Read Online Xeelee: An Omnibus: Raft, Timelike Infinity, Flux, Ring by Stephen Baxter - Free Book Online Page A

the walls of their cage. ‘I let them out when they’re too big,’ Pallis told Rees. ‘They’re just - company, I suppose. You know, there are some who bind up these babies with wire to stunt their growth, distort their shapes. I can’t envisage doing that. No matter how attractive the result.’
    The other item of decoration was a photograph, a portrait of a woman. Such things weren’t unknown in the Belt - the ancient, fading images were handed down through families like shabby heirlooms - but this portrait was fresh and vivid. With Pallis’s permission Rees picked it up—
    —and with a jolt he recognized the smiling face.
    He turned to Pallis. ‘It’s Sheen.’
    Pallis shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his scars flaring red. ‘I should have guessed you’d know her. We - used to be friends.’
    Rees imagined the pilot and his shift supervisor together. The picture was a little incongruous - but not as immediately painful as some such couplings he had envisaged in the past. Pallis and Sheen was a concept he could live with.
    He returned the photo to its frame and resumed his meal, chewing thoughtfully.
    At the turn of the shift they settled for sleep.
    Rees’s hammock was yielding and he relaxed, feeling somehow at home. The next shift would bring more changes, surprises and confusions; but he would face that when it came. For the next few hours he was safe, cupped in the bowl of the Raft as if in the palm of a hand.
    A respectful knock jolted Hollerbach out of his trance-like concentration. ‘Eh? Who the hell is that?’ His old eyes took a few seconds to focus - and his mind longer to clear of its whirl of food test results. He reached for his spectacles. Of course the ancient artefact didn’t really fit his eyes, but the discs of glass did help a little.
    A tall, scarred man loomed into semi-focus, advancing hesitantly into the office. ‘It’s me, Scientist. Pallis.’
    ‘Oh, pilot. I saw your tree return, I think. Good trip?’
    Pallis smiled tiredly. ‘I’m afraid not, sir. The miners have had a few troubles—’
    ‘Haven’t we all?’ Hollerbach grumbled. ‘I just hope we don’t poison the poor buggers with our food pods. Now then, Pallis, what can I do for you - oh, by the Bones, I’ve remembered. You’ve brought back that damn boy, haven’t you?’ He peered beyond Pallis; and there, sure enough, was the skinny, insolent figure of Gover. Hollerbach sighed. ‘Well, you’d better see Grye and return to your usual duties, lad. And your studies. Maybe we’ll make a Scientist of you yet, eh? Or,’ he muttered as Gover departed, ‘more likely I’ll lob you over the Rim myself. Is that all, Pallis?’
    The tree-pilot looked embarrassed; he shifted awkwardly and his scar network flared crimson. ‘Not quite, sir. Rees!’
    Now another boy approached the office. This one was dark and lean and dressed in the ragged remnants of a coverall - and he stopped in surprise at the doorway, eyes fixed to the floor.
    ‘Come on, lad,’ Pallis said, not unkindly. ‘It’s only carpet; it doesn’t bite.’
    The strange boy stepped cautiously over the carpet until he stood before Hollerbach’s desk. He raised his eyes - and again his mouth dropped with obvious shock.
    ‘Good God, Pallis,’ Hollerbach said, running a hand self-consciously over his bald scalp, ‘what have you brought me here? Hasn’t he ever seen a Scientist before?’
    Pallis coughed; he seemed to be trying to hide a laugh. ‘I don’t think it’s that, sir. With all respect, I doubt if the lad’s ever seen anyone so old.’
    Hollerbach opened his mouth - then closed it again. He inspected the boy more carefully, noting the heavy muscles, the scarred hands and arms. ‘Where are you from, lad?’
    He spoke up clearly. ‘The Belt.’
    ‘He’s a stowaway,’ Pallis said apologetically. ‘He travelled back with me and—’
    ‘And he’s got to be shipped straight home.’ Hollerbach sat back and folded his skinny arms.