The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 15.3

Four days later, Mara called to say that she was on her way home, having successfully concluded a limited treaty with Daskis as a result of returning its two unfortunate citizens who had been trapped on Stanos. Ford was still mired in lease negotiations and an unexpected corollary: the Telurians' desire to form holding companies based in Bathir by purchasing certain watergem wholesalers. This unprecedented proposal had thrown the principality's business community into an uproar and driven Ford nearly to distraction.

After their usual bedtime conversation devolved into a pithy but pungent tirade on trade and races devoted to it, courtesy of an irate Prince of Bathir, Sabrina began to seriously consider whether it wouldn't be in the best interest of Praxatillus for her to go down there and see if she could pour oil on troubled waters. She didn't want to get entangled in any diplomacy right now, but she missed Ford, and she thought he must miss her too. Why else would he call every night, sometimes talking for over an hour? It could not be concern for her welfare, since she repeatedly assured him that she was fine, and she knew other people were giving him the same assurance.

When her comconsole chimed again, she assumed it was Ford, calling to apologize for his tirade, or perhaps to add some acerbic observation he'd omitted. She opened the channel and said, "Should I be recording these comments for posterity?"

"I have no opinion on that subject," High Wayship Shahina said dryly. "Perhaps you should ask your Tirqwin. I am putting his transmission through now."

"Thank you, Shahina!" Sabrina called, recovering from her surprise. "Tirqwin! How are you?"

"I am fine," he replied, after the usual delay due to the great distance, "and more importantly, Scotty is doing well. We have begun the genetic reconstruction, and so far it is going well. The only glitch is that his hair is turning out very dark, but at this point I'm not worried about aesthetics. More importantly, his internal organs seem to be responding. His heart is growing the extra chambers it will need to power his new body. Very promising."

Sabrina searched Tirqwin's image for some sign that he was withholding information. She couldn't find any. There was more sparkle in his gray eyes than she had seen in quite a while. "Thank God," she sighed. "And...the scan of his mind?"

"We managed to get one," he said. "It is being stored in a stable matrix. Khediva is examining it, trying to determine how intact it is and whether it will work with his reconfigured brain."

"So there wasn't any damage caused by the radiation or the scan?" Sabrina asked.

Tirqwin hesitated. "There was some, Sabrina. Not as much as we feared. We got about eighty-two percent of it, I think. He will have holes in his memory, but he can adjust to that, if everything else can be overcome. We still have a long way to go, I fear. But I wanted to let you know how things are going."

"How much longer on the genetic reconstruction?"

"Several days. It is hard to judge. Once that is done, they will run several tests on him, and that will take several days more. After we know his body is viable, then we must decide whether to try to reload his mind, or retrain him." Tirqwin frowned. "Khediva has come up with a third option, but I know you will not like it."

"What is it?"

"That we build Scotty a cybernetic brain and download the stored matrix into it. That would limit him a bit; there has never been a cybernetic brain that could function as quickly or adapt as readily as an organic one. But we could be reasonably sure the result would be usable."

Sabrina grimaced. "You're right. I don't like it. But if the other two options don't look very good when you're done growing his new brain, then I might consider it."