Free Deadly Betrayal by Maria Hammarblad

funny and had a huge appetite for both food and life. Breakfast with Adam was also great, but in another way. He was introspective and could spend extended periods of time examining food, dismantling a croissant and tasting some of the flakes.
    Breakfast with both of them was a rare treat even when life was easy. At a time like this it was fantastic.
    John had brought fresh fruit, coffee, and milk from the station. It tasted wonderful and my family was back together. Only Anya was missing. Hopefully, she’d forgive us.
    That was too much and too complicated to linger on. Life right here was complicated enough, thank you very much. Returning to our friends and old way of life might not even be possible.
    Adam’s voice returned me to the present. “You two have been traveling alone for a long time.”
    “That we have.” John sounded calm as ever.
    “Mind telling me why?”
    My all too handsome father in law shrugged. “We’re family. Should I bring your shuttle aboard?”
    Were we still docked with the station?
    Adam said, “You can. I disabled the tracking chips.”
    “Someone might still spot it, but I’ll stow it away well.”
    John left and I looked down on my plate. Adam watched his fingers again.
    I said, “If you ever die again I will kill you.”
    He glanced up with a smile. “Sounds fair.”

Chapter Ten
     
    Adam definitely wasn’t himself.
    By now neither John nor I doubted it was him, but he had unnerving gaps in his memory and struggled with concepts that normally wouldn’t pose a problem. One minute he seemed perfectly normal and the next he reminded me of a lost puppy.
    Any sign of affection made him look both happy and relieved, and I made sure to be extra gentle.
    John said, “He follows you because you’re a part of his base programming.”
    I had never bothered finding out what that really meant. What a model wife.
    John sipped his beer and smirked at my blank stare. “It means he put information about you in his hardcoded routines. He knows how long his legs are and how to walk. He knows English and how to talk. He knows how hard he can hold something without breaking it. All the basic instructions that make him work.”
    I still didn’t get it.
    My father in law’s voice was almost as patient as Adam’s used to be when I didn’t understand something that was self-evident to him.
    “See it like this. You breathe without thinking about it. You can move without having to think about how you do it. You think without thinking about how you do it. It’s the same for him. He stored his information about you in the same way, amongst all the other basic stuff he needs to function. That means you’re the last thing he’ll forget, and the first he’ll remember.”
    “Oh.”
    That was a more romantic gesture than I could ever have imagined. I had no idea.
    John went to get another beer and offered me one, but I shook my head. I needed to think, and drinking wouldn’t make me any smarter.
    “If we were able to replace the parts, would he return to normal?”
    For all I knew, the information could be gone forever. Maybe he’d have to relearn a lifetime of knowledge, and remake a lifetime of memories.
    “I don’t know. He should be able to rebuild the databases, but it would take time.”
    This was a good time to bring up my current main concern. “Do you think it’s wise to bring him back to the Bell like this?”
    John leaned back in the chair. “Since you’re asking I guess the right answer is no.”
    “I was just thinking, Debana hid him for a reason.”
    “What do you want to do? Leave him like this?”
    He didn’t sound accusing, more curious.
    “No, of course not.”
    Poor Adam needed spare parts, just like I had needed medical attention so many times and he made sure I would get it. The Bell had spare parts and engineering geniuses, but if it were that easy, Debana would have taken him to Engineering instead of hiding him in a closet. We wanted to fix him, not get him killed