"And now the control room," she said. "I want you to become familiar with the operation of the ship."
All the ships that Nathan had ever known seemed like clumsy scows beside this splendid vessel. Every device known to space navigation and combat was in the equipment. And many instruments he failed to recognize.
"Who designed this ship?"
"My father."
"Father—" Somehow Nathan found himself unable to associate the Firebird with any of the normalcies of life. "Who was your father?"
Her smile was wry. "A man who was little known during his lifetime."
He didn't pursue the subject; they could go into that later. He said, "What I'm interested in is what do we do now?"
"We are going to find the other three Jewels. One of them is in the hands of your father's murderer. We do not need to worry about losing track of that because he will follow us."
"You know who it is?"
"Yes—but you would not believe me."