102.

SHAREEN FITZKELLUM.

Shareen's brother liked to get muddy, so he volunteered to work with the crews in the plankton skimming operations on Kuivahr. Most distillery laborers wore full-body films and goggles to protect themselves from the splashing muck. Toff liked to strap on a life-preserver bladder belt and wade right into the slurry with his buckets and skimmers, tracking down colorful blooms of plankton. He would return to the distillery, oozing and dripping and smelling like rotted vegetation, and he laughed as the other workers hosed him off.

At least it distracted Shareen's brother from bothering her and Howard, so they had time alone. As soon as Toff had detected that she liked Howard, he became a curious pest, as only a younger brother could be. He hovered nearby until he saw them snatching a private moment, then he made certain to interrupt their conversation. Howard, already quiet and shy, seemed embarrassed, and Shareen would chase Toff away, overreacting with enough defensiveness that she often felt embarrassed, too.

Howard surprised her with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Shareen. He's not so bad. My own brothers used to set up practical jokes and damaged some of my school projects because they were jealous. It's rough to be the studious, practical one in a rambunctious family."

"Tell me about it!" She laughed. "Not that I'm really studious."

"Toff is just teasing," Howard said. "I doubt he's ever seen you with a boyfriend before."

Shareen's heart skipped a beat, but she clumsily deflated the situation with her automatic reply. "Oh, so you're my boyfriend?" Wrong tone! She felt like kicking herself.

Howard flushed. "Maybe it was just a hypothetical comment."

"Or maybe not." Feeling as if gravity had just decreased, she nudged him with her elbow. Maybe she would have to pay more attention to her appearance, as her grandfather had suggested, at least give her hair another look.

Shareen signed out a mudskimmer, marking on the log that the two of them were on a "kelp bed mapping and assessment expedition." In truth, she wanted to get Howard away from the refinery and out onto the open water for a change. It was going to be a fun day.

With the tide at midlevel, most of the dangerous reefs would be submerged, and the larger ones were clearly marked on the charts so she could avoid them. Howard was content to sit beside her as she piloted the mudskimmer. She wasn't shy about using the accelerator as they bounded away from the distillery tower, sending up spray behind them. Even Howard started laughing as the wind picked up, and she enjoyed showing off for him.

Shareen swung the skimmer past the outcropping where the ancient Klikiss transportal sat up out of the water. After anchoring the craft against the rocks, they picked their way up the moss-slick black stones to stand before the transportal wall. The alien transportation network had always fascinated her, all those gateways to other planets. Though Roamers traveled widely, and Shareen had seen many places, there was something amazing about the flat trapezoidal wall with its coordinate tiles that offered the prospect of stepping through and instantaneously appearing parsecs away.

Now she and Howard stared at the alien wall, feeling the weight of mystery. She slipped her hand into his, and he pretended not to notice, but returned the grip. Roamers and the Confederation used the transportal walls for mundane transportation needs, but that didn't stop her from marveling at what could be on the other side if she pushed a random coordinate tile. Not because she was dissatisfied with her life, but because she was curious. "Want to take a trip with me, Howard? Set foot on some other planet? We could go farther than a few kelp beds."

"If we did that, we would be wise to tell someone where we're going." He looked surprised, but she noticed he didn't let go of her hand. "Are you trying to run away from home?"

She chuckled. "Maybe if they tried to send me back to that academy on Earth! But no, not today. Someday. There's so much to see." The transportal looked like a sheet of stone, but the implanted circuits were connected to powerful engines and energy fields that could open a passageway from one planet to another. She shivered, but it was a good thrill.

Howard said, "I thought we were mapping and assessing Kuivahr kelp beds."

"Yes, I suppose we are. Does that sound exciting to you?"

He responded with a small but intriguing smile. "If I'm doing it with you."

She laughed. "Well then, on with the excitement!" They made their way back to the mudskimmer.

Because Kuivahr's kelp rafts drifted, charts could not keep track of their locations, and the cloud cover made it impossible for satellites to follow the migrating islands that moved in the shallow tidal exchange zone.

