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It was a week before the Lhari ship went into warp-drive, and all that time Bart stayed in his cabin, not daring to go to the observation Lounge or dining hall. By the time they had been in space a week, he was so bored with his own company that even the Mentorian medic was a welcome sight when he came in to prepare him for cold-sleep.
"I remembered you had a bad reaction, to warp-drive," he said. "I came to see if you were all right. I would never have believed but I'm beginning to guess. There was always something about you, Bartol." He shut the door behind him and stood against it. His voice lowered almost to a whisper, he said, "You're not Lhari, are you?" "Vorongil knows," Bart said. Ringg nodded. "That day on Lharillis.
The Lhari ships traveled at normal speeds, like the regular planetary ships, inside each star-system. Then, at the borders of the vast gulf of emptiness between stars, they went into warp-drive; but first, every human on board was given the cold-sleep treatment that placed them in suspended animation, allowing their bodies to endure the warp-drive. He finished his drink.
Even the Mentorians, trusted by the Lhari even these were put into cold-sleep! Fear grabbed his insides. No human had ever survived the shift into warp-drive, the Lhari said. Briscoe, his father, Raynor Three they thought they had proved that the Lhari lied.
A woman ahead of Bart turned and said nervously, "We won't be put into cold-sleep right away, will we?" He reassured her, remembering his inbound trip five years ago. "No, no. The ship won't go into warp-drive until we're well past Pluto. It will be several days, at least."
They clung together, and he felt her wet face against his own, the softness of her trembling hands. She was still crying a little. Then the blackness closed on him, as if endless, and the gray blur of warp-drive peak blotted his brain into nothingness. He came out of it to feel her cheek soft against his, her head trustfully on his shoulder. He said huskily, "All right, Meta?"
That means the Lhari are prepared to admit, before our whole galaxy, that humans can survive warp-drive without cold-sleep. That's all David Briscoe was trying to prove, or your father either may they rest in peace. So, whatever happens, we've won." "If you two idealists will give me a minute for cold realities," Raynor One said, "there's this. Among other things. Bart's not yet of legal age.
It was the first time that Bart, unaided, had had the responsibility of plotting a warp-drive shift. He checked the coordinates of the small green star three times before passing them along to Vorongil. Even so, when they went into Acceleration Two, he felt stinging fear. If I plotted wrong, we could shift into that crazy space and come out billions of miles away....
Ships traveling between the stars by light-drive were rare and ruinously expensive. But the Lhari had the warp-drive, and almost overnight the whole picture changed. By warp-drive, hundreds of times faster than light at peak, the years-long trip between Vega and Earth, for instance, was reduced to about three months, at a price anyone could pay.
"You know we can build ships as good as the Lhari ships, but we don't know anything about the rare catalyst they use for warp-drive fuel. Captain Steele had hopes of being able to discover where they got it." "But couldn't they find out where the Lhari ships go for fueling?" "No. There's no way to trail a Lhari ship," he reminded Bart.
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