Free The Seventh Tide by Joan Lennon

barriers between the worlds, a pattern of change – and opportunity – which goes on all the time.)
    ‘Not yet…’ Gladrag muttered.
    ‘But what’s going to happen?’ twittered Interrupted Cadence. ‘When does the next throw happen – how does it happen…?’
    The answer exploded out of the sea and flicked towards them at terrifying speed. It was disorienting, the way the Traveller got smaller as it came closer, so that it seemed to be moving towards and away from them at the same time. Both Market and Interrupted shrieked and ducked, but Hibernation forced herself to stand firm. Letting the Calculating Device drop to the sand, she lunged – and grabbed the vortex out of the air with both hands.
    ‘Gotcha!’ she crowed.
    Market and Interrupted clustered round, trying to see what was in it. Tiny faces showed, moving so fast they were gone before the eye could focus. Bodies came behind them like the tails of comets, elongated round the curve of the vortex.
    ‘There’s definitely two of them in there now.’
    ‘We did it! Did we do it?’
    ‘Does the second one look like a Celtic saint monster-slayer?’
    ‘Well, who else could it be ?!’
    ‘It must have been Columba –’
    ‘My throw.’
    They hadn’t heard the Queen move, but suddenly there she was, right behind them, smiling her slow, predatory smile. All three jumped like guilty children,and then tried to pretend they hadn’t, which widened the smile by several teeth.
    ‘My throw,’ she repeated, holding out her hand. It was long and white, and there were no lines on the palm.
    Without a word, Hibernation gently tipped the vortex on to her outstretched hand. She made no attempt to steady it; nevertheless it spun without a wobble, balanced as if rigid with fear on its point. The two faces could still be glimpsed, whipping round and round, tantalizmgly distorted. The G forgot about the Calculating Device, the moment of the turn, everything , in their desire to read the Traveller. With a private sneer, the Queen watched them squinting, leaning closer, closer, until –
    – with a spurt of sharp sand, she spun round on her heel and threw the Traveller, up and over the inter-tidal waters, far, far out to sea.
    ‘Struth!’ said Market Jones.
    The Queen sneered, a study in smug satisfaction, and strolled away.
    The G were appalled.
    ‘Are there still champions that far into the future?’ gasped Cadence.
    ‘Are there still people that far into the future?’ said Market Jones.
    Gladrag scratched her ear, only remembering at the last moment not to use a hind foot, and stared out to sea.
    ‘Where are they?’ she murmured frantically.
    Where, indeed?
    Inside the Traveller…
    Colder than a stone cell, and even a starless night wasn’t as dark as this. Adom could only pray he still had the boy Eo in his grip, for his frozen fingers felt nothing. And then he didn’t pray for that any more, as all his soul was caught up in longing for one thing, for the motion to stop, the sickening whirling, make it stop, dear God in heaven, make it stop…

6 The Second Tide
    ‘Look, we know you can do better than this!’ Her father waved the report in Jay’s face, barely missing her nose. ‘You just have to make an effort. You just have to pay attention ’
    Her mum took the report disk from him by one corner, as if it might bite.
    ‘Look, darling,’ she said calmingly ‘you know you have to work harder than other people. It’s not a punishment – it’s just a fact!’
    ‘It’s not like we don’t know how that feels, Jay!’ her father waded in. ‘Your mother would never have got her job as a neural technician without higher marks than the competition.’
    ‘Substantially higher,’ murmured her mum.
    ‘That’s right. And the same for me. Let’s face it – there are only so many jobs available to people like us – unless you want to be somebody’s minder? Is that what this is about? You’ve decided on the noble career of making sure somebody