Page 14 of Into Orbit
‘Not even a bit,’ Maeve muttered.
I reached out and tentatively patted her arm. ‘Not to worry. Most beings don’t. Just imagine … If you were split in two, and became two distinct halves, with distinct forms and distinct needs, but you could reform at will and become one again … That’s almost what it’s like.’
Maeve glanced sideways at me. ‘Does that mean you were born a tree?’
‘Green gods, no. I was born a twiglet like everyone else. But when I was older, I wandered away from my fathers, straight into a budding Forest, and found a sapling that sang to me. When I touched it, Ibecameit.’ I gave a half-shrug. ‘That’s when they knew I wasn’t entirely Tirian.’
‘What happens to your body when you …become?’
I caught a lock of silver hair and twined it between my fingers. It had been dark brown when I was born, according to my mother; it had turned silver the first time I’d lost my Tirian form. ‘We are all made ofelya, but I am made of more than most. Myelyagoes into my tree, and reforms when I wish to walk on Tirian legs.’
Maeve appeared to think this through. ‘I never thought I’d meet a tree, but then I never thought I’d have awife, either. One’s not really that much stranger than the other.’ She studied my profile; I flushed under her gaze, keeping my eyes on the end of the corridor. ‘Can I see it? Your tree?’
I turned to blink at her. ‘You want to see my heartree?’
A tiny line appeared between her brows. ‘Yes?’ she answered, like a question, almost as if she was asking herself.
Willow and I exchanged a glance over her head.She needs to sleep, he mouthed.
‘I’ll take you tomorrow,’ I said. ‘I’m tired, and my mother will be … unhappy … if I push her any further tonight.’
‘Your mum’s hardcore.’
I had no idea what that meant, though I could probably guess. ‘She is used to being in charge,’ I said in agreement.
Willow’s wrist screen gave a tiny click. ‘Section five, room seven,’ he said, his eyes widening slightly.
‘Thank the green gods,’ I said, meaning it.
Maeve frowned at me.
‘It’s the section of the ship the biologists and bioengineers and botanists live in,’ I explained. ‘It’s closest to the Forest.’
‘Your room opensintothe Forest, in fact,’ Willow said, bringing up a blueprint on his hand screen.
I made a happyhummingnoise. We could leave the room open, and I wouldn’t feel like I did everywhere else – like there was a wall between me and the Forest, like I had to listen hard to hear it sing, had to concentrate to feel its whispers. I’d have the beautiful human, and the Forest close enough to touch.
I tensed.Not yours, I reminded myself.She’s not yours.
‘This way,’ Willow said, and gestured down a hallway.
I had a room of my own, but I didn’t use it very often, preferring to spend most of my time in the Forest. I could make clothes withelya, and I washed in the stream by my heartree whenever the fancy took me. When it came to organic comforts, I really didn’t need much. Food, sometimes. Water, on the odd occasion. I could go without air for far longer than most beings, if needed. We – the Hamadryad – kept those facts secret, though. We were already different enough.
‘This one,’ Willow said, stopping outside a nondescript door.
I stepped forward and breathed onto the sensor. The door beeped and slid open.
‘After you,’ I said to Maeve. The room would be used mostly by her, so it made sense for her to see it first, to explore, to rearrange things if they didn’t suit.
She gave me a wary glance and stalked into the room.
I followed her, watching as she looked around. The engineer had given me special treatment – that, or this was simply the only family room left close to the Forest. It had one main room, with a sunken bed large enough for six taking pride of place, and two additional bedrooms off the side, separated by a main bathroom. It was one of the best rooms on the ship, spacious – relatively, at least – and equipped with every luxury: an ice maker, a meal generator, a bathroom with water pipes in place of a spore shower.
But best of all – better than all of that – was the internal wall, which was not awallat all, but rather glass, looking right into the heart of the Forest. A small door would give us direct access; I sighed happily as I spied my heartree through the green.
‘Fucking hell,’ Maeve muttered. ‘I thought it would be a bunk and a sink.’
‘On most ships, it would be,’ Willow said. He was standing in the doorway; it would be the height of rudeness to enter a family room without invitation, so he hovered on the threshold. ‘But peacekeeping vessels are built in space and never break orbit, so it doesn’t matter how large or luxurious they are, as long as something can get them moving – and keep them that way.’
