The Man-Kzin Wars 03 mw-3

by Larry Niven

  The blue eyes blinked. “What?” Now and then an English idiom eluded her.

  “Never mind. For the moment. Uh, you are quite sweet, helping out like this. You aren't obliged to, you know, our paying passenger.”

  “What should I do, sit yawning at a screen? I wish I could find more to keep me busy.”

  “I'd be delighted to see to that, after hours,” he proposed.

  She colored slightly, but her tone stayed calm and her smile amicable. “I suspect Pilot Fenger would complain. It could be safer to offend a keg of detonite.”

  “You've noticed, have you?” he replied, unembarrassed. “I guess in your line of work you develop a Sherlock Holmes kind of talent. Well, yes, Carita and I do have a thing going. Have had for years. But it's just friendly, no pledges, no claims. She's not possessive or jealous or anything.” He edged closer. “This evening watch after dinner? Your cabin or mine, whichever you prefer. I'll bring a bottle of pineapple wine, which I's'pose you've never had. Good stuff, dry, trust me. We'll talk and get better acquainted. I'd love to hear about your travels.”

  “No, thank you,” she said, still good-humored. “Entanglements, innocent or not, on an expedition like this, they are unwise, don't you agree? And I have… private things to think about when I am by myself.” She clapped him on the shoulder. “Tomorrow, besides the galley, can I assist in other of your duties?”

  Since his hopes had not been especially high, they were not dashed. He beamed “'Auwe no ho'i e!”—By all manner of means.

  Tyra left him and went down a corridor. The ship throbbed around her, an underlying susurrus of ventilators, mechanisms, power. Dorcas came the opposite way. They halted. “How do you do,” the mate greeted. Her expression was reserved.

  “Hallo,” Tyra responded. “Are you in a hurry?” Dorcas unbent to the extent of a lopsided grin. “In space we have time to burn, or else bare microseconds. What can I do for you?”

  “You were so busy earlier, you and Robert, there was no opportunity to ask. A minute here, please. I want to be useful aboard. Kam lets me help him, but that takes two or three hours a daycycle at most. Can I do anything else?”

  Dorcas frowned. “I can't think of anything. Most of our work is highly skilled.”

  “I could maybe learn a little, if somebody will teach me. I do have some space experience.”

  “That will be up to the somebody, subject to the captain's okay. We have an ample supply of books, music, shows, games.”

  “I brought my own. Finally, I thought, I shall read War and Peace. But—well, thank you. Don't worry, I will be all right.”

  “Feel free. But do not interfere.” Dorcas stared un-blinkingly into Tyra's gaze. “You understand, I'm sure.”

  “Of course. I will try to annoy nobody. Thank you.” They parted. Those on mass detector watch didn't count, unless something registered in the globe. Then anyone else got out of the chamber fast. Tyra found Carita seated there, smoking a cigar—the air was blue and acrid—while she played go with the computer. “Well, hi!” the Jinxian cried. Teeth flashed startling white in her midnight visage. “On free orbit, are you? C'mon in.”

  “I thought you might care to talk,” said the Wunderlander, shyer than erstwhile. “But it is not needful.”

  “Oh, Lord, for me it's a breath of fresh beer. Dullest chore in the galaxy, this side of listening to an Ecotheist preacher. And the damn machine always beats me. Hey, don't look near that unshuttered port. We'd have to screw your eyeballs back in and hang your brain out to dry.”

  “I know about hyperspace.” Tyra flowed into the second chair.

  “Yes, you have knocked around a fair amount, haven't you?”

  “Part of my work.”

  “I globbed a disc of yours before we left. Put it through the translator and read it yesterday. In English, Astrid's Purple Submarine.”

  “That is for children.”

  “What of it? Fun. When I got to the part where the teddy bear has to sit on the safety valve of the steam telephone, I laughed my molars loose. I'll keep the book for whatever kids I may eventually have.”

  “Thank you.” A silence fell.

  Carita blew a smoke ring and said softly, “You're a cheerful one, aren't you? That takes grit, in a situation like yours. Because you've never put aside what happened to your parents, have you? I imagine you always dreamed of going out on your father's trail.”

