“What about Mistress?”
“Oh, ha ha. You think this is funny?”
“No, I don’t. None of this is funny.”
“They want to kill my mother and enslave me. They want to desecrate your planet. You can do something about it. What are you going to do about it?”
“John…if I help you…”
“Yes?”
“You must stop all this mind control. Stop being such a bastard. Let Anna go. Stop trying to enslave me through sex. All of that.”
“Desperate times…”
“Yes, I get that, John, but it has to stop now. I can help you without your having to do all that. Is it a deal?”
John sucked at his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“But I like being a bastard,” he moaned.
Mimi laughed, despite herself. By now, the nurse had given up trying to understand any of this and was playing a game on his mobile phone.
“If what you’ve just told me is true,” Mimi continued gently, “and that’s a big if! If it’s true, I’m on your side. I’ve got you that meeting with Merchant. You stand a chance of pulling this off, as long as you get out of here. Take Anna out of the equation—let her stay with Liam, let them get together, let her be happy.”
“What about my child?”
“We’ve months and months to sort something out about the child. It’s not urgent. What’s urgent is the machine.”
“Right. So you’ll get me out of here.”
“Wait. I need insurance. I know you, John, so I know not to trust you.”
“What kind of insurance? Why did I ever get involved with you? Anna would have done what I told her to.”
“You can’t resist me, it seems. And nobody listens to Anna. They listen to me.”
“Don’t push your luck. Go on then. Insurance. What do you need?”
“Luana.”
“You can’t ask me to use my mother as a pawn in this game. She is vulnerable. Her age made the transference to humanoid problematic. She can’t interpret as well as I can, and she needs to stay out of this system’s sun. You don’t understand her needs. I can’t agree t
o that.”
“Then I can’t help you.”
“Miranda, name anything else.”
“There isn’t anything else. I’m not talking about mistreating her. I’m talking about keeping her somewhere safe while you finish the machine.”
“Then let her stay at the house. Take the attic keys and keep her there.”
“Not good enough.”
“I have a compromise for you. The child. Anna’s child. If I prove untrustworthy, she can take it and keep it. How’s that?”
“What is the child to you?”