Slaves of Elysium Read Online Free PDF

clear of this fog. There could be any number of things floating around waiting to put a hole in our hull after that storm. And right at this moment that’s the last thing we need.’
    â€˜I could be lookout,’ Jeni volunteered.
    Ash smiled at her. ‘Thanks.’
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    Shortly afterwards the Galatea was nosing her way cautiously through the fog with the globe of the sun at her stern. Jeni rested on the bow rail where Rebecca had stood the day before. Now Rebecca was on lookout with Devereaux on the fly bridge while Ash remained at the lower helm.
    Jeni narrowed her eyes in an attempt to penetrate the murk, alert for any change in its quality. Every couple of minutes Devereaux sounded the ship’s horn, both as a warning and in the hope of eliciting a response from another craft. But its mournful note, like their wake and the purr of the engines, was swallowed up without trace by the all-enveloping fog.
    Time dragged by. Surely they must reach the edge of the fog bank soon, Jeni thought. The sun should be burning it off by now anyway. She blinked and rubbed her aching eyes, glancing at her watch and then around at the orange orb that seemed to be hanging over their stern...
    For a moment her mouth hung open. Then she was running back down the deck shouting to Devereaux. Ash emerged from within as she reached the aft deck.
    â€˜What’s wrong?’ he asked anxiously.
    Jeni pointed. ‘The sun,’ she said simply.
    â€˜Well?’
    â€˜We’ve been going for an hour... but it hasn’t risen any higher. It hasn’t moved at all!’
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    They all sat on the fly bridge, bathed by the same amber-tinted light that had greeted them when they had woken. The engines were silent and the Galatea lay motionless in the still water. Ash had taped a ruler perpendicularly to the side of a seat and marked where its pallid shadow fell. They were staring at the mark and the tip of the shadow, willing the two to separate. But the shadow neither shrank nor grew.
    Finally Ash consulted his watch and shook his head. ‘The sun has an apparent motion of fifteen degrees an hour,’ he announced, half to himself. ‘That’s thirty full moons edge to edge. By now it should have shown some change. It simply isn’t moving.’
    â€˜That’s stupid,’ Rebecca said.
    â€˜Maybe, Miss Lamont, but that’s the way it is.’
    Rebecca turned to Devereaux. ‘What are you going to do now?’
    Devereaux shrugged helplessly. ‘I can’t make the sun move to order.’
    â€˜Perhaps,’ Jeni said hesitantly, ‘that’s not the sun.’
    â€˜What else can it be?’ Devereaux said. ‘If it’s an artificial light then the distance we’ve already covered would have made it change apparent size and bearing anyway.’
    â€˜Unless it’s moving with us,’ Jeni suggested.
    â€˜Be quiet, Jeni,’ Rebecca snapped.
    â€˜That’s not very likely,’ Devereaux said, a little more gently.
    â€˜Have you got a better explanation, Mark?’ Ash asked. ‘Either it’s not the sun, or the sun has stopped moving. Which do you prefer?’
    Devereaux was silent, biting his lip. Jeni saw the pulse throb in his temple.
    â€˜Do something!’ Rebecca shrieked sharply, fear adding a shrill edge to her voice. ‘I want to get out of this awful fog. I want to go home!’
    â€˜We all want that, Miss Lamont,’ Ash said quietly.
    â€˜As far as I can see we might as well maintain the same heading,’ Devereaux said, making an effort to sound calm. ‘We may find something that’ll help us, or clear this fog, or else, well...’ he trailed off awkwardly.
    â€˜Might as well do that, for a few hours more anyway,’ Ash agreed. ‘While we go I’ll check the radio over again. However badly the atmosphere was screwed up I can’t believe something isn’t getting through.’
    They