Already prepared with a comeback for what she’d expected Sunali to say, Veronika swallowed it, let out a stunned peep in its place.
“How do you know?” Lycan asked, looking beyond surprised.
Sunali explained. Mira had asked her to pass a message to a woman in the main facility, whose name was Jeannette. Jeannette told Sunali that she and Mira had been partners. Mira never mentioned that to Sunali, evidently afraid of being pulled from the bridesicle program if anyone found out she wasn’t hetero. After doing some digging, Sunali had discovered that in the early days of the dating program, Cryomed had simply plucked longtime residents of the minus eighty without much effort at screening the women, orienting them, or getting their consent.
“I really want to be the one to tell her,” Lycan said. “Please.”
64
Rob
The night air was chilly, but rowing kept him warm, even though he was shirtless after tossing his system overboard. He’d been happy to discover Winter was wearing a shirt underneath hers. Smart girl.
She was still sleeping, curled in the bottom of the boat.
The boat rose on a particularly high wave, plunged down the far side. He was getting used to it somewhat, no longer convinced the boat was going to capsize each time they went over a big wave.
Without his system, he had no idea how long he’d been rowing; all he knew was he needed to get about thirty miles up the coast to ensure they weren’t caught by any surveillance cameras. It was going to be hard, adjusting to having no access to information like that, now that he was systemless.
“You know, it’s still not too late.” Winter was awake, looking up at him. “Take me up the coast, drop me ashore, row back. There’s no evidence you were the one who helped me.”
Rob almost laughed. “Like I told you, I’m glad we got caught. It’s you and me now.”
Moving gently, cautiously, Winter worked her way into the seat across from him. “Head nod. You and me.”
The lights along the coast were growing sparser. A good sign. “That was quite a jump you made.”
“Relax, then follow the bubbles.”
“Come again?”
“I paid a cliff diver for a consult before the jump. He said the key was to relax as much as possible right before impact, and then to remember to follow the bubbles back to the surface, because I’d end up deep underwater.”
“I wish he’d mentioned that you weren’t going to surface anywhere near where you went under.”
“That would have been useful information.”
Rob looked up. The dark sky was beautiful.
“So, where are we heading?” Winter asked.
“Up the coast, then inland. I was thinking we could try to find a raw community that will take us in.”
Winter took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. “Sounds good.”
“Do you have any idea where your brother might be?” It would be nice to have someone they knew, out in the raw lands.
“The last time I heard from him, he was heading toward Montana.”
“That would be a long walk.” Rob rowed just with the left oar for a moment, trying to bring the boat back parallel with the shoreline. “I’m worried about how we’re going to buy food.” He looked at his bare chest. “And a shirt.”
Winter grasped a chain around her neck, drew out a small pouch dangling from it. “Jewelry. Not much, but it’s quality stuff.”
“You are incredible.”
“Hopefully it will keep us fed for a while, but eventually we’re going to have to figure out something else. Have you thought about what it will be like, to live like this?”
Of course he had. It was going to be hard. No friends, no family, no access to Superfood as a last resort. On top of that, the thought of having no remote communication, ever, was almost inconceivable to him. Not even an outdated handheld? It would be like having one of his senses amputated. But it was a tradeoff. He’d be with Winter.
“I’ll be with you,” he finally said. “If that means not getting to watch my favorite shows…” He shrugged. “I can live with that.”
Winter grinned. “I’m going to miss Purple Daydreams and Tempest. Those are my favorite shows, by the way—if you hate them we might have a problem.”
The swells were getting higher. Rob looked over his shoulder; in the distance white crests topped many of the waves.
“You know why I’m sure we’ll be okay?” Rob asked.
“Why?”
“Because we’re used to hard times.”
65
Mira
“Mira? Can you hear me?” The voice came from a billion miles away, from another galaxy.
Where was she? She waited for the disorientation to clear; she could barely string thoughts together.
“It’s me. Lycan,” the voice said.
Lycan. She could picture him. He’d been… someone important to her.
Then it came back to her, in layers, beginning with Sunali, her removal from the program, then speaking to Jeannette, then Lycan. She opened her eyes.
Lycan was leaning over her, smiling. “I’ve got awfully good news.”
“Good news,” she said. The words felt strange on her lips, as if she was speaking in a foreign language.
“Yes. You’re getting out of here. Sunali is paying for it, but my research helped make it possible. You remember Sunali?”
“I do,” Mira heard herself say. She thought she must be imagining this conversation. Maybe this was her true death. Maybe her time in the minus eighty had ended, and they were pulling her from the crèche, and this was some final spark of light that came before true death.
But how would a soul know the difference between true death and the death of the crèche? Surely it couldn’t.
“I wanted to be the one to tell you. After what I did to you, I wanted to tell you the good news.”
Her mind had cleared enough to be certain she wasn’t imagining this, or dreaming it. Lycan was here. And she was in a different place—the walls and ceiling were less ornate, more hospital than palace. This must be the main facility, where Jeannette was.
“Sunali can really do that? She can afford to get me out of here?”
Lycan grinned. “She really can. She inherited a fortune. Her organization did, anyway.”
“Can you give Sunali a message for me? Tell her I want her to revive Jeannette instead of me. She’ll know who I mean. Can you do that?”
Lycan was grinning. “It’s all taken care of. I’m going to revive Jeannette for you.”
This wasn’t making sense. Mira wondered if Lycan was delusional. This was real, but they were only words, spoken by a man she didn’t know. “Are you sure?”
Lycan tapped in the air for a moment, and words appeared above her face, partially blocking Lycan. “That’s a legal document.” He pointed out a line near the bottom. “My DNA-coded signature. I borrowed most of the money against my future earnings.”
For the first time, Mira dared allow a sliver of hope to break through. Lycan reached to remove the document, and Mira said, “Wait. Please. Let me read what it says.”
It said Jeannette was going to live, to breathe, to speak in her own beautiful voice again.
“Satisfied?” Lycan asked when she’d finished.
“Yes. Thank you. So much.”
“You can thank me the next time I see you. We want to have you and Jeannette over for dinner as soon as you’re both able. ‘We’ is me and my girlfriend. Her name is Veronika.”
It was inconceivable to Mira, she and Jeannette walking into a room together, sitting down, eating.
All Mira could think to say was, “I’d like that.”