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she gripped the sides of her head.  She fought a flood of images as they crashed through her mind.  “Captain,” she managed.  “It’s happening again.”
    Getting quickly to her feet, Zerki hurried to Valerie’s side and steadied her.  “Another vision?”
    “I think so.”  Valerie inhaled sharply.  She squeaked, “Yes.”  As quickly as it had come, the avalanche of images subsided, and she exhaled.  With quickened breaths, Valerie sagged against the back of her chair.
    “What did you see?”
    Swallowing to moisten her throat, she paused to collect herself.  “I saw our next Navigator.”
    Collins snickered.  “You needed a vision for that?”  He peered at her console.  “According to the message, her name’s Johanna Oroni.”
    Valerie regarded him sternly.  “No, it’s not her.  I saw a man in our jump rig.”  She closed her eyes and shook her head as she winced.  “There was a lot of information, and it was… jumbled.”  She pounded the base of her palm against her temple.  “There was a flying truck, a giant rock person, and a young human man.  He seemed very familiar, for some reason, and I definitely saw him lying down in our jump rig.”
    “What was around him?” Zerki asked.
    “A building…  And another man.”  Her expression brightened.  “A dance club!”  Grinning, she gripped Zerki’s sleeves.  “I recognize it!  It’s one of my old hangs—Supernova Express!”
    Lifting away Valerie’s hands, she asked, “How sure are you?”
    “Completely sure.  It’s this old place at the west end of Van Alder.”
    Zerki frowned.  “I meant, how sure are you about this vision?”
    Valerie nodded.  “Also completely sure.  And it’s happening very soon.”
    “What about Johanna?”
    “We should set up a meeting,” advised Collins, “just in case.”
    “You won’t need to,” said Valerie.  “This is our Navigator.  I know it is.”
    Zerki puffed her cheeks.  “Collins, set something up for an hour after we land.  Valerie, you’re coming with me.”  Leaning over her console, she held down the comm button and said, “D’Arro, get a couple of your guys together and meet me in the aft shuttle hangar, stat.  You too, Kendra.”
    After a moment, D’Arro’s voice came through the comm.  “Aye, Captain.”
    Looking to her helmsman, Zerki said, “You’re flying the shuttle.”
    “Aye, Captain,” answered Krane Eichmann, and he rose from his station.  He was a lanky man, dressed in sneakers, jeans and a printed T-shirt.  He wore a baseball cap on his shaved head.  With an excited smile, he stretched and cracked his knuckles.  Looking to Collins, he said, “She’s already on auto-orbit.  It should be a smooth flight.”
    Collins nodded.  “Much obliged.  See you when you get back.”
    Before long, Zerki joined her companions in the rear module’s hangar bay.  Before them loomed a massive cargo shuttle, bathed in deck lights.  She was broad, with a domed upper hull and drab green paint that gave her a decidedly tortoise-like appearance.  Krane tapped a button on her remote console, prompting the loading ramp to descend.  Her crew quickly boarded.
    After Krane had completed his pre-flight check, the ramp locked in place, and klaxons sounded as warning lights turned and flashed.  The air within was drawn back into the starship’s vents, causing the klaxons to fall silent.  A moment later, the hangar doors unsealed and pulled slowly away, locking into their recesses.  Afskya’s blue crescent appeared before them, cradled in a sea of stars.
    Seated within the shuttle’s bridge, Krane eased the starship out into the void, headed for the dark half of the planet.  He set course for Van Alder’s municipal starport.  “Everyone buckle up,” he advised.
    The shuttlecraft raced toward its destination.
     

Chapter 03
     
     
     
    Within his commuter car, Gavin rummaged through his bag as the vehicle drove itself.  He retrieved a