originally intended and quiz you about Plateau?"
While Rover was in hyperspace, all five of her gang stood mass detector watch, six hours a day for four days, fifth day off. It was unpopular duty, but they would have enjoyed still less letting the ship fly blind, risking an entry into a gravity well deep enough to throw her to whatever fate awaited vessels which did not steer clear. The daydream was becoming commonplace among their kind, that someday somebody would gain sufficient understanding of the psionics involved that the whole operation could be automated .
It wasn't torture, of course, once you had schooled yourself never to look into the Less Than Void which filled the single port necessarily left unshuttered. You learned how to keep an eye on the indicator globe while you exercised, read, watched a show, practiced a handicraft. On the infrequent occasions when it registered something, matters did get interesting.
“ A nd I've decided I don't mind it in the least," said Juan Yoshii after Kamehameha Ryan had relieved him “ R eally?" asked Laurinda Brozik. She had met him below the flight deck by agreement .
He offered her his arm, a studied, awkward gesture not used in his native society. She smiled and took it. He was a young Sol-Belter. Unlike Dorcas Saxtorph, or most folk of his nation, he eschewed spectacular garb. Small, slim, with olive-skinned, almost girlish features, he did wear his hair in the crest, but it was cut short .
I have just heard complaints about the monotony," Laurinda said. “ M onotony, or peacefulness?" he countered in his diffident fashion. “ I chafed, too. Then gradually I realized what an opportunity this is to be alone and think. Or compose. ”
“ Y ou don't sound like a rockjack , she said need lessly. It was what had originally attracted her to him .
He chuckled. “ H ow are rockjacks supposed to sound? We have the rough, tough image, yes. Pilot the boat, find the ore, wrench it out, bring it home, and damn the meteoroids. Or the sun-flare or the fusion generator failure or anything else. But we are simply persons making a living. Quite a few of us look forward to a day when we can use different talents."
“ W hat else would you like to do? ”
The Man-Kzin Wars
His smile was stiff. He stared before him, “ P repare yourself to laugh." “ O h, no." Her tone made naught of the eight centimeters by which she topped him. “ H ow could I laugh at a man who handles the forces that I only measure? ”
He flushed and had no answer. They walked on. The ship hummed around them. Bulkheads were brightly painted, pictures were hung on them and often changed, here and there were pots whose flowers Carita Fenger maintained, but nonetheless this was a barren environment. The two had a date in his cabin, where he would provide tea while they screened d'Auvergne's Fifth Chromophony. An appreciation of her work was one thing among others that they discovered they had in common.
“ W hat is your hope?" Laurinda asked at last, low .
He gulped. “ T o be a poet. ”
“ W hy, how ... how remarkable."
“ N ot that there's a living in it," he said hastily. “ I 'll need a groundside position. But I will anyway when I get too old for this berth-and am still fairly young by most standards." He drew breath. “ I n the centuries of spaceflight, how much true poetry has been written? Plenty of verse, but how much that makes your hair rise and you think yes, this is the real truth? It's as if we've been too busy to find the words for what we've been busy with. I want to try. I am trying, but know quite well I won't have a chance of succeeding with a single line till I've worked at it for another ten years or more. ”
“ Y ou're too modest, Juan. Genius flowers early oftener than not. I would like to see what you have' done. "
“ N o, I don't think it's that good. Maybe my efforts never will be. Not even equal to-well, actually minor stuff, but it does have the spirit- ”
“ S
While Rover was in hyperspace, all five of her gang stood mass detector watch, six hours a day for four days, fifth day off. It was unpopular duty, but they would have enjoyed still less letting the ship fly blind, risking an entry into a gravity well deep enough to throw her to whatever fate awaited vessels which did not steer clear. The daydream was becoming commonplace among their kind, that someday somebody would gain sufficient understanding of the psionics involved that the whole operation could be automated .
It wasn't torture, of course, once you had schooled yourself never to look into the Less Than Void which filled the single port necessarily left unshuttered. You learned how to keep an eye on the indicator globe while you exercised, read, watched a show, practiced a handicraft. On the infrequent occasions when it registered something, matters did get interesting.
“ A nd I've decided I don't mind it in the least," said Juan Yoshii after Kamehameha Ryan had relieved him “ R eally?" asked Laurinda Brozik. She had met him below the flight deck by agreement .
He offered her his arm, a studied, awkward gesture not used in his native society. She smiled and took it. He was a young Sol-Belter. Unlike Dorcas Saxtorph, or most folk of his nation, he eschewed spectacular garb. Small, slim, with olive-skinned, almost girlish features, he did wear his hair in the crest, but it was cut short .
I have just heard complaints about the monotony," Laurinda said. “ M onotony, or peacefulness?" he countered in his diffident fashion. “ I chafed, too. Then gradually I realized what an opportunity this is to be alone and think. Or compose. ”
“ Y ou don't sound like a rockjack , she said need lessly. It was what had originally attracted her to him .
He chuckled. “ H ow are rockjacks supposed to sound? We have the rough, tough image, yes. Pilot the boat, find the ore, wrench it out, bring it home, and damn the meteoroids. Or the sun-flare or the fusion generator failure or anything else. But we are simply persons making a living. Quite a few of us look forward to a day when we can use different talents."
“ W hat else would you like to do? ”
The Man-Kzin Wars
His smile was stiff. He stared before him, “ P repare yourself to laugh." “ O h, no." Her tone made naught of the eight centimeters by which she topped him. “ H ow could I laugh at a man who handles the forces that I only measure? ”
He flushed and had no answer. They walked on. The ship hummed around them. Bulkheads were brightly painted, pictures were hung on them and often changed, here and there were pots whose flowers Carita Fenger maintained, but nonetheless this was a barren environment. The two had a date in his cabin, where he would provide tea while they screened d'Auvergne's Fifth Chromophony. An appreciation of her work was one thing among others that they discovered they had in common.
“ W hat is your hope?" Laurinda asked at last, low .
He gulped. “ T o be a poet. ”
“ W hy, how ... how remarkable."
“ N ot that there's a living in it," he said hastily. “ I 'll need a groundside position. But I will anyway when I get too old for this berth-and am still fairly young by most standards." He drew breath. “ I n the centuries of spaceflight, how much true poetry has been written? Plenty of verse, but how much that makes your hair rise and you think yes, this is the real truth? It's as if we've been too busy to find the words for what we've been busy with. I want to try. I am trying, but know quite well I won't have a chance of succeeding with a single line till I've worked at it for another ten years or more. ”
“ Y ou're too modest, Juan. Genius flowers early oftener than not. I would like to see what you have' done. "
“ N o, I don't think it's that good. Maybe my efforts never will be. Not even equal to-well, actually minor stuff, but it does have the spirit- ”
“ S
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