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Authors: Amy Kathleen Ryan
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great!” Philip squealed.
Kieran severed the link and looked at the drawer that held Mather’s data-dot. She wanted a treaty, she said. But she was holding all the cards. He might have little choice other than to play her game. But for now, he’d let her wait. He tapped his intercom link to Central Command, and Sarek answered.
“Sarek, increase our acceleration by another two percent.”
“The crew is already complaining,” Sarek said. “People are getting backaches.”
“We’ve got to catch up to that damn woman.”
“Okay,” Sarek said, tired.
Soon Kieran felt the extra pull on his body. When he stood, he had to lean against the desk, panting. The extra gravity was exhausting, but it had to be even harder on the older New Horizon crew. Maybe he could wear them down this way, make Mather see reason and let the parents go. If not, he didn’t know what else to do.
He was in his quarters undressing for bed when the intercom from Central Command buzzed. “Yes?” Kieran said, not bothering to go to his com station for the video link.
“Kieran,” Sarek said. “The New Horizon has increased their acceleration by two percent.”
Kieran leaned his forehead on the wall. “Did we gain on them?”
“No,” Sarek said. “What should I do?”
“Keep up the new speed. We’ll try to wear them down.”
“Okay,” Sarek said, and hung up.
When Kieran pressed the off button on his intercom, he noticed his hands were weirdly swollen. He squeezed the pads of his fingertips, which felt like over-full balloons. Edema, Mather had said.
Already it was happening.
He crawled between his sheets, buried his face in his pillow, and prayed. “God. Help us, please?”
But the voice in his mind—that hard-to-hear whisper in the dark that had first come to him when he was starving in the brig and had been with him ever since—only said what it always said to him: I already am helping you.
How? he asked desperately as he twisted against the mattress beneath him.
You will know your path when you see it, the voice said.
He knew the voice was telling him to trust himself, and he tried to believe he was equal to the task before him. He had faith in the voice but not enough to keep from being afraid.
CLUES
Seth huddled in a corner of the conifer bay behind the juniper bushes. The heat lamps were programmed for springtime, but it was still only a chilly fifty degrees, and he shivered. For the moment, this was the best hiding place. Two hours before, he’d heard a couple of Kieran’s guards enter the bay, and they’d strolled through it, peering between the needles, looking for him. He lay perfectly still, not even allowing himself to breathe until they’d disappeared behind a stand of Douglas fir. Since then there’d been no one, and he’d had some time to think about who could have caused those thruster bursts. Who would want to send the ship off course?
Considering that everyone on board, even the orphans, desperately wanted to recover the captives being held on the New Horizon, only one possibility made any sense: There was a stowaway from the New Horizon on board.
Seth rubbed his palms against his arms, letting the friction warm him. The first step to finding the saboteur would be to figure out how he was able to program the thruster misfires, which could only have been done from the well-populated Central Command or from the radioactive engine room.
Seth could never get within a mile of Central Command, but it was unlikely the saboteur had operated there, unless the culprit was Sarek or Arthur, or Kieran himself. Unlikely. That left the engine room, if Seth could only get down there. The entire section had been sealed off to control the radiation, so the only way into the engine room would be through an outer hatch. The main problem: The engine room hatches had been designed to vent gas, not for ingress. They were barely large enough for an adult man to fit through the opening. But getting there was
Kieran severed the link and looked at the drawer that held Mather’s data-dot. She wanted a treaty, she said. But she was holding all the cards. He might have little choice other than to play her game. But for now, he’d let her wait. He tapped his intercom link to Central Command, and Sarek answered.
“Sarek, increase our acceleration by another two percent.”
“The crew is already complaining,” Sarek said. “People are getting backaches.”
“We’ve got to catch up to that damn woman.”
“Okay,” Sarek said, tired.
Soon Kieran felt the extra pull on his body. When he stood, he had to lean against the desk, panting. The extra gravity was exhausting, but it had to be even harder on the older New Horizon crew. Maybe he could wear them down this way, make Mather see reason and let the parents go. If not, he didn’t know what else to do.
He was in his quarters undressing for bed when the intercom from Central Command buzzed. “Yes?” Kieran said, not bothering to go to his com station for the video link.
“Kieran,” Sarek said. “The New Horizon has increased their acceleration by two percent.”
Kieran leaned his forehead on the wall. “Did we gain on them?”
“No,” Sarek said. “What should I do?”
“Keep up the new speed. We’ll try to wear them down.”
“Okay,” Sarek said, and hung up.
When Kieran pressed the off button on his intercom, he noticed his hands were weirdly swollen. He squeezed the pads of his fingertips, which felt like over-full balloons. Edema, Mather had said.
Already it was happening.
He crawled between his sheets, buried his face in his pillow, and prayed. “God. Help us, please?”
But the voice in his mind—that hard-to-hear whisper in the dark that had first come to him when he was starving in the brig and had been with him ever since—only said what it always said to him: I already am helping you.
How? he asked desperately as he twisted against the mattress beneath him.
You will know your path when you see it, the voice said.
He knew the voice was telling him to trust himself, and he tried to believe he was equal to the task before him. He had faith in the voice but not enough to keep from being afraid.
CLUES
Seth huddled in a corner of the conifer bay behind the juniper bushes. The heat lamps were programmed for springtime, but it was still only a chilly fifty degrees, and he shivered. For the moment, this was the best hiding place. Two hours before, he’d heard a couple of Kieran’s guards enter the bay, and they’d strolled through it, peering between the needles, looking for him. He lay perfectly still, not even allowing himself to breathe until they’d disappeared behind a stand of Douglas fir. Since then there’d been no one, and he’d had some time to think about who could have caused those thruster bursts. Who would want to send the ship off course?
Considering that everyone on board, even the orphans, desperately wanted to recover the captives being held on the New Horizon, only one possibility made any sense: There was a stowaway from the New Horizon on board.
Seth rubbed his palms against his arms, letting the friction warm him. The first step to finding the saboteur would be to figure out how he was able to program the thruster misfires, which could only have been done from the well-populated Central Command or from the radioactive engine room.
Seth could never get within a mile of Central Command, but it was unlikely the saboteur had operated there, unless the culprit was Sarek or Arthur, or Kieran himself. Unlikely. That left the engine room, if Seth could only get down there. The entire section had been sealed off to control the radiation, so the only way into the engine room would be through an outer hatch. The main problem: The engine room hatches had been designed to vent gas, not for ingress. They were barely large enough for an adult man to fit through the opening. But getting there was
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