The Complete Rammer by Larry Niven

Author:Larry Niven [Niven, Larry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jerry eBooks
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

PEERSSA FOR THE STATE

I

Corbell’s pressure suit sat limp in a guest chair in Mirelly-Lyra’s office. Gording and Mirelly-Lyra watched him detach the helmet and set it on his head. He cleared his throat and said, “This is Corbell for himself calling Peerssa for the State. Come in, Peerssa.”

Nothing, nothing, nothing . . . “He’s got to be in range by now. Peerssa, dammit, answer!”

Gording pushed the suit aside and took the chair. The silver cane remained fixed on the old woman. She didn’t notice. Malice and victory! She gave Corbell the shivers.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, n—The voice came faintly, fading in spots. “Peerssa for the State, Peerssa for the State calling Jaybee Corbell. Please allow for a delay of sixty-seven seconds in transmission. Corbell, I have a great deal to tell you.”

“Yeah, you do! I’ve got a great deal to tell you too! I can tell you most of the history of the solar system. Tell me first, have you taken control of the planet Uranus? If so, what do you plan to do with it?” To Gording he said, “I’m asking him now. We’ll know in a minute.”

“What takes so long?”

“Speed of light. Uranus must be thirty-three and a half light-seconds away.”

Gording nodded. He was not impatient. Even his handling of the cane seemed negligent. . . but it never left the old woman. Good. Because she still had that look.

When Peerssa spoke he was irritatingly placid. “Yes, I am guiding a planet I believe to be Uranus. You were right in guessing that this is the solar system. After losing contact with you I flew to investigate the most easily available anomaly, the new planet between Jupiter and Saturn. I found a satellite with control systems which would respond to—”

“I know all about the motor! The question—” He bit it off. The delay was going to drive him nuts. Peerssa was still talking;

“—my broadcasts. I was able to probe the fail-safe programs first. Otherwise I might have damaged something. Eventually I found an object in the planet’s upper atmosphere radiating strongly in the infrared. I found a tremendous motor, a fusion pulse drive clearly intended to move the entire planet. Oh, you know about the motor. All right. I’ve already started the braking sequence. In twenty-two days Uranus will be inserted into orbit two million miles ahead of the earth. I’m going to move the Earth further from Jupiter. We’ll cool it down to normal.”

“Don’t do it!” Corbell barked. He remembered uneasily that he had never been sure of Peerssa’s motives. “Listen, life on Earth has been adjusting to this situation for a million years or more. If you screw it up now most of the biosphere will die, including what passes for humanity these days.”

The old woman already looked younger, if only in a tightening of muscles in her face, a smoothing of the pouchy look. Corbell looked away from the malicious cat-smile. He lifted the helmet and said, in Boyish, “We were right. No coincidence at all. Peerssa dropped me here, then went to look Uranus over,.

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