The Tale of the Cat

Начало книги

Earth was the mother and her Kith Town the small motherland of every starfarer; but there were other worlds where humans dwelt. At those the ships were almost always welcome, bearers of tidings and wares that bridged, however thinly, the abysses between. It was not perennially so on Earth.

Thus, over the centuries, Tau Ceti became the sun to which voyagers from afar often sought first. Its Harbor was as homelike as any known extra-solar planet, and usually at peace. News beamed from Sol arrived only eleven and a half years old; if you had felt unsure, you could now lay plans. Whether or not you went on to that terminus, here was a good place to stop for a while, do business, make fresh acquaintances and breathe fresh winds. A Kith village grew up, stabilized, and settled into its own timelessness.

Spanning the distances they did, zero-zero drives running them on the heels of light and time aboard dilated by gamma factors in the hundreds, vessels could hardly ever prearrange a rendezvous. It was occasion for rejoicing and intermingling when two happened to be in the same port. When three or more did, it meant a Fair.

Читать дальше →