time piece, glyn realized he had yet again spent more time in the book room than

intended, and as the

evening meal would soon be served he replaced the book in its place, and hurried
back to the main section
of the slip in time to join the others as they filed into the eating room. several
people commented on
how bonny and glowing mia looked which he thought was a little premature
considering how little time had passed since
they had been asked to go to the medic s room. so he put it down to over
enthusiasm mixed
with a little propitiation, as no one else was bearing a child at the time, though
many would very much
have liked to, if they had been given the chance, no one asked him where he had
been, although he
had been missing for hours and there werent that many people aboard the ship that
his lack of presence
wouldn t be queried by someone. mia was still bubbing over eith the forthcoming
event, although it was still a
long way off in reality. how nice to be so simple, he thought, and then dismissed
the idea, as he
quite enjoyed the little mysteries of life especially the concept of forbidden
areas on board the ship. the meal progressed
as normal. the usual chit-chat and banter being interspersed with ribald comments
as the chefs offerings, sporting more gandy
colours than usual, were-produced to the delight of those who specialized in such
criticisms. glyn wondered about returning to
the book room after the meal, but thought better of it, as such time was usually
spent with the other
members of the ship in one way or another, and although no one missed him during
the afternoon visit, his
absence now might well not go unrecorded, and awkward questions could be asked. a
ping sounded and all turned their
attention towards the screen over the hatchway. some of you are concerned about
the safety of using the equipment in
the medic s room all the equipment has been checked over and found to be working
perfectly it is only
the verbal and screen responses of the medic which have malfunctioned, and these
are not of paramount importance to your
continued well being. i have taken over the duties of the medic s verbal circuits
and will answer any patinent
questions which may arise in the future. for those of you who are interested,
there is a large mass of
rock probably port of the remains of a broken-up planet, approaching from the rear
end of the ship. it is
in no danger of hitting the ship, but should be a spectangular sight for those of
you interested in stellar
activities. that is all, have a pleasant evening. the click of the audio system
cutting off seemed all the louder
in the ensuing silence. i for one, want to have a look at that. arki looked around
to see if
anyone else was interested. glyn was the only one who responded with a me too. and
wondered why no one
else had joined in the group broke up, some going to the games room, some flexing
their muscles indicating that
the exercise equipment was going tp get a working over, while a small group of the
females gathered around mia
and were deep in conversation, probably about the child she was now carrying. glyn
and arki made their way to
the observation room which was situated near the front end of the ship, both of
them unable to understand why
no one else had shown an interest in such an unusual event. you know, i sometimes
wonder if the rest
of them are getting a little too introverted in their own self importance to the
exclusion of the overall reason
for this expedition, and the tremendous technical achievement of those who built
the ship. glyn was at last venting some
of the repressed feeling he had been aware of for some time, and arki was just
about the only person
he felt safe to voice his opinions to. i ve thought the same for some time,
replied arki, we are
sustained and surrounded by man s greatest technical achievements, and most of us
just take it for granted seems a
pity to me. they had now reached the observation chamber door and it opened
obediently to thier presence, silently closing
to leave them cocooned in the small blister of transparent material which
comprised the observation room. four chairs, firmly secured
to the floor, faced outwards, affording those seated upon them an unrestricted
view of the star field outside the ship,
and giving the observer the feeling of being isolated in space. i don t see any
sign of an asteroid.
said arki, scanning the star field which almost surrounded them, but then the
captain didn t say when it would
appear. it must be soon, i should think , or he would have mentioned a specific
time. replied glyn, trying to
locate the piece of space debris. they passed a pleasant half hour or so, enjoying
each others company and the
fact that they both held similar views on most of the things which mattered in
their world. glyn was just
about to suggest that they return to the others, when out of the corner of his eye
he saw a
few stars suddenly wink out of existence. i think our visitor is about to make its
presence felt, look back
there. he nodded his head indicating the section of the dome which was nearest the
rear of the ship. arki
strained forward, as if getting as near as possible to the transparent shield of
the dome would increase his depth
of vision. yes, i see it now my god it s big. hope the captain is right when he
said
it will pass us by. slowly, the huge mass of what was once part of a planet, crept
up to
the ship, blocking out the stars as if a giant black curtain had been drawn across
the heavens. the