Free Deception Well (The Nanotech Succession Book 2) by Linda Nagata Page B

knew it. He drew in a sharp, startled breath and turned half away, shaking with the temptation.
    Was this how Jupiter had felt?
    He closed his eyes, forced himself to breathe long and slow, calming himself, the way the monkey-house docs had taught him . . . trying not to hear the distant chorus of screams reverberating through the darkened corridors. The taste of bile was suddenly in his mouth. “ Why are we here? ” he croaked. He turned around, his gaze seeking Urban. “Why did you bring me here?”
    Urban’s face was stony, his resentment a foul simmer in the air. “Everybody wants something.” He jerked his chin at Gent. “He wants you. He brought you here, fury. Not me. That was his price. Best if you know that.”
    Cautiously, Lot raised his gaze, to look into Gent’s eyes again. Steady eyes, that looked back at him with quiet affection. Lot could feel the subtle field of his faith. “You’re not like the Silkens.”
    “Let’s go inside,” Gent said. “We only have a little time.”
    What am I doing here? Kheth’s rays fell hot against his face. The air was very still. He could feel himself at a threshold. A soft voice whispered that it wasn’t too late. He could turn around. He could walk out of the refugee quarter, take the transit to Skyline, where he worked every morning tending estate gardens that belonged to families of the very real. As easily as that he could be back inside the boundaries of his routine, and city authority would show its approval by leaving him alone, leaving him the hell alone.
    Maybe he’d been alone too long. Good monkey.
    Ado defiance nibbled at him. Gent had been part of his family once. Together they were the last surviving members of Jupiter’s household. Maybe Lot wanted some of that relationship back.
    “Okay,” he said, trying not to see Gent’s faint silver aura. “It’s good.”
    “It will be,” Gent said. He held his arm out, inviting Lot to accompany him.
    T HEY CROSSED THE STREET, THEN WENT THROUGH heavy plastic doors cast in a stylized solar design. Urban caught his eye. “You okay, fury?”
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    Urban looked doubtful. “You looked . . . half-gone. Vacant. I’ve never seen that before.”
    Lot didn’t know how to answer him. He looked to Gent. “Did you know it would be like that?”
    “There was a chance.”
    “So what was it? What happened out there?”
    Gent gave him an odd look. “You know.”
    “I don’t.”
    For just a moment Gent looked impatient. “You’re the gate to the Communion, Lot. The focusing lens through which we’ll all pass. You gather the essence of your people. Through you, they become one.”
    Lot shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
    Urban said, “That’s because it’s shit.”
    Gent glanced at him, and shrugged—a gesture that chilled Lot. If doubts translated to defensiveness, then Gent had no doubts at all. Lot rubbed nervously at his sensory tears. “I never felt this way with Silkens.”
    “That’ll come,” Gent assured him. “Given time, you can touch anyone. The difference is, we’re ready to give ourselves to you, while the Silkens, I think, still resist.” He looked to Urban, and gave him a broad wink.
    “ Shit .”
    Lot gave it up for the moment, and looked around. They’d come into a small lobby. The carpets and walls were a wash of light yellow, a bright contrast to his own disquiet. An elevator opened on one side. Beside it, a wide sweep of stairs went down . Lot looked at the stairs in surprise. He’d never seen a building with access below ground. Silk was a surface city, and only utility engineers were permitted in the inner levels. Urban’s mood shifted as he took some pleasure from Lot’s surprise. “You’ll like this,” he said. “It’s cute.”
    They trotted down the stairs, the impact of their footfalls absorbed by the carpet. The stair bent back on itself and descended another flight. Lot caught her presence while he was still on the landing.