Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr

Author:Judith Tarr
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: women writing space opera, archaeological science fiction, science fiction with female protagonists, space opera, science fiction, LGBT science fiction
ISBN: 9781611384772
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2015-04-21T07:00:00+00:00

38

“She’ll put you in a book,” Aisha said when the tourists and the odd few of the crew were gone. “The web’s in and out—mostly out—but she’s famous enough to come through. She writes books about adventures. Vids, too.”

“Pirate vids?” Rama asked.

“Probably.” Aisha started to say more, but Rama was starting to sway on his feet.

If he passed out now, he might not lose his connection with the ship, but the people still on it might decide to take him hostage.

That was a problem. Pirate kings had mobs of henchmen for a reason. If they needed to sleep, or pass out, there was always someone to man the tiller.

Someone who knew how to sail the ship. Aisha could feel the connection in her bones, but the ship wasn’t talking to her the way it did to Rama. She didn’t want it to, either. Those same bones knew they’d shake apart if it did.

She had to try to talk to it. Not aloud, where people could hear. She shaped the thoughts as clearly as she could.

Ship. He needs to rest, but we can’t trust the humans here. Or the ones outside, either. There’s no telling when he’ll be able to stop. Can you help?

The ship didn’t answer that she could tell, but Rama stopped swaying. He took a deep breath and stood a little straighter.

“You have quarters,” he said to Dr. Ma and the others. “I suggest you rest in them.”

“Not until we know what we’ll find when we wake,” Dr. Ma said.

“Sir,” one of the crew said before Rama could erupt. He was a big man who looked as if he’d spent a good part of his life outside on rough planets, but his expression was calm and his tone was mild. “It’s not just curiosity. You need a crew. If not to fly the ship, then to monitor the screens and, if it comes to that, repel boarders.”

“And I should trust you why?” Rama inquired.

“Because if we can’t be trusted,” the man answered, “we all die.”

Rama’s brows went up. “Your name, sir?”

“Kirkov,” the man said. “Supply officer. Second in Communications. Ship’s cook.” He paused. “You do eat, sir?”

“Occasionally,” Rama said. “May I encourage you to perform that office?”

“Of course,” Kirkov said. “So you’ll trust me. That’s good. Now the rest of them, they’re not going to turn on you, either, as long as you’re fair and as honest as you can stand to be. Robrecht who’s off getting rid of tourists served a term in Military Intelligence before he went sane and became a professor instead. Rinzen over there was our security officer, and pulled duty with Engineering when there was anything to engineer. Abikanile doesn’t say where she came from originally, but she can fix anything that’s fixable and most things that aren’t. As for Soonmi—”

“Soonmi can speak for herself,” said that individual, “and she wants you to know that she is insulted by your lack of trust. We may be trapped here by a war and a hijacking, but we are devoted to the cause of staying alive.

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