“That thing he stuck onto Luke’s head,” Sisko said. “It reminded us of something. Zade noticed it first. We were going to mention it to you. Then things got crazy.”
Sisko’s hesitance was bugging him. “So? Let’s have it.”
“It looks like a miniature brain scan and brain monitor design,” Sisko said. “There’s something similar in the line of Batello products that are currently in development.”
That startled him. “Simone,” he said.
“Yeah,” Sisko agreed. “It looks like one of Simone’s designs.”
The implications of that were sweeping and ugly. Noah pondered them briefly, and then shoved them into a box in his mind. For later.
“One thing at a time,” he said finally. “This has to wait.”
Sisko nodded slowly. The laptop on his thighs was the only source of light in the room, which made it easier to scan his sig. It was usually a mellow, uniform pulsing alternation of purples and blues. Today it was bigger, darker, with more extreme contrasts, and it was shot through with agitated spikes like solar flares.
“What’s up with you?” Noah asked. “You OK?”
“No,” Sisko said. “I’m just trying to distract myself from the thought of what’s going to happen to Luke once Mark realizes that we have his shiny toy.”
“Caro isn’t his toy,” Noah said. “I have to take him down before he finds out.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about. We, Noah. We have to take him down.”
Noah clenched his fists. “Are you going to get up in my face?”
“Someone has to,” Sisko said. “You’re being a goddamn dictator.”
Anger flared, ramping up his combat program. A kill plan for Sisko suddenly flickered on his inner screen. He ignored it.
Sisko heaved a weary sigh. “But hey. You saved our asses on rebellion day, and afterwards. We all know it. We’ll never forget it. Still and all, you can’t carry us anymore.”
“We saved each other at Midlands,” Noah said. “We all did our part. I couldn’t have done it without every single one of you guys.”
Sisko rolled his eyes. “Maybe in the battle itself. But after? We were wrecked. They would have scooped us all back up and tossed us right back into the shredder if not for you.”
Noah scowled. “So what’s your point?”
“You can’t do everything yourself,” Sisko said.
“What about Zade?” Noah demanded. “You really think that he should be involved in this? Mark has his fucking codes. He can kill Zade in one second. From across the room.”
“Yes, that is a problem,” Sisko conceded. “Let Zade work it out. He’s not a kid. And Hannah--”
“No way. She can’t get near this.”
“Why? Because she’s your baby sister? She’ll tear you to shreds if you cut her out of the action.”
“Let’s argue about this when I’m not chewing nails.”
“You could spit out the nails,” Sisko suggested. “Just a thought.”
Then Noah saw the colors, slowly revolving on the walls and ceiling. Caro had sneaked out the bedroom door. She leaned over the railing, trying to listen in, her sig like a huge peony blooming in the darkness. He glanced up, and she pulled back with a guilty look.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked.
“Same reason you’re not, probably.”
“Don’t think so,” he said. “I do soldier sentinel sleep. It’s a Midlands thing. We toggle brain hemispheres, resting one while we function at a hundred percent with the other. You, on the other hand, need regular sleep. I can see it from here. Go get some more of it.”
Her sig got bigger, unfurling like the fan of some huge fantasy peacock, like it always did whenever her pride was involved. The image filled the room, silently defying him.
It drove him nuts. OK, he could be a controlling bastard. But for a damn good reason. Controlling people was sometimes the only way to protect them. Worked sometimes. Or it crashed and burned. He hadn’t been able to control Asa. He hadn’t been able to protect Hannah. But God, he had tried. So fucking hard.
If he couldn’t control Caro, then he couldn’t protect her.
Caro ignored his command and descended the stairs, dignified as an empress. She seemed to drift an inch or so above the ground, in her swirling cloud of colors.
“How did you know I was there?” she asked. “That door doesn’t squeak.”
Sisko snorted under his breath. Noah shot him a quelling look. She didn’t need to know how acute their hearing actually was. At least not right now. Best to let details like that sink in gradually over time.
“Your sig. It’s really bright,” he said. “I could see you from space.”
“And I try so hard to be unobtrusive,” she murmured. The lights were ebbing now, Noah noticed. He wondered if she could control it.
“So what are you guys doing?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“Fill me in, Noah.” Her voice was adamant.
“You don’t need to know about things that don’t concern you.”