Spinneret by Timothy Zahn Page A

don’t doubt that you’re capable—”
    â€œAnd if we don’t do it this way, you’ll just have to wait your normal turn,” Carmen put in calmly, “because I can’t shift around both a flyer and a regular pilot without flashing red lights all over my boss’s board.”
    Hafner considered for a second, gave in with a wry smile. “Well, since you put it that way, I accept. See you at four.”
    The notice, stuck prominently to the Ceres bulletin board, was surprising in and of itself; but to Perez, its coauthorizing signature was even more unexpected. So Carmen Olivero had gone and gotten herself involved. He’d hoped his nudges would do some good, but he hadn’t expected anything this fast. You see, Carmen? he silently addressed her signature. Underneath all that cultural armor you’re just like the rest of us. Hispanic blood does not thin with distance.
    He read the notice again, more carefully this time. Meredith, at least, was sticking to expected form. The council was clearly being designed as a cardboard cutout, with a slightly louder voice but no more power than any ten citizens had right now. But that was all-right … because eventually it would change.
    Turning, Perez strolled toward the rec center, where other workers would be gathering after a long day in the fields. Ceres’s fifteen hundred civilians would have two representatives on the new council … and one of those, Perez had decided, would be him.

Chapter7
    A STRA’S SUN WAS PEEKING over the eastern horizon as Carmen eased open the throttle to send the flyer drifting smoothly into the air. Hafner kept his eyes on the handful of displays and meters as she shifted from vertical to horizontal flight, but if the maneuver was in any way a tricky one, it wasn’t apparent. On the contrary; the more he watched, the more it seemed that a bare handful of the dozens of controls were all she needed to guide the craft. He wondered what the others did, but their glowing labels were more confusing than informative. Eventually, he broke down and asked her.
    â€œMost of those are used only when the flyer is in its spacecraft mode,” Carmen told him, raising her voice over the low rumble of the repulsers.
    â€œAh.” At least they wouldn’t be needing that capability today, Hafner thought.
    â€œHave you decided yet where you’ll want me to land?” Carmen asked.
    â€œIf we have the time, perhaps we can circle the cone first. I need to find a good area to sample.”
    She nodded and for a few minutes neither of them spoke. Looking out his window, Hafner let his eyes drift over the landscape. Just south of their path Unie was a collection of tannish blocks set on slightly darker tannish ground. Much farther to the south the white-edged peaks of the Kaf Mountain range provided only a slight contrast of coloration; and most of that, he knew, was due to shadows and other basically optical effects. No ferric red, no cupric green—the whole territory had all the washed-out blandness of a Hawaiian hotel beach. His eyes drifted ahead to Crosse … and narrowed a bit. “Carmen,” he called, “can you slow down just this side of Crosse?”
    She glanced curiously at him. “Sure. Anything wrong?”
    â€œI think I can see the outline of a shallow circular depression between the river and the Unie-Crosse road. I want a better look at it.”
    â€œWhat is it, a dead volcano or something?” Carmen asked, shifting the flyer’s course toward the area he’d indicated.
    â€œMore likely an old meteor crater,” he said, peering down. “A little higher, please … yes … yes, damn it. That’s what it is, all right. Too circular to be anything else. Thanks; we can go now.”
    The flyer tilted slightly to her side and he saw her take a quick look for herself before resuming their horizontal flight. “You sound annoyed,”