Read Online Convergent Series by Charles Sheffield - Free Book Online
Authors: Charles Sheffield
Tags: Science-Fiction
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casual manner. "Weighs mebbe half a ton, eats all the time. But only ferns an' grasses an' stuff. You could ride on his back and he'd never notice you."
"A native form?"
"Naw." The short lesson on aircar use was over, but he was in no hurry to leave. "No vertebrates native to Opal. Biggest thing ashore is a kind o' four-legged crab."
"Is there anything dangerous out in the ocean?"
"Not to you 'n' me. Least, not dangerous by design. When you get a ways offshore, watch for a big, green hump coming up to the surface, 'bout a kilometer across. That'll be a Dowser. It'll damage boats now an' agin, but only 'cause it don't know they're there."
"Suppose one came up underneath a Sling?"
"Now why'd she be dumb enough to do that?" His voice was teasing. "She come up for air and sunlight, an' there's none of them under a Sling. Go find yourself a Dowser—seein' one's a real experience. They come up a lot at this time of year. An' you were lucky to meet that ole tortoise, you know. 'Nother few days and he'll be off. They're leaving extra early."
"Where are they going to?"
"Ocean. Where else? They know Summertide is on the way, and they want to be nice an' cozy when it comes. Must know it's going to be extra big this year."
"Will they be safe there?"
"Sure. Worst thing that can happen to one of 'em is he gets to sit high and dry for a while at real low tide. Couple of hours later, he's back swimmin'."
He stepped down from the running board on the left side of the car. "If you want to find the quickest way to the edge of the Sling, fly low an' see where the turtles' heads are pointing. That'll get you straight there." He wiped his hands on a dirty rag, leaving them as black as when he started, and gave Darya the warmest, most admiring smile. "Anyone ever tell you you walk an' move real nice? You do. If you want company when you get back, I'll be here. I live right near. Name's Cap."
Darya Lang took off wondering about the worlds of the Phemus Circle. Or was it was just in the air of Opal, the thing that led men to look at her differently? In twelve adult years on Sentinel Gate she had had one love affair, received maybe four compliments, and noticed half a dozen admiring looks. Here it was two in two days.
Well, Legate Pereira had told her not to be surprised by anything that happened outside Alliance territory. And House-uncle Matra had been a lot more explicit when he learned where she was going: "Everyone on the Circle worlds is sex-mad. They have to be, or they'd die out."
The big turtles were not visible at the flying height she chose, but a path to the edge of the Sling was easy to find. She flew out over the ocean for a while and was gratified to see the monstrous green back of a Dowser rising from the deep. From a distance it could have been a smaller, perfectly round Sling, until the moment when the whole back opened to ten thousand mouths, and each released a hissing spout of white vapor. After ten minutes the vents slowly closed, but the Dowser remained basking in the warm surface water.
Darya realized for the first time what perfect ecological sense the Slings made on a tidal waterworld like Opal. The tides were a destructive force on worlds like Sentinel Gate, where the rising and falling ocean waters were impeded in their movement by fixed land boundaries. But here everything could move freely, with the Slings riding buoyantly on the changing water surface. In fact, although the Sling that bore Starside's spaceport must even at that very moment be moving up or down in response to the gravitational pull of Mandel and Amaranth, it was completely at rest relative to the ocean's surface. Any disruptive force came from third-order effects produced by its large area.
The life-forms should be equally safe. Unless a Dowser were unlucky enough to be caught in an area where extra-low tides left the ocean bed exposed, the animal should be totally unaware of Summertide.
Darya flew to a point near the edge of the Sling,
"A native form?"
"Naw." The short lesson on aircar use was over, but he was in no hurry to leave. "No vertebrates native to Opal. Biggest thing ashore is a kind o' four-legged crab."
"Is there anything dangerous out in the ocean?"
"Not to you 'n' me. Least, not dangerous by design. When you get a ways offshore, watch for a big, green hump coming up to the surface, 'bout a kilometer across. That'll be a Dowser. It'll damage boats now an' agin, but only 'cause it don't know they're there."
"Suppose one came up underneath a Sling?"
"Now why'd she be dumb enough to do that?" His voice was teasing. "She come up for air and sunlight, an' there's none of them under a Sling. Go find yourself a Dowser—seein' one's a real experience. They come up a lot at this time of year. An' you were lucky to meet that ole tortoise, you know. 'Nother few days and he'll be off. They're leaving extra early."
"Where are they going to?"
"Ocean. Where else? They know Summertide is on the way, and they want to be nice an' cozy when it comes. Must know it's going to be extra big this year."
"Will they be safe there?"
"Sure. Worst thing that can happen to one of 'em is he gets to sit high and dry for a while at real low tide. Couple of hours later, he's back swimmin'."
He stepped down from the running board on the left side of the car. "If you want to find the quickest way to the edge of the Sling, fly low an' see where the turtles' heads are pointing. That'll get you straight there." He wiped his hands on a dirty rag, leaving them as black as when he started, and gave Darya the warmest, most admiring smile. "Anyone ever tell you you walk an' move real nice? You do. If you want company when you get back, I'll be here. I live right near. Name's Cap."
Darya Lang took off wondering about the worlds of the Phemus Circle. Or was it was just in the air of Opal, the thing that led men to look at her differently? In twelve adult years on Sentinel Gate she had had one love affair, received maybe four compliments, and noticed half a dozen admiring looks. Here it was two in two days.
Well, Legate Pereira had told her not to be surprised by anything that happened outside Alliance territory. And House-uncle Matra had been a lot more explicit when he learned where she was going: "Everyone on the Circle worlds is sex-mad. They have to be, or they'd die out."
The big turtles were not visible at the flying height she chose, but a path to the edge of the Sling was easy to find. She flew out over the ocean for a while and was gratified to see the monstrous green back of a Dowser rising from the deep. From a distance it could have been a smaller, perfectly round Sling, until the moment when the whole back opened to ten thousand mouths, and each released a hissing spout of white vapor. After ten minutes the vents slowly closed, but the Dowser remained basking in the warm surface water.
Darya realized for the first time what perfect ecological sense the Slings made on a tidal waterworld like Opal. The tides were a destructive force on worlds like Sentinel Gate, where the rising and falling ocean waters were impeded in their movement by fixed land boundaries. But here everything could move freely, with the Slings riding buoyantly on the changing water surface. In fact, although the Sling that bore Starside's spaceport must even at that very moment be moving up or down in response to the gravitational pull of Mandel and Amaranth, it was completely at rest relative to the ocean's surface. Any disruptive force came from third-order effects produced by its large area.
The life-forms should be equally safe. Unless a Dowser were unlucky enough to be caught in an area where extra-low tides left the ocean bed exposed, the animal should be totally unaware of Summertide.
Darya flew to a point near the edge of the Sling,
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