The Smoke Ring t-2

by Larry Niven

  Jeffer was smiling. “I’ve thought of something. There’s a pond thirty klomters out and a little east…”

  The sun wasn’t much past zenith. A pinpoint diamond blazed next to it, out and a bit west: sunlight focused through a pond. Jeffer set the CARM moving straight out.

  The out tuft ran at them and past them. The pond wasn’t far beyond, and not much bigger than the CARM. Jeffer set the forward jets firing when they were close. They came to a stop just in from the water globule.

  Jeffer opened the airlock. He told Rather, “Get into your wings and follow us. Bring the silver suit. We’ll refuel the jets.”

  Jeffer led them outside and around to the CARM’s dorsal surface. Rather followed, tugging the silver suit by its limp wrist. There Jeffer took the suit from him. He watched as Jeffer produced narrow hoses from under a hatch…

  Clave said, “Forget the suit for a while. Let Jeffer do it. Rather, you missed something during the allergy attack. What do you think happened then?”

  “All I know is, you caught Jeffer at something.”

  Jeffer grunted. He had the hoses hooked to holes in the suit’s legs.

  Clave said, “You missed your chance to see Sharls Davis Kendy. You’ll get it again in, what, half a day?”

  Jeffer looked at the sun: past two o’clock, a few degrees out from west. “A little more than that. The thing is, this is a secret, Rather.”

  “Everybody’s got secrets…Kendy? The Checker?”

  “Tell him, Jeffer.”

  Jeffer said, “ Kendy’s back. He pointed out the Wart for us. He talked to me the day we rescued the Serjents. We’ve talked since. I gather it costs him something, maybe shortens his life, and he still can’t reach us more than once every two days.”

  Rather said, “The tales Mark and Gavving tell, Kendy would have killed you all if he’d known you stole the CARM.”

  “I don’t think he could have done that,” Jeffer said, “but he might have wanted to. We stole the CARM to get away from London Tree. We had Lawri tied to her seat, and Mark the Silver Man too. Kendy might have called it mutiny. You know some of this.”

  Rather said, “You were copsiks. They owned you. I never understood how you could live with Lawri and Mark after that.”

  Clave said, “What were we supposed to do, throw them into the sky? They earned their citizenship. Rather. When the air was leaking out of the CARM, Lawri found the way to plug the leak. When Kendy was asking questions, Mark covered for us. We could have told Kendy we were escaped copsiks, but I’m not sure how he would have felt about that. Maybe Kendy’s people kept copsiks.”

  “Kendy.”

  “Yeah. He — Scientist, you understand this better than I do.”

  Jeffer said, “Give me a minute.” He was moving the hoses. “Need to refuel the legs one at a time…”

  “Stet. Now, Sharls Davis Kendy claims to be the recording of a man. I don’t understand that. Neither does Lawri. We don’t even know how cassettes work, really. I wondered if he was just some madman who reached the old starship, like we almost did, and was living aboard. But it’s been fourteen years, and he doesn’t sound any older. He wanted to know all about us. Whether we were mutineers. Well, treefodder, we did steal the CARM, we were mutineers, much as I hate the word.”

  “That’s all in the past,” Clave said.

  “Yeah. Now he wants to see the Clump. Clave, remember how he talked fourteen years ago? I think he still wants everyone in the Smoke Ring to be one big happy tribe taking orders from Sharls Davis Kendy.”

  The dark pond blazed at its eastern edge. Rather wondered if there would be time for a swim. He was not comfortable in this maze of secrets. “Kendy isn’t the Chairman. We don’t have to do what he says.”

  “No.”

  “Well, we want to see the Clump too. And if he can’t touch us — Why not tell the Serjents?”

  “Boy’s got a point,” Clave said.

  “You didn’t tell them either.”

  “Maybe that was just reflex.”

  “Just talk to Kendy, Chairman, and then I’ll point out something.”

  Clave merely nodded. To Rather, he said, “One more thing. Kendy hears everything anyone says aboard the CARM.”

  Rather laughed.

  Jeffer asked, “Anything else to discuss? I think I’m finished here. Now let’s refuel the CARM. Go back in and strap down.”

  “We still don’t have a pump.”

  The Scientist’s answering grin was a little mad. Clave sighed.

