that seemed to read her mind, she went on to the discovery of Gemma and the GEN girl’s twin identities. Zul must have been even more tired than he looked because he didn’t question the change of subject. In fact he waved her off when she said she’d send him the IDs.
His image disappeared as he handed off the wristlink. Kayla’s stomach tightened again in expectation of speaking to Devak, but then a different, familiar voice came from the wristlink—Jemali, a medic who’d been a friend of Zul’s for decades.
Jemali smiled kindly from the small wristlink display. “I’ll take the IDs and send them on.”
Kayla called out Gemma’s twin GEN IDs and her second name. Jemali repeated them back. He promised that someone in the Kinship would let them know when Gemma had been removed from the Grid so they could take her to a safe house.
She signed off and handed the wristlink back to Risa. Thelowborn woman must have seen the disappointment in Kayla’s eyes, despite the dimness of the lorry’s cab.
“Yer climbing up the wrong junk tree, GEN girl,” Risa said, although there was empathy in the lowborn woman’s voice.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kayla said.
Risa looked like she wanted to call Kayla out on her lie, but she held her tongue, turning her full attention to operating the lorry. Full dark had fallen, the downpour lit by the lorry’s front illuminators. Behind them in the sleeper, Gemma sighed, then her deep steady breathing resumed.
“Climb up there with her,” Risa said. “Take a rest.”
“I’ll just curl up here.” Kayla drew up her legs and sat sideways on the seat. She tapped into her circuitry to increase her body heat. Warm now despite her damp tunic and leggings, she fell into a half-doze.
Images flew in and out of her mind. Devak’s touch in the safe house tunnel. The Brigade Captain Harg, his datapod hovering over her cheek. The warehouse exploding, the dead enforcer. Gemma stumbling into the road.
The squeal of the lorry’s brakes snapped Kayla awake. “Is there another one?” she asked, half-expecting to see another GEN girl staggering from the sticker bushes. But then she saw the lights of Fen sector’s central ward, its warrens and warehouses lit in the dark.
“We’re in Fen,” Risa said. “Going to find a place to settle for the night.”
Kayla pushed herself upright and rubbed her eyes. Her left cheek, where the rubble had struck her, itched abominably. She rubbed it carefully, not wanting to disturb the scab.
Risa sucked in a breath as she stared across the cab at Kayla. “It’s gone.”
“What?” Kayla asked.
Risa splashed some water from her jug onto her sleeve. Without so much as a warning, she started scrubbing at Kayla’s wounded cheek.
“Hey!” Kayla protested. “That—”
That hurts, was what she meant to say, an automatic response to Risa’s vigorous rubbing. But then Kayla realized it didn’t hurt.
“It’s gone,” Risa said again. “Your cheek is healed.”
Y ou’ve seen me heal fast before,” Kayla said. “It’s just the GEN programming.”
“Seen you heal in a couple days what takes lowborn or trueborn a week,” Risa said. “Never saw it happen in hours. Without so much as a mark.”
“It’s just too dark to see.” Kayla twitched aside the privacy curtain and retrieved her prayer mirror from the washroom, taking care not to disturb the still-sleeping Gemma. As she settled back in the cab, Risa turned the cab illuminators on full.
Kayla aimed her palm-sized prayer mirror to her left cheek. And stared at the reflected image.
Other than a bit of blood by her ear that Risa had missed, no sign remained that Kayla had been injured. No scab. No puffy flesh indicating the wound was still healing. Just smooth, light brown skin.
“Am I broken?” Kayla asked. At Risa’s confused look, Kayla said, “My circuitry is supposed to work a certain way. Supposed to repair my body at a certain pace. Faster than you, but not likethis. If
His image disappeared as he handed off the wristlink. Kayla’s stomach tightened again in expectation of speaking to Devak, but then a different, familiar voice came from the wristlink—Jemali, a medic who’d been a friend of Zul’s for decades.
Jemali smiled kindly from the small wristlink display. “I’ll take the IDs and send them on.”
Kayla called out Gemma’s twin GEN IDs and her second name. Jemali repeated them back. He promised that someone in the Kinship would let them know when Gemma had been removed from the Grid so they could take her to a safe house.
She signed off and handed the wristlink back to Risa. Thelowborn woman must have seen the disappointment in Kayla’s eyes, despite the dimness of the lorry’s cab.
“Yer climbing up the wrong junk tree, GEN girl,” Risa said, although there was empathy in the lowborn woman’s voice.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kayla said.
Risa looked like she wanted to call Kayla out on her lie, but she held her tongue, turning her full attention to operating the lorry. Full dark had fallen, the downpour lit by the lorry’s front illuminators. Behind them in the sleeper, Gemma sighed, then her deep steady breathing resumed.
“Climb up there with her,” Risa said. “Take a rest.”
“I’ll just curl up here.” Kayla drew up her legs and sat sideways on the seat. She tapped into her circuitry to increase her body heat. Warm now despite her damp tunic and leggings, she fell into a half-doze.
Images flew in and out of her mind. Devak’s touch in the safe house tunnel. The Brigade Captain Harg, his datapod hovering over her cheek. The warehouse exploding, the dead enforcer. Gemma stumbling into the road.
The squeal of the lorry’s brakes snapped Kayla awake. “Is there another one?” she asked, half-expecting to see another GEN girl staggering from the sticker bushes. But then she saw the lights of Fen sector’s central ward, its warrens and warehouses lit in the dark.
“We’re in Fen,” Risa said. “Going to find a place to settle for the night.”
Kayla pushed herself upright and rubbed her eyes. Her left cheek, where the rubble had struck her, itched abominably. She rubbed it carefully, not wanting to disturb the scab.
Risa sucked in a breath as she stared across the cab at Kayla. “It’s gone.”
“What?” Kayla asked.
Risa splashed some water from her jug onto her sleeve. Without so much as a warning, she started scrubbing at Kayla’s wounded cheek.
“Hey!” Kayla protested. “That—”
That hurts, was what she meant to say, an automatic response to Risa’s vigorous rubbing. But then Kayla realized it didn’t hurt.
“It’s gone,” Risa said again. “Your cheek is healed.”
Y ou’ve seen me heal fast before,” Kayla said. “It’s just the GEN programming.”
“Seen you heal in a couple days what takes lowborn or trueborn a week,” Risa said. “Never saw it happen in hours. Without so much as a mark.”
“It’s just too dark to see.” Kayla twitched aside the privacy curtain and retrieved her prayer mirror from the washroom, taking care not to disturb the still-sleeping Gemma. As she settled back in the cab, Risa turned the cab illuminators on full.
Kayla aimed her palm-sized prayer mirror to her left cheek. And stared at the reflected image.
Other than a bit of blood by her ear that Risa had missed, no sign remained that Kayla had been injured. No scab. No puffy flesh indicating the wound was still healing. Just smooth, light brown skin.
“Am I broken?” Kayla asked. At Risa’s confused look, Kayla said, “My circuitry is supposed to work a certain way. Supposed to repair my body at a certain pace. Faster than you, but not likethis. If
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