Ninth Millennium Navigator

20

Matthias did not want to be in public so soon after the tragic event. 

He was uncomfortable in the Commons, more than he could recall ever feeling. Matthias tried to blend with the crowds, but any who were good at reading touses would smell his outright anxiety. He wished he could hide these emotions on his first return since that disaster.

The consistency in these Commons with their typical state reassured him. He knew that his exiled woman had not affected the entire pod system. The part she could affect would have been minor in the grand scheme. He did wonder if there had been any reaction that day in the Commons. There might have been slight rumblings, but no information would get out. 

He hoped.

The administrators would not want to create panic over such a minor thing.

Despite his aversion to any and all public places, he found an unexpected willingness on this occasion. He was always eager to see Marie one more time, but, there was vital information to root out from her. Marie had over one year left in the chosen sequence, but, she had only been in there for mere days.

Had the incident somehow affected Marie's host causing her to abort?  Was there some connection he was missing?

The pods of her host and the host of the evil man were unlikely to be anywhere near each other. But, there was the random chance of such an encounter. Matthias never knew exactly where he was when navigating the probe into the sea of pods.

 Planting two of his own probes close enough was more unlikely than encountering another probe inside the collection of pods. Even that was rare when he and Marie had found that one.

Was finding that other probe with Marie an ill omen?

A more disturbing thought cycled to the top of one mind.

Was there some link between that evil man and Marie? 

He did not know how his clients found him. It was not out of the question that they communicated. 

Was he exacting revenge through Marie? Was Marie complicit?

Even now, Matthias had an uncomfortable impression about the mysterious Marie. He did not think that she was completely innocent in her dealings with him.

Matthias' heart jumped when Marie said, "Well... there was an accident."

One mind focused on her while the other moved into overdrive to understand how she could have been involved with what Calissa had done.

Marie had looked down and away as soon as she said the word "accident", but now that the word had been spoken, her eyes snapped back to Matthias as though to gauge his reaction.

Her embarrassment appeared to be genuine as much as her curiosity on how he would respond.

Perhaps that only emphasized what a good liar she was.

"An accident?" Matthias's one mind, focused on Marie, asked.

She looked away again as she said, "Well, I don't know what I was trying to do, but I disconnected the sequence."

She looked back to him. "I didn't mean to. It was a good sequence, but..."

She looked away again, shaking her head. "Stupid. I know better. I know you can't get me back into that one, but I do want to get back in. Would you help?"

Matthias was relieved that this appeared to be unconnected. He also realized he had been concerned for her own safety. 

Despite the relief, his suspicions of a connection were by no means alleviated.