JК
Crashlander :: Нивен Ларри
Страница: 149 из 199By the time their traveling worlds reach the Clouds of Magellan, we'll have been there for thousands of years. After all, the Core explosion is coming for us, too.»
«We wondered if they didn't like the kzinti for neighbors,» Ander said. «Or humans. Or all of us together. Known space seems to be packed with sapient species. Maybe the rest of the universe isn't like that.»
«They could even be running from their own reputation, but they're not, Ander. They're going too slowly. They'd find all of us waiting, every species that uses hyperdrive, or else something tougher that ate us. And they're not going to where territory is cheap.»
«Cheap?»
«Well, they've got their own planets, but even Outsiders pay rent when they use somebody's sunlight. The Clouds will be packed with refugee species and locals, too. If … Ander, I can't see why they would want the Clouds of Magellan at all. They could find something closer. Something in the plane of the galaxy, for the shielding effect, maybe a spherical cluster. Did I mention I was out of the aliens business?»
He scowled. «Yeah, and settled down forever, except you weren't. What happened?»
I thought it through before I spoke. Here was my tale, and whatever Ander could check had better be the truth.
«We ran,» I said. «Bad mistake, but I still don't know what I could have done differently. Puppeteers don't come into it. Or … well, I got money from them years ago. I thought the ARM couldn't trace that.»
Of course the ARM had, and it wasn't much. But General Products had indemnified Elephant for his hull, and Elephant had given that to me when we were ready to flee Earth. They wouldn't trace that.
Ander said, «Beowulf, what if they've got a low-thrust drive big enough for a planet? The Outsiders could boost them up to speed. They'd use their own drive to turn and then stop over the next two hundred thousand years.»
I thought it over. «They wouldn't have to depend on anyone else, then. Yeah. Puppeteers wouldn't trust Outsiders for their species survival.»
«Do you think Outsiders trust puppeteers?»
Nobody knew very much about Outsiders. «Ander? There's a place where there's no Outsiders.»
«What are you thinking? Close to a sun?»
«Outsiders and starseeds. We only guess at the relationship, but the best guess is they'll try to rescue the starseeds. Stet?»
«Stet. Maybe they'll make for the Clouds of Magellan.»
«The shock wave will drive the starseeds ahead of it, wherever they're going. There won't be Outsiders near the Core.
«We wondered if they didn't like the kzinti for neighbors,» Ander said. «Or humans. Or all of us together. Known space seems to be packed with sapient species. Maybe the rest of the universe isn't like that.»
«They could even be running from their own reputation, but they're not, Ander. They're going too slowly. They'd find all of us waiting, every species that uses hyperdrive, or else something tougher that ate us. And they're not going to where territory is cheap.»
«Cheap?»
«Well, they've got their own planets, but even Outsiders pay rent when they use somebody's sunlight. The Clouds will be packed with refugee species and locals, too. If … Ander, I can't see why they would want the Clouds of Magellan at all. They could find something closer. Something in the plane of the galaxy, for the shielding effect, maybe a spherical cluster. Did I mention I was out of the aliens business?»
He scowled. «Yeah, and settled down forever, except you weren't. What happened?»
I thought it through before I spoke. Here was my tale, and whatever Ander could check had better be the truth.
«We ran,» I said. «Bad mistake, but I still don't know what I could have done differently. Puppeteers don't come into it. Or … well, I got money from them years ago. I thought the ARM couldn't trace that.»
Of course the ARM had, and it wasn't much. But General Products had indemnified Elephant for his hull, and Elephant had given that to me when we were ready to flee Earth. They wouldn't trace that.
Ander said, «Beowulf, what if they've got a low-thrust drive big enough for a planet? The Outsiders could boost them up to speed. They'd use their own drive to turn and then stop over the next two hundred thousand years.»
I thought it over. «They wouldn't have to depend on anyone else, then. Yeah. Puppeteers wouldn't trust Outsiders for their species survival.»
«Do you think Outsiders trust puppeteers?»
Nobody knew very much about Outsiders. «Ander? There's a place where there's no Outsiders.»
«What are you thinking? Close to a sun?»
«Outsiders and starseeds. We only guess at the relationship, but the best guess is they'll try to rescue the starseeds. Stet?»
«Stet. Maybe they'll make for the Clouds of Magellan.»
«The shock wave will drive the starseeds ahead of it, wherever they're going. There won't be Outsiders near the Core.