CARIAD’S CAREFUL MANEUVERING to be the first Woken Aubriot spoke to as soon as he was revived had also brought her excessively under the man’s scrutiny. On balance, however, she didn’t regret her move. It meant that when he demanded to be taken planetside, she could go too. Anahi didn’t dare try to prevent Aubriot from doing exactly whatever he wanted, so when Cariad told her that Aubriot was traveling to the surface and she was going along, she didn’t protest.
Aubriot’s initial energetic recovery after his revival had been short-lived. Extreme weakness soon assailed him and had plagued the man for weeks. He had undergone intensive rehabilitation, as if he’d been in a serious accident. Re-learning gross and fine motor skills had taken up much of his time. Yet all the while, the man’s mind
