Chapter 9

It was three nights after that meeting that Igwanda decided it was time to investigate something that had caught his attention. He waited until 0230 hours to begin moving; he had no wish to draw anyone else's notice.

Although the ship's clocks still kept to the solar rhythm—specifically, Greenwich Mean Time—some among its crew had already begun to disregard them and sleep or wake as they heuristically chose. Still, Igwanda knew from past explorations that for the most part the common areas were deserted in what the clocks said were the "wee, small hours of the morning." If he encountered anyone he was prepared to plead insomnia and return to his quarters. But he did not, and he passed along a sequence of seldom-used service passages to his destination.