BooksBarbecue
Back Excession
Chapters (108)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. 1 - Outside Context Problem
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. 2 - Not Invented Here
  13. I
  14. II
  15. III
  16. 3 - Uninvited Guests
  17. I
  18. II
  19. III
  20. IV
  21. 4 - Dependency Principle
  22. I
  23. II
  24. III
  25. IV
  26. V
  27. 5 - Kiss The Blade
  28. I
  29. II
  30. III
  31. IV
  32. V
  33. VI
  34. 6 - Pittance
  35. I
  36. II
  37. III
  38. IV
  39. V
  40. VI
  41. 7 - Tier
  42. I
  43. II
  44. III
  45. IV
  46. 8 - Killing Time
  47. I
  48. II
  49. III
  50. IV
  51. V
  52. VI
  53. VII
  54. VIII
  55. 9 - Unacceptable Behaviour
  56. I
  57. II
  58. III
  59. IV
  60. V
  61. VI
  62. VII
  63. VIII
  64. IX
  65. X
  66. XI
  67. XII
  68. XIII
  69. XIV
  70. 10 - Heavy Messing
  71. I
  72. II
  73. III
  74. IV
  75. V
  76. VI
  77. VII
  78. VIII
  79. IX
  80. X
  81. XI
  82. XII
  83. XIII
  84. XIV
  85. XV
  86. 11 - Regarding Gravious
  87. I
  88. II
  89. III
  90. IV
  91. V
  92. VI
  93. VII
  94. VIII
  95. IX
  96. X
  97. XI
  98. XII
  99. XIII
  100. XIV
  101. 12 - Faring Well
  102. I
  103. II
  104. III
  105. IV
  106. V
  107. VI
  108. Epilogue

‘Oh, I know all about you,’ she said softly, seriously. Then she looked down. ‘Well, I know the facts. I suppose that’s not everything.’

He lowered his head to the pillow again. ‘Yes, it was just for her.’

‘Mm-hmm,’ she said. She continued to stroke his chest. ‘You must have loved her a lot.’

After a moment, he said, ‘I suppose I must have.’

She thought he sounded sad. There was a pause, then he sighed again and, in a more cheerful voice, he said; ‘What about you? Ever a guy?’

‘No,’ she said, with a laugh that might have held a trace of scorn. ‘Maybe one day.’ She shifted a little and circled his nipple with the tip of her tongue for a moment. ‘I’m having too much fun being a girl.’

He reached down and pulled her up to kiss her.

Then in the silence, a tiny chime sounded in the room.

She broke off. ‘Yes?’ she said, breathing hard and scowling.

‘I’m very sorry to intrude,’ said the ship, making no great effort to sound sincere. ‘May I speak to Mr Genar-Hofoen?’

Ulver made an exasperated noise and rolled off the man.

‘Good grief, can’t it wait?’ Genar-Hofoen said.

‘Yes, probably,’ said the ship reasonably, as though this had just occurred to it. ‘But people usually like to know this sort of thing immediately. Or so I thought.’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘The sentient module Scopell-Afranqui is dead,’ the ship told him. ‘It conducted a limited destruct on the first day of the war. We have only just heard. I’m sorry. Were you close?’

Genar-Hofoen was silent for a moment. ‘No. Well . . . No. Not that close. But I’m sorry to hear it. Thank you for telling me.’

‘Could it have waited?’ the ship asked conversationally.

‘It could, but I suppose you weren’t to know.’

‘Oh well. Sorry. Good night.’

‘Yes, good night,’ the man said, wondering at his feelings.

Ulver stroked his shoulder. ‘That was the module you lived on, wasn’t it?’

He nodded. ‘We never really got on,’ he told her. ‘Mostly my fault, I suppose.’ He turned his head to look at her. ‘I can be a scum-bag sometimes, frankly.’ He grinned.

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ she said, climbing back on top of him.

10 - Heavy Messing

10

Heavy Messing

I

I

Grief, nothing worked! The Fate Amenable To Change’s ordnance directed at the Elench drone ship just disappeared, snatched away to nowhere; it had to react quickly to deal with the collapsing wormholes as they slammed back, now endless, towards its Displacers. How could anything do that? (And had the watching Elench warships noticed?) The little Elench drone flew on, a few seconds away from its home ship.