Skolian Empire: The Radiant Seas Part 7

"Yes." She heaved in a breath. "That thing was alive."

In a voice tight with anger he said, "Obviously."

"I mean sentient." She sat up, grimacing with the effort. "It knew you were causing it harm, so it held me in front of itself to stop you."

His fury washed over her. "You survived." Then he got up and walked away.

"Jaibriol?" Soz climbed to her feet, took a wobbly step, and fell down, catching herself on her hands and knees.

You have three broken ribs, her node informed her.

So fix them, she thought, knowing it couldn't.

Nanomed series G is carrying nutrients to the damaged area, series H is aiding the breakdown of cellular detritus into usable molecules, series B- Never mind, Soz thought. What about my ribs?

You need to set the bones.

I don't know how.

I will direct you. Put your hands over your rib cage.

Still kneeling, she placed her hands on her ribs and tried to relax. Her hydraulics took over, directed by her node, and moved her hands as she shoved the ribs. Her node had produced a molecule similar to morphine to dull the pain, but she still had to bite her lip to keep from screaming.

Alignment complete, her node thought. I recommend limiting your activity until your repair is sufficient to keep the bones from slipping again. You also have venom in your bloodstream, injected by thorns on the vines. I am synthesizing an antidote, but you must rest. The more you move, the more it circulates the poison.

I can go back to the cave, Soz thought.

You need to find a closer place. It would be to your advantage to have subject Qox's aid in this endeavor.

His name is Jaibriol.

My apologies. My combat routines aren't designed to attach affectionate names to Highton Aristos.

Soz gave an unsteady laugh and rolled onto her back, staring at the patch of sky ringed by treetops. Why is he mad at me?

I'm afraid my routines aren't designed to a.n.a.lyze emotional conflicts of humans involved in the intimacy a.s.sociated with s.e.xual reproduction, either.

Can't you do better than that?

I don't think so. However, I have a request.

Soz frowned. Usually "a request" meant it had calculated she would resist some upgrade it wanted. What?

I would like a name.

Say again?

You designate the Highton Heir by a personal name, yet call a node within your own body "node."

You're joking, right?

Have you considered the implications of refusing to name me? It paused. If you cannot handle the emotional issues involved with your capacity as a weapon of war, how do you expect to deal with your current situation?

Soz swore under her breath. I thought you didn't do psychology.

A large probability exists that my attempts will be flawed, it admitted.

Soz didn't see how naming the node would solve anything, but what the h.e.l.l. I'll think about it.

Thank you. For now, I recommend you find a secure location in which to commence recuperation.

She stared at the sky. Not sure I can move, Node-without-a-name.

Ask Jaibriol for help.

He's gone.

Call him with your mind.

He closed his doors.

If you mean he has deliberately spurred his brain to produce kylatine that blocks the neural receptors a.s.signed to processing signals from your brain, you are correct.

Whatever.

However, the node continued. He has many more psiamine receptors than those his brain dedicates to his interaction with you. Magnify your KEB output and stimulate his KAB so it sends pulses to neural structures with those receptors.

I won't break his doors. It's trespa.s.sing.

It is not in your best interest to lie here undefended so near an organism that just attempted to eat you.

Eat me?

The "roots" appear to be a carnivorous plant that feeds on large animals.

I'd rather not be its lunch.

Then call Jaibriol. Worrying about telepathic etiquette at this time is inappropriate.

It's more than etiquette. It's a moral issue. With a groan, Soz made herself sit up. I'll walk back.

It would be better- Node, Soz thought. No more.

She climbed to her feet. Jaibriol had left the carbine by her clothes, which meant he was alone and unprotected. She dressed, favoring her ribs, then packed up their supplies and headed into the forest.

A flash of blue in the trees caught her attention. Pus.h.i.+ng her way past the bushes, she found a clearing. Several meters away, Jaibriol was sitting on a boulder, watching her.

"I thought you went to the cave," she said.

"Do you want to walk back together?"

"My node says I should stay put. I took some venom."

He sat up straighter. "Will you be all right?"

"Fine. I just need to rest for a while."

He came over, pulling off his pack. "Our rations should last at least a day."

She doubted she needed that much time, given that this day would last 243 hours. "That's more than enough."

He set down his pack and sat on the ground, then stretched out on his back with his hands behind his head.

"You're angry," Soz said.

He continued to watch the sky. "I have made a decision."

"A decision?"

"I am leaving."

Leaving? "For where?"

"It is done."

"What's done?"

"Us."

"Us?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Soz nudged his mind, but if he knew she was knocking, he gave no hint of it. "Why is it ended?"

"I will go south," Jaibriol said. "You can stay here."

"This is crazy." She leaned over him so he had to look at her. "We have to accept the risks of living here. We can't run away every time something bad happens."

He sat up, anger suffusing his emotions, which he let free with an ease that made her suspect he knew exactly what she was doing when she knocked at his mind. "Why didn't you just let me die in your brother's torture chamber? Why bring me here to make the torture last a lifetime?"

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me. But I can't read your mind." She could, actually, but that was beside the point. "If you won't tell me what's wrong, how can I fix it?"

"This can't be fixed."

"Jaibriol!"

He leaned back on his hands. "Love is a facade. A literary metaphor created by writers. Never accept it, because it will be taken away. So I saw this afternoon. So you continue to tell me. We will die here." He shrugged. "I prefer to die alone."

She almost said, How can you think that? then stopped. She considered that's absurd but realized it was no more likely to evoke a positive response. Neither It isn't that way nor You've a distorted view of human relations seemed right either.

Finally she said, "I would be lonely if you left."

"Loneliness is the human condition."

"It doesn't have to be." Was she making this worse? She had never been good at "relations.h.i.+p" talks. She tended to avoid them, a trait that had contributed to her first husband's decision to leave her sixteen years ago. Her taciturn inclinations hadn't been the trouble so much as her inability to discuss the real problem, which was his fear that her military career would widow him. Given Jaibriol's linguistic bent, she suspected this discussing business was going to be important again, and she feared she would muck it up as much this time as before.

He was sitting cross-legged now, staring at his hands, which he had moved into his lap. As she watched him, his youth struck her. Twenty-three. Heaped on that was his lack of experience with human relations.h.i.+ps. She wondered how they would ever make this work.

At least try, her node thought.

Stop eavesdropping.

I have no choice. I'm inside of you.

Thank you for stating the obvious.

Directing sarcasm at me won't solve your current problem.

Soz exhaled. Softly she said, "What happened at the river-that frightened both of us."

Jaibriol continued to study his hands.

"We both knew I could die," she said. When he didn't respond, she tried another tack. "I've lived with the knowledge of my mortality for three decades, ever since I took my ISC commission. I've grown used to the risks. But you haven't."

Jaibriol looked up at her. "I've loved two people in my life. My nurse, Camyllia, who died. And my father." He shrugged. "Now that I know him for what he is, he might as well be dead too."

She knew it hurt him far more than he wanted to show. "Now you think I'll die too? So you want to leave before it happens?"

"Yes."

Gently she said, "I can't promise there's no danger. But we can face it together. Besides," she pointed out, "you can't go south. We haven't decided what to call this hemisphere yet."

A smile quirked his mouth. "Soshoni, you are so literal." With a sigh of capitulation, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. "Maybe I'd better stay here. If I don't, you will start inflicting names on this place like 'River' for the river and 'Plants' for the plants."

Relieved, she leaned against him, giving in to her fatigue. "You're right. We can't let that happen."

So they stayed together, in the north.

II.