One morning, just after the completion of Liam's training, Gillian sat by the pool, gazing into the water, gloomy: worrying about her future.
A figure took the seat next to her. She looked up and saw Captain Xing, his hands gripping a walking stick as he leant forward to gaze at her. Two marine guards accompanied him.
Gillian scrambled to her feet. "Captain!" she cried.
Her sudden movement disconcerted the Captain's marines, who reached for their guns. Gillian froze, shocked to see weapons pointing at her.
The Captain took a moment to reassure his marines, and as Gillian relaxed, he said, "I'm sorry I didn't come to visit you earlier than this, Mr Berry. I found it... difficult."
Gillian, suddenly tongue-tied, nodded an acknowledgement as she returned to her seat.
"But you've occupied much of my thoughts. How have you been?"
Gillian's life had become more comfortable. But as a semi-prisoner, suspected of harbouring the unknown purposes and desires of an alien civilisation, she wondered if she could ever return to "normal".
Captain Xing gazed at Gillian with an expression that reminded her of the first time they had met, in the Navigation Centre. He was asking her if she could be trusted. Gillian had no answer. She didn't understand the presence inside her or what it might do. Her mother had assured her that it meant no harm. It was really just herself, somewhat augmented. Even her father, increasingly alert, had begun to reassure her.
Gillian wondered if the Captain knew the details of these conversations.
"Do you have confidence in the young man replacing you?" the Captain asked.
Gillian nodded, then added, "Up to a point, Captain."
Captain Xing dipped his head in an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement. "Mr Yegg tells me you don't think he's able to deliver us into Earth orbit safely. He can't perform a risk-free Let-down closer than the orbit of Saturn."
"That's correct, Captain. For him to advance closer to the sun than Saturn is unsafe. He's still physically and mentally immature. The distance from Saturn to Earth's orbit is tiny, and Liam lacks that level of precision. He's clumsy - and the sun is only eight light-minutes from the Earth."
Liam had completed his required competencies under the tutelage of Mr Dryen and Doctor Morris. He'd satisfied Gillian and Abel of his Walking skills, but was to continue practicing the ballet steps that Gillian had taught him. He was, according to the paperwork, now ready, and appropriately certified, to pilot the ship.
"Mr Yegg agrees with your opinion, I gather."
"Yes, he does."
"And so you consider that you should perform the Let-down?"
"I do, Captain."
"Even though you've never done one, either?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Did you speak to the young man about this?"
"No, Captain, I wanted to wait until he'd completed his training to decide if I still had the same opinion about him."
"And now that's accomplished, do you still consider he's not yet suited for the final phase of the job?"
"That's correct, Captain."
"Mr Yegg spoke to Liam about this problem. He reports that the young man did not seem surprised."
Gillian waited.
"So now the decision is mine."
"Yes, Captain."
"Mr Berry - Gillian - I'll leave that decision until we near the home system. Meanwhile, I've decided on your current involvement. You will accompany the team to the first wheel for Liam's Walk, in your role as coach and as monitor of our young pilot. You are to Walk with him as an advisor, without access to the ship's helm. Abel will work with you on this."
"Yes, Captain. So I'll travel to the main wheel on the day of the journey, and for as many days as it takes?"
"No, you may move back into your old cabin in the rim park. You'll remain there as long as needed. You'll have your normal escort of two marines at all times. Naturally, you realise that they will have certain specific instructions concerning you. And also, we've installed a manual control in the Navigation Centre that allows us to disconnect any Walker from the helm on my order."
"I understand, Captain. And my parents?"
"They must remain here in the second wheel."
"As hostages?"
"As a way of simplifying things for me." The Captain rose. "I'm going now to meet your parents. I'm very curious to meet them. I'll see you in the Navigation Centre on the day of our journey home, Mr Berry."
"Yes, Captain."
Gillian watched the Captain stride off, accompanied by his marine escort, to her parents' cabin. She wondered what he planned to say to them, or whether his intention was just to meet and assess them personally.
Shortly after this encounter, Executive Officer Joan Rubilio advised Gillian to prepare for her departure back to the main wheel. Gillian spoke with her parents.
"Sorry you can't come with me, Mum, Dad."
"Oh, well," her father said.
"The Captain explained it to us," said Mrs Berry.
"Oh? What did he tell you?"
"The blunt truth," her mother replied. "They're uncertain of you and us. However, the Captain believes your presence is necessary to help Liam, and so he's willing to take the risk. He thinks there's no justification to take such a risk with us. He was apologetic about it."
"We'll just have to watch it all on the ship news," her father added.
