transmission. ‘ What’s up, Comet?
’ ‘ I hope Yestin’s all right ,’ my mother remarked. ‘ I just know the rotation stabilisers were affected during that burn .’
‘ Poor Lais ,’ Dad murmured. I could see why. Lais was bent forward, staring at her knees. Mum took my hand, and squeezed it through the glove assembly. She didn’t let go.
‘ . . . prepare for impact in E minus two minutes .’
Dad put his arm around my shoulder. It felt so heavy. Mum said, ‘ I love you, Cheney .’ That’s when the happy gas stopped working so well. My eyes felt hot, and I blinked.
‘ Rats ,’ said Dad, his voice rumbling low through his transmitter. ‘ I forgot to put my laundry in the dump .’
That made me giggle. I suppose it was meant to. I had the weirdest giggling fit, for some reason.
‘ . . . prepare for impact in E minus sixty seconds .’
‘ Now, has everyone gone to the toilet? ’ Dad went on.
‘Da-ad!’ I protested. ‘Please!’
‘ Comet, what happens if we fart inside these things? Is there some kind of venting mechanism?
’ ‘Da-ad!’
‘ What ?’
‘How can you be so stupid?
’ ‘ Oh, it’s not easy. Not for a man of my intellect. But I’ve been in training .’
‘. . . prepare for impact in E minus thirty seconds .’
Mum applied more pressure to my hand. Dad’s arm tightened around my shoulders. Then he tickled me.
‘Ow! Stop it!’
‘ What? I’m not doing anything .’
‘Yes you are.’ I knew what it was, too. ‘Don’t worry,
Dad. I’m okay.’ I wasn’t, of course. There were tears in my eyes. ‘I love you, Dad.’
‘ . . . in E minus ten seconds .
’ I saw Dad reach across me with his free hand.
‘ . . . nine . . .’
Mum’s free hand met his.
‘. . . eight . . .’
There was dead silence.
‘. . . seven . . .’
Suddenly, I found myself praying. I don’t know why. It’s not as if any all-powerful force governing the universe – if it existed – was going to pay the slightest bit of attention to me. But I prayed anyway.
‘ . . . six . . .
’ Please, I prayed, let us survive this thing.
‘ . . . five . . .
’ ‘ Cheney ,’ said Dad, ‘ you are my greatest achievement .’
‘. . . four . . .’
I closed my eyes.
‘ . . . three . . .
’ I caught my breath.
‘ . . . two . . .’
I thought: This can’t be happening.
‘ . . . one . . .
’
CHAPTER
SIX
The encounter lasted nine seconds.
We sat there, and nothing much happened. No alarms went off. No vibrations shook the hull. The lights didn’t flicker. The temperature remained stable.
Then Firminus, who had been watching his Array, transmitted a general announcement over the Audio Interlink Network: ‘ Event cessation. Mark: eleven hundred zero-two .’ He turned in his seat to look at my father.
‘ Are you sure? ’ asked Dad, forgetting that he was still sharing a signal link with me and Mum. For that reason, I heard his exchange with Firminus quite clearly.
‘ CAIP is sure ,’ said Firminus.
‘ Arkwright 05 linkup ,’ said Dad. ‘ Arkwright? What’s your take?
’ ‘ It’s all negative readings, Tuddor ,’ Arkwright replied.
‘ We’re through.
’ ‘Let me see ,’ said Dad, and unstrapped himself.
‘ Tuddor! ’ Mum exclaimed sharply.
‘ It’s all right, Quenby, we’re clear .’
Dad went over to Arkwright’s Array. Arkwright turned to Lais, and said something that I couldn’t hear, because he was using a different signal link. Lais nodded. Dad suddenly broke his connection with me; perhaps he didn’t want any distractions.
I turned to my mum.
‘Are – are we through?’ I stammered.
‘ I think so.
’ ‘Is it still a red alert?’
‘ Technically. Until all the reports come in. ’ Mum unbuckled her harness. ‘ Speaking of which, I’d better run some Med-scans.
’ Suddenly, everyone seemed to be moving. I looked around, bewildered. Had we done it, then? Had we made it through? My heart was still hammering away.
