He slowly grinned. “Alright, Anna.”
She flushed. “Good.”
“Are you okay to go now?” Atlas pointed down the long, silent hall. “Or we can wait until after breakfast.”
She pushed down on her stomach, already churning. “Actually, can I have another bagel? And if we do the medical things early, can you show me the kitchen here too? Sterling said there is one? I want to make some things my stomach can tolerate.”
Atlas blinked once before standing. “It hasn’t really been used, but yes.” His eyes glanced at her cheeks. “Your face looks better this morning.”
“Yeah.” She put her hand on the faded sunburn. “Thank you. Nothing stings at all anymore. Where is Sterling?”
He pointed to the end of the hallway. “Near the intensive care area.”
They walked together, back to the end of the human facility and past the room in the hall where the glass windows were.
Anna’s footsteps faltered when that pink crib came into view. Nothing had changed on the inside of that room since the night before, but Pearl was there, sitting by one of the dying human’s bedsides. Her aged eyes followed Anna, judgmental, until they passed out of sight.
Anna swallowed.Still not a fan of us.A part of her felt bad.I wish she understood that all we want to do is live in peace with them.But she wasn’t ready to force a talk that Pearl clearly didn’t want. Feeling uneasy, she hurried up close to Atlas, tugging on his soft sweater, the same light blue one from last night.
That caused Atlas to look down briefly at her hand on his sleeve.
“Sorry.” She quickly let go. “I didn’t want to get lost.”
“No worries,” He whispered. “It’s a single corridor. Sterling works in an office through here. He likes to be connected to the human area. It’s easier to help monitor if there are any issues.”
“Right.” She winced.Didn’t want to get lost? Such a lame excuse, Anna . . .
“Good morning!” Sterling came out of a small room as they approached. “You’re here early.”
She shrank under Sterling’s questioning gaze, instinctively looking away, then winced.Why do I do this?She knew why and hated the reason, forcing herself instead to raise her head.Freaking Paul.“Yeah, Atlas said you wanted to see me again for more medical testing?”
“It’s just another ultrasound and a few vaccines we didn’t have on the ship. We have a more upgraded machine here. It lets us look at the baby in 3D.”
The room Sterling led them into had more personality than any part of the human quarters. There was a lived-in quality, not in terms of clutter, but in the way items were stored, ready tobe used. Plants were here, not as numerous as in Atlas’s room on the ship, but enough to make the room feel alive. Paints also stood at the ready by an easel, and a shiny golden instrument sat against the wall.A trumpet?Anna had seen pictures, and one of the androids at the party last night had played something similar.
“A saxophone.” Sterling caught her looking.
“Do you play it?”
“Yes.” Sterling smiled. “It’s a hobby of mine.”
“Anna, sit here?” Atlas gestured to a beige table in the middle of the room. “Sterling, I can run the ultrasound again. I’ve gotten a lot of practice with Anna so far.”
“Very well.” Sterling turned back to the desk. “Here, let me just move some of these vines to get the machine close. One of them was producing seed pods, so it has taken over the area. As you can see, even though Atlas is rarely here, we still cannot escape his plants.” He pushed the plant to the wall. “My saxophone takes up less space.”
“It’s noisier though.” Atlas briefly touched the leaves. “You kept this one alive. I’m impressed, Sterling.”
“Atlas!” Sterling pulled back, hand on his chest. “What kind of doctor would I be if I couldn’t take care of a plant?”
Anna was too fixated on the ultrasound machine to joke. She positioned herself on the table and pressed down on her stomach, where the baby indeed was kicking up a storm. “It’s safe to keep doing this test, right?”
“Yes.” Atlas began to unwind the cords. “The ultrasound is just sound waves.”
She settled back, flinching as Atlas put his cool hands on her stomach, fingers gently probing.
“Does it hurt?”
“No.” She shook her head. No. The issue was the touch was clinical, but also hard to ignore. Everything about Atlas was becoming hard to ignore.
