Zoe's Tale (Old Man's War, #4)(78)

I reached toward him again. "Sir, wait," I said. He ignored me and walked out of the lounge.

"What's going on?" Magdy asked me, from across the room. "I don't want to get in trouble because you've pissed off some random crew member."

I shot Magdy a look, and turned to look out the window again. Roanoke still hung there, blue and green. But suddenly not as beautiful. Suddenly unfamiliar. Suddenly threatening.

Enzo put his hand on my shoulder. "What is it, Zoe?" he said.

I kept staring out the window. "I think we're lost," I said.

"Why?" Gretchen asked. She had come up beside me. "What were they talking about?"

"I couldn't hear it all," I said. "But it sounded like they were saying we're not where we're supposed to be." I pointed to the planet. "That this isn't Roanoke."

"That's crazy," Magdy said.

"Of course it's crazy," I said. "Doesn't mean it might not be true." I pulled out my PDA from my pocket and tried to connect with Dad. No answer. I tried connecting to Mom.

No answer.

"Gretchen," I said. "Would you try calling your dad?" Gretchen's dad was on the colonial council my parents headed up.

"He's not answering," she said, after a minute.

"It doesn't mean anything bad," Enzo said. "We did just skip to a new planet. Maybe they're busy with that."

"Maybe they're still celebrating," Magdy said.

Gretchen smacked him upside the head. "You really are childish, Magdy," she said. Magdy rubbed the side of his head and shut up. This evening was not going anything like he had planned. Gretchen turned to me. "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," I said. "They were talking about keeping the crew from talking. It means some of them might know what's going on. It won't take long to get to the colonists."

"It's already gotten to the colonists," Enzo said. "We're colonists."

"We might want to tell someone," Gretchen said. "I think your parents and my dad need to know, at least."

I glanced down at her PDA. "I think they might know already," I said.

"We should make sure," she said. So we left the observation lounge and went looking for our parents.

We didn't find them; they were in a council meeting. I did find Hickory and Dickory, or rather, they found me.

"I think I should go," Enzo said, after they'd stared at him, unblinking, for a minute. It wasn't meant as intimidation; they don't blink at all. I gave him a peck on the cheek. He and Magdy left.

"I'm going to listen around," Gretchen said. "See what people are saying."

"All right," I said. "Me too." I held up my PDA. "Let me know what you hear." She left.

I turned to Hickory and Dickory. "You two," I said. "You were in your room earlier."

"We came looking for you," Hickory said. It was the talker of the two. Dickory could talk, but it was always a surprise when it happened.

"Why?" I said. "I was perfectly safe before. I've been perfectly safe since we left Phoenix Station. The Magellan is entirely threat-free. The only thing you've been good for this entire trip is scaring the crap out of Enzo. Why are you looking for me now?"

"Things have changed," Hickory said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, but then my PDA vibrated. It was Gretchen.

"That was fast," I said.

"I just ran into Mika," she said. "You won't believe what she said a crew member just told her brother."

The adult colonists may have been either clueless or tight-lipped, but the Roanoke teenage rumor mill was in full swing. In the next hour, this is what we "learned":

That during the skip to Roanoke, the Magellan had wandered too close to a star and had been thrown out of the galaxy.

That there was a mutiny and the first officer had relieved Captain Zane of command because of incompetence.

That Captain Zane shot his own traitorous first officer right there on the bridge and said he'd shoot anyone who tried to help him.

That the computer systems had failed just before the skip, and we didn't know where we were.

That aliens had attacked the ship and were floating out there, deciding whether to finish us off.

That Roanoke was poisonous to human life and if we landed there we'd die.

That there was a core breach in the engine room, whatever that meant, and that the Magellan was this close to blowing up.

That ecoterrorists had hacked into the Magellan's computer systems and sent us off in another direction so that we couldn't ruin another planet.

No, wait, it was wildcat colonists-turned-pirates who hacked in, and they were planning to steal our colony supplies because their own were running low.

No, wait, it was mutinous crew members who were going to steal our supplies and leave us stranded on the planet.

No, wait, it wasn't thieving crew, wildcat pirates or ecoterrorists, it was just some idiot programmer who messed up the code, and now we don't know where we are.

No, wait, nothing's wrong, this is just the standard operating procedure. There's not a thing wrong, now stop bothering the crew and let us work, damn it.