Chapter 5

“—lax, Dr. Zhong, you’re safe and—wlnrgh—’s all right now.”

Hands, holding her down—had she been thrashing?

“—fectly normal, just—iynzrgt—pulse holding steady—”

She ached all over, had she been injured?

She went still, memory returning in a rush. The explosion, the Curie turned to a howling cyclone of fire, chaos and death, only herself and Simone left alive, unless you counted Dr. Cooney in the cryo-pod…

Lucy had died. She remembered. Septicemia. Simone had…Simone had held her. Kissed her. Had looked so sad, so much sadder than even Lucy had thought possible. Oh, Simone

The shapes above Lucy were resolving into faces and bits of equipment. A red-haired male doctor smiled at her and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” Lucy muttered, “but I know that’s normal for a cryo-revival.” The words came out a slurred mess, but the doctor seemed to expect that; he nodded, visibly relieved. Lucy hadn’t thawed with her brains turned to mush.