"Larry Niven - Building Harlequin's Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

got up to get a rake.

"Nice job." Gabriel's voice behind her sounded flat, far away, even if the words approved.

Rachel turned around and looked back at him. Gabriel stood an inch taller than Rachel, but wider and
stronger, carefully dressed in brown pants that tied at the ankles, high boots, and a tight-fitting shirt that
showed muscles. He looked serious, like he'd gotten lost in his head. She wrinkled her nose at him and
smiled. He didn't smile back. He looked outward, higher than the horizon, fingering the bright metal and
bead sculptures twisted into the long red-brown braid of his hair.

Rachel ran her fingers through her own short red hair, wondering if such a long braid was heavy. And
what was he looking at?

Diamond patterns in a thousand shades of white and red: a gibbous world, huge and fully risen, brilliant
across more than half its arc, sullen red where the sunlight didn't fall. Harlequin. A broad straight band ran
blazing white across its face, and disappeared where Harlequin's shadow fell across it. A ring, Gabriel
called it, but nothing ever showed but that thick white slash.

What fascinated Gabriel about Harlequin and its ring? It was a feature of the sky, changeable, but not of
great interest. Tiny fiery-looking storms on Harlequin might affect weather on Selene, Gabriel had said
once, but (he admitted) not by much.

A mystery. Council was always a mystery. Rachel knew Gabriel would wait there until she finished.
Another mystery-Council always knew where they were-they could see everything on Selene. So he
didn't have to stay. Maybe I shouldn't rake since I'm last, she thought. But the test is tomorrow!

She watered and raked anyway, perversely determined to spend time with each tree as she finished for
the evening. Perfect, it might please Gabriel. (He still hadn't moved.)

She put the rake away and stood as near Gabriel as she dared, and looked up too. Harlequin rose as
Apollo rode low in the sky and then disappeared. Softer illumination replaced the red-gold sunlight,
tinged by the oranges and reds of the gas giant. The planet covered a huge portion of the sky. Rachel
could cover Apollo, the distant sun, with the width of her thumb held half an arm's length in front of her.
Harlequin took both palms to blot from view.

The gas giant made its own dim red light, shed by the intense heat in its constantly churning surface.
Apollo's reflection brightened Harlequin's inner light, and the combined glow bathed Selene's summer,
making the night barely dusky.

Selene's orbit around Harlequin defined seasons based on the amount of light available. "Summer" was
the seven weeks when Selene orbited closest to Apollo, "winter" the seven weeks they were farthest
away, and fall and spring filled in the time between. Summer hid most of the stars in its steady light. In full
winter, night fell black enough to detail the galaxy spread around them.

Rachel watched her two shadows merge as Apollo set fully, and then put the tools away and strapped
arm and leg sets on. She waved at Gabriel, and said "Good night" out loud, alert for a response from
Gabriel. None came.

A few hundred yards from the edge of Teaching Grove, she pushed hard on the balls of her feet, straining
upward with every step, taking ten-foot strides along the flat path back to Aldrin. She gained speed and