"Niven, Larry - Tales of Known Space 04.04 - Neutron Star (b)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

"The one outside is moving faster."
"Good point. So there is a force trying to pull the moon apart. Gravity holds it together. Bring the moon close enough to Earth, and those two rocks would simply 'float away."
"I see. Then this 'tide' tried to pull your ship apart. It was powerful enough in the lifesystem of the Institute ship to pull the acceleration chairs out of their mounts."
"And to crush a human being. Picture it. The ship's nose was just seven miles from the center of BVS-l. The tail was three hundred feet farther out. Left to themselves, they'd have gone in completely different orbits. My head and feet tried to do the same thing when I got close enough."
"I see. Are you molting?"
"What?"
"I notice you are losing your outer integument in spots."
"Oh, that. I got a bad sunburn from exposure to starlight. It's not important."
Two heads stared at each other for an eyeblink. A shrug? The puppeteer said, "We have deposited the residue of your pay with the Bank of We Made It. One Sigmund Ausfaller, human, has frozen the account until your taxes are computed."
"Figures."
"If you will talk to reporters now, explaining what happened to the Institute ship, we will pay you ten thousand stars. We will pay cash so that you may use it immediately. It is urgent. There have been rumors."
"Bring 'em in." As an afterthought I added, "I can also tell them that your world is moonless. That should be good for a footnote somewhere."
"I do not understand." But two long necks had drawn back, and the puppeteer was watching me like a pair of pythons.
"You'd know what a tide was if you had a moon. You couldn't avoid it."
"Would you be interested in-"
"A million stars? I'd be fascinated. I'll even sign a contract if it states what we're hiding. How do you like being blackmailed for a change?"