“What's khrystal?"
“It's ... it's like the bio-crystal, but it mixes in at the genetic level and you can't ever get it out. That's how we merge with the ship, to make the dimensional Leap."
She skipped ahead a few steps to a door at the end of the hallway. Bain realized then he was totally lost—already. Rhiann pressed her hand against a blue panel that lit when she touched it. The door immediately slid aside.
“Bain, say something so Watcher can get your voice,” she said in a loud whisper.
“Hello, Watcher,” he said obediently. He followed her into the room, which stayed dark. Fortunately, the door didn't slide shut behind them. A square of light intruded into the room, but beyond that area Bain could see nothing.
“Welcome to the Estal'es'cai, Bain Kern,” the ship-brain said. “You are cleared for every area of the ship except the power room, the launch bay and the bridge, while you are in the company of Rhiann K'veer."
“Thank you."
“You are welcome."
“I think Watcher likes you,” Rhiann said, and stepped out of the light. Immediately, the door behind them slid shut.
“How can you tell?” Bain's voice echoed strangely in the room. He had the feeling there was something large and flat close by, yet the room echoed as if it were vast and empty.
“Most people forget to be polite. They think she's just a machine, like a bigger, fancier computer. Mother says Watcher is a person and deserves politeness. Sometimes, she embarrasses people into thanking Watcher, but Watcher never responds when that happens."
“Well.... “Bain shrugged. From the echoes, he guessed Rhiann was moving around in the dark. What was she doing? “Ganfer is a person, and I'm used to talking to him all the time. Watcher is like Ganfer, right?"
“Right.” She laughed. Lights immediately flicked on, high up in the ceiling, two mere pinpoints that seemed to dissipate before they hit the floor.
At least Bain could see Rhiann now. Shadows on shadows were much better than one-dimensional darkness. Bain stepped forward to what looked like a control panel. There was even a chair. He pushed the chair back on its guide track and sat down, then looked at the control panel.
It was completely blank. He turned to look at the rest of the room. As his eyes adjusted to the different layers of shadows, he realized he sat in an oval room that looked like the bridge of Sunsinger, banks of instrument panels everywhere he turned, with a raised platform in the center of the room and a swivel chair. Rhiann sat in the swivel chair and reached into a pouch hanging from the side of the chair. She pulled out an oval of wire with brightly colored circles the size of Bain's thumb scattered around its circumference.
“Catch!” She tossed it as she spoke. Bain caught it, barely. “Put it on.” She pulled out another oval and settled it around her forehead to demonstrate.
“What is it? Where are we, anyway?” He held onto the oval, rubbing the bright blue ceramic circle. It had a dull metal point on the inside where it would touch his skin.
“This is the simulator room. When you wear the band, Watcher puts images in your head so you think you're on the real bridge. We play all sorts of games here, to learn how to be captain and crew.” She settled back in the swivel chair. Her feet no longer touched the floor. “This is just like Mumma's chair on the bridge. From up here, she can see everything everybody else is doing."
“Watcher puts images in your head?” Bain didn't like that idea, somehow, even though Rhiann certainly thought it was fun. An accident helping unload cargo on a Rim planet had resulted in a local parasite getting into his blood and sent him into delirium within hours. He hadn't like the images that had filled his mind, totally outside his control.
“How do you train on your ship?"
“We go up in the observation dome and Ganfer puts projections on the inside, with the shielding up. He makes things really hard sometimes. You ought to see the fireworks and hear the noise he plays when you crash the ship.” Bain chuckled. Sometimes, he deliberately messed up the simulation just to see how bad of a crash Ganfer could give him.
“That sounds like fun.” Rhiann watched him for a few seconds, swinging her leg. “You don't want to play the simulation, do you?"
“It'll take a lot of time, won't it?"
“Oh. I forgot. We have to get through all the boring places so we can spend more time in the fun places before Mother gets there.” She lifted the band off her forehead. “Maybe some other time?"
