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

Needle.
    Needle's sliced-off wall had been breeched. A drum-shaped cylinder ran into and through it. The outer, hull side of the intrusion was opaque, painted with more of that bronze stuff. As the hull section moved to join Hot Needle of Inquiry, the intrusion eased into what had once been the garage for Needle's lander.
    The intrusion was an airlock, Louis saw. A big one, big enough to transfer a dozen humans at a time.
    The bronze edges matched. Then the bronze edging oozed away, coiling on the lava like a snake. The bronze splotch on the airlock remained in place.
    Louis said, "I can't stand it. What is that bronze stuff?"
    Hanuman said, "Glue."
    Louis waited.
    Tunesmith spoke with a touch of reluctance. "It's more complex than that. Do you know about General Products' hulls? Each variation is a molecule with its interatomic bonding artificially enhanced. It's very strong, but if the molecule is cut, it comes apart. I've engineered a substance to replace the interatomic bonds. It does more than allow me to slice up a hull. I can bond one General Products ship's hull to another. Hanuman, are you ready?"
    "Yes."
    "Only fulfill your mission, then save yourself if you can. Go."
    Hanuman scampered across the stone floor, climbed into the tiny missile, and closed the transparent nose. His ship dropped below floor level.
     
    Hanuman spared a moment to wonder about Tunesmith's companions. One was a breeder, species unknown, but all three showed their alien state. Starborn, alien to the Ringworld. Hanuman knew a little about them from Needle and its computer files.
    Where did they stand with regard to Hanuman?
    "Glue," Hanuman had said, to see if Louis Wu would extrapolate the rest. He didn't. Not that bright.
    Hanuman was brighter than a Hanging People, but he couldn't see what Tunesmith saw: the right answer, every time. Louis Wu had chosen Tunesmith. Did that make him bright enough to trust? The big hairy alien was a youth; he'd have little to say. The two-headed one was as old as seas and mountains....
    Probe Two was ready to launch, and Hanuman had his instructions. But if he survived, he must come to know who to trust.
     
    Hydrogen fuel flooded into Needle's tanks.
    Tunesmith waved at the tower of rings. "Bram built this to launch meteor defense and repair systems. I've altered it. It will give us higher initial velocity than our fuel and thrusters would buy. Board Needle now, don pressure suits, strap down. Hindmost, up front with me. We should launch behind Probe Two."
    Now Hot Needle of Inquiry was sliding across the lava. Louis wondered if they'd have to run after the ship, but Tunesmith led them to a stepping disk that flicked them aboard. The Hindmost and Tunesmith moved to the control room; Acolyte and Louis stayed in crew quarters.
    While Louis was getting into his suit, Probe Two launched in a flare of lightning and was gone into the sky. The launch system was inefficient, Louis thought. Bad for the environment. Tunesmith must have power to throw away.
    Needle sank toward the base of the launcher.
    Tunesmith was suited up much faster than the others. "Eat before you close your helmets!" he shouted. "There's time." He raced through some diagnostic programs, then began using stepping disks to flick through the ship, stopping to observe, to fiddle. In two or three minutes he was back.
    Needle's control cabin had been given place for a copilot. Tunesmith's bolted-in seat was a layer of plates that moved to accommodate him. He glanced around at his crew--in place, webbed down, the Hindmost beside him--and launched.
     

Chapter 6
    "Another one!" Forrestier shouted.
    'Tec Roxanny Gauthier looked. In the wall display, what was rising past the edge of the Ringworld was no more than a blurred point. Gray Nurse was on patrol among the inner comets, far, far away from any Ringworld action.
    Roxanny asked, "Did you see where it came from?"
    "Same as the other. One of the big salt oceans, an island cluster."
    The fighter-recon