Three Lives Of Mary Read Online Free PDF Page A

but actually from a real glass, something she hadn't done since becoming a CySap. "What happened?"
    "We've pieced together the story from Ben's logs. It looks like the universal shunts overloaded when he deployed the Sensor Swarm. There were some cascade effects and that damaged two of his thrust units sending you tumbling. Somehow—and we don't know the direct cause—the hull breached and you lost pressure."
    "How did we get here?" Mary could remember some of that, but parts were completely blank.
    "We're not sure how, but you managed to manually pilot Ben and trigger the Jump back to Haven. We detected the incoming Jump signature, but no subsequent clearance request, and they spotted you drifting in the outer rim. Your oxygen supply was almost exhausted. It was pure luck they got to you in time."
    "How's Ben?"
    "Mary, you're incredible. You came this close to dying." Tartoa held up a thumb and finger pressed firmly together. "And your first thought is of your partner. Loyalty like that is precious and rare."
    Mary said nothing, waiting for an answer to her question.
    "Ben suffered a lot of damage," Tartoa continued, all business once more. "More serious than before. Many of his Cynetic interfaces have decoupled, his Dataract is extensively fragmented and needs a complete rebuild. He was conscious, barely, but extremely uncomfortable so we're maintaining him in hibernation. I wanted to talk to you first, but we can bring him out of it at any time. He may have trouble maintaining coherence with the disruption he's dealing with."
    "How much?" Mary realized Tartoa was avoiding the main issue.
    Tartoa slid back from the screen. "The repairs would be extensive, Mary. You don't have the credit."
    "Damn it, Tartoa. Don't tell me that. Don't just write us off like a line in a ledger, you unfeeling bastard. Tell me how I can make it work."
    " If we can rebuild the Dataract we might be able to recover enough data on HR4788-4 to make a few thousand, but that wouldn't even cover the rebuild costs. The company would never sanction such a risky investment."
    "You're just going to pull the plug on us? Why bother even bringing us in? I'm not going to sign over the salvage rights on Ben, if that's what you're thinking."
    The words snapped out. Mary wanted to curl up and cry, but she wasn't capable of either. Instead she just lay there helplessly, burning with hatred at the situation. This was her fault. If she hadn't pressured Ben all those years earlier…
    "There may be another option." Tartoa was grim. "You won't like it though."
     
    ****
     
    Mary brushed her fingers over the door patch and limped inside Ben. She wanted to talk to him in person. It was going to be hard enough to explain the situation, but she wanted Ben to understand. The medical team had objected to her leaving, but a call to Tartoa took care of that.
    She slipped into her seat and winced. She was still in pain despite being loaded with drugs. Mary plugged a headset directly into the comms channel, her hands moist and clammy. "Ben? Are you there?"
    "M-mary?" He sounded confused, like a child woken from an afternoon nap. "Yeah, I'm here."
    "Do you remember what happened?"
    "Sure, I do. We're going to sign-up for the CySap program. You filled in the papers, didn't you?"
    "We've been a team for a long time. Don't you remember?"
    "Man, I could just eat a big slice of lemon meringue. Your Mom made the most delicious ones in the Galaxy—do you think she'd make us one now? We haven't seen her in such a long time. Did you two fall out again?"
    Mary's words caught in her throat. "That was a long, long time ago, Ben. She's dead."
    "Your Mom? Don't be silly. You know what though, we should visit Mitilla again soon. That would be fun. Don't you think?"
    They'd honeymooned on Mitilla over ninety years—a whole lifetime ago. "Ben, I need you to focus really hard. You may not understand right now, but hopefully you will when they fix you. I have to go away, for a while. When I