  Tyra shrugged. “The tragedy is in the past. Whatever comes of it is in the future. Meanwhile, he would be the last person who wanted me to mope.”

  “And you've more life in you than most. Yank me down if I pry, but I can't help wondering why you've never married.”

  “Oh, I did. Twice.” Carita waited.

  Tyra glanced past her. “I may as well tell you. We shall be shipmates for a time that may grow long and a little dangerous. I married first soon after the liberation. It was a mistake. He was born in space, he had spent his life as a Resistance fighter. I was young and, and impulsive and worshipped him for a hero.” She sighed. “He was, is not a bad man. But he was very much use to violence and to being obeyed.”

  “Yeah, you wouldn't take kindly to that.”

  “No. My second husband was several years later. An engineer, who had traveled and done great things in space before he settled on Wunderland. A good man, he, strong, gentle. But I found—we discovered together, time by time, that he no longer cared to explore things. He was content with what he had, with his routines. I grew restless until—there was someone else. That ended, but by then it had broken the marriage.” Tyra sighed. “Poor Jonas. He deserved better. But he was not too sad. I was his third wife. He is now happy with his fourth.”

  “So you've had other fellows in between and afterward.”

  “Well, yes.” Tyra flushed. “Not many. I do not hunt them.”

  “No, no, I never said you do. Besides, I'd look silly perched on a moralistic fence. Still,” Carita murmured, “older men generally, eh?”

  “Do you care for puppies?” Tyra snapped.

  “I'm sorry. I mean well, but Kam says that for me 'tact' is a four-letter word. 'Fraid he's right. Uh, you here after anything in particular, or just to chat? You're welcome either way.”

  Tyra relaxed somewhat. “Both. I would like to know you folk better.” Carita grinned. “To put us in a book?”

  Tyra smiled back. “If you permit. This journey will become big news when we return. I think I can tell it in such a way that your privacy is protected but it gives you publicity that will help your business.”

  “Which could sure use help. Don't feel guilty about any risks. You're paying, and we went in with our eyes wide open, radiating the light of pure greed.” Carita paused. “Yes, I guess you are the right writer for us.”

  “I want more to know you as, as human beings.”

  “And we to know you. Okay. We've got a couple weeks ahead of us before the trip gets interesting, except for whatever we can stir up amongst ourselves. What else is on your agenda today?”

  “I would rather have a part in this ship than be idle and passive. You know I help Kam. M-m, do you mind?”

  “Finagle, no!” Carita chortled. “Why should I? No claims. I warn you, he'll try to get you in his bunk. Or is that a warning? He's pretty good.”

  “Thank you, but I shall… respect your territory.” Tyra hastened onward. “The thought came to me, another thing I might help with. This watch you are keeping. It demands very little, no?”

  “If only it did demand. Hours and hours of nothing. And till we replace Juan Yoshii, the spells are longer than ever.” Carita's cigar jabbed air. “You're volunteering? I wish you could. Unfortunately, it's not quite as easy as it appears.”

  “I know. I did research for a script, a while ago, and remember. In the unlikely event that the detector registers a significant mass, the person must know exactly what to do, and do it at once. But the list of actions that may be required is short and rather simple. Give me instructions and som
e simulator practice, and I believe I could pass any test.” Tyra smiled again. “I would want you should be satisfied first I can handle the job. This ship carries something precious, namely me.”

  Thick hand tugged heavy chin. “It tempts, it tempts… But no. I learned how. That doesn't mean I'm qualified to teach how. Same for Kam. You see, the academies require that an instructor have experience of command. They're right. This is a psionic dingus. The trainee needs close exposure to a personality who knows how everything aboard a ship bleshes together.” Carita brightened. “Ask Bob or Dorcas. Either of them could. And hoo-ha, do I want them to!”

  “Thank you, I will.” Tyra's voice vibrated.

  “Fine. But let's get sociable, okay? For me right now, that's a big service. Care for a seegar? I thought not. Well, here's a box of Kam's excellent cookies.”

  Reminiscences wandered. Inevitably they led to the present enterprise, the wish that drove it. By then the women felt enough at ease that Carita could murmur, “Every girl's first sweetheart is her daddy, but you were only eight when you lost yours. And nevertheless— He must have been one hell of a man.”

