Jack L. Chalker Rings 2 Pirates Of The Thunder

Odnośniki

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Earth volcanoes,
they make great topsoil. Bum away selected areas of jungle to get fields
protected from the worst weather, and you could probably grow most anything
here. I-"
There was a sudden loud splash behind him and he whirled, pistol out of his
holster with amazing speed, his body automatically taking a defensive crouch.
Raven's reaction was a bit slower, but in the same style. The Crow frowned,
seeing nothing. "Something falling in? Or something leaping?"
"I don't know. They said the initial survey showed some large life forms in
the water. Lots of them, in big groups, all over the place. Maybe that was
just one of them. We'll have to find out what the hell's there before my boat
can sail."
Raven reached in his pack and took out a pair of simple binoculars, part of
the kit that he always carried. He holstered his weapon and looked through the
lenses, surveying the surface of the water.
"Black shapes in the water. Fairly good size," he told Nagy. "I can't see very
much of them and none of 'em are long enough to get much more than a blurry
shape, but there's sure some big suckers out there. I don't know. They kinda
look like the big otters we got along the Missouri and Mississippi, only even
bigger." He lifted the binoculars so he was looking only at the surface. The
closest island, about four kilometers distant, was now also in his sights.
Something suddenly nagged at him, and he took his eye off the water and looked
squarely at the island itself. "Nagy- I think you might want to take a look at
this. I think we better call it in, too."
"Huh? What?" Nagy, too, had holstered his weapon and now he took the
binoculars.
"That next island. To the right, there, maybe a couple of degrees, where the
beach looks thin. Right above it."
Arnold Nagy stared. Then, after a moment, he saw what the Crow was talking
about, and he felt a chill.
"That line of trees is in perfect rows," he muttered. "After centuries even if
they were planted that way they wouldn't still be there. They're planted, all
right, and maintained, but not by Master System."
"Freebooters?" Raven wondered.
He sighed. "Maybe, but I doubt it. Not their kind of layout. No ships, no fast
getaway. Shipwreck, maybe, but that would be stretching coincidence beyond any
reasonable bounds. Thousands of islands. Uh uh. Best bet is that the
freebooters have a real good reason for steering clear of here. Best bet is
there's places like that all over this planet. I think this was a much more
advanced prototype than we figured."
"You mean-it's inhabited?"
"Looks like. I wonder by whom?"
"Or what?" Raven replied.
Page 47
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
They reported to the ship.
"I'm not sure I like the look of this," Hawks commented. "Perhaps-perhaps we
ought to rethink this idea of a planetary camp for now. There is enough room
here."
"No," Star Eagle objected. "There is no such thing as the perfect world for
you except the one of your birth. This ship is not fit for long-term
habitation by a growing population, and while I intend extensive
modifications, these might take
a great deal of time and would necessitate everyone being off the ship. It is
also not good for the child to come. While near-weightlessness is fine when
the child is in the womb, it should not be born in this environment and not
know gravity from the start."
Hawks began to wonder if Star Eagle wasn't more concerned about China than
about their own needs, but he also knew he couldn't press the issue. In a very
real sense the pilot was a free agent, and because he alone controlled access
to the vast data banks and the interstellar drives, he had a vote that weighed
far heavier than theirs. Hawks had to wonder, though, about the relationship
between the small pregnant girl who might give birth in days or weeks and this
machine intelligence with whom she mentally mated. Did-could-Star Eagle feel
as humans felt? And, in this case, was he being protective-or running scared
by forcing her away? There was no way to tell.
Hawks sighed. "Very well, but the initial camp must be well inland, near the
transmitter. Whatever is down there is mostly of the sea, and it would be
unwise to be too close to their domain. Can some sort of security perimeter be
established around the camp? We are too few to have constant guards and would
be easily overwhelmed."
"It is possible. I believe Maintenance can manufacture something that will do,
but everyone should go armed at all times. If these are humans in any sense of
the word, contact must be established and a treaty made, if at all possible."
"If they are humans, they might not be inclined to talk treaty first," Hawks
responded. "We will not know their tribal ways until we press, or until they
come to us. If they are too territorial, it might mean a fight."
Reba Koll's voice crackled. "If we can't beat them, how the hell could we ever
take on Master System?"
Hawks sighed and wished he could get rid of the feeling that he was in the
role of the cavalry marching against the peoples of early America. He slapped
his thighs. "All right-we move!"
4. SETTLING SOME POLITICAL MATTERS
EXCEPT FOR THE HEAT AND THE HUMIDITY, IT FELT ALMOST most like home. Hawks sat
before the campfire and looked around in the gloom. The maintenance robots had
done the real heavy work, but all of the crew had a hand in what was wrought
here. Ironically, it was Cloud Dancer, Silent Woman, and the Chows who had the
proper design skills; the others were far too civilized and spoiled to know
just how to build this way out of the materials of the forest around
them-supplemented, of course, by the transmuter. Even so, the rest had all
been quite amused to discover that neither Clayben nor Nagy had ever seen a
pit toilet until now.
The transmuter was a valuable device, but it had its limits. It could turn out
real and useful things from programs sent by Star Eagle, but only if they were
no more than a meter or so square and no more than two meters high. Even the
maintenance robots had to be sent in pieces and partly reassembled by hand,
and this was where Clayben was invaluable. It had been fascinating to watch a
bunch of spindly wires and meaningless metal forms take shape to a point, be
activated, and then assemble the rest of themselves without additional aid.
So now, in a cleared area just off the rocks and reasonably far from the
water, they had several huts made from a bamboolike plant, with roofs of
Page 48
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
thatched strawlike growths from still other plants. The huts were quite
comfortable and relatively waterproof. With outdated carpentry tools provided [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

angamoss.xlx.pl