descend is one level per every six seconds.”
Andi said something rude. The Waiter seemed
to think about it. “Is that an order, Andi? I’m not sure I follow.”
“Override safety regulations, clearance
code Alpha November 239. Get this elevator down!”
“Yes Andi.” The levels began to flash by as
the elevator sank rapidly down to the bottom cube of the ship. It slowed as it
reached the cargo bay, and Andi stood by the doors impatiently, waiting for
them to open. When they did so she ran out and down the corridor to the bay
that housed the Sparrowhawk .
The internal doors to the cargo bay were
shut. She waved her hand over the sensor, but they didn’t open. She looked
through the glass windows into the bay and saw that the Sparrowhawk was
already moving, heading down the bay for the large cargo doors at the end.
“Waiter, open these doors.”
“I cannot do that Andi, Deneb has coded the
doors red.”
“Override it, Waiter, clearance code Alpha
November 239! Quickly!”
There was an almost dramatic pause before
the Waiter replied: “I cannot do that, Andi. Your access code will not work on
this lock.”
So, Deneb had known about her special
clearance code. He had let her use it to get down here, but had known that she
would try and override his red privacy code on the door.
“Waiter! Open the doors and let me in!”
“I cannot do that, Andi.”
But she already knew that—the doors
wouldn’t open while the bay was decompressed, even if she managed to break the
code he’d used. Palms pressed against the glass, she watched the Sparrowhawk exit the cargo bay and drop into space. The doors shut slowly, blocking out the
dazzling light from Thoume’s sun.
Stupid Deneb. Stupid, stupid Deneb. Sliding
down the wall, Andi put her face in her hands and wept.
Chapter Four
Five Days Later
Andi sat at the head of the table, head
bowed, listening to Jack, who was talking to the officers of the Antiquarian crew that he had called to the meeting.
“Deneb’s instructions were quite clear,” he
stated, tapping the notepad on which Andi’s father had left his message. “If he
didn’t return in five days, we were to take Andi back to Earth.”
“I know.” Caelum, the Earthman who ran the
Engineering section, lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It’s just so
difficult to take in. I can’t believe he’s not coming back.”
“Me neither.” The next speaker was from the
planet Michabo, several star systems away from Earth’s. His name was Ioto and,
although humanoid like the others at the table, he was the crewmember who
looked least like an Earthman. His skin had a strange, translucent quality to
it, so that his veins and muscles were just visible, due to the fact that his civilization
lived beneath the surface of the planet, in cities constructed from caves and tunnels
under the ground. His eyesight was thus not one of his most important senses
and his eyes were small and weak—like a blind man, Ioto found everything by
touch and his people had developed long hairs on their hands to increase their
sensory awareness. Because of this, Ioto was in charge of the museum artifacts,
as he was so gentle with the many fragile items. “What’s going to happen when
we get back to Earth?”
“I don’t know.” Jack looked troubled. Andi
watched him mutely. His brown, wrinkled skin looked even more parched than
usual. “We’ll have to talk about that on the way. But I really think we should
get going. Now the Hoshaens have overrun the Ruvalians, it’s possible they may
turn their attention to the skies, and the last thing Deneb would have wanted
was his ship—and Andi—to be taken.”
Another Earthman called Taurus, who was the
ship’s chef in charge of food and other supplies, leaned across and squeezed
Andi’s hand. Like the animal after which the constellation was named, he was a
large man, with huge shoulders and muscled arms. His touch on her hand,
however, was gentle. “You
Andi said something rude. The Waiter seemed
to think about it. “Is that an order, Andi? I’m not sure I follow.”
“Override safety regulations, clearance
code Alpha November 239. Get this elevator down!”
“Yes Andi.” The levels began to flash by as
the elevator sank rapidly down to the bottom cube of the ship. It slowed as it
reached the cargo bay, and Andi stood by the doors impatiently, waiting for
them to open. When they did so she ran out and down the corridor to the bay
that housed the Sparrowhawk .
The internal doors to the cargo bay were
shut. She waved her hand over the sensor, but they didn’t open. She looked
through the glass windows into the bay and saw that the Sparrowhawk was
already moving, heading down the bay for the large cargo doors at the end.
“Waiter, open these doors.”
“I cannot do that Andi, Deneb has coded the
doors red.”
“Override it, Waiter, clearance code Alpha
November 239! Quickly!”
There was an almost dramatic pause before
the Waiter replied: “I cannot do that, Andi. Your access code will not work on
this lock.”
So, Deneb had known about her special
clearance code. He had let her use it to get down here, but had known that she
would try and override his red privacy code on the door.
“Waiter! Open the doors and let me in!”
“I cannot do that, Andi.”
But she already knew that—the doors
wouldn’t open while the bay was decompressed, even if she managed to break the
code he’d used. Palms pressed against the glass, she watched the Sparrowhawk exit the cargo bay and drop into space. The doors shut slowly, blocking out the
dazzling light from Thoume’s sun.
Stupid Deneb. Stupid, stupid Deneb. Sliding
down the wall, Andi put her face in her hands and wept.
Chapter Four
Five Days Later
Andi sat at the head of the table, head
bowed, listening to Jack, who was talking to the officers of the Antiquarian crew that he had called to the meeting.
“Deneb’s instructions were quite clear,” he
stated, tapping the notepad on which Andi’s father had left his message. “If he
didn’t return in five days, we were to take Andi back to Earth.”
“I know.” Caelum, the Earthman who ran the
Engineering section, lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It’s just so
difficult to take in. I can’t believe he’s not coming back.”
“Me neither.” The next speaker was from the
planet Michabo, several star systems away from Earth’s. His name was Ioto and,
although humanoid like the others at the table, he was the crewmember who
looked least like an Earthman. His skin had a strange, translucent quality to
it, so that his veins and muscles were just visible, due to the fact that his civilization
lived beneath the surface of the planet, in cities constructed from caves and tunnels
under the ground. His eyesight was thus not one of his most important senses
and his eyes were small and weak—like a blind man, Ioto found everything by
touch and his people had developed long hairs on their hands to increase their
sensory awareness. Because of this, Ioto was in charge of the museum artifacts,
as he was so gentle with the many fragile items. “What’s going to happen when
we get back to Earth?”
“I don’t know.” Jack looked troubled. Andi
watched him mutely. His brown, wrinkled skin looked even more parched than
usual. “We’ll have to talk about that on the way. But I really think we should
get going. Now the Hoshaens have overrun the Ruvalians, it’s possible they may
turn their attention to the skies, and the last thing Deneb would have wanted
was his ship—and Andi—to be taken.”
Another Earthman called Taurus, who was the
ship’s chef in charge of food and other supplies, leaned across and squeezed
Andi’s hand. Like the animal after which the constellation was named, he was a
large man, with huge shoulders and muscled arms. His touch on her hand,
however, was gentle. “You
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