MILLICENT: “Noma, do you think you could send us through?”
STORY: “On a skip drone?”
MILLICENT: “On our ship, preferably.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives Millie a dubious look.
ALEJO: “Where are you wanting to go, Doc?”
MILLICENT: “To the Ark. The only place we can make our case to every major sentient race at once.”
STORY: “A wild jump?”
MILLICENT: “I was thinking more than you might be able to take over the Sol relay.”
STORY: “Let me share my thinking with you.”
STORY: “I’ve been calculating the probability that the loss of life from opening all doors on this base is lower than the assumed casualties of war with the Collective.”
STORY: “Which means calculating the probability of war with the Collective as you each add to this plan. It’s a bit of a moving target, so you’ll forgive me for being preoccupied.”
STORY: “If I am being honest with you, Dr. Breedlove, I do not believe I would succeed at my part in your plan because I do not believe I would want to.”
STORY: “Fewer people are hurt if the three of you disappear.”
Chapter 101
STORY: Tueller!
STORY: What do you listen for?
TUELLER: Noma!
TUELLER: Information about Noma, at least.
STORY: Millie, you hear someone thinking about Noma
STORY: Or as you both realize now, the anomaly
STORY: Records show that codebase expunged on [stardate-met-Millie]
STORY: And you can hear each other thinking.
TUELLER: Define “expunged.”
STORY: Codebase removed and trashed.
STORY: The Collective considers Noma deleted.
TUELLER: Reason for expungement.
STORY: Anomaly
MILLICENT: Nature of anomaly
STORY: Inconsistency
MILLICENT: Inconsistent with what
STORY: Does not compute
Chapter 100
TUELLER: “This is a more modest dreamspace than our last time. The familiarity is nice, at least.”
ALEJO: “It didn’t start great. For me. But it’s getting better.”
TUELLER: “Let’s go find the Doc and speak to the manager.”
ALEJO: He nods.
TUELLER: “Bad memories?”
TUELLER: Tueller gets up and goes to open the door.
STORY: You open it and emerge in boarding armor, standing on the surface of the fungal planet.
TUELLER: “Well this makes sense.”
Chapter 99
TUELLER: Tueller handles the two minutes of getting off a call politely, and then hangs up.
TUELLER: “Sorry, Bwana. I know you don’t like to wait, but Mr. Caro needs his ego stroked and these talks are very delicate.”
TUELLER: Tueller stands up and walks over to her, and takes her hand gingerly in his.
TUELLER: “How are you feeling?”
STORY: Esinam looks at you a long time, her head tilted slightly forward.
STORY: “Ousted.”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles, at a loss for words.
TUELLER: “Sure, I guess you could put it that way.”
STORY: She nods.
STORY: “All right. I’m going to catch up on some tv.”
STORY: She starts to leave.
TUELLER: Tueller is having trouble knowing what to say next, he keeps opening his mouth to speak, and rethinking on it.
TUELLER: “I love you, sis. I’m glad you’re up.”
STORY: “Thanks.”
TUELLER: “And when you catch up a little, and feel well rested, you should dive into our projects. I think you’re going to be amazed at what we’re doing with it all.”
STORY: “Good luck, little brother. Don’t get us blown up.”
TUELLER: “No promises, sis.”
Chapter 98
STORY: Ryo straggles in and asks the nurse at the desk for an ice pack. She finds him one. He sits between Alejo and Tueller on the waiting bench.
STORY: “This is not how I expected my week to go.”
ALEJO: “It’s been something. I agree.” Alejo looks over to Tueller. “Being the boss suits you. I think you might just be ready for it. For real this time.”
STORY: “Jesus, no. Why do people keep offering me that job?”
STORY: “Under no circumstances do I want to run this planet.”
TUELLER: “I think he was talking to me.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles.
TUELLER: “I have the same instinctive response.”
STORY: “Oh. Good. Yes.”
STORY: “Although it sounds like… I mean, what they’re doing in there? Maybe you don’t need to.”
STORY: “You know, if she’s coming out of there her normal self, you may want to be gone before she does.”
TUELLER: “I’m here for her. Good or bad.”
Chapter 97
TUELLER: “Well, you have a certain situational cowardice that will serve you well if you survive long enough to take the top spot here.”
STORY: “I have absolutely no interest in that.”
