at Graves. "You saw it for yourself during Summertide and on Genizee. No matter how secure you feel, you don't travel without a backup. Especially when you're heading beyond known space."
"We have a back-up ship, for Heaven's sake. We have six back-up ships, right on the Pride of Orion . If you want to inspect them, you have my permission to visit every one."
"Yeah, an' that's real easy to do." Nenda looked around as though seeking a good place to spit. "You know why? Because they are right there on board the Pride of Orion . It gets zapped, they get zapped."
"What could possibly, as you put it, 'zap' the Pride of Orion ?"
"If we knew the answer to that, we'd be a lot less worried." This time Rebka's outstretched finger actually touched the councilor's chest. "I don't understand your logic here. Taking an extra ship along will cost the Council a negligible amount."
"Cost nothin' , you mean." Nenda jerked a thumb toward the silent Cecropian. "At an' me, we'll fly the Have-It-All in scout position for free ."
"Even better. Councilor, are you listening? You have somebody willing to fly on ahead of the Pride of Orion , to make sure that there are no problems waiting. "Hans Rebka gave Nenda a quick sideways glance at that point—the offer to lead the way into possible danger sounded a little too good to be true—but he went on, "A lead scout is in everyone's best interests."
"It would not be right to ask Mr. Nenda and Atvar H'sial to expose themselves to risks not borne by the rest of us. In any case, we will have a special group of humans on board the Pride of Orion , with unique training in survival techniques. The inter-clade council insists on it."
"Oh yeah? Training acquired where? Sitting on their asses on one of the cushy worlds of the Fourth Alliance? If you took 'em to Karelia—"
"—or to Teufel."
Nenda glared at Hans Rebka. "Hey, Captain, we're not competin' on this one." He turned back to Graves. "Take 'em to Karelia or Teufel, an' the locals'd eat 'em for supper an' spit 'em out with the pits."
"I have no reason to question the survival team's competence. They were trained under the direct supervision of Arabella Lund, whom I happen to know personally. And I do not want you to take unnecessary risks."
"Fine. You're not askin' me an At to do that. We're askin' you . An' we're not offering miracles. If there's trouble on the way, all we'll give you will be a few minutes of warning."
The argument went on and on. But Hans and Louis had finally won. The proof of that was the presence on the expedition of the Have-It-All , which had already made its next Bose transition. Darya stared hard at the screen, seeing nothing but knowing that the node entry point for the Pride of Orion could be no more than a few minutes away. One advantage of this ship's curious structure was the existence within its hull of scores of private chambers where a person could retire with her thoughts and hide away from others. Each room had access to the Pride of Orion 's external viewing sensors, and what Darya wanted to see on the display was the reassuring beacon of the Have-It-All as soon as their own ship completed its transition.
Crossing the Gulf was nothing like normal interstellar travel, where you were always comforted by the sight of nearby stars that might send help if your superluminal travel modes failed. Around the Pride of Orion lay only a vast sea of emptiness. The spiral arm from which they had come lay far behind. Ahead the Great Unknown of the Sag Arm sprawled across half the sky.
And within that unknown, perhaps, lay completely new Builder artifacts. Darya had not been able to focus on anything else since Julian Graves mentioned the possibility. She had rejected from Louis Nenda a suggestion that they compare notes on what they knew about the Sag Arm—"I'll show you mine an' you show me yours." She had also been unable to return to her previous intimacy with Hans Rebka, and it had little to do with the fact that
"We have a back-up ship, for Heaven's sake. We have six back-up ships, right on the Pride of Orion . If you want to inspect them, you have my permission to visit every one."
"Yeah, an' that's real easy to do." Nenda looked around as though seeking a good place to spit. "You know why? Because they are right there on board the Pride of Orion . It gets zapped, they get zapped."
"What could possibly, as you put it, 'zap' the Pride of Orion ?"
"If we knew the answer to that, we'd be a lot less worried." This time Rebka's outstretched finger actually touched the councilor's chest. "I don't understand your logic here. Taking an extra ship along will cost the Council a negligible amount."
"Cost nothin' , you mean." Nenda jerked a thumb toward the silent Cecropian. "At an' me, we'll fly the Have-It-All in scout position for free ."
"Even better. Councilor, are you listening? You have somebody willing to fly on ahead of the Pride of Orion , to make sure that there are no problems waiting. "Hans Rebka gave Nenda a quick sideways glance at that point—the offer to lead the way into possible danger sounded a little too good to be true—but he went on, "A lead scout is in everyone's best interests."
"It would not be right to ask Mr. Nenda and Atvar H'sial to expose themselves to risks not borne by the rest of us. In any case, we will have a special group of humans on board the Pride of Orion , with unique training in survival techniques. The inter-clade council insists on it."
"Oh yeah? Training acquired where? Sitting on their asses on one of the cushy worlds of the Fourth Alliance? If you took 'em to Karelia—"
"—or to Teufel."
Nenda glared at Hans Rebka. "Hey, Captain, we're not competin' on this one." He turned back to Graves. "Take 'em to Karelia or Teufel, an' the locals'd eat 'em for supper an' spit 'em out with the pits."
"I have no reason to question the survival team's competence. They were trained under the direct supervision of Arabella Lund, whom I happen to know personally. And I do not want you to take unnecessary risks."
"Fine. You're not askin' me an At to do that. We're askin' you . An' we're not offering miracles. If there's trouble on the way, all we'll give you will be a few minutes of warning."
The argument went on and on. But Hans and Louis had finally won. The proof of that was the presence on the expedition of the Have-It-All , which had already made its next Bose transition. Darya stared hard at the screen, seeing nothing but knowing that the node entry point for the Pride of Orion could be no more than a few minutes away. One advantage of this ship's curious structure was the existence within its hull of scores of private chambers where a person could retire with her thoughts and hide away from others. Each room had access to the Pride of Orion 's external viewing sensors, and what Darya wanted to see on the display was the reassuring beacon of the Have-It-All as soon as their own ship completed its transition.
Crossing the Gulf was nothing like normal interstellar travel, where you were always comforted by the sight of nearby stars that might send help if your superluminal travel modes failed. Around the Pride of Orion lay only a vast sea of emptiness. The spiral arm from which they had come lay far behind. Ahead the Great Unknown of the Sag Arm sprawled across half the sky.
And within that unknown, perhaps, lay completely new Builder artifacts. Darya had not been able to focus on anything else since Julian Graves mentioned the possibility. She had rejected from Louis Nenda a suggestion that they compare notes on what they knew about the Sag Arm—"I'll show you mine an' you show me yours." She had also been unable to return to her previous intimacy with Hans Rebka, and it had little to do with the fact that
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