The Space Between (47 page)

"Well," Keeble said, "start with a control
that doesn't look very important. See what happens."

"All right then." She picked a dial and,
with a deep breath and one eye closed, slowly spun it. "The ship's
spinning," she said with a laugh, watching as a wall came into view
outside. So much for the green ball being the steering wheel.

"I'm not so sure," Keeble said. He unbuckled
himself from his seat and went to the view port for a closer
look.

"What do you mean? I saw it."

"Do it again."

Kim spun the dial in the other direction,
hoping to get them facing the door once more.

Keeble gave a grunt. "The dome is spinning,
but the ship itself isn't moving."

"Are you sure?"

The dwarf looked back over his shoulder.

As the bridge continued to turn, Kim noticed
something. "Hey, the ball doesn't move." She indicated the pastel
ball she'd thought was the steering wheel.

"What?" Keeble came closer.

Kim turned the dial. The bridge spun, but
the ball stayed in exactly the same position, as if the whole
structure was spinning about the pedestal.

"Keeble, how does the engine work?"

The dwarf didn't have anything to say.

"You understand the concept of gravity,
right."

He gave her a look that spoke volumes.

"Well, just because you're controlled by
gravity doesn't mean your people have given it any real thought. Or
that you know how it works. But anyway, let's assume that the
Gravitic Field Generators somehow create gravity. Or
antigravity."

"Well, all those big holes
or funnels or whatever they are on the outside of the ship seem to
do
two
things.
Something goes out of them, and something comes in."

Kim ignored that. "First of all, for the
sake of convenience, let’s say that the funnel surrounded by those
four antennas is at the front. No, let's call it north. Okay."

"All right."

The look on Keeble's face
showed what he thought of that idea, but Kim knew it would be best
because she was sure she knew how it worked. She was
pretty
sure she knew how
it worked. She smiled and did a little jig in her seat.

"Here's how it is," she said. "Gravity can
be funneled out any of those funnel things and that obviously
dictates the direction you travel. Right? Right. So, what you do
is, you use this ball to point the gravity in the right
direction."

"So, where is the gravity now, then?" Keeble
asked. "How do we make it funnel?"

Kim examined the main controls. "We use this
lever for thrust," Kim said. "Forward and backward."

"And why does this room spin around? And
when the room spins, why doesn't the ball?"

"Only the room spins and
the ball doesn't because there isn't really any forward or backward
for this ship. We can go in whatever direction we want without
actually turning the ship around. So, if the room didn't spin we'd
sometimes be looking in the wrong direction. And the ball doesn't
turn with the room because we want to be able to
look
in all directions
without actually
changing
directions."

"But the lever? You said it was to make us
go forward and backwards, then you said there is no forward or
backward."

That was obvious as well.
There was a blue dot on the top side of the range and a red one at
the bottom. "This way means we move towards the red dot." Or was it
away? Kim pushed the lever a fraction of a centimeter away from the
neutral position. She'd forgotten the engine was running, until
the
Hakahei
started to move.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." It took a moment for Kim
to gather her wits and shift the lever back to neutral. Luckily,
she hadn't moved the lever far and luckily the dot was directing
them away from the wall. Momentum carried the ship forward, and it
wasn't until they scraped along the side of another vessel that
they finally stopped.

"Okay," she muttered, "we move away from the
dot. I hope someone remembered to renew the insurance."

The others all looked at her.

"Give me a break."

"So, are we going to sit here until the
Americans work out how to shoot us, or are we going to leave?"

Kim looked at the others.

"I'd rather crash out there than get shot in
here," Keeble said. The others didn't look so sure.

"But they can't get us," Kim said. "They
can't get in. Otherwise they would have gotten into the ship at
Area 51. In fact, this one is probably tougher, because I think the
other one is only a plane."

"So we just sit here until we starve,
then?"

"I found food in the hold. Dried, sealed, in
tins. All sorts of long-life stuff."

