Aetherbound - E.K. Johnston Page 0,42

it was still alive. Pendt could tell that for herself, just as she could tell exactly how to reverse the procedure if she had to, but it was nice to have a doctor to rely on again, and this Dr. Morunt was even more considerate of her than the Harland one had been. All that remained was to see if the foetus could, while in stasis, still operate the station.

The first time Pendt tried to activate the Well, she passed out. Ned stepped in and sent the ship on its way, and no one thought anything was wrong, but Pendt was disappointed.

“We knew it might not work,” Ned said later, in an effort to make them both feel better.

“No, it did work,” Pendt said. “Or, at least, it was going to. It’s a different kind of magic than I usually do. I never thought about it, but your magic works differently than mine does. I went much too far into the station’s operating system. I just need to practice.”

Miraculously, the Well was scheduled for routine maintenance checks starting the next day. Everyone on the station was notified that it would be flickering on and off all day, and not to worry about it. Pendt fainted three more times and ate the equivalent of five days’ protein ration, but eventually she had it down. She could turn on the Well on command.

“The æther’s already there,” she said. “I don’t have to gather it together and look at it the way I usually would. I just have to input the key.”

The Net was a bit harder to test, and since it was the one that could actually get people killed, it was imperative that Pendt get it right. If she could get it to work, then they would know it was safe for Ned to leave.

The system they worked out was a variation on the one they used to train Pendt on the Well. They made sure that there was a maintenance check on the schedule, and then Pendt practiced activating it with nothing to catch. When she could activate the Net on every try, they moved up to catching the uncrewed drones that arrived, empty, from Katla five times a week to be filled with any unprocessed oglasa that Brannick had accumulated. Pendt didn’t miss any of them.

Finally, the day arrived when Pendt would catch a crewed ship. It was the Cleland. Choria knew what she was getting into, and trusted Pendt’s record. Also, she was coming to Brannick to pick up Ned (and a few other rebel sundries she didn’t tell them about), so it seemed fitting.

Pendt was very nervous.

“You’ll be fine,” Ned said. “Just pretend it’s a drone.”

“Choria doesn’t even know you and she trusts you based on the work you’ve done,” Fisher pointed out. “I can’t think of a bigger vote of confidence.”

Pendt thought she might throw up. She hadn’t felt like this since she realized a month on Brannick passed, and there was no sign of her aunt. She was made of nerves, and all of them were on fire.

“Activating the Net,” Pendt said.

She reached for the æther the way Ned did, the way the baby would someday. Usually she went into a pattern and felt her way to the parts that would welcome her changes, but this was far more direct. The switch was right at the top. Flipping it was easy. Anything beyond that, any change or alteration to the actual system, would drain her.

The Net surged to life and Pendt held it steady for five whole minutes as the Cleland landed in it. Pendt was new to hugs—activating was like throwing her arms as wide as a spaceship and catching the moving colossus—but if she thought of it as folding someone into an embrace, it was easier for her to execute.

“You did it!” Ned said. He picked her up and swung her around like she hadn’t been putting on weight steadily since her arrival. She laughed, picturing herself as the ship and him as the Net, catching her.

Fisher grinned and clapped her on the back after Ned set her on her feet.

“We did it,” Pendt said. “How long do you have?”

“Three hours,” Ned said. “Choria wants me well on board before they leave. It’s enough time for one more meal.”

He grinned at her. She smiled back.

* * *

• • •

The three of them went up to the apartment one last time. Ned’s things were mostly packed, but both Fisher and Pendt had independently got