Twenty-Five

Jessyn awakens from her injury and begins recovering in her ship quarters. She must manage her medication cultivation, deal with questioning from Third Gardener about the attack that killed Garral Pär, and retrieve hidden contraband—a weapon and a cylinder—while concealing them from Carryx scrutiny. She discovers a draft message from Garral urging escape, which she ultimately decides to reject.

Jessyn regains consciousness in her cell aboard the Carryx ship, her body aching but her mind clearer than during her medicated haze. She finds her medication farm dead and begins the process of restarting it with starter packs. When Third Gardener arrives with Holom Coombs and Manni, the crew's attitudes toward her are subdued, likely because they believe Garral Pär died in the attack. Third Gardener interrogates Jessyn about the incident in the caves, and she provides a cover story: she and Garral were exploring outside the evacuation perimeter seeking privacy when they were attacked by an enemy creature, which was subsequently killed. Third Gardener presses for details but ultimately allows her to return to work, providing a new notebook.

Later, Jessyn makes her way to her research site in the orchard despite physical weakness. She discovers the gun she used during the staged attack lying exposed in the mud and retrieves it. She locates the cylinder she had hidden beneath a rock and leaves both items concealed nearby, deciding the risk of carrying them back to the ship is too great given Third Gardener's current vigilance.

At her equipment station, Jessyn finds a draft message from Garral hidden in her old notebook. He has survived and located a new camp, urging her to escape with him and promising safety and a better life. The message affects her deeply—she briefly fantasizes about fleeing with him to a new existence among other humans in the stars. However, she ultimately decides against escape, erasing his message. Her reason is unspoken but implied: she must stay to complete her mission of revealing the truth about the deathless enemy to Dafyd Alkhor and others on the world-palace, a secret she alone possesses. She resolves to continue her botanical research as cover.