“And you had Sam’s head all that time.”
“Almost forgot him on the Bell when the nanites attacked.”
Her skin took on that funny blue tone again. “I’m sure happy you remembered him.”
“I am too.”
She got a dreamy expression. “What is it like where you live?”
“Honestly, the planet is a steaming jungle. Not my thing, but probably fantastic if you’re into it. We live underground. It’s… It’s big.”
I still didn’t like to go to the lower levels alone, but Eli was a good sport and usually went with me.
“I know it’s too early to ask all this, but… If we all survive and if Sam and I keep hitting it off… Would there… Would I…”
“Would we have room for you? Of course we would.”
“I’m being so stupid. I haven’t even kissed him.”
“You should. See if you like it.”
“What if he doesn’t like it?”
“I’m guessing he will. Either way, you want to find out.”
“Is it strange? I mean, they’re machines, but not at all like machines.”
The question made me laugh. “I wondered that too. It’s not strange at all. It’s pretty fantastic.”
When Debana left, Samuel sought me out. I heard them meet in the corridor outside the kitchen. She said, “Hey you. I was just having tea with your sister.”
“And I’m looking for my sister.”
I thought she would plunge in and kiss him, it sounded like a good opportunity, but he arrived much too quickly for anything to have happened.
“Sister, I need advice.”
I smiled. “Would this have anything to do with a cute chemist whose eyes change color?”
He sat down next to me. “Yes it would. I really like her.”
“As much time as you spend together, I’m pretty sure she likes you too.”
“I haven’t met many women.”
Good point. And for the most part of his life the ones he knew were crazy.
“Do you think you like her because she’s the first you’ve really met, or do you like-like her?”
He looked amused. “I have wondered the same thing. Adam lived amongst humans for many years before meeting you, but he didn’t fall for anyone else. I’m assuming the same can be applied to me, in which case I like-like her.”
“Have you kissed her?” I already knew the answer, but it was still the right question.
He shook his head. “No. I want to, but I worry I won’t be good at it. Or maybe she doesn’t want to.”
“I’m sure you’ll be great at it. You should try.”
“I don’t suppose I can try on you, just to see if I need practice?”
Cute, and I really shouldn’t laugh, but it was hard not to. “No, you can’t. For several reasons. I’m a one android woman. Your brother is a patient person, but he wouldn’t respond well to that experiment. And, the most important, if you really like her, you should be kissing her.”
“These are good reasons. Thank you.”
“Let me know what happens.”
*****
It seemed to take forever before Blake came to get us. He said, “Ima actually let your brother enter the operating room.”
Adam smirked. “He seems to annoy her less than I do.”
Definitely.
Normally, Adam’s mere presence aggravated Ima. Allowing an android to be present during surgery was a huge step for her.
Blake said, “Come. We want to be there when Jia’Lyn wakes up.”
Ima waited for us, looking fatigued. “That wasn’t easy. Whoever built that thing knew what they were doing.”
Eli said, “Thank you for letting me assist.”
She nodded and looked at me. “There’s hope for that one.”
Eli looked confused and John said, “That was a compliment, son.”
Blake looked through the one-way window. “Thus far she has only seen one of us and it’s a person she doesn’t know. I’d like to keep it like that for now. Eli, would you mind sitting with her until she wakes up? We need to determine if she’s back to herself and what she knows.”
“Of course.”
Looking at him now it was hard to believe he was the same person we found cowering in the basement.
*****
Jia’Lyn woke much sooner than I expected. I thought she’d be out for hours, or days.
She looked at Eli and said, “I know you. Or, my snake knows you. She has been talking to you. She says you protected her.”
“I did my best.”
“Why?”
“It was the right thing to do.”
“I know I’ve never met you, but you still remind me of someone. My best friend’s husband.”
“Who is your friend?” I admired Eli’s calm.
“She… She came from the past. It’s an amazing love story, maybe I’ll tell you some time, I don’t feel up to it right now. I think something happened to her husband, but I can’t remember. I worked on a starship, and a lot of bad things happened. I remember them going on shore leave, but after that everything is a blur.”
She groaned, “Why can’t I remember?”
Eli said, “You should get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to be alone.
“You won’t be. I will be here.”
“You are so much like him. But Adam was an android.”
“How do you know I’m not?” He sounded curious.
“I don’t know. I thought there was only one.” Her eyes fell shut and both woman and snake slept.
Blake said, “We should have someone here tonight.”
“Eli is here.” John sounded uninterested.
Adam said, “I’ll stay.”
He was right. She was our friend more than anyone’s, and we owed her for a great many things.
When everyone else left, Adam said, “You don’t have to stay. I’d like it if you did, but you don’t have to.”
I was exhausted and he probably knew.
