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The forgotten language of our anies Not to be challenged is to atrophy And the ultih those barriers which enclose and isolate life, liy for work and fulfill to the Avata
FOR A long heartbeat, Hali stood ie while she stared at Murdoch and the weapon he carried - that deadly laser scalpel She could see Docking Bay Eight directly behind hihter and escape lay there They had less than two hter into space for the long dive to Pandora A quick glance at the unconscious Waela on the gurney beside her showed no change there, but the target of that laser scalpel appeared obvious Hali interposed her own body between Murdoch and Waela She heard old Win Ferry gasp as she moved
Hali kept her attention on the scalpel, cleared her throat, and found her voice astonishingly cals are meant to save lives, Murdoch, not take the rid of this TaoLini woman" His voice reminded her of that faraway time when Ship had allowed her to be confronted by Foul-breath below the Hill of Skulls
Ship? The unspoken plea filled her mind
Ship made no response It all depended on her then
Ferry had stopped the gurney two paces fro
Murdoch waved the scalpel at therowth frolared at the unconscious Waela "defiles us"
Again, Hali found her memory filled with the faces of the Hill of Skulls - passionate eyes and violence thinly restrained behind them Murdoch’s face was one of those
"You have no right," she said
"I have this" He flicked the scalpel’s laser blade in a searing arc past her right cheek "That’s all the right I need"
"But Shi"
"The ship be da out with his free hand to sweep her aside
In this instant, Ferry moved He was so fast that Hali saw only the backwards jerk of Murdoch’s chin, the blur of old Ferry’s elbow Murdoch went sprawling to the deck, the scalpel spinning from his hand Hali was as shocked by the old man’s speed as by his action Desperation moved Ferry
"Go!" Ferry yelled at her "Get Waela out of here!"
Murdoch was scraed for hiurney, jerked it past the struggling rated on her senses
How much time do we have?
And she asked herself as she swept the gurney through the Bay Eight hatch: What made Ferry so desperate?
The sealed hatch into the freighter lay directly beyond the Bay Eight opening She wheeled the gurney across the buainst the freighter’s hatch It was then that she realized she could not escape without Ferry He carried the freighter’s transit program She stared at the control panel beside the hatch Without the prograhter would land the worse than Murdoch awaited thehter - they would be cooked alive here in the Docking Bay Without that prograhter from automatic to life-support
The inventory in her mind stopped as she heard the panel relays click into the final stages before separation She whirled at a grunting sound and saw Murdoch and Ferry struggling in the short passage to the freighter’s hatch, Murdoch slowly pushing the old man backward toward Hali Once more, the panel clicked One by one, the hatches to the docking bay hissed shut Bolts clicked into their locks, sealing the bay and the four of them from the rest of Ship
There was a screaile blossom across the red-smeared deck It was then she realized that Ferry had recovered the scalpel She whirled to the panel, threw it open and found a hold program key In desperation, she hit the key
I hope I haven’t trapped us
An o issued from the control panel
Ferry thrust her aside, slipped a s hand touched the add prograhter’s hatch popped open They pushed the gurney inside and, as they moved, Waela sat up She looked at Ferry, then at Hali, and said: "My child will sleep in the sea Where the hylighters calm the waves to the touch of a cradle, there my child will sleep"
Her head fell forward onto her chest They slipped her froer couch, locked her in it As they worked, Hali heard the freighter’s hatch hiss closed The freighter quivered Ferry propelled her toward one of the forward control couches and they strapped in
"You ever fly one of these?" Ferry asked
She shook her head
"Me neither I had sio"
His hand hesitated over the launch prograht flashed on the board Hali looked forward to the plaz curve nested into the bay, expecting it to separate Nothing happened
"What’s wrong?" She felt hysteria bubbling in her throat "Why doesn’t it launch?"
"Ferry! Ekel! Shut that thing down and come back inside!"
"Murdoch," Ferry said "Always spoiling things He must’ve escaped from the bay He’s taken over the auto-pilot and we can’t release the docking bolts"