Free Born of Sand (Tales of a Dying Star Book 5) by David Kristoph Page A

your bed. She didn't know what to say.
    "That's what I thought," Farrow said, reading her expression. For a moment he seemed like he wanted to say more, but then his face turned sad. "We cannot allow you to leave, and we cannot kill you-- will not kill you, at least. Shit. We are not butchers like the Melisao, and I will not begrudge you for caring about your daughters. My only option is to hold you until such a time as we are ready to strike."
    Mira said, "I don't understand."
    "We cannot trust you to roam free. And I cannot spare someone to watch you day and night. You will be confined to a cell in the until we leave this base."
    No . It hit Mira like a hammer. It might be months before they attacked, Binny had said. "Put me back on cleaning duty with Binny! I'll obey this time, I swear it."
    "I cannot trust you to keep that promise."
    "Please, I can..."
    "You very clearly cannot."
    Mira looked at all the electroid parts scattered around the room. In less than a day she had helped so much! Could she get the engineers to convince Farrow? He seemed too determined, his decision already made. All the worth she'd accumulated in her soul blew away like sand on the floor.
    She realized he was still waiting, arms crossed. He didn't have a weapon, but he was waiting to take her away. "I'll be useless in a cell," she said.
    "You'll be a liability out of one."
    A wave of despair crashed over her at the finality in his tone. "Please..." she said, voice cracking.
    "My decision is made."
    "Mine is not," Akonai said. The tall man appeared from the hallway, striding past Farrow into the room. His gaze took in the closet full of completed electroids, the piles of parts scattered around the room, the half-assembled robot in Mira's lap. Finally he looked at her.
    "When did you return?" Farrow asked.
    Akonai kept his eyes on Mira as he said, "Just now. A successful trip. You will be pleased with what I brought back. We have much to discuss, so let us leave this woman to her work."
    Farrow's face darkened. "You may have the broader view of this war, but specific base decisions are my purview. And Mira..."
    " All considerations are within my sphere of concern," Akonai said. "I spoke with your engineers just now. They are quite impressed by this woman's knowledge. You will not allow it to go to waste."
    "She is unable to follow orders. She is not committed to our cause. And her knowledge is cursory, just basic assembly-line muscle memory."
    "That's not true!" Mira blurted, rising to her feet. "They rotated us among different stations. I'm familiar with the entire assembly process. Just look at what I've done so far!" She swept her hand around the room.
    Farrow looked unhappy. "Let's discuss this privately," he told Akonai. He strode from the room with gritted teeth. Akonai followed, giving Mira one last appraising look. Take me with you, she very nearly called, remembering that he would leave the planet soon. But that would have proved Farrow's accusation, that she only cared about reaching her girls. Shame simmered at the back of her mind.
    Hob stuck a tentative head in the door. "You're, uhh, still here?"
    "I don't know."
    He strode inside, with Binny close behind. The girl's face bore a combination of concern and relief.
    "So, the dual-molex coupling," Hob said, falling back into the same attitude as before. "It's the same in the O-11 all the way through to the O-17?"
    Binny stood with her broom in hand, waiting. Mira looked from one to the other. "I have to go," she said. "Let's go clean the south hall."
    Binny nodded, but still looked worried. Hob and the other engineer slumped their shoulders.
    Doing menial labour bored her after helping in the workshop. It felt so useless, sweeping up sand that would find its way back inside within a day, scouring steam pipes with rags soaked in chemicals. Binny hummed while they cleaned, losing herself in the work, but Mira couldn't keep her mind off of the workshop on the other side of the base.
    She also