1n1REzE

Peter Watts 166 Blindsight
and I followed, guiding the Shroud of Szpindel between us. My
leg and side were stinging again, now that Cunningham had
reminded them to. There wouldn't be much he could do about
them, though. The beams would have cauterized the flesh on their
way through, and if they'd hit anything vital I'd have been dead
already.
At the hatch we broke into single-file: Szpindel first,
Cunningham pushing at his heels. By the time I emerged into the
drum Bates and the gang were already down on deck and taking
their usual seats. Sarasti, in the flesh, watched them from the end
of the conference table.
His eyes were naked. From this angle the soft, full-spectrum
light of the drum washed the shine from them. If you didn't look
too closely, for too long, you might almost think those eyes were
Human.
BioMed had been spun down for my arrival. Cunningham
pointed to a diagnostic couch on a section of the stilled deck that
served as our infirmary; I floated over and strapped myself in.
Two meters away, past a waist-high guard rail that had risen from
the deck, the rest of the drum rolled smoothly past. It slung Bates
and the Gang and Sarasti around like weights on a string.
I tapped ConSensus to hear them. James was speaking, quietly
and without expression. "I noticed a new pattern in the formconstants.
Something in the grating. It looked like a signal. It got
stronger as I went down the tunnel, I followed it, I blacked out. I
don't remember anything more until we were on our way back.
Michelle filled me in, as much as she could. That's all I know. I'm
sorry."
A hundred degrees away in the no-gee zone, Cunningham
maneuvered his predecessor into a coffin with different options
than those up front. I wondered if it would embark on an autopsy
during the debriefing. I wondered if we'd be able to hear the
sounds it made.
"Sascha," Sarasti said.
"Yeah." Sascha's trademark drawl infected the voice. "I was
riding Mom. Went deaf dumb and stark fucking blind when she
passed out. I tried to take over but something was blocking me.