the camera from one direction, and two Waldahudin and a human male rushing in from the other direction.
The zero-g part of the central shaft: people using the handholds to shoot themselves upward.
A vertical water tube, with three dolphins swimming up it.
An elevator car, with a Waldahud holding the door open with one arm and urging passengers in with the other three.
Another elevator car, containing an Ib surrounded by a dozen humans.
"Even with everyone above the ocean deck," said Lianne, "I don't think we're going to have enough radiation-shielding."
"Wait!" said Thor. "What about going behind the shortcut?"
"Eh?" said Rhombus--or, at least, that's the sound PHANTOM gave to the little ripple of lights that passed over his mantle.
"The shortcut's a circular hole," said Thor, looking over his shoulder at Keith. "The star is emerging from it. The rear part of the shortcut is a flat, empty circle--a black void in the shape of whatever's passing through it. If we're behind the shortcut, we'll be protected--at least for a while."
Jag slapped all four of his hands against his console.
"He's right!"
Keith nodded. "Do it, Thor. Alter course to put us in the lee of the shortcut, keeping the bottom of the ocean deck facing the emerging star."
"Executing," said Thor. "But it'll take a while to get there." In the spherical holo display encompassing the bridge, the brilliant circular profile of the star slowly became a green dome as Thor maneuvered the ship.
"Talldorsal to Lansing!" A high-pitched dolphin voice over the intercom, with splashing in the background.
"Open. Lansing here."
"Thor's not moving in a line straight the ship. We're getting tides on the ocean deck."
"Lianne?" Keith said, and the twenty-four views of the evacuation all changed to different angles on the ocean.
Seawater was sloshing up to the holographic ceiling on the port side, real waves touching fake clouds, forcing all the dolphins to the starboard so that they could breathe.
"Damn," said Thor. "Hadn't thought about that. I'll rotate the ship around its axis as we move. With luck, I should be able to keep all the forces balanced. Sorry!"
As Starplex continued to move, the bulging dome of the green star became progressively eclipsed by the featureless black circular backside of the shortcut. And then, at last, the green disappeared; Starplex was in the shortcut's lee. The only evidence for the emerging star was the emerald cast on the dark-matter field beyond it. Even the ring of Soderstrom radiation was invisible back here; it, after all, was caused by tachyons spilling out of the shortcut, heading in the opposite direction. The black circle continued to grow, though, blotting out more and more background stars. Its diameter was now 800,000 kilometers.
"Can you extrapolate how big the star is going to get, based on the curvature we observed on the other side?" Keith asked Jag.
"It's not yet halfway through," Jag replied, "and it's oblate from high-speed rotation. Best guess? One-point-five mil]ion kilometers."
"Thor, any chance of the hyperdrive?" Keith asked.
Thor spoke into the hologram of Keith floating above his console rim.
"Not yet. We'd have to be at least seventy million klicks from the star's center before space would be flat enough to engage it. I estimate we'll reach that distance in eleven hours."
"Hours. How long till the star's equator passes through the shortcut?"
"Perhaps five minutes," said Jag.
"Evacuation status?"
"One hundred and ninety people are still below the ocean deck," said Lianne.
"Will we make it?" Keith asked her.
"I'm not--"
"Red light on thruster number six," shouted Thor. "It's overheating."
"Great," Keith said. "Do you need to take it off-line?"
"Not yet," said Thor. "I'm injecting repair nanotechs into its intercoolers; they may be able to correct the problem."
"The green star's equator is about to pass through the shortcut," said Jag.
A portion of the holographic display changed to a
The zero-g part of the central shaft: people using the handholds to shoot themselves upward.
A vertical water tube, with three dolphins swimming up it.
An elevator car, with a Waldahud holding the door open with one arm and urging passengers in with the other three.
Another elevator car, containing an Ib surrounded by a dozen humans.
"Even with everyone above the ocean deck," said Lianne, "I don't think we're going to have enough radiation-shielding."
"Wait!" said Thor. "What about going behind the shortcut?"
"Eh?" said Rhombus--or, at least, that's the sound PHANTOM gave to the little ripple of lights that passed over his mantle.
"The shortcut's a circular hole," said Thor, looking over his shoulder at Keith. "The star is emerging from it. The rear part of the shortcut is a flat, empty circle--a black void in the shape of whatever's passing through it. If we're behind the shortcut, we'll be protected--at least for a while."
Jag slapped all four of his hands against his console.
"He's right!"
Keith nodded. "Do it, Thor. Alter course to put us in the lee of the shortcut, keeping the bottom of the ocean deck facing the emerging star."
"Executing," said Thor. "But it'll take a while to get there." In the spherical holo display encompassing the bridge, the brilliant circular profile of the star slowly became a green dome as Thor maneuvered the ship.
"Talldorsal to Lansing!" A high-pitched dolphin voice over the intercom, with splashing in the background.
"Open. Lansing here."
"Thor's not moving in a line straight the ship. We're getting tides on the ocean deck."
"Lianne?" Keith said, and the twenty-four views of the evacuation all changed to different angles on the ocean.
Seawater was sloshing up to the holographic ceiling on the port side, real waves touching fake clouds, forcing all the dolphins to the starboard so that they could breathe.
"Damn," said Thor. "Hadn't thought about that. I'll rotate the ship around its axis as we move. With luck, I should be able to keep all the forces balanced. Sorry!"
As Starplex continued to move, the bulging dome of the green star became progressively eclipsed by the featureless black circular backside of the shortcut. And then, at last, the green disappeared; Starplex was in the shortcut's lee. The only evidence for the emerging star was the emerald cast on the dark-matter field beyond it. Even the ring of Soderstrom radiation was invisible back here; it, after all, was caused by tachyons spilling out of the shortcut, heading in the opposite direction. The black circle continued to grow, though, blotting out more and more background stars. Its diameter was now 800,000 kilometers.
"Can you extrapolate how big the star is going to get, based on the curvature we observed on the other side?" Keith asked Jag.
"It's not yet halfway through," Jag replied, "and it's oblate from high-speed rotation. Best guess? One-point-five mil]ion kilometers."
"Thor, any chance of the hyperdrive?" Keith asked.
Thor spoke into the hologram of Keith floating above his console rim.
"Not yet. We'd have to be at least seventy million klicks from the star's center before space would be flat enough to engage it. I estimate we'll reach that distance in eleven hours."
"Hours. How long till the star's equator passes through the shortcut?"
"Perhaps five minutes," said Jag.
"Evacuation status?"
"One hundred and ninety people are still below the ocean deck," said Lianne.
"Will we make it?" Keith asked her.
"I'm not--"
"Red light on thruster number six," shouted Thor. "It's overheating."
"Great," Keith said. "Do you need to take it off-line?"
"Not yet," said Thor. "I'm injecting repair nanotechs into its intercoolers; they may be able to correct the problem."
"The green star's equator is about to pass through the shortcut," said Jag.
A portion of the holographic display changed to a
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