Free One's Aspect to the Sun by Sherry D. Ramsey

larger cabins. He'd shown up with a lot more gear than I'd expected, but I let him put that in the smaller cabin that adjoined his, since it was empty anyway. He thanked me sheepishly. A mild scent of grapefruit hung around him, a sign of nervousness in Vilisians. I'd been studying up on the Vilisian scent-language in preparation for his time with us.
    “I've never been away from my laboratory for this long before,” he apologized. “It was difficult to leave things behind.”
    “If you do it often enough you learn to travel light, but it's no problem.” I leaned against his stack of mismatched luggage. “I'm curious, Dr. Ndasa. Are you really travelling all this way on the off-chance that you'll catch up to this researcher? She could be long gone by the time we get to Kiando.”
    He nodded. “Yes, yes, I know. But Chairman Buig, her employer, is reputed to have connections to many of the best longevity researchers. He has a miniature research facility set up there, but the work coming out of it is not small. If this particular lady has moved on, it will still likely be a worthwhile journey for me.” He flushed slightly, his amber skin darkening. “And besides, I have never taken an out-system journey before. I was born on Earth. I believe everyone should experience wormhole travel once in their lives.”
    I smiled. “I think so, too. I hope you'll be comfortable with us.”
    He looked around the cabin, the long smooth plait of his dark hair swinging across his back. “The room is quite perfect,” he said. “And I love the name of your ship, Tane Ikai. Do you have an interest in longevity as well, Captain Paixon? I assume you know for whom your ship is named?”
    “A passing one,” I said easily. “I know it's named for the Japanese woman who lived to one hundred and fifteen back in the twentieth century.”
    Dr. Ndasa nodded eagerly. The grapefruit scent was fading. “Most people live that long now, but back then it was notable. I believe, however, that it is possible to extend the human and Vilisian lifespans almost indefinitely.”
    “We've thought that for a long time, but we never seem to make a breakthrough.”
    “The Longate tragedy certainly set the research back,” he said. “But I think people might be ready to trust again. The knowledge is out there. I think we are very close. There have been rumours in the scientific community—but of course, they are only rumours.” He was staring at me intently, his dark eyes unreadable. Could he suspect . . . no. Surely just an alien thing.
    “What's the name of this researcher you hope to find on Kiando?”
    “Demmar Holsey,” he replied. “Although Chairman Buig is building quite a stable of researchers there. She is only one of perhaps a dozen, but I have heard especially good things about her work.”
    The name meant nothing to me, but I had hardly expected it would. My mother had been living under aliases for so long she might not even remember her real name.
    Dr. Ndasa rubbed his long-fingered hands together and looked around the room again. His skin smelled mildly floral now, with excitement. “I hope to learn much on this voyage. It should be an excellent spot for quiet study.”
    I laughed. “I don't know about that, but we'll see. I've never thought of this crew as 'quiet.'”
    I left then to see what was happening for supper, found that Baden and Yuskeya had things well in hand with some spicy Vileyran dish underway, and went back to the bridge to look over the cargo manifests. Everything was on board except one shipment of ore bound for Renata, so we'd leave as soon as that arrived, early in the morning.
    Supper was a jovial affair and I was optimistic that this would be a restful run. Sometimes passengers complicate things and everyone ends up ill at ease, but I didn't need to worry about Hirin, and Dr. Ndasa seemed to get along well with everyone. He had an endless supply of interesting stories from his interview subjects. I wondered