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Shipmeanssmarter.Thereareninety-eightother chances.
Hesaidthosewordsveryquickly. I think
heknewhewasgoingtogetkilledsoon.Oh,ofcourse, hemust haveknown,my father must,
becauseIwasnea rlyfou rteenthen,andwhenhehadbecomefourteen,Sh
iphadkilledhisfather,sohem usthaveknown.
Andsothewordsareimportant.Iknowthat;theyareimportant;butIdon tknowwha
ttheymean,n otcompletely.
You are finished! Shipsays.
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I getoff thetable. Thepains tillh angsinsidemyheadandIask Ship, Why amIw
rackedthreed aysearlier thanusual?
Ships oundsangry. Icanwrackyouagain!
ButI know Shipw on t.S omethingnew isgoingt ohappe
nandShipwantsmewholeandalertfor it.Once,whenIaskedShipsomethingpersonal,right
after I waswracked,Shipdiditaga in,andwhenI wok
eupShipwasworryingovermewiththemachines.ShipseemedconcernedImightbedamaged.Eve
r afterthat,Shiphasnotwrackedmetwiceclosetogether.SoIask,no
treallythinkingI ll get ananswer:but Iaskj ustthesame.
There is a repairing I want you to do!
Where, Iask. Intheforbiddenpartbelow!
I tryn ottos mile. Iknew there wasa newthinggoingto happen andthisisit.My
father swordscomeb ackagain .Ninety-eightother chances.
Isthisoneofthem?
Idescendinthedark.Thereisnolightinthedropshaft.Ships
aysIneednoli~ht.ButIknowthe truth.Shipdoesnotwantmetobeabletofindmy wayb ack
hereagain.Thisisthelowest I veeverbeeninShip.
SoId ropste adily,smoothly,s wiftly,NowIcometoaslowingp
laceandslowerandslower,and finallymyfee ttouchthesoliddeckandIamhere.
Lightc omeson. Very dimly. Imoveinthedirectionoftheglow, andShipisw
ithme,allaround me,ofcou rse. Shipis alwayswithme ,even whe n Is leep.
EspeciallywhenIs leep.
TheglowgetsbrighterasIroundacurveinthecorridor, andIsee it iscausedbyar
oundpanelthatb
locksthepassage,touchingthebulkheadsonallsides,flattenedatthebottomtofitthedec
kplates.Itlookslikeglass,thatglowingp anel.I walkuptoitandstop.Thereisno
placeelsetogo.
Stepthroughthescreen! Shipsays.Itakeasteptowardtheglowingpanelbut
itd oesn tsl ide away into thebulkheadassomanyotherpanelsthatdon t glowslide.
I stop.
Stepthrough! Ship tellsmeagain.I putm y handsoutinfr ont ofme,palmsforward,
becauseI am afraidifI keep walkingIw ill bang mynoseagainst
theglowingpanel.But asmyfingerstouchth epanel theyseemt ogetsoft,and
Icanseealightyellowglowthroughthem,asiftheyaretransparent.Andmy
handsgothroughthepanelandIcanseethemfa intly, glowingyellow,on the
otherside.Th en myn aked
forearms, then I mrigh tu pagainstthepanel,andm yf
acegoesthroughandeverythingismuchlighter,mo reyellow, andIste p onto theothers
ide, ina forbidden placeShiph asneverallowedmetosee.
Ihearvoices.Theya reallthesamevoice,bu ttheyaretalkingt ooneanother inasoft,
running- togetherway;thewayIsoundwhenIamjust talkingtomyselfs ometimesinm y
cubiclewithmyc ot init.
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Idecidetolistentowhatthevoicesaresaying,butnottoaskShi p aboutthe m,bec
auseIthinkitis
Shiptalkingtoitself,d own here inthislonelyplace.Iwillth ink about what
Shipissaying later, whenI
don t havetomakerepairsandact thewayShip wantsmetoact. WhatSh ip issayingto
itself isinteresting. Thisplacedoesnot looklikeother repairplacesI
knowinShip.It isfilledwithso manygreat
roundglassballson pedestals,e ach givingoff itsyellowlightinp ulses, thatI
cannotc ountthem. Thereare rowsandrowsofclearglassballs,and
insidethemIseemetal...andotherth ings,soft things, allto gether.And
thewiressparkgently,andthesoftthingsmove,an dtheyellow lightpulses. I
thinktheseglassballsare
whatare talking.B utI don tknowif that s so. Ionlythinkitis.
Twoof theglassballsaredark. Theirpedestalslook chalky,notsh iningwhitelikeall
theothers.Ins idethetwodarkballs,thereareblackthings, likeburned-outwires.Th e
soft thingsd on tm ove.
Replace the overloaded modules! Shipsa ys.
IknowShipmeansthedarkglobes.SoIgooverto themand Il ookat them andafterawhileI
say, yes, I canrepair these, andShipsa ysit knowsIc an,andtoge t
toitquickly.Shipishurrying me;so mething isgoingt oh appen. Iw onder
whatitwill be?
Ifindreplacementglobesinadilationchamber,andItak
ethesacsoffthemanddowhathastobe donet omakethesoftthingsmove
andthewiresspark,andIlistenveryc arefullytoth evoiceswhisperingandwarmingeach
otherwith wordsasShipt alkstoitself,and I hearagreatm any thingsthatd
on tmeanan ythingtome ,becausethe yarespeakingabou tthingstha
thappenedbeforeIwasborn,and aboutpartsof
ShipI veneverseen.ButIhearagreatmanythingsthatIdounde rstand,andIknowSh
ipwouldnever let mehearthesethingsifitwasn tabsolutelynecessar yformeto
behererepairingtheg lobes.Irememberall thesethings.
Particularlythe partwhereShip iscrying.
WhenIhavetheglobesrepairedandnowallof themaresparking and pulsingandm oving,
Shipasksme, Is theintermindtotalagain!
SoIs ayyesitis , andShips aysgetupshaft, andIgosoftthroug
hthatglowingpanelandI mbackin thepassage.Igobacktothedropshaftandgo up,and
Shipte lls me, Go to your cubicle and make yourself
clean!
Idoit,anddecidetowearaclothes ,butShipsa ysbenaked,andthensays, You are
goingto meet a
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female! Shiphasneversaidthatbefore. Ih avenever seen afe male.
ItisbecauseofthefemalethatShipsentm
edowntotheforbiddenplacewiththeglowingyellowglobes,th
eplacewheretheintermindlives.Anditisbecauseof thefemalethatIa mw aiting in
thedomechamberlinkedt otheairlock. Iamwaitingforthefemalet oc omeacrossf
rom--Iwillh avetounderstand this--anothership.NotShip,theShi
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