7.

SOMETHING AHEAD.

Annie walked down the narrow aisle. Most of the passengers were still staring outside at the dizzying display. At first, they didn't notice her.

Then Bill Nahara-the company man-looked up.

She had to wonder again: What the hell is he doing here?

Had to be some official Road Authority business.

Checking up on me ... or Jordan ... or one of the far system stations?

It's like he's some kind of spy.

In a small group and the tight confines of the SRV, that made her a tad suspicious-and uneasy.

McGowan was leaning back with his eyes shut. Could he really have done so many Road trips that he was already napping? Bored?

A wonder of the universe, and you doze off?

Then again, she knew that colony miners saw lots of strange things. Like ice planets with entire ecosystems simmering in the geothermal heat below a half-mile-thick frozen mantle. Or caves where new alloys and metals were discovered that seemed to share some qualities of organic material, responding to heat, light ... or even touch.

Miners got used to "weird" pretty quickly.

Not a bad job even if some-maybe most-miners didn't make it back, no matter how strong an excavation suit they wore.

The pay-fantastic.

She cleared her throat.

"Just wanted to check to see how you're all doing down here?"

A few people turned to her quickly, nodding. The Seeker at the back-Corso-remained with her head bowed. McGowan opened his eyes to slits and grunted something unintelligible.

"No one feeling any roadsickness?"

Shakes of heads and mumbles all around.

Everyone's fine here. Thanks for stretching out the molecules in my body until they snapped back like rubber bands.

But Annie had to make sure. She studied each of them, looking for any indication of physical or psychological distress. The portal left even experienced passengers disoriented, and recovery time varied. Annie had one guy snap a year ago, who totally bugged out, wanting off the SRV in the middle of who-knew-where in space.

They'd had to collar him until he settled down.

But this group looked good.

"Okay, then. And we're up here in the cockpit if-"

She was still looking from passenger to passenger.

Good. No signs of anyone looking edgy except for Dr. Rodriguez. But he'd looked wide-eyed even before he boarded the SRV.

"-if you need help with anything, your CLs will work now. Any questions?"

There were none.

"I'm about to run the authority's official message-standard PR stuff. So if everyone's okay..."

"How are they?"

Jordan hadn't been with her when she'd had a passenger "malfunction." Everyone working for the authority had heard about it, though. Everyone knew psych screenings were good.

But they weren't perfect.

"Nice and quiet for the time being."

He nodded.

"Good."

They both knew that if someone went off-kilter, it was Jordan's job to restrain that person.

Collar, restrain, or-if necessary-kill.

Annie pressed a button and started the official Road vid.

The holoscreen materialized at the front out of thin air, and Ruth Corso looked up at the image of a man sitting at a desk. Big smile. The logo of the Star Road Authority was behind him.

His hands folded in front of him on the desk as if he was a bank's branch manager, he began speaking.

"Welcome to your Star Road vehicle and the amazing journey you have now begun!"

Ruth leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. She looked around and saw that not everyone was paying attention. But this was all new to her. New and definitely exciting.

"For the past two decades," the man went on, "we've been able to travel within our solar system using hybridrive. You all used Quarter Light Speed to get to your embarkation point on Pluto. As many of you know, QLS ships made the amazing discovery of the Star Road portal on Pluto. And thanks to the brave efforts and sacrifices of hundreds of adventurers, portions of the Star Road have been mapped and are now open for exploitation and exploration!"

How many portions? Ruth wondered.

Among fellow Seekers, it was understood: no one knows how big the Road is, how far it stretches, what secrets it holds.

"Using this amazing transportation system, we now have safe, dependable, and fast travel to many star and planetary systems that are hundreds, even thousands of light-years away from Earth."

Then Ruth thought: I'm really doing this.

Leaving Earth.

Looking for those answers about the Road, humanity, and the universe itself.

"Although the origin and full extent of the Star Road remains-for now-unknown ... perhaps unknowable, we want you to relax and enjoy your trip in total comfort and safety. We are pleased to welcome you-"

The smiling man faded from the screen to be replaced by a twisting section of Star Road, unbelievably beautiful, shimmering. Music swelled.

"-to the Star Road!"

The screen dissolved into a thousand glittering pieces and vanished with an audible sizzle.

"Something, hmm?"

Ruth looked over at the Chippie seated in front of her, announcing her opinion to the small group.

Thinking: I have nothing in common with someone like her.

The man at the front of the cabin hadn't even watched the vid.

"So ... who do you think made it?"

Is this girl an idiot?

As if anyone knows the answer to that question.

Still-everyone wondered.

Ruth spoke up.

After all, this was something she believed.

"I don't know. But they must have been ... must be beings of amazing intelligence and understanding."

Sinjira turned in her seat to look back. "'Be'? You said 'be,' right? Like they're still around...?"

The girl waved at the porthole, the vast flickering lights of space outside.

"You think they're still out there somewhere?"

Ruth looked away.

"I don't know," she said. "No one does. But I have faith that they are. That they're waiting."

"Waiting? Waiting for what?"

"For us-humans-to prove that we're worthy to meet them, to learn their secrets."

"Really?"

Sinjira grinned at the idea.

I probably shouldn't say anything.

Instead: "As soon as we leave behind all our evil, our violence, and when we prove that we, as a species, are ready."

"How's that working out for us ... as a species?" Another big grin. "I think 'evil' is doing just fine."

Pointless, Ruth thought.

"We aren't 'done' as a species. No one knows ... what's ahead," she said.

Sinjira nodded, still smiling.

"I like that," she said. "No one knows. That's so ... so real."

Sinjira turned away.

And Ruth turned to her porthole and stared at the wonders shifting by outside.

Annie sat quietly, appreciating the smooth, gliding ride of the SRV.

In front of her, stars tilted and swirled as if part of a jacked-up planetarium show. She could almost imagine the hissing, crackling sounds the stars made as they slid by so fast.

The quiet in the cockpit, sitting here with Jordan, took on a deep solemnity.

Like entering church, she thought. Not that she had been to church in a few decades.

But something about a Road trip made her-and obviously Jordan-quiet. Maybe she'd engage the Seeker in a conversation later ... if only to pass the time.

Her hands remained on the controls, making slight adjustments, but with the Road so straight here, stretching out to what seemed a vanishing point in infinity, the SRV nearly drove itself.

She focused on her breathing.

The feel of the cockpit space. The tremendous beauty outside. The steady humming sound of the SRV's engines.

The wonder of it all, she thought.

And then, without warning, a light on the screen to her left began to flash. The view ahead changed. Magnified. And a dark mass appeared far off in the distance.

A warning buzzer sounded in the cockpit.

"Shit!"