  “He was,” Tyra answered as low. “I dare to hope he is.”

  A while later, she left. Bound for the cubicle known as her stateroom, this time she encountered Saxtorph. He waved expansively at her. She stopped. He did too. “Anything you want, Tyra?” he inquired.

  She met his look. “Robert, will you teach me to stand mass detector watch?”

  Chapter X

  From a hundred-kilometer distance, Rover sent her robot prospector around the thing she had tracked down. The little machine circled close, taking readings, storing data. When behind the sphere, it steered itself, with sufficient judgment to stay well clear of the radiation streaming forth from one site there. Otherwise Saxtorph kept in radio rapport, his computer helping him devise the orders he issued. From time to time the prospector transmitted, downloading what it had gathered. At length Saxtorph had it land on the surface. Capable of hundred-gravity acceleration, the robot could also make feather-soft contact. Presently he ventured to have it apply its dynamic analyzer, attempting sonic, electronic, and radiation soundings plus measurements of several different moduli.

  Mostly it drew blank. This material was nothing like the asteroids and moons that it was meant to study. A few experiments yielded values, but with ridiculously large probable errors. Nor was the robot well suited for a tour of inspection. Saxtorph recalled it to his ship.

  “At any rate, the side away from the firebeam should be safe for people,” he said. “Okay, I'm on my way.”

  “'Should be' isn't quite the same as 'is',” Ryan objected.

  The captain ignored him. “I could use a partner.” He glanced at Carita. She nodded avidly.

  After some unavoidable argument and essential preparations, they left. Saxtorph deemed that taking the boat, a comparatively large and ungainly object, was hazardous. They flitted in spacesuits.

  The nearer they drew to the objective, the more the mystery deepened for them. Its horizon arcing across nearly half their sky, the starlit surface became a pitted bare plain on which crouched outlandish bulks, soared skeletal spires, sprawled shadowy labyrinths. Soon Rover seemed as remote as Earth. Breath sounded harsh in helmets, pulsebeats loud in motors, pumps, and bloodstreams.

  The man pressed the control for a radar reading. Numbers appeared. He made his command carefully prosaic: “Brake, hold position, and wait for further instructions. I'm going down.”

  “I still say I should,” Carita answered. “We can't spare you.”

  “Sure you can, while you've got Dorcas.” That was why his wife stayed behind, though he'd had to pull rank to make her do it.

  “Your vectors are correct for landing,” she informed him from her post aboard. The ship tracked the flyers with a precision they themselves could not match. Probably he alone heard the tremor in her voice.

  It filled Tyra's: “Be careful, Robert, oh, be careful!”

  “Quiet,” Dorcas snapped. She hadn't wanted the Wunderlander in the circuit. Ryan wasn't; he kept lookout at the main observation panel. But Tyra had appealed to Saxtorph. Not sniveling or anything; a simple request. When she wanted to, though, she could charm the stripes off a skunk.

  “I'm sorry,” she said.

  The captain set his thrusters and boosted. Acceleration tugged briefly. As he turned and slowed, giddiness whirled through him. He was used to it, his reflexes compensated, it passed. His bootsoles touched solidity and he stood on the thing.

  Rather, he floated. A few tens of millions of tons, concentrated some eight kilometers below him, exerted no gravity worth mentioning. He directed thruster force upward and increased it until he was pressed down hard enough that he could stand or walk low-gee fashion. This adjustment he made most slowly and cautiously, a fraction at a time. Untold ages had eroded the hollow shell, wearing away its strength until a rock traveling at mere KPS could drive a hole through. Of course, that might mean resistance equal to ordinary armor plate, but it might be considerably less, if not everywhere then at certain points; and he could have happened to land at one of those points.

  Otherwise the stuff kept unbelievable properties. Measurements taken on the escaping radiation showed what an inferno raged inside. Yet on this opposite hemisphere, a glance at instruments on his vambrace confirmed the findings made by the robot. Nothing was coming off but infrared at a temperature hardly above ambient.

  Saxtorph realized he had been holding his breath. He let it out in a gust. His ribs ached, his sweat stank. Why had he undertaken the flit, anyway?

