The Secret of Spring by Piers Anthony, Jo Anne Taeusch
Authors: Piers Anthony, Jo Anne Taeusch
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compartment, nor had she run into him in the dining room.
But one evening when she was returning from the evening meal her luck took a sudden dive.
Elton was coming straight down the narrow corridor toward her. His eyes were glued to papers in his hands so he had not yet spotted her, but there could be no escape this time. Her friend usually accompanied her, but was resting this evening with a headache. Spring had given her a gemstone with directions to help eradicate the pain.
Spring knew she would be hard pressed to put Elton off a second time. Especially when he had her cornered alone. And of course, if he was expecting a male reception, there was no way she could comply, even had she so strangely desired to do so. The fact was , her disguise wouldn't go that far. She lacked the basic equipment, and he would find that out quickly and then realize who she really was. The fox hunt would be over.
He was still engrossed in whatever it was he was reading, so was advancing very slowly. There was no time to run back, though, and that was his destination besides.
Suddenly, she spied a small hatch at the side of the corridor. Spring shoved and it gave. Bending down, for it was only about three feet from floor level, she pushed against it and ducked inside. Instead of stepping out on the opposite side as expected, however, she plunged straight down into darkness.
11
Down the Hatch
It was a shaft. Now she'd gone and done it. "Out of the frying pan into the fire," as her late father was fond of quoting. It was an Old World saying that until that moment she had never fully appreciated.
Fortunately, it wasn't a straight drop. It slanted forward toward the center of the ship, causing her to slide down, rather than plunge the descent.
She came to an abrupt stop on something soft. It was alive. Giving an indignant squeal, it scurried off into the dark with scratchy feet. With the unquestionable intuition women have about such things, Spring immediately identified it as a smouse . Those were small, fuzzy rodents considered more as pests than a danger, but the thought of touching one still gave her the shivers.
Where in the universe was she? Her eyes were slowly growing accustomed to the darkness. Objects began to come into focus as her night vision increased. It didn't especially help. It looked as if she had landed on top of a huge room full of junk.
Paper and debris of all kinds made a sort of mountain upon which she tried to stand. It wasn't easy, for the footing was slippery, and worse, she nearly slid down between a loose section . If not careful, she could end up buried under all that trash. Trash? Had she mistakenly jumped into a garbage bin? How brilliant! The question was, how to get out of it.
More smouses rustled in the loose papers nearby, but seemed as content to avoid her as she was glad to have them do so. She tried yelling at the top of her lungs, but realized no one would hear her in there. Who would be listening to a pile of junk?
Besides, the noise of the ship's mechanics were rumbling like thunder at the moment. It would be virtually impossible for anyone to hear over the din that the machinery was-
Machinery?
Spring was no expert in the dynamics of spacecraft, but she did know that lightships were practically soundless. They ran on waves or something. There should be no rumbling engines to make those kinds of sounds. But if it wasn't the engines, then what was it? And more than that, what was happening?
Added to the present noise was the sound of swirling papers. Looking upward, she saw some of the top layer of the junk begin to rise. It followed a spiraling pattern upward toward the center of the high ceiling where it was being sucked into some type of-shredder? No, it would have to be a disintegrator. So that was how they disposed of all the garbage in space. Interesting. And if she didn't find a way to escape very soon, she would see its workings close up.
The lighter materials and papers
But one evening when she was returning from the evening meal her luck took a sudden dive.
Elton was coming straight down the narrow corridor toward her. His eyes were glued to papers in his hands so he had not yet spotted her, but there could be no escape this time. Her friend usually accompanied her, but was resting this evening with a headache. Spring had given her a gemstone with directions to help eradicate the pain.
Spring knew she would be hard pressed to put Elton off a second time. Especially when he had her cornered alone. And of course, if he was expecting a male reception, there was no way she could comply, even had she so strangely desired to do so. The fact was , her disguise wouldn't go that far. She lacked the basic equipment, and he would find that out quickly and then realize who she really was. The fox hunt would be over.
He was still engrossed in whatever it was he was reading, so was advancing very slowly. There was no time to run back, though, and that was his destination besides.
Suddenly, she spied a small hatch at the side of the corridor. Spring shoved and it gave. Bending down, for it was only about three feet from floor level, she pushed against it and ducked inside. Instead of stepping out on the opposite side as expected, however, she plunged straight down into darkness.
11
Down the Hatch
It was a shaft. Now she'd gone and done it. "Out of the frying pan into the fire," as her late father was fond of quoting. It was an Old World saying that until that moment she had never fully appreciated.
Fortunately, it wasn't a straight drop. It slanted forward toward the center of the ship, causing her to slide down, rather than plunge the descent.
She came to an abrupt stop on something soft. It was alive. Giving an indignant squeal, it scurried off into the dark with scratchy feet. With the unquestionable intuition women have about such things, Spring immediately identified it as a smouse . Those were small, fuzzy rodents considered more as pests than a danger, but the thought of touching one still gave her the shivers.
Where in the universe was she? Her eyes were slowly growing accustomed to the darkness. Objects began to come into focus as her night vision increased. It didn't especially help. It looked as if she had landed on top of a huge room full of junk.
Paper and debris of all kinds made a sort of mountain upon which she tried to stand. It wasn't easy, for the footing was slippery, and worse, she nearly slid down between a loose section . If not careful, she could end up buried under all that trash. Trash? Had she mistakenly jumped into a garbage bin? How brilliant! The question was, how to get out of it.
More smouses rustled in the loose papers nearby, but seemed as content to avoid her as she was glad to have them do so. She tried yelling at the top of her lungs, but realized no one would hear her in there. Who would be listening to a pile of junk?
Besides, the noise of the ship's mechanics were rumbling like thunder at the moment. It would be virtually impossible for anyone to hear over the din that the machinery was-
Machinery?
Spring was no expert in the dynamics of spacecraft, but she did know that lightships were practically soundless. They ran on waves or something. There should be no rumbling engines to make those kinds of sounds. But if it wasn't the engines, then what was it? And more than that, what was happening?
Added to the present noise was the sound of swirling papers. Looking upward, she saw some of the top layer of the junk begin to rise. It followed a spiraling pattern upward toward the center of the high ceiling where it was being sucked into some type of-shredder? No, it would have to be a disintegrator. So that was how they disposed of all the garbage in space. Interesting. And if she didn't find a way to escape very soon, she would see its workings close up.
The lighter materials and papers
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