Her nose wrinkled and a line formed between her brows. “Why would she tell me they were asleep? Dr. Yang says that lying is a sin.”
Obviously, only for everyone else. For some reason, she hadn’t wanted Destiny to meet the rest of the crew. Or them to meet her. But why? “Maybe we could ask her one day. So where did you live?”
“In the laboratory. It was okay. I had my own space. And a gym so I could exercise. But I was lonely. Often I wouldn’t see Dr. Yang for weeks at a time. And sometimes…”
“What?”
“Sometimes my head felt like it would explode with everything I wanted to know. But Dr. Yang would get angry if I asked questions, and I would be punished. And I wouldn’t see her for a long time. So I learned not to ask.”
He was beginning to dislike Dr. Yang. A lot. Maybe he’d make her vanish in a puff of smoke. He was pretty sure his new wand would do that much magic.
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Of course. She gave me lots of things to read and study, and she told me about the exodus from Earth. About how the planet was dying and that the survival of humanity was in our hands. She said that I was important and had a role to play when we reached the new world. That I would help the whole of humanity.”
“But she didn’t tell you what the role would be?”
She shook her head. “Just that I would know when the time was right. And I must be patient. And I tried to be. I really did. But sometimes…I think I must not be a good person, because I just wanted to know everything. Right now.” She blinked a couple of times. “Dr. Yang would be very angry with me.”
“No doubt.” He hoped she was really pissed. The bitch. He had a mind to comm Rico and tell him to find Yang’s family and…what? Eat them? “But does that matter?” he asked.
She frowned again as she thought that through. “She brought me up. She’s done everything for me. I owe her my life.”
“She kept you a prisoner and you owe her nothing.”
Her eyes widened at his angry tone. “Are they looking for me?”
Clearly, she was changing the subject. “I don’t know yet. If they are, they’re doing it quietly and under the radar so far.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s an old Earth saying. It means they don’t want anyone to see them. We’re going to headquarters for a meeting this morning, so we’ll keep our ears open.”
“Your ears can close?”
He shook his head. “It’s just a figure of speech.” He had to leave, and he didn’t want to go. Reaching into the satchel, he pulled out the digital ereader. He’d loaded it up with all the books from the entertainment archive on the shuttle.
“This is for you. A present.” He pressed the button to open the reader. “It’s fully charged and should last a few days. But one of us will be back tonight.” Though he was damned if he was going to allow Dylan to come here alone.
She stared at the ereader, her hand sweeping across the screen. “There are so many.”
“There should be reviews and rankings to help you choose,” he said. “They’re split into fiction and nonfiction. Just make sure you know the difference.” Christ, if she read them and believed they were true, God knows what she would think of the human race. “Some are facts and some are made up.”
“Why do people make them up? Is it like lies?”
A little like lies, he supposed. “Not lies, no, because everyone knows they’re not true. Stories are for entertainment, but they’re also a way for people to try and make sense of the world around them.”
“Oh.”
He stood up and looked down at her; she was running her finger over the titles. “I have to go. Do you want to show me the way out of here?”
“Of course.” She jumped to her feet. “Thank you for the food and…and everything.”
“Thanks for the spaceship.” Something occurred to him. “Don’t press any more buttons until we find out a little more about this thing.” He didn’t want her disappearing into space. Or blowing herself up. Or…
A look of regret flashed across her face, but she nodded. “Okay.”
She was good at doing what she was told. That should make him happy. Instead, he had the urge to shake her, and that triggered a sense of unease somewhere deep