Strata

and keep reprojecting them as a hologram.’
    ‘You’d need many inputs.’
    ‘Billions. You’d have to plug into the cognitive centre of every living creature.’
    ‘Have you noticed the blank patches?’
    ‘Maybe a bird wasn’t looking in that direction at the time.’
    Silver nodded gravely, and looked around the big map hall.
    ‘Presumably the map of the disc also includes its own miniature disc map,’ she said slowly. She met Marco’s gaze with a quiet smile. Then she ordered the platform to go to the map’s hub. Neither doubted that the map hall was at the hub.
    They looked down at the dome. Silver tried some commands, which appeared to have no effect. So she lowered the platform.
    Staring down between their feet they saw earth and metal melt and drift aside. Disc machinery rose and faded away. There was something now, the edge of something …
    There was a little round disc. At its centre was a grey and white speck, which resolved into two figures. One was big and furry, the other wiry and thin as a twig. Both were staring intently at something between their feet …
    Flick
. The wiry one was looking up now, at the miniature gallery that encircled the map of the map.
Flick
. There was a figure there.
Flick
. It raised a hand.
Flick
.
    ‘Hi,’ said Kin.
    Silver was not expert in human expressions, but by the look of her the woman had not been sleeping. In fact she was swaying slightly.
    ‘Glad you could make it,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t get the computers to teleport you, there’s a thirty per cent chance the power would fail while you were out of phase. Follow me. There isn’t a lot of time left.’
    ‘We—’ began Marco.
    Kin shook her head violently. ‘No we didn’t,’ she said. ‘Come on!’
    The kung started to protest again, and Silver gripped him firmly by a couple of arms. Kin was already hurrying down a tunnel leading off the hall.
    It emerged in a metal cave half as big again asthe one they had just left. It contained a spacecraft. At least, that was the first impression …
    It didn’t have any motors. Apart from strangely large altitude jets in about the right places for altitude jets, the hull seemed to be all cabin, with enough windows to grow grapes. Cuboid robots were still clustered around it. One of them was spraying paint on the landing gear. Two others were busy on a stubby wing.
    Kin was already aboard. Snarling, Marco bounded up the short ladder and saw her sitting at the horseshoe-shaped instrument console. Wires trailed away from it to boxes bolted haphazardly around the interior of the cabin. In the centre of the floor a regiment of tiny cubes were engaged in feverish activity around a tangle of wires and metal shapes. One of them butted Marco politely on the foot until he moved.
    ‘Silver, shut that door,’ said Kin. ‘Hurry! And now pray to any convenient gods.’
    She turned and addressed the air, in a tone of voice that made it clear it was not the others she was talking to.
    ‘We’re ready.’
    The reply came from everywhere.
    WE HAVE A BARGAIN?
    ‘It’s a bargain,’ said Kin. There was a pause. The ship trembled slightly. Marco looked out and saw the cave walls slipping past.
    ‘Don’t say anything rash,’ said Kin. ‘Don’teven
think
, if you want to get home. Have a little faith, will you? Please?’
    Sudden sunlight filled the cabin. Looking up, Marco and Silver saw a square of golden sky appear as sections of the roof slid back. The ship accelerated upwards on its section of floor.
    By their feet a small robot tugged a length of tubing out of the heap in the centre of the cabin. One of its many arms swung down, hesitated, gripped the tube. The metal broke where it touched.
    Silver jerked her head forward sharply as something tickled her ears. When she looked round cautiously she was eyeball to scanner with a little metal cube which was hanging from the cabin roof by three arms. It had no face, but managed to look embarrassed. Its fourth arm held a pair of calipers.
    Marco hissed and struck out at another machine that was trying to climb up his leg. It landed on its back, scrabbling at the deck with all six arms.
    Kin laughed hysterically.
    ‘Don’t be childish,’ she gasped. ‘When we flip into interspace you’d like to be in a contour-couch, wouldn’t you? All they want are your measurements. DO IT! ’
    Marco opened his mouth to protest, and something touched his face. Looking down, he saw a metal tape unrolling on its way to the