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Before she could reply, Angus spoke over the intercouration One minute"

At the prompt, Sao bay Skyler took a seat as well and began to strap hi in the uided her to the seat he’d been preparing to use, and then folded out another seat facing hers

Tania stared at the harness, confused

"Watch me," Skyler said He used slow motions to attach the first two belts across his waist

"Twenty seconds," Angus said on the speaker

Tania started to rush things The buckles clanged together

"Relax, plenty of tih for a deep breath, then latched the first belts together

"Shoulders," Skyler said, reaching over each shoulder and pulling two additional belts across his chest He connected them at a special latch above the waist belts

The woman mimicked his movements As the belts crossed her, Skyler tried not to stare

"Five seconds," Angus said

"Last but not least," Skyler said, and reached above himself to pull a thick metal bar down

Tania stretched for the bar above her own seat Her fingertips were short by a few centimeters She extended further and the metal briefcase in her lap started to slide away

The Melville began to tilt Outside, the tow crane had started to lift the nose of the ship Soon the craft would be pointing nose-up

"Shit," Skyler said He pushed his own restraint bar up and unbuckled himself as quickly as possible

By reflex, he shot a hand out to stop hirabbed Tania’s seat just above her shoulder They were just a few centi on?" she whispered

Skyler spoke in a low voice as he strained against gravity "We’re being attached to a cli the restraint bar above her seat He pulled it down and locked it in place

Tania opened her eyes enough to see the bar and grab hold of it

"We have to attach vertically or on’t clear the top of the guard tower," Skyler continued He grunted as he pushed hi back into his own harness required all his strength, as the ship was at a ninety-degree angle now In his seat, he looked straight down at her, and she stared straight up at hi moment follohen the crane stopped and the entire ship swayed freely

Skyler kept a close eye on Tania "Are you going to be okay?"

She closed her eyes and nodded rapidly Her knuckles hite on the restraint bar "Why a cargo cliets us to a hundred kiloe of space"

She let out a nervous laugh "I’rinned "Well, it’s the only e can ets Drop frolide above the atmosphere most of the way, save the caps for the way back"

She looked confused "Why not go higher? Drop from Gateway--"

From across the cabin, Samantha cut in She played up a thick Australian accent "Mudders like us aren’t allowed up there"

Tania looked at her, then back at Skyler "Sorry, I wasn’t thinking …"

Skyler shook his head slightly, hoping she would let it go

A loud clang froh the cra sound, as the ship was finally attached to the clius’s cheerful voice came over the intercom "Cleared the tower Get cozy everyone; ten hours until drop"

Skyler winced, realizing he sat facing backward Which now meant doard The belts of the harness, and theHe already felt the uncoh his jacket

Ten hours, he thought, and nowhere to look but right at her He closed his eyes to keep fro

The captain’s arms extended al to strangle her

He drifted off during the long tow to the edge of space The others had, too

There had been so The crew see but the task at hand This frustrated Tania no end, but she recognized it as a cal their lives for her ht The risk re for the right moment to turn their discussion to the task at hand There would be plenty of time

But then they’d all fallen asleep For the last six hours, she’d had nothing to do but stare at their captain

He almost looked dead, the way his arms floated free, his head lolled side to side Like he’d drowned

The situation orse before, when gravity tugged at him with its full fury At one point she’d pressed, with all possible strength, into the left side of her chair to avoid a streaap between his mouth and her headrest

She couldn’t quite pinpoint the un to fade, but she’d watched with fascination as his ed fro tortured, to serene as a baby, was remarkable

He had a scar on his forehead An old one, faded now His brown hair showed early signs of gray, just behind his tes under his eyes implied a poor sleep schedule Tania realized she had absolutely no idea what life was like for him

"Or anyone in Darwin," she whispered to herself

Scraps of faded paper and old photographs filled the wall behind him, taped there in haphazard fashion Souvenirs fro of bottle caps So invitation Tania found herself s at the display These were the true relics of old Earth, the things no one else thought to collect, or ask for

One photograph caught her eye The subject looked faht

Working as quietly as she could, Tania released her harness The others remained asleep as she pushed out of her chair and floated to the wall, to the photograph

In the picture, four men stood in front of a telescope

"Papa," she whispered

Her father stood there, s Tania at eight years old had teased hihost trapped in a tione