--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO TOUCH THE STARS          
                            
Part 1: `No Clemency'     
                            
Nicole Gustas              
                         

"`They're threatening to take my wife and        
daughter away now.  I've done nothing wrong!
 I can't let them hurt my family because I don't  
agree with the way they're treating the Gifteds.       
 I thought freedom of speech was protected!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAMSIN AND JAYSEN SAT IN A DARKENED CORNER OF THE BAR, LISTENING TO THE nervous man beg for help. Jaysen leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, and focused his mind on the man. He left the conversation to his partner, who leaned forward intently, her long red hair hanging around her face. 

"They're threatening to take my wife and daughter away now. I've done nothing wrong! I can't let them hurt my family because I don't agree with the way they're treating the Gifteds. I thought freedom of speech was protected!" 

"It was," said Tamsin darkly, "until the coup three years ago." 

"I'll give you twenty thousand Weltmarks to get me and my family off the planet. Just take us away to the nearest spaceport -- we'll find our way from there." 

"We'll get you out. We'll bring you to Maris. But you have to leave all your posessions behind except what you can carry in a shouldersac. Any more than that, and they'll know something's up," Tamsin said forcefully. 

"Fine. Anything. Just so long as you take us with you. Where will we meet you?" 

"We'll meet you. We'll give you three hour's notice. But it will be within the next week." 

"Let me give you my address..." 

Tamsin stopped him with a gesture. "We have it." 

"How did you get it?" the man asked. 

"We do our research. We had to make sure you weren't sent from the government to nail us." Jaysen could only see her hair, but he could imagine her expression, her green eyes turning to iron. 

"But I didn't give you my name!" 

"We know how to find that out, too." The man looked shaken, and Tamsin's voice softened. "Don't worry, we'll get you out. But we have to be careful, too. Go home, make plans with your wife, and forget about us until we come." 

The man left, murmuring expressions of gratitude. Tamsin and Jaysen departed five minutes later, playing the role of drunken shipmates, and staggered back to their ship at Arcadia spaceport. Tamsin dropped the act as soon as they were safely in their ship and turned to Jaysen, switching to the rapid urban patois of their youth, nearly unintelligable to outsiders. "Jayce, what do you think?" 

He tried to let his mind relax. "What do youthink?" 

"I'm thick as a stone, remember? You're the one with the Gift. So what did you get from him?" 

They entered the galley and Jaysen sat down in one of the cushioned chairs. "He was tense, but he seemed to be telling the truth -- at least on the surface." He leaned back, brushed his hands over his face, and then massaged his temples, trying to forestall the oncoming headache. He was very nervous. Their organization, Ground Zero, officially a shipping consortium, provided a front for many dissident activities. Tamsin was depending on him to make sure the people they helped escape from the planet could be trusted. He couldn't afford to make a mistake on who they selected. He and Tamsin were the only pilots Ground Zero had, and if they were caught, it would put an end to any efforts Ground Zero could make on Narid. "Gods, Kalin chose a terrible time to be sick! She's the one with the potent Gift. She should have been doing the readings on this trip, not me. Just doing a surface scan on that guy is giving me a reaction headache." 

"Hang on a minute." Tamsin went over to the kitchen area. Jaysen watched her muscles shift under the loose white blouse, black leather vest, leather breeches, and knee-high leather boots that both had adopted as Ground Zero's uniform. Even in someplace as unthreatening as their ship, whch she thought of as home, she moved like a cat, prepared to attack at the slightest sign of danger. She'd been like that ever since they were children. While Jaysen had managed to put aside their childhood the two friends had survived in Tiburon, one of the worst areas on Narid, Tamsin could never forget. She was still constantly on the alert for an attack, years after they'd escaped that metropolitan hellhole to go to university. The only concession she'd made to their relative safety was her hair. Long hair had been a disadvantage in streetfights, but she'd stopped shaving her head soon after they got to university, where there was no need, and she hadn't had it cut since. 

She pulled a few bottles out and mixed various liquids together, then came back with a foamy, emerald-green drink that matched the color of her eyes. "Drink this-- it should help your headache." 

Jaysen looked at the drink suspiciously. "Alcohol will just make it worse, you know. Besides, I'm nauseous enough already." 

Tamsin pushed the drink closer. "It's full of sugar, Jaysen -- no alcohol. You feel sick because your blood sugar level has fallen down around your knees." 

Jaysen took a sip. It was sweet, but not overly so, and had a pleasant taste of mint to it. "What is this?" 

"An Orion Nebula. It'll settle your stomach; then we can get some food in you." She looked at him worriedly, then patted his arm. "I'm glad one of us paid attention to all Chas's lectures. You have to watch yourself when you use your Gift; it's as taxing as running a marathon. When you're done, you have to eat and rest, or else you'll collapse from exhaustion." She moved behind him and began gently massaging his neck and shoulders. Her long fingers were equally skilled soothing a balky engine or a sore human body. "But the more you use your talent, the more you'll be able to use it. Remember what he says -- `when you're exhausted, it's good. It means you're building up your mind muscles'" 

"I should have practiced more when we were in school," said Jaysen. His Gift was minimal, compared to many of his classmates, and he'd had no desire to train it at University. He'd spent his time in flight simulators. Tamsin insisted that it was that extra time he'd spent, while she was busy taking engineering classes, that had allowed him to surpass her in their piloting exams. 

Tamsin dug into his tight muscles, and he gave himself up to her hands. "No one thought you'd need the training. Who could have guessed the government would start putting Gifteds in concentration camps? By avoiding the classes, you probably kept yourself from being arrested." 

Jaysen shook his sandy hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, but if I had taken the classes, I might have a better chance of keeping us from being arrested now." He finished off his drink, and felt less nauseous, and a little less worried. 

"Let's go," said Tamsin, patting him on the shoulder. As he got up to leave, she reminded him, "We'll be gone from here in three days. Next time, Kalin will be well enough to go with us. You're doing fine." She squeezed his hand quickly, then let go. "This is going to be another easy run for the Ground Zero shipping consortium and underground railroad. Just stop worrying, kid, or you'll give yourself an ulcer." 

Three days later, everything went as planned prior to takeoff. Tamsin brought the refugees, fourteen in all, to the Arcadia spaceport, and ferried them into a refurbished cargo bay on the ship which had soundproof walls and chairs that would make the acceleration out of the planet's gravity well a little easier. After making sure the refugees were comfortable, she climbed up to the cockpit, where Jaysen was sitting back in his chair, playing with a small box wrapped in shiny paper. 

"Another gift for Manda from her father?" asked Tamsin as she strapped herself in. 

"Of course. Since she defected, we're the only way he can get anything to her." He secured the box in a storage cabinet above his head. 

"You know, I never thought I'd be glad to have rich and powerful friends 

"With rich and powerful parents?" replied Jaysen. 

Tamsin smiled wryly. She had met Manda at university, where they had been roomates their first year. After Manda realized Tamsin wasn't going to kill her, and Tamsin realized Manda wasn't evil for being rich, they became close friends. Manda's father, Kerna N'tali, was one of the few opposition politicians who hadn't been wiped out by the new ruling junta, and he was rapidly becoming the focal point of dissident activities. He was Ground Zero's main contact to find out what was happening on their former home planet. 

"He wished us luck," said Jaysen. 

"Great. We're gonna need it." Tamsin was only nervous when they were about to leave Narid. She ran through her mental checklist five times. She'd taken care of everything, but she still worried something would go wrong. She looked over at her friend, who was smiling as he punched in the final commands before liftoff, his shaggy blond hair hanging in his gray eyes. She had always been jealous of the way he could lose himself in the mechanics of spaceflight; some part of her brain always seemed to be distracting her with the latest worry at times like this. He looked over at her and gently pressed on her nose, a habit from when they were children. "Stop worrying, or you'll give yourself an ulcer," he said with a grin. 

She grimaced. "How can you be so calm?" 

He turned back to his console. "We're at the point of no return. Nowhere to go but up. Besides, they can't board us now." 

The videoscreen came to life, showing the face of a woman in the control tower. "Ground Zero, you are cleared to depart." 

"Thanks, Freyja. And thanks for your hospitality yesterday," grinned Jaysen. 

"My pleasure," smiled Freyja. "Hope you're not too tired. See you the next time you come to port?" 

"Of course," said Jaysen. 

"Good journey, Jaysen," she said, and winked out. 

Tamsin raised one eyebrow. "So! I was wondering where you were last night. No wonder you're so relaxed." 

Jaysen shrugged, and continued to grin. "It's always a good idea to make friends with people at the spaceport." 

"Friends?" asked Tamsin. 

"Well, you know. Just playing the role of the randy space pilot." 

"Oh, and what a hardship it must be for you," said Tamsin sarcastically. 

"You're just jealous." 

