CHAPTER 13Ship’s council was held in the operations room, not the largest compartment but the most convenient, and from his seat at the head of the table Varl glanced at each officer in turn. Cole had a plaster on one temple, the result of a careless step while on suit drill—he had been lucky the impact with asteroidal mass had not cracked his faceplate. Asner had a seared hand, burned while adjusting a machine; like Cole, he had been careless because of fatigue. Others had suffered similar injuries.
Varl spoke. “We’re about ready to start out, and this meeting is to put you all in the picture. You all know what we’re looking for. Any ideas on how to find it?”
“Trace the paths of the lost ships,” Owen suggested. “Keep it up long enough and what hit them will hit us.”
“And, when it does,
