around.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Falia
A cloud of minds milled about Falia’s sedated body. Unprepared to speak with others in her weakened state, she ignored them.
“Where is my daughter?” Falia thrust the thought at Aurora, who had remained conspicuously silent.
I do not know.
“How is that possible?”
An Inhibition Field has been established around the world in question. It is beyond my ability to penetrate at this time.
Aurora spoke not like a machine the size of a planet, but with a softness of tone Falia would expect from a child Lenorean. Falia did not approve of the computer’s choice of voice. It elicited strong emotions as she remembered Ryol as a child.
Those memories, once a source of strength and happiness, were a cruel torture decaying the mind of a frightened mother imagining only the worst.
“Who could have constructed a device strong enough to withstand your efforts?”
That Aurora did not immediately respond could only be bad.
I am its creator.
Falia did not know how to interpret this. “Have you turned against Lenora?” she asked, fearing the answer.
Never.
The Madam Leader knew never was only a theory in a Universe of ever-spawning Dimensions. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to consider the possibility that Aurora had betrayed her in a different Dimension. There had to be an alternative explanation.
Falia would find it.
Run this line of inquiry. Falia appropriated a portion of her attention to the hypothesis she’d created to explain this new development.
As you wish, Faliana.
Falia remained locked inside her mind. The sedatives coursing through her bloodstream would not release their grasp on her body. She did the next best thing and pushed her mind into that of the Healer beside her.
The Healer resisted at first, recoiled from the strength of Falia’s touch, before realizing the Madam Leader’s intention. The Healer relaxed and allowed the Madam Leader to borrow her body.
Falia blinked rapidly, prompting her mind to adjust to the influx of light and stimuli. She looked at her motionless body resting inside the recovery pod. Two Healers, plus herself, formed a triangle around the chamber.
Falia watched herself for a moment. To the casual observer the slow rise and fall of her chest coupled with the look of serenity she wore made it appear as if she slept in a state of bliss. They would be wrong.
First Healer Solma stood at the foot of her pod. His pulsing green eyes cast faint shadows across his smooth cheeks. Solma’s hands, palms facing down, hovered over Falia.
Warmth leapt through the gap between their two bodies despite the Healer not touching her.
“Madam Leader, how do you feel?” Solma asked, continuing to look at his own hands.
“I am fine. Your services are no longer necessary.” Falia pivoted in the body of the Healer whose mind she’d confiscated. Solma nodded but did not argue. “How is Mineal?”
“The damage penetrated deeply. She has not yet regained control of either her body or mind,” Solma said, drifting gracefully around the pod to stand beside Falia. “We are not confident in our ability to mend the wound.”
Guilt would have punctured Falia’s defenses if she’d been paying attention to the physical reactions of her body. Fortunately, she was not.
An emotional response had no place in the decisions she now had to make. She severed ties with the emotions that made her Lenorean. She could not afford to indulge them. Falia composed herself like the Leader Lenora expected her to be in a time of crisis.
“Keep me apprised of her progress,” Falia said, releasing her mental grasp on the Healer. She retreated to the comfort of her own mind.
Time passed at unmeasurable intervals inside Falia’s mind. A year’s worth of thought blitzed across the tapestry of her consciousness in what would only be a handful of seconds in real time. Though the concept of real time was an
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Falia
A cloud of minds milled about Falia’s sedated body. Unprepared to speak with others in her weakened state, she ignored them.
“Where is my daughter?” Falia thrust the thought at Aurora, who had remained conspicuously silent.
I do not know.
“How is that possible?”
An Inhibition Field has been established around the world in question. It is beyond my ability to penetrate at this time.
Aurora spoke not like a machine the size of a planet, but with a softness of tone Falia would expect from a child Lenorean. Falia did not approve of the computer’s choice of voice. It elicited strong emotions as she remembered Ryol as a child.
Those memories, once a source of strength and happiness, were a cruel torture decaying the mind of a frightened mother imagining only the worst.
“Who could have constructed a device strong enough to withstand your efforts?”
That Aurora did not immediately respond could only be bad.
I am its creator.
Falia did not know how to interpret this. “Have you turned against Lenora?” she asked, fearing the answer.
Never.
The Madam Leader knew never was only a theory in a Universe of ever-spawning Dimensions. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to consider the possibility that Aurora had betrayed her in a different Dimension. There had to be an alternative explanation.
Falia would find it.
Run this line of inquiry. Falia appropriated a portion of her attention to the hypothesis she’d created to explain this new development.
As you wish, Faliana.
Falia remained locked inside her mind. The sedatives coursing through her bloodstream would not release their grasp on her body. She did the next best thing and pushed her mind into that of the Healer beside her.
The Healer resisted at first, recoiled from the strength of Falia’s touch, before realizing the Madam Leader’s intention. The Healer relaxed and allowed the Madam Leader to borrow her body.
Falia blinked rapidly, prompting her mind to adjust to the influx of light and stimuli. She looked at her motionless body resting inside the recovery pod. Two Healers, plus herself, formed a triangle around the chamber.
Falia watched herself for a moment. To the casual observer the slow rise and fall of her chest coupled with the look of serenity she wore made it appear as if she slept in a state of bliss. They would be wrong.
First Healer Solma stood at the foot of her pod. His pulsing green eyes cast faint shadows across his smooth cheeks. Solma’s hands, palms facing down, hovered over Falia.
Warmth leapt through the gap between their two bodies despite the Healer not touching her.
“Madam Leader, how do you feel?” Solma asked, continuing to look at his own hands.
“I am fine. Your services are no longer necessary.” Falia pivoted in the body of the Healer whose mind she’d confiscated. Solma nodded but did not argue. “How is Mineal?”
“The damage penetrated deeply. She has not yet regained control of either her body or mind,” Solma said, drifting gracefully around the pod to stand beside Falia. “We are not confident in our ability to mend the wound.”
Guilt would have punctured Falia’s defenses if she’d been paying attention to the physical reactions of her body. Fortunately, she was not.
An emotional response had no place in the decisions she now had to make. She severed ties with the emotions that made her Lenorean. She could not afford to indulge them. Falia composed herself like the Leader Lenora expected her to be in a time of crisis.
“Keep me apprised of her progress,” Falia said, releasing her mental grasp on the Healer. She retreated to the comfort of her own mind.
Time passed at unmeasurable intervals inside Falia’s mind. A year’s worth of thought blitzed across the tapestry of her consciousness in what would only be a handful of seconds in real time. Though the concept of real time was an
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