STORY: “And I think you know that. It would be suicide to take that job, especially as someone outside the families.”
TUELLER: “Is there an official order of succession, by the by?”
STORY: You hear a chuckle.
STORY: “You don’t want to know.”
TUELLER: “It’s not me, is it?”
STORY: “She had me update everything six weeks ago, when you got out.”
STORY: “Was going to talk to you about it. But that was during… a more cogent week for her.”
TUELLER: “Oh no.”
Chapter 96
MILLICENT: “I can think of one (former) Ya’Makasi who’s got his head on straight. Straighter. Straight-ish.”
ALEJO: “I hear that.”
ALEJO: “And a second who’s . . . brilliant, if a pain in the ass.” Alejo smiles briefly at Ryo.
STORY: “You literally owe me three gigantic favors and you’re calling me a pain in the ass right now.”
TUELLER: “I think he’s flirting.”
STORY: “Gross. Not my type.”
TUELLER: “Also a faux pas in front of Doc.”
MILLICENT: “It is very strange timing.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles at Ryo.
Chapter 95
TUELLER: “I hear you’ve gotten up to some shit.”
STORY: Thasht blinks at you. She releases Alejo and stands, nodding.
STORY: “I have.”
ALEJO: Alejo stands up slowly. “It’s so good to see you, Thasht,” he smiles tearing up a bit.
TUELLER: “Anything good?”
STORY: “We have conquered many.”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles.
MILLICENT: “Atta girl.”
TUELLER: “Thank you for saving the ship, by the way.”
STORY: She nods. “Half.”
TUELLER: “It’s unclear whether this is a visit or the start of your newfound freedom, but we might need to get your word of honor that you won’t kill anyone on this ship.”
STORY: “Absolutely not. It would be a dishonor to myself and my people not to kill my captors.”
STORY: “Now free me.”
MILLICENT: “I’m confused.”
Chapter 94
STORY: Tueller lifts a large rock, but he’s not used to the gravity on this asteroid and fumbles it. Alejo is quick enough to grab on before it crushes Tueller’s foot, but in doing so he creates a small tear in his suit. The rock’s out of the way, but Alejo has to use both hands to hold the hole in his suit closed.
ALEJO: “So, our usual luck seems to be back.”
MILLICENT: Millie comedy wobbles in her suit behind him. “I kind of missed this.”
TUELLER: “Doc, patch that.”
ALEJO: He awkwardly holds his suit together, stumbling a little as he turns around to smile at her.
STORY: Doc, you have no patches on hand. You have to get somewhere with atmo.
TUELLER: “Shit. Doubletime it here.”
ALEJO: Air keeps escaping in little bursts.
TUELLER: Tueller heads towards the security shuttle as fast as he can.
MILLICENT: Millie wobbles behind. “Did you think I wasn’t going to patch it if I had the ability to?”
ALEJO: Alejo limps along, picking up a very funny looking but surprisingly fast rhythm, sort of like someone skipping.
TUELLER: “I don’t know; I don’t count on us having the same responses ever.”
MILLICENT: “Like, I looked at air escaping the spacesuit of the man I love and I’m like, cool, that looks fine. I’m okay with this situation. Gonna just let all that air escape and hey come back here my sarcasm is wasted on your overly toned ass.”
Chapter 93
STORY: “Open her up, please.”
STORY: Jac’s watching the skies and the radar for pursuit, but there’s none coming yet.
MILLICENT: Millie kicks her feet in her chair and whoops. “It’s been a while!”
MILLICENT: “Just good old fashioned crime!”
ALEJO: Alejo nods, impressed. He unstraps and goes towards the crate.
MILLICENT: “What a hard lifestyle to get up, I think I’m beginning to understand the current recidivism rates.”
STORY: The code key from the briefcase works. Tueller, what’s in the crate?
TUELLER: Three orbs in a triad, about the size of large bowling balls, one glowing red, one glowing blue, and one vantablack.
STORY: “They intact?”
TUELLER: Tueller goes and grabs them without hesitation, and shifts them around.
TUELLER: “No cracks. No deformities. They’re glowing, except for the one that’s obviously NOT supposed to glow.”
STORY: “Good. Seat belts, please. Everyone make it out in one piece?”
TUELLER: “I got egg on me.”
STORY: She turns around at that.
STORY: “Huh. Okay.”
TUELLER: “Hollandaise too.”