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

Rachel's speculation was interrupted as a slender woman nearly Rachel's height sat down opposite her. She was formally dressed, white pants and a white shirt, with long straight black hair and flat-oval brown eyes. Her clothes had no decorations at all. Her stare made Rachel feel as if she had done something wrong. Instinctively, Rachel looked for Kyu Ho. She was still involved in an animated conversation with the tall man, her back to Rachel.
"So ... a child appears," the woman said.
"Excuse me?"
"A Child of Selene. Now we'll see what we made."
Rachel didn't like the woman's tone. She reached a hand out. "I'm Rachel."
"High Councilwoman Ma Liren." The woman did not take her hand. "I've been looking forward to the opportunity to study you."
Another High Council member? "Everyone seems to study me."
"Hasn't anyone told you anything? You are the ambassador for the Children of Selene." Her eyes narrowed. "My job will be to evaluate you—to see if you can, in fact, help us. So I'll be watching you. Be sure you mind what you're told."
Something about Ma Liren made Rachel's skin crawl. How to respond? "I will. I work hard." Did Council always test? Kyu Ho hadn't been so direct.
"I've seen that. But what are you made of? How much do you understand of why you were born?"
Rachel's tongue knotted around her words. "Well, first, I like Selene. What I want to do is plant. I love working—"
Rachel felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned her head to find Kyu Ho standing stiffly behind her.
"Hello, Liren," Kyu said. "There will be time for interviews later on. This is only Rachel's first day, and we agreed I would orient her for her first week."
"Well, see that she learns well." Ma Liren stood up and walked away.
"She's always like that," Kyu said. "I think that's enough new sights for one morning. Let's get you back to your room."
Rachel followed Kyu back through the garden, struggling to see enough to get her bearings. She did remember the symbol that marked her floor. The door to her room was a welcome sight.
Kyu looked up at her. "You did well. Your med readings are still stable, but your fatigue toxins are showing high. Rest. Don't wander around. I'll be back to take you to Medical in a few hours. We'll work on your adjustment to Earth gravity."
The door shut behind the Councilwoman. Rachel's legs ached from the unfamiliar and shifty gravity, and her back and shoulders felt as though strings of knots were sitting in them, throbbing. She made it to the bed, closed her eyes, and began reviewing the wonders of the garden. It seemed magical that there were so many plants. The huge tree—Yggdrasil—surely trees on Selene wouldn't get that big?
It seemed she had been gone from the room for a week, but when she checked it had only been two hours. She had to fight sleep to open her wrist pad and begin recording the experience for Harry.




Chapter 15: Skating


Gabriel sat and stretched on the small spot of lawn, a few feet away from Kyu, who was all purples and yellows today, like a tiny oriental butterfly. The garden surrounded them, hundreds of shades of green and blue and brown dotted with yellow and white and purple flowers. Tenders and floating lamps flitted overhead, and the occasional crew member. A particularly colorful set of wings went by, and Gabriel tapped Kyu's shoulder and pointed. Kyu looked up and laughed.
"How is Rachel doing?" he asked. "Has a week on the ship worn her out?"
"She's learning fast—seems to like to work. I plan to give her some data rights."
"Why?"
"So far she's been given exactly what she needs to know on Selene, and nothing more. She's not developing the ability to really think."
"You've been talking to Ali." Gabriel picked up a skate and tucked his foot inside. The top of his foot tingled as the boot conformed around it, fitting snuggly.
"She's right, you know."
Gabriel put on his other boot. "What access do you want Rachel to have?"
"What do you think?" Kyu challenged him, standing up, flexing her legs, squatting and standing, preparing to start down the spiral path. They were wearing inline skates of a fairly simple design, with three big wheels on a long axle, smart shock absorbers, brakes on a belt control.
"What will High Council think?" Gabriel fastened light goggles over his eyes, protection from the air scrubbers.
"I'm High Council."
One of five, three warm.
She must have known what he was thinking. "I'm not going to ask permission for everything I do to help prepare Rachel. We need functioning leadership down there that isn't us." She pushed off with her right foot, glided on her left, a slow graceful movement here by the aft entrance.
Gabriel followed. Liren was going to hate this. He wasn't sure he didn't hate this, although he trusted Kyu. As far as he was concerned, Liren was paranoid to the point of disaffection. But the Children did need information, and maybe that included the skill to dig it out for themselves.
"Are you going to tell anyone you're giving Rachel rights?"
"Only if they ask."
The main path spiraled from the garden's pole down to the river, across a bridge, and back up to the pole at the forward end. Other paths branched off.
The skates jarred against the pebbled surface. In low gravity, and significant coriolis force, Kyu bounced high, her torso twisting and her arms windmilling to maintain orientation before she touched down. Her hair flew out behind her, light here in the low gravity.
Gabriel finally caught up enough to talk to her. "So, do you want to give all of the Children more data rights?"
"Even I'm not that brave. We don't want to turn them into us! But at least all the teachers need enough information to think with. Unless you want to be the only teacher?"
"I don't have time for that." Wind from their increased speed dragged lightly across Gabriel's face. "You could come to Selene and help."
Kyu ignored his last comment. "Rachel is an experiment. If we don't like how she reacts, we'll try something else with someone else."
"If they know too much, they'll realize exactly what we're doing to them."
"That would be the responsible choice."