Kwaide (The Ammonite Galaxy Series, Book 2)

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10

SIX WAS BORED out of his skull. He had been forced to read the piloting manual to try to help pass the time. He thought that Diva would have teased him mercilessly if she had known. Well – at least he would know how to drive a spaceship if he needed to. Unfortunately this one had a couple of problems. In the first place, the automatic on-board computer wasn’t working. According to the manual the computer made any sort of interplanetary travel much easier. Secondly, there was something wrong with the fuel feed, and although he could get the engine to give small bursts of energy when necessary, a ‘manoeuvre blocked’ sign came up every time he tried to get out of orbit from around Nomus.

So here he was. Stuck in orbit around the dead star. Great! Just the thing for a no-name like himself! And he might be here for a long time. He had enough supplies to keep himself alive and the crew in stasis for a year. After that things would go steadily downhill. Now that would be fun, wouldn’t it? He gave a long sigh. Even sitting in a bubble on Valhai had been better than this.

He wasn’t even sure his patch through to Diva had worked. All he got back had been an incomprehensible static. He hoped Diva had been able to hear him say he was in orbit around Nomus, but he couldn’t depend upon it. She may not even have realized that the communication came from him. The effort had fried the circuits of the little spaceship’s communication electronics, so there would be no repeat. He gave a heartfelt sigh, and tried to turn his thoughts to his home planet of Kwaide. It helped, he found, when time seemed to stop. 

THE PROXIMITY ALERT in the Variance went off after about eight weeks with an unmistakable alarm tone which refused to silence itself.

“Arcan! How on Sacras can I get this thing to stop screaming in my ear?” asked Diva, who had skipped that part of the manual.

“I did tell you that all the information in the manual would be useful,” said Arcan mildly.

“You did,” acknowledged Diva. “I took no notice.”

“I can tell.”

“Bully for you!”

“Just accept them on the automatic screen with the 2697321 code, and the sound will cease.”

Grace put the instructions into effect, and bent to examine the characteristics of the spacecraft detected.

“Is it Six?” Diva asked.

“It might be,” answered Grace. “It is certainly Sellite – though that is no surprise, since the Sellites never gave interplanetary technology to anybody else. And it can’t be on an asteroid trip, because it is a trader and is sitting in orbit around Nomus. It could well be Six.”

“It will be.” Diva was sure. “I knew we would find him. He will have to be forever grateful to us.”

“Knowing him, I wouldn’t count on that. He will probably be furious it took us so long to get here.”

“He’ll fall on our necks.”

Grace hesitated. “He might—” she agreed, “—but then again, he might not.”

“He’d jolly well better be grateful. If he thinks I just sat through eight weeks of learning space lore just to have him snap at me he’s got another think coming!”

“WHAT TOOK YOU so long?” demanded Six the minute he saw Diva.

Diva spluttered. “Wh-what in Lumina do you mean … ‘so long’?”

“Hello-o?” Six opened his eyes wide and twisted his head in disbelief. “… Arcan? Remember? Couldn’t you have asked Arcan to transport you here?”