The Diamond Deep Read Online Free PDF

remembering. “Ben was never like that. He never betrayed or hurt anyone. He disciplined, he lectured.” Her voice had grown thick but it only made the quiet in common deeper as people strained to make out her words. “He loved.”
    He held Marcelle’s small hand tight while Ruby said, “Ben was a traditional man. He would have wanted me to sing the traditional song. So join with me while I do that. When we’re done, I have a special song that I wrote just for you all tonight. But first . . .”
    She launched into the funeral song, her voice coming from all around them. She left out all of the frills and trills that had crept into some of her more recent work; she sang as true and traditional as he’d ever heard.
    Tears ran down Marcelle’s face. He gave her hand a fresh squeeze and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I’ll be back. Save my seat.”
    â€œNo, I’ll come,” she said, wiping at her cheeks.
    They walked slowly around the room, scanning the crowd. Most people seemed affected by the funeral, quiet or even tearful. There were people he knew. Fingers to touch and shoulders to put a hand on briefly.
    He watched for The Jackman, but didn’t see him.
    Two boys pelted along a wall with makeshift guns and almost knocked him down, but he managed to avoid them.
    The song trailed off. Ruby held the last note for a long time, her voice strong. She fed from these people, from being watched.
    She spoke. “Thank you for joining me. We wish Ben good travels.”
    Then the ritual started—the picking up of the body, the careful slide of corpse and board down the chute and out to become space debris among the stars. Maybe there was something good for Ben to see out there. Maybe, like the song suggested, the dead among the Fire ’s crew would meet Ben in space. He snorted. A child’s hope.
    The world had lost someone good.
    Ruby turned back toward them, a faint trail of tears visible on her cheeks. “Ben was a symbol—he was red through and through. He held the highest ideals of a peacekeeper. He should be an example to all of you who once wore red.
    â€œWe, the crew of the Fire , must be one people, for we will be home soon and we must speak with one voice.” She took Joel’s hand. He stepped forward, the move a little scripted.
    â€œWe are facing the unknown,” Joel said, “and we must face it together.”
    That was the perfect opening for “Homecoming,” but Ruby moved directly into a song Onor had never heard. He was still walking and watching, so he didn’t catch all of the words. The chorus repeated three times:
    Â 
    Together we are a seed
    Preparing to open in the light
    Of Adiamo. To flower.
    â€œNow,” Ruby said, “Now we must all be together. We must forgive the past and we must stop killing. Now is the time to whisper your own small last goodbyes to Ben if you haven’t done so yet, to do a last honor. Tomorrow, we will have a festival. A new festival.”
    She hadn’t told him about that.
    He found Marcelle. “What do you think?”
    â€œI think it was brilliant that she didn’t mention Ben was murdered. Everyone knows it, and they all know she knows it, but she’s taking us higher.”
    Onor recalled the way he’d imagined the death song being sung for Ruby herself. “I hope she doesn’t get herself murdered.”
    Marcelle frowned. “I bet she’s planning on attending as many of the festival spots as possible.”
    â€œI’ll stay with her,” Onor said.
    Marcelle gave him a long look, and he wasn’t quite sure what he saw in her eyes. She was as almost as tall as he was, so it was easy for her to lean over and kiss him right on the lips. “Good.”

Ruby paced the command room, threading through people dressed in finery, careful not to meet their eyes or stop to talk, She needed to think.
    It was time for another