"Maybe a little. She was pretty cute. I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers," replied Tamsin. 

"I meant of her," shot back Jaysen. 

"What, for sleeping with you?" Tamsin turned back to her controls, starting the final countdown. They'd teased each other like this for years. Its familiarity calmed her in these final seconds. "Sorry for her, maybe, but not jealous." She pressed one last button. "Takeoff in five -- four -- three -- two -- one..." 

The thrusters roared beneath them, cutting off Jason's tart retort, and they were pressed back into their seats. After a few seconds, the pressure eased and artificial gravity stabilized at 1.2 Gs, approximately the same as Marisian gravity. Jaysen tapped his console. "Moving into standard orbit. Laying in a course for planet Maris at 41' 22" by 33'13" by 18'40". We will leave orbit at oh-five fourteen, ship's time. Estimated time of arrival at Maris main spaceport, twenty-six thirty-four Marisian time. Journey time, sixty eight hours, fifty minutes." 

"All systems appear normal," replied Tamsin. "We're on our way home." 

Jaysen unstrapped himself and made his way to the storage cabinets behind the cockpits. He pulled out a small rectangle, slightly longer than his hand and about four centimeters thick, and handed it to Tamsin. "Here. I figure it's time to celebrate." 

Tamsin peeled the copper-colored paper from the package, and inhaled sharply in surprise when she saw the label inside. "It's real chocolate! Neuhaus! But that's from Terra!" 

Jaysen grinned. "It helps to have powerful friends in high places." 

Tamsin put her nose against the paper and smelled the rich, wonderful smell of real chocolate. Very few planets had biospheres that could support the cocoa bean, and as a result, chocolate was a pricy delicacy. It was also Tamsin's favorite food. She shut her eyes and immersed herself in 

the glorious scent. 

"Well, aren't you going to unwrap it?" asked Jaysen impatiently. 

She shook her head, eyes still closed. "I'm saving it. I'm going to have one square a night, just before I go to bed, until it runs out." 

Jaysen gave an annoyed sigh. Then he spoke, and she could hear the grin in her friend's voice. "You know, legend has it chocolate is an aphrodisiac." 

Tamsin opened her eyes. "So?" 

"So, do I get to tuck you in at night?" said Jaysen with a practiced leer. 

Tamsin grabbed the wrapping paper off the floor and threw it at him as he laughed. "Not bloody likely, you..." 

She stopped as a light began to flash on her console. "Signal's been initiated from below, directly down to the government compound." Her fingers danced over her computer pad. "I'm trying to block it -- matching frequencies..." 

She caught the signal as she set up interference. They could both hear the audio-only signal. "Attention, federal government of Narid! This ship holds fourteen Gifteds trying to escape criminal prosecution. It must not be allowed --" 

Tamsin matched frequencies and blocked the signal. "Signal stopped. It came from cargo hold 3." She tried to turn on the surveillance cameras in the hold. "Cameras in the hold have been deactivated. This guy is good." 

Jaysen looked over his sensor readings. "Signal's been detected. Five fighters coming up from the government compound. On their present course, they will intercept us in eleven minutes." 

"Not if I have anything to say about it," snapped Tamsin. "Changing course. We are now on an elliptical heading to our system departure point. That should throw them off for a few minutes." 

"They're recalibrating. Interception estimated in sixteen minutes." 

Tamsin brought up the weapons commands on her computer screen, powering up the lasers. "Weapons warming up. Online in four minutes." She unstrapped herself from her seat. "We'll reach our departure point three minutes after they intercept. Hold them off that long, and we can warp out of the system without wiping out Narid in the process." Tamsin strapped a laser gun around her waist. "After that, there's no way they can catch up to us. I'm going below to find out what the hell's going on." 

"I'll track you with the surveillance cameras." 

"Yeah, like he hasn't gotten to them first." She grabbed a small silver cylinder from a locker and pinned it to her shirt. "I'm taking a comunit." 

She raced out the cockpit and down the stairs, her red braid flying behind her. She made a quick survey of the mess and crew quarter levels, then continued quickly down to the cargo levels. "Tamsin, I can't see you," Jaysen said over the comunit. 

"Yeah, now the fun begins." She surveyed the corridor. "He must have knocked out the video in this area." 

"Do you know how?" 

"Honey, the vidunits are as big as my smallest finger. I'd need a microscope to find the damage." She continued down toward Engineering, hurtling down the stairs. "I just want to make sure he doesn't wreck anything else." 

Jaysen's voice came over her comunit, sounding anxious. "We're losing power!" 

"I'm not surprised," she said, as she rushed toward the door of Engineering. "He had a real head start on us." The door slid open and she drew her gun. The gun was just a threat; one bad shot and she'd destroy the engine, and with it, the ship. Most people didn't know that, though. 

She scanned the room. Shards sparkled on the floor, the remnants of a power receptor. Tamsin swore softly. Repairs would not be simple. "Jayce, he shattered at least one power receptor. He must have a laser cutter. The engines powered down as a safety precaution. I can juryrig something -- run the power through the ones we have left -- and that will give us enough power to get us a few parsecs out of the system, if it doesn't blow first. That'll take fifteen minutes." 

"Tamsin, we don't have fifteen minutes. Interception time is now estimated at six minutes. We've got maneuvering jets, but we don't even have enough power to cook a turkey with our lasers." 

"Distract them. Try tap dancing or something." She put Jaysen out of her mind as she tried to figure out where their saboteur was hiding. She couldn't see him in the room, but he couldn't have gotten past her on the ship's only staircase. Since the power had just gone down, it was logical that he'd be in Engineering. She threw open the storage cabinets one by one. The first five held tools. When she opened the sixth, a blur of yellow flew out at her. She fell back onto the floor, and the gun flew out of her hand and under a console. She rolled, narrowly avoiding a blow to the stomach, and sprang to her feet. Her wrists snapped back in a practiced gesture, and two organic blades shot out. She'd had them implanted when she was fourteen and living in Tiburon; it was the best way she could think of to protect herself from the streetgangs, as they couldn't be wrested away and used against her. She looked at the man across from her. He was the nervous man from the bar, but he wasn't looking nervous now, just bloodthirsty. He had a lasercutter in one hand, smaller than any she'd ever seen. The cutter was a great tool for any repair person, but with a few modifications, it was also a dangerous weapon. 

"That's not one of ours," said Tamsin. 

"No, I brought it with me. It fits well in a shouldersac." 

Tamsin circled him, putting herself between him and the engine. "Deep cover?" 

He shrugged. "Hypnotic blocks. All it takes is a few trigger words to bring out the hidden personality." 

"So now your wife has a new husband." 

"She's had one for months. A new cover even a Gifted couldn't detect. Amazing, huh?" 

He moved toward her, powering up the cutter. Tamsin dropped and rolled, but not fast enough to avoid the beam, which grazed her left side. She decided she'd deal with the pain later. When she came out of her roll, she found herself almost directly under the man. She stabbed up, putting one knife deep into his thigh As he grasped at his leg, she withdrew the knife from his thigh and slashed at the arm which held the cutter. Blood ran from his arm, but he still held on. She could hear Jaysen's voice, asking her what was happening. In desperation, she threw herself against the man, pushing him against a console, and retracted the knives back into her arms so she could grab him. She slammed his arm frantically against the edge of the console once, twice. The third time, there was a dry snapping sound. His arm hung at a crazy angle, the radius and ulna shattered. The cutter flew against the wall and shattered, more shiny crystals on the floor. 

Tamsin slammed the man's head against 

the console once, and he fell unconscious. She threw him down on the floor; she'd tie him up later. "I've taken care of the guy. Now I'm going to get to work on the engines," she said. 

"Are you hurt?" asked Jaysen. 

"Just bruised," she said. She didn't want him to have anything else to worry about. She sat down at the main control panel and started rerouting the power through the remaining receptors. It was tricky -- if she tried to put too much juice through one, it could backwash and burn out the whole engine. "Rerouting power now. He only blew out two power receptors; temporary repairs will be done in eight minutes." 

"The ship will reach its departure point in ten. It's set to autopilot. Fightercraft departing docking bay in thirty seconds." 

Tamsin got a cold feeling in her stomach. "Jayse, what are you doing?" 

She could hear laughter in his voice. "Distracting them. Fightercraft departing in twenty seconds." 

Her fingers continued to skip over the control panel, giving the computer commands. "There are five of them. I hadn't realized you were actively suicidal." 

"I was tops in our class, remember?" he said lightheartedly. He was always euphoric during a launch, or during a fight. "These guys don't hold a candle to me. Launch in five -- four -- three -- two -- one --" The ship shuddered slightly as he left the docking bay. "I'll be back before you hit warp." 

Tamsin tried to put him out of her mind as she worked to get the power rerouted. 

