Page 88 of Mutant Mine

We knew each other only in the deepest reaches of Watergap — a place far from the light. And even then, we were mostly kept in isolation. He was a voice down the corridor. A number, long before he had a name. A shout of pain.

But I know the things that count. I know that he is strong, honest, and brave. That he keeps his promises.

I also think that I finally understand something else, now. When he first met Selene, he must have felt what I have felt. This same compulsion must have wound its way between them, and bound their fates.

“It’s not just Selene keeping me company these days,” Weaver says, distracting me from my thoughts. “There’s someone else I want you to meet.”

“Who?”

“Just wait.”

* * *

RORY HAS GONEto our bedroom to refresh herself. Our own bedroom — not a cell, or the working quarters of a dead captain. I cannot wait to make love to her there for the first time, as a free man and her equal.

She has been quiet since we left the Hades. Distracted. I suspect that she has retreated now so that she can be alone.

The ache in my chest tells me to go to her at once — but I ignore it. My brothers are good men; she just needs to get to know them. Remember how prickly she was with me at first?

I smile to myself. Prickly may be an understatement. She wanted to scratch my eyes out. And now look at us.

Rory will be happy here, in time.

Many of her crewmates have also retreated to their assigned rooms, eager to wash and change into clean clothes, or just rest in private. A few have been taken to the med bay to receive care for their injuries. The simple med kits that I gave them could only do so much.

My brothers and I have gathered in the Starbound’s communal lounge. There is plush seating, an open kitchen, a brazier glowing with violet flames, and behind it all, a wall of glass and panoramic views of space.

Blake walks towards me, holding out a glass of luminous liquid.

“They brew it on a planet called Arcadia, using fruit that grows underwater on one of their moons,” he says, seeing my doubtful look. “The moon has these oceans — oceans full of floating green fruit.”

I must remember to tell Rory about this later.

“That sounds… very special.”

“It is.” Blake grins. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things we’ve seen, brother.”

Blake curls an arm across my shoulders briefly as he presses the icy drink into my hand. There has been much of that: casual, reaffirming touches. Each of us is relieved to see the other here: free, in a pleasant room. Free, without pain. It is the first time I have seen them like this, and them me. The novelty of it strikes me again, just like the smile on Weaver’sface.

“Five of you,” I say.

“Yeah,” says Thorne, quickly catching my unspoken question. “It got kinda crazy at the end there, after we left you. We all got out, but not together.”

“Silva got away on foot. Herrick and Cain snagged another cruiser. Tuck, we’re not sure, but we think he might have stowed away on someone else’s ship. He’s listed as a fugitive, so he wentsomewhere.”

“We’ll find them one day,” says Weaver calmly. “We’ll outlive everyone else who’s looking for them — and it’s not like any of them can hide, looking the way we do. We keep our ears open for any news.”

“The way you kept your ears open for news about me?”

“Exactly so,” says Weaver. “We heard that you were going to be shipped to Chronus, and knew that was our chance.”

“How did you do it?” This is what I have been wanting to ask for weeks, ever since the lights went out on the Hades, plunging me and Rory into darkness together.

“You have Selene to thank for that,” Weaver says. Pride is spreading into his smile. “She traveled back to Earth under an alias, and got a job in the engineering yard where the Hades is maintained. The lowliest, most invisible job she could get — no one paid attention to her.”

“She sabotaged the ship?”

“Yes. We wanted to make sure that the Hades failed in deep space, where no one would be around to intervene. Except us,” he smirks. “So she planted a bug in the engine room, which would cause a complete power failure as soon as the fuel levels dropped to a certain amount. We knew approximately where that much fuel would get you to, but not exactly.”

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