"Sleeping ships drifting through a sea of stars. All that black silence. Aly. What I'd give to—..."

He leaned forwards, rapt, and stared with hungry fascination. With a sudden stab he realised he was staring into an alien past. Some farworld fantasy. His fingers tightened at her shoulder.

"I've spent all my life travelling," he murmured to her, not taking his eyes from the screen. "I never expected to get this far away."