Adrenalin thrilled through Jaysen's bloodstream as his fighter slipped out into the stars. He looped around the ship and darted above it, looking for his first target. A fighter hovered about two kilometers from the bow of the ship. The shots were coming from that 'craft; the other four were orienting themselves around the ship. As he moved toward the first fighter, which was the most immediate threat to the ship, he tried to place what seemed odd about the way the fighters were moving. He bore down on the first fighter from above at a crazy angle. The fighter didn't move; it just kept firing at the ship. "Cocky bastard," snarled Jaysen as he thumbed the trigger to his lasers. The moment he came into range, he fired twice. The enemy fighter exploded silently, pieces flying in all directions. In his quieter moments, Jaysen was always amazed a life could end so quietly, without fireworks and noise. He pulled up and set his sights on another fighter. 

As he moved in on the second fighter, he realized what was so odd about the way the fighters were deployed. Rather than ranging all around the ship, they were arrayed on one plane, as if they were fighting on land. "Idiots!" he yelled as he saw the ships turn ponderously, trying to find the enemy. Like most military morons, he thought, they had no idea what three-dimensional fighting was like. The second 'craft managed to get off a few shots, all of which fell wide of the mark. He destroyed it quickly, ignoring for now thoughts of the pilot inside, and looped around, noting how the battle had drawn the other three fighters away from the starship. 

The three fighters began to close around him, trying to surround him. He laughed. "You're still thinking in two dimensions." He pulled up and circled above the fighters, coming down behind them and destroying one before it had the chance to react. He immediately pulled into a steep turn, dodging the last two 'crafts. 

One was limping. Apparently, the pilot had overstressed the engine. Jaysen discounted him. The other had followed him into the turn. Jaysen executed a series of fast maneuvers, designed to shake off another pilot. Tamsin had enhanced the speed and maneuverability of their fighter, making it a match for any Naridian craft. A tight turn brought Jaysen behind the 'craft, and he fired on it. His shot crippled the fighter, but didn't destroy it. He turned around, moving in for the kill. 

The other 'craft moved behind him. Jaysen saw it and tried to dodge, turning quickly. As he turned, the fighter fired off a shot that grazed his 'craft. 

The gravity controls were knocked out by the blast. Pressure inside the fighter reached 7 Gs. Jaysen was still stabbing at the controls as he blacked out. 

Tamsin reached the bridge in time to see Jaysen's fighter take the hit. He didn't seem to be severely damaged, but his ship was drifting. "Jaysen, come in, please respond," she barked over the radio. No reply. She linked her computer to the one on Jaysen's fighter, firing shots at the two predator 'craft circling as she did so. When she saw the results, she swore. No gravity in his fighter, but it had briefly shot up to damn near eight Gs. He must have blacked out. She locked her computer in with the fighter's, and began giving it commands to bring it in. 

One of the enemy fighters got lucky. He fired off a shot that knocked out her external communications unit, and she lost her link to the fighter. She slammed her hand against the console. "This isn't fair!" 

Nothing to do but try another idea. The two craft were closing in on Jaysen's fighter, preparing to physically link to it and take it back to the planet. Tamsin readied a cable, one they occasionally used to grab asteroids loaded with precious metals. She laid out a string of commands, preparing to use it to drag Jaysen's fighter in. It was a long shot, but worth a try. 

As she finished the macro, and shot a few more times to dissuade the enemy 'crafts, she heard the engines suddenly roar. Her blood ran cold. "No..." 

Jaysen had programmed the autopilot perfectly. While she'd been working on getting his fighter back, the ship had drifted to its departure point. She looked up and saw the stars begin to blur. She tried to halt the command, but knew the engines were past the point where they could be stopped. 

"No!" she shouted in horror. "Jaysen!" 

The ship went into warp and left the system as the two Naridian fighters closed in on Jaysen's 'craft. Tamsin crumpled into a chair, despairing, finally feeling the pain of her wound, as the beauty of the stars streaked around her. 

Interlude 

Jaysen rose out of unconsciousness with great difficulty, fighting through thick waves of blackness. He felt woozy as he opened up his eyes. It took a few seconds for them to focus. When they did, he saw Tamsin sitting at his bedside, engrossed in a book. 

"Tam?" he said, his voice harsh and raspy from disuse. 

She started and looked at him with a smile, putting the book down on his bedtable. "You're finally awake. I was getting worried." 

"What happened?" he asked, his memory still foggy. Nothing seemed quite right. 

"The gravity control on your fighter went haywire. The high Gs knocked you out. When we hauled you in, we found 

there was a problem with the oxygen mix, too. You're lucky we got you back." 

"How long have I been out?" asked Jaysen, still disoriented. 

"About three days." She took his hand. "I was worried about you." 

He reached up the other hand to brush the copper hair out of her face. "Tam, I...I'm glad you were worried about me." 

She held his hand against her cheek for a moment, with her eyes closed. "I didn't want to lose you," she said. She turned her head slightly and kissed the back of his hand. 

Jaysen looked at her, stunned. That gentle kiss was the strongest affection she'd ever expressed toward him. Things were happening too fast. He brushed his free hand against her cheek. "Tam..." 

"I was so afraid I'd lost you," she said, as she leaned over and kissed him. 

He wrapped his arms around a dream come true. He kissed her back and traced her neck with his hand. He moved her shirt, reaching to trace the scar that ran down her shoulder. 

His fingers found only silky, smooth skin. He pushed her away from him, confused. "What's wrong, Jaysen?" she asked, as he turned away from her. 

His eyes fell on the spine of the book on the bedtable. It was a collection of twenty-third century deconstructivist poems, something Tamsin would never read. He turned back to the woman and searched her face. He could see small differences; she looked too young, almost like Tamsin did her last year in college. Her hair was too short, and her eyes were blue, not green. Her open shirt was askew, and he could see only smooth skin where there should be multiple scars. This wasn't Tamsin. 

She mistook his look for desire. "Jaysen, come here," she said, reaching toward him. 

He knocked her arm away, then backhanded her. "Who the hell are you?" he yelled as she fell to the floor. She backed into a corner and cowered. If he'd had any doubt about who she was, that proved it. Tamsin would already have torn him apart, especially in his present condition. 

He kneeled over her and grabbed her by the hair. He wanted to kill her, but he needed information first. "Who are you? What's going on?" 

He suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of dizziness and fell to the floor. All the pieces suddenly came together. 

Drugs. They're giving me drugs. 

He heard voices in the distance. 

"What went wrong?" 

"I don't know. The stats we have on her must be wrong in some way." 

"We've touched a nerve somehow. We should use her again." 

Jaysen remembered everything Chas had ever told them about government interrogation. "Don't think they can't break you, because they will. They'll use anything they can to get a hold on you. Start telling lies right away. That way, when you get to the truth, they won't believe you." As he fell back into unconsciousness, he kept repeating in his mind Don't think they can't break you, because they will... 

And don't trust Tamsin. Don't trust Tamsin. Don't trust Tamsin... 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO TOUCH THE STARS   
            
Part 2: `Dancing on Tenterhooks'   

Nicole Gustas   
                
"The man paced like a caged wildcat in the locked cabin. His right arm hung 
uselessly at his side, the forearm swinging slightly at the midpoint, bone 
showing through a gap in the skin. He didn't seem aware of the pain."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Livana arranged Tamsin's unconscious body as comfortably as she could, then ran down to check on the refugees. She was relieved when she found no one had been injured in the extremely rough landing. She directed them up to the galley and rushed to the door. She opened it and saw two men running toward the spaceship with a number of medical personnel trailing behind them. As the two men came to the door, she pulled out a blaster and trained it on them, a cold sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The danger wasn't at an end yet. She couldn't let them board the ship until she was sure who they were. 

"Stand and deliver," she called to them, then waited breathlessly for their response to the code. 

"Your money or your life," said the shorter one with bronzed skin and curly brown hair. "We're from Ground Zero." He rushed up the stairs and into the ship, the tall, bearded darker one close on his heels. "I'm Chas El Andar, head of the hospital here. This is Troy Guthridge. Who are you? Where are Tamsin and Jaysen?" 

Livana rushed along beside them, trotting to keep up with their long legs. "I'm Livana. I've been helping out on the ship, keeping the refugees organized and trying to get Tamsin to rest. She's extremely ill. She passed out just after the landing. I don't know where Jaysen is." 

"What are Tamsin's symptoms?" asked Chas, taking the stairs two at a time. 

"She has an extremely resilient strain of gangrene. I haven't seen it before. It's resistant to the broad-based antibiotics you have on board this ship. I've tried to help the antibodies breed, but I haven't had any luck. If you put me in touch with your chief genetic engineer, we can design an antibody that should put it out of commission." Livana gasped out the last few words, out of breath from hoisting her heavy body up the steps even in the relatively light gravity. 

"You were able to analyze the infection that closely with the instruments we had on board?" Chas asked skeptically. 

