The Smoke Ring(1987)

Larry Niven

In the free-fall environment of the Smoke Ring, descendants of the crew of theDisciplineno longer remember their Earth roots or the existence of Sharls Davis Kendy, the despot of the ship. Only Jeffer, the Citizens Tree Scientist, knows that Kendy is still watching and waiting. Then, when the Citizens Tree people rescue a family of loggers, they learn of the Admiralty, a large society living amid the floating debris called the Clump. It is likely that the Admiralty has maintained, intact,Discipline's original computer library. Exploration is a temptation neither Jeffer nor Kendy can resist, and neither will ever be the same again.