The Champion by Scott Sigler Page A

the course of a football player’s life — but didn’t know any of the details, not even who had died.
    “Sorry,” Quentin said. “I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
    Kimberlin shook his head, forced a smile. “Nothing to apologize for.”
    Maybe someday Mike would talk about it. If so, Quentin would be glad to listen. For now, though, Quentin needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
    He turned to Bumberpuff.
    “So, Captain — what now?”
    “Now, we grasp at straws,” Bumberpuff said. “We followed the Hypatia’s last-known path, but this location is where the trail ends. We can broadcast a signal, hope the Hypatia receives it and also hope someone on that ship is still alive to answer. But we are close to the interference zone, Quentin. Our signal won’t—”
    “Won’t go far, I know,” Quentin said. “Do it anyway. We have to try anything we can.”
    Quentin stared out the bubble. Stared hard . He would find Jeanine. He had to. She was out there, somewhere. He refused to believe she was gone.
    Kimberlin spoke quietly.
    “Quentin, I know you hoped the Hypatia would be here. Since she’s not, I must ask if you understand the impossibility of what we now face.”
    “We’re not leaving, Mike.”
    The HeavyG nodded. “I would expect you to say nothing less. Of course, we must make at least a cursory search of this sector, especially since we’ve encountered no hostility. Yet . But to find a ship in an area where scanners barely work, it’s—”
    “She’s lost because of me ” Quentin snapped. “So is Fred. If Jeanine weren’t my sister, Gredok or Anna Villani or whoever caused this wouldn’t have been hunting her. She’s my only family , Mike — I’m not leaving until I find her.”
    Kimberlin took a slow breath, chose his words carefully.
    “Jeanine is not your only family,” he said. “The people that came with you, they came because they love you. All of us knowingly risked our lives to help you find your sister, but the truth is you barely know Jeanine. She is family, true, but your real family is here with you on this ship. The longer we stay in the Cloud, the more likely that some — or all — of that real family will die. Just think about that, will you?”
    Quentin again looked out into the purple-tinged void. Part of making the hard choice was hearing, and accepting, the hard truth . Kimberlin had delivered it. If there was no hope of finding Jeanine, was it right to ask these people — and this living ship — to stay here any longer?
    “All right, Mike. I’ll think about it.”
    “Thank you,” Kimberlin said. “I know how hard this is for you.”
    Quentin closed his eyes for a moment. Kimberlin knew how hard it was to lose the only family member he had left? Quentin doubted that. He doubted it very much.
    A long beep sounded from the walls: the familiar tone of a proximity alarm. Quentin’s heart raced and his hope surged, but that hope shifted to fear when Rosalind spoke.
    “We have contact,” the ship said, her tone sharp and urgent “We’ve got company, and it’s not the Hypatia .”

11
    Company
    “BEARING, TWENTY DEGREES STARBOARD,” Rosalind said. “Range, ten kilometers.”
    Kimberlin leaned against the clear bubble, looking for the incoming ship. “Ten kilometers? That’s right on top of us. Where is ... there it is!”
    The big lineman pointed to his right.
    Out there, Quentin saw a flash of metal, coming fast. As it approached, he made out the shape of a lean, silvery ship. Bumberpuff’s body bristled, his bits rattling audibly. “Now we find out if we die.”
    Rosalind spoke, her passive tone gone.
    “Everyone off the bridge,” she said. “Get back to the room I made for you.”
    Quentin shook his head. “I’m staying.”
    Kimberlin crossed his arms and nodded. “As am I.”
    “We all are, don’t ya know,” Becca said from the entryway. “Just take care of your business, Rosalind.”
    “Fine,” the ship said. “I don’t have