'Captain,' I said. 'I really think we should wait a few minutes first.'

  I heard Le Seaux slowly inhale and then say, 'I will give you one opportunity to state your opinion without asking, Lieutenant Burns, just this once.'

  'Thank you.'

  'So tell us why we should wait?'

  'It's because we don't know our galactic friends yet. Their values might not be the same as ours.'

  'You are othering them again, Lieutenant Burns.'

  'With respect, Captain, I saw what they did at AONS Harmony. They destroyed buildings and killed hundreds of personnel. We have to be mindful of that.'

  'That's logic I can agree with,' said Chen.

  I heard Le Seaux breathing slowly in the dark--breathing with great patience, like a teacher keeping her cool in front of an unruly class.

  'As you would know if you had been briefed, Lieutenant, the use of blue beams is part of the visitors' culture, which we must respect in accordance with our values of tolerance, equality and diversity. Once we have explained the values to the visitors, they will understand our views about the blue beams. If you had been in the briefing, you would understand that. The values are the most powerful force in the universe and once they are communicated to the visitors, we will be in a state of harmony.'

  Le Seaux swung the torch toward the gloom. 'So,' she said. 'Move out.'

  But before we could take a single step, the shuttle jolted violently, as if someone had thrown it into reverse gear.

  And we began to accelerate back and up.

  19

  The jolt was followed by a shudder in the ship's hull, as if the black material from which is was made was complaining about this sudden jump into action and the new distribution of weight.

  The shuttle's three human passengers were slammed against the port entrance.

  'I told you we should go down the passageway,' said Le Seaux. 'Now we are without harnesses as well as light.'

  'Too late now,' I said. 'We're on our way like it or not.'

  The shuttle continued to rise and accelerate, pressing us harder into the cold hull. The G-force increased so rapidly, I could not lift my head.

  Beside me, I heard Le Seaux wince and Chen groan. 'Why didn't they put this in the briefing?' he said.

  'At least we can breathe,' I said.

  'We must trust our galactic friends,' said Le Seaux with effort. 'T.E.D.'

  'Maybe they don't know that humans can break,' I said.

  We continued to rise upward, trapped in the dark without seats, without harnesses without anything, except the Accord values, which at the moment weren't any help.

  The ship did not rotate as it rose. I imagined the great black vessel backing into the sky away from the Accord Values, like a video played in reverse, or as if the shuttle wanted to keep the AONS Accord Values in sight until the last minute.

  But then, inevitably, the rotation began, and we found ourselves sliding along the bulkhead.

  'Why didn't they warn us?' said Chen again.

  'Be quiet, Mr Chen,' said Le Seaux. 'You are representing the Accord.'

  'But is the Accord representing us?' Chen replied, quickly followed by. 'That's not what I mean.'

  'Just hold on,' I said. 'The force is leveling out.'

  This was true. After the initial shock, the G-Force had not increased, not to the point where we might be injured, even though we were still pressed hard against the hull.

  After a while, Chen's voice said, 'This would be easier if we weren't in the dark.'

  Le Seaux said, 'Do either of you have any ideas as to how to get the lights on.'

  'We could ask,' I replied.

  'Why would that do any good?' said Le Seaux.

  'It might,' I said. This ship...this shuttle seems to be either intelligent or to have intelligence controlling it. You saw how it reacted to Ahmad back there.'

  'What do you suggest?' she said.

  'We could ask it,' I replied.

  'Ask it?'

  'Yes. Just ask.'

  'I don't want to offend our hosts.'

  'I'll make it very polite.'

  'No, Lieutenant. Not you. I'll make the request. It should come from the senior representative of the Accord here.'

  'OK.'

  'Could we have some lights, please?' she said.

  Nothing.

  'To our galactic friends, the Romans, could we have some lights, please?'

  Nothing.

  'Worth a try,' said Andrew Chen. 'Proper business etiquette to request lights.'

  'This is not a business meeting,' said Le Seaux. 'It is a goodwill mission. We must be respectful.'

  'Perhaps we could try the Latin word for lights?' I said. 'The visitors wrote their messages to us in Latin. Maybe that's the way to communicate...or the language the shuttle might respond to. Maybe they set it up that way for us.'

