Read Online The Man-Kzin Wars 01 by Larry Niven - Free Book Online

uch as what? ”
    “ O h, ancient pieces, mostly, pre-space .
    " 'To follow knowledge like a sinking star, “ B eyond the utmost bound of human thought.' Yoshii cackled a laugh. “ I 'm really getting bookish, am I not? An easy trap to fall into. Spacemen have a lot of free time in between crises."
    “ Y ou've put yours to good use, she said earnestly. “ I s that poem you quoted from in the ship's database? I'd like to read it."
    “ I don't know, but I can recite it verbatim. ”
    “ T hat would be much better. Romantic- ” Laurinda broke off. She turned her glance away .
    He sensed her confusion and blurted in his own, “ P lease don't misunderstand me. I know-your customs, your mores-I mean to respect them. Completely. “
    She achieved a smile, though she could not yet look back his way. “ W hy, I'm not afraid of you." Unspoken: You're not unbearably frustrated. It's obvious that Carita is your mistress as well as Kam's. “ Y ou are a gentleman." And what we have coming to life between us is still small and frail, but already very sweet.
    Rover re-entered normal space ten astronomical units from the destination star. That was unnecessarily distant for a mass less than a fourth of Sol's, but the Saxtorphs were more cautious than Markham admitted. Besides, the scientists wanted to begin with a long sweep as baseline for their preliminary observations, and it was their party now. As soon as precise velocity figures were available, Dorcas computed the vectors. The star was hurtling at well over a thousand kilometers per second with respect to galactic center. That meant the ship needed considerable delta v to get down to interplanetary speeds and into the equatorial plane where any attendant bodies were likeliest to be. That boost phase must also serve those initial requirements of the astronomers. Course and thrust could be adjusted as data came in and plans for the future were developed .
    The star's motion meant, too, that it was escaping the galaxy, bound for the gulfs beyond. Presumably an encounter with one or more larger bodies had cast it from the region where it formed. A question the expedition hoped to get answered, however incompletely, was where that might have happened-and when .
    Except for Dorcas, who worked with Tregennis to process the data that Laurinda mostly gathered, the crew had little to do but housekeeping. Occasionally someone was asked to lend a hand with some task of the research .
    Going off watch, Carita Fenger stopped by the saloon. A large viewscreen there kept the image of the sun at the cross-haired center. Else nobody could have identified it. It was waxing as the ship drove inward but thus far remained a dim dull-red point, outshone by stars light-years away. The undertone of power through the ship was like a whisper of that which surged within, around, among them, nuclear fires, rage of radiation, millennial turmoil of matter, births and funeral pyres and ashes and rebirths, the universe forever in travail. Like most spacefarers, Carita could lose herself, hour upon hour, in the contemplation of it.
    She halted. Markham sat alone, looking. His face was haggard. “ W ell, hi," she said tentatively .
    Markham gave her a glance. “ H ow do you do, Pilot Fenger." The words came flat .
    She plumped herself down in the chair beside him. “ Q uite a sight, eh?" He nodded, his gaze back on the screen .
    “ A trite thing to say," she persisted. “ B ut I suspect Juan's wrong. He hopes to find words grand enough. I suspect it can't be done. ”
    I was not aware Pilot Yoshii had such interests," said Markham without unbending .
    “ N ah, you wouldn't be. You've been about as outgoing as a black hole .
    What's between you and Dorcas? You seem to be off speaking terms with her. ”
    “ I f you please, I am not in the mood for gossip." Markham started to rise, to leave .
    Carita took hold of his arm. It was a gentle grip, but he could easier have broken free of a salvage grapple. “ W