“Sure.” Bain nodded. Maybe in a few years he wouldn't mind playing the simulator. With his memories of his fever dreams still so clear in his mind now, turning over his perceptions to someone else's control wasn't his idea of fun.
Rhiann took him to the sickbay next. Bain found it interesting. The room seemed huge, compared to the tiny alcove dedicated to medical aid on board Sunsinger. Rhiann knew where almost everything was, from bandages to artificial blood for transfusions, to the healing field generator and the Tank.
Even the way she said it, Bain could hear the capital ‘T’ in the word.
“What is it?” he asked, when Rhiann pointed out the button that would open the storage door and slide the Tank out for use.
“It's ... this goo that Papa puts the really badly hurt people into. He puts these wires all over you to see how your body is healing, and a breather mask so you don't drown. The medical computer turns on parts of your brain that make you heal faster, and the goo gives your body the food it needs to heal faster, and you sleep through the whole thing.” She shuddered dramatically. “It's really slimy. I'd really hate to wake up in the middle of that."
“Don't you want to be a doctor like your father?” Bain couldn't help asking, to tease.
“It would be good to help people, but I'm going to be a Leap captain, like Mumma. No matter what Herin says,” she added with a scowl that did nothing to dim the mischievous sparkles in her eyes.
Bain decided he definitely liked Rhiann.
She showed him the secondary bridge. Bain remembered Ranger ships had secondary bridges, if the first was rendered inoperable by damage in battle. He decided not to mention this to Rhiann. Leapers seemed to take extra-special care to avoid conflict of any kind, and he admired that. He also didn't want to start a torrent of questions. It wasn't that he would have minded answering Rhiann's questions, because she had already shown herself to be highly intelligent and rather sensible, despite her mischievous streak. It was because he didn't want Lin or Rhiann's mother catching him telling the younger girl about war.
Rhiann led him through the crew's main mess, which was deserted. There were facilities in each cabin, and especially the family cabins, where the crew could fix their own meals. At least two meals a day were taken in the mess hall, to save time. Rhiann demonstrated the dispenser slots, opening the little doors where bread was kept warm and moist and ready to eat and nozzles dispensed hot or cold drinks, cereals or stews or soups, or ration bars for those who were too busy with their duties to stop for a meal. Three long tables with their benches bolted to rails filled the room. The two long walls had projection screens to display landscapes or the stars they were currently passing or play entertainment dramas or documentaries, depending on what the diners wanted to see. Bain thought the room a very sensible place. He wondered what it would look like, full of people.
“What are you grinning about?” Rhiann asked him, as they were walking to the door to leave.
“Just ... Promise you won't get mad or laugh?” Bain felt his face warm up, just a little.
“Mumma says not to make promises you're not sure you can keep. I'll try not to get mad or laugh, okay?"
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “When we first met you, when Lin first started talking to your mother, I had all these images of weird creatures in my head. You know—extra eyes, and snouts for noses or these big fangs or you went on all fours and had tails. Things like that. I think I was a little disappointed to see you really were normal Human beings. Relieved, but disappointed
. Does that make sense?"
“Lots.” Rhiann grinned, but she didn't laugh. “Can you keep a secret?"
“Sure.” He held up one hand and placed the other over his heart.
“We were a little afraid that we had ... mutated since our ancestors left. Or that everybody we left behind had mutated. We left because people tried to say we weren't Human anymore."
“People tried to say the same thing about Spacers when our talents started showing up. People get awfully stupid when somebody else is different.” Bain sighed. “If you have trouble like that when you start traveling around the Commonwealth, tell your mother to contact the Order. Have them send for Sister High Scholar Marnya. She's the leader, and she'll help you."
“I'll tell Mumma about that. She wants to learn more about the Order. She likes what Captain Lin told her already."
“I can give you some of my history disks right now if you want."
“Right now? Like—go over to your ship?” Rhiann's eyes lit up brighter than sunrise. She clutched at his arm and held on as if the gravity were about to quit on them.
“We'd have to ask permission, I think."
