The Outsiders’ Ship“We must continue to learn, continue to study. As Sitnaltans, our quest is to understand everything about the Rules and how they affect our lives. With such an intimate knowledge perhaps we can defeat the Outsiders and free ourselves from this Game.”—Professor Verne, speech to the Sitnaltan Council of Patent GiversMountain air whistled around the empty turrets of the ancient Slac fortress. The sky above the excavation site was clear and cold and painfully blue.Professor Verne rubbed his hands together and pushed them deep into his pockets as he walked back and forth outside the fortress. The other Sitnaltan engineers worked meticulously on the Outsiders’ ship. When Verne blew steam from his mouth, clumps of frost made his full beard spiky.Overhead the wide, blind wall of the citadel was dotted with black spikes and narrow windows from which the Slac could fire down on visitors. Moss crept up the walls, brown and green. A pool of stagnant water half filled a pitted cistern.The bulk of the Outsiders’ vessel lay half buried in the dirt of the courtyard.
