Star Rigger's Way by Jeffrey A. Carver Page B

to meet you and your companion, Cephean—and pleased and amazed to meet your riffmar." His eyebrows danced up and down as he studied the riffmar.
    "We've gotten some of the information you asked about. It took us a few minutes, because the ship you knew as Lady Brillig is no longer registered under that name. It was sold about three months ago by Irwin Kloss, and the name was changed at that time. The Guild is not officially privy to name changes under such circumstances, so you would have to follow the rumor tree to learn what the ship's new name is. I think, though, that it is no longer operating out of Chaening's World."
    Carlyle stared blankly at the man. He must have heard wrong—or they had misunderstood which ship he had asked about. Lady Brillig sold? Renamed? How was that possible?
    The blow was hitting him slowly, picking him up and carrying him out of the present, out of anything which felt like reality. How could his ship no longer be here, no longer even exist for him to fly? If it had been wrecked, that would be one thing. But this? He had left her only four or five months ago. This was wrong!
    The impact was deep in his gut now, in some part of his body he had not known existed. He stared at Freyling, seeing only the blurred figure of a man who had uttered some words. His blood was pounding so loudly in his head that he could hear nothing else.
    What about Janofer and Legroeder and Skan?
    "Can you hear me, Gev?" Freyling asked gently. Carlyle focused on the source of the words. Freyling had been waiting for him to absorb the news. Now he spoke again. "We have some information on your friends, but not much, unfortunately. None of them are on Chaening's World right now, so far as we know. After the ship was sold, they broke up as a group and rigged out on separate ships. All we can give you right now is their original flight assignments—but I don't know if that will help you find them. They rigged out months ago."
    Carlyle stopped listening again. He couldn't keep on; it hurt too much. His effort—gone, wasted. He had carried his hope all the way from the other side of the Flume—and now there was nothing.
    Had they left no word, no explanation?
    Beside him, Cephean stirred, transmitting a barrage of bewildering feelings that was beyond him to understand. Carlyle was only faintly aware of Freyling turning to him from the desk com.
    "Gev," Freyling said. "We've just found a recorded message for you, from one of your friends. Would you like to see it now? I can leave you alone here for a few minutes—"
    "What?" Carlyle came back to awareness.
    Freyling spoke to his desk again and pulled out a thin square of plastic. He placed it over a luminous square on the desk and said, "Just touch here when you're ready." He indicated a spot under the square. Then he rose and left the room.
    Carlyle looked glazedly at Cephean, then leaned forward and touched the spot. The square brightened, and he sat back. A holo-image appeared beside the desk.
    He inhaled sharply.
    It was Janofer. She was life-sized, and she was seated on the edge of a chair, facing just to the right of Carlyle. For a moment he thought that she had changed, or that his memory was faulty. But no—her hair had always been that silver-brown mixture, and her eyes always deep and intense. But they were troubled, sad; she had been crying. Her eyes looked out into the room, shifting, brushing his but not catching. No, of course they wouldn't. She was speaking to a holo-recorder—how long ago?
    "Gev?" she said, her voice trembling. "Hello. And good-bye. I wanted to welcome you home myself—we all did. But this is the best I can do. You've read my letter, so all I can really add is to say how sorry we are about Lady Brillig. We all loved her, and we're as unhappy as you will be. We all wanted to be here to see you again, but we're leaving on our new berths soon. I'm leaving tomorrow, Legroeder's already left, and Skan will be off in about four days. So you'll