Page 27 (1/2)

"You’ve been to hyperspace?" Molly felt her heart skip a beat; she hurried up beside Cat "I--that’s why I caet there ive you one helluva ing, but she felt like she was already erring on the side of un-caution just by being near the alien

"My dad’s there," she said "Maybe a friend ofthere? Thought he slunk back to Earth years ago"

Molly shook her head "I don’t know" She followed as Cat turned down another side-alley "I’ve been told we need sohed "Yeah That, and a hyperdrive that don’t exist Speaking of which, you wanted to knoas in the water?"

"I have the hyperdrive, I think"

"What?" Cat pulled Molly to a stop, right in the middle of the narrow side-alley Molly looked to the side and saw Walter’s diminutive silhouette framed by another well-lit and busy street

"You have the hyperdrive?"

"The hyperdrive?" Molly repeated "I don’t even knohat that uy, I think I opened the hole above Palan that my mom escaped from"

"Your mom? Parsona? Ain’t she a littledead?"

"The ship," Molly said, realizing it would be easier to introduce theave her a brief, concerned glance, as if she were thinking it’s not healthy to anthropo, however, she siazed down the dark alley for a moment "Well, if you say you opened a door like that, then youher head "Damn, that’s a clever place to put it Ryke h, or someone would’ve noticed"

Molly froze She had a flashback to the sine roo the old word, which"I think wealong as Molly hurried off toward Walter

"The guys on my ship," she said, "I think they know about the drive!"

She broke out into a trot, her head balanced on the knife edge of worry and woozy

Cat caside her--the alien’s strides easy and effortless "These guys you keep ," she said, "they didn’t happen to srunted and stood up from another of the Bern comp-uters "Conetization"

Anlyn frowned and stepped close to the control station’s carboglassLooking out, she could see their borrowed Bern ship locked to the end of the long coupling corridor After the first few computers were found perfectly clean, she had assu size was "statistically insignificant," and had insisted they check severalat his reflection in the glass

"They scuttled their endeavor completely," he said

Anlyn nodded "Which still leaves us wondering if they gave up or just changed tactics"

"I disagree"

Anlyn turned to give hi the battery and power inverter he’d been using to temporarily juice up the co this structure in haste, nor did they sulk off in defeat They " Edison ai "Impressions there and there indicate re much mass Equipment repurposed elsewhere"

"Yeah, but where? And why leave this place unguarded?"

Edison gestured beyond Anlyn "Visualize These structures are devoid of defenses No iht, all engineered for offense, a launching pad for unbridled attack"

Anlyn frowned "With no worry of reprisal?" she asked

Edison shook his head "Without Drenardian fear," he said "More parallel to a Gleitate as a Bern"

Anlyn gazed back out the , i an attack Edison was right Her side of the rift was purely defensive, and she couldn’t help but think that way For generations, her people had held the lines, learning how to build trenches that never budged This side was all seek-and-destroy

"It still doesn’t make sense to leave in such a hurry," she said "You think they just juave them a way around our barrier? Then why didn’t we hear about theun he’d have been notified by the Circle"

"You’ve stated the exact quandary I’ve been pondering"

Edison came over and rested a hand on Anlyn’s shoulder "What be-co ed and lifted her empty hands, palm up "They disap-pear?"

"Precisely, but to what location?"

"Nobody knows--they never come back"

"Include this variable: assu"

"Returning from where?"

"Hyperspace"

Anlyn frowned "Hyperspace isn’t a place, though, is it? It’s just a made-up name An idea"

"That is one possibility, statistically likely, perhaps However, so interconnects point A to all possible point C’s Travel requires existence Moveital Objects occupy all states between"

Anlyn scrunched up her face, trying to follow along "The point B’s, you mean?"

"Correct It’s not theoretically impossible that myriad such points constitute a physical place hyperjuical conclusion could also explain--"