Sherry fidgeted with her bookreader as she waited for Cathy and the comms officer to show up. She had done harder interviews before, like the time she had covered a school closure and had to interview the people responsible and the people affected. Controversial, but in the grand scheme of things not that unusual.
A colony's bid for independence though, that hadn't happened before, not a space colony anyway. At least the Jupiter's crew wouldn't be hostile. She hoped.
The elevator door hissed open and a man in ship's uniform stepped out, then paused and frowned.
"Are you Sherry Tenna? Is Cathy not here yet?"
"Yes. You must be Mr. Edsen. I don't know where Cathy is, she wasn't at dinner either."
He nodded, still frowning. "I hear you have some questions about the rumours going around about Velfard."
"Yes. the short version of the question is, is it true?"
"That all depends on what you've heard so far."
Sherry grinned and started to relax.
Mr. Edsen waved down the hall. "Shall we sit in the lounge? They're not very busy while we're away from normal space. Nobody wants to look out when there are no stars looking back."
"Sounds fine to me. Do you mind if I record?"
"Not at all. It's usually the captain who handles interviews, but I've done my share of official statements."
"Well, an official statement is probably all I'll need." Sherry started turned on her bookreader's voice recorder and put it on the table. They settled into their couches, facing each other across the table.
"Begin interview. This is Sherry Tenna, speaking with Mr. Edsen, communications officer for the transport ship Spirit of Jupiter. Mr. Edsen, have you heard the rumours circulating about Velfard colony?"
"I've heard several versions, yes," he said.
"Could you describe some of the more popular versions that you've heard?"
"They range from the fairly tame reports of a group on Velfard colony making noise about independence to vivid descriptions of fighting in the streets, separatists versus colonialist."
"So all of the stories come down to speculation about independence for Velfard colony?"
"That's right."
"Do you know much about the colony?"
"I make sure to catch up on the news whenever I'm in the system. I've been on this route for ten years now, so I'd say I know Velfard as well as someone who doesn't live there possibly can."
"So this independence movement, how long has it been around?"
"As long as I can remember, in some form or another."
"Obviously nothing's come of it yet, the present rumour excluded."
"That's right."
"Back to the rumours then. If the independence movement has been around for a long time, why the sudden interest? Has something on Velfard actually changed recently?"
"Nothing dramatic, no. The reports of fighting are, as of the last message before we left normal space, entirely unfounded. You have to remember, though, that unless we're in normal space in the same system as Velfard colony, any news is weeks or months old. We won't know what's really going on there until we get into radio range."
"Well, what was the undramatic change that may have started all these rumours?"
"Just before we left normal space, a radio news channel was reporting that the seperatist movement had gained new leadership and new funding, and that they were stepping up their propaganda machine."
"What do you think about the situation?"
He paused. "The only effective difference Velfard's independence would make to Jupiter is that we'd have to provide space and lodging for customs officers on board as well as everything else. People have been taking trains, planes, and boats between countries for a long time. Having the countries separated by light-years instead of kilometers is just a matter of scale."
"Thank you, Mr. Edsen. Was there anything you wanted to add while we're on the subject?"
"No."
"In that case, end interview." Sherry picked up her bookreader and stopped it recording. "Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me," she said.
"No problem. Outside of normal space all I have to do is watch internal comms, which doesn't take much time. ln a week and a half, when we jump back into normal space, I'll be busy."
"Off the record, what do you think of the independence thing?"
He chewed his lip for a few seconds. "Off the record and absolutely not speaking on behalf of my employer, I wish them luck. They'll get their independence in the end, I just hope the road isn't too long or painful."
#
Sherry was staring up at the bottom of Kara's bunk trying to at least pretend to study when the door hissed open.
"Cathy?" Kara said.
Sherry heard some odd thumping sounds and slid up so she could see the door.
"Shit, what happened?"
Even Ellen looked over the end of her bed to see what had surprised Kara.
It was Cathy, walking with crutches and followed by a teacher carrying her bag for her.
"Where have you been?" Sherry asked.
"Doctor's office, of course. Or didn't you notice the crutches? They don't have them in the convenience store, you know."
Ellen laughed, prompting glares from everybody in the room, including the teacher.
"Ah, sorry." Ellen ducked her head. "I was laughing at what Cathy said, not because she was hurt."
Sherry took Cathy's bag from the teacher and put it on the counter. "What happened?" she asked when the teacher left.
"I never should have signed up for gymnastics. Sprained my ankle. Had to wait for the x-rays before they'd decide between a cast and a wrap. Then I didn't make it to dinner until most everybody was gone, so I wound up being late for the astronomy club--"
"Astronomy? But there's nothing to see right now!"
"We're comparing star charts from Earth and Velfard colony, they're not all that different. A few constellations have extra stars, a few others are missing stars, but they mostly look the same. But I'm telling this story, not you."
They all laughed.
"Course there's not much else to say. Except I have to apologise to Mr. Edsen for skipping out on the interview I set up. How did that go, by the way?"
"Pretty good. I'll have an article ready in plenty of time for the next newsletter."
