"I…had the idea you were only guessing…Oh, I see. You're willing to bet my life."

The Scientist's eyes dropped. "I suppose I am. But if I'm right, there won't be anything left but you and the people who go with you. Jeffer, this could be nothing. You could all come back with…whatever we need: breeding turkeys, some kind of meat animal living on the trunk, I don't know—"

"But you don't think so."

"No. That's why I'm giving you these."

He pulled treasures from the spine-branch walls: a glassy rectangle a quarter meter by half a meter, flat enough to fit into a pack four boxes each the size of a child's hand. The Grad's response was a musical "O-ooh."

"You'll decide for yourself whether to tell any of the others what you're carrying. Now let's do one last drill session." The Scientist plugged a cassette into the reader screen. "You won't have much chance to study on the trunk."

PLANTS

LIFE PERVADES THE SMOKE RING BUT IS NEITHER DENSE NOR MASSIVE. IN THE FREE-FALL ENVIRONMENT PLANTS CAN SPREAD THEIR GREENERY WIDELY TO CATCH MAXIMUM SUNLIGHT AND PASSING WATER AND SOIL, WITHOUT BOTHERING ABOUT STRUCTURAL STRENGTH. WE FIND AT LEAST ONE EXCEPTION…

THESE INTEGRAL TREES GROW TO TREMENDOUS SIZE. THE PLANT FORMS A LONG TRUNK UNDER TERRIFIC TENSION, TUFTED WITH GREEN AT BOTH ENDS, STABILIZED BY THE TIDE. THEY FORM THOUSANDS OF RADIAL SPOKES CIRCLING LEVOY'S STAR. THEY GROW UP TO A HUNDRED KILOMETERS IN LENGTH, WITH UP TO A FIFTH OF A GEE IN TIDAL "GRAVITY" AT THE TUFTS AND PERPETUAL HURRICANE WINDS.

THE WINDS DERIVE FROM SIMPLE ORBITAL MECHANICS. THEY BLOW FROM THE WEST AT THE INNER TUFT AND FROM THE EAST AT THE OUTER TUFT (WHERE IN IS TOWARDS LEVOY'S STAR, AS USUAL). THE STRUCTURE BOWS TO THE WINDS, CURVING INTO A NEARLY HORIZONTAL BRANCH AT EACH END. THE FOLIAGE SIFTS FERTILIZER FROM THE WIND.

THE MEDICAL DANGERS OF LIFE IN FREE-FALL ARE WELL KNOWN. IF DISCIPLINE HAS INDEED ABANDONED US, IF WE ARE INDEED MAROONED WITHIN THIS WEIRD ENVIRONMENT, WE COULD DO WORSE THAN TO SFITLE THE TUFTS OF THE INTEGRAL TREES. IF THE TREES PROVE MORE DANGEROUS THAN WE ANTICIPATE, ESCAPE IS EASY. WE NEED ONLY JUMP AND WAIT TO BE PICKED UP.