The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
The Guild Master’s General returns Katherine to the safety of the Kyuunansen ship, after showing her a future world, which resembled heaven. (This issue is dedicated to my dad, Eric Moore, who died 25 years ago today, the day after my 21st Birthday. Alexand and Heyem were (or will be) born on 2nd December, so this day represents both death and life. Love outlasts death.)
It has been a long time since the Guild Master’s General checked up on Katherine. He has been ordered to return her writer to her, so that she is no longer confined to the Kyuunansen.
Katherine, and Ajeeta Kothari have spent a month attempting to isolate the antibodies responsible for immunity in their three blood samples.
Katherine has had five blissful uninterrupted weeks on her own, working in her laboratory. She has even made a makeshift bed on the chair, so as not to be disturbed by anyone, anywhere on the Kyuunansen, as she struggles tirelessly with her research into the Amanojuko’s virus.
Katherine has grown impatient and as the fifth day of her recovery approaches, post-surgery, she is curious to peek out of her bandages, to find out if she can see properly, and more importantly, gain access to her laboratory. (This story is dedicated to my mum, as it is her birthday very soon. My mum, Barbara, is one of the kindest, wisest, warmest, happiness-inducing and funniest people I have ever known, and as some readers know, Alexand Merek is very loosely based on her, although Mum would probably disagree. Happy Birthday Mum, I love you so much xxx)
It is time for Katherine to undergo the operation to restore her eyesight. She has insisted on being conscious, as her curiosity about the advanced science outweighs any fear.
Katherine has spent the past few weeks under Ajeeta Kothari’s strict rehabilitation programme, and her recovery has accelerated. She has been waiting to undergo an operation to restore her eyesight. There is a day to go, and she is getting impatient. (This issue is dedicated to Margot Kidder, one of my childhood heroes. You always were and will ever be the best, the funniest, gutsiest, most unpredictably brilliant and warmest, Lois Lane.)
An hour later, Jay and Katherine sit in a very empty bar, attempting to make sense of the shrinking world outside the ship.
Ajeeta Kothari escorts Katherine towards her shared laboratory, where research is being conducted into cloning, which has been illegalised on the mainland, by Amanojuko infiltrators within the governments around the world. Although Katherine remains suspicious of Kothari, Samira Ganesh has assessed she poses no threat to Kothari, and has left them to walk alone together towards the cloning lab.
After defecting to the resistance, and being given asylum on board the Kyuunansen, by President Asenath Bomani, Ajeeta Kothari was invited to work as part of a team of scientists developing cloning technology. Cloning had been illegalised in the shrinking world outside this ship. Ajeeta Kothari has been instructed to wait for her first patient, who arrived this afternoon.
