She considered activating the opposite Ban’Shar, but held back for the moment, mostly out of respect to the woman who was once her teacher.
“Let go,” Rhea told her.
Will looked between Rhea and Min, seeming unsure of what was going on, and obviously wondering whether to intervene. Her other companions seemed equally confused.
Will finally raised his pistol, and looked at Rhea, waiting for her to give the signal. The others followed his lead.
The nano machines inside Rhea began to activate of their own accord. Vents opened up in her hand, and the metal insects began to flow onto Min’s fingers.
Rhea suddenly understood what Min was doing: by touching her, the woman had somehow gained control of her nano machines. As her former sensei, of course it made sense that she would know things about the technology that Rhea didn’t.
Perhaps Min was merely making a copy of the nano machines. Duplicating them, so that both of them could harbor the technology. But no, that didn’t make sense, given what Rhea knew of the iteration limit. A memory somewhere at the back of her mind told her that the machines had to be made in a special lab, and could not be duplicated in the field, only transferred.
So Min could only be trying to steal the technology away from her, and once the woman had taken them all, they would be gone. Permanently.
For a moment, Rhea considered simply giving up the technology to her former sensei. After all, Min had years more experience than Rhea, and would know better how to use the machines. That she had taken control of them from Rhea attested to that knowledge.
And yet Rhea couldn’t help the sudden building anger she felt. The woman hadn’t even asked. She thought merely to take the technology from Rhea. Force it from her. As if Rhea would ever let another person treat her this way.
No, Rhea refused to give them up. Not even to her former teacher. Rhea was as good a carrier as anyone for the nano machines. What she did not know, Min could teach her.
Thus, filled with anger, Rhea activated the Ban’Shar of her other hand. She converted it into a blade and pressed the tip into the neck of her former sensei. “Release me!”
The Wardenites stepped forward threateningly, keeping their pistols pointed at Min’s head. Burhawk stepped back in shock.
The woman’s chin finally darted up. Her eyes met Rhea’s. They were filled with defiance and greed. She did not let go.
“You might have been my mentor once,” Rhea said. “But that was years ago. I’ve come into my own. If you don’t let me go, I will kill you.”
Min seemed to notice the Ban’Shar blade for the first time, and the pistols trained on her head. Her expression softened, becoming sad.
She released Rhea’s hand and backed away. When she reached the couch, she slumped back down.
Rhea deactivated the Ban’Shar and glanced at her Wardenites. “At ease.”
Her companions had kept their pistols trained on Min the whole time, and reluctantly lowered them.
“I didn’t know that was possible,” Rhea said. “Stealing nano machines from another.”
“There is much you don’t know about the technology,” Min agreed. “You should give it to me.” That gleam of avarice flashed in her eyes once more.
Rhea gave her a fake smile. “No thanks.”
She bent over to touch a metal chair leg and replenished the nano machines she had lost, which would have the added effect of deactivating any of the technology Min had stolen. The leg dissolved, and the chair toppled over.
Rhea stood to meet her former sensei’s eyes once more.
Min lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry, my sister. Forgive me. I yearn so much for what was lost. I shouldn’t have done that…”
“Happens to the best of us,” Rhea commented reassuringly, though she wasn’t quite sure she meant it. She thought of something. “What was my name?”
“Your name?” Min said.
“Yes,” Rhea said. “On Ganymede. When I was your student.”
Min frowned. “We didn’t actually employ the real names of students during training. I only know your training designation, which is four-forty-four-C. Sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rhea said. “I have a new name, now.”
“Yes… Warden,” Min said.
“Teach me how to use this technology,” Rhea said. “I want to know what you did when you grabbed me hand.”
Min hesitated, then glanced at the Wardenites, who gave her dirty looks. She sighed, then asked Rhea to give her some of the nano machines so she could show her. Rhea did so.
“It’s a matter of reaching out with your mind,” Min said. “Through the skin and feeling the minds of the machines. Touch my hand.”
Rhea did so.
“Do you feel anything?” Min asked.
“The texture of your palm,” Rhea said. “Fibrous. Patterned. Warm.”
“No,” Min said. “With your mind. Forget the tactile sensations of your physical body. Concentrate on the world beyond the physical. The nano technology is designed to communicate with your mind-machine interface on a graviton band. You will not feel a thing with your body. Become one with the nano machines in your fingers. Communicate with their technology. Only then will you sense the living machines inside me.”
Rhea closed her eyes and tried to do as the sensei asked. She ignored the sensation of Min’s hand in hers and tried to focus on the world beyond the physical.
Finally, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Come on, you know how to do this,” Min said. “Or you did, once. It’s just that this particular ability hasn’t seen as much use as your other skills over the past thirty years. Try again. Focus. Leave your eyes open this time. Look through my palm. See inside me.”
Rhea kept her eyes open this time and stared at Min’s fingers. She imagined the living machines
