Read Online One's Aspect to the Sun by Sherry D. Ramsey - Free Book Online Page B

back, PrimeCorp tended to tread gently around him, anyway. I wondered if he'd know what Sedmamin might have meant by “changes in the wind,” but that could wait until the next time we spoke in real-time.
    That was all I could do. Unfortunately, that left my mind free to consider the other things Sedmamin had said.
    First, was the story about my mother true at all? He could have fabricated it as another ploy to get me onto PrimeCorp property, but I didn't think so. He wouldn't gloat over a lie. No, the PrimeCorp person had seen my mother—or someone they were certain was her.
    A month ago. I idly punched up the star charts and wormhole routes on my own screen, including the new ones. If the story was true, and considering that the identifier was already back on Earth, she could have been in almost any inhabited system. In the time since then she could have gone anywhere in Nearspace.
    The other question was, where had Sedmamin obtained a hologram recent enough to make any kind of identification likely? Whatever he'd have “on file” would be decades old.
    He hadn't said anything else about her, only that she was “alive and well.” For half a second I considered actually storming in to PrimeCorp and demanding to see what else was in that file, then shook my head. Chances were I wouldn't learn a damn thing more than I knew now, and I could be walking into something very bad. It was probably exactly what Sedmamin was hoping I'd do.
    As for that crack about my crew—I wanted to brush it off as nothing but pure nastiness on Sedmamin's part, but it nagged me. I trusted my crew and considered them all my friends, but in truth, I hadn't known most of them very long. I did know they all had secrets. Could one of them be keeping quiet about something that could ultimately hurt us?
    I closed down my screen and went to talk to Viss about picking up Hirin. One worry at a time.
     
     

     
     
    Chapter Five
Dark as Space and Twice as Dangerous
     
     
     
     
     
    Dr. Ndasa and Hirin both arrived on board just at suppertime, which made for a busy couple of hours. We got Hirin settled in the guest quarters, right across the hall from my cabin. It didn't take long. He didn't bring much with him.
    He shrugged when I asked him about it. “I don't need much,” he said. “And you'd only be stuck with it after . . .”
    “After you croak and we jettison you off into the depths of space?” I finished for him.
    He laughed. “Exactly. Oh, Luta, I'm so glad you can joke about this. I was worried that it would be too hard on you.”
    “It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do.” I hugged him. “But if you can take it, I guess I can, too.”
    He stroked my hair briefly with a hand that trembled just enough to notice. “There never was much we couldn't take on together, was there?”
    “Nope, there never was,” I agreed. “Let's go see how Dr. Ndasa's doing. If you feel up to it.”
    “I feel better than I have in a long time, to tell you the truth. One thing, though,” he said, squeezing my hand instead of letting it go. “The crew—they still don't know about you, do they? And me—us.”
    “Only Rei,” I said. “She knows some of it.”
    “And we'll keep it that way? I don't mind, but I thought you might be wondering if I would.”
    Sudden tears stung my eyes. “It's not the way I've ever wanted things to be, Hirin. All this secrecy. Especially now.”
    “I know. But I've had lots of time to think about it, and it's just the way things are. Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't left me for a younger man before this.”
    I looked up, stricken, but his eyes twinkled as he tried to suppress a grin. I put my hands on my hips.
    “Keep that up and I just might, old man. Now are you coming with me?”
    “I think I'll have a lie down and rest until supper time. I'll come to the galley to eat. I can't wait to have different people to talk with.”
    Since Dr. Ndasa was our only other passenger, I'd put him in one of the two