Not just me. Watch it all. And tell me—and whoever else you want—everything you see. I’m not hiding anything here. I’m doing the best I can. Think of it as witnessing about me and for me at the same time. As witnessing for the colony.”

  Min didn’t respond one way or the other. But just as the train was stopping, she whispered, “Your concert was good.”

  Ruby whispered back, “Thank you.”

  The next morning, Onor attempted to work the groggy feeling out of his head by wiping down the chairs and tables in the bar. Robots had cleaned the floor after closing, so Onor was trying to get all of the crumbs and bits swept into his hand so they wouldn’t land on the floor.

  Haric and Allen stood together, washing glasses in the bar sink. As Onor worked closer to the dishwashers, he asked, “So what did we make last night?”

  “One thousand three hundred credits.”

  More than he’d thought. “Profit?”

  “Well, not from outside. One hundred ten came in from outside, so if I listen to SueAnne, that’s the most we could make.”

  At least they’d made something.

  Onor glanced over at Haric. The boy had hardly said a word to him this morning. Maybe he was still smarting from Ruby’s refusal to take him on the tour. “Want to go see the birds today? I’m sure you earned that much of the credit—transportation’s only five for both of us.”

  “Take me to a bar?”

  “You don’t drink.”

  Allen laughed and addressed Haric. “You drank a little last night.”

  Haric’s cheeks reddened.

  Onor frowned. Ruby had told Haric not to drink. “Why a bar?”

  “I want to get a job. So I can learn how to earn more credit.”

  Onor blinked at him.

  “And I want to learn my way around.”

  So he could find Ruby? Poor kid had lost Colin to the spiders and now Ruby had left him. “Now?”

  Haric’s steady gaze said yes, please with no words.

  “Can I show you the birds first?”

  An hour later, they stood inside the aviary Naveen had shown Onor. Haric stared for a long time, entranced and puzzled. “I didn’t know they’d be so much better than the picture you sent.”

  “Pretty cool, huh?”

  “Can we have one? Can we take one back?”

  Onor laughed. “Can you imagine SueAnne’s face if we bring home another mouth to feed?”

  Haric let out a long sigh and sat down on one of the benches, his eyes tracking a small, bright orange bird. “We’re not learning fast enough. We need more than a job for me. We need jobs for a thousand people.”

  “You’re starting to remind me of SueAnne.”

  Haric frowned.

  “Start with your own job. Let’s go.” They started at the bar just outside the aviary. This was Haric’s idea, so Onor stood outside and let him go in. Haric returned in ten minutes, a dejected look on his face. “They want experience.”

  “You have experience. In our bars. Lie a little, and count the time you were in the cargo bars.”

  “They want ten years.”

  “Oh. Maybe the others will be better.”

  They inquired at six bars—all they could reach without taking another train. By then, Haric looked so tired his feet dragged and his shoulders slumped, so he looked his age. He wasn’t going to get any kind of job offer while he looked that that.

  “Maybe we can talk to Naveen,” Onor said. “He might have some connections. In the meantime, it’s opening time for our own bar.”

  Haric had started dragging a few hours before closing time, so Onor had sent him home to dream of birds. With so few people, the robots had been left turned off and Onor and Allen were managing the whole bar, which had stayed pretty calm. It probably didn’t hurt that Onor was known as one of Joel’s bodyguards, and thus someone who could fight.

  Allen went to encourage the locals home and Onor approached the only table with off-site patrons, where a man and a woman were deep in conversation. He’d noticed them earlier. Apparently new to the bar, they’d been pointing out details about the construction and the art on the walls to each other when he served them.

  The woman was the taller, with a thin face. She reminded him of Marcelle, although she was lighter in coloring. The man was a stockier and shorter version of the woman; they could be brother and sister. She held up a hand in greeting as Onor approached.

  “We’re about to close.”

  The man looked around. “Can we talk to you?”

  “Of course. About what?”

  “Your losses,” he said.

  Onor gestured Allen over to the table. Allen stopped by the bar on the way and grabbed a pitcher of water and four cups. As he poured he eyed the newcomers curiously. “Do you like the bar?”

  The man seemed mildly surprised by the question. “Well, sure. It’s simple.”

  Onor downed half his water. “I’m Onor, and this is Allen.”

  The woman’s voice sounded soft and full of backbone. “And we have chosen to be friends of the People of the Fire.”

  Onor frowned. “You asked me about our losses. Do you mean the ship?”

