Chapter Text
Prologue
We approach jump, Mother Ship said, in her soft, warm voice. The People stopped to heed, then raced off down the catwalks as she directed them to their proper stations.
River's Skin shivered in anticipation. It was happening. It was happening now.
He looked at Sings A New Song, who rose wearily to her feet, grimly and fiercely focused as always. None of the People had endured what she had endured. He sensed her mind questing throughout the ship, another fruitless search. He is not here. She sounded surprised.
River's Skin tried to hide his concern, but he was sure she felt it. No, Hides Badly wasn't here. He hadn't been on the station either, or the last several dozen places she'd searched for him. He'd disappeared seventeen human years ago, in the midst of a violent attack. Nobody was quite willing to say 'dead', at least not where Sings a New Song could hear. The memory singer was impossibly valuable and yet impossibly fragile, with both her bonds attenuated into nothingness. She had survived, though, just as she had survived the bondmate before Hides Badly. Every day he watched her he thought it more incredible.
Pilot demands you, Mother Ship reminded him. He started guiltily and looked up. Yes, the catwalks were clear of People, and the ship hummed with readiness. If they missed schedule because of him... My apologies, Memory Singer, he told Sings a New Song hastily, and felt her amused tolerance in return.
Mother Ship's nudges grew more insistent, as if he were a wayward kitten she needed to herd. Late, late, late... He raced into the navigation room, trying to look vaguely dignified. He felt the gentle exasperation of Mind Like Stars, waiting under the pilot's headset for him. They would share the jump, as always, Mind Like Stars seeking the path with his laser-keen focus, River's Skin anchoring them both to reality and making sure they came home.
The headset dropped over Mind Like Stars, connecting the hidden contacts on his temples with Mother Ship. Jump klaxons began to sound.
Time to make history.