Earthseed

what’s going on. But I have to go back and tell her where I’m going. If you wait—”
    “I’m not waiting.”
    “Then I’m sticking with you.”
    “They’ll worry about you.”
    “Let them.”
    “You’re going to follow me whether I want you to or not.” Bonnie handed Zoheret her stun gun. “You’d better take this. I’m a bad shot anyway.”

10
    It was night when they reached the entrance. Bonnie seemed weak from her recent illness, and both girls were tired from fighting the fire.
    The door slid open, revealing the corridor. “Bonnie?” Ship’s voice said softly. “Zoheret? Why are you here?” The door closed behind them.
    “Everything’s going wrong,” Zoheret burst out. “We weren’t prepared.”
    “Let me find you a place to rest.”
    “You’re not listening to me.” She glared at the nearest lens.
    “You’re tired. I want to hear your complaints, but I think we can discuss them more profitably when you’ve had some rest. You may find things aren’t as bad as you think.”
    Zoheret glanced at Bonnie. This was not the sort of welcome she had expected from Ship; she had been prepared for a scolding, or perhaps Ship’s sympathy. It didn’t seem very concerned.
    “Let’s go to the tubeway,” Bonnie said.
    “I’m afraid,” Ship answered, “that I’m repairing the tubeway here.”
    “Get us a cart, then. We want to go to our old rooms.”
    For a moment, Zoheret thought that Ship had not heard the request. The corridor was silent, so silent that Zoheret, used to the noises of the settlement, the chatter of others, the hoots and twitters of the night and the rustlings of trees in the woods, tensed, as if expecting danger.
    “I shall offer you a room here,” Ship said at last. “There’s the observatory. Or you may stay in your old nursery playroom—there are beds there, where you used to nap, and a bathroom.”
    “The nursery, then,” Bonnie said.
    “There really is no point in traveling elsewhere when you’re tired. I’ll serve you supper there. You may have anything you like.”
    Zoheret, who had longed for the familiarity of her old room, was about to object when she saw Bonnie sway slightly and lean against a wall.
    The nursery was just down the hall; Zoheret guided Bonnie to the door. It slid open; child-sized chairs and tables stood in the center of the room, and there were several beds against the far wall. The room seemed barren, with no sign that children had ever played there. Their drawings were missing, their toys absent, their childhood seemingly erased. Zoheret approached one table and saw the Z she had carved there; one corner of the table was chipped. She sank into one of the small chairs, her knees rising toward her chin, and rubbed the Z with one finger.
    “Rest,” Ship said. “Tomorrow we’ll talk. Please—” Zoheret and Bonnie exchanged a glance; Ship’s voice had risen slightly on the last word. “Please don’t worry,” Ship went on in its alto. “Everything will work itself out. The Project will succeed, and you’ll return to the Hollow.”
    This reassurance was more disturbing than silence would have been. Was Ship afraid? Zoheret wondered if their return to the corridors had made Ship believe that the Project was in danger.

    They gorged themselves on the foods they had missed—pastries, spicy meats on rice, candies, exotic vegetables. Ship even provided a small bottle of wine. They slept on the small beds, bodies curled so that their feet did not hang over the edges.
    When they awoke and sat up, the room grew light. Bonnie stretched and stood up. “How about breakfast?” She seemed more cheerful after sleeping. “And then I need a bath—a real bath.”
    They ate a light meal, then bathed, splashing each other with the water as they washed. The hot water soothed Zoheret’s muscles; she leaned her head against the side of the wide, sunken pool and wished she could wash her worries away with the dirt. Ship had been silent ever since supper the night before.
    After drying their hair, they returned to the playroom and found fresh clothing on a shelf under the food slots. Zoheret pulled on the larger set of clothes, noticing that the brown pants were a little loose around her hips while the matching shirt was too tight in the shoulders. Bonnie dressed in the pale green clothes, then sat down.
    “Shall we talk?” Ship asked.
    Zoheret started at the voice. “May we go back to our old rooms first? I wanted to bring a few