Aneka Jansen 3: Steel Heart
and the like.’ He gave her a grin; the heat seemed to have improved his humour. ‘You qualify as a VIP. I’ll tell Nayland you’re here.’ He turned and headed back out, pulling the door closed behind him and turning the wheel.
    Ella checked the door. There was no way to properly lock it, but she figured she had some privacy. She would certainly hear if the thing was opened. She began stripping off her suit. A shower seemed like a good idea and then she would put on some clothes more suitable for the tropical conditions in the station.
    ~~~
    There were no messages for her. Somehow she had hoped that the Delta Brigantia would have made contact during her flight and Gillian would have relayed the good news. There was nothing, but she had sent a short message back to New Earth saying she had arrived safely. She was wondering what she should do now when the door wheel turned with a squeak.
    The man who stepped into the room was dressed in a white, Ultraskin suit and a Plastex lab coat. Ella wondered briefly whether she should have gone for something other than a T-shirt and shorts. However he gave her a smile, which looked fairly sincere, and moved forward, offering his hand.
    ‘Miss Narrows, I’m Alec Nayland, head researcher here on Eshebbon.’ He was tall, handsome, with a hint of age in his face, but his body was fairly athletic. There was a wisp of grey in his short, black hair which made her wonder whether the age was down to actual age; he would have had to be a couple of hundred years old if it was.
    Ella went through the little handshaking ritual, returning his smile. ‘Mister Nayland, I understand you have some Old Earth records you want transliterating?’
    ‘Alec, please.’
    ‘Then it’s Ella.’
    He nodded acknowledgement. ‘A survey team discovered a facility out beyond the Rim. Some sort of biological research facility with some quite remarkable technology, and some very dangerous micro-organisms. The written records we’ve been able to do a pretty good job of translating, but there are audio logs and videos, and we just don’t have the skill locally to work it all out in enough detail.’
    ‘Luckily enough, we recently came by a really excellent source of information on how to pronounce Old Earth English.’
    ‘Yes… Miss Jansen. I believe she’s your partner.’
    ‘Yes, she is.’
    ‘Excellent. We’re prepping your clearance now, but it’ll take an hour or so. Please feel free to get some food. There’s a canteen on the floor below. The coffee’s not great, but it’ll keep you awake. Obviously we don’t allow food in the labs. I’ll escort you down as soon as we’re ready.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Ella said. ‘Do I need a suit to go down there?’
    ‘Hmm? Oh, no. This is habit. The area you’ll be working in has nothing in it considered any more dangerous than the common cold, and those bugs are in the deeper labs.’ Turning, he left the room, dogging the door behind him and leaving Ella to work out what to do with herself.
    She had just decided that she would go get some food and coffee when it occurred to her that Nayland had known she was with Aneka. It was not a secret, but not exactly public knowledge either. Well, it was a secure facility and they would likely want to know who was coming to visit. Shrugging, she started out and down to the canteen.
    FNf Delta Brigantia, Sapphira System, 8.12.525 FSC.
    Aneka heard the warp drive’s tone drop in pitch and knew they had entered the gravity field of Sapphira. The system had three, fairly widely spaced stars in it and the complexity of the resulting gravity tended to give warp engines a little trouble. For a second she held her breath, worried that the damaged drive would fail under the stress, but then the sound cut out entirely and the ultrasonic howl of the antimatter torches took over.
    ‘All hands,’ Anderson’s voice sounded over the cabin speakers, ‘We have arrived in the Sapphira system. We’re currently on full burn
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