"No one could do that. It's my Gift; I can link with a patient and view the infecting cells that way." 

Chas stopped and, for the first time, she felt, really looked at her. "Doctor Livana Oduvai! I've read your papers on substance-induced tachyocardia!" He shook her hand quickly, then continued rushing toward the bridge, now within view. "It's a pleasure to have you here. I hope I can encourage you to join our staff; we're always looking for more medical doctors." 

They reached the top of the stairs and Chas threw open the door. Livana could see one pale, waxy hand hanging from the pilot's chair. Chas tapped his comunit. "I need a stretcher on the bridge immediately." He knelt by her and turned the chair. 

Tamsin's face looked like a mask; her skin and lips were the same drained white. She didn't move as Chas lifted one eyelid and shone a small light into her eye. "Absolutely no reaction. She's sunk into a comatose state." 

A nurse leading an antigrav stretcher came to the door. "Help me get her on there," Chas ordered. With Troy's help, Chas and the nurse gently lifted Tamsin onto the stretcher. "Bring her to the intensive care unit in the quarantine section; start her on amoximyacin immediately. Take her blood and get Kazimir Raudanitis to start immediately on crafting an antibody. She's infected with a new strain of gangrene. I'll be sending someone to assist him in a few minutes. Tell him to use the large lab in the quarantine section. He can bring in any of the techs he wants." The nurse nodded and sped down the stairs, maneuvering the antigrav stretcher skillfully. Livana stood against the wall, out of the rush of action. 

Troy tapped his comunit. "We need Layten or Zach up here immediately to access the computer and get the logs. We have to find out what happened to Jaysen." 

Chas turned to Livana. "Where are the rest of the refugees? We need to put them in the quarantine units." 

"I told them to go to the galley. They're waiting for directions." 

Chas turned to Troy. "Get those refugees into the quarantine units; I have some doctors there ready to process them." 

"You need to send some guards here, as well," Livana said. Chas and Troy looked at her, confused. She straightened her shoulders. "We have a prisoner down in crew cabin D." 

The man paced like a caged wildcat in the locked cabin. His right arm hung uselessly at his side, the forearm swinging slightly at the midpoint, bone showing through a gap in the skin. He didn't seem aware of the pain. 

"He attacked Tamsin down in the engine room with a laser cutter. She broke his arm to get it away from him," Livana told Chas. "He destroyed one of the power receptors. Tamsin rerouted the power, but had to continually manually stabilize it to keep the ship going." 

"What else did he do?" asked Chas. 

"He brought a transmitter on board with him. After we launched, he broadcast our position. I gather some fighters came after us. I wanted to treat his arm, but every time I came near him, he attacked me." She ignored the bile that came up her throat at the memory of him rushing toward her, blood in his eyes. 

Chas shook his head. "I can't believe Tamsin and Jaysen could have such poor judgment! They know as well as anyone else how cautious we have to be." 

"Don't blame them. He was imprisoned by the government and `reeducated'. They embedded a second personality that was triggered when he made arrangements to board the ship. No one could have known. Even his Gifted wife couldn't tell the difference." 

The armed guards came to the door. Chas gestured inside. "That's the prisoner. We'll have more details about him when we get the details in the ship's log." 

The guards opened the door and the man rushed toward them, attacking. One of the guards stunned him. The guards put their arms under his, and dragged him from the room, head bobbing limply. Livana felt her stomach begin to quiet as Chas escorted her out of the ship. She knew she was on her way to the lab, and she couldn't afford any distractions while she was trying to heal someone. 

"It's unfortunate," Livana said. "He was a kind man. Not very intelligent, or very driven, but he had a good heart. He was trying to help the Gifteds. He just wasn't clever enough to avoid being caught." 

Chas nodded. "It's happened before. We have a great psychiatric staff here; they may be able to help him." As he led her across the spaceport and toward the medical facility, he looked at her quizzically. "How do you know all this about him, anyway?" 

Livana smiled bleakly. "He was my husband." 

Livana spent most of her twenty-nine hours of required quarantine with Kazimir, the genetic engineer, working to develop an antibody that would keep Tamsin's body from being consumed by the infection, going through the physical parts of the quarantine procedures when she stopped for a bite to eat or to use the bathroom. Even with their non-stop work, it was a near thing. Chas had to cut away the worst of the infected flesh to slow the pace of the invading gangrene, and replace it with an organic bandage that would be absorbed back into the body as Tamsin healed. Once the antibodies began to work, Livana urged the new cells to divide more quickly, speeding the pace of healing. When Tamsin's vital signs had stabilized, Chas brought Livana to the temporary quarters that she and her daughter had been assigned to and told her he'd set up an appointment to discuss her future with the medical center later in the day. As soon as she opened the door, she was assaulted by an excited twelve year old. 

"Mom, Mom, I'm so glad you're back!" Olanna said, hugging her excitedly. Her nose wrinkled and she let go quickly. "Whew, you smell! I was worried about you. I haven't seen you since we got here. They sent one of the nurses to tell me you were OK, but I was still kind of nervous." 

"I'm fine. I was working with the pilot of our ship. She's still very ill, but it looks like she's going to make it. And I think I got a job." Livana stood on her toes to kiss her daughter's forehead. Her daughter was already as tall as she was! She looked like her father, with his creamy brown skin, so much paler than Livana's own. Livana shook her head as she hugged her skinny daughter. "Has Kaori been taking care of you?" 

"Kaori's boring, Mom. Kalin let me borrow a primary psychology textbook. It's really neat." 

Now that her daughter wasn't wrapped around her neck, she could see a slight figure standing by the window. She wasn't much taller than Olanna or Livana. Her hair fell like ebony silk down to her knees, and her black, tilted eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled at Livana and held out two delicate hands, palm up, in greeting. She radiated serenity. I like this woman, thought Livana immediately. She placed her plump hands, palm down, atop the woman's. "I'm Kalin," said the dark-haired woman. "I'm with the resettlement group. I came to ask your daughter if she'd like to go to school today. We're having an orientation session for the new children in a few minutes. Would you mind if she went?" 

Livana turned to her daughter. "Would you like to go?" 

"Of course I want to go! Besides, you'll be sleeping for hours anyway." Her daughter was accustomed to the routine of her mother the doctor. 

Livana yawned. "You're probably right. But isn't it a little late in the day for school to start?" 

"You're still spacelagged. It's now seven-forty-five AM," said Kalin. She rested a hand on Livana's arm. Livana felt a wave of compassion and -- was it hope? -- spilling through her. "Get some sleep. I heard what you did for Tamsin. You deserve it." 

After she kissed Olanna good-bye, Livana curled up on the bed and fell deeply asleep. 

She woke to the sound of her daughter quietly puttering around the room. She stretched and smiled blearily at the girl. "Hi, hon. How was school?" 

"It was great. They said they'll put me in an accelerated class if you don't mind. They also want to test my Gifts, if you think it's OK." Olanna sat down on the edge of the bed. 

Livana stroked her daughter's hair. "I think that's wonderful. Some of the best teachers are here. I'm glad they'll teach you to use them." 

Olanna got up and began straightening her schooldisks, which spilled all over the dresser. "I checked your v-mail. Chas El-Andar wants to meet with you at five-thirty. Is he the one who wants to give you the job? And Kalin invited us to dinner with some other families at seven, to talk about resettlement. Can I go play with Vasilissa tomorrow after school?" 

Livana tried to keep track of the questions tumbling over one another. "Is Vasilissa one of your schoolmates?" asked Livana, smiling. Back on Narid, no one would ask a Gifted child over to their house to play. Olanna had had a lonely childhood. It looked like that was going to change. 

"Yeah. I figured you'd be working late." 

"Not if I can help it. I want to spend some time with you." 

Olanna, eyes alight as they had never been on Narid, shrugged and smiled. "I'll keep busy. Did you know Kalin is Dad's doctor?" 

Livana was used to following her daughter's non-linear conversation, but this comment surprised her. "She is?" 

"Yeah, she's going to try to help Dad get better." 

"How did you know there was something wrong with your Dad?" How much did her daughter know, anyway? 

"I found out on the ship. I heard you talking to the pilot about it." Livana's heart sank. Her daughter knew everything. Olanna held her hand and smiled at her. "It's OK, Mom. Kalin told me it's not Dad's fault. I know he didn't want it to happen. If anyone can make him better, Kalin will." 

Livana didn't feel much better. While she and her husband had spent most of the past few years separated, and he'd had very little contact with Olanna, her daughter was still at that age where she considered her parents infallible. When he'd told them he would get them off Narid, it had made him a hero in Olanna's eyes. It hurt Livana to know that her daughter had learned what had happened to her father. 

