Sven made sure the women answered his questions quickly. He slapped their faces whenever they hesitated or veered off subject. He expected them to play for time. At any moment, their controllers could fall asleep and reconnect with the reality of the New World. The settlement the women came from was illegal, so it was a fair bet their controllers had lots of extra implant kits stashed away. They would be quick to kill their New World replicas when they realized what was going on.
Throughout the interrogation, he kept working on a thin, straight branch with his knife. He stripped off the bark, and whittled down one end to a blunt, rounded point. He cut a long, slanted barb a thumb's length below the point. He made the barb very sharp.
The women quickly told him the basics: their names, when the village they'd called Edefors was founded - within a few days of the catastrophe! They'd entered the New World simultaneously with Sven's Vikings.
