all.
'Sweety, report!'
'Analysis is continuing, Thinker.'
'Are we going to die?' Willard asked. He was still clutching his mother's shoe.
'Assuming we do nothing,' I asked Tara, 'what do you think will happen?'
'There'll be a nova, and we'll die.'
'So we should do something.'
'Absolutely. But what? Abandon ship?'
'On the far side of the galaxy, we abandon the only starship we've got? I don't think so. This is the control panel, isn't it?'
'It sure looks like it.'
'So our solution is right here,' I said.
'I'm sure it is. And your point is?'
Some of the instruments were lit. Some were not. I reached out and brushed my fingers over one of the lit ones. It moved. I moved it over to one side.
'What are you doing?' Tara cried out. Some of the other lights abruptly changed color.
'I've no idea,' I replied. I snatched another lighted control and jerked it downwards. It glowed a sudden phospho green. Another warning tone sounded, a deep buzzing.
'You'll kill us all!' Tara shouted.
'We die anyway.' I was frantic—I did not care. I only wanted to do something—anything—to change the situation.
'Can we play?' Willard grabbed at a lever and snapped it back and forth, laughing.
'Sure!' I said. 'Get the ones that are lit, kid! Come on, Tara—live a little! Not much time left!' I ran my hands over the control panel, moving every switch and tab that emitted light.
'You're crazy, Wester!' Tara was just staring at me in shock.
'Gildron—help us! Get the ones that are lit up. Slowly!' I called out. He joined in, slamming decisively at the controls with his fists.
The claxon suddenly cut off in mid-blast. The flashing ceiling lights snapped off. Now there was only that insistent buzzing.
'Hold it!' I said. 'Stop! That's enough!' Everyone froze. Where the hell was that buzzer thing? I remembered the control and snapped it upwards again. The buzzer cut off, and the green light vanished. A shocked silence settled over the room.
'There. Nothing to it,' I said. 'Let's eat. I'm hungry.'
'You may have only turned off the alarm system,' Tara said. 'The D-neg could still detonate.'
'Check it yourself, if you're so concerned. I'm not going back in there. If it happens, it happens. We've done all we can.' I collapsed and slumped against the wall. I felt terrible. 'Can anybody get me some water?'
###
'Are you awake?' An angel's voice. I blinked my eyes, drifting slowly into consciousness. I was back on the bridge under a blanket and Tara knelt beside me, holding a canteen cup of steaming dox.
'Dox!' I awoke instantly, struggling to sit up, the heavenly odor teasing my nostrils. My shirt was missing.
'Where in the vac did you get that?'
Tara smiled, a dazzling phospho white smile that warmed my heart. She was totally lovely and completely relaxed, wearing a sleeveless top and litepants. 'For you,' she said, handing me the cup. 'From Gildron's ratpak. He doesn't drink dox, so we've got plenty.'
I drank slowly, savoring it. Renewal! The dox warmed my entire body. What a kick!
'Did you have a good sleep?' Tara asked.
'Wonderful,' I said. 'I feel like a new man. Thanks for the dox, Gildron.' He showed me his teeth. He was leaning against one of the O's body chairs, still clad in his Elektra violet ship's uniform.
'Have any dreams?' Tara asked.
Dreams—I had dreamt of the O's. I had been an O, in my dream, strolling in a dark garden with someone I loved.
'No,' I said, frowning. 'No dreams.' I went back to my dox.
'I slept a little,' Tara said. 'I had strange dreams. About the O's. I saw their world through their eyes. It was so sad. So far away. And lost to them forever. I'm not sure we did the right thing, Wester.'
'It's done,' I said. 'I don't want to hear about it. Where's the kid?'
'Still sleeping—over there.' He was on his back under a blanket, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, breathing deeply, his face angelic and peaceful.
'Where'd you get the blankets?'
'I've been exploring. There's a lot of Systie gear and also Uldo civilian stuff on this ship. Enough Systie rats to allow us to survive for years.'
'Does this mean we're getting married?'
Another dazzling smile. Her hair was soft and silky, a rusty brown, and her skin was as smooth as satin. 'You haven't asked me. But I'm hoping we won't have to use all those rations.'
'So what's the sit? I see we haven't gone nova yet.'
'No—when you went to sleep I suited up and went into the stardrive. Just far enough for Tess to get a reading. The situation appears to have stabilized. Pressure is back to normal. Tess says the unitium containment system no longer appears to be in danger of failing.'
'You shouldn't have gone in there without me. How about the D-neg?'
'Tess had the same readings you did. She has concluded that it is a stardrive, powered by D-neg. She cannot explain the D-neg, or the containment unit. She says it is not physically possible. She also cannot explain why they need both antimat and D-neg. What do you think?'
'I think I really like the way your nipples stand out against your blouse. When do I get my reward?'
Tara laughed. 'You've got a one-track mind, Wester, but I don't mind. That was brilliant, what you did in the control room.'
'It wasn't brilliant, it was desperate. If I had blown us all to smithereens, it wouldn't have seemed so brilliant. But I had to do something—if I had done nothing, we'd have died. When in doubt, attack—old Legion saying.'
'I've got to admit you've kept us alive so far.'
'That little kid kept us alive. Thank him.'
'That's true. I'm going to take very good care of him, Wester.'
'Great. So tell me—where are we?'
'You're not going to believe it.'
'I'm not? Why not?'
'Tess looked out at the stars, and didn't recognize anything. Then I put her on those artificial stars that keep flashing to life over the controls. And that's what they are, Wester. She was able to identify our position.'
'Good! So where are we?'
'We're in the Null-Six Sector.'
'The what? I've never heard of it.'
'The Null-Six Sector is in the zeroes—Zone Zero Zero Two Six.'
'I've never heard of that, either. Doesn't it have a name?'
'No name, Wester. You haven't heard of it because it's on the far side of the galaxy from our own neighborhood. Out beyond the Outvac and the Gassies, past the Icy Way, all the way into the core, past the Black Dog, through the nucleus and out the other side, through the Web, past the Smokescreen, through the Silky Way and beyond Doom's Drift, past the Dropoff, past the Great Deep, out in the furthest reaches of the Omega Spiral, out on the rim, on the very edge of the galaxy. The entire zone is unmapped. It's completely unknown.'
I listened, taking it in. I decided I was going to be totally calm.
'Is your Persist certain about this, Tara?'
'Absolutely, Wester. She knows exactly where we are, now.'
