Emperor of Dawn by Steve White

Author:Steve White [White, Steve ]
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, General, Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction - Science Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction - Adventure, Science Fiction - Space Opera, Science Fiction - High Tech, High Tech
ISBN: 9780671577971
Publisher: Baen
Published: 1999-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The DM -17 954 System, 4328 C.E.

A pinnace was the only interstellar-capable spacecraft class small enough to be carried as an auxiliary, even by a battleship. To squeeze a drive—even one which didn't have to accelerate the time-flow by as high a factor as a warship's—into so small a hull, certain nonessentials had to be sacrificed . . . like the comfort of the occupants.

This wasn't normally a problem, because pinnaces weren't intended for long-range deployment; their passengers didn't have to endure them for long. But Corin, Garth and Janille were looking at a two-week voyage to the Beta Aquilae Sector, where they hoped to find Roderick Brady-Schiavona or one of his high-ranking subordinates. Fortunately, the pinnace was intended for as many as six people. Unfortunately, its provisions were meant to last those six for less than half the time the three of them expected to be en route. They went on short rations immediately.

At least they didn't have to worry about breathable air and other environmental factors. Molecular-level recycling technology had been ubiquitous for so long that spacefarers had forgotten the concerns that had obsessed their remote predecessors. And as long as the power plant lasted—which would be years—the air would be at a comfortable temperature, and one standard Prometheus gravity would hold them to the deck. But no technology could make the cabin any larger than it was, nor could any of their improvisations confer any real privacy. After a while, when all the obvious conversational topics had run dry, they tended more and more to withdraw into themselves, three separate universes that couldn't abrade each other, floating in a continuum of increasingly meaningless time.

Under the circumstances, it was impossible for Corin to speak to Janille privately about the dreams.

They had begun as the pinnace had passed the invisible frontier of the Psi Capricorni Sector, which extended an arm across its route. After understanding dawned, Corin wanted to discuss it with Janille, alone. But it was out of the question, of course. So, after an interval of indecision, he blurted it out in the cabin.

"Janille, you've been having the dreams, haven't you?"

She started. "Why . . . yes? How did you . . . ? But of course. You would be having them too, wouldn't you?"

Garth stirred; he'd been about to doze off. "What are you two talking about?"

Corin considered him. "You wouldn't know, would you, Garth? You weren't there."

"I wasn't where?" Irritability underlay Garth's growl. He was a man who appreciated a good meal, and the rations didn't bring out the best in him. "Talk sense, will you?"

"Remember, back on Neustria early this year, the time Janille and I experienced what was publicly explained as a transposer malfunction?"

After a moment, Garth nodded. "Oh, yes. It was sort of forgotten afterwards. We didn't have time to think about it, because that was when we learned of Oleg's assassination, and things started happening fast. But yes, I remember now. You told me what had really happened . . .

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