Chapter 149

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Nine

A week out from Mara, the rockets failed. Connor spent a day in the engineering section, first cleaning up leaked fuel, then studying user manuals and finding the right tools. He had to wear an environment suit because of the fuel.

Even inside the suit, he imagined the toxic fumes were getting to him. It was just the vestiges of the planet’s atmosphere, but it was in his head.

Late that night, Elise joined him.

She’d been improving each day since coming out of the medicine-induced coma Lem had used to purge the last of the infection and impregnation.

Still, she was too weak to do the work. Instead, she supervised.

As she handed him a spanner, she smiled. “You’ve gotten better.” Her voice had changed—probably the scarring from the necrotic tissue removal.

He tapped the environment suit faceplate. “It’s the glasses.”

“You won’t have to wear those forever, will you?”

“Until I can afford surgery.”