"Long life? 50,000 years?"

"Maybe."

"So what was the point of all this if we're
just going to sit here?"

"The point was to talk to the hurgon and
stop this war."

"Right. How will we do that sitting
here?"

"Does the radio work? The hurgon might be
able to hear us from here."

Keeble sighed. "Try it then."

"Right. Meledrin."

"Yes, Kim?"

"See if you can get the hurgon on the radio
for me."

"I am not aware of the method for doing
that. Is it accomplished from this work station?"

"Yes. I think so."

Cuto interrupted and Meledrin turned to
listen "Cuto says that the hangar doors are closing."

"What? Shit."

The two huge hangar doors were starting to
slide closed like twin glaciers. Kim froze for a moment and totally
forgot the little she knew about flying the ship.

"Don't just sit there," Keeble said. "We're
quickly losing one of our only two options."

Kim took a deep breath. She fiddled with the
steering ball — all forward, no up or down, and watched the doors
close some more.

"Move, woman."

Kim closed one eye and nudged the thrust
lever.

"Go straight, for Whistler's sake."

"I'm pointing at the door but it isn't going
that way." They pushed amidst a flotilla of smaller ships until she
adjusted slightly and had them going in generally the right
direction.

"Of course it isn't your fault. Never
is."

"Keeble," Meledrin said, "is it not true
that the engines were incorrectly aligned?"

Keeble grunted. "Maybe the engines aren't
aligned with the steering ball," he admitted.

Kim didn't care. "Whatever," she snapped.
"It wasn't going straight." She tried to calm down.

"Well, we're going the right way now, I
suppose." Keeble gestured towards the doors. "A bit faster would be
good, though."

They weren't going to make it, was what he
meant. Kim nudged the thrust lever a bit further. It was hardly
above neutral at all, but the ship lurched forward, picking up
speed. The Americans were either scattering again or firing their
weapons, as if each hoped their bullet would be the one that broke
the camel's back.

"Are we going to make it?" Kim asked. The
doors seemed to be closing very quickly now, although they probably
hadn't changed speed at all.

"I don't think so."

Cuto said something as well, but Meledrin
didn't bother translating. The elf was staring at the doors as if
indignation alone would keep them open. Apparently it wouldn't.

Kim adjusted her aim slightly, increasing
thrust again. They scraped along the side of a smaller ship and
slewed slightly. Before she could work out how to fix the problem
they crashed into the edge of one of the still closing doors. The
ship nearly stopped. It spun, pushing against the door, until they
were almost facing back the way they'd come. The other door was
approaching. Amidst her panic, Kim had a moment of inspiration. She
reversed the thrust and the ship hesitated for a moment before
popping out onto the exterior platform while Kim spun the
bridge.

The ship quickly gained speed. It dropped
serenely over the edge and out over the forest. It slid down
towards the bottom of the valley, nudging trees out of the way as
it went.

"More up would be nice," Keeble said. He was
holding on tightly.

Meledrin had her eyes closed. Tuki was
staring out the window like a man watching a train rush towards
him.

Kim nodded, trying to think. There was the
steering ball and the altitude knob. She tried the knob first. The
ship certainly got further from the ground, but not much. It seemed
to max out at about a hundred meters.

Keeble shook his head. "Space looks more
like a planet than I thought it would."

"Shut up, Keeble." Biting her lip as they
continued towards the bottom of the valley Kim examined the
steering ball. She reached out for it. So many things could go
wrong. Was she missing something? "What have we missed?"

"Certainly not any trees. We hit every one,
I think."

"Well what about... Have you checked on life
support?"

"What?"

"Life support. I told you there's no air in
space, remember? So something on this ship makes air. And the ship
has to be airtight so it doesn't all escape."

"How am I supposed to check that?'

Meledrin, much put upon, sighed and went to
look. It didn't take long.

"Everything is green," Keeble said. "That's
good, right?"