Pretending to know where she was going, Shareen piloted the skimmer. The clouds parted to let sunlight play golden beams on the steel-gray water, then closed up again. Howard kept his eyes on the water ahead and pointed off to the distance. "That dark spot-it's a kelp raft. Let's go see."

Shareen adjusted course toward the seaweed patch. As they drew closer, she saw olive-green fronds swirling like tongues in the sea around them.

Ildiran swimmer kithmen darted beneath the water, trying to keep up with the mudskimmer; some of them surfaced and splashed ahead. Shareen slowed the engines to give them a chance, then zoomed ahead to race them to the kelp island. The Ildirans enjoyed the game, streaking under the water, and showing off. When Shareen accelerated the skimmer, she and Howard both got drenched with spray.

A group of swimmers appeared on the kelp island, waving their webbed hands in invitation. Their large eyes were bright, their sleek skin glistened with moisture. Shareen glanced at Howard. "Looks like they're welcoming us. Should we stay for a visit? Be good neighbors?"

"All part of the learning process." He shaded his eyes. "I think they're as interested in us as we are in them."

Swimmers came alongside the mudskimmer and guided the vehicle through a cleared channel in the morass of kelp fronds; one took the guy line and tied it to a thick seaweed trunk. They looked so sleek, so comfortable in the water; even though they were from Ildira, they had entirely adapted to Kuivahr.

"Humans do not often come out to visit us," said one of the swimmers.

"This is our first time," Howard said. "We'd like to see how you live."

The kelp raft had an uneven surface of woven fronds and bladder nodules. It looked wet and squishy, with uncertain footing. Confident in his balance, Howard swung out of the mudskimmer and climbed onto the kelp, arms out at his sides, wobbling and testing each step before he rested his weight.

Not to be outdone, Shareen bounded onto the kelp, and one foot promptly slid between fronds and into the water. She flailed, grabbed on to Howard's arm, and pulled him down with her. They both fell into the water, clambering over each other, pulling themselves up through the thick weeds. Shareen tried to help him, but he sputtered and flung water from his eyes, and "accidentally" dunked her. The swimmers laughed and steadied both of them, dragging them onto the raft.

One young male swimmer came up and inspected their two dripping forms with something like satisfaction. "I am Tora'm. I met you when we delivered kelp flowers to your big structure. I was intrigued by you then."

Shareen recognized him by the distinctive speckle pattern on his cheeks. "Oh, I remember you. We were less of a mess then." She nudged Howard.

"Yes, my friend wasn't so clumsy," Howard said.

"Careful, or I'll pull you into the water again."

"That would be acceptable, if you'd like to swim with us," Tora'm said. "We were made for the water. You two ... perhaps not. Come, we can relax where it is less wet."

Tora'm guided Shareen and Howard to a cluster of stretched-fabric awnings on metal poles, which offered shelter against intermittent sun or intermittent rain. The swimmer kith didn't seem bothered, regardless.

Swimmer families walked across the matted island, stooping to cut fronds and harvest whatever the kelp raft and the oceans had to offer. "Fish, plankton, shells ... all we could ask for," Tora'm said. "Kuivahr has bounty for all of us. This is a good splinter colony. Other Ildirans aren't so fortunate." He smiled, showing tiny pointed teeth. "Even our brothers on Ildira itself don't have such a beautiful ocean."

Other groups sliced open bladder nodules to drain the liquid from them. Tora'm said the liquor inside was intoxicating, though it tasted foul to Shareen when she sipped it.

"We range far. We watch the seas. We help your distillery when we can, we help ourselves when we wish. Most of all, we help Tamo'l in her sanctuary domes. That is the main reason we came here. This is a perfect refuge for the misbreeds." He grinned again. "And of course, the Kuivahr ocean is perfect for swimmer kith. A hundred volunteers came at first, and we do not miss the light of the seven suns. We were made for the water."

Shareen and Howard had a chance to dry off as they moved about the floating island. The swimmers obviously enjoyed living on the organic rafts, which drifted from place to place, currents taking them in slow circles around the tidal areas.

