“Welcome, Lieutenant,” she said without looking up. “Please have a seat at the communication station and monitor the channels when we enter normal space. If there’s so much as a squeak on nonstandard frequencies, I want to know instantly.”

He drifted to the communication station and strapped himself down.

“Toran?” she asked.

“Awaiting your orders, Dr. Halsey,” the ship AI replied.

“Give me astrogation maps of the system.”

“Online, Dr. Halsey.”

“Are there any planets currently aligned with our entry trajectory and Eridanus Two? I want to pick up a gravitational boost so we can move in-system ASAP.”

“Calculating now, Doctor Hal—”

“And can we have some music? Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto Number Three, I think.”

“Understood Doctor—”

“And start a preburn warm-up cycle for the fusion engines.”

“Yes, Doc—”

“And stop spinning the Han’s central carousel section. We may need the power.”

“Working...”

She eased back. The music started and she sighed. “Thank you, Toran.”

“You’re welcome, Dr. Halsey. Entering normal space in five minutes, plus or minus three minutes.”

Lieutenant Keyes shot the doctor an admiring glance. He was impressed—few people could put a shipboard AI through its paces so rigorously as to cause a detectable pause.

She turned to face him. “Yes, Lieutenant? You have a question?”

He composed himself and pulled his uniform jacket taut. “I was curious about our mission, ma’am. I assume we are to reconnoiter something in this system, but why send a shuttle, rather than a prowler or a corvette? And why just the two of us?”

She blinked and smiled. “A fairly accurate assumption and analysis, Lieutenant. This is a reconnaissance mission... of sorts. We are here to observe a child. The first of many, I hope.”