Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [120]
You have my fratella. Nova opened her eyes and smiled at her mother and Vito. We must go now.
Mira sat Vito on the edge of the vein and scooped Nova into her arms. She held them close, inhaling their scent and revelling in the touch of their skin. She could not remember ever feeling such aching joy. She would not leave her baby, or Vito, again.
Ever.
‘What’s her name?’ asked Josef Rasterovich as he came in behind her.
‘Nova,’ said Mira.
Josef moved closer, his face flushed. ‘She’s beautiful.’
Nova reached out and caught his finger. He is sweet, Mama, can I go with him? Secondo vein will care for us, and you can carry Vito.
Mira laughed. ‘She likes you. You should hold her for a while.’
Jo-Jo took Nova carefully from her, as if the child might disintegrate under his touch. ‘Where are we going?’
‘To Semantic.’
‘The bigger moon?’
Mira nodded. ‘Nova told me that she would like to travel there with you – in the Secondo vein.’
His mouth fell open. ‘She told you that?’
‘Si,’ said Mira as she lay herself and Vito down in Primo. ‘Nova knows what she likes.’
THALES
‘Thales!’
Thales stared at the person entering the command brief chamber on Lasper Farr’s ship. Bethany Ionil looked exhausted, but her embrace was fierce and full of relief.
Behind her, Thales saw Samuelle and the old fellow that Thales had met on Edo, Jelly Hob. Three other ’esques followed them in, and they gravitated straight over to Balbao.
With Petalu Mau, the Feohte injured leader and several of Lasper’s mutinous soldiers, the chamber was suddenly full. One of the soldiers passed around rehyd-tubes and some jerky.
After they’d drunk and eaten a little, Bethany sent the soldiers out. She identified each remaining person for the benefit of them all and told everyone to sit. Then she took up a position in the centre and encompassed them all with her gaze.
Thales thought she looked older, more worn, but there was a tautness to her body, a resolution that comes with assuming responsibility. He’d seen it before in Lasper Farr, and the mercenary Rast Randall. And now he saw it in Bethany Ionil.
‘You’ve closed the sphere?’ she said to Fariss and Thales.
‘Yeah,’ said Farris. ‘And you’ve taken command of the ship.’
Samuelle moved next to her. ‘Not just the ship. Consilience too. Some of our ships have survived. We’ll rendezvous with them soon.’
‘My brother was a brilliant man but he risked too much for personal ambition,’ said Beth wearily, and that was all.
Thales could see how close she was to tears but she kept them at bay. ‘We’re prepping to leave, an hour at most. Word’s out that the sphere is closing. Things will get worse. Will you come with us?’
Thales couldn’t bear to look at Farris as he shook his head. ‘I’ll stay here. The virus has spread among the Sophos. I must find a way to right things.’
‘With the sphere shut you’ll be cut off from the rest of Orion. Possibly for ever,’ said Beth.
Before Thales could respond, Balbao spoke up. ‘Would this be a virus that affects humanesque behaviour? One that alters the processes in the orbito-frontal lobe?’
Thales stared at him, astonished. ‘You know of it?’
Balbao’s thick-skinned face became unreadable. ‘Not only do I know of it, but I can introduce you to the person who developed it and can, no doubt, negate its affects.’ He gestured at the female tyro.
‘You!’ exclaimed Bethany. ‘Do you realise what misery you’ve caused?’
Thales touched his scarred skin.
The tyro, a fleshy female with trembling lips who’d identified herself as Miranda Seeward, opened her mouth and shut it again. ‘I needed lucre for my research, so I sold it,’ she said finally. ‘I never expected it to … You must understand that what we were doing was very important. I needed funds.’
Bethany’s face set in a grim expression reminiscent of her dead brother. ‘If your intention was not malicious then you’ll have no qualms accompanying Thales back to Scolar to reverse what you’ve done. Janne will … escort you.’
The injured Feohte leader shifted closer to Miranda.
Seeward grasped the hand