Superluminal (43 page)

It reported.

Victoria’s invitation to join the alien contact team
suddenly made her life even more complicated.

o0o

Victoria watched J.D. as she gazed back at Earth. She was
glad the contact specialist had agreed to join the expedition on such short
notice, after Nakamura quit.

It must have been hard on her, Victoria thought, to be
turned down and then invited again. It takes a lot of guts to put aside hurt
feelings.

Nevertheless, she wished she knew all the reasons J.D. had
changed her mind about staying with the divers. Victoria felt certain that she
did not yet have the whole story.

“J.D.?”

J.D. continued to stare out the window for a moment. When
she turned to Victoria, her expression was wistful, lonely.

“Time to board the transport.”

In low Earth orbit, the spaceplane docked with the
EarthSpace transport, an ungainly-looking but efficient craft, one of the
trucks that ferried cargo and passengers from low Earth orbit to the O’Neill
colonies and the labs, to lunar orbit, and to
Starfarer
.

As Victoria helped J.D. negotiate the zero-g path from the
plane to the transport, she glanced over the passengers sharing the journey.
The space-plane, which should have been full with a waiting list, was half
empty. These days, too few people traveled out to
Starfarer
.
Far too many traveled away, recalled by their governments, or, like Nakamura,
giving up in despair.

While the plane resembled a regular jetliner, with well-maintained
upholstery and paint, the transport looked more like a tramp freighter. Its
workings hung out in plain sight, exposed, growing shabby with age and use.

“Quite a difference,” J.D. said, glancing around. She held
the net bags stuffed with her and Victoria’s personal allowances. Her
possessions were drab next to the bright colors and textures that showed
through the mesh of Victoria’s bag.

“There’s one new transport,” Victoria said. Towing J.D. by
one hand, she pushed off down a corridor. “They always schedule it so it’s the
one that picks up the VIPs on their junkets. I never have figured that out. If
we let them see the old equipment, we might get enough money to keep it
properly maintained.”

“Can I try this myself?” J.D. said.

“Sure.” Victoria took the two mesh bags. “Remember that even
though you haven’t got any weight, you still have mass and momentum.”

J.D. planted her feet, kicked, and headed for the far wall
too fast and too hard. Victoria winced and pushed off after her, but somehow
J.D. managed to turn in mid-air, catch herself on her toes against the
bulkhead, and bounce back, awkward but safe. Victoria used her arms and legs as
springs to give all her momentum to the metal surface. She floated beside J.D.,
who hung upside-down nearby, laughing. Her hair, short and limply dry from
exposure, flew around her head.

“Even better than diving,” she said. “And you don’t need
half as much force to get you where you’re going. I’ll learn to compensate. I
thought maybe I’d let my hair grow, but I think I’ll keep it short.”

They found their closet-sized cubicles, where they could
rest during the trip to the starship.

“One of Satoshi’s department members says the transport
reminds him of his college days,” Victoria said. “He used to travel
cross-country in a bus. But I think of the transport as the China Clipper.
Crossing space like a prop-plane crossing the Pacific.” The transport was less
luxurious but safer, not as unbearably romantic.

“The middle of the Pacific is scarier,” J.D. said.

The transport freed itself from the spaceplane with a low
clang
and a vibration that trembled through the
ship. J.D. started, then flushed with excitement when the gentle acceleration
provided micro-gravity.

“We’re really on our way, aren’t we?”

“We really are,” Victoria said.