I'm stunned. I didn't really consider that the hex would move on to its original target. I thought it just... dissipated.
"Of course... of course she is." I stammer a moment. I can't unsee what I just saw. And she choses to hide it, to put in place…
It is good enough. For all I know the hex has let go already because hexes are really extensions of my will, but I formally dismiss it anyway. It's heartening to see a connection between those two, even if they wouldn't ever be real friends.
I go b…
I give Temperance the detonator thing. She doesn't have the key sequence to activate it... and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to blow a random hole in the ship so it should be fine. I'll go find Nadja to remove the curse. Even before she's apologi…
"That's it. 'We're the ones who have to live with it.'" I say, gesturing at my myself with both hands. "It's our ship too. We should have some freedoms, and not be shocked into submission and thrown into iso when we put a toenail outside the lines. …
"Well," I say, thoughtful, "We need to alter that switch. And I need a couple more things: I need to see the reports on genetic compatibility for the plague vaccine experiments; and I need to find where they took Pris. Can you or your people help me…
I start, having been staring into space for I'm not sure how long when Temperance speaks, and look at her.
I give her a small smile. "Maybe we should have been, you know? But maybe trusting is hard when you are constantly taught the opposite." I g…
I need to get the detonator altered into a deadman switch.
Convey to Temperance the need for her to recruit the quarantine kids into a more consolidated group, her being the one with Charisma and who isn't compromised by association with the author…
I look at him a moment and glance away again.
“Me. Mother will know that I will set it off if it comes to it.” I say. Then to Temperance, “I’ll need to get somewhere critical, where the price is too high for them not to give in. The threat of my d…
I nod to her. “They could be allies, maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know much about them other than that the Commandant considers them subversives. Red Five does get into the computer though.”
I pace more. I run my hands through my hair.
“First I …
“I don’t know. I don’ t see what crawling over there would do, unless there were enough of us. Maybe all of us.”
I pace back and forth.
“We do need to unite, as much as possible, that would give us some leverage. They can’t afford to punish us a…
I gape at Temperance a moment. I turn to look at Mark.
“The AAU is active? Stars…”
I cast about. How much does this change things? I don’t know.
“We have to work together on this. We have to do something.“ I say to both of them. “The ship’s…
I survey the room without really seeing it. Sort of working up my courage. I’m not entirely sure why I brought Temperence along… maybe to help diffuse the intensity of the situation. Maybe to try to gain more allies at once. I lick my lips as Mark f…
I carefully don't react to Mark's bombshell. I've done too much stuff now to really deny it, but sometimes people still just won't believe. It's up to them.
"Mark, wait." I say. He's going to talk to me like a person, I'll do the same. I glance acr…
I glance around at the other faces, wondering about the wisdom of divulging this information. But isn’t information control part of what I’m angry about?
I return my eyes to Temperace. “Some of it.” I say. “The ship is trying to navigate an astero…
My eyes drop a moment at the mention of Ashlee. I really didn't treat her very well. And I certainly wouldn't put it past them to have done some kind of experiment on her. And now they've taken Tabitha across... I know they needed her, I saw it, bu…
"Thanks," I murmer to Torrence as he gets up. Sitting next to Mi Sun isn't exactly comfortable and I glance at her as I sit. "Hey" I say softly.
I look to Tunde for his information.
She's giving it a shot then. The tension at the table seems to lower a tad but I still feel like we're tigers circling each other.
"I am better, thanks." I say. "And I am right out of Med, so I haven't heard stomm."
The question is open in my fa…
I still feel sluggish with the tiredness from being sick. Halliday all but brimmed with venom that he couldn't vent, I presume because of what Mother visited on him last time. Instead he was textbook polite. Nicest interaction I've ever had with the…
I... hadn't known that she'd been lovers with either one. It kind of hurts. What the drokk is it with Zola anyway? Girls drokking fall at her feet. But... wasn't Gwen cheating on Lucas...um... with me? What does that mean?
I don't think I want to t…
I shrug, avoid her eyes. "I told Pris about what I did. I... It's just..." I let out my breath. Weird since I'm in VR, or not even VR. I'm not a good person like Tabitha is Gwen. My mother... she isn't a good person and I've always... really tried …
I look at her. You won’t like it in there Gwen. Won’t like me. It’s not like Tabitha’s soul. And that’s assuming I even get to be with Tabitha again.
But I can’t refuse her.
“No, it's fine. Sure… Uh… you know, If you want to, and Tabitha is okay…
I shrug and I smile a bit more, feeling my face heat.
She poses her question. I sober and I shake my head. "It's not that easy. We don't know everything we need to know. And if they all die, there won't be anyone to tell us. Assuming we actually …
"I don't know." I reply. "She always acted like the rest of the ship was fine. I look around at the other crew in the room. "And flying takes... Instinct, I guess. It's the reason for speedball, really. It's all reflexes and snap judgments about thi…
Now I'm wondering how desperate the straits are for the rest of the ship. Clearly we're low on flight crew. Why insulate us from this? Why not train us and hook up remotes to the bridge if they need more flight crew. Probably kids as young as 13 or …
Bai,
How many of Rei's security people do you have with you? Is everyone coming with you?
Anolies bows, turns and leads you to the glass elevator, almost a room in itself. It's maybe 3 meters in diameter, circular and perfectly transparent on all…
I chuckle.
Before following, I pause and glance around at the bridge again, noting how much worse off it seems than we knew. I mean down in the quarantine, they never tell us much real about the wider ship. We don't know the death rates or how man…