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especially as the technology of the ship itself was so strange and
interesting.
In a first-contact situation, curiosity that was strong enough to overcome
xenophobia in both parties was a very good sign.
The vessel looked even larger inside than out. Its smooth outer shell
contained a structure that was like a complicated three-dimensional maze. She
estimated it to be about eighty me-ters from prow to stern, sixty in the beam,
and thirty to the highest point of its turtlelike upper works which, so far as
she co^ld see, enclosed five or six levels of decking that were stepped back
sharply so as to be covered by a segmented outer shell that could be opened in
whatever area and number was required, to become sails and furnish highly
directional wind propulsion. The overall structural material must have been
very light because, in spite of its top-heavy appearance, the vessel rode very
high in the water.
She wasn't surprised to find that the two decks that were on and just above
the water line had no sail openings, ventilation, or natural lighting. The
compartments on those levels were large and filled with coils of rope,
netting, and masses of eel-like crea-tures, some of which were still
twitching, that smelled like fish. She was glad when her escort guided her
back towards the fresh air and sunlight of the upper decks.
But there was a steadily diminishing supply of fresh air, she realized, and no
sunlight at all. She was pushed gently against a bulkhead and signaled to stay
out of the way because it appeared that the entire crew were moving about and
working furiously to wind in all of the sail segments and seal their outer
shell. Just before the section beside her closed to admit only a narrow band
of light, she was able to see the probable cause of all the frantic activity.
The sun had been covered by the dark grey curtain of a rain squall that was
running in from the sea.
On the way back to her compartment Murchison had a lot to think about. This
and the other two vessels she had seen must be part of a fishing fleet that
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needed aerial reconnaissance to direct them towards the shoals they trawled.
The sails they used for guidance and propulsion had to double as shelters in
the event of a storm or even a rain shower because, perhaps like cats and
Kelgians and certain other furred species in her experience, it was
physiologically dangerous for them to get wet.
These ships were manned, for want of a better word, by very brave sailors
indeed.
Back in her room the ventilator had been closed to admit a narrow band of
light and none of the heavy rain that was rattling against the hull. The
spider pointed to a formerly empty shelf. During their absence someone,
probably acting on its instruc-tions, had left them a small stack of wide,
pale yellow dried leaves a thin, short-handled brush, and a small wooden
container of what looked like ink.
Considering the spider-hostile weather outside, she thought again, this was a
very good time to begin talking.
CHAPTER 25
Using its power-hungry tractor beams in reverse rather than the noisy
thrusters, Rhabwar had come in low and quiet to transfer Prilicla and the
Trolanni casualties to the station before returning as it had come, to orbit
where the captain would be able to watch the spider ships without them seeing
him, or if they did, they wouldn't know that the new star in their sky was
watch-ing them.
"There are three vessels," it reported simultaneously to the med station and
the waiting courier vessel, "but all are stationary with their bows resting on
the beach. Five gliders are flying around them at low altitude, too low for
the med station to spot them. A number of ship's personnel have been moving
about on the
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Double%20Contact.txt beach and under the nearby trees, but too few, I feel [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]