Page 192 of Seven Oars
Rosamma wilted.“None of it matters now.”
Fincros shifted slightly.“We’re not giving up. There is nothing to be afraid of. Learn the lesson, dammit. Let go of your fear or die.”
“I don’t want to die!” Rosamma wailed.
“That’s right. It’ll be alright.”
“How?”
“Different.”
“You can’t see!”
“Others can.”
That brought Rosamma short.“Who?”
“A slight change of plans.”
“What plans are those, exactly?” Eze asked, cautious now.
Fincros turned his red, sightless eyes to Eze.“Can you help plot a course, Sakka?”
Eze hesitated.“I can. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Suspected. That’s all we need. Rosamma will handle the controls.”
Rosamma blinked.“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He gave a small smile with the right side of his mouth, where his teeth were intact.“I will tell you what buttons to push, and you will push them.”
Gro found her voice.“What buttons, Striker? The pods are locked in the docks.”
“We have another pod,” he said and then added,“but there’s a catch.”
*****
The periods between recharging against Father Zha-Ikkel were becoming shorter and shorter, and the amount of energy Rosamma was able to retain during those sessions was growing smaller and smaller.
That made sense, since Rosamma kept pushing her energy into Fincros whether he wanted it or not.
Still, she wasn’t as effective as she used to be.
Fincros sensed it and resisted, but when she put her hands on his eyes, it eased him greatly, so he allowed small infusions.
When she went to the Meat Locker once again, he dragged himself after her.
“I like the cold,” he explained.
She was glad to have him there while she spent agonizing hours linked up to Father Zha-Ikkel. His presence beside offered more than comfort. He had become her soul.
Still, she shuddered when the chrome lever opened with a clanging sound.
There’s no fear,she told herself.Just a body. Dead and harmless.
She sorely needed sleep. Before settling in, she hovered her hands over Fincros, pausing above his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Finn. I’m so, so sorry.” It was a litany she repeated often and would always repeat. Her life had split irreparably into the before and after.