  Jets grumbled, then died. Rather watched a wind-riffled wall of water move toward the bow window.

  Clave asked, “Shouldn’t you close the doors?”

  Jeffer grinned and shook his head.

  Clave said, “I wish to point out. Captain, that we’re going to hit that pond.”

  “Yeah.”

  The pondlet struck. Rather sagged in his straps. Clave grunted. He asked, “Do you honestly know what you’re doing?”

  “I honestly do.”

  Through the great window the interior of the pondlet was open to view. A flock of tiny silver torpedoes sped away through the murk and disappeared through the shivering silver surface.

  “The CARM’s hundreds of years old and nothing’s hurt it yet. Now I reduce the interior pressure.” Jeffer’s fingers moved; the air system hissed; water entered the airlock in an expanding silver bubble.

  The doors closed. Water remained inside, flowing over the aft walls, the curve of it becoming more and more concave. Waves curled and sloshed as Jeffer turned the CARM away from the pond.

  He grinned at them. “Now I set the pressure back to normal and turn down the humidity. That tells the CARM to make the air dry by taking water out of it. The water goes to the tank. See? We can’t run out of fuel now. It’s something Lawri never thought of.”

  “It’s treefeeding wet in here, Scientist!”

  “But you don’t have to pump. Next on the agenda is Kendy. Checker, when you hear this, please introduce yourself.”

  Clave asked, “What if he’s not there?”

  “He’ll hear it when he runs the record—”

  There was a face in the bow window.

  Kendy was a dwarf. Rather had expected that, but he was still taken aback. Deepset eyes examined him, judged him, within a face like carved rock. A giant’s gravelly voice said, “Kendy for the State. Hello, Chairman Clave. Hello, Rather the Silver Man. Scientist, your manner of refueling the CARM is likely to destroy it. If the impact had torn away the solar cell arrays, how would you break up water? A CARM doesn’t fly on water.”

  Jeffer looked nettled. Clave said, “Welcome back, Kendy.”

  “Thank you, Chairman.”

  “Why did you hide from me?”

  “I felt that Jeffer was better equipped to judge his political situation than I.”

  Clave bridled. “And I’m not?”

  “If Jeffer had told you, he would surely have had to tell his wife. Do you trust Lawri’s judgment?”

  “I give up. Between you, you…stet.”

  “I watched your nonmutiny with some interest. You’re a natural leader, Clave. You should be ruling many more than your thirteen citizens.”

  “Thank you, Checker. Where do you propose I find another thousand citizens, all of whom are inclined to trust a tree-living outsider?”

  The language was cold and stiff. Jeffer and Clave did not trust Kendy, and Kendy clearly knew it. He said, “You need not turn a compliment into a policy statement, Clave. I can’t force you to obey my orders. You can’t stop me from observing through the CARM’s instruments. You know that I know things you do not. Can’t we work together?”

  “Maybe. Thanks for showing us the Wart.”

  “You’re welcome. Has Booce found a way to confine the pipefire?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Even with sikenwire, the pipefire is dangerous. You do have a source of metal. You can make a firebox from the Wart.”

  Clave grinned.
“What a good idea.”

  “You probably don’t have the facilities to make a smelter—”

  “What?”

  “A smelter refines metal. It melts metal ore and bums away impurities. You shape the metal by pouring the liquid into forms. Gravity is needed, or tide, or spin. The Admiralty may have such technology, but I gather you do not.”

  “We do not. You’d set the tree on fire for sure!”

  “But you do have a saw. It was moored in the cargo section. Use it to cut slices from the Wart.”

  “Kendy, you’d ruin the teeth.”

  “No. That saw was taken from Discipline. Most of the tools aboard Discipline were made to last. Even with trivial items, the major cost was transportation. The chicken wire must have been made in the Admiralty, but your hose is reinforced with hullmetal alloy. The pipe is hullmetal. So is the saw. You won’t damage it by sawing slices from a mass of soft iron. Here—”

  Kendy’s angular visage was replaced by a line drawing of the steam rocket, then another line drawing: a rectangle with tabs at its edges. “Cut three of these. Use the first as a template—”

  “How do we hold the parts together? Tethers would bum.”

  “Set the plates in place and pound on the tabs until they bend down. They’ll fold over each other.” Three rectangular plates formed a triangular prism. The tabs along the edges blinked green, then bent themselves over to interlock. Logbearer reappeared, and the three-sided box now enclosed the pipe and pipefire.

