"Larry Niven - The Integral Trees" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry)

"If you think I'm a lame, see if you can outclimb me," Clave said lightly.
"Everyone knows why you're here, you and your women too."
"Oh, I suppose they do," Clave said. "But if you think you'd like living with Mayrin, you can try it when we get back. I couldn't. And she didn't like that, and her father didn't like it either. But you know, she was really built to make babies, when I was just old enough to notice that."
Alfin snorted.
"I meant what I said," Clave told him. "If there's anything left that
can save the tribe, it's somewhere over our heads. And if we find it, I think I could be Chairman myself. What do you think?"
Startled, Aim peered into Clave's face. "Maybe. Power hungry, are you?"
"I haven't quite decided. Let's say I'm just mad enough to go for Gold. This whole crazy . . . well, Jayan and Jinny, they can take care of themselves, and if they can't, I can. But I had to take Merril before the Chairman would give me jet pods, and then at the last minute he wished Gavving on me, and that was the last straw."
"Gavving wasn't much worse than the other kids I've had to train.
Constantly asking questions, I don't know any two people with that
boy's curiosity-"
"Not the point. He's just starting to show beard. He never did anything wrong except be there when that damn fool Laython got swallowed . . . Skip it. Alfin, some of our party is dangerous to the rest."
"You know it."
"How would you handle that?"
It was rare to see Alfin smiling. He took his time answering. "Merril will kill herself sooner or later. But Glory will kill someone else. Slip at the wrong time. Easy enough to do something about it. Wait till we're higher, till the tide is weaker. Knock against her when she's off balance. Send her home the fast way."
"Well, that's what I was thinking too. You are a danger to us, Alfin. You hold grudges. We've got problems enough without watching our backs because of you. If you slow me down, if you give any of us trouble, I'll send you home the fast way, Alfin. I've got enough trouble here."
AllIn paled, but he answered. "You do. Get rid of Glory before she knocks someone off the trunk. Ask Jiovan."
"I don't take your orders," Clave said. "One more thing. You spend too much energy being angry. Save it. You're likely to need your anger. Now lead off." And when Alfin resumed climbing, Clave followed.
Chapter Three

The Trunk





DAY BRIGHTENED AND FADED AND BRIGHTENED AGAIN WHILE

they climbed. The men doffed their tunics and tucked them into their pack straps; somewhat later, so did the women. dave leered at Jayan and Jinny impartially. Gavving didn't leer, but in fact the sight distracted him from his climbing.
Jayan and Jinny were twenty-year-old twins, identical, with pale skin
and dark hair and lovely heart-shaped faces and nicely conical breasts.
Some citizens called them stupid, for they had no fund of conversation, but Gavving wondered. In other matters they showed good sense. As now: Jinny was climbing with Cave, but Merril had dropped far behind, and Jayan stayed just beneath her, pacing her.
Jiovan had lost ground after Clave resumed the lead. He cursed as he climbed, steadily, monotonously: the wind, the bark handholds, his missing leg. Alfin should have been one of the leaders, Gavving thought; but he kept pausing to look down.
Gavving's own shoulders and legs burned with fatigue. Worse, he was mpking mistakes, setting his claw sandals wrong, so that they slipped too often.
Tired people make mistakes. Gavving saw Glory slip, thrash, and fall two or three meters before she caught an edge of bark. While she
hugged herself ferociously against the tree, Gavving moved crosswise until he was behind and to the side of her.
Fear held her rigid.
"Keep going," Gavving said. "I'll stay behind you. I'll catch you." She looked down, nodded jerkily, began climbing again. She seemed to move in convulsions, putting too much effort into it. Gavving kept pace.
She slipped. Gavving gripped the bark. When she dropped into range he planted the palm of his hand under her buttocks and pushed her hard against the tree. She gasped, and clung, and resumed climbing.
Clave called down. "Is anybody thirsty?"
They needed their breath, and the answer was too obvious. Of course they were thirsty. Clave said, "Swing around east. We'll get a drink."

Falling water had carved a channel along the eastern side of the trunk. The channel was fifty meters across and nearly dry over most of its water-smoothed surface. But the tree still passed through the occasional cloud; mist still clung to the bark; wind and Coriolis force set it streaming around to the east as it fell; and water ran in a few pitiful streams toward Quinn Tuft below.
"Watch yourselves," Clave told them. "Use your spikes if you have to. This is slippery stuff."
"Here," the Grad called from over their heads.
They worked their way toward him. A hill of rock must have smacked into the tree long ago, half embedding itself. The trunk had grown to enclose it. It made a fine platform, particularly since a stream had split to run round it on both sides. By the time Merril and Jayan had worked their way up, Clave had hammered spikes into the wood above the rock and attached lines.
Merril and Jayan worked their way onto the rock. Mcml lay gasping while Jayan brought her water.
Glory lay flat on the rock with her eyes closed. Presently she crawled to the portside stream. She called to Clave. "Any limit?"
"What?"
"On how much we drink. The water goes-"