Beowulf's Children by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes Page B
Tags: SF, Speculative Fiction
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pathetic. The Narratio was barely adequate, and his Refutatio was booed off the stage. Aside from that, just fine."
Around them, Cadmann noticed that women's voices were climbing a bit higher than the men's. As Tragon left the stage he joined Jessica. They embraced and kissed lustily.
They make a good pair, Cadmann thought. Aaron Tragon was brawny, handsome, fiercely intelligent, and possessed a magnetic presence. My successor here. Zack's too? End this silly division between administration and security?
In any tribe, there is an alpha. There had been a time when Cadmann thought Mickey would be his heir. He often wondered if he had pushed his son too hard. Whatever happened, Mickey wasn't interested in leadership.
Aaron and Linda were paired for a while. A good combination, but then something happened and Linda attached herself to Joe Sikes. An unlikely arrangement, and one that Cadmann didn't quite understand. Joe Sikes had been Mary Ann's lover before the grendel attacks, before Mary Ann had come to the Bluff to reclaim Cadmann from drunken despair. There had been nothing after that-then suddenly Joe and Mary Ann's daughter were paired, not merely paired but monogamously bonded.
Ruth Moskowitz moved toward Aaron, then back away. She had the faintly shell-shocked grin he'd expected. Good sport. Hey, if he likes Jessica, all right. The fingers of her right hand were twisting painfully tight ringlets in her hair. Probably pulling out a few strands. Rachael put an arm around her, and held her daughter close. And that's another situation I don't understand, but I don't think I have to.
Surf's Up provided dessert. A deliciously spiced crushed ice, its taste and aroma resurrected long-buried memories of childhood.
The audience decided, quite vociferously, that Aaron Tragon had triumphed in the week's debate. After a thunderous round of applause, Linda Weyland took the podium. Cadzie was bundled in a sling across her chest, and nursed contentedly as she spoke.
"Unfortunately," she began, "that concludes the evening's entertainment. What I have to say now is more sobering-and far more educational. Cassandra, bang."
A glowing anthill filled the hall; it brightened as the hall lights dimmed.
Neon vermilion tunnels, dozens of them. Hundreds of bright green dots chewed at the tips, extending the tunnels, then flowed back up to the trunk of the beast. Cadmann remembered an ant farm his brother had built when both were small. These tunnels had more of a fractal look. Despite irregularities in the topography of this mainland mountain range, the automated widgets were following a plan; you saw a symmetry, large patterns repeated in diminishing scale.
In the tip of a tunnel, light flared. A conspicuous shock wave, confined, flowed upward to a main trunk. Refining machinery flared red, then pulsed red-black, red-black.
The crowd's whispered reaction was immediate, and ugly.
Linda raised her voice above, the sound of that evil wind. "Something exploded. Not high explosive, something more like gunpowder. How it got down there... well. All we know is that the refinery has shut down, and we can't correct the damage from here."
Toshiro raised a hand. "Couldn't this be any sort of normal equipment failure?"
Linda said, "Toshiro, these bore collectors are just drills and a bucket for the ore. They run on solar cells and fuel cells, the fuel cells are just high-tech batteries, they can't explode, and there aren't any fuel cells where we're having the problem anyway."
"Of course you thought about this before. Sorry."
"It's okay. But people, it really was an explosion, and it really did come roaring up from the tip of a bore tube. Cassandra, show us the interference waves."
Which wasn't a lot of help, Cadmann thought. And there was Mary Ann, delighted, proud of their daughter, and knowing damned well he couldn't read the patterns now flowing across the wall either. Mickey probably could, but he wasn't saying anything.
Cadmann leaned
Around them, Cadmann noticed that women's voices were climbing a bit higher than the men's. As Tragon left the stage he joined Jessica. They embraced and kissed lustily.
They make a good pair, Cadmann thought. Aaron Tragon was brawny, handsome, fiercely intelligent, and possessed a magnetic presence. My successor here. Zack's too? End this silly division between administration and security?
In any tribe, there is an alpha. There had been a time when Cadmann thought Mickey would be his heir. He often wondered if he had pushed his son too hard. Whatever happened, Mickey wasn't interested in leadership.
Aaron and Linda were paired for a while. A good combination, but then something happened and Linda attached herself to Joe Sikes. An unlikely arrangement, and one that Cadmann didn't quite understand. Joe Sikes had been Mary Ann's lover before the grendel attacks, before Mary Ann had come to the Bluff to reclaim Cadmann from drunken despair. There had been nothing after that-then suddenly Joe and Mary Ann's daughter were paired, not merely paired but monogamously bonded.
Ruth Moskowitz moved toward Aaron, then back away. She had the faintly shell-shocked grin he'd expected. Good sport. Hey, if he likes Jessica, all right. The fingers of her right hand were twisting painfully tight ringlets in her hair. Probably pulling out a few strands. Rachael put an arm around her, and held her daughter close. And that's another situation I don't understand, but I don't think I have to.
Surf's Up provided dessert. A deliciously spiced crushed ice, its taste and aroma resurrected long-buried memories of childhood.
The audience decided, quite vociferously, that Aaron Tragon had triumphed in the week's debate. After a thunderous round of applause, Linda Weyland took the podium. Cadzie was bundled in a sling across her chest, and nursed contentedly as she spoke.
"Unfortunately," she began, "that concludes the evening's entertainment. What I have to say now is more sobering-and far more educational. Cassandra, bang."
A glowing anthill filled the hall; it brightened as the hall lights dimmed.
Neon vermilion tunnels, dozens of them. Hundreds of bright green dots chewed at the tips, extending the tunnels, then flowed back up to the trunk of the beast. Cadmann remembered an ant farm his brother had built when both were small. These tunnels had more of a fractal look. Despite irregularities in the topography of this mainland mountain range, the automated widgets were following a plan; you saw a symmetry, large patterns repeated in diminishing scale.
In the tip of a tunnel, light flared. A conspicuous shock wave, confined, flowed upward to a main trunk. Refining machinery flared red, then pulsed red-black, red-black.
The crowd's whispered reaction was immediate, and ugly.
Linda raised her voice above, the sound of that evil wind. "Something exploded. Not high explosive, something more like gunpowder. How it got down there... well. All we know is that the refinery has shut down, and we can't correct the damage from here."
Toshiro raised a hand. "Couldn't this be any sort of normal equipment failure?"
Linda said, "Toshiro, these bore collectors are just drills and a bucket for the ore. They run on solar cells and fuel cells, the fuel cells are just high-tech batteries, they can't explode, and there aren't any fuel cells where we're having the problem anyway."
"Of course you thought about this before. Sorry."
"It's okay. But people, it really was an explosion, and it really did come roaring up from the tip of a bore tube. Cassandra, show us the interference waves."
Which wasn't a lot of help, Cadmann thought. And there was Mary Ann, delighted, proud of their daughter, and knowing damned well he couldn't read the patterns now flowing across the wall either. Mickey probably could, but he wasn't saying anything.
Cadmann leaned
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