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 . . .
"I do," Helm replied, and Nimisha frowned.
"Why not?" Jon asked. "They've already shown us more edible vegetables and burrowing creatures than we were able to find. They've had a more balanced diet than we managed."
"The terrain here is different," Nimisha said.
"Not that much," Jon said.
"It's not that I object to offering what the Fiver has," Nimisha began, not really sure how to present her real objection.
"I'd say it's more the time it'll take us to do installations, isn't it?" Jon said, glancing sideways at her, one eyebrow raised.
"You come right to the point, don't you?"
"I don't see why not," was his quick reply. He touched her arm lightly. "I do want to see what the other planets are like. Those orders remain whether or not we have the Poolbeg. In the light of what we now know, one of them might be Sh'im, and we can return them to their own civilisation. Or tell their planetary leaders where they are."
"They wanted to found a new colony. Basically, they have," she said, almost resenting how well he read her body language.
"If their ship had landed intact, they'd've had more essential tools and equipment, as well as bodies, to found an efficient colony."
"I don't see what prevents us from giving them stuff from the freighter," Casper said.
"Do we know they haven't found it?" Jon asked. "They indicated that they've done some considerable exploring."
"I think they would have mentioned it," Syrona said. "Though that would have been a long way for their shorter legs to go. Most of the open pods we saw had been damaged in the drop. We didn't see any intact ones that had been opened manually."
"Good point," Jon said. "More to cement good relations with them."
"We are being candid?" Nimisha asked.
"As they have had space drive, even if none of those now alive ever flew a ship, I feel we should be as honest as possible," Jon said. "I rather like them."
"I do, too," Nimisha began and then realised she had no reservations. Being open and forthright saved all the trouble of remembering what they should or should not say; or what useful technology they could give the Sh'im to improve on what they had already achieved. "Of course, we'd have to modify equipment for three-fingered hands."
Jon grinned, and if he could read her body language, she could read his. He was relieved that she was willing to be open.
"They will need tools that give them a different leverage than we'd need," Casper said thoughtfully. "Their body center of mass is at a different height above the ground, which requires a different lever length, and their smaller handspan means they would need smaller spans for tools."
"Look, Nimisha," Syrona said, "I know you're anxious to investigate the other planets, so why don't you and Jon go do that while Casper, Tim, and I stay here to help the Sh'im. Tim's had so much fun with the young Sh'im… and I'd really like to stay here." She glanced down at her hands, which were nervously pulling at the seams of her coverall.
Instantly Casper put a sympathetic arm about her shoulders. "Pregnant and all, I'd say that might be wiser, love." He looked up at Jon and Nimisha, not exactly pleading but obviously siding with his mate. "And for Tim's sake, too."
"I beg your pardon, Syrona," Jon said, executing an apologetic bow. "An excellent proposal, since priorities are pulling us in two directions. Two birds with one stone…"
"Where's a stone here big enough to get one of those murderous avians, much less two?" Syrona asked, giving a nervous little laugh. but she was clearly relieved by the reception of her suggestion.
"We'll stock the gig from Cater's supplies so Tim won't go without burgers," Nimisha said, chuckling.
"I think he's taking to what the Sh'im eat all the time." Syrona said with another laugh, not quite as nervous. "Those nutty morsels, not the hot stuff."
"So let's take a group of Sh'im in the Fiver to the freighter wreck, shall we?" Jon proposed. "See what they can use from the pods. The Fiver can bring back quite a bit. When there's enough here, we can go exploring."
He glanced at Nimisha with a look of approval for the versatility of the ship. She waved a hand, accepting the idea. An exploratory voyage with him would certainly allow her to get to know him better. She liked him, but with Syrona and Casper so intent on their making a partnership, she felt herself resisting. She had the notion that he was resisting the pairing as well, which both put her in charity with him and made her wonder why he didn't attempt to forward an interest. Maybe he resented being catapulted into an intimacy even though she knew she was feeling the strains of celibacy, possibly more than he was. Perverse of her, she knew.
Then more immediate concerns diverted her from such rumination.
Ool and Ook were surprised to see Helm's tape of the freighter and the pods. And delighted when they understood that these supplies would be available to them. Even their most adventurous scout parties had been unable to traverse the mountain range that lay between the two wrecks. Nimisha had had Helm make maps of Erehwon from space, a Mercator projection, a Goode's Homolo-sine, and a Lambert Azimuthal equal area for detailed views of smaller areas, plus modified cylindrical and conic projections for the hemispheres. Helm could also, on request, put up on any screen the 3-D spherical globe. She had him print up an Azimuthal for the area in which the freighter had come down, complete with topography.
The freighter had come down on the eastern edge of this continent, and to the south of the Sh'im, the formidable mountain range separating the two portions. Three very dark-furred Sh'im were fascinated by the maps, poring over them. They hooted loudly and with great appreciation when Helm screened the 3-D of Erehwon and they could watch it turning. Nimisha had him do the same for Vega III and old Earth. In their turn, they responded by unrolling carefully preserved star charts, printed on a flimsy material that Casper suggested was the Sh'im plastic analog. The colours were as bright as when they had first been printed; the designations of the various stars provided no clue to any of the humans or Helm as to their current galactic position. The Sh'im had colonised three different star systems, one quite far from the home world, which proved they had been space-faring for a significant period of time. None were apparently near Erehwon, so the Sh'im were probably just as lost and distant from their original star system as the humans were. Neither species took encouragement from that fact.
Ool and Ook quickly picked a group to go with the humans. Syrona chose to stay behind, as she was feeling oddly queasy. Doc ran a check on the foetus and found nothing untoward. For good measure, he administered a spray of broad multivitamin and trace minerals. He recommended some peace and quiet, with her feet up, and she was as glad to have the gig to herself while the others went on the Fiver. Tim was essential in any team working with the Sh'im.
"Good thing they're on the small side," Casper remarked as the furry bodies of the Sh'im took up most of the floor space in the main cabin of the spaceship.
"Warn them we're taking off," Jon told Tim, who was sitting with their guests.
"He hoots as to the manner born," Casper said with due pride as Tim relayed the message.
"Not that they'll feel much movement," Nimisha said at the controls. She and Jon had arrived at a tacit arrangement: They took turns piloting the Fiver. She felt that was only fair. Jon was not only acting captain of his own group, but also a very deft pilot. She could not object to his taking turns and it allowed her to watch someone else obviously enjoying the command of the Fiver. "Take her up in a vertical lift, Helm."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Any reason you didn't use Fleet usage?" Jon asked idly.
"This Fiver is a civilian ship," she said with a grin. "The Fleet will program its own Helms, if they decide to use AIs."