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

Rachel woke the next morning to Ursula sitting cross-legged outside her window. She slipped outside into the cool air, careful not to make any noise that would wake her father, and started toward the edge of town. Ursula followed silently, looking angry and exhausted. Rachel wondered if she had slept.
Rachel walked as long as she could stand the silence, until they stood at the edge of the tent city next to a row of palms. What was she supposed to say? "Ursula. I knew you wouldn't like it."
"How did that happen? He's a geek. He's just like Andrew."
"He's not like Andrew. Not anymore. I don't think he ever was."
"And why not tell me? How could you hide—"
"I'm sorry." Rachel stopped and looked Ursula in the eyes. She would not mumble a false apology, like Andrew. "I was wrong."
"So you won't see him anymore? You'll stop this?"
"I was wrong not to tell you."
"Are you going to stop?"
"I care about him."
"But—"
"I know he hangs out with Andrew. But he's not like him. There's a lot we talk about—he sees things like I do."
"And I don't?" Ursula's voice was still tight, protesting.
Rachel sat down and put her hands over her face. "Ursula, it's different with Harry. My belly goes soft when I'm with him."
"Yuck." Ursula stood above Rachel, looking down at her. I mean ... I mean ...
"You kept a secret. From me. And all the while I'm stuck here, miles away from you, and you're playing ... with him ... and not calling me, and I—"
"I said I'm sorry." It was hard to be patient. "I knew you wouldn't like it. How could I explain?"
"You've been here for three days."
"I know. But you wanted to talk about other things."
"I've just... Rachel, I've been so lonely here."
"Ursula, you're my best friend. I didn't set out to hurt your feelings. But I like it... I like him. It doesn't mean I don't care about you. I mean, who'd I spend two days with nonstop when I got here? look, don't argue. Let's go work in the grove and have a good day together."
"I don't... no ..." Ursula turned her back, but Rachel could still hear her. "I—give me a day."
"We're supposed to leave tomorrow night."
"So we'll meet for breakfast tomorrow."
"Okay," Rachel said softly, walking away, upset enough that it felt better to hike to the grove instead of flying. She carried her wings, working up a light sheen of sweat. It didn't help her feel better.
Rachel went to the field by the First Trees and sat cross-legged behind the dais that Gabriel and Ali sometimes taught from, looking toward the trees. What had she done?
Grass poked at her calves. This field was the only place Council encouraged grass to grow. There were butterflies and bees here, genetically regulated to control reproduction. Other strains would replace these as Council introduced a balance of predators, primarily birds and insects. Rachel tried to picture the world fuller, with more variety, more balance, like the balance that supported the water systems. It was hard to imagine so much chaos. A bright blue butterfly with yellow eyes on its wings landed in front of her, stayed for two heartbeats, and flew up and over the dais, away.
Rachel stood to watch it go, and noticed Gabriel standing silently in the middle of the field behind her. He wore loose blue pants tied at the ankles and no shirt. His arms were raised above his head, hands clasped high, palms close in together. His eyes were closed. He swayed, first to the right, then the left, each time reaching far out with his arms, stretching his sides so that he bent almost into a sideways "U" on each side. The tip of his long braid dragged on the grass. Then he stood tall again, reaching almost for the sky, and she could see his ribs pull up and his hips thrust forward before he dropped his head and bent back so his arms pointed behind him and he could look at the ground.
Gabriel opened his eyes. Rachel was sure that he saw her, but he chose to ignore her as he bent forward, pulling his head into his knees. His movements were slow and controlled. He stayed that way for six long breaths, and then came up, hands reaching for the sky again before he dropped them to his sides. He walked over silently, and climbed up onto the dais, sitting close to her.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Half Moon Pose."
"Huh?"
"It stretches your spine," he said.
"I bet it does. Can I try it someday?"
"Someday." He laughed. "You may need to know it by the time you're running planting teams. Being the boss gets crazy. Yoga helps some. When I concentrate completely on my body, my problems seem further away. There are days I need yoga just to stay down here, away from the ship, to stay focused. Besides, going back and forth between here and the ship is hard on the body—and yoga is the best way we've found to balance gravitational shifts, to keep strength up."
It was curious to hear Gabriel talk about himself so personally. "Is it that hard to be around us?"
"That's not what I meant. It's hard to be here. After all these years, I miss Earth and even though I've never seen Ymir, I miss that too. I miss the Ymir we would have made. I know they made it." He looked up into the First Trees. "And we failed—we got stuck here. You can't know what a shadow this is of both worlds." He shrugged. "Yoga helps. Making progress here helps too, I guess." He smiled at her. "But these are my problems."
"Gabriel," she hazarded, "what do you want from us?"
"Help. There's much to do here. There's more than Council can oversee, and I want you to lead the younger children in making Selene good enough for a lot of people to live here while we build the antimatter collector. I've told you that much already."
"I want to help."
"You're doing what you should do. You're learning." Gabriel climbed down off the dais. "You see the interrelationships we're building more than most people do. It might be time to get more of the background you need to really understand the job here. Want to walk for a bit and talk about the next steps?"
Was he finally going to tell her more about his plans? She followed him across the field. Already she was as tall as he was. Instead of going into the First Trees they walked along the edge, where they could see large expanses of new plantings. Rachel was quiet, waiting for Gabriel to speak. When he didn't, she said, "You're always testing us."
"We have to. It's a big job we're trying to prepare you for."
"And are we passing?"
"You are. And Harry. Nick and Alexandra and Gloria too."
"Ursula?" She almost had to jog to keep up with Gabriel, though he looked as if he were making no effort at all.
"Maybe. She seems less willing to do things on her own than you are."
"Ursula and I had a fight today," she offered, struggling to match his level of revelation. "That's what made it such a hard day."
"Over Harry?"
How did he know that? "Because I'm friends with Harry."