Gillian left the next day, escorted by two marines. She enjoyed the cautious, curious glances that she noticed on the faces of her guards. Once or twice, she returned their gaze, trying to look mysterious and somehow commanding, though she felt the opposite. Sometimes she wanted to stick out her tongue and cross her eyes at them.
It was a real pleasure for her to return to the main wheel, descending from the bridge and out into the rim park, bright with artificial sunshine, softened by genetically optimised greenery. After the gloom and silence of the second wheel, Gillian even enjoyed the gaze of curious passengers as she marched through the meadows, accompanied by her marine escort.
When she arrived back at her old cabin, Gillian found Celia waiting for her. They hugged each other.
Celia said, "This is great, Gillian! The Exec Officer contacted me and suggested it might be nice if I was here when you arrived."
"She was right."
"They didn't allow your parents to come along too?"
"No, unfortunately. My mum would have loved it."
"Oh well... So, the big Walk home starts tomorrow. Are you nervous?"
"Not me," Gillian answered. "I wonder how Liam's feeling, though."
Celia smiled, her eyes shining. "I've met him, you know. Doctor Morris introduced us. Liam's always bursting with confidence - right up until the moment he trips over and falls on his head!" She smiled again, and there was a brief pause.
They both laughed.
"I suppose that's why they're putting you in as co-pilot, Gillian. They're expecting you to steady him, warn him when he's going wrong. And he's used to your company."
"I expect so. Hey, Celia, how are you getting on with him?" Gillian laughed again as her friend blushed.
"You can tell?" Celia said.
"It was the way you smiled when you mentioned him, and I saw a little gleam in your eyes too!"
On the day of Liam's Walk, the atmosphere in the rim park Navigation Centre seemed to Gillian stiff, awkward. She sat, on the edge of the stage in her Walker skin suit, next to Abel, holding her mask. Celia was at the other side of the Centre, talking to the exec officer. Gillian and Abel watched as Liam reviewed, with Mr Dryen and Mr Morris, a three-dimensional display of his proposed route, which Gillian and Abel had had already examined. The map only provided orientation against the distant stars and nebula; all Liam really needed to do was follow the heading given by the green arrow of his mask display.
Gillian heard Mr Dryen say, "You should make it to the edge of the Oort cloud by the end of the afternoon, Liam, if everything goes well. But don't hurry, just stay relaxed."
When they had finished with him, Liam walked over to Gillian and Abel, and said, "Captain Xing spoke to me: about Gillian taking over at the edge of Oort cloud. I wasn't surprised. I know I'm still too clumsy."
Gillian nodded. "I'm sorry, Liam. It was me that suggested it."
"I supported her," Abel added. "I'm sorry too, Liam."
"Don't worry!" Liam said. "I realise I'm not up to it yet. I'm glad you've relieved me of that pressure." He hopped up on to the stage. "I'm going to loosen up!" He began a ballet walk, across to the other side of the stage and back, as Gillian watched.
"How was that?" he demanded, gazing down at Gillian and Abel.
"It looked good, Liam!" Gillian said.
"I'll do a couple more."
"Ok."
When Liam finished his warm-up, he murmured to Gillian, "I met your friend, Celia."
"Yes, she told me," Gillian replied.
"Doctor Morris introduced us. Celia's terrific! She helped me with my walking exercises."
"I don't remember her being into ballet," Gillian said, realising that her voice sounded surprised.
"She's not! She said she doesn't know a thing about it. All she did was tell me when I looked clumsy. It worked!"
"That's great, Liam!" Gillian wobbled her head quizzically at Abel, then turned back to Liam. "I'm jealous of her now! She seems to be a better teacher than me."
Liam was unaware of Gillian's gentle mockery. "We get on like a house on fire!"
Gillian felt a pang: not, she thought, of jealousy, more a sudden realisation of her own loneliness. She pictured Celia talking to Liam, and in her mind's eye, saw Celia brushing her hair away from her face as she smiled up at him.
The Navigation centre grew crowded. Captain Xing arrived, and spent a few moments greeting guests. Mr Dryen and Mr Morris readied their instruments. Abel sat with them, as assorted dignitaries and guests, including Celia, took their seats. Medical personnel arranged themselves close to the stage, and armed marines took up positions along the rear walls. Nervous expectation and excitement filled the centre. When the Captain took his seat, his hands resting on his walking cane, everyone stopped talking.
"Ready, you two?" Mr Dryen called out to Gillian and Liam, as they rose to stand on the stage.
"Sure!" Liam replied. He slid his mask over his head and pulled it down across his face. Gillian nodded in silence and pulled her mask on.
"Go!" Mr Dryen called out, unnecessarily.
