Nimisha's Ship
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Nimisha's Ship». Краткое содержание книги:
When Nimisha takes an experimental ship on a solo test flight, something goes horribly awry, marooning her light-years from home on a planet as deadly as it is beautiful. Now the ruthless members of a rival branch of the Rondymense family are given the chance they've been waiting for: to reclaim the Ship Yards by any means necessary.
Only Nimisha's ingenious child, Cuiva, stands in their way. But for how long? For just when her daughter needs her most, Nimisha is in a precarious situation herself--and unable to help. But Nimisha has never given up in her life--and she's not about to start now . . .
"Your what for what?" Jon asked, startled.
"I've a friend… oh, do stay still, dear… who collects archaic words and phrases. That's one of them. He's also got some marvelous… 'Ods blood!" she exclaimed, as their burden writhed violently. "Like that-expressions from bygone days."
"'Od's blood?" Jon repeated.
"He didn't know what it means. Ah. here we are and not above time… another phrase Pheltim collected."
The two now had their captive inside the Fiver and Nimisha palmed the hatch shut.
"Bring the other one in here, too," Doc called. "They'll both fit in the unit. Once I've figured out what I can use to sedate them."
Casper's alien, lying in the medic unit, was still unconscious. Seeing the disposition of its colleague, the one Nimisha and Jon were holding made frantic efforts to escape.
"Oh, it's my size!" Timmy cried. He had been eating-a burger, to judge by the bun still clutched in his hand as he moved to get a closer look at the creature. "Are you hungry?" he asked solicitously, his face on a level with the alien's as he graciously broke off a bit and held it out.
The creature, whose optics seemed to be placed in a narrow band across the front of its "face," ceased struggling for a long minute. What Nimisha now took to be some sort of air intake had slitted open and was fluttering rapidly.
Encouraged, Tirnmy held the piece closer. A wild sniff, and the alien redoubled its effort to free itself.
"I've got enough from this one to be able to choose sedation. Put yours in before it damages itself struggling like that," Doc said. "Oxygen breathers."
"It might be vegetarian, Tim," Nimisha said, "but that was thoughtful of you."
Nimisha and Jon deposited the creature beside its fellow and Doc closed the canopy, which then misted with gas. The little alien used its small fists on the plastic, but its efforts diminished as the sedative took effect and it collapsed in a heap.
"Not the best way to make friends, I might add." Doc remarked.
"They weren't of a mind to be friendly," Nimisha said.
"You can look at the darts," Jon said, putting the two in a specimen drawer in the medical unit.
"There was an army of them about to overwhelm us."
"Yes, we saw," Syrona said. "Tim was a bit concerned for you. Even if they are closer to his size than yours."
"There were a lot of them," the boy said, eyes wide, and looked at the bite he had offered the alien. Then he popped it in his mouth. "I'm glad I'm not veggit."
"Let us know when you've found anything interesting, Doc," Nimisha said. Then, ruffling Tim's hair, she added, "That burger smells good. Think I'll have one. All that exercise gave me quite an appetite."
Jon and Casper followed her to Cater's dispenser and gave their orders, as well.
"Red blood," Doc said just as Jon was about to bite into his rare burger.
Nimisha smothered a laugh at Jon's expression. Almost defiantly, he closed his teeth on the bun. She leaned closer to him. "It isn't real meat anyway, even if that's the way it masquerades and tastes. It's got much more protein than mere flesh would have."
"We should have reassured the alien on that score," Jon said, flicking one eyebrow up rakishly.
"If these are the descendants of those in that bird ship," Syrona began, "they've done very well to survive on this hostile planet, the size they are." With that the others heartily concurred. "I heard their hoots and asked Helm to see if the translator could make something of them."
"Purely noise, to frighten an enemy and express aggression," Helm said. "Their vocal equipment goes off the scale into higher frequencies, so you didn't get the full effect."
"We tried shouting at the slugs and the bison-types. Had absolutely no effect on them," Casper said, sounding droll. "Neither did our weapons," Jon added, equally droll. "My, my," Doc said in surprise. "Well, the PanSpermia clique will be glad to know that they may have had it right all along." "What are you talking about, Doc?" Nimisha asked.
"Surely you remember the two camps of thought about what aliens will look like when, and or if, we ever met any?" Doc asked.
"I do," Jon said, looking at Casper, who nodded.
Doc went on, obviously enjoying a lecturing mode. "Biologists have always been divided on the subject of whether or not we will ever find humanoid bipedal life-forms such as ourselves. As we know, it took astrographers long enough to admit that there just could be far more M-type planets with a proper atmospheric mix and carbon-based than earlier stargazers suspected. However, on the subject of what life-forms could emerge from the same sort of primordial stew, biologists remain in violent disagreement. One group insists that the percentage against encountering humanoids like yourselves is too high. The sentient, or perhaps I should say, sapient life-forms on other planets will be very alien. The aerial monsters that attacked your settlement, Captain Svangel, might be considered sentient, since they purposefully kept attacking you. But sapience indicates wisdom. And the avians showed little of that. However, back to the point, one group of biologists insisted that humanoid life-forms couldn't happen.
"The other, equally vocal and determined group, the Pan-Spermians, who postulated that once Life originates anywhere, that accident or design could cause that basic pattern to spread out through a galaxy. An excellent example of this is the evidence of life found in a meteorite that originated on Mars. And later confirmed in the initial Mars probes and landings."
Jon grinned at Nimisha, who smiled, remembering history lessons of humankind's earliest explorations of its own solar system before the First Diaspora.
"Am I boring you?" Doc asked.
"No, no, please continue, Doc," Nimisha said courteously.
The Doc cleared its throat in a very human fashion. "Many eminent biologists were willing to recognize that a hardy life-form, like some bacteria, might be able to survive such a journey through space-"
"Arrhenius' theory," Nimisha interrupted, cocking her finger at Jon, who grinned.
Doc went on as if there had been no interruption. "… Lasting decades, hundreds or thousands of years, and thus plant the seeds for biologically compatible life on another similarly hospitable world. If they check out, that theory is validated."
"Oh." Nimisha smirked with anticipation.
"The very fact that the stunner disabled them," Doc continued, "indicates that they have a central nervous system that can be stunned. They also have a haemoglobin blood similar to ours." Then he chuckled. "I have been busy during my peroration," he added. "Let's add to a nervous system an amazing circulatory arrangement and a heart-type pump and the bellows they use for lungs. Neatly packaged between their shoulder blades. Which adds more proof of being a humanoid type. Ah, one difference! They can withdraw their genitals into their bodies for safekeeping. A wise precaution, but there may be more than two sexes. I'd need to check other specimens. One does have a prod withdrawn in its body, but it also has an egg sac. A blood filter, a waste compartment for liquid and solids. There are some odd fissures in the hind end that probably open for evacuation. Muscle tissue, strong skeletal frame, articulated joints, but we saw them at work, didn't we? Definitely humanoid. I'm just getting to the brain but… hmmm." Doc broke off. "That's odd…"
"What?"
"Different structure, though I can discern divisions that might be comparable to human lobes. Very dense brain matter. Just how high on the scale their intelligence is will have to be estimated by their reaction to other stimuli. I'm willing to call them not only sentient but sapient."
"Aggressive, too," Casper remarked, "so they have a territorial imperative. However, except for their size, we haven't established if these little folk are the descendants of those on that ship."