Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [42]
‘There are a number of larger ships in the area. Most are hastening to the shift station,’ said Ra.
Miranda’s bottom lip dropped. ‘Can we contact some of them? They would take us aboard, surely? We’re refugees!’
‘Our signal will pinpoint our position,’ said Balbao. ‘And it’s unlikely they’ll come for us. Everyone with any sense will be leaving as quickly as they can. They’re all refugees.’
A glum silence fell over the cabin as Ra and Balbao went back to concentrating on their tasks.
Miranda laid her head on Jise’s shoulder. ‘I wonder where Tekton is?’ she said softly.
‘Being carnal somewhere, no doubt. Why?’
‘He always was lucky,’ she sighed. A tear trickled down her nose and plopped onto her hand.
Jise squashed it with his thumb and squeezed her wrist. They hunched together in mutual support.
Opposite them, Labile Connit closed his eyes and mouthed something prayer-like.
Who’d have imagined this? Balbao mused as the ship’s computer ran shift-algorithms. Though someone should have. The Extros fled quickly from the Stain Wars. OLOSS should have guessed they were rebuilding. No wonder Sole has disappeared.
Disappointment stabbed him. The entity had not bothered to warn the tyros of the danger. Whatever the nature of its sentience, compassion surely did not feature. Or perhaps the timing was mere coincidence. Perhaps Sole had no foreknowledge.
He considered that notion for a while, then discarded it. Sole knew all right. ‘Your god abandoned you,’ he said aloud.
Jise lifted his head. ‘Pardon me?’
‘Sole. He didn’t warn you, and he left you to die.’
‘What evidence leads you to believe Sole knew what was about to happen?’ demanded Connit.
‘What evidence is there that Sole didn’t?’
Any answer was stalled by a sudden vibration.
Miranda sucked in a noisy breath. ‘What’s that?’
‘Rock showers from the dust,’ said Ra. ‘We should activate the buffers.’
‘But they won’t protect the ship enough,’ said Connit.
‘Do you have any useful comments to make?’ snapped Balbao.
Connit glared at him. ‘Do you understand the forces at work, Balbao? Ra can’t dodge the remains of an entire planet.’
‘I don’t have to be a geneer to know that.’
‘Then change direction and head away from the dust cloud.’
‘It will catch us anyway, Labile,’ said Ra.
‘For Crux sakes, ask for help,’ pleaded Miranda. ‘It has to be better than disintegration.’
They all stared at each other. Doubt laced their moment of mutual agreement. Was it?
Ra sighed. ‘I’ll ’cast a distress signal and buffer the cabin. At least the planet fallout will make it harder for the Geni-carrier to notice us.’
Within moments of his words the vibration stilled.
‘How long will the ship hold together?’ asked Jise.
Balbao shrugged. He’d done everything he could, and it hadn’t been enough. It seemed so unfair that his brilliance should be wasted on such an untimely death. ‘Impossible to say.’
Miranda grasped Jise’s hand and then reached out for Connit’s. ‘Then I think it’s time we prayed.’
‘Who to?’ asked Ra.
‘The Entity,’ said Miranda. ‘Surely if we concentrate our thoughts, it will hear us.’
‘And you truly think it would care?’ Ra again.
Miranda rebuked him with a stare. ‘You, of all of us, should be the closest to Sole. You could at least try.’
Ra sucked his thin lips inside his mouth and nodded. He removed the pilot interface, loosed the safety web around him and twisted around so that he could reach the others’ hands.
Balbao watched them with despair. What nonsense were they on about in the face of their own demise? He bared his teeth and let loose a small growl. His frill stiffened in agitation. If only they would use their supposed intellects for something helpful.
Alarms dragged his attention back to the ship information flow. The scanners told him that they were heavily mired in the fallout from both Belle-Monde and Min Minor now; data was escalating; stress limits approaching. Among the confusing accretion of information, he nearly missed the response to their SOS.
Breath on hold, he sent a pingback before alerting the others. When it confirmed