For their guests, the Ildirans sang an eerie thrumming song that was hypnotic and disturbing at the same time. Tora'm insisted the music would sound better under the water, but they performed it on the surface so Shareen and Howard could hear it.

The two stayed for hours, intrigued by the swimmer kith and glad to be with each other. While the swimmers gathered close to listen, Tora'm asked Shareen and Howard about the distillery, then about skymines, then about human culture, which the swimmers found both funny and fascinating. Shareen enjoyed herself so much among the strange folk that she lost track of how late it was. When the gray drizzly skies darkened, she realized that someone might grow worried about them back at the distillery.

"We better go, Howard." She rose to her feet and immediately lost her balance on the squishy platform, but Howard caught her by the wrist. Although it was unnecessary, he also slipped an arm around her waist to steady her. They made their way back to the mudskimmer, helping each other.

Tora'm dove over the side of the kelp cluster, plunged into the water, and bobbed back to the surface. After the two visitors were aboard, a few swimmers detached the mudskimmer and towed the craft away from the kelp island.

As Shareen started the thrumming engines, Tora'm struck out ahead of them, swimming at top speed. "I'll guide you back!"

Shareen chuckled. "Our boat goes a lot faster than you can swim."

Tora'm seemed to take that as a challenge. "Remember, I was made for the water." He stroked away furiously.

Shareen gunned the engines and set off, cutting across the water. The swimmer surprised them by keeping up the entire way back to the distillery.

CHAPTER.

103.

ORLI COVITZ.

For more than a day the Proud Mary drifted in silence among the cooling debris of the alien space city. Orli didn't want to take any chances. Rather than sending out pings, which Tom Rom might detect, she used passive scanners to keep watch for the other ship, but there was so much radiation and dissipating gases that the resolution was poor. Even with DD double-checking the readings, Orli had little confidence in the results.

She had very little confidence in anything at all right now.

"The best way to be certain we are alone is to extend a full-range active scan in the vicinity," the compy suggested. "His ship will display a reflective signature and energy readings-if you would like to be sure."

"I'd like to be sure, DD-but if we do that and he is still here, he'll notice us as well."

The exploding ekti canister had made a bright flash, a diversion, but a hunter as determined as Tom Rom would never be fooled by a decoy. She hoped he had concluded that she had activated her stardrive and streaked away. But if he thought the Proud Mary was still hiding ...

As her ship drifted among the half-melted shards of the Onthos city, the wreckage tumbled and reflected the distant starlight. With its external systems shut down and engines giving off no heat or energy signature, the Proud Mary should look like just another piece of metal rubble.

This helpless waiting, though, was maddening-especially as the plague took hold.

Orli spent time reviewing the records that BO had provided them, studying the last messages from clan Reeves, as well as the green priest's translations of the Onthos records, and the progress of the alien disease that she felt in her body. And no, it wasn't her imagination.

As Orli reviewed how the epidemic spread among the poor Retroamers, she hoped with all her heart that something might be different in her, that she wouldn't react the same way as those other victims had. One hundred percent mortality.

The progression of her symptoms was different after all, but not in a good way. The effects manifested much faster in Orli than in the other victims. Her nausea increased, accompanied by dizziness and a rising fever. Maybe the constant surge of adrenaline had accelerated the progress of the virus.

When she saw the first dark discolorations appear on her forearm and her face, she knew they would soon turn into black splotches from subcutaneous hemorrhages. Her time was running out. Orli looked out at the space wreckage drifting around her and said to DD, "This isn't going to end well."

"I am happy to assist you in any way possible."

"You already know what you'll have to do, and you won't like it. Maybe I should just have you set our power blocks for a chain-reaction discharge and vaporize the Proud Mary now. Get this over with."

"My programming precludes that, Orli," the compy said. "You are still alive. And we have not yet delivered the scientific information that you said was priceless."

Orli grimaced as another bout of nausea raced through her. She clenched her jaw, fought it down. "I know all about your damned programming, but I don't like to put something off until tomorrow that I can do today."

"You are still alive, Orli Covitz," DD insisted, sounding like a stern Teacher compy. "My response is not because of my programming or the paradox choice of having to let you die to save other human lives."

