Rachel DycekNot even Boris’s childish tantrum could break Rachel’s concentration as she stared at the rounded abdomen of the adin woman, the protective, polymerized skin stretched tight. Cora wore a too-large overall, which had probably been fitted for one of the burly adin men, but it could not obscure her pregnancy.
A baby on Mars! The thought sent Rachel’s perspective reeling, and she felt her emotions warring with each other over how to react. Should she be delighted, or horrified?
Cora Marisovna’s hooded eyes were shadowed, masked by protective lashes. In the back of her memories Rachel remembered a frightened young Siberian girl with glistening black hair and Mongolian features, ushered into the testing labs under the combined coercion of mother and grandmother. Rachel had focused