  Well, it was irresistible. Nobody felt able to leave without exploring just a little bit more. And after all, you never knew; a search could turn up a clue to Peter Nordbo's fate.

  Saxtorph made for a surrealistic jumble of pipes, reticulations, and clustered globules. Dust, millimeters thick, scuffed up in ghost-wisps wherever his boots struck. After several leaps, he halted. “Okay, Carita, come join the fun. Don't land, remember. Stay a few meters above and behind me, on the alert.”

  “You're afraid maybe I'll take a nap?” the crewman gibed. Edged with their luminance, her spacesuit arrowed across the stars.

  I suppose we shouldn't crack jokes in the presence of something ancient and inscrutable, Saxtorph thought. We should be duly awed, reverent, and exalted. To hell with that. We've got a job to do. I hope Tyra will understand, when she writes this up.

  Of course she will. She's our own sort. If her whole life didn't prove it already, the past couple of weeks sure did.

  Saxtorph neared the complex. At hover, Carita directed a search beam as he desired, supplementing his flash. Undiffused, the brightness flowed like water over a substance that was not rock nor metal nor anything the humans knew. They both operated cameras as well as instruments, while their suits transmitted to the ship. Saxtorph's eyes strained.

  “I think the microcraters everywhere were formed in the last hundred million years, plus or minus x,” he said. “Otherwise we'd see much more overlap.”

  “You're supposing the construction is older than that, then,” Carita deduced.

  “It certainly is,” Dorcas told them from the ship. “The computer just finished evaluating our data on the dust. Isotope ratios prove it's been collecting for a minimum of two billion years, likely more.” After a moment: “Incidentally, that suggests cosmic radiation isn't what weakened the shell to the point where impacts started leaving pockmarks and at last a big one broke through. The radiation inside must be mainly responsible. But if it hasn't done more damage, well, the thing was built to last.”

  “Besides,” Saxtorph said, “if I've got any feeling for machinery, this bears every earmark of tnuctipun work.”

  “How can you tell?” Carita asked. Her words sounded thin. Ordinarily she would have kept silence, except for business and an occasional wisecrack, but the weirdness had shaken her a bit, roused a need to talk. Saxtorph sympathized. “What do we know
about the Slaver era? What little the bandersnatchi remember, or believe they do, and what got learned from the thrint that came out of stasis for a short while, before they got it bottled again.”

  “That includes a smidgen of technical information, and a lot of thinking has been done about it ever since,” he reminded her. “I've studied the subject some. It interests me. Come on.”

  He bounded ahead to the next aggregation and examined it as best he cursorily could.

  And the next and the next and the next. Time ceased to exist. He drank from his water tube, stuffed rations through his chowlock, excreted into his disposer, without noticing. He had become pure search. Sturdily, Carita followed. She made no attempt to call halt, nor did anyone aboard ship. The quest had seized them all.

  Monkey curiosity, Saxtorph thought once, fleetingly. The kzinti would sneer. But they'd examine this too, in detail, till they used up every possibility of discovery that was in their equipment and their brains. Because to them it'd spell power.

  The knowledge was chill: It is a terrible weapon.

  “I suspect it's one of a kind,” he said. “Humans and their acquaintances haven't found any mini-black holes yet, and that hasn't been for lack of looking. They're bound to be uncommon.”

  “Yes,” Dorcas agreed. “The tnuctipun doubtless came on this one by chance. I'd guess that was after they'd rebelled. They saw how to use it against the Slavers. Otherwise, if they'd built the machine around it earlier, the Slavers would have been in possession, and might have quelled the uprising early on. They might be alive today.”

  Carita shuddered audibly. “A black hole—”

  It could only be that. Mass, dimensions, radiation spectrum, everything fitted astrophysical theory. Peter Nordbo had recorded the idea in his notes, but he couldn't reconcile it with the sudden apparition in the heavens. The tumbling shell and the meteoroid gap accounted for that. Perhaps while they were here the kzinti, under his guidance, had found indirect ways to study the interior, the eerie effects of so mighty a gravitation on space-time. But Rover's crew already had ample data to be confident of what it was they confronted.