'But we are Second Class passengers now!'

'I have no record of any Second Class passengers on board.'

'But you just gave us an upgrade! We had vouchers!'

'I'm afraid vouchers are not processed until the end of the month. Thank you for your enquiry.' The Deskbot suddenly turned itself off.

'All right... All right...' Dan was trying to work himself round to 'Decisive Mode'. 'It's vital we all stick together. Go and get Nettie, while I try and sort this mess out.'

'But if I go and get Nettie, we won't all be sticking together.' Lucy's rational streak tended to obtrude whenever Dan was in 'Decisive Mode'.

'All right! I'll go and get her.'

'That's the same thing! Anyway, why are you so worried about Nettie?'

'I'm not! I just think we all ought to keep together in case one of us needs help.'

'Like what sort of help do we give if we're all running out of air and freezing to death?'

'All right! Don't go and look for Nettie! But what are we going to do?'

Dan sounded so desperate - so forlorn - and yet, oddly, Lucy preferred it to 'Decisive Mode',

'I'll see if I can find a supply of oxygen. You get us up to First Class!'

'But that's still not "sticking together"!' moaned Dan.

'I never said we should stick together. That was your idea,' said Lucy. Then she put her arms round Dan and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. 'Cheer up, Second Class Traveller! I'm sure we're going to be all right!' And with that she had gone, and Dan suddenly felt terribly alone.

So alone... he felt he could pick his loneliness up in his hands and hug it... but even as he felt this, he realized it wasn't the absence of Lucy that made him feel empty inside. There was something else.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lucy had a good brain even though she had lived all her life in LA. Despite the continual exposure to carbon monoxide and people from the film industry, she had remained smart. She had trained as a lawyer and was well regarded in the firm where she practised. Her speciality was entertainment law, but she still liked to use that brain of her, and here was a good opportunity.