It is three games of chess and five and a half albums later, only one of with Silas recognised, and even there he is sure the tracks were slightly different form the version he has at home. Silas is beginning to get a handle on his opponent’s style of play and feels like he might be doing better in his game, though there is a nagging doubt that he is just being lead into a trap. Andi takes his chess seriously, occasionally mumbling along with the music as he plots his next move.
The music cuts out mid way through a note. Andi focus snaps up for the board as the proximity warning goes off.
“Crap.”
 He spins the seat back round and reaches for the control rod.
“Strap yourself in.” Is the only warning Silas gets as the gravity snaps off and the board lifts up into the air.
The ships walls fade out to reveal U space beyond as Silas grabs for the pieces and and stashes the board between his seat and the now invisible bulk head.
“Where are you, you bastard?” Andi’s voice whispers from the speakers system. Then slightly louder. “Mags give me over lay.”
Suddenly the swirling mass has a series of lines imposed over it, colours and dots that remind Silas of one of the more complex ordinance survey maps Aaron had him studying when they were walking lay routs in Wales. Only here the lines and symbols are moving. It makes for a nauseating effect.
Andi speaks again. “Any idea what it is?”
Silas goes to respond and then Rik cuts in to his mind. “He’s not talking to you.”
“Who is he talking to?”
“The ship.” Rik responds as it the answer is obvious. “But keep your eyes open.”
“What am I looking for?” Silas pears into the thick amber glue.
“Oh you’ll know when you see it.”
“There you are.” The ship shirts round, ahead of them is a darker patch in the jel getting slowly larger. The lines converge around it and turn a deep blood red. Though the shape itself in the limited visibility is little more than a smudge the lines clearly show numerous projections moving beneath a smooth upper shell.
“What is it?” Silas ask.
“A Notostraca probably.” Andi replies the ship angles up so they will pass above the creature. “Lets hope it’s not hungry.”
As they shift he can see the outline of the creature pass below them in the angry red, a massive armoured head, with a long segmented tail. It reminds him vaguely of a horseshoe crab, but has way more legs. Only as it vanishes and Andi relaxes does he ask.
“What do those things eat?”
 “Anything that falls out of the realities. The Displaced for example. We are a little big for him. He’s more of a filter feeder.” He stretches as the black cover slides away. “If we had gone below him we’d have been more at risk, those leg like things catch anything beneath and feed them up to the mouth parts.” He turns and grins. “And that would be bad.”
“Where did they come from?”
“I don’t know. Something that got kicked out and then evolved here. Some dream of the daemons. I’ve heard lots of theories but never really bothered to get close enough to get a really good look. I like living to much. Notostraca are safe enough, there is much worse. I have heard of something really deep in shades which eats whole worlds.”  
“That’s got to be a ghost story!” Silas dismisses.
Andi shrugs. “You’d hope. Still,” His face turns more serious. “If the Notostraca are about there will be other things, you often find them near the larger things picking up the scraps.” He turns his sit and reaches for the control probe. “Might be better if I ride her in from here.”
+*+
All there is is pain, and then someone is prising his fingers open and he is back in the office on his knees, blood flowing from his hand onto the rug. Aaron is stanching the flow with a hanky and some one is shouting for a medic.
He looks up into Aaron’s eyes.
“What the fuck…”
“Sorry.” Aaron whispers. “But if it’s any consolation you passed with flying colours.”
Then Jack is next to them helping Prydan back into his seat, and a young woman is inspecting his hand, numbing it with some salve and sowing closed the deep gash. Prydan closes his eyes against the pain as she stitches him up.
Prydan forces his eyes open to look at Jack who is leaning against the edge of the desk.
“Well?” He challenges
“Oh help yourself. “Jack responds, with obvious admiration in his eyes. “You can marry my daughter whilst you are at it.”
“Well as long as it was worth it.” Prydan forces out through closed teeth.
The medic leans back and announces that it will heal. Prydan thanks her, noting with a little embarrassment the stain of blood on her stocking where she knelt in the pool on the carpet. However as she gets up the carpet looks clean.
He looks up realising Aaron is watching him, his face showing a subtle element of concern.
“You ok?”
Prydan replies with a look that screams “Stupid Question!”
“Only we need to get on with this.” He apologies.
Prydan slowly gets up, making sure not to lean on the damaged hand and testing his balance. “Yeah lead on.”
Jack watches them leave then very carefully uses a leather glove to pick up the red stone globe and place it on the mantle piece.

+*+
“You still strapped in?” Andi asks, His voice wakes Silas from a sleep he wasn’t aware he’d fallen into.
“Yes”
“Know anything about ships weaponry?”
“Played a few computer games.” Silas offers.
“Oh.” His tone makes it clear that it is a poor substitute for the real thing.
Silas rubs his eyes. A head of them he can see dark shapes and the converging lines again.
“What is it?”
“Trouble.” Andi responds. “There is something really big out there. It’s occupied at the moment but…” The ship twists slightly. “Might just get away with this one. Mags prep for silent running.”
The lines vanish and the walls of the ship reappear.
“We have a couple of options. We can go in heavy and hope it runs away, but with out a gunner that’s suicide. We can sneak past whilst it’s busy or…
“Or…”
“We can be lunch. Not fond of option three myself.”
“Can’t say it would be my first choice.” Silas agrees.
“There is a current we can drift past in. It goes a little closer than I’d like but given it’s already on a kill bigger than us, I’m hoping it’s not going to bother.”
Silas catches the meaning hidden in his comments. “Kill?”
“Yeah. Looks like a U-cruiser which drifted a bit deep.”
“Are there people on it?”
“There would have been.” Andi replies flatly.
“How many?”
“2000, 2500 on average.”
“There might be survivors.” Silas protests.
“It’s not like we could pick them up.” He gestures to the small size of the ship they are in.
“We can’t just leave them!”
The cover washes away from Andi in a single fluid moment,  and he whips round to him, his eyes almost glowing with anger. “Oh we so can, ‘cause I’m not in a rush to be lunch and we aren’t equipped to do rescue missions.” He almost spits at him. “Get real Silas, you have no idea what those things are.”
He turns back to the controls, the blackness sliding over him again..
Silas sits in silences recalling the “pissing off your helmsman can prove fatal” comment and wondering if the ship has an ejection seat.