Salvation (Salvation Sequence #1)

by Peter F. Hamilton

Adrea’s house coat was a loose weave of black lace, lined with fluffy purple feathers – a Schrödinger masterpiece in being dressed and undressed at the same time.

‘Ah, the asteroid base with bio-wall tunnels.’ ‘You know about it?’ ‘The sim team has been preparing that for weeks. They’ve been giggling like nine year olds telling fart jokes over how you’d all react.’

With a degree of privacy assured, I squatted down and crapped out the biopackage I’d brought along. The human anal cavity has traditionally been a smuggler’s favourite for most of our existence on Earth. It made me really proud to carry that fine institution on into the starflight era. Yeah, right.

‘Forty-two.’ ‘Excuse me?’ I queried. ‘Old joke,’ the cardinal admitted. ‘The number of angels that can actually dance on a pinhead.’