"I think it is. What color were the displays
when the Americans were shooting at us before? Green is good on
Earth today, but how am I supposed to know. Shit. What about
fuel?"

"Checked it earlier. According to the
computers we have 87% fuel."

"Right. Okay. Are we ready then, folks?"

Nobody said they weren't. Kim still wasn't
ready. She didn't know if she would ever be, but she decreased the
thrust slightly and spun the steering ball so the dot was facing
almost directly down. She felt the heavy hand of G-forces for a
moment as the ship started to climb.

33: You Are Here

Tuki stared as the ship surged upwards. All
he could see was sky, but he could not take his eyes off it.

I am closer to the Goddess
than any moai has been for millennia
, he
thought.

He offered a silent prayer to Poti. He would
have looked to the four points of the compass to offer his thanks,
but he was strapped in his chair, and with no ground on which to
locate himself, the idea of directions seemed meaningless.

The world was nowhere to be seen, and
suddenly, though it was surely still day below, an endless array of
stars sprang into view.

"Batteries are charging," Keeble said. "The
ship is taking something in through the funnels that aren't being
used and converting it to power."

The dwarf sounded a lot more vague than he
had recently, and Tuki wondered if he was slipping back into
wherever he had been before. He stole a worried glance at his
friend. Immediately he knew nothing was wrong. Keeble could hardly
concentrate on his monitor. He stole glances at it every now and
then, but otherwise the scene outside trapped his gaze.

"Don't worry about the batteries, Keeb'.
What about life support? Check that again." Kim was obviously
trying to keep her mind on the matters at hand, as well, but not
having much more success than Keeble. Tuki saw her craning her neck
to try and see everything at once. "Wow."

Meledrin did not look like she had been
affected at all. She continued to translate into Cuto's sign
language as she calmly surveyed the view, as if she had seen
something as magnificent every day of her life.

"We're still moving," Tuki said after a
moment. He thought it might be a good idea if they stopped, for a
short while at least, so they could get their bearings. He watched
Meledrin, trying to decipher her signals, but it wasn't easy.

"Shit, shit, shit. We aren't just moving,
we're accelerating."

Tuki watched the view. He didn't see what
Kim did to halt their progress but could feel when it happened. He
thought he could tell when they stopped completely.

"Tuki, can you show us a view of where we
are?"

Tuki looked at Kim for a moment, his heart
racing. She wanted him to show her on the skyglass. But no, not
just that, she wanted to see from her own seat.

This is what I am here
for,
Tuki thought.
Keeble is here to fix the engines. Kim is here to drive, and
Meledrin to talk to people. I am here to show them all the
way.
Which was a horrible thought. He was
merely a go'gan. Did they not realize? He should not be telling
them anything. He should wait and watch and do as he was
told.

"Tuki?"

"Yes, mo'min?"

"Show us."

Tuki had been practicing with the controls
earlier, but suddenly he could remember nothing at all. He decided
to work on the skyglass first and worry about the rest later.

Touching his finger to the cool, smooth
glass, he spoke the word that made the 'glass the center of the
view. Then he made the view step back slightly, so more could be
seen. And again. Soon, the world below was in view — or was there
no below, now — and the moon halfway around the far side. Plus
fifty-three yellow dots that could only be other ships like their
own, except driven by the hurgon. Not meteors as he had once
thought.

"One thing I don't understand," Keeble said
from across the other side of the room. Tuki tried to block the
sounds out as he concentrated. "I understand how we were all shaped
this way by the gods so we could all do our work on these
starships. Well, not how, but why. Dwarves are small so we can
climb around in all the little nooks and crannies to fix things.
Meledrin looks all calm and controlled and important or something,
maybe so we look good to strangers. And Kim, you... Well, I don't
know about you. Maybe flying the ship doesn't need anything
special. But Tuki? If he's just here to be a map-reader, why is he
so big? I mean, he could do that if he was my size, couldn't
he?"