  'I have a handheld,' said Chen, 'with a translation app, but I can't move my hand to get it from my pocket.'

  'Your handheld probably won't work any more,' I said. 'Not till we get back.'

  'Really? Well, there goes the call to my girlfriend,' said Chen. 'I mean my partner.'

  'Captain,' I said to Le Seaux. 'Do you know the Latin--for lights?'

  'I know the French,' she replied.

  'Might be worth a try.'

  Le Seaux was quiet for a moment, then called, 'Lumiere, s'ill vous plait!'

  Nothing.

  She called again, 'Pouvons-nous avoir de la lumière, s'il vous plaît?'

  Still in the dark.

  'Could lumiere be similar to the Latin word for lights?' I said.

  'I don't know,' she said.

  'French is from Latin, right?'

  'I said I don't know, Lieutenant.'

  'You know, lumio, maybe. Luma, lumo, lumina?'

  At the sound of the last word, something happened.

  The shuttle continued to rocket upward away from the Earth, but lights came on, one by one, first above our heads, then running down its length, like the dividing lines on a highway. They ran on until they reached the passageway's end, way over on the far side of the shuttle.

  We were soon blinking at each other, and at the awkward tangle of our limbs against the bulkhead, the green and brown of Le Seaux's uniform, the blue of mine and Chen's dark shirt and brown slacks.

  'Mr Chen, move your leg, please,' said Le Seaux.

  'I wish I could,' he replied.

  So for the moment, we were still stuck against the bulkhead, but at least now we could see the shuttle interior.

  We were in a passageway that ran from port to starboard across the ship's nose, a distance as long as a football field and as narrow as a truck. We could also see the color of the interior. It was a dull, functional grey, slightly lighter than the shuttle's slimy black hull, but just as lifeless.

  But now the shuttle accelerated again and this time we were flattened against the deck. The force was so great we were unable to raise our arms.

  'You ever done anything like this?' I said to Chen, my face flat on the cold, slimy metal.

  'I'm strictly civilian,' he said, 'a businessman. I've only ever been in civilian planes, never anything military.'

  'A businessman?' I said. 'You mean a manager of an Accord department?'

  'No, a businessman. I'm from Hong Kong,' he said. 'It's the only place allowed to have a non-Accord market system.'

  'You don't mean capitalism, do you, Mr Chen?' said Le Seaux. 'It's forbidden.'

  'Capitalism? No way,' Chen replied. 'What we have is called a non-Accord exchange system,' said Chen. 'Only Accord Commissioners and approved civilians can participate.'

  'Still sounds like capitalism,' I said. 'What's the difference?'

  'Capitalism is uncontrolled,' he said. 'Capitalism is oppressive and patriarchal. The exchange system in Hong Kong is restricted to a few participants who play fair.'

  'Like who?'

  'Like I said. Accord Commissioners and approved individuals.'

  'So what do you do, Mr Chen?' I said.

  'Among other things,' he said, 'I make movies. You've probably seen some of my more famous ones. I might even make a movie about this mission--with the Commission's approval, of course.'

  As he said this, the shuttle's hull groaned again, and we accelerated a third time.

  'How long does this take?' said Le Seaux.

  'Well,' I said. 'I'm no engineer, but it takes only a couple of minutes for a rocket to leave the atmosphere, at least a pre-Accord rocket takes that long.'

  'You have access to pre-Accord experiment data?' said Le Seaux.

  'No,' I said, 'but my Slingshot instructor had limited access to it. He'd been an engineer in the Slingshot factory.'

  'Only the Commissioners have access to pre-Accord information,' said Le Seaux.

  'Some other people have access to it as well,' groaned Chen. Then he said, 'This is getting painful. I can't breathe properly. It's not going to be like this all the way to the other side of the moon, is it?'

  'No,' I said. 'It'll probably change when the shuttle slows down.'

  'So, when will that be?' he said.

  'I don't know,' I said.

  'Make a guess,' said Le Seaux.

  'The first part, the bumpy part's almost over,' I said. 'It'll only be a couple of minutes.'

