"Yes?" Almost no one read any more, and the library was heavy with the smell of dust. Reading represented initiative on the part of Crifer; it meant that, in the two unoccupied hours before sleep, he went to the library and listened to the reading machine. Everyone else simply sat about and talked. That was the custom. Everyone did it.
But if he wasn't reading himself, Rikud usually went to sleep. All the people ever talked about was what they had done during the day, and it was always the same.
"Yes," said Crifer. "I found a book about the stars. They're also called astronomy, I think."
This was a new thought to Rikud, and he propped his head up on one elbow. "What did you find out?"
"That's about all. They're just called astronomy, I think."
"Well, where's the book?" Rikud would read it tomorrow.
"I left it in the library. You can find several of them under 'astronomy,' with a cross-reference under 'stars.' They're synonymous terms."
"You know," Rikud said, sitting up now, "the stars in the viewport are changing."
"Changing?" Crifer questioned the fuzzy concept as much as he questioned what it might mean in this particular case.
"Yes, there are less of them, and one is bigger and brighter than the others."