Page 72 of Mutant Mine

“They also tested our intelligence. My IQ did not change with the splice — but my thought patterns did. Humans are held back by their ape-like impulses. Too many of their emotions are shades of fear and rage.”

He takes a shaky sip of tea, and his tone softens.

“The splice gave me more control over my emotions. I was able to analyze my own experiences more objectively. That was helpful, through the pain. Pain itself became… clarifying.

“I realized that we were going to die in that laboratory. We were too dangerous for the government to control, and they knew it. They would extract as much data from us as they could, and then they would put us down.”

We?I don’t say anything — I’m not sure Icansay anything right now — but my eyes ask him the question.

“My brothers. The other subjects who survived. We had cells next to each other. We would hear each other…”

Screaming.

“We knew that it was unlikely we would all escape alive, but we had to get as many of us out as possible. Wehadto find a way, no matter the cost.”

His expression shifts into something open and boyish. It’s the echo of an old shock — something he still wonders at.

“And then one of my brothers fell in love.”

That is the very last word I expect Roth to say.

“Yes,” he nods at my surprise. “With a scientist at the facility. She was kind to us, to the best of her ability. And she provided us with the chance we needed.”

“Your escape?”

“Yes. She created a moment — just one moment, that we had to seize.”

“I saw that day on the news…” I whisper.

The footage gave a whole planet nightmares. Those towering, malformed figures, smashing through the armed guards as if they were no more than a swarm of flies. There was blood on their horns and flames in the sky, as if only God himself could stop them.

“We killed people, Rory. We did. But they were far from innocent.”

“How comeyoudidn’t get away?”

“I created a diversion. It was necessary, in order that my brothers might escape.”

Oh…

“You sacrificed yourself to save them.”

Roth looks away.

“It was better some of us escaped than none. And someonehad to stay behind.”

“Right, but none of that means it had to be you. Youchosethat.”

“I did. And my brothers were grateful.” He pins me with an intense look. “Rory. They swore that they would come back for me. And if I were them,thiswould be my opportunity. The ship is vulnerable, isolated — and far more accessible than Earth or Chronus.”

“What are you saying? That you didn’t make this happen, but you think they did?”

“Yes. As soon as it happened, I wondered whether the Hades losing power was their doing. I could not be sure — but if my brothersdidstop the ship, then they stopped it in a specific place, and for a reason. I did not want to steer us away without giving them a chance to appear.”

So that’s why we’ve been flying in loops, not moving on. But then…

“They haven’t shown up, though.”

“Not yet. And I was beginning to doubt that they ever would. But, little bird — I was right.”

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