Free Yuen-Mong's Revenge by Gian Bordin Page B

void."
            "Were you very close?"
            "Close? … Much more than that. When she died it felt like part of me
departed with her. We knew each other’s thoughts without the need to
talk."
            "And your father?"
            "That was different. I loved him very much, but he was separate from
me. Tell me about your parents?"
            "I never knew my father. My mother was artificially impregnated. All
I know is that sperm donors are highly intelligent people and have no
physical or psychological flaws. I remember little of my mother because
I was sent to one of the prestige schools on Palo at the age of six and only
saw her once each year for a few days. I never really knew her and I’ve
not seen her these past five years. Shortly before I went on the mission
to Aros, I received a message that she got married a fourth time."
            "Would you have liked to know her better?"
            "I don’t know… I guess it would have been nice."
            "So who is the person in your life that you are … or were closest to?"
            "I don’t really know… Probably Damien. We were together through
all our school years. I even spent part of my school vacations with his
family."
            "Where is he now?"
            "After finishing at the Academy of Science —"
            "— that’s where my father taught for a while."
            "Really? But that must have been before my time. Anyway, Damien
joined one of the big firms on Andromatis."
            "That is where my mother comes from."
            "I guessed that from your accent."
            "You did?"
            He returned her smile. Both remained quiet. Yuen-mong’s thoughts
returned to what he had revealed about himself. She had often asked
herself how her life would have been, growing up in her mother’s home
world. She had always imagined that she would have intimate contact
with lots of people, not only within her extended family, but also with
many friends, and now she had just learned that this man had grown up
without a father, never really knew his mother and only had one single
friend. He was even unsure about how close he had been to him. Was he
an exception or did people living side-by-side with millions of others end
up being more alone that she had been? In fact, while her parents had
been alive, she had never felt alone. Even now, the memory of her
parents was vivid and warm inside her, an important aspect of her life.
          After a while she sensed an increased restlessness in him, a restlessness that periodically seemed to grab him. Has the talk upset him? Maybe
in this state he might be receptive to her father’s idea of how to fly a
shuttle without AI systems. "Am I right that your mind is often absorbed
with getting off this world?"
            "Is it that obvious?" He looked at her embarrassed.
          "No, you show few visible signs, but I sense that it is often in the back
of your mind."
            He only nodded.
          "Do you think that your mother ship is still waiting for your return?"
            "No, if no communications are received for three standard days, the
shuttle is presumed lost. They may search for it for another three days."
            "It is now ten Aros days since you crashed. That is more than eight
standard days. Do you think they have left or do they have another shuttle
on board?"
            "No, mine was the only one and without it they can’t really do much
exploration. They expected me to extract various rock samples from the
ring, and they can’t do this with the mother ship. I guess, they’ve left."
He looked dejectedly at his hands.
          "So even if you could get your shuttle working again, you would be
stuck here."
            "Yes. But how could I get it working without a functioning AI unit?"
            "There are mechanical ways to control a shuttle."