  Clave said, “I’ll ask Booce. You won’t get much air flow to the coals.”

  “Mount the rocket two or three kilometers in or out from the center of mass. The wind will keep the coals alight. You couldn’t make a completely closed box anyway. It will leak.”

  “Mmm…yeah. You’ve been thinking hard about this.”

  “I can solve simple mechanical problems. What will you do with the CARM when you reach the Clump?”

  Clave was still studying the diagram. “We’ll hide it before we get there. Take the log in with the steam rocket. Take our time selling it.”

  “You’ll want to keep the CARM safe, but near enough for rescue if something goes wrong. Now, the Clump is more crowded than the Smoke Ring in general, but one may still think of it as mostly empty space. Two thousand people won’t crowd a region the volume of the Earth’s Moon! You’ll find plenty of hiding space.”

  “Kendy, we can’t steer the CARM into the Clump and just look around! We’d be seen!”

  “I have a better view of the Clump than you do, even if it’s not a good view. If you approached from north or south of the Clump—”

  “What we’ll do is take the log in, then look around while we’re selling the wood. If we find a safe way in, we’ll take it.”

  “Another thing you might consider,” Kendy said. “The CARM is power. There may come a time when we’ll want to use that power…” Kendy’s voice and picture faded.

  “Well, that’s that.” Jeffer left his seat. He stretched elaborately. “Let’s go out. Take some spears. We’ll get us some waterbirds before we turn back.”

  They moved out. Clave said, “Well?”

  “Now do you see what I mean? He wants the CARM inside the Clump. He wants it bad. If he can get some Admiralty citizens into the CARM, he could look them over and question them.”

  “He didn’t say anything unreasonable,” Clave said.

  “Persuasive, isn’t he? All right, think about this. There occurred an accident that allowed Chairman Clave to see the Checker talking to the Scientist. That happened after Kendy was sure he couldn’t talk me into this.”

  Clave smiled. “An interesting coincidence. The CARM has outside cameras, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. And Booce would like to be rich so that he can give up logging. Do you think Kendy could persuade Booce to trade the CARM to the Navy for metal?”

  The smile slipped. “We’ll do it your way. Rather, this stops with us. All of it. Now shall we get us some waterbirds?”

  “I said that to get us outside,” Jeffer said.

  “Let’s do it anyway.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Happyfeet

  from the Admiralty Library, year 131 SM, day 160:

  VOICE HAS SET US THE TASK OF INTEGRATING THE DESERTERS — EXCUSE ME, WANDERERS — INTO THE ADMIRALTY. IT WILL CERTAINLY TAKE GENERATIONS. EXEC WILLOUGHBY ADMITS THAT IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE, AND I’VE COME TO AGREE.

  HALF A DOZEN COTTON-CANDY JUNGLES NOW TRADE REGULARLY IN THE CLUMP, MEETING AT THE CROSSYEAR. THEY OBEY ADMIRALTY LAW, WHERE ADMIRALTY NAVY IS PRESENT TO ENFORCE IT. OUTSIDE THE CLUMP THERE IS PIRACY AND SLAVE-TAKING. WE BELIEVE THAT THE SEEKERS AND THE LUPOPF FAMILY WERE INVOLVED IN SUCH INCIDENTS, THOUGH THEY WERE THE FIRST TO TRADE IN THE MARKET.

  WE CANNOT BRING LAW TO THIRTY EARTH-VOLUMES OF INHABITABLE TERRITORY. THE SMOKE RING IS TOO HUGE, AND WE ARE TOO FEW AND TOO SLOW.

  — LIEUTENANT RAND CARSTER

  BRILLIANT AS IT WAS, THE NEUTRON STAR WAS TOO small to give much illumination. Yet the sky was never dark, even at crossyear, when the sun at nadir had to shine through the full thickness of the Smoke Ring’s farther arc.

  One must seek darkness in a cloud or a jungle or a tree tuft, or in the unoccupied depths of the Clump.

  Now the sun was dead east, somewhere behind the slowly roiling blotch that was their destination. It was gloomy in the shadow of the Clump. Masses near the white-fringed black mass seemed to blaze in contrast.

