Chapter Eleven

[0good_as_gold0]

(Written 2008, just never posted, for some reason? Oh well, I’m posting it now!)

( Mirii found herself unable to engage her dormancy protocols. After she had bathed, she had sat in front of the mirror combing non-existent tangles out of her short, damp hair for what felt like… hours. She wasn’t really paying attention. That is, her chronometer dutifully tracked the passage of time, but she didn’t really notice it. All she noticed was the sad whirl of grim thoughts that now plagued her – why did they lie to me, why did I not notice, how could I have been so STUPID? )

35,641 out of 50,000

12

[0good_as_gold0]

(Written 2008, just never posted, for some reason.)

( Yannis virtually bounced into the control room, glee seeming to seep from every pore. ‘Ha!’ He clapped his hands together. ‘My bright little firebird is coming along quite nicely. I now anticipate that you will NOT spoil my mood by giving me ill results, yes? How go things in here?’ )

38,874 out of 50,000

13

[0good_as_gold0]

(Written 2008, just never posted, for some reason.)

( The sky had flushed with the brilliance of encroaching evening and the streets had grown dark fairly quickly. The traders had remained out on the cobbled lanes until the street lighting came on; it was an incongruous mix of modern and traditional that blended together strangely well. )

41,238 out of 50,000

14

[0good_as_gold0]

(Written 2008, just never posted, for some reason.)

( Brennan had remained deeply sedated the entire trip back to Yannis’ base, and slept his way through the protracted job of removing all the skeins and strands of thick, sticky polymer that had wrapped him – it had necessitated sacrificing his top layer of clothes, and some of his hair, because the thick adhesive bonded far too well with the fibrous materials. )

42,436 out of 50,000