“But you don’t trust her.”
“Am I that transparent? But Mom is still Mom. If this will make you better, then you have to consider it.”
Jenna took a moment to swallow hard. The effort appeared to cause her pain. There was no water available. Carmen gripped her sister’s hand. Jenna surprised her by squeezing back with equal force.
“I don’t want either of those, Car. Take me home.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Join us.”
The red light on the hovering bot waited for her reply. She needed to answer the Cordice engineer’s renewed petition for her to return to the simulation for another chat. Yet she hesitated.
Her head pounded. Plugging in and out of the communication node was taking its toll. She worried what all of this was doing to her. Did she have brain tumors in her future? Would she suffer a mental schism like what had befallen her mother? Or would this tsunami of a headache fade with a decent cup of black coffee?
She Who Waits had summoned six more blimp bots. The little machines hadn’t wasted time getting busy in retrieving Jenna and She Who Waits. Carmen needed her sister out of the Cordice home ship. The translator had recommended her shuttle. Once there, the Dragoman could repair the shell which kept her atmosphere and body in place.
It felt like they were getting away with a heist as the bots navigated the two hospital beds out of the medical bay. Would the Cordice notice? Would they try to seal up their ship to prevent their leaving? Apparently She Who Waits hadn’t volunteered anything to the Cordice about what they were doing, and Carmen wasn’t about to share either.
The engineer’s polite voice carried an urgent edge. “Carmen Vincent. Now that the Melded have been subdued, we need to revisit the situation. The harvester. Your mother. We sense you are preparing to leave our ship.”
Carmen continued to walk alongside her sister’s moving bed. “We can talk from here. Can everyone hear me?”
“I assure you they can. Our body has agreed to cooperate with the majority of our council. My colleague the historian has apologized for his role in setting your mother free in order to influence the Melded. If you join us, we can better express ourselves. The historian would speak with you.”
“Not in your simulation. I’ll talk from here. Put him on.”
The engineer hesitated. “Our council has blocked his access to the communication nodes.”
“You’ve agreed but you still don’t trust him?” No answer came. “Look, I know nothing about your people. From what I’ve learned, you saved my mom and Lieutenant Townes. But things still sound a bit shaky inside your world.”
“For a minority to work alongside with a majority when it comes to a decision like we’ve faced, it’s proven disruptive.”
“I understand. We’re like that too, if you can believe it. But why haven’t you released Lieutenant Townes? He wasn’t talking to the Melded too, was he? Or are all humans now under a cloud after what my mom pulled?”
The response took a moment. Too many turns of a phrase?
“Hamish Townes’s mind was damaged. What we could recover is here and you can speak with him. We are doing what we can to restore him.”
“And his body?”
“His body has been preserved as we did with your mother’s.”
“Can the Melded actually fix her? If they can, then they can fix him too.”
“They always demand a price. Always.”
She paused as the bots navigated the beds up a previously unseen larger chute. The doors stayed open and waited for her. Her palms were damp as she hurried to climb past them. Once she made the climb up she waited for the trailing bot with the red light.
A loose wall panel caught her eye and a thought occurred to her. “With your ship in the condition it’s in, how could you leave the Framework before making your own repairs?”
“There were too many demands on the resources we brought in. Eventually we decided we needed to begin our voyage and make repairs along the way. We had done what we could for any individuals who wished to leave with us. Most refused. Some fear entering our simulation despite our every assurance. The Melded, for one, distrust our ability to keep a consciousness intact.”
“I get it. So how long do the Melded live if it takes years to get from star to star?”
“It varies. Some quite long because of their augmentations. Much depends on their original species makeup. They possess technology which preserves their bodies, but it doesn’t shield them completely from the ravages of time. We can satisfy your curiosities. Join us as a guest. We can better speak. You could learn so much.”
Carmen knew a hard sell when she heard one. “At least you’re finally on the same page about your harvester. I’m still planning on returning it. But you have my mother, or at least part of her. I want her restored. And I’m going to ask the Melded about fixing Lieutenant Townes. That means we need to go to the Framework together before any of us get what we want.”
“I understand. We agree and will begin preparations. As you are aware, you must exercise caution in bringing the harvester too close to the Framework. A mistake could prove catastrophic.”
“I’ll be careful. But I’ll get there before the harvester does.”
“Please explain.”
“I’ll be joining She Who Waits and we will follow you. But I need to borrow your harvester for a little while longer.”
***
Carmen remote piloted the harvester towards Earth. She had it configured into a large ring, with a string of spheres ahead