  “We’re better than halfway home,” Booce said. “Debby, I’ve been looking for more pod plants. The last thing I ever wanted was to come home with a pod for my cabin, but we don’t have time to build real cabins.”

  “The rocket’s finished otherwise?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Debby had been working hard. Her tunic was off and her pale skin glistened with sweat. “Now, how do we make it work?”

  “Trade secret.”

  Debby regarded Booce angrily. “We built the treefeeding thing. You won’t tell us how to make it go?”

  “Classified, Debby.”

  “Will you tell us how to make it stop? In an emergency, if you and Carlot aren’t in reach, how do I stop it from just burning up?”

  “We’ll get an extra pod and fill it with water to pour on the pipefire—”

  “Very good! Now, suppose you and Carlot both fall off the tree and lose your wings and we’ve got to come after you. Suppose you left the rocket going. What do I want to do?”

  Booce found her persistence disturbing. “Use the CARM, I suppose—”

  “The CARM is gone.”

  “They’re only refueling it.”

  “It could be gone again!”

  “Then use your wings. Don’t try to use the rocket. That’s dangerous.”

  Debby glared and was silent. She was Booce’s height and almost Booce’s age, marked by a dangerous and exotic beauty. Pale-brown skin, pale straight hair, fiery blue eyes; a face all planes and angles, with a nose like an axe head. She was the type of woman who would remake a man, who would run his life for him. As Ryllin was. And Ryllin was far away…and ifBooce carried that thought further, Ryllin would know somehow, and Booce would regret it greatly. Booce looked at the sky to escape Debby’s eyes.

  He’d been watching the sky for days now. They were closing on the Clump. Matter would be thicker here, even this far in: more ponds, plant life, animals, predators, perhaps Navy craft or wandering happyfeet.

  West of out, almost behind the log’s remaining tuft, he found paired bright and dark dots: the pond and the CARM. No sign of pod plants. Would they have to cut wood from the out branch after all? Branchwood was better…but it was hard work, and the cabins would be crude.

  Debby was still fuming. “You know, arguing isn’t the thing I do best. But Clave is going to have this out of you, because it’s stupid not to tell us how to use the basic logger’s tool. Won’t the Admiralty expect us to know — ?”

  “No. You’re hired labor.”
>
  “Right. I forgot.”

  The days went fast this close to Voy: nine days between waking and waking. North and west, the reddish fringe of the Clump’s shadow was sliding rapidly down a tremendous wall of cloud. Storm and lightning inside, and ponds forming…The line of sunlight picked out a green dot, a drifting jungle emerging from the fringes of the storm.

  Carlot suddenly asked, “Debby, should we know how to use the CARM?”

  “Yes. Yes, we should know how to run the CARM! Treefeeding fools they are, Lawri and Jeffer both.”

  Booce was jolted. “Debby? You can’t fly the CARM?”

  “Nobody knows but the Scientists. Classified. Lawri I can understand. But Jeffer, he stole the thing himself, and now he acts just like her! Fifteen years, almost!”

  “Dad? She’s right. We should all of us know all of that, and we have to start somewhere.”

  Booce sighed. Crossyear child! Playing around with a dwarf tree dweller…but the women always won the arguments. “Debby, as far as any Admiralty citizen is concerned, you know nothing about how a rocket works. Understand?”

  “Yes, Logger Booce. Now, what is it you loggers have been concealing from us laborers?”

  “Go ahead, Carlot.”

  Carlot considered before she spoke. “All right. Just the way you taught me. Debby, you’ll have to imagine the sikenwire in a tube around the pipe. I stuff firebark inside and light it.”

  Debby nodded.

  “The coals are just along the middle of the pipe, not too close to the ends. I wait. I want the metal to get hot. It should glow red. Hotter than that, the nozzle starts to char. That’s bad. So I run water through the pipe. The metal stays dark red, and steam comes out the nozzle. You can’t see it where it comes out, but it can flay the flesh from your bones, so stay clear.”

  Her father smiled, nodding approval. He’d taught her well.

  “Now, how do I move the water into the pipe?”

  Debby mulled it. “No tide—”

  “How do I keep outsiders from watching me do it?”

  Debby brightened. She kicked herself to the fore end of the water tank. “I’m here, right? There’s a cabin, and I’m in it. And here’s the plug…”