  'Until what?'

  'Until we reach the Earth's outer atmosphere. Then the ride will smooth out. Then hopefully no more jolts.'

  The sound of the word flotilla caused us all to fall into silence again. The other two were probably thinking what I was thinking. In my mind I saw the image of a giant spaceship, or a collection of spaceships the size of a town, floating beside the moon. I also couldn't help but wonder again about what would be waiting for us on that spaceship when we got there and the black port opened.

  'T.E.D.,' whispered Le Seaux.

  'Feel that?' said Chen.

  'I can feel your boot under my knee,' I said.

  'No,' said Chen. 'Something else.'

  The force on our bodies decreased. The shuttle must have slowed down. It also appeared to have cleared the Earth's atmosphere.

  Now, instead of being squashed against the cold, grey deck, we found ourselves slowly rising upward.

  20

  THE CHANGE CAUGHT Le Seaux by surprise. She flailed her arms wildly, as if she were falling, or drowning.

  'Don't touch me,' she said, even though neither Chen nor I had made a move.

  'I am fine,' she added.

  But she was not fine. She reached and kicked, trying to grab hold of an anything to steady herself, but because the hull and the bulkheads were smooth, the only thing she managed to catch hold of was me.

  'Let go,' she said.

  'I'm sorry, Captain,' I said. 'But you grabbed me. Mr Chen, please be a witness.'

  'Yep. She grabbed you,' said Chen. 'It's true, Captain.'

  'Get your hands off me,' Le Seaux shouted.

  'Captain,' I said. 'Try to relax. You're not falling. I don't have hold of you.'

  Le Seaux had now pulled my sleeve so hard that we were chest to chest, like dancers in an old pre-Accord movie. I was close enough to catch the scent of her deodorant. It smelled like lemons. I also saw her eyes properly. They were a vivid green. Very piercing. Very intelligent. Her face was actually small and slightly pixie-like, with high cheekbones and a ski-jump nose. She was pretty--a description which could earn me a Navy Spirit code violation if I spoke it aloud. But it was true. She was attractive. Very attractive. If only her hair wasn't cut so short she would be beautiful, especially those eyes.

  But at that moment, those eyes were vivid with fear and anger.

  'Sorry, Captain,' I said. 'I'm not trying to pull you close. Hold on to me if you have to, but please understand, I didn't reach out to grab you.'

  'Let me go,' she warned. 'Get your toxic masculinity off me.' She struggled even more. In the process, she managed to knee me in the groin.

  'Let me go,' Le Seaux said. 'Now!'

  'I'm not holding on to you,' I repeated as the pain swelled. I held out my arms to show her. 'See.'

  She looked at each of my hands, realized her mistake, and shoved me away. The force of the shove sent her sailing away from me, outward along the passageway. And her flailing began all over again.

  I pushed off from the port and followed her. I came to a stop forty yards in. Chen came swimming up beside me. He apparently had no trouble with weightlessness.

  'Will she be OK?' he said.

  'Along as she doesn't hit anything hard--harder than me, I mean.'

  At the passageway's far end, Le Seaux calmed herself. She stopped flailing, and began making her way back towards us, pushing from one bulkhead to the other. She wasn't saying anything, so I guessed she was OK.

  But halfway along, something happened. As Le Seaux placed a hand on the dark material on one bulkhead, a large panel silently opened, rising upward.

  The panel's motion spun Le Seaux around, and she found herself rotating vertically, arms and legs spread wide like a parachutist spinning in free fall.

  Chen and I swam down to her.

  'Don't help me,' she warned as we approached.

  'No problem, Captain. We're just coming down in case anything happens.'

  'Nothing will happen. I am in control. Keep your toxicity to yourselves.'

  But when we finally arrived, we weren't looking at Le Seaux any more. We were looking at the place in the bulkhead where the panel had been.

  'What is it?' said Le Seaux.

  'I wish I could tell you,' said Chen.

  In front of us yawned an enormous space, the cavernous interior of the shuttle. In the dim lights, this vast space appeared to be as immense as the largest aircraft hanger in the Accord. It looked big enough to contain the AON Accord Values itself with room to spare.

