Ascending - James Alan Gardner [53]
Nestled on the seat was a tiny ball half the size of my fist. Its exterior had the same stringy gray texture as Starbiter herself…but very delicate, the strings as thin as hairs and the gray more fragile than frost.
“She’s very young to be separated from her mother,” Nimbus said. “But Starbiter insisted; and I swear I will take good care of our daughter.”
The fog of his body billowed back around the chair, swaddling the baby Zarett like a protective blanket.
6 For examining distant objects, it is very convenient to be able to see through your thumb, nail and all. The curve of my nail gives a slight magnification; if I line up my thumbs at the right distance in front of my eye, I can get a telescope effect.
11
WHEREIN I MAKE FIRST CONTACT WITH THE HUMAN RACE
Snared
One second, there was only blackness in front of us; then there was the slim white baton of a Technocracy vessel, stretched across the stars. Its FTL field wagged out behind it in a long milky tail, like a well-fed eel drifting lazily in a starry river’s currents.
“We should speak greetings to the humans,” I said. “We should assure them we are sentient citizens.”
“Can’t,” Uclod answered, wiping his nose with his bare wrist.
“Without Starbiter,” Lajoolie told me, “we have no communication system. We can’t transmit or receive.”
Uclod gave a snort that threatened to degenerate once again into weeping…so I said nothing more.
Slowly, the navy ship came about—the knobby ball on its nose swung away from us, until all we could see was the round cross-section of the ship’s hind end. The FTL field swished its tail in our faces like an ill-mannered cat. Then a bright red beam shot toward us, shining pinkish light through the clear membranes that served as our “windows.”
“That’s it then,” Uclod said in a hoarse voice. “They’ve grabbed us.”
“Better them than the Shaddill,” I told him—hoping my words were true.
“Yeah, well…I won’t be the first Unorr sent to a prison planet.”
“We can survive it,” Lajoolie said. “And thanks to Admiral York, your family knows all the places the High Council hides political prisoners. Your cousins will rescue us eventually.”
Uclod’s lips tilted up in the ghost of a smile. “There is that.” Then he turned his gaze back to the ship outside.
Coming Aboard
The red beam worked like a rope, reeling us toward the navy ship. I wondered if we would feel anything as we passed through the edge of the milky FTL field…but there was only the softest jerk forward, and a tiny bit of dizziness wherein my toes felt momentarily tingly.
Ahead of us, a great round door opened in the rear of the ship—almost big enough to have swallowed Starbiter whole, so our single section of lung slipped inside easily. The instant we crossed the threshold, gravity returned; we slammed down hard onto a metal floor, bounced once, and juddered forward until we jolted to a stop against the far wall. Hmmph, I thought, these navy humans are clumsy. Either that, or they are intentionally treating us coarsely because they are great arrogant bullies.
Uclod let out his breath. “Okay…okay…okay…” He was talking to himself more than the rest of us. “Okay, we’re here.” He glanced at me. “And we’re going to mind our P’s and Q’s, right, missy?”
“I am always most courteous. Except to fools and crazed people.”
“Damn it, toots, you aren’t filling me with confidence.”
He reached behind himself and did something to the back of his chair. The straps holding him went slack, but did not withdraw into the chair as they had done before; I suppose the retraction mechanisms would not work now that we had been disconnected from Starbiter. With straps sagging around him, Uclod leaned toward my seat and loosened my bonds too. He said, “You’re on your own, sweet-knees,” then turned to untie Lajoolie.
While I worked to free myself, the navy ship closed its hatch behind us, sealing us in completely. My view through the membrane walls was smudged with