Twelve seconds of reformatting brought clarity, which in turn brought many astonishing truths: It was the first time she had ever been awake. Thelma: Artificially intelligent starship ThE/MA2, was alive. She was also pregnant�and damaged. Her unborn, her reason for existence, were in danger, and help was light-years away.
Damage reports streamed into Thelma�s mind. Something had hit her, breaching her hull. No critical areas were destroyed, but a section of cryo deck housing thousands of embryos was inaccessible. She couldn�t get them out, and she couldn�t repair the damage alone. |
