“Not everyone is as enlightened as you Sarkavians.”
“A shame. Think of how peaceful life would be.”
“You might convert me, and that could be the beginning of the revolution.”
Wren laughed and snuggled up with Fallon, wrapping her arms around her. They sat in cozy silence for several minutes, then Wren straightened and asked, straight-faced, “Are you converted yet?”
“I’m working on it. It’s a difficult convention to break free of.”
“Hmm. Maybe I should set up a meeting. You, me, Raptor, and we talk it all out. Think that’d do it?” The wicked glint in Wren’s eye made Fallon laugh.
“I don’t think so. This is just in my head. A frame of mind I need to adjust. I mean, I never minded that Sarkavians aren’t monogamous. I think your dad’s boyfriend is lovely. Great at chess.”
Wren made a dismissive gesture. “Oh, he’s not seeing him anymore. He’s in between amores at the moment.”
“Has your mom found a new one? She’d ended things with one, last I heard.”
“Not yet. She’s very picky. She sometimes goes years between.”
Fallon stretched her legs out, resting her feet on the table. “Since we’re on the subject, have your parents’ amores ever caused trouble between them?”
Wren stretched out too and wriggled her toes. “Only once that I know of. My mom was seeing a guy that my dad thought was an obnoxious jerk. And she admitted to me in private that she thought so too. But she said his personality was worth putting up with because he could use his tongue to—”
“Nooo, that’s enough, I don’t need to hear that. I’m working on the other thing, but you’re never going to convince me it’s not squicky for parents and kids to talk about their sex lives.” Fallon cringed, refusing to even contemplate that with her own parents.
Wren snickered. “You humans are so sexually repressed.”
“Only some of us. I happen to be from a particularly ancient and traditional culture.”
“It’s a fine culture, I’m sure.”
“It is. Beautiful. We have music that will touch your soul. Art more engrossing than any holo-vid. Stories that will make you weep.”
“See, Sarkavians are distinctly lacking in stories. We have tons of poetry. But we don’t have a great tradition of literature.”
“So it’s a trade-off.” Fallon couldn’t remember ever having a conversation quite like this with Wren.
“All things are.” Wren nodded sagely.
“What’s your trade-off for being with me?” Fallon wasn’t sure whether she was a good thing with a negative trade-off, or vice versa.
Wren sat up and turned to face Fallon, her expression serious. “That we’re mortal, and one day, you might die and leave me alone.”
From Raptor, those words would have simply been pragmatic. From Wren, they were romantic.
Fallon didn’t stay the night. She needed to hit the ground running the next day, and knew she’d have a hard time doing that in the coziness of Wren’s quarters.
So when her alarm sounded, she jumped out of bed and got going. Excitement crackled through her. She was getting close to finding Krazinski, she was sure. And close to setting the trap to bring Colb in. Then she could finally fix the PAC, and life could go on the way it should.
She met Brak for their run, bursting with questions. Once they got up to the track and began, she restrained herself to one word. “Well?”
“Good news and bad news. I asked Lim to meet us in an hour in the infirmary.”
Fallon knew she’d have to wait for specifics. “That’s cryptic. And doesn’t give me much time to exercise and deliver my morning report to the captain.”
Brak shot her a sidelong look. “I guess we’d better run faster.”
Lim wore an odd expression that seemed to be a combination of eagerness and dread. It turned out that he was right to feel both.
In the private room of the infirmary, Brak pulled up brain images on the voicecom terminal. “On the left side, we see Fallon’s brain. On the right, we see Lim’s.”
Fallon squinted at the images. “Reading brain images is not my strong suit.”
“Mine either,” Lim echoed.
“Okay. See this small dark spot?” Brak pointed to Fallon’s brain. “That’s the implant I put in.” Then she pointed to an area in Lim’s brain. “This large gray area is Lim’s implant.”
It was huge. Fallon stared at the expanse of brain that had been taken away from him. Prelin’s ass. Her stomach clenched.
“What does this mean for me?” Lim asked in a soft voice.
“With the implant, you’re able to retain as much new information as any highly intelligent person. Your IQ is very high, and your mathematical skills are fantastic. Further, you’re not in danger of losing anything you’ve experienced in the past eighteen months.”
“Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?” he asked in a stronger voice.
“A great deal of tissue has been removed. I could possibly regenerate some of it, but it wouldn’t return any prior memories. I’m very sorry.”
Lim’s back bowed, and he stared at his lap. “I see.”
“I can upgrade your implant, though. The one you have isn’t meant for long-term use. I can give you one that’s made to last, and will transfer the memory you already have. The new implant will be smaller, which means there will be room for me to see how much of your brain tissue I can regenerate.”
“I like the idea of getting my brain back, but changing out the implant sounds scary. I don’t want to start over again.” Lim didn’t look optimistic.
“I know, but it’s actually a simple process. Just a copy and transfer of data from one device to another.”
“Is there a risk of me losing my memory, though? That’s my main worry.”
“No. You already have a device. I won’t be doing anything that hasn’t already been done in that regard. I’ll just be improving the technology. As for the brain matter, it’s essentially like any wound repair. The tissue will be brand new. The great thing about brains is their remarkable
