must look and took her fingers from her ears, trying to squeeze through the door. Every time she thought she'd made an opening, Ben would worm in front and stop her. She saw Rhyana through the crowd, the other girl looking as if she'd tasted something unpleasant. Mary couldn't help but laugh. She grabbed Ben's wrist and pulled him with her through the crowd and out the front door.
They'd spent all night together. And every night since. His whistling hadn't improved though.
****
Mary felt a pleasant stirring in the right orbitofrontal cortex of her brain and instinctively stretched as Ben stimulated it. "I see some things aren't damaged."
"You know me."
Mary did and tried to relax, but it took a lot longer than usual. The plant-things on ST2398-5 kept popping into her thoughts, disrupting her efforts to soften to Ben's SLink.
"What were those things?" she asked later. "I thought there were no signs of animal life."
"There weren't. They weren't animals in a classical sense." Ben sounded confident. "With the data you gathered they'd be classified as plant-animal hybrids. Physically they seem to be composed of individual independent specialized zooids forming a colonial animal. Fifty bucks says the scientists will be flocking there within twelve months."
Mary hesitated. Ben had said something almost the same a little earlier. "That must be pretty rare."
"Not so much as you'd think. There are several microscopic examples and at least one large one from Earth." Ben paused. "I thought there were others but I can't access the data right now."
"Don't worry about it. It's not important."
"Jump to Haven in… Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
****
It took even longer to get to Haven than anticipated. Ben's Jump left them a long way from the station and it took another low-speed cruise until Mary could finally see the lattice-work of the geodesic domes through the optical pickups.
When traffic control found out about the damage, they forced Ben to shut down his engines at the outer perimeter and suffer the indignity of being pulled in by a tug. That didn't help his mood and Mary fought to stay neutral against his petulance, discounting it because of the damage he'd suffered and his sense of helplessness.
They'd seen so much together, it was hard to remember when it had been different. Mary still thought of Ben as he was when they were first married. He'd always been easy going, with an almost endless joy of life in general. But after they became CySaps he'd become more intolerant and obsessed with the latest technology. Sometimes Mary wondered if the gain of extended lifespans was worth the sacrifice.
The tug brought them into one of the cavernous service bays, the walls lined with various repair gantries and heavy-duty lifting booms. It was much easier than executing a routine dock and then moving later, but Ben still complained.
"I could have brought us in here. I only lost one thruster unit. Geez, I'm not a cripple or something."
Several gantries craned out to Ben's hull and locked in position, allowing the Tech team access. They'd already wired up a dozen multi-line conduits to the external service ports and were now connecting a number of internal lines too. Mary understood that they had to do it, but it made her uncomfortable. Over seventy years previously she'd seen her father in hospital for the last time. He'd been wired up to a frightening array of bioregulators, pumps, and monitors that in the end couldn't save him. Now Ben was looking the same way.
"I'm going to visit the Controller and get the full picture," she said. "He's only honest when I'm there to intimidate him."
"That snake Tartoa would cheat his own mother, if he'd ever had one. You go and roust him, Munchkin. I hope the bastard is asleep and you wake him up."
Tartoa had been created by the Company in an artificial womb from several dozen DNA sources. The project goal was to massively increase brain capacity and in that sense the
They'd spent all night together. And every night since. His whistling hadn't improved though.
****
Mary felt a pleasant stirring in the right orbitofrontal cortex of her brain and instinctively stretched as Ben stimulated it. "I see some things aren't damaged."
"You know me."
Mary did and tried to relax, but it took a lot longer than usual. The plant-things on ST2398-5 kept popping into her thoughts, disrupting her efforts to soften to Ben's SLink.
"What were those things?" she asked later. "I thought there were no signs of animal life."
"There weren't. They weren't animals in a classical sense." Ben sounded confident. "With the data you gathered they'd be classified as plant-animal hybrids. Physically they seem to be composed of individual independent specialized zooids forming a colonial animal. Fifty bucks says the scientists will be flocking there within twelve months."
Mary hesitated. Ben had said something almost the same a little earlier. "That must be pretty rare."
"Not so much as you'd think. There are several microscopic examples and at least one large one from Earth." Ben paused. "I thought there were others but I can't access the data right now."
"Don't worry about it. It's not important."
"Jump to Haven in… Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
****
It took even longer to get to Haven than anticipated. Ben's Jump left them a long way from the station and it took another low-speed cruise until Mary could finally see the lattice-work of the geodesic domes through the optical pickups.
When traffic control found out about the damage, they forced Ben to shut down his engines at the outer perimeter and suffer the indignity of being pulled in by a tug. That didn't help his mood and Mary fought to stay neutral against his petulance, discounting it because of the damage he'd suffered and his sense of helplessness.
They'd seen so much together, it was hard to remember when it had been different. Mary still thought of Ben as he was when they were first married. He'd always been easy going, with an almost endless joy of life in general. But after they became CySaps he'd become more intolerant and obsessed with the latest technology. Sometimes Mary wondered if the gain of extended lifespans was worth the sacrifice.
The tug brought them into one of the cavernous service bays, the walls lined with various repair gantries and heavy-duty lifting booms. It was much easier than executing a routine dock and then moving later, but Ben still complained.
"I could have brought us in here. I only lost one thruster unit. Geez, I'm not a cripple or something."
Several gantries craned out to Ben's hull and locked in position, allowing the Tech team access. They'd already wired up a dozen multi-line conduits to the external service ports and were now connecting a number of internal lines too. Mary understood that they had to do it, but it made her uncomfortable. Over seventy years previously she'd seen her father in hospital for the last time. He'd been wired up to a frightening array of bioregulators, pumps, and monitors that in the end couldn't save him. Now Ben was looking the same way.
"I'm going to visit the Controller and get the full picture," she said. "He's only honest when I'm there to intimidate him."
"That snake Tartoa would cheat his own mother, if he'd ever had one. You go and roust him, Munchkin. I hope the bastard is asleep and you wake him up."
Tartoa had been created by the Company in an artificial womb from several dozen DNA sources. The project goal was to massively increase brain capacity and in that sense the
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