brushed through the wall of the drive cabin like bracken. He wore white, except for a red cloak hung with silver bells, and his face beneath yellow hair that billowed in an intangible wind was pale and set. For a moment he looked at Dom, who saw his eyes gleam momentarily like mirrors and a hand go up protectively. Then horse and rider were gone.
'Chel! He almost seemed real!'
Isaac grinned. 'He almost certainly is, somewhere.'
'Uhuh. They say interspace is where all possibilities intersect. I got the feeling he sensed us.'
'A spirit on the wind, no more.'
Dom stood up unsteadily. The walls still looked as if they had been made of second-hand moonlight.
'Now there's an illusion I've heard about.'
A red globe the size of a fist drifted easily through the shielded windows. He watched fascinated as it passed through the autochef, part of the main cable conduit, and the floating figure of Ig, who stirred uneasily in his sleep. It disappeared in the general direction of the matrix computer.
It was an interspace interpretation of a star, probably BD + 6793°. They were harmless enough, though a red giant or a spitting white dwarf could be unnerving to watch as it passed through your body.
Dom looked round after hearing a scuffle. Hrsh-Hgn was wedged under the autochef, in the foetal position. It was almost an hour before he was persuaded to emerge, blinking with embarrassment.
'We phnobess are not perhapss so ressilient ass you—' he began, 'Intersspace sscares uss. It is a region of uncertainty. Who knowss that we may not ceasse to exist?'
'You appear to be all here, physically and mentally.'
The phnobe nodded sheepishly.
Isaac closed the maintenance panel on the autochef.
'It's a '706 model, a quality job,' he said. 'I can't find a print-out for the menu, anywhere.'
Dom nodded. 'I think great-great-grandfather intended the
One Jump
as a one-man ship. I should imagine the menu is programmed into it.'
'Quite. He'd be so busy fleeing from his creditors he'd have no time—sorry, chief, I think maybe I stepped out of line a little there.'
'It's okay. He was a bit of a pirate. But according to the family history he was a strict Sadhimist, too. Simplicity was a virtue. I shouldn't expect it to run to anything more appetizing than bread and maybe fish.'
The autochef used simple molecule-breeding techniques to duplicate dishes stored as probability equations in its menu. The one aboard
One Jump Ahead
gurgled after it was switched on, broke into a low buzz for several minutes, and extruded a table from a base slot. Another, larger slot opened and the meal slid out.
They stared at it for several seconds. Dom reached out and picked up a crystallized fruit, gingerly.
Hrsh-Hgn coughed. 'The intricate bird with the honey glaze I recognize,' he murmured. 'It's a Croupier swan. I think the blobss are cream.'
Dom took the lid off a silver dish.
'Some class of a shellfish baked in—well, it tastes of eggs.'
Isaac picked up a cut-glass goblet and downed the contents in one swallow.
'Old Overcoat,' he said. 'The genuine stuff. Two glasses and you lift off on a pillar of flame.'
They stared at him. He put down the glass.
'Haven't you seen a robot drink before?' he asked.
'We were wondering
...' Dom stopped, embarrassed.
'...
where
it
goesss?'
'We new model class Fives can derive power from the calorific content of organic substances.' He reached for his chest panel. 'If you like I can—'
'We believe you,' said Dom. He looked down at the table again. 'Did I say something about the virtues of simplicity? I think it may be against Sadhimist laws to eat this.'
' "You will not waste",' quoted Hrsh-Hgn. 'There are timess when it iss a pleassure as well ass a duty to follow the One Commandment.
Ten minutes later Dom said: 'Hrsh-Hgn, this damn black jam tastes of fish.'
'It's caviar.'
'Caviar? I'd always wondered. On Widdershins only poor people are allowed to eat it. I suppose they get used to
'Chel! He almost seemed real!'
Isaac grinned. 'He almost certainly is, somewhere.'
'Uhuh. They say interspace is where all possibilities intersect. I got the feeling he sensed us.'
'A spirit on the wind, no more.'
Dom stood up unsteadily. The walls still looked as if they had been made of second-hand moonlight.
'Now there's an illusion I've heard about.'
A red globe the size of a fist drifted easily through the shielded windows. He watched fascinated as it passed through the autochef, part of the main cable conduit, and the floating figure of Ig, who stirred uneasily in his sleep. It disappeared in the general direction of the matrix computer.
It was an interspace interpretation of a star, probably BD + 6793°. They were harmless enough, though a red giant or a spitting white dwarf could be unnerving to watch as it passed through your body.
Dom looked round after hearing a scuffle. Hrsh-Hgn was wedged under the autochef, in the foetal position. It was almost an hour before he was persuaded to emerge, blinking with embarrassment.
'We phnobess are not perhapss so ressilient ass you—' he began, 'Intersspace sscares uss. It is a region of uncertainty. Who knowss that we may not ceasse to exist?'
'You appear to be all here, physically and mentally.'
The phnobe nodded sheepishly.
Isaac closed the maintenance panel on the autochef.
'It's a '706 model, a quality job,' he said. 'I can't find a print-out for the menu, anywhere.'
Dom nodded. 'I think great-great-grandfather intended the
One Jump
as a one-man ship. I should imagine the menu is programmed into it.'
'Quite. He'd be so busy fleeing from his creditors he'd have no time—sorry, chief, I think maybe I stepped out of line a little there.'
'It's okay. He was a bit of a pirate. But according to the family history he was a strict Sadhimist, too. Simplicity was a virtue. I shouldn't expect it to run to anything more appetizing than bread and maybe fish.'
The autochef used simple molecule-breeding techniques to duplicate dishes stored as probability equations in its menu. The one aboard
One Jump Ahead
gurgled after it was switched on, broke into a low buzz for several minutes, and extruded a table from a base slot. Another, larger slot opened and the meal slid out.
They stared at it for several seconds. Dom reached out and picked up a crystallized fruit, gingerly.
Hrsh-Hgn coughed. 'The intricate bird with the honey glaze I recognize,' he murmured. 'It's a Croupier swan. I think the blobss are cream.'
Dom took the lid off a silver dish.
'Some class of a shellfish baked in—well, it tastes of eggs.'
Isaac picked up a cut-glass goblet and downed the contents in one swallow.
'Old Overcoat,' he said. 'The genuine stuff. Two glasses and you lift off on a pillar of flame.'
They stared at him. He put down the glass.
'Haven't you seen a robot drink before?' he asked.
'We were wondering
...' Dom stopped, embarrassed.
'...
where
it
goesss?'
'We new model class Fives can derive power from the calorific content of organic substances.' He reached for his chest panel. 'If you like I can—'
'We believe you,' said Dom. He looked down at the table again. 'Did I say something about the virtues of simplicity? I think it may be against Sadhimist laws to eat this.'
' "You will not waste",' quoted Hrsh-Hgn. 'There are timess when it iss a pleassure as well ass a duty to follow the One Commandment.
Ten minutes later Dom said: 'Hrsh-Hgn, this damn black jam tastes of fish.'
'It's caviar.'
'Caviar? I'd always wondered. On Widdershins only poor people are allowed to eat it. I suppose they get used to
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