The Trimorphs (The Ammonite Galaxy , book 7)

Chapter 2

RAVEN SKIPPED INTO the Kwaide Orbital Space Station with little care for protocol. They were here! At last! She grabbed Ash's hand and dragged her over to one of the portholes, as Arcan disappeared after delivering them safely.

"Look! That is Kwaide!" Her feet would hardly stay still, she was so excited.

"Raven." Ledin's quiet voice made her stop twitching, and look over expectantly. "Are you ready?"

She sobered. Although he had said nothing, she could tell that he expected her to behave more circumspectly. There were too many people watching. She stretched her long neck and led the way majestically into the waiting shuttle pod. Temar nudged his sister in her ribs.

"All hail, queen of the mudpile," he whispered.

"I heard that, Tem!" Raven's head whipped around.

He grinned. "You were meant to. There's no need to put on all those airs and graces, you know."

She tipped up her jaw. "I shall do exactly as I wish. It has nothing whatsoever to do with you, moonling!"

He frowned at her. "Moonling? I get far better grades than you in nearly everything. In fact, they put me up a class. Who are you calling moonling?"

She tossed her head. "Oh, grades! What has that got to do with anything?"

Ledin, who had been listening with an amused expression, thought that it was time to stop this interchange.

"It will be a tight squeeze to take all of you in one shuttle," he said. "Perhaps I should order another. One of you could go down with Samoso."

They all cried out at that, and he allowed himself to be convinced, strapping himself into the pilot's seat, and gently detaching the pod from the Orbital Station. His new appointment as one of the custodians had meant less time for flying spacecraft, but Ledin was still considered to be one of the most skilled pilots Kwaide had, although he considered himself merely competent. Not in the same league as Diva, he thought to himself wryly. Now, there was a girl who could thread a shuttle pod through the needle rock!

Temar watched his father handle the controls, and wished that he was already a pilot. He loved the feel of the shuttle, loved to watch the stars outside the visor, loved to feel the slight vibration of the engines and the adrenalin rush of excitement which flooded his body every time he stepped on a spaceship. He had always known what he wanted, ever since the first time his father had strapped him into a shuttle.

"Can I take the controls?" he asked, his voice almost dry with hope.

Ledin pulled a face. "Just for a moment, Tem. It won't take us long to get down to the surface, and I can't let you land us."

Temar stiffened. "I could," he said.

"I know you could, but you won't."

"I don't see why not?"

Ledin smiled. "Because there are at least ten laws to stop you."

"You let me on Xiantha! You know I can pilot this!"

His father nodded. "There are no laws to stop me teaching you, on Xiantha. There are, here. If you want to be a pilot on Kwaide, you will have to go to the university here to get your license."

Temar fell silent. He had never really considered where his future lay, and the idea of spending three or four years studying on a different planet came as a bit of a shock.

"Can't I study on Xiantha?"

"You could, but you could only get a shuttle license there, and even that wouldn't be recognized elsewhere in the system. No, if you want to learn how to be a proper pilot, you would have to come here or go to Coriolis."