A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2)(45)

They were up real late. Jane was tired all the way through. She could feel it was way after bedtime, but she didn’t care. Her thoughts were buzzing so fast, there was no way she could sleep. Owl had used so many new words: planets, stars, gravity, orbit, tunnels, the Galactic Come Ons, and a whole bunch of others she’d already forgot. And species! Jane understood what species meant now. She was a Human species. There were many people who were Human species, and lots more kinds of people than just girls. Owl had showed her pictures. All the Humans in the pictures had hair, and Jane had asked if she was weird because she didn’t have any, but Owl said she didn’t need to worry about that. Humans were all different. They were different colours and sizes, and they wouldn’t think no hair was weird. They would just be glad to see her, Owl said.

Jane asked Owl why she didn’t have hair. She asked why she’d never seen other Humans. She asked if the Mothers knew there was stuff outside the factory, and if they knew about ships and stars and the rest of it. Owl had gotten kind of funny and quiet and said that that was a really big thing to talk about and they should focus on planets for now.

There were other species, too. They had hard names that Jane knew she’d need to practise. Owl said she would help. Owl said she would do as much as she could to get Jane ready before she met other species. She’d teach her how to live in a ship, how to act around others, how to say the same words other species did. Their words were called Klip, and Jane’s words were called Sko-Ensk, which were kind of like another set of words called Ensk, and some Humans knew that one, but usually not the one Jane spoke. Words were weird.

Everything was complicated, but real interesting, too. Jane had so many questions she was starting to forget her questions. She sat on the good soft thing in the living room – the couch, Owl said. Jane unwrapped a ration bar and dunked it in a cup of water. ‘How come,’ she said, after swallowing the chewed food, ‘how come if there are so many stars on the other side of the sky, I can’t see them?’

‘Our planet is facing a star during the hours that you’re awake,’ Owl said. She put a picture up on her screen – one little ball facing a big bright ball. ‘See? When we’re facing the star, it’s so bright that it blocks out the light from all the others. But when we face away from it’ – the picture changed – ‘you can see the stars we’ve been missing during the day. You probably saw them when you first got here, but . . . you had a lot going on that night.’

Jane thought back. She remembered the specks in the sky, but she hadn’t known what they were, and she’d been scared about all the other things. She watched the little ball on screen turn in and out of light. ‘Are we facing away from the star now?’

‘Yes. That’s why it’s night-time.’

‘Can I see the other stars now?’

‘Oh! Yes, yes, of course! I hadn’t considered. Stupid of me. Go up to the control room. I can activate the viewscreen.’

Jane ran to the front of the shuttle. Owl joined her on a panel between the control buttons. The viewscreen flickered on, but it snapped and buzzed all over. Worn-out wiring, probably.

‘Sorry, Jane,’ Owl said. ‘I think that’s as good as it’s going to get.’

Jane squinted at the viewscreen, trying to see beyond the buzzing bits. It was real dark outside, darker than the dorm ever got. She could kind of make out the big piles of scrap. She tried to focus above the scrap, where the sky was. The screen kept flickering, turning on and off in patches all over. But in the bits that stayed on, she could see more light. Little dots in the sky. Lots of them.

‘Owl?’ Jane said. ‘Are there any dogs outside?’

‘There are always dogs outside,’ Owl said. ‘I can’t see any right by us, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there.’

Jane thought for a second, then ran back down the hall, toward the living room.

‘Jane?’ Owl said, chasing her from one wall screen to the next. ‘Jane, are you okay?’

Jane put on her shoes and strapped her weapon to her back.

‘Jane,’ Owl said. Her voice was real serious.

Jane faced the closest screen. She stood up tall and held the weapon tight. ‘Can I go see?’ she said.

‘Yes, but there is no lighting out there. You could trip on something. You could hurt yourself. It’s not safe.’

Jane tried a new word. ‘Please?’

Owl closed her eyes and sighed. ‘If you see any dogs—’

‘I have my weapon,’ Jane said.

‘If you see any dogs, you come right back inside. You can’t see very well in the dark. They probably can.’

‘Okay.’

‘And don’t go away from the ship.’ Owl thought about something, then sighed again. ‘There’s a maintenance ladder near the outer hatch. If the roof doesn’t have too much junk on it, you can probably climb up to the top. I don’t recommend going further than that. Okay?’

‘Okay.’

Owl opened the airlock, then the hatch. Jane stepped outside. It was so dark, and cold, too. Jane swallowed and looked around, trying to see things that were close. She couldn’t see anything moving. She couldn’t hear anything moving, either. She thought for a second about going back inside, but she didn’t. She found the ladder and climbed it.