  “Sort of.”

  He didn’t like secrets. “So tell me what you did mean.”

  The man sat back. “Can you get Joel?”

  So they knew something about the community. “Why?”

  “We need a decision maker.”

  Onor used his slate to send Joel a message. Then he sent a separate note to SueAnne, hoping Joel wouldn’t mind.

  Allen offered to break his after-closing rule. “Would you like a real drink?”

  “No.” The woman’s fingers went to her neckline, and he realized she was wearing one of Ruby’s necklaces. Or a replica of one. It looked like all of the beads were stone, which they hadn’t had on the Fire. The gesture looked natural, but he wondered if she were sending a signal the way players messaged their teammates in a game of Planazate. “We enjoyed Ruby’s concert the other day very much.”

  “Thank you. What did you like the best?”

  The man answered, “Her voice.”

  The woman’s answer was more emotional. “The song for Owl Paulie. The way it had layers, love and revolution all lined up. It must have been terribly romantic to have to fight your way to equality. Your story sounds like an adventure video, and Ruby looks like a real heroine. It must have been so—intense.”

  Allen looked unhappy with the conversation. “Have you ever seen anyone killed?”

  “No, but we’ve known people who died.”

  “Of disease?”

  “Or who were killed—like in accidents. It doesn’t happen much. We don’t see death.” She paused uncertainly. “Or at least I haven’t.” The woman reached for the pitcher and refilled everyone’s glasses. “I admit that part must have been hard.”

  Allen—out of view of either of them—shook his head in disbelief. Onor managed to keep a straight face. “I was there when Owl Paulie told us all to rebel.”

  “I thought Ruby led the rebellion,” the man mused.

  “Oh, she did. Owl Paulie was dead by then. But it wouldn’t have started without him.”

  “Do you have any pictures of him?” the woman asked. “We have pictures of you and Ruby and Marcelle and The Jackman and others, but I don’t think we have any of Owl Paulie.”

  Joel walked in, pushing SueAnne.

  The couple refused to give their names to Joel and SueAnne as well, which Joel took with a sour face. SueAnne looked like she had been dragged out of bed. She wore no jewelry and her gray hair flowed wispy and loose around her shoulders and touched the edge of her chair. She started the conversation. “What can we do for you at this hour?”

  “You should look into how your cargo was sold.”

  “On the Exchange?” Joel asked.

  “There are records of every transaction that happens there. Your AI must know where to look.”

  “What AI?” Onor asked. No one was su
pposed to know they had a copy of Ix.

  SueAnne reacted smoothly. “Our community net here is not at an AI level.”

  “We have looked up some of the information.” The man sounded hesitant. “Maybe we can share some of it with you.”

  “What did you find?” Joel asked.

  “Do you know everything that was in your cargo bays?”

  Onor could see Joel hesitate. Eventually he said, “We have some records. We also have our memories.”

  “Do you remember a series of rocks from Gaither’s World? The first place you went?”

  Allen had been silent, but now he said, “I played with them once, I think. They were heavy, right? And mostly black.”

  “They were geodes. That means they had crystals in them. The chemical makeup is very different from anything in our system, and the colors are pretty. One of Koren’s companies is creating a demand for jewelry made from these crystals. That’s a beginning.”

  It dawned on Onor what they meant. “So we should get paid a part of what she makes off of everything?”

  The woman smiled. “We believe the cargo was legally yours. She should not be getting anything for it.”

  “Even if it’s salvage, you should have far more than she gave you. Hundreds of times more.”

  “Okay. But why do you care?” Onor asked.

  “Perhaps we share the same enemies.”

  “Koren?”

  “Not only Koren. Others. We might be allies.”

  SueAnne said, “Really? Why? We hardly know our way around here at all. I’m not even sure we can find a privy outside of this area yet. Why do you think we have anything to offer to you?”

  “Didn’t you see how many people watched the concert?”

  Onor bit his lip, immediately even more distrustful.

  Joel said, “The Deep is nothing like the Fire. There, we knew who our enemies were and how to hide.”

  “You know some of your enemies. Koren. Anyone with power. Your coming and your story is a threat to the power structure here.”

  “Really?” Joel asked. “We don’t appear to have much power.”

  The man laughed. “Stories of revolution have more power than you think. Especially when they have a flesh and blood avatar.”

  Joel sat back and stayed quiet for some time. Then he looked at the man and asked, “Would it put Ruby in danger if we help you?”