"Get up, Mom!" said Olanna loudly, poking her mother and dragging her out of her self-accusatory thoughts. "It's four-thirty. You'd better get ready for your interview." She pulled clothes out of the drawers, then turned back to her mother. "Go take a shower. You don't want to look like you just got out of bed, do you?" 

Livana walked to the bathroom, trying to figure out where the day had gone and wondering just when her daughter had decided to become her mother. 

"The hospital needs a competent administrator, and from all the recommendations I've received from your coworkers who preceded you here, you fit the bill admirably." Chas poured her a cup of green tea, which matched the pale green tunic and pants her daughter had selected for her. ("You're not going to wear that old outfit, are you, Mom? It makes you look pudgy. Wear this instead -- it makes you look more businesslike.") 

He blew on his tea to cool it as he continued. Even sitting calmly, Chas seemed to take up the whole room; he was almost bouncing in his chair, anxious to get up and move around. He spoke quickly, the words leaping out of his mouth. "One of our people -- I'll introduce you to him later -- managed to coax your records from New Boston Hospital. You had some very impressive reviews. It's fairly clear that, without the restrictions put on Gifteds, you would have been titular head of your department by this time, instead of just doing the admin work of one." 

The bronzed man put his cup down and leaned forward. "Ms. Oduvai, I'd like to offer you the position of Head Administrator at Selene Hospital." Livana sat back in surprise. She'd been expecting a position as staff doctor, at best, but nothing like this. "It's a larger position than you've held before, but I think you have the skills. And, quite frankly, we really need someone with both medical talent and administrative ability in the position. I've been trying to do it, but," he made a large gesture, nearly knocking over the teapot, "I really don't have any talent for it. And I don't have the time, with all my other duties." He held up a hand in warning. "It's not the easiest job. You'll be expected to take on some patients. And we'd also like you to work with our metametric division. They're researching the various Gifts. Your healing ability is one we haven't had a chance to work with before. They'd like to help you develop it." He pushed a datapadd at her. Her eyes opened even wider at the yearly figure she'd be paid. "That includes a month's paid vacation the first year. After the first year, you'll also receive a month's paid sabbatical, although I've never seemed to use mine. You'll find there's not enough hours in the day here on Maris." 

"But isn't that always the case?" Livana smiled. 

Chas waved his hands, sending his cup teetering on the edge of the table. "I'm not speaking metaphorically. Since you're from Narid, you're used to a 29-hour day. Here, there's only 22 hours in a day." Livana blinked in surprise. Now she knew where her day had fled to. "But there's an advantage; a work day is only 7 hours here. What do you think?" 

Livana tried to catch her breath. Chas' enthusiasm was infectious, but she had to really think about this offer for a while. "I have to admit, I'm very surprised by your offer. This wasn't what I was expecting at all. My only concern is...you see, I have a daughter..." 

"Olanna is taking an advanced course load, plus beginning metametric courses. She's also signed up for the Young Explorers and the Drama Club." He grinned at Livana. "If I were you, I'd be worried whether my daughter was going to have enough time for me!" 

"How do you know all this?" asked Livana, taken aback. 

"Your daughter told me when she came to visit this afternoon. She likes it here. She said she wanted to keep busy when you took your new job." 

"She couldn't socialize much in New Boston over the past few years. I guess she's trying to make up for lost time," Livana said with a wry smile. 

Chas stood. "Why don't I take you on a tour of the hospital, and while we walk, I'll tell you a little more about life on Maris." She left the room at his heels and kept up with his fast walk down the brightly-colored halls. "Selene Hospital is the primary medical center and research facility on Maris. It's also linked with Ground Zero, the Naridian resettlement project. The colony was established less than a hundred years ago, which is part of the reason we set up a refugee center here. The colony was thrilled to get new people, especially highly skilled ones like many of the Naridian refugees. You'll find no prejudice against Gifteds here." 

Chas turned left into the patient wing, leaning a bit to the side like a racing aircar in a steep turn. His shoes made a soft hissing sound against the floor. "I want to take you in to check on our new star patient." He stopped at a door and paused for a second. Livana read the patient's name on the door -- T. Donner. Chas threw open the door. 

Inside, Livana saw Tamsin, slightly less pale than the white sheets. Her head snapped up guiltily as she withdrew the organic knife she'd been using to dismantle the bed's computer. Livana wondered absently at the mechanism that allowed the blade to slide so smoothly back into her wrist. Pieces of the computer lay all over the brightly colored patchwork quilt spread over her lap. "Hi Chas. How are you settling in, Livana?" she asked weakly. 

Chas sighed. "Tam, you did that last time. Don't you think we've caught on by now? That's a dummy computer. We hid the real one." Turning to Livana, he said, "Last time she was here, she realigned the monitoring computer so it would continue to report that she was here and stable while she snuck out of the hospital." He turned back to the pale woman in the bed, her hair in a tangled copper halo around her head. "We've Tamsin-proofed the room, kid. You're not sneaking away this time." 

"Then give me a datapadd or something!" the redhead snarled. "I've been stuck here, with nothing to read but a hardcopy book of deconstructionist poetry Kalin gave me. I'd rather be back on intravenous food than eat the stuff that passes for food here. And no one will tell me what's going on! Let me out!" She pulled a pillow out from behind her and threw it at Chas. It fell uselessly to the floor half a meter short of his feet. 

Chas picked up the pillow and fluffed it, then walked over behind the bed and tucked it behind Tamsin's head as she squirmed down under the quilt, pulling it up to her chin, breathing heavily after her outburst. "If you were well enough to go home, you would have hit me with that pillow. Besides, knowing you, you'll find a way to use the datapadd to help you get out of here." 

"Just tell me one thing, and I swear I'll be the perfect patient," Tamsin said defiantly. 

"What do you want to know?" asked Chas. 

Tamsin suddenly looked vulnerable and very scared, burrowed almost completely under the big patchwork quilt. "What happened to Jaysen?" 

Livana's stomach twisted. Kasimir, the tech who'd helped her create the antibody, had told her a lot about Tamsin and Jaysen. If half the stories of their exploits were true, they deserved great respect. He described the two as being almost one person in two bodies, so deeply were their souls intertwined. It wasn't just Tamsin's body that was injured near Narid. She seemed bereft, torn apart without her other half. When Livana saw people like this, she felt almost relieved she'd never bonded with anyone, not even her husband, so strongly. 

Chas sighed and patted Tamsin's shoulder. "We still don't know. As soon as we find out, I'll come right down here and tell you." 

Tamsin's jade eyes were hollow and dark. "If they caught him -- Chas, I don't know if Kalin ever told you what happened to her in there. I remember what she looked like. I brought her back to Maris." 

"I've read the records," Chas said. "Try not to think about it, Tamsin. You can't do anything from a hospital bed. Now, will you please get some rest? I'm going down to Layten's office right now. I'm as worried as you are." He squeezed her hand. "Stop dismantling our equipment, will you?" 

Livana slipped out of the room behind Chas. "What happened to Kalin?" 

"You remember when the medical center outside New Boston blew up?" 

Livana could still smell the charred flesh. "We received a few of the corpses at the hospital. They never had a chance." 

Chas looked grim. "Don't feel too bad for them. I don't know all the details. I was in transit when everything happened. I think there are some things they didn't put in the report." He swallowed and continued, speaking distantly and clinically. "Kalin was methodically tortured. They found some interesting ways to stimulate the nerve endings. There are areas on her skin that will never have sensation again. The nerves were burnt out entirely, and we have no way to replace them, at least not now. They used cruder methods, too -- they pulled all her nails out by the roots, crushed the bones in her feet -- it's amazing that she was ever able to walk again." 

"But -- that was a medical center! I used to refer some of my patients there! I'd tried to get a job there because they were known for their innovative techniques. I can't believe --" 

Chas cut her off with a chopping motion. "There's a reason they had those innovative techniques. The doctors there felt progression of their research outweighed any ethical questions. They had a lot of subjects to test on, all the prisoners who were difficult to break. We still haven't seen all the fallout from the experiments done on the people who were kept there --\x11it'll be years before all the problems come to light." He pressed his lips together. 

Livana could see him going over the records of the patients in his mind and could only imagine the horrors he found there. Torture, experiments -- those were all things she only read about or watched in the latest adventure sagas. She knew, in some part of her mind, that it had happened, but she couldn't quite grasp it. Kalin was so calm, so serene; how could she have been through all that and come out intact? 

"Anyway, here's our destination -- the computer facility." He led her into a dim room with a number of holos playing near all the walls. Two men sat in the center of the room. One with black hair pulled back in a ponytail, high cheekbones, a dark beard, and bright blue, tilted eyes was tapping away on a datapadd; the other, slumped slightly, wan, and disheveled-looking, had his eyes closed. Livana looked at the largest holo to see Tamsin, weary and pale, in her ship's uniform. "I've lost Jaysen. I believe he's been captured. We were sabotaged shortly after taking off. Jaysen was boarded while defending the ship so it could go into warp and depart the system. In case I don't make it to Maris, I want it known that I take full responsibility for what has happened here..." 