  'Look at the size of it,' said Chen. 'It's like a massive sound stage.'

  'It's a hold of some kind,' I said.

  'Who needs a hold this size?' he said. 'And for what?'

  'And why send such a huge vessel just for three people?'

  We stared into the vastness of the space, listening as our words came echoing back to us as whispers, almost as if someone were repeating them.

  'Must be for transporting huge equipment,' I said. 'Or huge numbers of personnel.'

  'Or equipment for building on new planets?' said Chen. 'Mining maybe.'

  'Might be,' I said. 'Or it could be for something else, something military.'

  'Like what?' said Chen.

  'Like transporting an army with vehicles and jets or whatever they use during a...' I was going to say military operation, but Le Seaux cut me off.

  'Burns, keep quiet,' said Le Seaux. 'That's an order.'

  She was right. I held my tongue.

  'Just amazing,' said Chen.

  As he did, we found ourselves dropping from the air and kneeling on the slippery deck. After a minute, we were more or less our usual weight.

  'Anti gravity technology,' said Chen. 'What next?'

  We stood up. Then walked up and down, feeling our own weight again.

  The Le Seaux said, 'How long now till we arrive?'

  'I can't tell,' I said. 'I don't know how fast we're going. The moon is about 240,000 miles from Earth. So to reach it even within a day, we would have to be traveling at a huge speed.'

  'How fast?' said Chen.

  'I don't know, but the Romans got here across the galaxy, and from the moon to the Earth in quick time,' I said. 'So, they must have some way of traveling extremely fast...faster than we can imagine.'

  'What's your guess?' said Le Seaux.

  'We could arrive today,' I said, 'Or tomorrow.'

  'Tomorrow,' said Chen. 'What are we going to eat?'

  'Maybe something in there,' I said, stepping into the vastness of the hold.

  'Burns,' said Le Seaux. 'Stay where you are.'

  I stopped a few yards inside the great cavern. The deck was scuffed and scoured with the kind of lines something heavy might make. In the distance, I could see what looked like large seats. Very large seats for very large occupants.

  'Don't touch anything,' called Le Seaux. Her words echoed around the huge space.

  After I had gone about a hundred yards in, I turned around and looked back. Chen and Le Seaux watched me from the entrance. Then, I noticed that above the entrance were three enormous screens blazed with moving images.

  'Take a look at this,' I said.

  Le Seaux came through first, followed by Chen, both of them hesitant, looking left and right. When they reached me, they turned and looked back at the entrance.

  'Talk about wide-screen,' said Chen.

  On one of the screens was a picture of the Earth, blue, swirled in clouds, and receding. The other showed a view of the moon ahead, looming large and gray.

  'Their TV screens are better than our TV screens,' Chen said. 'Look at how sharp those images are.'

  We all stood silently watching. This was like nothing we had seen on Earth. The quest to understand or explore space was considered an oppressive, pre-Accord activity. Not even the Accord Space Administration studied space.

  'Where are the stars?' said Chen.

  'They are there,' I said, 'but they don't appear because of the sunlight, something like that.'

  'How do you know so much about this stuff?' said Chen.

  'I don't,' I said, 'just what I read in Slingshot training.'

  'Sounds like you read beyond the course material.'

  'What is that object?' said Le Seaux. 'That dark shape--is that Mars?'

  'Where?' I said.

  'That dark mass.'

  She pointed at the dark shape behind the moon.

  'I don't think so,' I said.

  'What's the next planet after Mars?' said Chen. 'Is it Jupiter or Saturn?'

  'They actually have new Accord names,' said Le Seaux. 'The planets are named after Accord social justice scientists, as you should know, Mr Chen.'

  'They're the scientific names,' said Chen. 'We still use the old ones, like Jupiter and Saturn.'

  'Who's we?' I said.

  'The Accord people I know,' said Chen. 'In Hong Kong.'

  The dark mass behind the moon grew larger.

  'What is it?' said Le Seaux. 'It can't be the galactic visitors' ship, can it? Their flotilla of ships?'

 

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