I glanced through the window. “Do you think she knew what was happening when she lost control?”
He rested his hands on my shoulders. “Maybe. I knew.”
“What are you… Oh. Eve.”
His sister took us prisoner, deactivated Adam, and programmed another personality over his. Cain almost killed me while Adam watched, helpless to do anything about it.
Jia’Lyn was there for us in the aftermath of that too.
I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. Resting my head against his chest didn’t make everything in the world right, but it felt better.
Adam finally said, “Stay here and watch her. I will be right back.”
He returned within minutes, carrying a large chair that almost didn’t fit through the door. I wouldn’t have been able to lift it, but it probably weighed nothing to him.
I expected him to offer it to me, but he sat down, reclined it, and said, “Come here.”
I climbed up on his lap, and when resting on him with his arms around me, I slept within minutes.
*****
I woke hours later from a scream, but it wasn’t mine. Adam was already getting up, rising from the chair while holding me in a manner impossible for a human.
In the next room, Jia’Lyn sat up in bed with her eyes wide. Eli said, “You’re safe. It’s okay, I’m here. You’re not alone and you’re safe.”
The expression on her face made me want to go in and hug her.
There was no need. She turned towards Eli’s voice. “You’re still here.”
“I promised I would be here.”
“I think I’ve done some terrible things. The engines… I sabotaged the ship.”
He nodded. “I know. It’s not important right now. You just need to rest and get strong again.”
“You’re so much like him. Who are you?”
“So much like who?”
“Adam. But Adam is an android, and he do
esn’t look like you. You’re not him, are you?”
Eli smiled. “I am not. I’m Eli, and I’m here for you. Go back to sleep. I will be here.”
Jia’Lyn leaned back and he tucked her in.
I whispered, “He is so good at this.”
He must have heard me. He glanced over in our direction and winked.
When we sat down again, Adam said, “Will you be able to stay awake for a few?”
“Why?” It was in the middle of the night, and the way he asked sounded like, “We need to talk.”
“Blake and I have come up with a plan, and I want to tell you.”
That sounded like, “And I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“What is it?”
“We’ve been listening to Confederacy transmissions with the shuttle. The Bell remained at GA11 for almost a week, looking for Jia’Lyn. Evidently they haven’t found her because she’s here. That means they lack the entire senior staff, which in turns means disorder.”
“I would normally say ‘Oh no,’ but now I guess it’s a good thing?”
“They’re going to GA7. During their stop there, John will hide our ship among the other freighters and teleport me aboard. I will rig the system to sweep the ship with a low level radiation, kind of like how Eli suggested, and as soon as she’s traveling again, I will start the sweep. With any luck, anyone remaining unaltered will recognize me and be willing to help. Or, at least obey.”
Horrible idea, especially coming from someone who swore he’d never leave me again a day earlier.
“That’s the worst plan I’ve heard. And she could be docked for weeks. Months. You could be stuck in there forever.”
“I know. But I have to be on the ship when she takes off, so I can’t risk leaving. I calculate a ninety-six point two percent higher probability of success if I go than if anyone else does it.”
I needed to stay calm or he wouldn’t listen.
“Adam, this is a bad idea and I don’t want you to do it. We have to be able to think of something better.”
“The ship’s sensors won’t register me as a life form and I can stay hidden. I know the ship. With any luck I’m impervious to the nanites and if not, well, I can at least see them. Plus, I might still hold some authority over the crew.”
Stubborn man. “Shouldn’t we start with trying to figure out what’s happening and who’s doing all this?”
“We need the ship to do that.”
It was probably logical from his point of view, but I hated it. The mere idea made me want to cry.
I hid my face against his neck and he ran a hand over my hair.
“I really don’t want you to do this.”
“I know you don’t, but it’s our best way to regain control of the Bell.”
And then what? Sneak onto other ships and do the same thing? Planets? The rest of the galaxy? With any luck this hadn’t gone too far out of hand, but as John pointed out, a thing like the nanites would spread like wildfire.
There would always be a situation he could handle better than anyone else, and eventually he would be killed. Again.
I kept my voice as steady as I could. “You have asked for my opinion so many times these past few weeks when it didn’t really matter. This time it matters, and I don’t want you to do this.”
“We’ll help with the Bell and then we’ll go home.”
“Sure we will. And pigs can totally fly. Upside down, even.”
“Alex…”
“No. It will always be like this. Earlier today we agreed to help if we had a good plan. This isn't a good plan. There will always be just one more bizarrely dangerous and important thing no one else can do. I will go through the rest of my life worrying for you.”
His strong fingers forced my face up so I had to meet his eyes. “This is the last one. I promise.”
“You also promised you'd never leave me again.”
