She dragged herself out of her cot, still thinking it over. She was due to relieve Bash, and she knew that if she didnt get moving soon, Tarrant would come looking for her. And the thought of him walking into her quarters was more than she could stand.

She stumbled over to the tiny kitchenette, dialling up a cup of coffee and a bowl of porridge laced with as many neuro-enhancement supplements as she could persuade the ship to give her without making it think she was aiming for a deliberate overdose. While she ate, she linked back into the ships data-net, her mind still churning over the possibilities.

For the first time in a long while, she started to feel excited.

She discovered that Bash had been keeping busy. Maps of the target system were arranged everywhere around his datascape, including images of all of the inner planets.

<You awake, baby?> he said, sensing her electronic presence hovering nearby.

<More than I really want to be.>

<Your neurochemistry just spiked. What the hell have you been doing to your brain?>

<Keeping myself happy so I dont become a basket case,> she replied. The enhancements were kicking in, making her feel as awake as if shed just plunged herself bodily into a pool of ice water.

<There are limits to how much you can screw around with your internal chemistry, you know.>

<None of your business,> sent Megan. <Listen, I had an idea, a crazy one, maybe, but I think its worth at least discussing.>

<Uh-oh,> sent Bash. <Should I be worried?>

<First, is there any way they could tap into our private comms and hear what were saying?>

<I doubt it. Only way is by accessing higher-level ships functions through the chair, and you cant do that unless youre a machine-head. Thats probably one of the few advantages we have over those two sons of bitches.>

<Then lets make the best use of it we can. Look . . . maybe we dont need the Beauregard to get ourselves home, Bash.>

<What the hell are you talking about?>

<The lifeboats.>

He laughed. <Those are short-range boats, Megan. They dont have nova drives.>

<But theres nothing to stop us modifying one of them.>

There was a significant pause before he replied. <Modify it how?>

<We take the Beauregards nova drive and install it in one of the lifeboats. Wed have to make modifications, a lot of them, but>

<Wait just one goddamn minute. How the hell do you propose to get the nova drive out of its mounting, then install it in a lifeboat thats not much bigger than itself, all without Sifra or Tarrant even noticing?>