Diamond Star Read Free Page B

people playing them, but I don't stop to listen." Awkwardly Del said, "I don't want to intrude."
    "You should see one. You'd enjoy it." Mac thought for a moment. "Would you like to watch the audition?" He had wrangled permission to take Del off the base by arguing that it reinforced their claim Del was a guest rather than a prisoner. He wanted to give Del at least those limited excursions; he felt like a cretin treating this youth as a prisoner when Del had never done anything to anyone.
    He motioned at Del's ticker. "If we can get some mesh-box space, we could tech up a few holos for your cuts."
    Del laughed, his eyes lit with interest. "I have no idea what you just said, but yeah, I'd like to go with you."
    Mac grinned. "Come on. Let's go show you what I just said."
    They headed out, into the freedom of a late morning turning red and gold with autumn.

    II: Prime-Nova
    Del had never seen even one mesh-media studio, let alone a whole building of them. The Prime-Nova offices were on Wisconsin Avenue across from the Washington Arts Center, which had begun as the Washington Ballet in the twentieth century and grown until it devoured several city blocks. Mac enthusiastically informed him that the area was "a vibrant media hub rivaling New York and L.A." Del had no clue what that meant, but he liked the place.
    No ground traffic bothered them; the "streets" consisted of plazas and gardens designed for pedestrians. The widely spaced buildings sported glossy sides that projected holos of landscapes, clouds, abstract art, or gigantic images of celebrities. A few blocks south, the gold arch of a mag-rail curved against the blue sky, and a sleek bullet car whizzed along it. Farther down Wisconsin Avenue, the National Cathedral rose elegantly above a plaza lush with trees.
    The lobby of the Prime-Nova building gleamed with gold and bronze metal. The receptionist at the circular counter was an artificial intelligence, or AI. He initially presented as a man, but when Mac spoke, the holo rippled and re-formed as a beautiful woman with hair the color of marigolds.
    "Go right up, Mister Tyler," she said in dulcet tones. "You're expected." She turned her laser-light smile on Del. "Welcome, Mister Neil. Good luck with your audition."
    "Neil?" Del asked. It was weird talking to an image. He wondered what sex it turned into if both a man and a woman came up to the counter, or how it guessed a visitor's sexual preferences.
    "This isn't Craig Neil," Mac told the holo. "Craig should be here soon. Please send him up when he arrives."
    "Of course." Her voice was so well modulated, Del couldn't read any emotion from it. "I'll need the name of your guest."
    "Valdoria," Mac said. "Del Valdoria."
    Del was grateful Mac didn't use his complete name, Del-Kurj. He had been named for his half-brother Kurj, Imperator Kurj, the man who had commanded the Skolian military. That had been before the Traders assassinated Kurj and started the war. People had considered Kurj a de facto dictator and had begun to say the same about the current Imperator, Kelric, another in Del's multitude of brothers. Kurj and Kelric: hell, even their names sounded the same. Del had no interest in being associated with the draconian measures his notorious brothers used to maintain power.
    He rode upstairs with Mac in a bronzed lift. While Del looked around, intrigued by all the metal, Mac fooled with his wrist comm. Del had never understood why so many people were willing to carry mesh systems on their wrists, clothes, in their bodies, everywhere. It made him queasy, as if they were all turning into robots.
    "Craig should be here," Mac muttered. A blue light flickered on the wrist-mesh.
    "Maybe he's already upstairs," Del said.
    "Maybe. The AI should have known, though." Mac looked up. "No messages from him."
    The lift abruptly opened into a corridor with gold light for walls. Mac motioned Del forward.
    "This is pretty," Del said as they walked past the shimmering holo-curtains.