Gillian clasped her hands together and plunged into interstellar space. She saw Liam's outlined, glowing figure only a few steps away. Her course direction arrow appeared in blue, with a dotted outline, signifying its status as a feed from Liam. Gillian's mask instrumentation was a copy of his readings.
Liam looked around to check that Gillian was there, and waved in acknowledgment. He set off, walking slowly, his body language cautious.
Gillian did not need to move; her location automatically followed Liam's, an electronic tether maintained by the system. If she took any steps herself, it would always be in relation to Liam's figure up ahead. She could step up to and stand alongside him if she wanted, but she could not step ahead of him: there was nothing there until Liam and the ship moved.
Without the responsibility of staying on course, Gillian enjoyed the sights. It was wonderful to see the stars again. The ship's physical orientation aligned roughly with the galactic plane. This meant that most of the dust and gas clouds, either dark or glowing, and the stars themselves, were horizontally around her, and less dense above and below. Here, the blackness against which the few stars and the blue and red nebulae appeared was profound. This was intergalactic space.
They soon ran into areas of macro-quantum objects. Gillian had to tear her gaze away from the universe to monitor Liam as he picked his way through them. His movements were not bird-like, like Abel. He looked slow, deliberate: ultra-cautious.
"How am I doing, Gillian?" Liam asked.
"You look good, Liam, very steady. I'm really pleased with the progress you've made!"
If Gillian focussed on a star for sufficiently long, the system would bring up text describing the star and its region of space. But Gillian discovered something new within herself. To her surprise, when she looked at a particular star, she already knew everything about it, independently of the ship's system. She knew each star's stage of life, its planets and all their characteristics, the size of the star's astrosphere and many other things she did not understand. She realised she could follow them up, if she wished, to ever-increasing levels of detail.
The vast knowledge of an ancient alien civilisation was opening up to her. Some of its information was incomprehensible, and created silly pictures or thoughts in her uncomprehending mind. On two occasions, she saw flowers, or heard snatches of musical tones as her brain attempted to make sense of certain information. Sometimes, there were units of measurement about various kinds of physical features. These were meaningless to her unless she discovered how to follow up their definitions.
Liam began to grumble, oblivious of his audience. "It would be a nice, straightforward Walk if it wasn't for all this 'macro-quantum' junk. It's everywhere, and it's a bloody nuisance. What is it?"
"Where we are now, it looks like the ruins of an ancient observatory," Gillian muttered.
The thought had come straight into her head and she had spoken it without thinking.
Liam's figure turned around, and the blind, empty face of his mask gazed at Gillian, against a background of stars.
"Er, sorry, just ignore me, Liam. Carry on. Sorry."
Liam said, "Mr Morris told me they were like little packets of the future, trying to come into existence."
Liam turned back and continued the journey. Nobody in the Navigation centre responded to this conversation, though Gillian was certain that everyone had noted it. Still, she didn't regret her small outburst. It was time they realised what she could offer them.
Liam Walked on for another hour before coming up against more macro-quantum obstacles. This time they were thicker, and more extensive. He had to work hard, threading his way amongst them, and became irritable again.
"What is this stuff, Gillian?"
"I think it's an abandoned military post, Liam."
"Hope there's nothing dangerous here."
"Not anymore, Liam."
Liam sounded concerned. "If this was a military fort once, it must have meant danger once."
"I suppose so, but not any more. It could have been an ancient civil war. They probably never encountered any other living civilisations to have a war with. Their experience would have been the same as ours."
"How do you know all that, Gillian?"
"I just do."
Gillian did not understand why she had become so reckless, showing off her knowledge, and wondered if her outbursts were entirely of her own will.
When she thought of some naturally occurring phenomenon or object, or a technological process, her mind offered information on it, if she chose. Much of the material was meaningless to her: an avalanche of unrecognisable concepts. She possessed a vast encyclopaedia, without a dictionary. It could take her years to make a start in its contents.
The Walk continued for several hours, including rest stops, until, up ahead, they saw a bright yellow star standing out from the background. As Gillian looked, her internal star catalogue gave her its details: four rocky inner planets, one of them dominated by oceans, and orbited by an unusually large large moon. Another small planet was familiar to her: Mars had once been her home. Further out were several gas giants and an outer ring of planetoids and comets. But between the ship and all this lay an invisible barrier, the Oort cloud.
A moment later, Gillian's echo of Liam's mask instruments confirmed what she already knew. They were nearing the home system, after an uneventful journey.
"We're arriving - there it is!" Liam exclaimed, raising one hand to point at the star, his voice full of triumph. He turned around to look at Gillian.
Then he tripped and fell over. Gillian heard frightened gasps around the Navigation centre.