"Well, what is it, then?"

"I will not let you give up on hope."

Frustrated, Orli powered up the Proud Mary's systems and activated the engines. "We've waited long enough, and I'm tired of just sitting here. You're right. We have to get to a human settlement, so I can disseminate this information. Then I can rest in peace."

First, she would head down into the asteroid belt where she could plot her course and make sure Tom Rom couldn't follow her. She wasn't clear which human settlement was closest. Clan Reeves-and the Onthos refugees before them-had not chosen a very populated section of the Spiral Arm.

She eased the Proud Mary away from the expanding debris cloud under low acceleration with running lights off. DD sent out an active scan to search the area, but could detect no sign of Tom Rom.

Orli guided her ship down toward the asteroid field. She blinked hard, and rubbed her eyes. She was having difficulty focusing her vision, and she felt weak. When she could not hold back the nausea anymore, Orli staggered out of the cockpit to be sick in the reclamation chamber. DD took over the controls.

After Orli washed her face and dragged herself back into the padded captain's seat, she nodded her thanks to the Friendly compy. "You're a good copilot, DD-and a good friend. Thank you for your help and for being here with me." It wrenched her heart to think that she had nobody else.

Not exactly the way she had imagined her last days ...

The asteroid field was like a snowstorm of rocks, large and small. "When we get in there, you're going to have to pilot. I don't trust myself."

Since they had detonated one of their spare ekti canisters, they had a smaller fuel reserve than Orli would have liked, but she wasn't planning to go far. In fact, she was losing patience-and time. She looked at a darkening splotch on her arm.

Tom Rom's ship came from nowhere, streaking down toward them at the edge of the asteroid field. He must have been lying in wait, watching, silent.

He flashed past the Proud Mary and opened fire without warning. DD nudged the ship just enough so that the blast didn't destroy their engines, merely damaged one of the three.

Alarm lights danced across the control panel. Orli snapped back to full concentration and leaned into the controls. She took over for DD and hit the engine acceleration, and the ship careened toward the randomly tumbling rocks.

DD said, "I'm sorry I didn't detect him, Orli."

"Not your fault. He seems to be good at this." She was already queasy, and now the tumbling ship nearly made her vomit again, but she squeezed the chair's padded arm and closed her eyes so tightly that tears trickled out from under her lids. She commanded the pain, "Not ... now!"

Tom Rom's ship swooped in, and his weapons lanced out. Another impact struck their hull, doing external damage and causing a slow atmospheric leak, but at least two of her engines still functioned.

Nevertheless, the Proud Mary was a smaller, slower ship than Tom Rom's. Even before she had lost an engine, she wouldn't have been able to outrun him in a straight-up race.

As they bolted into the asteroid field, DD grew more alarmed. "Orli, the safety parameters won't let us go close to those rocks. The margins are not adequate."

"We're going to have to adjust the margins," she said. "I'm flying."

"But you informed me you were too weak, that your concentration-"

"My concentration's just fine right now. There's nothing like facing a madman to focus your thoughts."

The pursuer kept after them, ominous and silent. Orli was oddly thankful for that.

They streaked past an outlying asteroid, the first jagged chunk of rubble rolling overhead in a silent pirouette. The field may have looked dense from a distance, but the rocks were separated by many kilometers. Orli picked her course one step at a time, weaving among the rocks, looping over them, hiding behind and then around one, hoping to block herself from view.

But Tom Rom kept coming after her.

She could dodge the largest fragments, and DD helped her by scanning ahead and identifying intercept courses. The smaller rocks, though, proved the most troublesome and damaging. The Proud Mary was constantly pelted by a hail of sand and gravel, which wore down the shields.

"We are sustaining damage, Orli," DD reported.

"I can tell. If we ever find some safe haven in the asteroid field, you're going to have to complete the repairs yourself-I won't be able to." Then Orli caught herself, realizing what she had said. "All the instructions are in the database. Upload them into your personal memory now, so you have the full background as a starship mechanic."

"That would be a useful skill, Orli, but I hope you help me do the repairs."