Engines and werewolves

Chapter 98

“It’s all right,” I say. “When you say it, you mean the Soliton itself? The ship?”

“I … think so. It’s everywhere, anywhere the energy touches.”

“Is it really alive?”

“I don’t know. It can … make decisions, I think, but it doesn’t feel like a person.”

Blessed. There’s a hundred more questions I want to ask, but the stream of power is visibly thinning. I clear my throat.

“We’re almost there, I think. To the Garden. But I need you to show me the rest of the way.”

“I’ve been getting it ready.” Grog raises one hand, and a ball of twisting gray motes materializes. Once again, he tosses it at me, and it sinks into my chest, leaving only a single twitching thread of gray on the outside. “You’re right; it’s not far now. But you have to hurry, and there are so many of them.…”

“We’ll make it.