Read The Last Hour of Gann for Free Online

seriously at important documents, gazing pensively into the sky, clasping hands with his loving cultists, and just generally being inspiring. Supposedly, he was putting in a lot of public appearances these days, but she hadn’t seen him anywhere around the compound.
    She found herself wondering if he was even coming to Plymouth with them.
    “Welcome aboard!” said the square-jawed young usher waiting for her at the end of the line. He even fired off an honest-to-goodness salute which, in addition to raising Amber’s eyebrows, brought out a gust of laughter from the actual Fleet soldiers lounging around a little further down the corridor from the Manifestors. “I’m Crewman Everly Scott of the Pioneer ! And you are…?”
    “Amber B ierce,” said Amber. “Space Adventurer.”
    The Fleetmen down the hall laughed again and this time some of the Manifestors joined in. Crewman Scott’s enthusiasm visibly iced over. He lowered his saluting hand and looked at her, not smiling.
    ‘Great,’ thought Amber. ‘Now he thinks I was making fun of him.’
    Weren’t you ? some small part of her wanted to know. It sounded a lot like her mother.
    “Sorry,” Amber said , setting her duffel bag down. “I didn’t mean anything by that. Just nervous, you know. It’s my first time going to another planet.”
    This prompted anoth er good-natured rumble of humor down the hall, but did not appear to thaw Crewman Scott much. His professional smile went no further than his clenched jaw as he scanned their thumbprints again, checked whatever came up on his little screen against their papers, then against their wristbands, and finally gave them both an official nod of approval. “Bierce, Amber K.,” he said. “You’ve been assigned to bed FH-0419. Follow the green line to the family housing bay, take the elevator marked H to the fourth floor, turn right, and bed 19 is down the first hall on your right, okay?”
    “H, four, right, right. I got it.”
    “Bierce, Nichole S., you’ve been assigned to bed FW-1866,” Crewman Scott continued.
    “What?”
    “Follow the green line to the family housing bay and take the elevator marked W to the—”
    “Hang on,” interrupted Amber, giving Nicci’s startled, clutching hand a distracted pat. “We’re supposed to be together.”
    “—to the eighteenth floor—”
    “I was told that we’d be together,” said Amber again, a little bit louder.
    “—turn left and you’ll find your bed on the third hall on your right,” Crewman Scott concluded, holding out a helpful printed map of the ship. “Enjoy your flight, ladies.”
    Amber did not take the map. “Are you finished?” she asked coolly.
    “Enjoy your flight, ladies.”
    “We were told we’d be stationed together.”
    “Enjoy your flight, Miss Bierce.”
    “I hope you can say that all day, because I’m not moving until I get this cleared up and seeing as I’m standing in the boarding hub of the friggin’ Pioneer , I think you can safely assume I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
    Crewman Scott continued to hold out the map.
    Amber folded her arms across her chest and waited.
    The other uniformed people in the hall were still watching them.
    “I’m sorry,” Scott said with a polite smile. This time, it made it to his eyes, but not in a very polite way. “I don’t have anything to do with the bed assignments. Please follow the green line. There are other people waiting for assistance.”
    “I want to speak to your supervisor.”
    “This is a starship, Miss Bierce, not a Starbucks. I don’t have a supervisor, I have commanding officers. You can speak to one by going to the family housing bay and picking up any courtesy phone. If you’ll please follow the green line—” he suggested, reaching past her to scan the next man in line.
    Amber took the scanner out of his hand and set it down firmly on the desk. “I’ll let you know when we’re done here, pal.”
    “Miss Bierce—”
    “Everly,” she countered.