Ascending - James Alan Gardner [21]
We lifted slowly from the street…which is to say, my point of view rose upward, higher and higher as if riding the elevator in an Ancestral Tower. I could not, however, feel the movement in my body: according to my muscles, I was still sitting flat and level in a motionless chair. It was most strange indeed, and disturbing too—especially when Star-biter rolled in midair so that we faced straight up at the hole in the roof. From this angle, I should have felt I was tipped back on my spine; yet it still seemed as if I were comfortably upright, the way one might sit in the chair of a teaching machine.
I wondered if the starship had finally discovered how to make me feel sensations that were not actually so: sitting up straight instead of lying on my back. Then I decided the opposite must be true—Starbiter did not know how to make me feel the correct experiences, so she simply kept me in the one state she understood, leaving me “sitting up” until she learned how to simulate something else. That would become most annoying in time…but perhaps it was not so bad to begin my journey this way, especially if the Zarett were to embark upon dizzying maneuvers that could provoke Stomach Upset in one unaccustomed to aerobatic gyrations.
The ship climbed face upward into snow, the blizzard thickening around us by the second. Sounds grew muted, even the howling storm—its wind threw snowflakes at us in a constant whirl, but the noise had faded to a soft and sandy blur. Soon I could see nothing but buffeting white; I did not know how Uclod would ever find the hole we were aiming for. I dearly hoped Starbiter possessed Technical Features that could see more than I could, or there was an excellent chance we would smash against the stone ceiling instead of our intended exit.
Suddenly the blizzard disappeared, leaving nothing but starry night above us. I looked around perplexed, wondering where the snow had gone. There was nothing in sight, no buildings, no roof, not even mountains; but when I turned my attention downward, I saw dark billowy clouds receding swiftly below us.
“We are up in the sky!” I said. “We are high above the clouds!”
“Yes,” answered Uclod’s disembodied voice.
“We are up so high, one cannot see the ground!”
“You’ll see it again once we get more altitude,” Uclod said. “You’ll see the land, the ocean, the polar ice-caps…”
“Husband,” Lajoolie interrupted. Her voice possessed a sharp edge I had never heard before. “An object on long-range sensors,” she said. “It’s huge.”
I looked around but saw nothing. Lajoolie’s “long-range sensors” must be special devices for perceiving great distances. Perhaps as Uclod drove, his wife scanned the depths in search of potential danger.
“When you say ‘huge,’” Uclod said, “how big are we talking? Asteroid? Comet? A fucking navy cruiser?”
“Bigger than the navy’s largest dreadnought,” Lajoolie answered, her voice a bare whisper, “but it’s not a natural phenomenon. I’m detecting a coherent electric field. Internal power generation.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“That we’re in for a crapfest,” Uclod replied. “It must be a starship…butifit’s bigger than anything in the human navy, it doesn’t belong to any alien race we usually meet. Gotta be a heavy hitter from higher up in the League. Somehow we’ve caught the interest of the big boys.” He growled something under his breath, then told Lajoolie, “Honey, chart me an evasion course while I fire up the drive. Oar!”
“Yes?”
“You’ve spent time with Explorers. You remember that phrase they use? Greetings, I am a sentient citizen…”
“Of course I remember. They say it incessantly.”
“Then you’re our new communications officer. I’ll set you up for broadcast, and you keep repeating that Greetings crap till I tell you to stop.”
I did not appreciate the way he barked orders at me…but I liked the idea of becoming communications officer. I am excellent at communications.
“Okay, toots,” Uclod said, “you’re on the air. And no matter what, keep talking till we’re ready to go FTL.”
I took a deep breath. “Greetings,