CARIAD WALKED THROUGH the corridors of the Mistral to the bridge, where the second-in-command of the Nova Fortuna had taken control. Addleson was reclining in the captain’s chair where the Guardian Faina had once sat. Addleson was a very different character from the cold, aloof android. He was suave and convivial and had a penchant for luxury. Cariad wasn’t sure where the man’s traits had come from. They weren’t ones she had deliberately selected for among those that were genetically heritable. Perhaps they were an unforeseen expression of certain genes or were conjoined with other attributes. Though Cariad had been at the top of her field when she’d departed Earth, the discipline of genetics still held mysteries neither she nor other experts had managed to solve.
“Cariad,” Addleson said
