“Canyou imagine how much energy Jessica Donovan’s skinsuit would generate?” said Frankwith a sly smile.
“Oh,Frank, get a grip,” Patrick said and shook his head.
“Comeon, she’s hot! Or… was hot.”
“Perhapsshe got a ticket to space—who knows? Maybe there’s an entire Descendantspecies that all look exactly like her,” said Simon.
Jshook his head, and then turned to me. “What power did people use just beforethe Evacuation? Were there big changes, do you know?”
“Fromwhat I remember from my history recap classes, they mostly used fossil fuelsand biomass, but gas movement, solar power, and hydropower were growing insignificance.”
“Whatabout nuclear power? Still in use?”
“Duringthe twenty-first century, large-scale nuclear power plants were used less andless, and instead were being replaced by nuclear microgenerators, which weredeveloped to be portable.”
“Portable?Really? How big are they?” asked Peter.
“Fairlysmall. They are cube-shaped, about a quarter of an IP in length. Newer versionsare even smaller.”
“Aren’tyou guys afraid?” asked J.
“Ofwhat?”
“Ofradiation? Or nuclear waste that takes ages to decay?”
“Nuclearmicrogenerators are highly stable and clean,” I said, almost surprised by theirquestions. “And used-up generators that do not produce anymore are ported towaste planets and moons. There is no danger.”
Theyall nodded slowly, accepting this new concept.
“Whatabout fusion power?” asked Patrick. “I know there werea lot of successful trials and experiments in that direction, but none of thiswas being used for real before our cryo-time.”
“Youare correct. Fusion power was used too, but the large-scale production wasperfected on Descendant worlds. However, the most used power source in Uni isbioenergy.”
“Bioenergy?What kind of bioenergy?” asked Patrick.
“KCFC,”I said.
Theyall looked at me without saying a word.
“Shouldwe… know what this means?”
Ilooked at them and then checked my nanoprobes to see when the research for KCFCstarted. Ah, yes—not in their time.
“KrebsCycle Fuel Cell,” I said. “It is the ultimate fusion power cell that makesenergy by joining hydrogen and oxygen without producing waste.”
“Krebscycle?” said Simon. “Isn’t that the energy production in living cells?”
“Yes.The principle is taken from a living organism, but then transferred to a syntheticenvironment.”
“Whatkind of synthetic environment?” asked Patrick.
“Iam sorry, Patrick. I do not have all the details. It is proprietary informationdeveloped by Loreans and Booleans.”
“Hmm,pity. That would be interesting to know…”
“Iknow that the initial research happened in the late pre-Ev period, but thefinal technology was developed only on the new planets. For this reason, Idoubt that you would find this technology here.”
“Basically,we don’t really know what power source we’ll find out here, do we?” asked Simon,looking around at everyone.
Patrickand J shrugged.
“Seeand be surprised, aye?” said Peter.
Aftera few moments of silence, Rick said, “Does anyone want the last piece of meat?”
Everyoneshook their heads.
“Great!I’ll volunteer then,” Rick said and stabbed the last piece.
Everyonegot up and put their plates and cutlery into a washing bag. I did the same.
“Who’syoungest?” asked Simon.
“Iam. I know,” mumbled Rick with a full mouth and grabbed the bag as soon as allthe plates were in. Recognizing the pattern, I smiled. It would take a whileuntil it was my turn to wash the utensils.
Frankand Simon headed off to their tents, and Peter picked up an empty leather bagand followed Rick to the small stream to fetch water so he could put out thefire.
Jand I were the only ones left.
Ilooked at him but immediately dropped my gaze when I saw him glancing at me. Iso much wanted to talk to him. There were so many things about him that Iwanted to know, but every time I had an opportunity, there was a heavy weighton my chest, as if my heart was being squeezed into a sphere smaller than itsvolume.
And,like always, I dealt with this confusing feeling the only way I could: byplacing a calm Senthien façade over my mixed emotions.
“Goodnight, J,” I said in a monotonous voice, knowing my face looked like I’d seenit on the holos: calm and cold.
Hetook a few moments to respond, puzzled by my quick departure.
“Um…okay. Good night, Dora. Sleep well.”
“Ishall.”
Themoment I turned away, my façade dropped and a deep pressure pushed painfullyagainst my solar plexus.
Iclosed my eyes. The Senthien in me made it impossible to do what I wanted to dothe most. I wanted to be Human—for him—but I simply didn’t knowhow.
Chapter 13
Peterwoke us up early the next morning. We had a short morning meal, where I sat inthe outer circle around the remains of the last night’s fire, hoping no onewould notice me. I was still fenced in by my self-made Senthien wall, though Icould not stop glancing at J whenever I thought he wasn’t looking. Every nowand then, he caught me and his face relaxed into a barely noticeable smile.
Wepacked our gear and were soon on our way. The vegetation was just slightlydifferent here than at the village. I wouldn’t have even noticed the differencemyself, but my nanoprobes automatically compared the images on my optic nervecam and communicated this information. The soil was drier and darker. The grasslayer was almost gone, and the majority of the trees in these woods hadneedlelike leaves. And they smelled fabulous.
Wewalked for almost sixty passes when J lifted his hand to slow us down.
“Ithink we’re approaching the gorge,” he said.
Withina few passes we reached the end of the forest that opened up into a narrowclearing, which disappeared four IPs from where we stood.
“Slowlynow,” J said and came to the edge of the cliff. Several IPs below the steeprocks, a clear blue river was rushing past. The gorge wasn’t very wide, but therocks leading to the river were so steep it was virtually impossible to climbdown.
Iswallowed involuntarily and then looked at J. He looked back and smiled. “We’renot climbing down, don’t worry.”
Thenhe looked upstream, shielding his eyes with his hand.
“Doyou see it?” asked Peter.
“No,not yet…” He was slowly scanning the other side of the river. And then hestopped. “There it is, I see it!”
“Idon’t,” said Rick, frowning.
“Youcan’t see the cable: it’s too thin to see it from this distance,” said J. “Butlook at the river’s edge. Last time we marked it with red rope. On the tree. See it?”
“Ah,yeah, I see
