Read Online Ringworld's Children by Larry Niven - Free Book Online Page A

Was that reassuring, or just scary?
    Needle's, thrust died. Tunesmith was out of his seat shouting, "Lander bay!" He reached a stepping disk and was gone.
    Acolyte followed before Louis could quite get moving. The wall had become a window again, and Long Shot was a planet jammed against Needle's, hull, with the cabin right up against Needle's, new airlock, the view blocked by bronze "glue". Louis was out of his web, weapon in hand, running for the stepping disk. He saw Tunesmith race through the hangar, dive into the airlock, look, open the second door, leap, with Acolyte right behind. Then Louis flicked into the hangar.
    He was ten feet behind Acolyte, moving at a dead run, leaning forward because he was about to enter free fall, a laser weapon in one hand. Pirate! he thought, elated, expecting no real resistance.
    But light sputtered where Tunesmith disappeared. Acolyte stopped suddenly, then leapt out of sight.
    In free fall now, Louis dug his feet into the wall and jumped behind his extended weapon.
    Generated gravity slammed him to the floor.
    That was confusing, if he'd had time to think about it. Long Shot hadn't had gravity generators.
    Long Shot's life support system was only the pilot's cramped cabin and a cramped sleep-and-rec room above it, now occupied by Tunesmith and three Kzinti. Two Kzinti were sprawled in pools of orange blood, chopped and seared and dead. A third was fluffed out like a yellow-and-black cloud with teeth. Louis held his aim on that one until he was sure it was Acolyte.
    Tunesmith's voice spoke in Louis's helmet. "Time presses. Louis, take your place as pilot. Acolyte, return to Needle. Hindmost, go with him. You have your instructions."
    Louis wriggled past Acolyte and took the pilot's chair.
    Acolyte pushed the dead Patriarchy warriors into the recreation space. He sprang toward the airlock. The puppeteer had gone ahead of him.
    Tunesmith's communicator voice followed them. "Hindmost, what does it mean if we found cabin gravity aboard Long Shot?"
    Silence.
    "Hindmost!"
    The puppeteer was reluctant, but he spoke. "It suggests that the Patriarchy has solved some of our secrets. Some of what we packed Long Shot with was data-collecting instruments. Some was mere misdirection. The Patriarch's science team must have learned how much superfluous space is there. They've used it to install a cabin gravity generator and who knows what else. What would human or Kzinti warriors do with so fast a ship if they knew there was extra space for thrusters, fighter ships, and weapons? Tunesmith, if you can't imagine that, ask Louis."
    "Louis?"
    "Just be glad this ship is ours again," Louis said. He studied Long Shot's control system. A crude second control panel had been set beside the first. All the indicators had been reworked in Kzinti dots-and-commas.
    Gravity rolled uneasily. They were in motion, and Long Shot's cabin gravity generator wasn't happy with the unbalanced configuration.
    Tunesmith was behind Louis's shoulder, his jaw against Louis's neck. "Can you fly it?"
    "Yah," Louis said. "I may have to close my eyes--"
    "Do you read the Heroes' Tongue?"
    "No."
    "I do. Make room. Join your companions aboard Needle."
    "I can fly Long Shot. I remember the controls."
    "They've been changed. Go!"
    "Can you fly this ship?"
    "I must try. Go."
     
    When Louis entered Needle's hangar, Acolyte was already gone.
    Louis took a moment to contain his fury. Typical of a protector, to bet his own life and everybody else's on his own not-yet-formed abilities, on nebulous theories, on risks Louis wouldn't have taken even in his teens and twenties. But that wasn't enough. He'd bet Louis Wu's life because he might need him... and now he didn't. What the futz, just another gamble that hadn't paid off.
    Inhale through the nose, hold it, flatten that abdomen, exhale... it felt remarkably good to be back in his teens and twenties. Lovely if he could live through it.
    Needle lurched and separated from Long Shot.
    Louis found the