by Linda Nagata
She bent to peer through the eyepiece at a faint gold gleam, wondering how many years it would be before this “cargo child” was brought into Silk. Even the nearest lifeboats would take months to retrieve.
“Tannasen’s going out after them,” Devi announced. “He’s leaving in a few days.”
“So soon?”
Zia laughed. “On the way down the elevator, Tannasen told me that he hasn’t spent more than ten consecutive days in the city since Spindrift was made.”
Devi said, “He’s offered me a berth.”
Dead silence greeted this announcement. Skye turned slowly away from the telescope, almost afraid to breathe, afraid that something might break inside her. But to her surprise, nothing did.
Oh, it hurt—worse than hitting the end of a four kilometer cord—but underneath that she was … not exactly happy, but pleased. And proud. Devi had been wanting something like this all his life.
Skye smiled. It wasn’t that hard to do. She took his hands in hers. “You’ve accepted?”
He could not quite meet her gaze. “Not yet.”
“But you will?”
“I don’t know. It’s for two years.”
“That’s a long time,” Buyu suggested.
Was it? Skye would be all of sixteen when he got back. That didn’t sound so very old anymore. She squeezed Devi’s hands. “I’m going to miss you.”
He scowled. “I haven’t said I’m going yet.”
“Oh you’re going,” she told him. “I think you should.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “I am going to miss you. You know that.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “You’re trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”
She thought it best not to answer that. “You’ll have to write me letters—”
“Listen to you! You can’t wait to see me gone.”
“—and make lots of exciting discoveries—”
“Skye—”
“—and …” Her voice caught. “And things will be different when you get back. I’ll be different. Older. Devi, I haven’t been an ado for very long.”
He looked down at their clasped hands. “Sooth. That’s part of it too.”
So he did understand.
Zia sidled up to Skye and put an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry about this ado, Devi. I’ll take good care of her. Make sure she stays out of trouble.”
“Oh that makes me feel better.”
Zia tapped her chin thoughtfully. “You know Skye, maybe we should lobby for a change in the sky jumping regs, push for a 5K leap?”
Buyu groaned. “Zia, I always knew you were the smart one. But before you two plunge to your deaths, let’s go collect that meal Chef Carlisle owes us. We’ve got reservations in fifteen minutes.”
Skye laughed. She let go of Devi’s hands, and shrugged out from under Zia’s arm. “Ord! We’re going.”
Devi slipped off the railing. “Hey.” He touched her shoulder. “You’re sure it’s okay?”
“Sooth.” And it was.
This Ebook Was Purchased From
Book View Café is a professional authors cooperative offering DRM free ebooks in multiple formats to readers around the world. With over thirty authors in a variety of genres including mystery, romance, fantasy, and science fiction, Book View Café has something for everyone.
Book View Café is good for readers because you can enjoy high-quality DRM free ebooks from your favorite authors at a reasonable price.
Book View Café is good for writers because 95% of the purchase price of the book goes directly to the book’s author, with no middle man.
Support independent professional authors by buying your ebooks from BookViewCafe.com
Books by Linda Nagata **
The Nanotech Succession is a collection of four stand-alone novels set in a shared story world, beginning in the present day and reaching into the far future. Following the timeline of the story world the books are:
Tech-Heaven
The Bohr Maker (winner of the 1996 Locus Award for Best First Novel)
Deception Well
Vast
Other Story Worlds
Goddesses (winner of the 2000 Nebula Award for Best Novella)
Limit of Vision
Memory
Skye-Object 3270a (young adult)
Writing as Trey Shiels
The Dread Hammer
**Skye Object 3270a is Linda Nagata’s first work of young adult fiction. All other books listed above are written for the general marketplace.
About the Author
Linda Nagata grew up in a rented beach house on the north shore of Oahu. She graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in zoology and worked for a time at Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. She has been a writer, a mom, a programmer of database-driven websites, and lately a publisher and book designer. She is the author of eight novels including The Bohr Maker, winner of the Locus Award for best first novel, and the novella “Goddesses,” the first online publication to receive a Nebula award. She lives with her husband in their long-time home on the island of Maui.
Find her online at:
MythicIsland.com
twitter.com/LindaNagata
facebook.com/Linda.Nagata.author