Page 69 of Mutant Mine

“Yup.”

“And?”

“They look a lot better than last time I saw them,” she says quietly, into her knees. “I think those med kits you brought them really made a difference.”

“Hm. Good.”

After a beat, she asks:

“So, did you always know I was in the crawlways?”

“No. But I have known that it was possible for several days. I saw the hatch open in the crew welfare room near here.”

I do not mention that, in my state of absolute panic today, I forgot this useful fact and embarrassed myself in every room of the ship.

“Yeah, I knew I should have shut that. At the time, I was in a bit of a rush.”

“I can imagine. Escaped prisoners on your heels.”

“Right. Bad day at the office.”

She smiles weakly — then a wrinkle of confusion appears between her brows.

“Wait,” she says. “You knew that the maintenance hatches could be an escape route, and you gave me access to the flight deck anyway?”

She is still so suspicious of me. Pain lances through me, but there is no time to indulge that. It is my fault that she feels this way.

“I never wanted to lock you into that room, little bird,” I tell her now. “I just wanted to lock wickednessout.”

Rory finally looks up at me.

“Roth…” she says, her voice thick with feeling. And that is all I need to hear.

“Rory,” I say. “Please come back to the room with me. I promise, I will tell you the whole truth.” I shake my head. “I should have told you from the beginning.”

“Will the truth make me hate you?” she asks, her voice quavering but firm.

My stomach turns. It is the question I have been asking myself since the moment I met her.

“I hope not,” I bring myself to say. “But if it does, I will understand.”

35

Rory

I MAKEa good pace moving through the crawlways, although my knees are getting bruised. It’s quiet in here. Through the walls, I sometimes hear vague echoes of life on the rest of the ship: footsteps, talking, laughter. But the sounds are muffled.

It’s like I’m in the womb, I think, feeling scattered.Like I’m still innocent and safe, for as long as I’m in here — but I’m about to be born, pushed out into knowledge and danger and sin.

I don’t know what Roth’s going to tell me, but I know it’s going to be… a lot. My heart is racing. I force myself to stay calm, and keep on crawling.

When I tumble out onto the floor of the flight deck, Roth isn’t waiting for me. I expected him to be standing at the instrument panel, gliding his hands across it in that masterful way he has, like it’s an extension of his own body. I still don’t know where he learned to do that.

As ever, it’s silent in here. There’s only the tech, winking its little lights at me and keeping its secrets.

Not for much longer though.

I find Roth in the bedroom. He’s sat on the floor beside the dining table, just where I sat on my very first night, with his head in his hands.

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