Ringworld's Children

Roxa

"She must have decided she wanted my child. Shed have to have had her sterility treatment reversed before we left Earth. It would have taken both of her birthrights. She never told me."

Wembleth said, "Wait. You mean it? Youre my father?" He seemed horrified.

"Yah—"

"Why did you leave us?"

"Teela left me. I thought then that she left me for Seeker—"

"But what did you do?"

"I didnt protect her." How could he, against her own luck? "She went into an eyestorm and we lost her. When we found her again, she was with Seeker. Shed have been carrying you when I left them near the Great Ocean, and as for what she did after that, Id be guessing."

"You are Vashneesht," Wembleth said. "Youre good at guessing. Ive never understood. Why did mother leave us?"

Louis knew he should be going. Every second might be precious. Once upon a time Proserpinas people had cleaned the Ringworld system of every menacing rock. Now it was infested with ships…

But in the presence of his son and growing grandchild, Louis was inclined to stay; and Wembleth needed reassurance.

He said, "I left Teela near the Great Ocean. There werent any stepping disks on the Ringworld then. Seeker — the man she left me for — he might have known how to use the transport that runs along the rim wall. Its a magnetic levitation system, Roxa

"Youd call that crazy unless they were ru

"So they found a place halfway around the arc, and she settled down and made a life with Seeker and you. I hope she was happy."

"Mother was happy," Wembleth said, "but restless too. She never had any more children—"

"Course not. Seeker wasnt her species."

"She and — Seeker — my father," with a bit of a glare, "took turns exploring. I never knew what they were looking for. One of them had to stay with me. They did more of that after I was older. I was near eighty falans when she disappeared."

"And never came back?"

"Never did," Wembleth said.

"She found tree-of-life." Teelas luck, Louis thought. Poor Teela. If anything, it was her genes that were lucky. He said, "I dont know just how it happened, but that tuber grows on every one of these maps of the Pak world, and most maps once held a protector prisoner. A few prisoners must have found some way to infect roots with tree-of-life virus, just as Proserpina did. I think Teela found the Penultimates garden. It would have got Seeker too if she hadnt been exploring alone. She woke up as a protector. Wembleth, she wouldnt ever leave you unless it was to protect you from some greater danger."

Wembleth scowled.

"No, really. She saw what we all saw. She must have guessed what was under the Map of Mars. Roxa

Shed wanted power too, Louis thought. Futz, she was a protector. He said, "She rode the rim-wall maglev system, and then anything that could reach the Map of Mars on the Great Ocean," his mind ru

Roxa

"It doesnt matter. What happened next was that Teela tried to murder Bram."

Roxa

Louis said, "There was a protector already inside the Repair Center. Teela didnt know about Bram, but she knew that if there was anyone on site, he wasnt doing his job. He was letting the rim-wall attitude jets be stolen. Hed have to be replaced.

"Wembleth, I talked to Bram. I got his version of what happened. Bram wasnt the brightest of protectors. He never figured out this next part.

"Teela was a protector. She did what she had to do. She took an older man off one of the other maps, probably, and disguised herself. She went with him into the Map of Mars as a pair of breeders. They went exploring through the Repair Center. By the time they found the tree-of-life garden, Teela must have seen enough, or smelled him. Somewhere there was a protector. She let the man eat tree-of-life, and she ate too.

"The man died. Teela pretended to go into a coma. She might have lain motionless for several turns. Bram was supposed to come and examine her to find out what she was, then kill her before she could wake up as a protector. She would have taken him by surprise and killed him.

"But Bram didnt come. He must have decided to let her wake. She had to go to Plan B. She left the Map of Mars without ever letting Bram know she knew about him. She set about repairing the rim-wall jets, and then… she contrived to get herself killed."

"How? Louis, how?" Wembleth demanded. He was still holding the crossbow.

She had attacked Louis and his companions, and contrived to lose the fight. Louis had killed her himself.

He said, "Bram had us at his mercy. We were hostages for as long as Teela was alive. Shed have been his servant, and he was incompetent. She had to die to save the Ringworld, and she did."

"But—"

Louis rode him down. "What matters now is that I would do anything for you. In practice, what I have to do is lose you again. Its indescribably important that the ruling protectors, Tunesmith and Proserpina, be unable to find you."

"What would they do, kill us? Question us?"

"Theyd protect you."

Wembleth set the crossbow down. His hands were shaking. "Vashneesht! Stet. I like these people, but we can move again. Must you know where?"

"I must not," Louis said firmly.

He went outside. Wolf-people youths were clambering over the service stack. Louis shooed them away. He reprogrammed the stepping-disk controls and the float controls too.

Wembleth and Roxa

"Cant we be traced?"

"I fixed that, Roxa