- Prologue

ship.

The lights came up as they entered the piloting chamber, Theo walking as lightly as she could, as if she would bruise the ship if she set her feet too firmly. It seemed as if Win Ton had forgotten her; he walked to the board, leaned over and touched a rapid sequence of keys and toggles. The ship woke with a soft, welcoming chime. He turned and gave her a smile as bright as the one she remembered.

'Hovering at the door? But that will never do! Come, you must sit second for me!'

Theo stared at him, suspecting a joke at her expense. 'I can't sit second on a spaceship,' she stammered. 'I don't have the hours, or—'

'Tut and tut, Sweet Mystery!' He came back and took her hand. His fingers were warm, patterned with callus.

'The pilot has asked you to sit second,' he said, looking into her face with all of Win Ton's mischief. 'It is, of course, a signal honor.'

'Well, it is,' she answered, defensively, but she let him lead her over to the second chair and show her how to adjust it, and where the webbing was. She tried to relax while he settled into the pilot's chair, her eyes drawn to the board, and something like . . . hunger in her middle . . .

'Now,' Win Ton said calmly, his fingers dancing on a touchpad. 'The pilot would take it kindly if Pilot Waitley would ride comm, and clear us with the tower. Coords—'

'Win Ton,' Theo's voice cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again, watching the side of his face, seeing concentration and . . . something else. 'Win Ton.'

He glanced up, eyes soft with concentration. 'Yes?'

'What are you doing?' she asked carefully, twisting her hands together on her lap so she wouldn't reach out and touch that tantalizing board, though she wanted to!

His gaze sharpened somewhat. 'I am offering opportunity,' he said, his tone precisely as careful as hers. 'Will you grasp it? Or will you be shy and orderly?'

She knew better than to take a dare . . . well, mostly she did. But, that board . . . She swallowed and nodded, leaning forward.

'Comm is lit yellow,' he said quietly. 'The rest of the board is slaved to mine, so you may follow, if you like.'

'Yeah . . .' she whispered, and raised a hand to finger the yellow toggles.

'Tower, this is Theo Waitley, sitting second on Torvin.' She paused, glancing to the amused Scout, who signaled there now, and her screen lit with ship numbers and info in proper sequence for her to read out, which she did, adding, 'Out of, Solcintra, Liad, local berth Number 9F. Torvin's pilot requests a tow to a launch pad at your earliest convenience.'

There was a moment of perhaps shocked silence, then a voice she didn't know answered calmly in the affirmative. 'Acknowledge, there, Torvin, we see ship systems coming live. We'll call out the horses and camels now, if you can wait that long.'

Theo was grinning like a fool, and only part of that was the joke and Win Ton's resultant raised eyebrows.

'Where are we going? By way of where?'

'Very good, Second!' Win Ton said. The info flowed to her screen and she recognized the sequence out of class a few days before, catching her breath, and then laughing.

'Ballistic? That's some g-work, isn't it?' She must have whispered because Win Ton half-bowed, and whispered in reply, 'Yes, it is.'

He continued in a more normal voice, 'Watch the screens: is that a camel or a horse? And what is funny, Sweet Mystery?'

They'd brought round the tractor that towed the shuttle, and as she watched, Win Ton enumerated the camera views, showing her how to change them. She paid scrupulous attention, saying, 'That must be the camel, that's the one they only use on spacecraft. And what's funny is the ballistic routing. Asu told me, before you knocked, that everyone knew you were still on port because there hadn't been an outgoing sonic boom!'

She glanced at him, saw him manfully straighten the smile off his face.

'Ah, did she? Then her reputation is mine to save. Please note these amendments, and file the corrected figures when queried.'

They felt the tow start as Win Ton went over radio and feed sequence with her, bailout sequence, and how to set vessel on autoland. With each quick lesson he looked at her, and it was hard not to keep looking at him, except she had to show that she'd heard by using the keys on her quiet board.

The tractor pulled free, and tower's voice was live:

'Torvin, your flight plan will be accepted by link, since we're getting good feed, please file, and we'll acknowledge.'

Theo glanced at Win Ton.

'It is good form to strap in before liftoff,' he said conversationally, 'and please, file the plan.'

Theo touched the send switch and yanked the strap. It was clear they were in the tower's eye, because the response was instant, and she couldn't hit the acknowledge switch right back, because she was tangled in lap strap.

'Be sure to file intentions with your destination, Torvin. You may lift at will after your launch signal. Enjoy dinner!'

'Send the duplicate routing on, Second, and we will . . .'

Theo did that as Win Ton seemed to go half quiet before saying, '. . . please Asu diamon Dayez, no