signs that the Builders are busy in the next arm over. I can see why you are involved, because the immediate danger to the Marglotta is an ethical question. But me, I'm strictly short-term. Get in a fix today, maybe I can get you out of it by tomorrow. At least I'll try. But when you talk thousands and tens of thousands of years, I'm as much use as feathers on a fish."
"Which goes doubled for At an' me." Louis Nenda stood up, too, leaving Darya sitting sandwiched tightly between him and Rebka. "An' our slaves, J'merlia an' Kallik—"
"They are not your slaves, Mr. Nenda. I object strongly to the use of that word. They are free beings."
"Try tellin' that to them , Councilor—maybe you'll have more luck than I've had. But don't get me off the point. Me an' At don't specialize in ethics."
"I am not unaware of that point. In fact, I am relying upon it."
"Eh? What kind of crack is that? Anyway, not only ethics. I've been mixed up with Builder stuff ever since Summertide, but nobody in their right mind would call me an expert on them."
"This also is a fact well-known to me."
"So why am I here? Why is At here? Why is that"—Nenda seemed ready to use something insulting, but finally he just jerked a thumb toward Hans Rebka—"why is he here? Hell, why is any one of us here? We were forced to come, you know—we didn't want to."
Graves nodded. "That also is no surprise. Mr. Nenda, and Captain Rebka also, I am afraid that one element of this whole affair has apparently escaped you. I should have been clearer at the outset. You were not brought to Miranda Port simply to be provided with information concerning the new Bose nodes that lead to the Sag Arm. You were not brought here to learn about the Marglotta, or the destructive force at work in the Sagittarius Arm. Nor were you brought here to offer your advice, valuable as that may be. You were brought here because you, and I, and everyone present in this chamber, have a more active role to perform."
"Like what?"
"Like, Mr. Nenda, to discover what threatens to destroy Marglot, and what one day may destroy us." Graves bowed his head, so that light gleamed on his bald dome with its pattern of radiation scars that for some reason he had never bothered to have removed. "Miranda Port represents no more than a point of embarkation. As soon as possible, we will all be on our way to the Sagittarius Arm."
CHAPTER SIX
Through the Gulf.
Darya, even though she was from one of the richest worlds in the Fourth Alliance, had never dreamed that ships like the Pride of Orion existed. It was a miracle of compact structure. Although it was not especially large, and although it looked like and operated as one perfectly integrated body, the ship could divide into six self-contained vessels. Each had its own drive and its own Bose transfer capability. The ship had been renamed before they set out from Upside Miranda Port. Darya suspected that was a Council act. The Pride of Orion and everyone within it would be the first representatives of the local arm to visit its inward neighbor.
Or not quite the first. The Pride of Orion was about to pass through yet another Bose transition. Just ahead, a mere pulsating speck on the screen, flew a much smaller ship. Even as Darya watched and wondered, the Have-It-All entered the node and the signal beacon vanished.
Its presence on the expedition was the result of a terrific argument with Julian Graves on the eve of their departure; an argument, moreover, in which the unheard-of took place: Hans Rebka and Louis Nenda had agreed with each other completely.
"The Pride of Orion is effectively indestructible." That was Julian Graves.
"I don't care if the Pride of Orion is made of solid neutronium and could fly up the wazoo of a Bolingbroke giant and come out in one piece." Nenda stood arms akimbo, glaring at the councilor. "Smart people don't do things that way, an' I can't believe you don't know it."
"Nenda's right." Hans Rebka poked an accusing finger
"Which goes doubled for At an' me." Louis Nenda stood up, too, leaving Darya sitting sandwiched tightly between him and Rebka. "An' our slaves, J'merlia an' Kallik—"
"They are not your slaves, Mr. Nenda. I object strongly to the use of that word. They are free beings."
"Try tellin' that to them , Councilor—maybe you'll have more luck than I've had. But don't get me off the point. Me an' At don't specialize in ethics."
"I am not unaware of that point. In fact, I am relying upon it."
"Eh? What kind of crack is that? Anyway, not only ethics. I've been mixed up with Builder stuff ever since Summertide, but nobody in their right mind would call me an expert on them."
"This also is a fact well-known to me."
"So why am I here? Why is At here? Why is that"—Nenda seemed ready to use something insulting, but finally he just jerked a thumb toward Hans Rebka—"why is he here? Hell, why is any one of us here? We were forced to come, you know—we didn't want to."
Graves nodded. "That also is no surprise. Mr. Nenda, and Captain Rebka also, I am afraid that one element of this whole affair has apparently escaped you. I should have been clearer at the outset. You were not brought to Miranda Port simply to be provided with information concerning the new Bose nodes that lead to the Sag Arm. You were not brought here to learn about the Marglotta, or the destructive force at work in the Sagittarius Arm. Nor were you brought here to offer your advice, valuable as that may be. You were brought here because you, and I, and everyone present in this chamber, have a more active role to perform."
"Like what?"
"Like, Mr. Nenda, to discover what threatens to destroy Marglot, and what one day may destroy us." Graves bowed his head, so that light gleamed on his bald dome with its pattern of radiation scars that for some reason he had never bothered to have removed. "Miranda Port represents no more than a point of embarkation. As soon as possible, we will all be on our way to the Sagittarius Arm."
CHAPTER SIX
Through the Gulf.
Darya, even though she was from one of the richest worlds in the Fourth Alliance, had never dreamed that ships like the Pride of Orion existed. It was a miracle of compact structure. Although it was not especially large, and although it looked like and operated as one perfectly integrated body, the ship could divide into six self-contained vessels. Each had its own drive and its own Bose transfer capability. The ship had been renamed before they set out from Upside Miranda Port. Darya suspected that was a Council act. The Pride of Orion and everyone within it would be the first representatives of the local arm to visit its inward neighbor.
Or not quite the first. The Pride of Orion was about to pass through yet another Bose transition. Just ahead, a mere pulsating speck on the screen, flew a much smaller ship. Even as Darya watched and wondered, the Have-It-All entered the node and the signal beacon vanished.
Its presence on the expedition was the result of a terrific argument with Julian Graves on the eve of their departure; an argument, moreover, in which the unheard-of took place: Hans Rebka and Louis Nenda had agreed with each other completely.
"The Pride of Orion is effectively indestructible." That was Julian Graves.
"I don't care if the Pride of Orion is made of solid neutronium and could fly up the wazoo of a Bolingbroke giant and come out in one piece." Nenda stood arms akimbo, glaring at the councilor. "Smart people don't do things that way, an' I can't believe you don't know it."
"Nenda's right." Hans Rebka poked an accusing finger
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