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other following the orbital laws."
Thomas interjected a comment. "Same thing back in the solar system --
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter -- nearly all the planets and moons are named
after old-time gods."
Little White was relieved to hear what Pink-Orb had to say. ^Good! I
thought you use stories about gods instead of mathematics to predict
conjunctions.^
"Of _course_ not!" said Pink-Orb loudly, and then went on. "I have
excellent telescopes with which to observe the various objects in the sky. I
have long observed the motions of the moons, and recorded their positions with
respect to the stars. I also use mathematics to calculate their orbits with
great precision and my calculations agree with my observations. It is
relatively simple to use the orbital equations to calculate when those objects
which are out of sight must be lined up with those objects which we can see."
^Tell me how you calculate orbits of moons,^ said Little White.
"It is not easy." The astronomer Pink-Orb was slightly condescending.
"It starts with a simple mathematical rule, based on the logic of gravity for
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a spherical mass: One massive object will attract a second massive object with
a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the two
objects, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the
centers of mass of the two objects. The rule is relatively simple to apply to
two or three spherical masses, but after that it is simple no longer, and must
be solved by using approximations. With great patience, I and others at the
Center for Scientific Studies have worked out the orbits and cycles for all of
the objects in our sky, but it took a great deal of time. It is very complex
mathematics, and only a few of us are capable of understanding it. I,
however..."
Little White could not restrain himself longer. ^It is simple! Rule for
many spheres is simple!^
#That's right,# said Little Purple. #Rule combines complex variable
substitution with coordinate transformation into an nth root dimensional
space, where n is number of spheres.#
The icerugs were silent for a long moment. "I do not understand," said
Pink-Orb finally.
^Maybe translation unclear...^
*Here, taste!* said Little Red impatiently, opening his suit and moving
a fleshy red pseudopod to within reach of the alien astronomer's tentacles.
Slowly, hesitantly, the velvet-furred plummy tentacle arose and met the
glistening-wet red pseudopod, and, for an eerie instant, the two
representatives of such different and alien species touched each other.
"There was a strong and very complex taste, but that's all," said
Pink-Orb flatly, who, unlike the flouwen, was unable to pass on information by
taste chemicals.
^It is so beautiful,^ pleaded Little White, frustrated. ^Simple nth
root dimensional space! It makes difficult equations easy.^
"I do not understand." Pink-Orb's bass voice took on a deeper growl.
Little Purple, remembering the injunction of the humans not to overstay their
welcome, decided it was time to leave. Pacifically returning to discussion of
their shared interest in what might lie beneath the surface of the ocean, the
flouwen chatted a few moments longer, promising to share further information
later.
"I must say goodby now," said Pink-Orb. "I have a very long way to
travel. Please inform the humans that I will be returning to my assigned area
in the city, from where I will inform the Presider and the Governing Council
that they may expect a visit from the humans shortly."
Gray-Mote and Yellow-Stare parted their carpets along their adjoining
edges, leaving a narrow path of ice, and Pink-Orb's pedestal started down the
path, a surging wave of plum-colored flesh preceding the node as it laid down
a carpet for the pedestal to travel on. Long after the node had passed on, the
stream of velvety flesh flowed out of the field that Pink-Orb had been
inhabiting. After the last portion of Pink-Orb's body had disappeared, the gap
between Gray-Mote and Yellow-Star closed, and the two icerugs glided silently
away over their colored carpets into the Gargantuan-lit gloom of the nighttime
to return to their own affairs, while the flouwen plodded back to the lander,
burdened with sample bags. There, night-watchman Thomas, with the aid of the
Christmas Branch, hauled them back up on the winch and sucked them back into
their habitat where they refreshed their bodies with crystal-clear
ammonia-water.
* * * *
At first light, Josephine awoke the crew with her accustomed gentleness. "Rise
and shine, my dearies."
Deirdre, accustomed to rising quickly to attend to Foxx's few needs,
was startled to find herself a trifle stiff in movement. A moment later,
Richard groaned, and after climbing out of the hanging harness of his vertical
bunk, designed more for free-fall than gravity, he bent double several times
in the narrow aisle, twisting as he did so.
"Boy, you think you keep in shape, working out in the gym on
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_Prometheus_, but then you do real work, in real gravity, and find some
surprised muscles."
The rest discovered their own sore spots quickly, but the small aches
were soon dissipated in activity. Since there was hard work coming up, they
settled down to Josephine's "cooked breakfast" of cereal, juice, scrambled
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