The Back of the Turtle

Mara sits on the veranda on her house, missing her mother and grandmother. She is a talented artist but has been stuck working on the same portrait for months due to her depression. She decides she’ll go to the reserve the next day to remember the residents who’ve died.

After his keynote speech, Dorian goes to dinner alone at his favorite restaurant since his wife Olivia is visiting friends in Orlando. When he tries to pay for the meal, his credit card is blocked. Dorian knows this is the work of the Zebras.

At Beatrice Hot Springs, Crisp submerges himself in the cold pool. He ponders the “Jabberwocks” who have come back to town, trying for a second time to pitch an oil pipeline. Despite the nuisance, he feels hopeful. Now that Mara, Soldier, and Gabriel are here, he believes that “at last, it [has] begun” (85).

On the way to Domidion the next day, Dorian returns a call from his physician, Dr. Toshi, and is told to come in urgently to discuss the results of his recent bloodwork. At the office, he meets with Dr. Thicke, who worked under Gabriel in Biological Oversight. A few months ago, Dr. Thicke noticed a strange folder on Gabriel’s desk with “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” written across it.