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For six days, Croggon Hainey watched the Rockies scroll beneath the borrowed, naes and snow-dusted plateaus slipped behind the ship on the far side of Denver He’d made this run a dozen tio and passengers alike; and on this particular trip a tailwind gently urged the ship forward

But the speed that took him from the Pacific Northwest, over the mountains and down to the flatlands, did not improve the captain’s mood

With his hands balled into fists and jaht theht on top of them ”

“The breeze ed He adjusted his goggles to guard against the glare of the sun on the clouds and added, “But we’ll catch them Any minute now ”

Hainey shifted in the captain’s seat, which had been built with a smaller man in mind He removed his hat and squeezed at his forehead as if he could reater wakefulness or concentration “They’ll have to dock soon They didn’t even get a full tank of hydrogen back in Grand Junction Simeon?” he asked the first mate, as likewise crammed into a seat beside him

“Yessir?”

“They have to set down in Topeka, don’t they? There’s no place else you know that’ll take them…or us?”

“No place I know of But I ain’t been through this way in awhile BrinkI don’t,” he said, but he didn’t sound very worried Over his shoulder he asked, “What’s our fuel situation look like?”

Laht We’ll make it past Topeka, if that’s what you want to hear ” The engineer glanced at the doorway to the engine rooh he couldn’t quite see the tanks fro “Maybe even into Missouri ”

The captain didn’t precisely brighten, but for a ht make Kansas City?”

“We ht, but I wouldn’t bet the boat on it ” Lamar squeezed his lip to adjust his chew

Simeon reached for a thruster lever and knocked his elbow on a big glass knob He said, “Well, I ht bet this boat ” But he didn’t push his complaint Everybody already knew that the nao, was not anyone’s preferred vessel; and no one wanted to i done to retrieve the captain’s ship of choice

Hainey unfurled himself from the captain’s chair His knees popped when he stood and he crouched to keep frolass shield that separated hiainst it and leaned that way, staring as far into the distance, and as far along the ground, and as far up into the heavens as his eyes could reach, but the view told hi he did not already know

His ship—his true ship, the one he’d stolen fair and square eight years before—was nowhere to be seen