Ammonite Planets (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #1-3 by Gillian Andrews Page A

it won’t. I do know that,” she snapped.
    “Irritable?”
    “What do you mean – ‘irritable’?”
    “You seem rather tetchy.”
    “I’m always like this.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “Really? Not a symptom then?”
    “Certainly not.”
    He smiled in her direction and made himself comfortable. “What are your symptoms, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    Diva detailed a few invented problems, carefully selected so as to be difficult to confirm.
    He examined her eyes and throat carefully. He took her pulse and temperature and listened to her heart. He finished a very thorough examination and then pursed his lips thoughtfully.
    “You have a slight bacterial infection.” His eyes slid to the column, where Atheron was still watching. “You need a few days rest in bed, and you will be excused classes for that time.” He smiled. “I am certain you will feel better after a short rest, but I wish you to take one of these pills every eight hours for the next 72 hours.”
    Atheron frowned. “She needs to rest for all that time?”
    The doctor got to his feet. “It would be most beneficial. There is no point her taking the pills if she doesn’t rest up well at the same time. Surely a couple of days will not hurt the schedule?”
    “It is … unfortunate,” the grey face replied. “But if it can’t be helped … Thank you, Vion.”
    “My pleasure. The young lady is otherwise in perfect health.” The full smile he gave her left the young lady in question wondering if he had diagnosed a false illness deliberately or by mistake.
    “DO YOU THINK your father changed your marks?” Six signed to her later that night, after hearing all about the day’s events.
    “He might have,” she acknowledged. “He might have wanted … well, just to be sure … you know.”
    “No I don’t know. I thought your sort was above cheating.” He jabbed at the orthogel crossly. “I thought it was only my sort that stole, robbed and cheated.”
    “It was not cheating. He may have … exaggerated the result.”
    “Oh, exaggerated, that’s all right then. Nothing wrong in that, is there? I’m all for a little exaggeration from time to time. I might have known. People like me cheat, people like you ‘exaggerate’.”
    “Oh, stop it Six,” she signed snappily. “What can I do?”
    “That’s easy. Pass the test.”
    “And if I don’t make the grade?”
    “How should I know? They have kept you here for over a year, I shouldn’t think they would throw you out of the program now. Anyway, what difference would it make to them? They only want to impress the prospective customers, and you are pretty good at impressing people.”
    “Thank you.”
    “It wasn’t a compliment.” Six remembered the first time he had met her himself, and shuddered. “But I will say one thing for you, people don’t forget you easily. That’s for sure.”
    “You see, you can say nice things if you really try.”
    “Unlike some.”
    “Now, now. We can’t all be famous.”
    “You’ll be famous all right when it comes out that your father cheated to have you accepted as an apprentice.”
    “That won’t come out. Anyway, it didn’t happen.”
    “You hope!”
    A stiff silence was all he got for an answer.

Chapter 10
     
    GRACE FELT VERY silly getting into her back lift with the intention to talk to it, but did so anyway. She took it down to the ground floor, and then began to signal.
    “Arcan? Are you there?”
    She had nearly given up when the orthogel under her fingertips quivered. “I am here, Grace.”
    “Have you thought about things yet?”
    The orthogel vibrated gently against all her fingers. “Yes. I am beginning to understand. It is hard to explain. But I will try.”
    “Who are you?”
    “I am this … this thing you are touching.”
    The orthogel! Impossible! “You mean you are the substance that the lift is made of, that the lake is full of?”
    “Yes.”
    “There is nobody else … err … speaking through