most.
“What’s on the list?” Switzer finally said to me.
“Don’t worry about the work, Switzer. We’ll do it,” Max said, and looked at me.
I focused on the screen scroll Odran had left, and the instructions appeared in front of me. I was to assign some of the kids to feed the Samirans, while the others were to prepare Odran’s quarters for guests. It seemed Odran was having some sort of dinner party. I didn’t see what any of these chores had to do with the Harvest, though. Odran was just using us.
Max, Theodore, and Ketheria offered to feed the Samirans while some of the others went to tend to Odran’s party. Grace and a couple of others followed Max, and I let Switzer do what he wanted. We did not speak to each other.
At the bottom of the list were my instructions: wait near the tank until the Samirans wish to speak with you. That was it.
So be it,
I thought. I didn’t want to be around anyone right now, and I didn’t think anyone wanted to be around me.
I hiked the steps of the cooling tank and took the light chute to the top. I sat on the platform and stared across the water. The results of my new responsibilities had a very familiar feeling. I had felt this way many times on the
Renaissance:
alone, isolated, always looking in from a distance. It’s not what I wished for, but then what did I want? Validation? Praise? Gratitude?
Like I was going to get any of that here,
I told myself as I squinted across the ocean of pale green water. I thought I could see lights flickering just below the horizon.
Is that where Toll and Smool live?
I wondered.
Did they build some sort of dwelling down there for themselves?
The scroll told me to wait, but how long? I glanced down the steps, wondering if the others were finished with their chores. I didn’t want to go back just yet, though. I moved toward a small O-dat located on the far side of the platform. While I waited, I decided to dig out some information on the Samirans by pushing into the central computer. When I slipped inside the computer, though, a mesh of yellow light beams crisscrossed in front of me and obscured my vision. The beads of light seemed to follow me wherever I looked, blocking my access. They appeared harmless enough, so I tried pushing through them.
Everything flashed white as if an alarm went off, and my brain curdled from a bolt of electrical shock. It was just like being zapped by the enabler.
I pulled out of the computer. “Vairocina?” I said out loud.
“Yes, Johnny Turnbull,” she answered, but did not appear. Her voice echoed inside my head the same way the ship’s AI did on the
Renaissance.
“Something in the central computer just tried to fry my brain,” I said.
“Let me examine your location,” she said.
“You know exactly where I am?”
“Of course.”
I widened my jaw, making my ears crackle.
What was that?
“Someone has used a quantum encryption device to restrict access to any computer in your building.”
“Can you break it?”
“You need their secret key. Even with unlimited computing power, I could not generate such a key; the laws of physics prevent it. The data travels as a stream of photons. Anyone who attempts to interact with the photons will cause an irreversible change in the particles. Earth’s very own Heisenberg uncertainty principle —”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you saying?”
“I’m afraid you’re really, really locked out,” she said.
“Oh.”
“Someone has gone to great lengths to keep their information private.”
“Or to prevent a softwire from entering,” I said.
“What were you trying to find?” Vairocina asked.
“I want to know where the Samirans live.”
“In the cooling tank,” she said.
“I know that, but where in the tank?”
There was a long pause.
“Vairocina?”
“I cannot find any information that answers your question. Shall I keep looking?”
“No, forget it,” I told her.
“More creatures than Toll and Smool live inside the
“What’s on the list?” Switzer finally said to me.
“Don’t worry about the work, Switzer. We’ll do it,” Max said, and looked at me.
I focused on the screen scroll Odran had left, and the instructions appeared in front of me. I was to assign some of the kids to feed the Samirans, while the others were to prepare Odran’s quarters for guests. It seemed Odran was having some sort of dinner party. I didn’t see what any of these chores had to do with the Harvest, though. Odran was just using us.
Max, Theodore, and Ketheria offered to feed the Samirans while some of the others went to tend to Odran’s party. Grace and a couple of others followed Max, and I let Switzer do what he wanted. We did not speak to each other.
At the bottom of the list were my instructions: wait near the tank until the Samirans wish to speak with you. That was it.
So be it,
I thought. I didn’t want to be around anyone right now, and I didn’t think anyone wanted to be around me.
I hiked the steps of the cooling tank and took the light chute to the top. I sat on the platform and stared across the water. The results of my new responsibilities had a very familiar feeling. I had felt this way many times on the
Renaissance:
alone, isolated, always looking in from a distance. It’s not what I wished for, but then what did I want? Validation? Praise? Gratitude?
Like I was going to get any of that here,
I told myself as I squinted across the ocean of pale green water. I thought I could see lights flickering just below the horizon.
Is that where Toll and Smool live?
I wondered.
Did they build some sort of dwelling down there for themselves?
The scroll told me to wait, but how long? I glanced down the steps, wondering if the others were finished with their chores. I didn’t want to go back just yet, though. I moved toward a small O-dat located on the far side of the platform. While I waited, I decided to dig out some information on the Samirans by pushing into the central computer. When I slipped inside the computer, though, a mesh of yellow light beams crisscrossed in front of me and obscured my vision. The beads of light seemed to follow me wherever I looked, blocking my access. They appeared harmless enough, so I tried pushing through them.
Everything flashed white as if an alarm went off, and my brain curdled from a bolt of electrical shock. It was just like being zapped by the enabler.
I pulled out of the computer. “Vairocina?” I said out loud.
“Yes, Johnny Turnbull,” she answered, but did not appear. Her voice echoed inside my head the same way the ship’s AI did on the
Renaissance.
“Something in the central computer just tried to fry my brain,” I said.
“Let me examine your location,” she said.
“You know exactly where I am?”
“Of course.”
I widened my jaw, making my ears crackle.
What was that?
“Someone has used a quantum encryption device to restrict access to any computer in your building.”
“Can you break it?”
“You need their secret key. Even with unlimited computing power, I could not generate such a key; the laws of physics prevent it. The data travels as a stream of photons. Anyone who attempts to interact with the photons will cause an irreversible change in the particles. Earth’s very own Heisenberg uncertainty principle —”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you saying?”
“I’m afraid you’re really, really locked out,” she said.
“Oh.”
“Someone has gone to great lengths to keep their information private.”
“Or to prevent a softwire from entering,” I said.
“What were you trying to find?” Vairocina asked.
“I want to know where the Samirans live.”
“In the cooling tank,” she said.
“I know that, but where in the tank?”
There was a long pause.
“Vairocina?”
“I cannot find any information that answers your question. Shall I keep looking?”
“No, forget it,” I told her.
“More creatures than Toll and Smool live inside the
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