Divergence

“Most of an FE ship is off-limits to humans—did you know that? Passengers were going to sleep on that ship not knowing what they would wake up to. I saw one of them wrapped up in a cocoon of BVBs, like a mummy. You can’t cut BVBs. Nothing can. The man inside them was dying a slow death.”

Now it was Maurice’s turn to shiver. “They wanted to reduce the number of people on board. Fewer minds means fewer people to pick up on the flux. They did a Fair Exchange. We got Miss Rose.”

He paused significantly, inviting the question that Judy now supplied.

“And what did you get in return?”

“Nothing, of course,” said Maurice with satisfaction. “The FE software deemed that her presence on board the ship was payment enough.”

“That fact doesn’t upset you as much as it does Saskia, does it?” Judy observed. Maurice was peering thoughtfully at his console again.

“It doesn’t annoy me. If anything it makes me feel nervous,” he said. “I’m beginning to think there’s more to the FE software than we have been told. A lot more.”

“So am I,” said Judy softly.

“And it makes me worried,” said Maurice. “Miss Rose is over eighty years old, senile, and a kleptomaniac. What is she going to do for us to earn her passage?”

They gazed at each other. Judy was about to say something significant, something about FE—Maurice just knew it—but at that moment the A Capella made contact.

“Hello, Eva Rye. We hear you are going to Earth. Do you wish to trade?”

Saskia usually took a good half an hour to wake up properly. Sitting up in bed, with red lines from the pillow creases on her cheek, she was not at her best.

“They want us to take what to Earth?” she said blearily, looking at the glass of water she was holding in her hand. “Hold on, I’ll come down there right away.”

“Saskia, what’s the point?” said Maurice patiently. “Does it make any difference if you watch a viewing field here with us in the hold, or you watch one alone in your cabin?”

Saskia put down the glass without taking a sip. She looked so soft and childlike while half asleep. Maurice imagined she would smell of toothpaste and warm bedclothes.

“Okay,” she said, stifling a yawn, “put them through. I’ll speak to them here, then.”

“I should warn you…” began Maurice.

“Just put them through.”

Maurice shrugged. He took a certain pleasure in seeing Saskia’s surprise as the captain of the A Capella appeared before her.

“How old are you?” she asked, sounding insulted.

“Eleven,” said the boy in the viewing field. He was a good-looking lad, thought Maurice, with a nice smile, big brown eyes, and olive skin. “Are you Saskia?”

“I am. Do your parents know what you are doing right now?”

“They do,” said the boy. “My name is Ben. A systems-repair unit recommended that I take command of the ship during a Fair Exchange we made a few months ago.”

Saskia frowned. Maurice knew what she was thinking. The Stranger had recommended that Edward should command the Eva Rye, and they had ignored its suggestion.

“Ben,” called Maurice, “how do you know we are going to Earth?”

“Our FE software told us,” the boy replied smugly. “ Eva Rye, heading to Earth, ETA five days from now. Can’t your FE do that yet?”

Saskia sat up straighter on her bed. She was wearing blue-checked pajamas that fastened up to her neck. They made her look even more like a little girl. She gave a dismissive gesture.