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the aliens were back aboard the wreck.
Not likely, sir. Kerry spoke quickly. Since the starbird was caught,
they ve had three years and more to come back for anything they wanted.
Jason asked when it would pass Janoort.
Forty-one hours from now, Quin told him. Half a million kilometers out.
Could we take a look
Impossible
! Charbon stalked away. That has been decided.
Jason shrugged, seeming pleased with himself. Quin saw Kerry reaching for his
starmist, as eager as
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Charbon clearly was to be rid of Jason.
Let em go. A shrug of casual contempt. If they ve no time for me
Jason smiled at Quin, and the smile transformed him. The arrogance turned to
genial warmth.
Impersonal no longer, the green eyes welcomed him into all the grace and
splendor of Jason s world.
His first dislike dissolved into awed admiration.
Quin, would you care to show me around?
Sunner Kwan Awed at this great good luck, he had to catch his breath. I d
love to.
Jason had a holo camera, but he didn t want to take the gym or the gardens or
the slush pit. Nothing seemed to interest him till Quin took him on the old
Capella
. He smirked at Jomo s English, but when he heard that Quin was a helper in
the engine room his boredom disappeared.
How s this, kid? His green gaze sharpened. You can really run fusion
engines?
We do our best.
He wanted to know if the
Capella had a fusion-powered minishuttle.
It s kept out at the end of a tunnel now, Quin told him. Operating off an
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insulating pad so the jet won t sublime too much ice. Used to service the
orbital signal gear.
Could it get out to the wreck?
My stepfather wanted to take it out, to tow the hulk into orbit, but Captain
Charbon
Old Charbon? A sardonic hoot. Let s take a look.
Sir, the air valve would be locked
I ll manage the lock. He touched his black-belted lasergun. Come along,
kid.
They swam down the tunnel. His lasergun made a blinding flash. Smoke exploded,
and he pulled the valve open. Eyes stinging, Quin followed him into the
shuttle.
Odd-looking junk. He scowled at the tiny engine. You can really run it,
kid?
As long as it runs. On the last trip out, Kerry had a problem with the master
magnet. He did get
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home, and I helped Jomo rewind the magnet and the spare.
He peered uneasily at Jason.
Sir, I don t want trouble
Listen, kid! I m the Tycoon s son. Jason chuckled. Trouble never troubles
me.
But, sir, I m not anybody
Maybe not yet. Jason squinted shrewdly at him. But I d bet you d like to
have a Sunmark.
I would. Quin couldn t help confessing that, a quiver in his voice. I d
give nearly anything
All right, kid! A hearty clap on his shoulder. I ll get you that, if you ll
go along with me. Let s fly out to the wreck and catch ourselves a starbird.
But, sir
The promise of a Sunmark had taken his voice and set his whole world to
spinning. Terribly, he wanted to escape his long confinement to Janoort, to be
as bold and forceful as Jason seemed to be.
Maybe even to earn some high place in the House of Kwan. If he could ever find
his father
A crazy thought.
I couldn t. He shook his head. We d be stealing the shuttle.
From the Company? Jason laughed. The Tycoon owns enough of the Company.
It s not very likely we d find another starbird
No matter. Jason shrugged. We can always tell em how it got away. So let s
go, kid! If you know how to seal the valve and uncouple the anchor and get the
engine going
Jason smiled, and everything seemed possible. I A hoarse little whisper. I
do. The shuttle slid off the pad and into space. Though he did get the engine
going, it was cranky as the old
Capella
s. He had to stand over it, reading the magnetic flux, listening to the whine
of the pumps, rechecking voltages, fine-tuning the fuel flow, watching the
thrust meter.
Yet he got brief glimpses of Janoort through the aft port. A ragged gray ball,
half dimly lit by the far
Sun, half only a blot across the stars, already tiny when he found it and
shrinking fast. Seeing it gave
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him a queer-feeling emptiness mixed with a strange elation. The only world he
had ever known, dwindling to a speck that would soon be lost among the stars.
Losing it might hurt. Yet, with Jason for a friend, all the dazzling Sunside
worlds were almost in reach. Or seemed to be
Listen, kid. Hearing Jason s lazy voice on the intercom, he winced from a
pang of doubt. I m reading thrust at only a quarter G. Eight hours out to the
wreck. Can t you do better?
Maybe He hesitated. But with this rewound magnet
Push it, kid.
The old coils could recrystalize. Fail again.
I ll take that chance.
He pushed the thrust to half a G, and even a little beyond, before the little
light winked red to warn him of some crystal flaw, threatening
superconductivity. Gingerly he eased it a little back. The warning light went
out, and he began to enjoy the flight. Alert to everything, asking the engine
for all it could do, yet careful not to ask too much, he began to feel a sort
of kinship with the brave little craft.
He felt grateful even to Jason. The Tycoon s dashing son, his comrade now,
sharing high adventure.
The unlikely chance he d always longed for, to get out of the tunnels and back
to the fabulous Sunside worlds.
An hour out, with the robot pilot set, Jason came back to rummage through the
locker and share what he found, hard biscuits and fruit-flavored synthetic
juice.
To our own starsider! Jason lifted his frost-filmed squeeze-bulb. If we do
meet him though I
rather hope we don t.
If you hope that Quin shook his head at the bronze-bearded smile, suddenly
troubled again, wondering if Jason really shared the elation he had begun to
feel. If Jason had already done so much, could anything thrill him? The tall
Sunner was still beyond his understanding, and it took all his courage to go
on. why are we here?
An impudent question.
I m sorry, sir
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It s okay, kid. The smile flashed brighter. I guess you ve earned an
answer. Jason paused, greenish eyes narrowed until they looked catlike again.
Old Fernando can t hang on forever. I m planning on his place, but the
succession s never automatic. He got elected when he brought the starbird
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