Aetherbound - E.K. Johnston Page 0,69
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It took them several hours to find it. At first, they pored over blueprints of the station until they realized that the entire point of hiding something was to take it off the plans. They tried looking for gaps, then spaces, where something magical might fit.
“It has to be a physical thing,” Pendt said. “Or it would have stopped working when the rest of the Stavenger magic did. Like the Net and Well, it’s an actual object and they put æther on top of it. If we find it, we might be able to manipulate it the same way.”
“I don’t think Brannick genes are going to get you into the Brannick gene-lock,” Ned said. “That wouldn’t be very secure.”
“No,” Pendt said. “But I don’t need a key. I’m going to change the lock itself.”
Eventually Fisher had to reach out with his own æther connection, the electricity magic he rarely had call to use. With the blueprints as a guide, he followed the ebb and flow of power on the station until he found a place with a lot of power for no reason.
“That must be it,” Ned said. It was a small cabinet in one of the mechanical bays. Power fluctuations were fairly regular there, as things were charged or shorted out during the repair process. That’s why no one had ever noticed. Pendt could walk right up to the lock and lay her hands on it, if she wanted.
“What will happen when you break it?” Fisher asked.
“I’m not going to break it,” Pendt said. “Mostly because we don’t know what will happen. I can’t exactly experiment with a station full of people. But I can change it. I can tie it to the Brannick DNA without using the Y chromosome for control. It sounds small, but it’s going to be the biggest thing I’ve ever tried to do.”
“I believe you,” said Fisher. “And after?”
“After, you and Ned will both be able to work the Net and Well,” Pendt said. “And so will I, if the foetus and I both survive the effort.”
“We’re going to do everything we can,” Ned said.
“I appreciate that,” Pendt said. “I’m going to start calculating how many calories I’ll need to consume, both before and after. I should be able to figure out the numbers, but there’s a slight amount of chance involved here. It might not work, or there might be complications.”
“You could have a heart attack,” Fisher said.
“Amongst other things,” Pendt agreed. “But I still think it’s our best shot.”
“The timing is going to be really specific,” Ned said. “We’ll have to have the Harland’s arrival down to the minute.”
“I can factor it into my math,” Pendt told him.
“I thought this was something you just knew,” Fisher said.
“It is,” Pendt said. “But I want to be sure. And also, I want to leave directions for you two. If it were me watching, I’d feel better if I understood the whole process. Would you rather not?”
“No,” Ned said. “I want to know every step.”
“Me too,” Fisher said.
“It’s a best-case scenario plan,” Pendt said. “If Dr. Morunt tells Arkady I’m revivable, I don’t have a contingency.”
“We trust you,” Ned said before Fisher could say anything to further complicate the matter. “We’ll have to trust her as well.”
Pendt began to calculate the number of calories she expected to spend to get enough æther through her system to change the lock. The amount was staggering. It made her stomach queasy thinking about having to ingest so much, even though much of it would be intravenous. She separated the number into before and after, the calories she would need to prepare and the calories she would require to pull herself back. She tinkered with the formula for the embalming fluid until she found something a scanner would think was for the dead but would actually help the living. It was barely enough to sustain her, but it would let her hold on for long enough.
She read the numbers back to the boys. They didn’t really understand them, so she rephrased them as actual food types to give them something to picture. Ned put his hand on his stomach in sympathy. Eating was fun, but this was going to suck.
Fisher took her hands in his when she was done and squeezed them, as though to reassure himself that she was real, and she was here. She leaned forward to press her forehead against his. She could hear all the things he wanted to say, and she appreciated him