"John Meaney - Blood and Verse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meaney John)

sun condensed to a hyperon star?тАЭ

тАЬNo one knows.тАЭ Shera shrugs. тАЬThe Ancient Ones boiled away, is what the
old tales say. Primordial icecaps melted, and the elder lifeforms sublimated.
Whatever that means.тАЭ

тАЬSounds likeтАФтАЭ

тАЬThereтАЩs your forest now.тАЭ

тАЬGodтАЩs Blood!тАЭ The oath is involuntary. тАЬWill you look at that.тАЭ

Twisted trees, with orange-brown bark, stretch across the ocean for many
kilometres. They bob easily, changing configuration to match the oceanтАЩs swell,
forming a childтАЩs tangled puzzle that is perfectly adapted to this place.

тАЬItтАЩs beautiful.тАЭ

Shera nods, and lightly touches my arm.

тАЬYes, it is.тАЭ

***
 ItтАЩs a natural gymnasium, too. Our climbing journey is punctuated by clicks
and squeaks of the ever-moving forest. We squeeze through tangled openings, haul
ourselves onto branches, run lightly up the broader limbs. The distinction between
trunk and branch becomes academic: weтАЩre following a maze of twisted wood.

The crewmembers are several klicks behind us now, out of sight, harvesting
selected portions of the wood. One of the rough-looking women is an aquabotanist
with a global reputation; their work is carefully directed so that the forest replenishes
itself.

тАЬThis way.тАЭ

SheraтАЩs breathing no more heavily than I. WeтАЩre both enjoying this ... but the
point is, IтАЩve spent at least two hours working out, hard, every single day since I was
ten SY old.

тАЬDonтАЩt worry.тАЭ I dodge a branch, squeeze through an opening. тАЬIтАЩm right
behind you.тАЭ

By the time we reach the tall treeтАЩs pinnacle, weтАЩre fairly glowing with the
effort. It is time to sit down, and stare out across the ocean.

тАЬYouтАЩre fit enough.тАЭ Shera passes over an electrolyte-replacement tablet from
her belt.

тАЬThat makes two of us. Thanks.тАЭ