The man with the datapadd paused the image and turned to Chas. "I've been going through the logs again to see if I can get any more information. No luck so far. Layten's been trying to access some systems on Narid." 

The other man shifted in his seat and began to sit up, tucking his long, dark skirt around his legs. Livana noticed that, even when alert, Layten looked like he was trying to blend in with the couch he was sitting on. 

"I'm glad to see you're back. I thought you might have gotten trapped in a subroutine," said the first man. 

"You try getting results from a program when there's an eight-hour time lag between you and the computer you're working on. It's not easy," Layten said, stretching. Livana could hear his back crack. 

"I forgot. Introductions." Chas ran his hands through his hair. "This is Livana Oduvai; she's going to be head of admin at Selene Hospital. Livana, this is Zach Shima and Layten Kaige. They run the systems for the hospital and for Ground Zero. Layten," he said, turning to the man still rubbing his eyes, "did you find out what happened to Jaysen?" 

"It wasn't easy," said Layten. "I sent a search command through most of the databanks. No luck. I think that hardly anyone even knows they have him." 

"You're saying that they do have him, then?" Chas asked excitedly. 

"The files were encoded. I just cracked them now." He gestured at the large holo and the frozen log shot of Tamsin was replaced by text broken up by an occasional graph or picture. "These are the records of the Killian Research Facility. They're holding many prisoners there. Total records," he shut his eyes for a minute, then opened them again, "ninety-four. These people are considered the most dangerous to the government. They're now being used as lab rats for new reeducation techniques. The idea, apparently, is to break them and then get them working for the government. It's a refined version of what they did to Kalin." 

Livana could hear the disgust in his voice. She bit her lip and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She'd only seen the quicksilver man who'd helped her get off-planet once, but that image, as he helped her into the ship with a quick grin, whispering words of encouragement, had flashed before her whenever anyone mentioned him. She couldn't imagine him being tortured. 

Then she realized she could and felt even sicker. 

Layten continued grimly. "I also accessed the records of former detainees. Seems they're more successful at killing them than reeducating them." 

"What else have you got?" asked Chas. 

Layten blinked again, and the text changed to a three-dimensional map of the building. "This shows the various rooms in the facility. Cross-matching." He closed his eyes. Livana realized, with a shock, that he was mentally connected with the computer. She'd heard of people who had cortical implants allowing them to link with computer systems, but she had never actually seen one. Most people didn't like to get that close to their machines. Names began popping up in the rooms on the screen. "Jaysen's being held here." Layten put his finger in the center of the holo, pointing at a room at the bottom floor in the center of the building. "Except for the top two floors, which house the workers at the facility, this building is completely underground." 

"Any chance you can take down their system?" Zach asked. 

"Put me on Maris, with a five millisecond lag between me and their computer, and I might be able to do it. But from here -- impossible. Too many things change too quickly. I'm not even sure I could dredge any more information from their system." 

"Can you make sure Tamsin knows about this?" Chas asked him. 

"I told Kalin as soon as I knew. She's breaking it to Tamsin now." 

"We need to bring it up in the Council meeting on Wednesday," said Zach, "even if we can't do anything. Do you think Tamsin will be well enough to attend?" 

"Do you think I could keep her from leaving her bed?" said Chas, laughter behind his quick, staccato speech. "She's only been conscious twelve hours, and I already caught her trying to dismantle the computer in her room. I don't think I'll be able to keep her here past tomorrow night." He glanced at his watch. "Look, Livana's got a dinner appointment in a few minutes, and I want to try to finish this tour. We'll talk about this later, okay?" 

"It was nice meeting you two," said Livana over her shoulder, rushing out of the room on Chas' heels. 

"I'd like to show you the metametric research facility," said Chas, speeding down the corridor. Livana had to nearly run to keep up with him. The first thing she was going to do as administrator, she decided, would be to get Chas to slow down. "No one's really done the research full-time on the Gifts the way we have here. We've conclusively proved that metametric ability is the result of mutations caused by prolonged low-level radiation exposure in the first two hundred years of spaceflight. The mutations just exacerbated a latent ability humans already had to one extent or another. We found records dating back to three hundred years before commercial spaceflight that showed humans had these abilities. Unfortunately, most of them were put under psychiatric care because they heard `voices'. No one realized they were picking up other people's thoughts. And no one could teach them how to shut them out. When a telepath can't learn shielding, they tend to go mad." The corridor they turned into was crafted out of polished stone, with round windows. A waterfall trickled in an alcove in one wall. The click of Livana's heels echoed off the walls. 

"But how do you explain all these new talents that are cropping up?" asked Livana. 

"Once again, we go back into archaic records. For instance, your talent is one that pops up repeatedly in religious chronicles. The founders of a number of Terran religions, for instance, were said to be able to heal by simply touching a person. Skeptics thought that the people who were healed simply had psychosomatic illnesses, but some of these healers had amazing track records. One man, named Cayce, had hundreds of tomes that kept records on the many people he'd healed. And you, of course, are living proof. We're hoping that, through you, we can learn how to develop those skills and teach other people with that talent how to use it." 

"There's one thing you haven't told me. How did Kalin and all the rest get out?" They entered an large atrium which was decorated like an old-fashioned Zen garden. They stepped on the stone path between the plants and walked toward the bridge over the free-form pond in the center of the room. It had an air of tranquillity to it. The atmosphere even seemed to affect Chas -- his steps slowed, as did his speech. 

Livana watched him stare into the water, chewing his lip, his bright, flowered shirt looking completely out of place in the staid garden. "You probably read the reports. There was an accident with some flammable chemicals being stored at the site. Tamsin and Jaysen were near there when the firestorm happened. They'd been trying to figure out a way to get her out. When they got to the site, they found the prisoners picking their way out between the bodies. Kalin and all the other subjects there escaped unscathed." He paused and grimaced. "Well, no more damaged than they were before the fire, anyway." 

"But that's impossible!" Livana said, shaking her head, remembering the giant fireball she'd seen from miles away. 

"It happened. But we won't know why until we can get into Layten's head to find out how he did it." 

"You mean he..." 

"Kalin's husband is a firestarter. He has no control over his talent. He's only used it in times of crisis. In fact, no one knew he was Gifted until the one time he used it, when those chemicals ignited. He says he doesn't know how he did it. He may have a memory block." 

"He knew what happened to Kalin?" She'd heard Gifted people shared a mental bond, though she herself had never experienced it. 

Chas nodded, pulling leaves off the elm tree by the bridge and tearing them apart. "And we still don't have any more details. That's one mutation that I'm sure has plenty of military uses." 

Livana folded her arms and stared down at the worn, purplish wooden planking of the bridge. "Layten said they're using a refined version of the techniques used on Kalin." 

"Yeah." Chas was leaning against the railing, head in his hands. 

"Do you think we can get Jaysen out?" Livana felt a responsibility to the people of Ground Zero. They'd rescued her, and she'd do nearly anything to keep them from harm. 

Chas looked at her, dark eyes hollow as Tamsin's had been earlier. "If we can't, I hope he dies quickly." 

Tamsin studied the perfectly smooth, glassy water in the kilometer-long reflecting pool, the just-rising tiny white sun chasing the surface with a thin coat of silver. She looked to her left, to her right, and then, cautiously over her shoulder to the shadowed arches of the hospital. She was alone in the spacious courtyard. She tossed the coins in her hand, then took one, placing the rest in her pocket. She crooked her finger around the silver disk, then glanced again around the courtyard. She saw no one. She tossed the coin precisely at the pool. It bounced off the glassy surface, once, then twice. As it skipped, the distance of the hops got shorter and shorter. After twenty-six hops, it sank to the bottom of the pool. 

"So, this is where you are every morning," said a mellow contralto to Tamsin's right. 

Tamsin jumped and, by reflex, began to crouch in an attack position facing the voice. She saw the rose lips curling in a gentle smile and sighed, dropping back into a more normal stance. "I really hate it when you do that." 

Kalin looked out at the water, the small ripples caused by the recent disturbance quickly stilling, and then back at Tamsin, glossy jet hair slipping over her shoulder. "How did you do that? There aren't any pebbles anywhere around here." 

Tamsin took her left hand out of her pocket, clenched in a fist. She opened it toward Kalin, showing her the three copper and one silver disk that lay there. "My one inheritance from my mother. Thirty-eight cents." 

Kalin inhaled sharply, then breathed out in a low whistle. "Thirty-eight cents? You could buy some planets with that! Those should be in a museum. I'm surprised you're throwing such valuable artifacts in this pool. Did you ever try to sell them?" 

