She left the cabin and headed for the bridge. “Hello, Captain Hutchins,” said the AI as she walked through the door. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Welcome aboard.”

“Hi, Barry.” She lowered herself into her seat. “It’s a pleasure to be here. You have the range and direction for Calliope?”

“I do, Captain. Seven thousand two hundred and forty-seven light-years. That is, of course, an estimate.”

“Of course. So we’ll be under—?”

“Twenty-six days, three hours.”

A commlink sounded behind her. She turned to see Derek standing by the door. He took the call and listened for a minute. Then: “Okay, Janet. Thanks for letting me know.” He paused. “The stop order’s been signed.”

Outside, other than the presence of a few lights along some of the docks, the dome seemed suddenly dark. Hutch began going over the check-off list with the AI.

Derek leaned dismayed against the doorway. “Janet got the word from one of her contacts. They haven’t let us know officially yet. But unless the contact’s got it screwed up, they should be calling it in now.”

“Well, what do you want to do, Derek? Give it up, or start the engines?”

“You know the answer to that.” He looked away from her, staring at the windows. “Do it.”

It was the reply she wanted. “Go, Barry.”

Lights came on across the instrument board, and the soft murmur of power rose out of the bulkheads.

“I’ve got to tell you, Priscilla, we didn’t quite complete the inspection. But we should be okay.”

“That’s not good, Derek.” Her training was clear on the issue: You don’t go anywhere until inspection and maintenance are complete.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we? Stay or go.”

“Where’s Clay?”

“He’s coming.” Derek checked the time and looked out through the windows, but there was no sign of him. He opened his commlink, glared at it, and grumbled Clay’s name.

“On my way, Derek,” Clay said. “I was in the shower when you called.”

“Where are you now?”

“Outside the hotel. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Derek shut it off and rubbed the back of his hand against his mouth. “Great,” he said.

His commlink buzzed. “It’s Janet again.” He turned the volume up so Hutch could hear.

“A message just came in from Director Zhang. I haven’t looked at it yet.”

“Don’t go near it,” said Derek. “Priscilla, get us out of here.”

“What about Clay?”

“Can you manage without him?”

“As long as nothing happens to me. Or Barry.”

“Then leave him. Let’s go.”

She connected with Ops. “Eiferman ready for departure.”

Derek was talking to Janet again. “We’re pulling out now.”

“You want me to ignore the message until you’re gone?”