Phantasm 2: In the Shadow of Iniquity (one)

They'd spent the rest of the trip to Minarth in her quarters and were still there now as Aurora approached their destination. When she felt confident in the floor not bucking too wildly under her feet, Laura stood to retrieve two templates. Captain McKell had given them the templates several hours ago. Aurora was fairly large for a star-cruiser but its bridge was surprisingly compact, with only enough room for essential personnel and crew, and McKell had given these templates to all the passengers so they would be able to see what the crew on the bridge saw. The templates were basically a direct magnification of the bridge's viewscreen. They could break down into sub-screens as well, separate images, and this allowed the passengers and McKell, who had one of his own, to communicate with each other. They were no substitute for being on the bridge firsthand but they were certainly better than nothing. Laura appreciated all the captain was doing to make them feel more comfortable.

She snagged the templates from their resting place and returned to her chair, handing one to Scott and keeping the other for herself. Hers was inactive and she pressed the switch on its side, bringing it to life.

A buzzing came from the miniature device, low-pitched, barely audible. A second later the template's screen flickered active, illuminated in colour. Images took shape. The predominant image was of the area directly outside Aurora, space and all within its embrace. Around this large central image were seven smaller framed outlines, five of which were the other passengers and McKell and Scott filling out the last. She hadn't mixed with the others much during the voyage, keeping her distance, though she did know them all by name. They were human, their races varying but of similarly human origin. Mayo Ners, Greg Anderson, Aimee Titan, Colin Hunt, Rebecca King - three men, two women. A microphone inside the template would allow her to talk with them, but for now Laura took a moment to more closely examine the sector of space into which they had emerged from hyperlight, aiming for confirmation that they were exactly where they were meant to be.

They were. Bentaris was the system, with the two golden stars which were not very ingeniously labelled Bentaris I and II gleaming side by side a distance ahead of them. Both stars were about the same size and primarily consisted of a single element, hydrogen, which accounted for more than ninety percent of all the atoms in each star with other more minor gases filling up the rest. The system contained six planets - two gas giants, three volcanic Y-class planets, and one unclassified because it didn't quite fit into the latter range. That planet was Minarth, their destination, a Commonwealth colony world inhabited by some ten thousand people; sometimes that grew to as many as fifteen thousand, sometimes a little less than eight, it fluctuated as it relied heavily on tourism and different times of year created different zones of interest. Minarth had a system of asteroid rings encircling it, some of which were large enough to be small moons and satellites and were thus classified as such. The field was spectacular to observe but Laura imagined it might well be a nightmare to navigate through. Aurora had emerged fairly near Minarth and it would still take them around another fifteen minutes to reach the planet at sublight speeds.

Aimee Titan was the first to speak, "It's hard to believe those are really asteroids, those rings. They look like a collage or something. Beautiful."

"Hmm, you'd better watch ?em while you can," Hunt advised. "In only another, oh, few million years they'll collide and spiral down into the planet."

Aimee sighed. "You have to take the fun outta everything, don't you?"

"I'm just saying what I heard, that's all," Hunt said.

McKell broke in before it could escalate. "You might want to settle in as best you can. We're almost there now and you've lasted this long without killing each other, so at least try and behave now that we're this close, okay?"

Laura studied the image of Minarth while most of the others ignored the captain's cautioning, talking and teasing each other, an uneasy feeling inside her. Something did not feel right here. She couldn't explain her feeling, it was just an instinct, and usually her instincts were correct.

Something glimmered near them, perhaps like a piece of metal catching a reflection of the two stars' light, not far from Aurora's present position. Laura stared in that direction for the next few minutes while the propulsion drives carried them ever-forward, studying the glimmering until it seemed as if it were beginning to take a form. She swallowed, a possibility occurring to her, one she didn't much care for.

"I don't think we're alone," said Laura. "Anyone else see that but me?"