She also knew that Jordan, from both experience and training, could-in a pinch-operate the vehicle.

And when they were between portals, there wasn't much to do except keep the SRV centered on the ribbony twists of road, activating small jets that sprouted from all around the vehicle, little bursts that kept the SRV squarely in the center of the "road" even as it twisted and turned through hyperspace.

Despite the hundreds of lights and switches, the thing wasn't really that hard to operate.

Jordan started toggling switches.

Checking his guns ...

For a few minutes, Annie didn't say anything. Then Jordan turned to her.

"I'm going to check the main," he said.

The main.

The massive gun at the rear of the SRV had a 360 view of the area around the vehicle.

A holovid screen in front of the gunner's seat showed the pod that housed the main. Smaller screens had panoramic views from the SRV, now looking down on the launch platform.

Jordan could operate all the gun remotes from the cockpit, even the big main.

But if anything happened, she knew Jordan would go back there, strap into the narrow seat at the rear, to be a hands-on gunner, and operate it from there.

She knew that, having seen it happen.

Jordan wanted to hold those controls in his hands and swing around in the seat, tracking whatever he targeted.

And whatever he targeted almost always got hit. Annie couldn't remember any misses when they were on the same flight, but she figured there had to have been one or two.

Not that Jordan would ever admit it.

She asked him once, after she saw him blast some Runners who thought they could get the jump on her small SRV.

"You do that ... go back there ... because it's more fun, right?"

Jordan-being Jordan-didn't smile.

"It has a better feel. More accurate."

He's a dinosaur, Annie thought. Something out of freaking medieval times. Cowboy movies.

Jordan had been born too late.

Or maybe, considering things, at just the right time.

It almost always got interesting on the Road.

"As long as you're heading back there, mind checking the freight? Looked like the loaders secured everything pretty well, especially after the near-miss with McGowan's suit. But still-wouldn't hurt to check."

"Got it."

Jordan slid out of his seat and took the gangway down to the passenger area.

Ruth Corso looked around for a place to sit.

She wanted quiet.

Time to think. To meditate about this journey, about what it might mean, why it was so important to her that she left her family without saying good-bye.

The SRV only held eight passengers-four sets of single seats on either side. She counted-what? Only four passengers so far.

Good.

There were bigger SRVs, but they, too, had to keep the passenger areas small. Moving freight for the colonies, supplying them ... that was the important thing. Passengers were an afterthought. Speed and mass being relative, the smaller the vehicle, the faster it would travel on the Road. And even at the impossible distances at equally impossible speeds, time was still paramount.

But the cabin on this vehicle felt smaller than she'd imagined. Cramped.

A stairwell in the front led up to the cockpit. The hatch was closed and, no doubt, locked from the inside. Lavatory on the left, in the back.

She wondered about the pilot. She looked awfully young.

After another look around, Ruth decided on the seat farthest back, on the left. The one across from that one was still empty.

She hoped it stayed that way.

Better to gather my thoughts.

Just then, the cockpit door opened, and a man came down the short stairway, hurrying.

When he looked up, Ruth caught her breath.

No!

Not him! Not Jordan!

What are the odds?

Then he stopped, looked right at her.

She opened her mouth. But then caught herself.

Of course he wouldn't speak to her.

But he looked straight at her, as if sighting her down the barrel of a gun.

Then he hurried to the rear of the SRV.

As he passed, Ruth somehow found the courage to reach out and touch him on the right arm.

"Does it matter where I sit?"

Jordan stopped. Licked his lips, his eyes skittering from side to side.

"Not to me."

He looked at her a moment longer.

Ruth smiled. He had a patch with an image of the SRV on it.

Copilot now? she thought.

He shook his head. "Let me guess," Jordan said. "You're going to Omega Nine?"

Is it that obvious? Ruth wondered. So clear that I'm a Seeker?

And: He doesn't like it.

"That's my plan. I know there's-"

"Nothing but trouble. Lots of crazy, desperate people there." Jordan's voice stung like a whip.

Instant anger rose up inside Ruth. There was so much she-and he-could have said ... should have said.

But not anymore.

Then she reminded herself ... Anger isn't the way. It never is.

"Yes. Other Seekers have gone there. A place where-"

Jordan turned away. She thought maybe he'd noticed that other passengers were listening to their conversation.

He mustered a tight smile.

"Farthest point so far. Until we go, as they say, farther."

"You've been there?"

There was a note of awe in her voice. She realized she asked the question as if he had been to Mecca, a holy place-and if so, how could he not want to know everything about this Star Road, about the Builders? There were so many questions that needed answers- "Yeah, I've been there. Nice pile of rocks. A few communities of your people waiting for-for what? Enlightenment?" His thin smile faded. "Get ready to be disappointed. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Jordan kept moving, slipping past the other passengers who were standing in the narrow aisle.

His words didn't bother Ruth.

There would always be doubters.

She repeated one of her favorite Seeker mantras: Doubt feeds on fear, and fear feeds on ignorance.

Ruth closed her eyes ... and waited for the trip to begin.

The lowest screen at the base of the SRV's control panel switched from the Mobius Station logo to Humphries's smiling face.

"SRV-66-ready to begin pre-Road checkout."

She smiled. "All set here."

Humphries looked to the side of his screen as if trying to see if someone was sitting to Annie's right.

"Where's your gunner?"

"Checking the main and the freight area. We had an issue with loading."

"We know. McGowan already filed a liability-for-damages report. Sorry about that ... and the little incident before boarding."

"Little incident?"

The words echoed ironically for Annie.

"A lot of people could have been hurt ... if it hadn't been for Jordan."

"Yeah. But all's well, right? We're showing green lights across the board for your portal exit."

He's avoiding the situation.

"You know as well as I do that things can change quickly. No Runner activity reported thus far, and no areas showing any anomalies."

Another euphemism. "Anomalies."

Anything that happened on the Road that they couldn't explain was an "anomaly."

Anomalies could kill you out here.

"Good," Annie said, focusing on her job.

"Let's run through your board check."

"Let's."

And Mobius Control Center began checking every switch, button, screen, readout, and HUD remotely while Humphries confirmed that each responded properly.

A tedious process.

But, Annie thought, keeping your ass safe is worth a tedious process.