Varken Rise by Tracy Cooper-Posey Page B

they were sharing two rooms between them. As Lilly and Brant took one, that left Kemp to bunk with Catherine. She didn’t mind. Having a second person in the room might help her sleep and above all, she needed to sleep.
    Brant had insisted they jump to Shanterry and find out for themselves what had happened. Catherine had fallen in with his suggestion, unable to think of a better course of action.
    She had paid for the very expensive cabins and reflected that the price of interstellar travel when you didn’t own your own ship was prohibitive. They wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace of travel for long. Of course, the quicker the cruiser, the more expensive the ticket. If there had been a slower vessel travelling to Shanta, the tickets would have been reasonable, but it would take them over a month to get there.
    All of it, though—the change in plans, buying the tickets, worrying over the price, stowing her jump bag—it had all happened in a blur.
    They met in the dining room for dinner and coffee and all the big viewers around the room were either showing the Barros system dwindling behind them, or news feeds and commentary.
    Catherine wanted to go back to her room and get away from the feeds. Without exception, they were all reporting on the new Shanta disaster and as usual, speculation was rife.
    She didn’t want to listen to it while she was eating, so she kept her gaze down and concentrated on inconsequential thoughts. Nearly everything brought her back to Bedivere, so she pulled up the meditation techniques she had learned centuries ago. She ate while staring at the spot on the nearly-spotless dining table, her thoughts suppressed.
    As Kemp and Lilly were ordering coffee and waiting for the mugs to appear at the mouth of the dispensers, the cruiser jumped through the gates and the feeds and the external view shut off. They were blank for only a few seconds and in those seconds, Catherine could feel her attention snap back to the room. Her guard relaxed.
    She looked around, puzzled. It was the first time she had consciously noted that there were dozens of passengers eating in the dining room. Most of them looked like workers and contractors. They were all sitting in cozy groups, talking to each other with the ease of friends and fellow workers.
    Catherine’s table was the only isolated one. Everyone was on their way to Shanta to help out in some way and the conversation was flowing over and across all the tables.
    The lack of noise from the feeds was a relief. Then the screens flickered and began running a variety of informational and entertainment shows. They would only be able to access what was in the ship’s databases until they were outside the end gates and could tap into the datacore once more.
    Kemp and Lilly returned with the coffee and settled back at the table. Everyone was occupied with their own thoughts. While the chatter around the room continued and even increased, their table was silent.
    The silence held until Lilly voiced her question.
    Catherine blinked and looked at her. “What?”
    “I said,” Lilly replied, “that I don’t understand why he’s doing it. Any of it.”
    Brant put his hand on Lilly’s wrist, trying to silence her.
    “No, let her talk,” Catherine said. “She’s only saying what we’re all thinking.”
    “Then Bedivere…when you spoke…he didn’t say what he was doing?” Kemp asked.
    Catherine shook her head.
    Everyone looked at her, surprised.
    “Not even to you?” Lilly said.
    “That doesn’t make sense. It was a perfectly secure channel, wasn’t it?” Kemp asked. “No one could breach it without him knowing. He could have cut it instantly, after that. He was free to speak, so why didn’t he?”
    Catherine stared at Kemp, listening to the question circle through her mind in tired rounds. Why hadn’t he told her? If their security had been tight, then... “Something else was stopping him from telling me,” she finished aloud.
    “What could