Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [93]
Yes. Them, and the other two.
Mira paused, taking a moment to recall their names. Latourn and Catchut. So much had happened in between, she’d almost forgotten Randall’s crew.
Mama, Wanton says the Non-Corporeal ship may be dangerous. Wanton cannot guarantee their reaction to you.
Mira felt inside the pocket of the new fellala she’d taken from Insignia’s storage. Wanton lay at the bottom of it, its normally slick casing grainy to the touch. It had subsumed its last bead of mycose before leaving the biozoon. Its present supply would only last hours. She’d washed the traces of mycose away with gloved hands before placing it in her robe.
Now she squeezed its casing gently in reassurance.
‘Baronessa?’
The voice called from a terrain vehicle already parked in the shade of the biozoon. The figure inside was shrouded, but she knew it was Jancz.
She closed her hood. The TerV pulled in closer, and the passenger door opened.
Mira settled inside without a word.
They drove the dune-filled distance to the Post-Species ship. When Jancz stopped just short of the towering sides, Mira broke the silence.
‘You remember me?’ she asked. ‘You made a deal with me. Safe passage to Loisa for forgetting that we’d met. You kept your word. ’Esques don’t often do that; I’m impressed. That’s part of the reason you’re down here, not floating around in the mess of your detonated ’zoon.’
‘Part of the reason?’
‘The other part is not for me to say.’
Mira fought to keep the image of Insignia being annihilated from clouding her thoughts. ‘The Post-Species corporeal that I carry requires immediate assistance. Why have you stopped here?’
He turned the TerV’s cooler up to maximum and dimmed the windows. ‘Show me your face.’
Mira unsealed the hood and waited for him to do the same. His face was less elongated than she remembered, but his eyes were still as cool and dispassionate.
‘As you can see, I am the same person,’ she said.
‘My … it’s been a while since I’ve seen a female ’esque.’ His voice hoarsened.
‘I imagine that is to be expected when you choose as you have,’ Mira returned.
‘Are you judging me, Baronessa? I’d be careful of doing that. You’re the one aiding an injured Extro for no good reason. My reasons are quite logical.’
She stared into his eyes. ‘Then I hope they are enough to wipe out the memory of the worlds being destroyed on your account.’
‘Not everyone views the new order of things as you do.’ His expression smoothed out and he pointed to a spot in the apparently seamless hull. ‘I’ll take you there. You’re on your own then.’
‘Why are the Post-Species here? Why is this supply of quixite so important that they would send Saqr to invade my world?’ She thought to ask him about Josef and the others, then changed her mind. It was possible he didn’t know of them, and in that case it would be better if it remained that way.
Jancz’s hands moved restlessly, and his glance strayed to the marker pegs that signalled the opening to the Juanita mine. ‘They got plans. Their craft can’t self-repair for as long as they’d like. It’s a problem they need to fix.’
Mira thought of the Hub world. ‘But they have self-maintaining technology. I – I’ve seen it.’
‘Where there’s oxygen, yeah. But out in the vac’s a different thing.’
‘Couldn’t they have just bought the supply? Why such violence?’
Jancz’s mouth kinked in a detached smile. ‘So proper, Baronessa. So wedded to rules. They operate differently. Ain’t you got that yet?’
Moments of past conversations with Wanton flashed through Mira’s mind. Wanton had at certain times seemed kindred to her, and at others more different than she could comprehend. It had been upset when its cephalopod Host had died as they escaped the Hub, but she was not sure for what particular reason. The cephalopod had limited sentience. How attached did the Post-Species really become to a basic organism? Was it like a pet and its owner? Or something less?
And how different were the Non-Corporeal to the Hosts? she wondered. Did they value compassion? Did they experience emotion