The Sands of Time Ch 68

 

It was easy enough for a shapeshifter to avoid detection. She followed Mallory at a discreet distance, in the form of a nondescript technician. The cow had no idea she was being followed. This was Mallory-3, apparently. 

How many of these people were there?

Mallory back home (not her home, she reminded herself) was close to Joon, but this one had barely paid him any mind, which aroused her suspicions. Although it didn't take much to arouse her suspicions, Hillier reflected. Mallory-3 had an air about her, an easy command, almost an arrogance. She strode briskly into restricted areas, and Hillier had to assume a more suitable role, adopting a Security persona from someone she passed. When Hillier felt she was approaching the limit of plausibility in terms of how long she could keep following, Mallory finally entered what appeared to be a command center. 

*******

Joon sat thinking. Maia had kissed him on the cheek when they said good night the night before, and he remembered her perfume. Maia-25, he had to remind himself. His Maia was an eternity- and a Gate- away. Joon-352 had confided that he had been bittered by the loss of his own Maia, and had thrown himself into the program to escape. The loneliness, the grieving. Joon had delicately asked if Joon-352 and Maia-25 had explored whether they could have a relationship, but apparently the wounds were too raw on both sides. Maia-25 had said that Joon-352 was a little too driven, too manic at times- he frightened her a little. Although she was mostly afraid for him. He made risky moves. 

Not least of which was drawing Joon here. 

Alt Joon had warned him about Maia, that she might be in peril. Apparently there was a crucial event, and as he'd said before, she doesn't always survive. 

Joon wasn't sure about things here. Hillier had noticed it too. The people seemed cowed, except for the technicians and guards. Jack's people were a group apart, yet subject to the authority of Yvette and the Scholars. He still wasn't entirely clear what the program entailed, and why they wanted him.