Mirror Space - Marianne de Pierres [108]
She cradled his head until his tremors settled, and the constriction eased in his chest. And when he was able, she helped him sit upright.
Cass Mulravey was near him, resting against the thick trunk of a small broad-leaved tree. Juno Genarro knelt next to her, leaning over Thomaas, pressing his hand against the wound on the man’s neck.
‘The bleeding has almost stopped, Principe. The effects of the pod have slowed the flow. We’ll be able to travel again soon, but he’ll need help.’
Trin looked over Juno’s shoulder. The rest of the group were scattered through the undergrowth, within hearing distance.
‘The checclia seem to like the open ground and the ligs. I think it will be safe for us to rest here a while longer,’ he replied.
Juno nodded, but it was Cass Mulravey who spoke.
‘Your instinct was right, Pellegrini. We should have listened to you on this.’ She said it loud enough for everyone to hear. ‘Next time, we will.’
Then, more quietly, she added, ‘Thank you.’ Her face was worn out with effort and the after-effects of the weed.
Trin knew he must look the same. But a strong emotion buoyed him. He had been right. And now they would all look to him.
MIRA
Mira? Is our baby coming?
Mira shut Insignia’s concern from her mind as another cramp spread across her belly and forced her to curl forward and grasp her knees.
Thales Berniere stared at her helplessly. ‘What should I do, Baronessa?’
His look of fear steadied her panic. She must stay calm and think. The baby was too young to be born yet. These pains would settle if she could rest for a time. ‘I must find a-a room. Somewhere I can lie down.’
Perspiration stood out on his scarred face. He licked his lips nervously. ‘Can you walk if I help you?’
She nodded. ‘I think so.’ She stood slowly, grasping Thales’s arm. The pain had faded quickly, as if it had never occurred.
He glanced out into the emporium. ‘Where would we find such a thing?’
She pointed across to a brightly veneered kiosk, sandwiched between food vendors. From their vantage point behind the refuse bins, the attendant looked to be a Lamin hybrid. ‘Transit units.’ She paused, taking a couple of shallow breaths to ease a building discomfort under her breastbone. ‘Randall spoke of them. They have sleeping couches and comm-soles.’
They walked across to the kiosk, Mira leaning on Thales’s arm. The young man was stiff and trembling.
‘Try to be still,’ she whispered. ‘We mustn’t appear jittery.’
He took a deep breath and dropped his bunched shoulders but the trembling didn’t stop. She sensed a still-fresh trauma in him - something more recent even than the terrible disfiguration of his face.
‘What’s yir pleasure?’ The Lamin hybrid’s face was unusually broad and sallow. Mira studied it, trying unsuccessfully to identify its mixed heritage, while it wiggled its nostrils at them and blinked its sloe eyes at her enlarged belly. ‘Double, I presume?’ it said in a patronising voice.
Thales hesitated, glancing at Mira for guidance.
‘Twin. And we would wish to wash.’
‘Yaaas,’ it said, as if to imply that they needed it. ‘Is extra.’
Mira nodded and handed over Thales’s credit clip. She hadn’t asked him how he had come by it, but she doubted it was his. Although the Scolar emblem was reassuring - suggesting it wasn’t stolen.
The half-Lamin clacked its long fingernails through several booking screens and selected a pass-key from a storage sleeve. It handed the small pliable chip over and pointed to a narrow escalator on the other side of a crepe stall. ‘Turn left at the top. Numbers are on the door plates.’ Then, as an afterthought, it added, ‘Blood residues are extra; deducted automatically. Refer to yir contract.’ It activated the screen at the front of the booth and set it to scroll through the rules and regulations.
Mira frowned at the creature. ‘That won’t be necessary.’ She collected the chip and the clip and turned away towards the escalator. Thales hastened to position himself at her side and they rode to the next level in silence.
Fortunately, their