“Watcher, where's my mother? Ask her if—"
“No, wait a minute, Watcher.” Bain thought he couldn't breathe for a moment. “I don't think we should go through the umbilical alone. Are you any good in free-fall?"
“No,” she almost growled. “Mumma won't turn off the gravity even for five minutes. How are we supposed to practice getting around in free-fall if there's an accident, if we don't turn off the gravity on purpose sometimes?"
Bain laughed. He couldn't help it. Rhiann punched him in the arm and pouted, but it was all pretend anger. He could tell by the sparkles in her eyes, the way her shoulders shook with silent laughter and her face tinted red from holding it in.
Somehow, Bain persuaded Rhiann to wait until her parents and Lin caught up with them. They could ask them then. He won her over by saying it wouldn't be polite for anyone to see Sunsinger before her mother did, being captain of the Estal'es'cai and delegated by all the Leapers to establish contact with the Commonwealth.
To use up time while they waited, Rhiann completed the tour; the various supply stations; the stasis tubes where people could live for years in suspended animation; the algae vats where the ship's air was recycled, purified and re-oxygenated; and the bays in the belly of the ship where the sleds and shuttles were kept. Bain was very impressed by the sleek, glossy black ships with needle noses and graceful flanks.
He asked Rhiann to explain to him a little more about the interface of the captain's brain with the ship's control system, to effect the Leap between dimensions. The younger girl took him to the recreation room, which was empty at this late hour of the shift, and set him down in front of a holographic projection table.
“It's a game,” she said, sitting on the other side of the metal webwork frame in the middle of the table. “We try to guide our ship through a light maze, and that gets our minds used to what we'll see when we link with the ship and navigate the dimensional gaps."
“Okay.” Bain decided not to ask any questions until he had tried this. Sometimes doing something turned out to be much easier than figuring out the theories behind it. That was true with navigating Knaught Points—which was more instinct than science. Maybe the same was true of Leaping.
Rhiann turned on the frame. Thousands of holographic lasers sprayed from the webwork of wires, creating a grid of lines of all sorts of colors, intersecting and weaving around each other, sometimes blocking the path, sometimes creating a new color.
“Do all the colors mean different things?” Bain asked.
“Nobody knows until their ship gets to them."
“Why? What fun is that?"
“That's the way it is for real. Mumma says the best way to train is to be ready for the unexpected."
“How can you be ... Oh.” Bain chuckled. “Lin says a lot of things like that, too. They don't seem to make any sense until you really think about them."
Rhiann wrinkled up her nose and nodded agreement. Some things were the same no matter what universe they were in.
They managed to play with the light maze for nearly twenty minutes before Captain Lorian and Lin walked into the recreation room. Bain was just starting to get the feel for the controls, to guide his dot of golden light through the maze of webwork without breaking any power barriers. Rhiann had given up her seat on her side of the table and leaned over his shoulder, breathing down his neck sometimes and shouting both encouragement and instructions. They were both so intent on his dot of light spinning down a trough formed of dark green lines, they didn't notice Lorian, Lin, Haral and Herin watching them until after Bain's ‘ship’ crashed into the edge of the wedge and disintegrated in a shower of crimson light. Bain threw himself back in his chair, jerking his hands off the controls, and laughed. Rhiann leaned against him, laughing louder—then stiffened. Wiping sweat of his forehead, Bain leaned forward to see around her, and finally saw the others.
“Oh. Hi.” He got up and tugged his scarlet vest straight. “Rhiann was just showing me ... I guess crashing isn't that funny, but—"
“You've survived deeper into the maze than I did the first time my mother sat me down there,” Captain Lorian said. “It's a game, Bain. There's no need to be embarrassed about how much fun you were having."
“But it's so serious. Lin, this is like what Captain Lorian sees when she's taking her ship through a Leap."
“Something like. It's different for everyone, when it's inside your heard.” She shrugged. “Did you enjoy your tour?"
