White Space Season 2

don’t know,” she said, hating to admit it.
    Emma asked. “You don’t know where we are, or you don’t know when we can go home?”
    Before she could answer, Blake appeared behind them, smiling. “Ah, glad to see you girls are catching up.”
    Sarah turned, saw Blake standing with his hands folded across his chest, smiling like a kindly benefactor rather than their warden. Sarah buried her contempt — it wasn’t just herself she had to worry about, not with Emma now in her arms.
    A red-haired woman who seemed early 40s appeared behind Blake wearing all white, much like the others Sarah had seen.
    Blake turned to the red-haired woman, then to Sarah and Emma. “Ladies, this is Bernice. She’s going to show Emma around our school.”
    “School?” mom and daughter said together, surprised.
    “Yes, we have a few children here with us,” he smiled, now standing beside them. “I believe you’ll love the campus.”
    “Where are we?” Emma tugged on her grandfather’s suit jacket. “And when can we go home?”
    “You, my girl, are in a very special place. I call it The Source. You’ll know more soon, a lot more, and I promise to let you know as soon as you can go back home,” Blake smiled, “but first I need to talk to your mother while Bernice shows you around; is that OK?”
    Emma looked at her mom.
    Sarah nodded, disguising her unease. She had to stay calm, trust that if Blake brought Emma to her, he wasn’t likely to hurt her. Not now. Whatever was happening, it probably didn’t involve hurting her daughter. Sarah had to play nice, hold it together, and give Emma no reason to fear.
    “It’s OK, Honey,” Sarah said. “I’ll see you in just a bit, right?” She was asking Blake though her eyes were on Emma.
    “Of course,” he said, holding his smile. “We can share lunch in the observatory.”
    “Observatory?” Emma repeated. Even confused and clearly nervous, she held excitement in her smile.
    “Yes, the observatory,” Blake said. “You’ll love it.”
    Sarah wasn’t so sure, especially if the observatory showed Emma they were in space with Earth turning in the distance.
    Bernice draped her arm around Emma, then Sarah said goodbye, and Bernice led her from the gardens to show her the school.
    Once alone, Blake said, “May I?” waving to the empty spot beside Sarah.
    “Yes,” she said, instinctively scooting to her left as Blake sat on her right.
    “I’m sure you have questions,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, staring not at Sarah, but at the far end of the garden where a squirrel scampered across the grass. Sarah followed his gaze and stared at the squirrel.
    “Is that real?” she asked, surprised since she had seen no trace of wildlife or pets, unless you counted butterflies, of any kind on the ship, at least none she believed to be real.
    “Yes, we’re trying to introduce new life up here, as much as we can, experimenting with different blends of creatures, insects, and such. This is but one of our many ecosystems. But Sarah, is that really what you wanted to ask?”
    “No,” Sarah said. “I want to know happened to Emma. Why is she here?”
    “I had to bring her,” Blake said. “She was starting to remember too much, displaying recall she shouldn’t have.”
    “Remembering what?” Sarah said. A brick of ice pressed on her chest.
    “Memories from times we’ve brought her here before.”
    “You’ve brought Emma up here ? When? Why?”
    “Several times since she was an infant, Sarah. Same as you. I said you were important to our cause and meant it. Same with Emma.”
    “What the hell is happening here?” Sarah was growing angrier by the second, hating the monster beside her, and that she couldn’t make a scene without endangering Emma. “What gives you the right to interfere in other people’s lives?”
    “We’re not interfering,” Blake said, still holding his eyes to the squirrel rather than Sarah.
    The rodent lowered on its haunches and chewed a nut, freshly fallen from one of the garden’s many trees.
    “We’re working to save humanity. It’s part of a program started under my father, a program that will usher humanity into our next evolutionary leap, as I’ve told you already, but also a program which will allow us — you, me, your daughter — to live forever. ”
    Sarah stared at him. “Forever?”
    “Yes, forever. We’re quite close.”
    “But what if I don’t want to live forever, especially on some station up in