Sloan,
’ ‘ I hope Yestin’s all right ,’ my mother remarked. ‘ I just know the rotation stabilisers were affected during that burn .’
‘ Poor Lais ,’ Dad murmured. I could see why. Lais was bent forward, staring at her knees. Mum took my hand, and squeezed it through the glove assembly. She didn’t let go.
‘ . . . prepare for impact in E minus two minutes .’
Dad put his arm around my shoulder. It felt so heavy. Mum said, ‘ I love you, Cheney .’ That’s when the happy gas stopped working so well. My eyes felt hot, and I blinked.
‘ Rats ,’ said Dad, his voice rumbling low through his transmitter. ‘ I forgot to put my laundry in the dump .’
That made me giggle. I suppose it was meant to. I had the weirdest giggling fit, for some reason.
‘ . . . prepare for impact in E minus sixty seconds .’
‘ Now, has everyone gone to the toilet? ’ Dad went on.
‘Da-ad!’ I protested. ‘Please!’
‘ Comet, what happens if we fart inside these things? Is there some kind of venting mechanism?
’ ‘Da-ad!’
‘ What ?’
‘How can you be so stupid?
’ ‘ Oh, it’s not easy. Not for a man of my intellect. But I’ve been in training .’
‘. . . prepare for impact in E minus thirty seconds .’
Mum applied more pressure to my hand. Dad’s arm tightened around my shoulders. Then he tickled me.
‘Ow! Stop it!’
‘ What? I’m not doing anything .’
‘Yes you are.’ I knew what it was, too. ‘Don’t worry,
Dad. I’m okay.’ I wasn’t, of course. There were tears in my eyes. ‘I love you, Dad.’
‘ . . . in E minus ten seconds .
’ I saw Dad reach across me with his free hand.
‘ . . . nine . . .’
Mum’s free hand met his.
‘. . . eight . . .’
There was dead silence.
‘. . . seven . . .’
Suddenly, I found myself praying. I don’t know why. It’s not as if any all-powerful force governing the universe – if it existed – was going to pay the slightest bit of attention to me. But I prayed anyway.
‘ . . . six . . .
’ Please, I prayed, let us survive this thing.
‘ . . . five . . .
’ ‘ Cheney ,’ said Dad, ‘ you are my greatest achievement .’
‘. . . four . . .’
I closed my eyes.
‘ . . . three . . .
’ I caught my breath.
‘ . . . two . . .’
I thought: This can’t be happening.
‘ . . . one . . .
’
CHAPTER
SIX
The encounter lasted nine seconds.
We sat there, and nothing much happened. No alarms went off. No vibrations shook the hull. The lights didn’t flicker. The temperature remained stable.
Then Firminus, who had been watching his Array, transmitted a general announcement over the Audio Interlink Network: ‘ Event cessation. Mark: eleven hundred zero-two .’ He turned in his seat to look at my father.
‘ Are you sure? ’ asked Dad, forgetting that he was still sharing a signal link with me and Mum. For that reason, I heard his exchange with Firminus quite clearly.
‘ CAIP is sure ,’ said Firminus.
‘ Arkwright 05 linkup ,’ said Dad. ‘ Arkwright? What’s your take?
’ ‘ It’s all negative readings, Tuddor ,’ Arkwright replied.
‘ We’re through.
’ ‘Let me see ,’ said Dad, and unstrapped himself.
‘ Tuddor! ’ Mum exclaimed sharply.
‘ It’s all right, Quenby, we’re clear .’
Dad went over to Arkwright’s Array. Arkwright turned to Lais, and said something that I couldn’t hear, because he was using a different signal link. Lais nodded. Dad suddenly broke his connection with me; perhaps he didn’t want any distractions.
I turned to my mum.
‘Are – are we through?’ I stammered.
‘ I think so.
’ ‘Is it still a red alert?’
‘ Technically. Until all the reports come in. ’ Mum unbuckled her harness. ‘ Speaking of which, I’d better run some Med-scans.
’ Suddenly, everyone seemed to be moving. I looked around, bewildered. Had we done it, then? Had we made it through? My heart was still hammering away.
Sloan,
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