“It was great.” Bain glanced at Rhiann and saw the pleading look she focused on him. “Could Rhiann come back to the ship to visit now? I told her I'd show her how the simulator program works in the dome. And I said I'd let her have my history disks so she can learn about the Order."
“The Order?” Lin frowned for a moment, then nodded slowly and glanced at Captain Lorian. A tiny smile brightened her face. Bain suddenly knew that the Leaper captain had mentioned the same worries to Lin that Rhiann had spoken of with him. “That's a wonderful idea, Bain. I wish I'd thought of your lesson disks before. We'll probably have to loan Rhiann a reader, if the ship's system isn't compatible with ours."
“That's most generous of you,” Dr. Haral said. “I have to admit, I'm somewhat eager to see your ship from the inside, too. Could I tag along when Rhiann visits?"
“Why don't we make it a family visit?” Lin offered.
“Tomorrow,” Lorian hurried to say. “It's been a long day for everyone. Friendships grow the deepest roots that begin slowly."
“You'll be able to stay longer,” Bain whispered to Rhiann, as the younger girl opened her mouth to protest.
“Oh.” She grinned.
* * *
Chapter Seven
Rhiann caught on quickly to the trick of navigating and moving around in free-fall the next morning. She bumped her head a few times, giggling, and learned in only a few tries how to control her momentum and plan ahead where to bounce or grab hold of something to change her direction. Captain Lorian caught on almost as quickly. Dr. Haral and Herin were a few tries behind them. Bain was a little surprised to realize that the older girl's slowness gave him some satisfaction. He knew what it was like to be younger and always second in consideration for so many things. He remembered how Rhiann had piped up to say that Herin would inherit the Estal'es'cai from their mother, but she, Rhiann would get a new ship.
Bain had charge of the grand tour, taking their guests down to the cargo hold—empty now of everything but clips and clamps and netting. He described how the echoing space had been turned into a dormitory, first for orphan refugees and then for plague victims. He showed them the airlocks and the storage bays, then brought them up the access tube to the bridge. It would have been fun to race Rhiann up the tube, bumping into each other, trying to knock each other off course and move dangerously fast. He couldn't even suggest it with Captain Lo
rian right behind them, watching and listening.
On the bridge, Bain explained the control panel, pointing out some of the specialized controls, and how different functions could be assigned to the same knobs and switches and buttons at different times. Lin stayed quietly to the side, floating just outside the galley booth, and watched with that soft, utterly unreadable smile that always made him nervous. Bain had the feeling he was being tested, as well as giving their guests a tour.
He told them how Lin had first gathered stellar dust when the Mashrami had chased them through the Knaught Point, how they had learned to keep a supply on hand and that he was in charge of loosing it in the faces of their pursuers.
When he showed them the different cubicles and the storage areas underneath and around them, Dr. Haral made a comment about the efficiency of the ship. His wife shook her head and smiled and wrinkled up her nose at him. Neither one explained what they were talking about. Bain had the feeling it was a private joke.
The big success of the tour, up to that point, was when Lin brought out cups of hot chocolate. Both girls were quiet, eyes wide. Their noses twitched as they took deep sniffs of the rich, brown, spicy aroma of the chocolate. Captain Lorian's hand trembled as she took her cup.
“We've heard stories, read them in the old log tapes and reminiscences of our ancestors,” she said, gazing down into the creamy brown liquid. She shook her head and looked up at Lin. “There were several signs we were told to look for, to show civilization had returned to our home universe. Chocolate served to any and all was one of them.” She laughed quietly and took a sip.
Both girls waited until she finished that first sip before they tried their drink. Rhiann gulped and then nearly choked, startled by the heat in her mouth. Bain sympathized, remembering his first experience with chocolate. He had wanted it all, immediately, and had wanted to make it last forever, too. At least she didn't cough any up through her nose or get spots all over her silver and green jumpsuit. Herin, he noted, quickly drank her cupful in little sips. She kept her eyes half-closed, gently floating half a meter above the deck, a growing smile on her long face.
Leap Ships [Sunsinger Chronicles Book 7] Page 6