"Yeah," shrugged Tamsin. She took one copper disk, shoved the rest back in her pocket, and tossed it at the pool. Twelve skips. She grimaced. Kalin had disturbed her concentration. "They're counterfeit." Kalin's mouth pursed in a silent "oh." Tamsin smiled with some bitterness. "They skip well, though." 

Kalin stared out at the water. Tamsin sent another disk skimming across. Patter patter patter plop. She turned and stared at Kalin, waiting for her to break the silence. Kalin just stared at the water, calmly. After a minute, Tamsin said angrily, "Look, did you come out here to talk to me, or what?" 

Kalin turned to her smoothly. "I didn't want to disturb you while you were entertaining yourself." 

"You've already done that. I probably won't get one skip out of the rest of these." She balanced on one leg, tugging the boot off her other foot. 

"I wanted to talk to you about Jaysen," said Kalin. 

Tamsin ripped the boot off her other foot, tugged off her socks, then shoved her pants above her heavily muscled calves. "I'm going after him." 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kalin asked. 

Tamsin waded into the pool, the water splashing around her legs as she went to pick up the first coin. "It's the only thing I can do. I can't leave him there." 

"You're not in good health right now," Kalin said calmly. Tamsin began to feel a pressure, slight but growing, in her head. "Do you think you could slip in there in your condition?" 

Tamsin was furious. "It doesn't matter what my condition is! I won't leave him in there!" She kicked violently, sending water everywhere. "And will you stop doing that! Scheiss'n projecting empath -- it drives me crazy!" 

"Scheiss'n?" asked Kalin, one eyebrow raised. 

Tamsin shrugged. "Sorry. It's Staatsprache." Even now, whenever she got angry, she slipped into the rough city language she'd grown up speaking. Considering who was in control of the government now, it might become Narid's planetary language in a few years. "You wouldn't want to know." 

Kalin smiled apologetically. "I was just trying to calm you down a little. It feels like you're about to attack someone. But I've never been able to do that with you. Your shields are impressive. You're sure you're not Gifted?" 

Tamsin wanted to hit something, but there was only water. "I'm not Gifted! I hate that word! Damn it, that's the whole root of the problem." 

"I don't understand." 

Tamsin's smile was sharp and brittle. "Of course. You have no idea what the word Gift means in Staatsprache, do you?" Kalin shook her head. "It means poison. Where I come from, you wouldn't dare admit you had the talent, even before the new government came in. It's considered," she thought for a second for the best word, "unclean. And dangerous. Even the word, Gifted." Her stress on it was slightly different, the i becoming nearly an e, the d becoming a soft sh. "How can you think it's a good thing when it sounds like it's poisonous?" 

Kalin's brow wrinkled. "Goddess, you're serious, aren't you?" 

Tamsin picked up the last coin and stepped onto the blue brick, trailing dark stains of water. "And that's why Jaysen is where he is now. Sometimes I think both of us would have been better off staying in Tiburon." Her mother had hoped she'd stay; she'd been too old for her work and had wanted to support herself by selling Tamsin's body instead. But she'd stayed in school, right next to Jaysen, if only to keep him from being killed by some of the gang members he'd offended. 

"You both would have been dead by now." 

"I rest my case." Tamsin picked up her boots and walked across the courtyard toward her quarters. "There's no way you can change my mind. I'm responsible for him, and I won't leave him behind." Her boots slapped against the edge of the arch as she stepped under it, out of the sun. "Remember when you were a prisoner? Did you think we'd leave you behind?" 

"Yes." Tamsin turned, shocked to Kalin, a dark, delicate figure silhouetted by the light streaming through one of the arches. "I never thought anyone would get me out. I thought if you didn't, then you'd be safe." 

Tamsin leaned a shoulder against the cool stone wall and gritted her teeth. She'd never cried in front of anyone, and she wasn't about to start now. "You thought we'd leave you there? You thought we'd let you die?" She heard her voice break and shut her eyes, trying to clamp down. She would not, would not, think of Jaysen, trapped in despair. 

She felt Kalin put an arm around her waist, felt the weight of her delicate head against a shoulder. "Tamsin, you got me out. But look at Layten. I know his nightmares. I feel them every night when he sleeps beside me. The four of us nearly didn't get away. Are you willing to take the risk again and have it go the other way?" 

Tamsin buried her face in her friend's obsidian hair and pulled her a little closer, trying to block away the dark hole filling her chest. "I have to. I can't let him die." 

Kalin paused for a moment before the doors to Tamsin's quarters. Layten stood behind her, a cool rock, providing support mentally as well as physically. Kalin took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 

"What do you want?" came the hostile voice from the other side as the door opened. Tamsin was curled up on a chair, copper hair pulled back, black clothes making her look terribly pale as she tapped away at a computer console. 

Kalin placed a datapadd on the desk. "Here's a list of what we'll need." 

Tamsin looked up at her blankly. "Need? I don't follow you." 

"Supplies. To rescue Jaysen." Tamsin's mouth opened, but she didn't say anything, just stared. Kalin smiled slightly, the only hint she'd give of the laughter bubbling inside. She'd always wanted to strike Tamsin speechless. "You didn't think I'd let you go alone, did you?" 

Layten slipped an arm around her waist. I'm going, too. 

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Of course. Did you think I'd leave you behind? She spoke aloud again. "There's supplies for three there. Night goggles, food, camouflage clothing," she shrugged, "big guns..." 

"But I haven't even talked to Manda yet," Tamsin said, shaking her head. 

"We did," said Kalin. "She understands what you want to do. She figures she'll tell the rest of the Council after we leave. That way, they won't be able to protest." 

Tamsin snorted as she scanned the list on the padd. "Sounds like our dear chair is going to get herself into some pretty hot water." 

"It wouldn't be the first time," rumbled Layten's deep voice. 

"You're going to need to add supplies for one more person. Chas is coming," Tamsin said. 

"Chas is a doctor. He's got no combat training. Do you really think he's appropriate?" Layten asked. 

"And what do you think we're going to do when we get Jaysen out?" snapped Tamsin, looking up at him. "Bring him to Arcadia Hospital and say `Hi, our friend's been tortured, can you patch him up'? Not bloody likely. Besides," she continued, looking back at the padd, "he insisted. I couldn't talk him out of it." 

Kalin sat down on the sofa. Layten stood against the door, hands clasped behind his back. Tamsin's sparking green eyes shifted back and forth, from one to the other. "So. We have four people against about sixty guards. I love an even fight," she said sarcastically. She propped one foot up on her desk, drumming her fingers against her knee. "I have an idea on how to get in there. Layten, do you think you could crash their system?" 

Whenever Layten accessed the computer, Kalin could hear it whirring in the back of her head like it was part of her brain as well. "I can, but not for long. It's got an automatic reset mechanism." 

"That's fine," said Tamsin. "This is going to be a quick in and out operation, nothing fancy. Our only objective is to get Jaysen out." 

"What about the others?" asked Layten. 

"If we have time. I don't want to be callous, but there's only so much we can do." She leaned forward and stabbed a button on the console. A three dimensional line drawing of the complex filled the center of the room. The room where Jaysen was being held was tinted gold. "Here's what we're going to do." 

Interlude Two 

Jaysen curled up on the hard pallet that passed for a bed, staring at the gray walls in his perennially twilit cell, rubbing his face as the last traces of the drug left him. The interrogation sessions came as irregularly as the food. He didn't even have any facial hair to tell him how long he'd been there; he'd had it suppressed months ago so he wouldn't have to shave. He smiled slightly. If only he'd wanted a beard, like Zach. 

He pictured his friend, safe on Maris, remembering the last time he'd been there. Two days before the mission, he'd gone boating with Zach and Tamsin. He could almost smell the salt, and see Tamsin leaning over the prow of the boat, her copper hair hanging loose over the water. He smiled, remembering how he'd pushed her over the side, and how she'd quickly pulled him in after her, completely ruining his new silk velvet shirt. He hadn't minded; the ensuing water fight had been too much fun. If Zach hadn't been there, maybe he would have had a chance... 

The gray walls loomed high, and his throat closed. He knew he'd never survive to see her again. Oh, Tam, he thought, then whispered to the air, "There was so much I wanted to tell you." 

He turned his face into the corner and tried to sleep, using the meditation techniques Kalin had taught him. But sleep wouldn't come. He kept seeing Tamsin's green flashing eyes, smelling her, hearing her voice. 

A hand touched his shoulder. He sat up in shock, instinctively grabbing the wrist and pulling on it to unbalance his attacker. The legs before him shifted only slightly, and he heard a soft snort. "I'm glad you remembered something from your physical combat classes." 

He looked up to see sharp green eyes smiling slightly at him, a red braid slithering over one gray-suited shoulder. "Tam!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" 

She pulled him to a standing position. "Did you think I could leave you in here? I had to rescue you." She stopped and stared at him quite closely. "Answer me one question," she asked him. "Who did you take to our final-year semiformal at University?" 

