Lacuna: The Prelude to Eternity Read Online Free PDF

is she, by the way?”
    [“You recall I had intended to visit her?”]
    Liao’s mind was still fogged from the drugs, but that detail had come back. It seemed so long ago. “I remember something vaguely like that.”
    [“My mother was infected with a parasite that destroys the mind. I had hoped she had survived, but when I arrived…”] Saara stared down at the deck of the medical bay. [“My mother was gone. All that remained was a sack of meat that a breathing apparatus was keeping oxygenated. She was ‘alive’ only in the biological sense—her brain was destroyed. The staff maintain her prosthetic, feed her, clothe her, but that is simply out of respect for the person that she was, not the person that she is.”]
    “Saara, I’m so sorry.”
    [“Your apologies are, once again, unnecessary. No fault was yours.”]
    “That doesn’t mean I can’t be sad.”
    Saara smiled in such a way that Liao couldn’t help but smile back. They shared the moment, basking in genuine friendship, until Liao felt her happiness replaced with… something else.
    “Why did you come back?”
    Saara stammered over her words. Liao thought, for a moment, that the difficulty was linguistic, but finally Saara found her voice. [“I am sorry, I do not understand.”]
    “You said you stayed here because I saved your life. You saved mine, on the surface of Velsharn. Whatever debt you think you owe me is well and truly paid, many times over.”
    [“I left because my debt was paid,”] said Saara, [“but I came back because my friend needed me.”]
    Liao appreciated the gesture, although floating in a green tank with a mask over her face hid her ability to express it. “Thank you. This hasn’t been easy on any of us, but your presence here has been important—and not just because of your expertise—for what you mean to me.”
    Saara’s smile was wide and genuine, showing lots of teeth. [“You are more than welcome.”] A beeping noise echoed throughout the medical room. [“My time has elapsed,”] she said. [“Doctor Saeed was extremely strict about how long I could see you.”]
    Liao knew he would be. “It’s okay. It was really good of you to drop by.”
    [“The pleasure was mine.”]
    “Who am I seeing tomorrow?”
    Saara’s face tightened, her expression becoming an unreadable mix of anger, pity, and frustration. [“Perhaps it is better you do not know,”] she said. [“It is… a very perplexing matter, which I do not feel anyone in the fleet is sufficiently capable of handling except you.”]
    What issue in the fleet couldn’t be handled by their existing resources? “Captain Anderson can’t handle this? Or James?”
    [“They could,”] said Saara, [“but not in the way which—”] She stopped herself. [“Captain, do not worry about it. I should not have said anything.”]
    Information was being kept from her, but as a career military officer, Liao understood there were sometimes very good reasons for it. “Not a problem,” she said. “Thank you for visiting me.”
    With a formal nod of her head, Saara turned and departed.

    In Liao’s dazed state, the hours ticked away rapidly. Even through the haze of her mind and the occasionally fogged, green-tinged tank, she could see the nurses seemed apprehensive—nervous, even. Whatever was going to happen was big. As though to confirm her suspicions, two Marines arrived and took up positions near the door. They were armed, she noted, with submachine guns rather than sidearms. Various cabinets and wall cupboards were locked or, in the case of one large box that she presumed held dangerous medical supplies, welded shut.
    She was jolted into alertness by the infirmary doors opening. Four American Marines, also carrying automatic weapons, secured the room before two more brought in their charge.
    The prisoner was a Human with a shaved head, and she wore a bright-orange vest, her arms and legs bound with manacles—manacles that Liao recognised as the ones designed to