Ringworld's Children

'Well help each other,' Louis said, and Acolyte rumbled agreement. Then Wembleth too wanted to participate. That allowed the three to play off each other in an interview that became an animated conversation.

Louis gambled that the ARMs didnt have equipment to detect lies in the tremor of a voice. Gray Nurse or another in the ARM fleet might.

As to what 'Luis' had seen, Louis stuck close to the truth. They had been indoors: theyd missed the explosion (and Luis knew nothing of industrial antimatter). As he and Acolyte arrived from… somewhere… a great light had appeared, not much brighter than the sun, but huge. Then a glare-yellow doughnut the size of a mountain range lay blocking the region they had come to see.

He was asked about his background. He invented, but kept it terse. A twenty-year-old wouldnt have centuries of memories; he wouldnt tell stories well, and hed be a bit shy around elders. Acolyte, who really was only twelve, was able to stick to his own memories, because Chiron (Luis said) had never confronted the half- grown Kzin. Luis speculated aloud whether the puppeteer was afraid.

And the library fascinated all three interviewees.

Protector — 1) Adult stage of the Pak species, where the line runs from child to breeder to adult. 2) Hominids in general are descended from Pak. They too have a breeder stage, at which they usually spend their lives, and an adult stage rarely achieved. 3 Archaic -

If Claus or Roxanny looked up a reference, Wembleth, Luis, and Acolyte crowded in to look. So did Hanuman, though he was generally ignored. Roxanny didnt like to be near him; he favored Claus, and Claus treated him as a pet.

There were hot buttons everywhere in the text.

Piersons puppeteers — A species of great industrial power and sophistication, once common through known space and beyond, now thought to be fleeing the galactic core explosion. See General Products company. Physiology…

Core explosion — Thought to be a rash of supernovae… due to reach Earth in twenty thousand years. Inadequately studied.

General Products — A company once owned and run by Piersons puppeteers. In human space they sold almost nothing but spacecraft hulls.

Known space — Those regions of the galaxys Major Arm thought to be explored and understood by known sapient species.

Ringworld life forms are little understood. Ecologies tend to familiar patterns, but no trained biologist has had opportunity to investigate.

Mammals —

Hominids — Related to the genus Hominidae on Earth. Probably all such species derive from Pak breeders imported from the galactic core, subsequently evolved in many directions.

Louis Wu — {rotating hologram}

'Now give us some privacy,' Roxanny said without looking up.

Louis and Acolyte backed away. Hanuman climbed into Clauss lap. Claus scratched the anthropoids head, and didnt seem to notice its high cranial capacity or the ridge on top. The interview had lasted nearly two hours.

Louis and Acolyte settled beside the flycycle. Louis deployed the kitchen. Acolyte said, 'Hanuman wants the library.'

'Tunesmith will too.' Louis passed the Kzin a squeeze of broth.

'One flycycle would hold all three of us if Hanuman rides my lap or yours,' Acolyte said. 'Hanuman learns fast. He might already know all he needs to run the library. Then we go, unless you truly want the ARM woman as mate.'

'Good plan. We go when Hanumans ready,' Louis said. He sucked at a squeeze of green tea. He was not nearly so sure as he sounded.

The library codes might not be easy to crack.

The ARM might not let them go easily.

Anything could happen. The ARMs were in a shouting match, though Louis and Acolyte were too far away to make it out. Then Claus was back at work with the library, Wembleth and Hanuman were peering over his shoulder, and Roxanny strode briskly toward the flycycles. 'Luis!' she said with a whip in her voice.

Louis offered her a squeezebulb. Roxanny looked startled. 'Oh! Thank you. Weve been in touch with Gray Nurse.'

'And?'

She glanced at Acolyte. 'Lets go somewhere,' she said.

She led them across the river on stepping stones, then behind some low bushes. Sitting, they were hidden. Louis kissed her. She accepted the kiss without response, then asked, 'Do you still want rescue? Do you want to visit Earth?'

'Last time I didnt have a choice.'

Shrug. 'Youd be very valuable. I could try to get you citizenship'

'Roxanny, my father was an illegal birth.' He wanted that established, Luis Tamasan isnt registered, before she tried to look up an imaginary man. 'Citizenship in what? What does it mean?'

He listened carefully to her answers. There would be changes in civilization since his departure. It sounded like there were more laws, more restrictions. Maybe only in Sol system.

Luis wouldnt know — 'Birthright? Roxanny, what is a birthright?'

'Ill find it for you in the library. Basically, youre born with one or two birthrights depending on — tanj — mostly on your genetic pattern. If youre healthy, you probably have two birthrights. You can lose it, or get more. Two birthrights make a child.'

Louis Wu had used up his birthrights. Faking his ID would involve faking that, and the penalties were draconian. He said, 'It doesnt sound like I want to settle on Earth.'

'No, given a bastard father. Its the most interesting world, though.'

It was just possible, he thought, that Luis Tamasan could become a whole new person. If he settled We Made It or Home, why would anyone ever try to connect his gene pattern to a Louis Wu? He could pay taxes. Learn a new profession. Marry — 'What are our odds of getting to space?'

'We know where a puncture is, if the whoever — the wizard — hasnt closed it.'

'The Phantom Weaver.'

She shrugged. 'Whatever you like. Gray Nurse can fire projectiles at a puncture from underneath. Thatll tell us if its been closed. Beyond that, who knows? Will Acolyte go along with this?'

'I suppose.'

'Would he come?'

'You cant get him citizenship. Hes a Kzin. Youre fighting Kzinti, arent you?'

'There hasnt been a formal war in, oh, four hundred years.' She tapped her sleeve and read what appeared. 'In sixteen hundred falans. Hed be all right. There are hundreds of thousands of Kzinti citizens in human space.'

'I wouldnt tell him to come. Hes younger than me, you know.'

'Lets get back.'

Louis didnt move. 'What about Wembleth? Do we want him?'

'Yah. Hes a real native, after all. He must know wonderful things, and there are people who would kill to read his genetic pattern.' Roxanny stood and semaphored her arms at Claus. 'Lets get back.'

A shadow square had blocked all but a sliver of sun. Acolyte was squatting before the library, Claus standing behind him. Nearby, Hanuman picked imaginary parasites, looking solemn. The little protector looked up at Louis and made an urgent twirling motion.

Claus raised his hand, holding something L-shaped.