Bear, Greg Eon 3 Legacy

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arm-thick vine seemed substantial as rope, yet parted like soapsuds as the ship passed through them, and
regrouped in our wake.
A storm inland had broken loose balloon-trees, close relatives of lizboo, according to Randall; on
the third day, the gas-bag of one floated off the starboard beam, twisting slowly, rumpled and half
deflated, in the currents. As I watched, coiling ropes and splicing a broken line with a marlinspike, piscids
the size and rough shape of harbor seals but black and silver in color tore at the balloon vigorously with
external fangs, called thorn-teeth by the captain, then sucked the shredded fragments into orifices along
their sides. Getting a closer look at one near the ship, I saw no head or mouth as such, only broad
paddle-shaped fins with sharp white claws, and in a line on each side, the little mouthlike openings with
sky-blue interior tissues revealed. They swam swiftly both backward and forward with rapid swishes,
reversing their fins. Some, Shimchisko and Ibert among them, believed the cucumber sharks and other
large piscids would eat anything tossed into the water. Shankara believed they acted more as clean-up
crews, and did not actually digest the fragments they swallowed, but carried them to special stations
where they were processed.
According to the captain, predation between ecoi was rare between Elizabeth's Land and Petain, or
at least quite formalized. "They watch, they spy constantly, sending thieves or samplers, usually in the air
but also underground, or skimming across the river or ocean. Between zones, the boundaries are clearly
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marked, but on rare occasion, parties of mobile scions will cross in a tight herd, grab what they can of
arborids or phytids, and return ... We do not know why. Perhaps the zones need to challenge each other.
Perhaps it is a kind of sport..."
Shirla equated it with love bites, but I could not tell if she was serious.
--------
*6*
As evening approached and my watch ended, with the day's work done and the ship rigged to slice
on a beam reach across the strengthening northerlies, I leaned on the starboard rail amidships and studied
the shore from our distance of five nautical miles. The high cliffs of this part of the eastern Sumner coast
were split with deep U-shaped grooves that spilled boulder-strewn floors into the sea, then thrust
sinuously inland. I judged glaciers had once cut these grooves. A scattering of rangy short arborids
covered the mesas and plains, and between them, a velvety, patchy carpet of blue and brown phytids
spread in gentle mounds like fuzz on a rotting peach. The sun had reached its vernal zenith four hours
before and now fled steadily westward, gently warming my face and hands, brightening the cloudless
skies to a chalky enamel blue, almost white above Elizabeth's Land. The air smelled round and sweet,
unlike any air I had ever breathed before, and the ocean sang its liquid rhythms against the hull, a
metronomic slap of waves and hissing trill of swirling waters. Our wake fell astern in steady white
smeared curves with a shiny roiling smoothness between, vanishing when the ship had advanced a few
miles.
Randall strolled beside me and leaned on the rail, in a mood to talk. "We've been at sea a week," he
said. "The mate and I have kept our eyes on you."
I nodded, unsure what to say.
"You told me you'd catch on fast, and you have. I'd swear you've sailed before."
"I've dreamed of sailing all my life," I said.
"You're the best apprentice on board, better than Shimchisko, even, and he's a decent fellow,
though he does have a sharp tongue. You could go for your A.B. rate in short order if you wanted. I also
notice you attend the captain's lectures no matter how tired you are."
"They're fascinating."
"Yes, well, he's a fine captain, but maybe the best scientist on La-marckia ... Or a close tie with
Mansur Salap. We've traveled Tasman and Elizabeth and the Kupe Islands together for ten years now, at
sea and ashore." He let silence sit between us for several minutes, the sweet wind providing enough
distraction. "It's your face that interests me, Ser Olmy. The apprentices, the A.B.s, they're familiar faces
to me. I know their types. I have to judge people, and I think I'm good at it, but I cannot by face or
Breath or Fate judge you." He looked at me directly, elbows on the rail, hands clasped. "I swear you're
older than you look and know more than you say."
I raised my eyebrows to acknowledge these unwanted observations. First Larisa, then Thomas, now
Randall. I seemed particularly transparent to these people.
"How do you feel you fit in with the crew?" he asked.
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"Sir?"
"You don't scuffle, you don't argue, and you certainly don't aspire to a sailor's top bunk. You're calm
and humble, Ser Olmy."
"Thank you, sir," I said. "I've made friends and taken advice. Listening makes me popular, I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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