"Oh good." Cathy swung her taped foot onto the bed, wincing, leaned back, then promptly sat up again. "Oh, crap. Can you pass me my bag? I need my homework."
#
Sherry bit her tongue for the millionth time, resisting the urge to speak up and contradict the teacher. Or at least to get him to acknowledge the huge number of studies showing the opposite of what he was presenting as settled, uncontroversial fact.
Michi kept her face straight, but didn't seem able to stop the occasional downward twitch around her mouth.
"Next class, there will be an in-class essay. The topic will be announced at the beginning of class."
A chorus of groans answered him, masking Michi's exclamation.
"I bet it's on the aliens," Sherry whispered as they filed their notes away. "Just watch. And if we contradict what he's been saying in class, he'll fail us."
Michi nodded. "Did you see John's expression when he read over the last newsletter? He hesitated on your independence article. I don't think he liked it."
"Him too? I didn't see that, only the look he gave me this morning." Sherry jerked her head back toward the meeting room they'd just left. "Remember earlier? He said something about there always being people who complain, when the question was about the seperatists." Sherry paused. "Hold on, the guy in the shuttle up here said the same thing."
"What?"
"G-Victor, in newsletter club, he was on the same shuttle as me and Kara. He asked about Velfard colony wanting to separate. The suit on the shuttle waved it off saying it was just some noisy whiners."
"Why insist on stuff like that, and that the aliens are just animals, when we're going to find out differently when we land anyway? And speaking of the aliens, how's your article coming?"
"I haven't written it yet. I don't know, it just seems like it'll cause more trouble than it's worth."
"But it's true!"
"But does it really matter? I mean, we're almost there, just another two and a half weeks, and all the people who might read it will have met the lerkkal already. And if I do write it, I'll get in trouble with the history teacher for sure, John if you're right, Kara will get mad again--it isn't worth it. Everybody's going to find out eventually anyway, no matter what I do."
The lunch lineup shuffled forward and they picked up plates.
"Excuse me." Michi tapped the arm of the boy in front of her.
"What are you doing, Michi? Stop it!"
"Are you excited about getting to Velfard colony?"
"Michi..."
"Yeah, why?"
Michi slapped at Sherry's hand to get it off her arm. "How about the aliens?"
He shrugged. "What about them? I guess if you're a scientist they're interesting, but they won't affect me."
"So you're not going to talk to them if you see one on the street?"
"Michi..." Sherry hissed.
"No, why should I?"
Michi nodded. "Thanks." She went back to filling her plate.
The boy shot them a couple of confused looks as they shuffled down the side of the food table in silence.
When he walked off to look for a seat, Michi said
"They won't find out eventually."
Sherry walked through hall four, scanning the tables, trying to ignore the windows. There was nothing outside them, nothing to make her feel like she was up high--but if she got too close, just like in the lounge, she'd see that the ground was not visible just below the window.
She circled a third time, trying to see if a thin, black-haired boy was geek-boy from the shuttle, and from newsletter club.
It was. Finally.
She circled closer, coming in from the side.
"Um, Victor?"
A few snickers aided the table as they all turned to look at her.
"I need to ask you something."
Geek-boy nodded, sent dirty looks around the table at his friends, and leaned back to look at her.
"Um, in private."
A louder wave of snickers and a few outright laughs was her reply, and she saw geek-boy's ears turn pink. Her own face started to warm up, and she looked at her shoelaces.
"Shaddap guys, it's probably newsletter stuff."
One more laugh followed him as he stood up and followed her to a table in a relatively empty part of the room.
"Not newsletter stuff in particular, but kinda." Sherry fidgeted with the cover on her bookreader. "What did you think of my Velfard seperatist article?"
"It was great. Really pulled some of the wilder stories back to something resembling sanity."
Sherry nodded. "Remember what you asked the suit on the shuttle, on the way up here? about Velfard?"
"You were on that shuttle too? I didn't see you. Um, yeah. I asked about the independence thing. He brushed me off."
Sherry took a deep breath. "What do you think of the aliens?"
Victor frowned at her. "I haven't, much. What's going on?"
"I don't know. Did you know that the story about the aliens they're giving us in history class is only half the story, if that?"
"Totally write it! You have something proving a teacher wrong? hah. Write it and run it, John won't say a word. He doesn't really care, he just has to read it to follow the rules himself."
"Don't you even want to know what it is? the teacher has already told me off for asking about it in class."
"I don't need to. If you think it'll bother the teachers that much, it should be published."
Sherry studied her knotted fingers for a long moment. "You like annoying teachers though. I don't."
Victor grinned. "It's 'promoting freedom of speech' when the teachers ask. And that's always a good thing."
"It's still--"
"Look, what did you want to ask me? If it's whether you should run the article or not, either listen to me or don't, but don't try to argue with me because I don't really care that much. It's your article. You decide what to do with it."
Sherry rubbed her temples. "I know. I can't decide, that's why I'm asking. I don't want to cause trouble; I believe in keeping my head down so I don't get in trouble. But Michi has given me some pretty good reasons it should be written."
"Well, I don't know either. You're the one it's bothering, you decide how to deal with it." He stood up and left.
Sherry rested her face on her hands, covering her eyes, and tried to think.