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Hannah beckoned for her to come closer.Candle held aloft, Jasmine did so.“I think I need your help,” Hannah said into her ear.
“What for?You’re doing great.”
“You’re better at talking to people.”
“No,you’rebetter at talking to people.I’m better at getting their attention.”With that, Jasmine turned around to face the crowd, stuck her pinky fingers in her mouth, and released an ear-piercing whistle.
God above be praised, everyone finally fell silent.
Hannah knew the silence wouldn’t last and didn’t want to waste the opportunity.“We have enough space for RH103 and his friends,” she said.“More than enough.And these last two years have shown that we can’t rebuild things to the way they were without help.That technology doesn’t exist anymore.We should embrace the help they’ve offered.”It hadn’t existed before the earthquake, either, having been established when the colony was still new, but she glossed over that.The cyborgs were bound to have something that would work for them.
“But at what cost?”The late mayor’s widow, Rodelle Lansing, shuffled forward, wearing the same ragged clothes she’d donned since her husband died in the quake.Her eyes were hollow and sad, but her voice was stronger than Hannah had heard in years.She saw a flicker of the capable woman Rodelle had been before grief consumed her.
“There is none,” RH103 replied.“There are twenty of us in all.We will require a suitable building to live in, perhaps one with some small apartments, since we don’t require a great deal of space.If we stay on New Eden, we can’t live aboard our ship long term.The fuel supplies will be exhausted keeping its functions online, and the nearest port is several days away.However, we can build housing on our own time.”
There was a port only a few days away from New Eden?One with fuel?That had to mean it had other supplies too.That revelation piqued Hannah’s curiosity further, and she was dying to ask RH103 more questions about life outside her planet.
“What about our infrastructure?”Rodelle asked.She stood up to her full height, something Hannah hadn’t seen since her husband died.“We haven’t had automatic power since the quake.We have no way of rebuilding our grid with the supplies or resources we have on hand.Can your people help with that?”
RH103 nodded.“We can.Our scans of your planetary resources indicated that there’s the potential for hydroelectric energy.It’s an older technology, but we can build something reliable for the planet’s use.”
“We already have a hydro plant that’s fallen apart.Wouldn’t rebuilding the solar grid be a better idea?”Hannah asked.“We have the infrastructure.It just needs to be repaired.”
“The solar grid was falling apart before the quake,” Jasmine reminded her.“I don’t think it can be fixed.The hydro plant is more likely to be salvageable.”
“How long would it take before the hydroelectric plant is operational?”Hannah asked.
“We would have to conduct a survey and compare our resources.We could have a definitive answer for you within two days,” RH103 replied.
“Two days?”Hannah was incredulous.Forgetting that she had an audience, she faced him, eyes wide.“How the hell can you complete that kind of survey in two days?”
“They’re cyborgs,” Jasmine muttered.
“I know.But that still seems incredible and unrealistic.”
“Perhaps for you,” RH103 said coolly.“But this is within our capabilities.”
It had to be, didn’t it?They could travel around space, unimpeded by gravity or normal human functions.If they could complete a survey in days, then hopefully, it wouldn’t be beyond their capabilities to build a power grid in a matter of weeks.
Hannah took a shaky breath and stole a glance at RH103’s impassive face.
Something flickered in his expression.Hope, maybe?He wanted a place to live as badly as she wanted to see hers rebuilt.Yet she had the feeling, if she asked, he would leave New Eden behind and never return.
Where else would they go?Though New Eden had been decimated in the quake, his home had been obliterated off the star charts.
“Let’s take a vote,” she announced.“A show of hands.Who thinks the cyborgs should be allowed to stay and help us rebuild?”
“This is irregular,” Rodelle said, but her voice wavered.She was as tired of living in the dark as everyone else, tired of hand pumping funny-tasting water, tired of a meager diet and going hungry.
“On a conditional basis,” Jasmine said.A murmur of voices agreed.
“We shall work out any conditions in the morning,” RH103 said.“All of you are tired and overwhelmed.Why don’t we reconvene here at eleven hundred hours?I will return to my ship for the rest of the night and bring my fellow cyborgs in the morning.You have my word that we will not leave our ship until that time.”
Hannah met the gazes of Rodelle and Jasmine.Jasmine gave her a smile and a hopeful look, and Rodelle, the barest of nods.
“All right,” she said.“Let’s meet back here tomorrow morning.”She hoisted herself off the stage.“Show’s over, folks.Let’s get back to bed.”
ChapterTwo