I couldn’t resist his lips on mine and returned his kiss until my brain finally regained control of my body.
“I think I’m going to go sleep in bed. In our room. Alone.”
“Alex, please don’t go.”
If he said anything more, the closing door cut it off.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I hadn’t realized how soon Adam and Blake wanted to leave on the impossible quest. John banged on my door the next morning, saying it was time to go.
I said, “I’m not happy with this.”
He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching me amble around the room, collecting my things. “It’s a very Adam plan. I guess we can at least fly them there.”
“I don’t want to. I think we should go home.”
I didn’t have a role in all this, not even a small one. John’s devotion to family would prevent him from humoring me, because Adam needed the ship. This left me with only two choices: go along with Adam’s plan or stay behind with Eli, Ima, and Jia’Lyn. If I left, I would at least have John close by.
He said, “C’mon honey, let’s get this over with.”
I hugged Eli tight before we left. “I am so proud of you and I love you very much.”
My android brother whispered, “Take care, sister, and watch over the others. I wish to see you soon again.”
This was the first time since we met we weren’t all together. Leaving without him gave me a bout of separation anxiety.
I wasn’t the only one. Blake didn’t look particularly happy about leaving Ima, but he tried to cover it as duty. “Are you sure about staying? There will be people who need you on the ship.”
“And there’s someone who needs me here. She’s not strong enough to travel, she barely knows where she is. If you succeed, John can pick us up.”
Blake tried to say something more and she hissed at him, grabbed Eli’s hand, and pulled him back towards the room with Jia’Lyn.
I always assumed she wanted whatever he did since she also was a Confederacy officer and they worked under the same modus operandi, but her people lived for family, and she certainly did not seem happy. Blake’s job was dangerous on the best of days and right now her mood matched mine.
Following John into the shuttle, I pushed their problems out of my mind. I had enough of problems of my own. Adam clearly waited for me to sit next to him, so I plopped down beside Debana and Samuel.
As soon as we left the station, Debana stared out the window at John’s ship. “It’s weird. I’ve seen that ship in the bay on the Bell so many times and it looked tiny. Out here it’s enormous. Does it have a name?”
John glanced back. “I never got around to it.”
“How long have you had it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. A long time. Depends on how you count, I guess.”
The station already looked tiny behind us.
Debana asked what I never got around to. “What kind of work did you do? It doesn’t seem like a logical place for you.”
A smile lit up John’s face. “Medical innovations. It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time Cheryl and I worked for the people who make all these artificial hearts and lungs and stuff. We did really well and started our own research center out here.”
Everyone stared at him, including me. I said, “You’re still full of surprises.”
John shrugged. “You know I like to tinker.”
*****
Once we entered hyperspace everyone disappeared off to their own projects, constructing gadgets and making plans. I stayed with John on the bridge.
He sighed and dug his fingers into his neck. I brushed his hand away and massaged his shoulders.
“You are so tense, that’s not like you.” He was usually as inclined for stress as the average slab of rock.
“I don’t like this. Any of it.”
“It’s too big for us to take on, isn’t it? And I hate their plan.”
Someone who didn’t know English would still be able to tell how much I hated it from my tone of voice.
“Oh yes, we’re in way
over our heads. And you know what will happen if we succeed.”
“I do. Off to save the rest of the world.”
“We have been very lucky, but it won’t last forever.”
I patted his shoulders and sat down in the chair next to him. The more I thought of Adam’s plan the more I hated it. Not to mention his attitude. Just thinking about it made me angry again.
“Do you think we should run away again?”
He looked surprised, but flashed a smile. “Yes. You, me, a ship, and the stars. I really liked that.”
“I did too.”
“Well, I can make that happen. Just let me know when you’re ready. Until then I’m thinking of going downstairs and getting drunk. Want to come?”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Why not? The ship is filled with people able to fly. Right now you and I are decoration. We’re useful because we happen to have a ship to bring their dumb asses from point A to point B.”
He got to his feet. “Coming?”
“I’ll catch up with you. I need to do something, but it won’t take long.”
*****
I found the others in the workshop. Adam, Blake, and Samuel all stared at a silver cylinder as if it held the answer to every mystery in life. None of them even glanced back when the door opened for me.
“Adam, I’m thinking of running away with John. Do you want to come with us?”
Blake said, “So, we connect these to the air filtering systems?”
Samuel nodded. “Yes, and it is a scalable solution that can fit for any size vessel, even an entire station.”
Adam didn’t take his eyes away from the cylinder. “Sure, sweetheart. Not right now.”
Debana met my eyes and I mouthed, “Men.”
She nodded.
I said, “We might be gone for a while.”
Adam poked a control. “This is a clever solution.”
That was my cue to give up. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later. I love you.”
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