diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index 27717a816a..6f3c110a3d 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -1,12 +1,64 @@
+#include "serialise.hh"
+#include "util.hh"
 #include "remote-store.hh"
 
+#include <iostream>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
 
 namespace nix {
 
 
 RemoteStore::RemoteStore()
 {
-    throw Error("not implemented");
+    toChild.create();
+    fromChild.create();
+
+
+    /* Start the worker. */
+    string worker = "nix-worker";
+
+    child = fork();
+    
+    switch (child) {
+        
+    case -1:
+        throw SysError("unable to fork");
+
+    case 0:
+        try { /* child */
+
+            fromChild.readSide.close();
+            if (dup2(fromChild.writeSide, STDOUT_FILENO) == -1)
+                throw SysError("dupping write side");
+
+            toChild.writeSide.close();
+            if (dup2(toChild.readSide, STDIN_FILENO) == -1)
+                throw SysError("dupping read side");
+
+            execlp(worker.c_str(), worker.c_str(),
+                "-vvv", "--slave", NULL);
+            
+            throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % worker);
+            
+        } catch (std::exception & e) {
+            std::cerr << format("child error: %1%\n") % e.what();
+        }
+        quickExit(1);
+    }
+
+    fromChild.writeSide.close();
+    toChild.readSide.close();
+
+    from.fd = fromChild.readSide;
+    to.fd = toChild.writeSide;
+
+    
+    /* Send the magic greeting, check for the reply. */
+    writeInt(0x6e697864, to);
+    
+    unsigned int magic = readInt(from);
+    if (magic != 0x6478696e) throw Error("protocol mismatch");
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.hh b/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
index 8ebe5e397e..da6911cf4f 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.hh
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
 namespace nix {
 
 
+class Pipe;
+class Pid;
+struct FdSink;
+struct FdSource;
+
+
 class RemoteStore : public StoreAPI
 {
 public:
@@ -44,6 +50,11 @@ public:
     void ensurePath(const Path & storePath);
 
 private:
+    Pipe toChild;
+    Pipe fromChild;
+    FdSink to;
+    FdSource from;
+    Pid child;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index 092d7f1e94..9e8bc36d7f 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ Path makeFixedOutputPath(bool recursive,
 
 
 #include "local-store.hh"
+#include "serialise.hh"
 #include "remote-store.hh"
 
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/serialise.hh b/src/libutil/serialise.hh
index 459a693ee8..6be10b5528 100644
--- a/src/libutil/serialise.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/serialise.hh
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ struct FdSink : Sink
 {
     int fd;
 
+    FdSink()
+    {
+        fd = 0;
+    }
+    
     FdSink(int fd) 
     {
         this->fd = fd;
@@ -47,6 +52,11 @@ struct FdSource : Source
 {
     int fd;
 
+    FdSource()
+    {
+        fd = 0;
+    }
+    
     FdSource(int fd) 
     {
         this->fd = fd;
diff --git a/src/nix-worker/main.cc b/src/nix-worker/main.cc
index 4fe92a85ad..f71b604d01 100644
--- a/src/nix-worker/main.cc
+++ b/src/nix-worker/main.cc
@@ -1,35 +1,21 @@
 #include "shared.hh"
 #include "local-store.hh"
 #include "util.hh"
+#include "serialise.hh"
 
 using namespace nix;
 
 
-/* !!! Mostly cut&pasted from util/archive.hh */
-/* Use buffered reads. */
-static unsigned int readInt(int fd)
+void processConnection(Source & from, Sink & to)
 {
-    unsigned char buf[8];
-    readFull(fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
-    if (buf[4] || buf[5] || buf[6] || buf[7])
-        throw Error("implementation cannot deal with > 32-bit integers");
-    return
-        buf[0] |
-        (buf[1] << 8) |
-        (buf[2] << 16) |
-        (buf[3] << 24);
-}
+    store = boost::shared_ptr<StoreAPI>(new LocalStore(true));
 
-
-void processConnection(int fdFrom, int fdTo)
-{
-    store = openStore();
-
-    unsigned int magic = readInt(fdFrom);
+    unsigned int magic = readInt(from);
     if (magic != 0x6e697864) throw Error("protocol mismatch");
 
-    
-    
+    writeInt(0x6478696e, to);
+
+    debug("greeting exchanged");
 }
 
 
@@ -43,8 +29,11 @@ void run(Strings args)
         if (arg == "--slave") slave = true;
     }
 
-    if (slave)
-        processConnection(STDIN_FILENO, STDOUT_FILENO);
+    if (slave) {
+        FdSource source(STDIN_FILENO);
+        FdSink sink(STDOUT_FILENO);
+        processConnection(source, sink);
+    }
 
     else if (daemon)
         throw Error("daemon mode not implemented");