“Okay.”
Perry passed the message to the passenger cabin. Moments later the turned slightly to starboard and began to decelerate. The cannon grew larger. There was no sign of damage anywhere. He took over the controls and started to brake.
“It’s tumbling,” said Mark. “Look at it.”
It was, but slowly. said Thwanna.
It descended below the frame and then rose again as Perry drew closer. He continued until it filled the windows, only a couple of kilometers away, an endless tube encased in a cube-shaped frame. He lined up alongside it, matched its velocity, and went into cruise. He couldn’t quite stay with it, though, because it would have required matching its tumble, which would have made everyone ill. said Thwanna, “
“Are you saying,” asked Mark, “that they’ve been sucked into the black hole?”
“What do you think, Captain?”
Perry sighed. “I think they’re gone.”
I.
,
,
,
.
I can’t remember a happier time than the day Gabe came back. Alex and I had assumed he was dead, along with the other twenty-six hundred passengers and crew on the . It simply disappeared more than a decade ago and nobody had any idea what had happened. Funerals and farewells were conducted, and eventually families and friends went on with their lives. But a few months ago it surfaced. It had gotten tangled with a time warp. On board only about three weeks had passed, so the passengers and crew were shocked to discover that the outside world was eleven years older. Gabe and the others had returned though, and that was all that mattered.
We picked him up during the rescue operation and returned to Rimway, where we docked at Skydeck. Alex asked Gabe whether he would like to stop and have a drink to celebrate, but he shook his head. “Just take me home,” he said. “I’ll celebrate when we walk in the front door.”
Gabe was seated beside me in the skimmer a couple of hours later as we descended through the clouds. “I can’t believe this happened,” he said. “Thank God it’s over.” He looked back at Alex. “Are you still living on Rambuckle?”
“No. After the disappeared, I decided it was time to go home.”
Gabe let us see he was amused. “So one good thing, at least, has come out of this. You’re living here now, right? In the country house?”
“Yes, we’ve set up a business here.”
“It’ll be good to have you home, Alex.”
“I’ve been here a long time. Thanks for turning the property over to me. Anyhow, we’ll clear everything out. Soon as I can decide where I’m headed. It should only take a few days.”
“No, no, no. You’re not listening to me. You can’t do that. You’ve been living here too, right? Not just running a business?”
“I have been, yes.”
Gabe looked my way. “And you, Chase?”
“I have a cottage near the river,” I said.
“I don’t see any rings. You guys aren’t a couple, are you?”
I’m not sure my cheeks didn’t redden a bit. There’d been a time when Alex and I had made a connection. But it had been brief, and it was long ago.
“No,” I said. “I just work for Alex. For Rainbow.” I’d been Gabe’s pilot before the took him away. It was a flight he’d invited me onto, a combination of business and vacation, but fortunately I’d declined. Although it occurred to me that if I’d gone along I’d have been more than a decade younger.
“Well, anyhow,” said Gabe, “there should be plenty of room at the country house. There’s no reason you should leave, Alex. Stay there, please.”
Alex hesitated. “Sure, Uncle Gabe. If it’s really okay with you.”
“Of course it is.” He was suddenly looking out the window at the river. “I’ve never seen the Melony look so good.”
“That’s because home,” I said.
“Is Jacob still there?”
The AI. “Yes,” said Alex. “Of course.”
“So what kind of business does Rainbow do?”
“Nothing’s changed. I still deal in antiquities.” Alex showed a touch of discomfort. “I hope that’s not a problem.”
“It’s okay. Do what you have to. Don’t worry about it.” Gabe had never approved of selling artifacts to private collectors. They should be available to everyone. Not stored away in the homes of the wealthy. But fortunately, on this occasion, he showed a flexibility that allowed him to confront his new situation with a let’s-not-get-excited attitude.
Minutes later we arrived over the country house. “It doesn’t look any different,” Gabe said. We touched down and climbed out. Then he stood admiring the building, the walkway, and the surrounding trees. “It’s hard to believe what’s happened.”
We did a round of hugs and kisses, then climbed onto the porch, and the door opened. It was Jacob, the house AI, who was so excited he could barely contain himself.
“Hello, Jacob. How’ve you been?”
We went inside. “What’ve you been up to?” Gabe asked Jacob as the door closed behind us.
Jacob loved the theater and spent a lot of his time in virtual box seats.
“Bellarian?” I said. “Where are they from?”
“Maybe we could attend some together,” said Gabe.
Graveyard Shift
“I’ll need a couple of nights to settle in, Jacob. But sure, let’s set something up.”
We carried everything to his quarters in the rear. Gabe was looking around the apartment, shaking his head, commenting that it was hard to believe he’d been gone over a decade. “By the way,” he added, “did we ever find out what happened to Octavia?”
“That happened,” I said, “just before you left. Am I right?”
“That’s correct. Just a few weeks earlier.”
“No,” said Alex. “They never got any answers. It had to have gone into the black hole, but the people who were running the program claimed that just wasn’t possible. There was a major commotion at the time when you guys disappeared too. The media were full of rumors about a connection.”