The beep was soft, barely loud enough to hear, but it woke Kayo without a problem. It was designed to do that. Beside her, Virgil slept on, the same beep equally designed not to wake him. In fact, he didn’t even know of its existence. Kayo planned to keep it that way. Slipping out of bed, she padded naked and barefoot out of the room and closed the door behind her. Secure in the knowledge of the room’s soundproofing she grabbed her comms and, keeping both her voice and the volume low, answered John’s summons. The clock on the wall said 3.26am. “Kayo?” “This better not be a rescue, John.” The pause at the other end of the line confirmed her suspicions. “No, I’m sorry. He is not going out.” “Kayo, you know I wouldn’t ask if I had a choice.” “There is no choice involved. You can’t ask him this.” “Honestly, I don’t want to, but his engineering knowledge and equipment are needed.” “Send Brains.” He fell silent. “John, he is exhausted and in pain. He is not going.” Final word. “Copy that.” The line went dead. She sighed. Virgil would not be happy, but he would just have […]