ship? Taking them out to the Gold station.â
âDolphins.â Dorn seemed incredulous.
âItâs part of my work,â Corvus explained. âIâm brain-linking with the dolphins as a sort of preliminary test, to see if I can make contact with the leviathans.â
âAnd weâre carrying dolphins on this ship all the way out to Jupiter?â
Corvus nodded enthusiastically. âWe sure are. Four whole decks have been converted into an aquarium for them.â
Dorn shook his head in disbelief.
âI was going to try to make contact with them later today, but if I canât get my transceiver into the volume theyâve allowed for their skullsâ¦â
âYouâll have to make smaller components,â Dorn said, quite matter-of-factly. Then he added, âOr make more room in the dolphinsâ skulls.â
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
Deidre had slept poorly, her dreams filled with scenes of war and bloodshed. DornâDorik Harbinâdidnât appear in those dreams; at least she didnât remember his presence. But the dreams were horrifying, people being slaughtered, villages burned to the ground. And the old Chrysalis habitat methodically destroyed, slashing laser beams ripping its components apart, people blasted into the vacuum of space, not even able to scream as their lifeblood spewed out of them.
She was glad that Dorn wasnât in the dining room when she came down for breakfast. But as she slid her tray along the dispenser tables she saw Max Yeager sitting off in a corner by himself, as if heâd been waiting for her.
As soon as he saw Deirdre the burly engineer got up from his solitary table and buzzed over to her.
âGood morning,â he said, smiling widely. âI hope you slept well.â
âNot very,â Deirdre replied.
She filled her tray with a plate of eggs, a mug of fruit juice, and a dish of melon balls, Yeager beside her every step of the way. She found an empty table and Yeager immediately pulled out a chair in his meaty hands and held it for her.
âI didnât sleep all that well, either,â he said as he sat across the table from her. âStrange surroundings, eh? Have you done much traveling?â
With a shake of her head, Deirdre admitted, âThis is my first trip away from home.â
âIâve traveled a lot,â Yeager said. âBeen to Mercury twice, helping Yamagata Corporation design those big solar energy satellites theyâre putting up out there. Rumor is, they want to use some of âem to power lasers thatâll propel lightsail ships out to Alpha Centauri.â
âAlpha Centauri?â she marveled.
Before Yeager could respond, Deirdreâs pocketphone buzzed. She fished it from the pocket of her slacks and saw the text message on its minuscule screen: âDEIRDRE AMBROSE, PLEASE REPORT TO DR. POHAN IN THE INFIRMARY. AT ONCE.â
Staring at her, Yeager wondered aloud, âWhatâs that all about?â
Deirdre pushed her chair away from the table and got to her feet. âI have to go,â she said.
âYou havenât had any breakfast!â
âIâm not that hungry, really.â And she hurried out of the dining room, glad to leave Yeager standing there alone.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
Wrinkled, bald, mustachioed Dr. Pohan smiled at her as Deirdre stepped into his office, but somehow his smile seemed tense to her, forced. The wall screens showed images of medical scans, slices through her body, circles of intestines, interiors of lungs like budding, branching flowers, pulsing, beating organs.
Thatâs what I look like inside, Deirdre said to herself as she sat, staring fascinatedly, in front of the doctorâs desk.
Without preamble, Dr. Pohan said, âWe have a puzzlement on our hands, young lady.â
âA puzzlement?â
âYou have rabies.â
Shocked, Deirdre gasped, âRabies? Thatâs
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