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Interlude 5

Time: CY 9789 - AD 4866)
Location: the Hephaistos system

The black hole that had captured the starship continued on its journey through space. Its trajectory brought it near the gas giant that had once been the sixth planet in the Hephaistos system The gravitational effects of the planet had a small but significant effect on the starship; it's orbit was altered. It began to almost imperceptibly drift away from the embrace of the black hole it had been orbiting for the past five years.

Chapter 5 Chapter 7

Alternity - Chapter 6

Escape

Time: CY 10087 - AD Aug 5164
Location: In transit

chapter illustration Harper, don't you even think about dying on me," Beka called into the intraship communication system. Her fingers were racing over the Maru's computer's data entry console entering data. "How's he doing, Trance?"

"He'll be fine if we can get him to any sort of decent medical care, but we need to hurry. When he fell from the catwalk he didn't just break his leg. It's a compound fracture, and the bone cut an artery as well. I've got the bleeding under control, but he lost a lot of blood. Lie back and be still," the last statement was directed to her patient.

If the situation hadn't been so serious Beka would have appreciated the irony of it all. In the past week they had been incarcerated for attempting to import contraband goods, goods that the Felicity planetary government had yet to announce to the rest of the universe were no longer legal to import, had the Maru impounded, broken out of jail, stolen their own ship back and escaped from the planetary police, who had tried very hard to blow them into very small pieces. They had gotten through all of that without a scratch, and now Harper had a compound fracture of his leg because he had fallen from the catwalk in the upper level of the engine room.

"I've run the numbers, Trance. Based on our present location and current vector the quickest transit from here takes us to Erewhon."

"What sort of place is that, Beka? Do they good medical facilities?"

"I was there once with my father, Trance, when I was just a little girl. I mostly remember how bad the place smelled. They used internal combustion engines to power their transportation. Their medical care should be adequate enough though. But I don't know how we are going to pay for it."

"Well we still have a cargo hold full of wine," put in Harper. His voice was slurred from the painkillers Trance had given him. "Those folks on Felicity were keeping it to be used as evidence for our trial."

"OK Erewhon it is," said Beka. "We'll be at slipstream distance in 15 minutes. Hang in there Harper, you'll be just fine


Chapter 5 Chapter 7