Page 30 of Enthraller

“Just the four of us.” Wren took her jah and leaned on the counter. “I had a look around and worked out we all have to fend for ourselves when it comes to the canteen. I see you and Ludlow are down for making dinner for your groups tonight.”

“Yes. The kitchen’s big enough that there’s no need to schedule a time to cook unless you want to, we can all cook at the same time, no problem.” Banks shook his head. “I really am sorry I wasn’t a better host.”

“So this is who has Trish all worked up.” Another man stepped through, short and stocky, but he could probably give Hatch some competition in the muscles department.

Banks made a gesture with his hand, which Wren guessed was a desperate attempt to get whoever it was to shut up, but the man either didn’t see it, or deliberately ignored it.

“I’m Juller.” He sniffed the air. “Do I smell cake?”

“I’m Wren.” She ignored the cake question. “Are you also part of the maintenance crew?”

Juller gave a nod. “You knew we had visitors coming?” he asked Banks.

“I did. It slipped my mind, and I forgot to tell anyone. I’m sorry.” Banks was starting to sound a little irritated. “It’s no big deal, is it? There’s plenty of room, and they’ve got their own job to do.”

“No. No, of course not. Always nice to get someone new up here. We’re on a full three month shift, so visitors are always welcome.” Juller walked into the kitchen and went to grab a bottle of hirtsu from the cooler. He waggled the bottle and both Banks and Ludlow lifted their hands in a silent request for one.

“Where are your colleagues, Wren?” Ludlow asked, taking his bottle of hirtsu with a nod of thanks and sitting down on one of the high stools in front of the kitchen counter.

“Out walking the line,” Wren said. “We only need three on at a time, so I decided to work out dinner arrangements.”

“Walking . . .” Juller sent a glance Banks’s way. “Didn’t you just get here?”

“Yes.” She finished her jah and set her cup in the washer. “It’s only a one hour trip from Demeter. It didn’t make sense to hang around.”

“No.” Juller looked at Banks again. “You obviously know what you’re doing.”

Wren simply smiled at him. Everything in her wanted to run to the control room and make sure there were no maintenance problems. Because Juller and Banks were freaking her out.

Instead she leaned casually against the counter. “You are obviously an academic, Dr. Ludlow. Are your colleagues up here all in the same field?”

Ludlow had been watching them all, sipping on his hirtsu. He set it down and gave a nod. “I’m here with two members of my department and two research assistants.”

“What’re you looking into?”

He spun the bottle, as if giving himself time to answer. “High frequency signals left in the wake of spaceships that pinch to the black. We’re trying to see if the sound waves give a clue to where the ships are pinching to.”

“That would be useful,” Wren said. “In the rare case of a spaceship trying to evade authorities by pinching to the black, you could read the sound waves and work out where they’d pinched to. Follow right behind them.”

“Exactly. I shouldn’t be surprised a member of the SF would realize the value of it so quickly.” He sounded far more enthusiastic than her nanos said he was.

His face seemed to struggle to hold an expression.

“Are you asking ships to give you their destination and then trying to work it back, or do you try to decode it, and then asked them where they went and see if that matches your information?” she asked.

“We aren’t that far along with the methodology. But for a start, we’re asking them where they’re headed, to see if there are similarities in the frequencies of ships going to the same pinch point.” Ludlow tipped up his bottle and finished his drink in a few swallows.

“Sounds fascinating. My colleague, Ed, is the technical expert of our group. I’m sure he’ll be fascinated by your work.”

“Ed?” Banks asked. “Ed Zeneri?”

“You know him?” Wren gave another smile, pretending she couldn’t see the utter dismay on Banks’s face. “Oh, maybe he’s walked out on the line here before?”

Of course he would have. This had been a major part of his job before he left the teams.

“He’s scanning?” Banks asked.

“It’s what he does,” she said.

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