"So, Graff, I hear you've got the little tyke in your clutches."
"Only trying to follow orders, sir."
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated. When does the shuttle leave?"
"Ten hours from now."
"And where is she?"
"Getting the monitor off."
"Ah, the famous monitor. Is she excited about her freedom?"
"She is not free, sir. The school monitors do almost the same thing, sir."
"Almost, Graff?"
"Yes. At the school, we do not intervene if there is trouble."
"So, as a launchie and as a girl, you're putting Sinead in danger at every moment?"
"Precisely, sir."
***
The shuttle was worse than Sinead had imagined it. Green began by buckling all of his new charges in - except for Sinead, who had figured the harness out by herself. The red-head watched him out of the corner of her eye at all times. She didn't trust him, and for the first time in her life she was afraid. The monitor was off now, no one was watching to see how she saw things, no one was ready to jump in and save her from danger.
Of course, there were monitors everywhere, the little girl knew. But they watched everyone, focused on the crowds rather than the individual. She would make her own safety now.
A tall boy was sitting next to her, his big blue eyes darting nervously from side to side. Sinead immediately composed her behavior, reminding herself over and over again that looking nervous was a sign of weakness.
A tall, portly man jumped up into the cabin and sealed the door behind him. Next thing she knew, the shuttle took off. A wave of nausea hit everyone as gravity was obliviated. Sinead couldn't help being a little surprised as her long, red hair floated around her head like a mermaid's. The boy next to her was dry heaving. She looked the other way.
Everyone in the cabin was looking a little green, except for the fat man and Green himself. The fat man wasn't even harnessed! As she watched, he did a cartwheel and began to walk along the ceiling.
Everyone gasped and the boy only heaved louder, but Sinead was getting the idea. In null-gravity, the floor was only where you wanted it to be, where you imagine it to be. She grinned at the thought of a null- gravity world, where people just walked around on the clouds. Perhaps this was what Heaven was like.
Green turned to look at her. "What, exactly, is so funny?" Even he looked slightly nauseated, due to the fact that the children around him were requesting barf bags.
Sinead grinned a little bit wider. "I was just thinking what a world, or a room, like this would be like," she said. "People would walk everywhere, and no one would care which part was the floor, because there would be no floor."
To her surprise, Green smiled back.
"Only trying to follow orders, sir."
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated. When does the shuttle leave?"
"Ten hours from now."
"And where is she?"
"Getting the monitor off."
"Ah, the famous monitor. Is she excited about her freedom?"
"She is not free, sir. The school monitors do almost the same thing, sir."
"Almost, Graff?"
"Yes. At the school, we do not intervene if there is trouble."
"So, as a launchie and as a girl, you're putting Sinead in danger at every moment?"
"Precisely, sir."
***
The shuttle was worse than Sinead had imagined it. Green began by buckling all of his new charges in - except for Sinead, who had figured the harness out by herself. The red-head watched him out of the corner of her eye at all times. She didn't trust him, and for the first time in her life she was afraid. The monitor was off now, no one was watching to see how she saw things, no one was ready to jump in and save her from danger.
Of course, there were monitors everywhere, the little girl knew. But they watched everyone, focused on the crowds rather than the individual. She would make her own safety now.
A tall boy was sitting next to her, his big blue eyes darting nervously from side to side. Sinead immediately composed her behavior, reminding herself over and over again that looking nervous was a sign of weakness.
A tall, portly man jumped up into the cabin and sealed the door behind him. Next thing she knew, the shuttle took off. A wave of nausea hit everyone as gravity was obliviated. Sinead couldn't help being a little surprised as her long, red hair floated around her head like a mermaid's. The boy next to her was dry heaving. She looked the other way.
Everyone in the cabin was looking a little green, except for the fat man and Green himself. The fat man wasn't even harnessed! As she watched, he did a cartwheel and began to walk along the ceiling.
Everyone gasped and the boy only heaved louder, but Sinead was getting the idea. In null-gravity, the floor was only where you wanted it to be, where you imagine it to be. She grinned at the thought of a null- gravity world, where people just walked around on the clouds. Perhaps this was what Heaven was like.
Green turned to look at her. "What, exactly, is so funny?" Even he looked slightly nauseated, due to the fact that the children around him were requesting barf bags.
Sinead grinned a little bit wider. "I was just thinking what a world, or a room, like this would be like," she said. "People would walk everywhere, and no one would care which part was the floor, because there would be no floor."
To her surprise, Green smiled back.