"I didn't go. I was supposed to take you, but you were busy slogging through the jungle at the time," he said. Somewhere, a voice inside him whispered, Don't trust Tamsin. "Why are you asking me?" 

She bit her lower lip and looked down a moment. "I had to make sure it was you," she said. She turned to lead him out of the cell, but not before he caught the worried look in her eyes. "This has all been too easy. I think there must be a trap hidden somewhere." She looked up the corridor, then down. "Coast is clear. Our distraction must have worked. Come on!" 

He followed her as softly as he could down the corridor. Voices came from around a corner, speaking in that peculiar Western drawl so familiar from his childhood. She flattened herself against the wall as she peered around a corner. He saw her fists clench spasmodically as she turned back to him. "Someone's coming." She pulled him to a door, then tapped a quick code on the lock next to it. The door opened and she pulled him in, then slapped a panel beside the inner door to close and lock it. 

"We're safe for now," she sighed, then slapped on the bright lights. Jaysen found himself standing at the center of an interrogation room, and his stomach flipped as it brought back vague memories of questioning. He looked back to his friend for support as a voice inside said, Don't trust Tamsin. She was leaning against the door, arms folded, looking at him with a curiously cold smile. "Something bothering you, Jaysen?" 

"How'd you get the code for the door?" Don't trust Tamsin don't trust Tamsin DON'T TRUST TAMSIN. 

She shrugged. "One of the techs gave it to me." 

He walked closer to her. "Which one?" 

"There are so many," she said, waving a hand and walking toward the table in the middle of the room. 

The voice inside him screamed. He clenched a fist, fighting an almost overwhelming urge to hit her and grabbed her by the hair, to yank her back. Something was wrong, very wrong. "There are only two." 

Very quickly, Tamsin turned around, wrenching her hair out of his grasp and grabbed his wrist. With a quick, bone-wrenching twist, she pivoted, moving his arm behind his back and forcing him, face-first, against a cold wall. 

He could feel her body press against his and her hot, moist breath against his ear. "You should know better than to try that on me, Jaysen," she whispered, her free hand tracing down his thigh, her voice like a shard of glass. He shivered. "I've always been better at hand-to-hand than you." 

He felt a jolt of pain as his wrist was pulled higher, almost above his shoulder blades. A tongue quickly flicked on his earlobe, his throat. He began shaking and couldn't stop. 

The hot mouth moved away from his throat and he felt cold metal slide along it. It moved up to his cheek. He looked down, out of the corner of his eye, afraid to move any more, and saw a silver blade trace along, felt the flat of it stroke around and back along his skin to the nape of his neck. He wanted to laugh, or to cry. It wasn't Tamsin. She never used a metal knife, not when the two organic blades in her wrists served her so well. He tried to take a deep breath and couldn't. "What do you want from me?" 

Her damp, warm voice whispered in his ear again. "Only the answers to a few questions." He heard tearing cloth as the knife traced down his spine, felt the salty trickle of a few drops of blood following it. His wrist was released as she cut his clothes off, but he didn't dare move, feeling burning where the blade cut him, on his arms, then again across his back and down, knowing even the slightest shift could mean worse damage. Her fingers gently traced the cuts, rubbing wet slick blood into his back, his buttocks, his thighs. He felt the tickle of her tongue again on his ear as he tried to lose himself in the pain and ignore her fingers, and the knife. "There's no reason I can't have fun while I ask," the voice laughed, as the knife traced down his spine, then lower. 

Jaysen lay balled up, shuddering, in a corner of his cell. He felt filthy; his skin crawled and his mind wouldn't stop screaming, replaying the hours in the torture chamber. He could feel her hands all over him, and the ever-present knife. He knew he'd heal soon. He knew she'd be back again. And he knew, however much he wished for it, she wouldn't kill him. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Touch the Stars                      
                                                        
Part 3: `Burning the Ground'       
                                                        
Nicole Gustas                               
                                                       
                                                     
"Tamsin crept into the guard booth and
  grabbed the soldier on duty from behind.
  She wrapped one hand around the
  corporal's mouth, and with the other
  pressed on the woman's throat to cut the
  flow of blood through the carotid artery."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tamsin and Kalin squatted in the bushes near the gates of the Killian Research Facility. As Tamsin pulled on her black gloves and adjusted the hood of her black jumpsuit, tucking her copper hair into it to make sure it wouldn't give her away, she was thankful for the Naridian love of shrubbery and ornamentation. 

Kalin touched Tamsin's knee and counted under her breath. "Five, four, three, two, one." As they watched, the gate of the facility opened slightly, then the lights flickered and went out. The compound soon came into focus for the two women, who had used eyedrops that briefly increased their ability to see in the dark. Tamsin crept into the guard booth and grabbed the soldier on duty from behind. She wrapped one hand around the corporal's mouth, and with the other, pressed on the woman's throat to cut the flow of blood through the carotid artery. In a few seconds, the woman passed out, and Tamsin stuffed her behind the bushes, trussed with a gag stuffed in her mouth. 

She quietly ran up to Kalin, who was almost at the entrance to the research facility. "We have thirteen minutes," Kalin subvocalized. They were both wearing throatmikes and earphones so they could speak to each other without anyone overhearing. 

"I know. I took too long. But I don't want to kill anyone if I don't have to," said Tamsin just before she slipped inside the open double doors. She spun as she entered and kicked the guard waiting behind the door in the stomach, then grabbed his gun and cracked him on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious before he had a chance to cry out. She waved Kalin inside. "Remember to thank Layten for opening all the doors for us." 

"I already have," said Kalin. "Take a right, here." They jogged down the hall silently, Kalin leading the way. The faint emergency lighting gave an eerie glow to the halls. They took another right, then jogged down a flight of stairs. Kalin flattened herself against a wall, and Tamsin followed suit. They listened to the voice around the corner. "Wir muss'n wirschaff hab'n," he shouted into a wrist communicator, in Staatsprache. 

Tamsin translated for Kalin. "He's trying to find out what's wrong with the power. He's alarmed. He says all the doors are open." 

"Well, all the prisoners are being held two floors below," said Kalin. "It's only a matter of time before they realize what's going on and come up here." 

They continued down several flights of stairs and entered the corridor. Tamsin skidded on the floor and nearly fell. She smelled the coppery scent of blood. She turned and saw Kalin squatting near the body, now a bloody, unrecognizable mass inside a uniform. "Looks like they're out," Kalin said grimly. "Come on ... Jaysen's this way." 

They ran quickly down the eerily deserted halls, turning left, then right, then left again. Tamsin picked up the lead as they neared Jaysen's cell, skidding inside seconds ahead of Kalin. 

She could see him clearly. He was gaunt and pale, curled up asleep on his side in a corner of the cell, wearing nothing. Tamsin knelt beside him and shook him. "Jaysen, wake up! We've come to get you out." 

He sat up and backed further into the corner. She could see him shaking. "Get away from me. Don't touch me." His voice was filled with loathing. 

"Jayce, it's me, Tamsin." She reached toward him and he shrank back. What was wrong with him? Her stomach clenched tightly. "Come on. We have to hurry." 

She watched his hands clench into fists. "You'll have to drag me out of here. I'm not walking willingly into your trap." 

Tamsin stared at him in consternation for a moment, then heard movement. She and Jaysen turned as Kalin came through the door. "Hurry up! We only have nine minutes left." 

"Kalin?" Jaysen said, startled. He stood up hesitantly, wincing. 

"Are you hurt?" asked Tamsin, reaching to help him. He twitched away from her and nearly fell. 

"No, I'm fine, just sore. Just get me out of here," he said. 

Tamsin could see him pale as he began to move, but was afraid to try to touch him again. "I'll take point and clear out anyone in your path. Kalin, stay with Jaysen." Kalin pulled a dark shirt and pants out of her shouldersac and quickly handed them to Jaysen. 

She hurried down the hall and paused. Kalin and Jaysen followed soon after, Jaysen now clad in black from neck to toe. Tamsin waved them around the corner. The dim halls were frighteningly quiet. She jogged up the stairs and slammed through the doors at the top of the landing, to find a gun pointed straight at her head. 

Tamsin stared at the face behind the muzzle of the gun as a delicate white hand ripped the throatmike off her neck. She shuddered as she looked into her own green eyes. 

"So," said her twin holding the gun, dropping the throatmike to the ground and crushing it under her heel. "You're the illustrious Tamsin." 

Kalin put one arm around Jaysen's waist, supporting him as he limped down the hall. She let her consciousness drift lightly across the surface of his mind, with a feathery, nearly invisible touch, testing the walls that normally held him together. It was like skipping across a broken bridge after a bad earthquake; she could feel holes and gaps, with Jaysen's strong force of will barely holding it all together. She felt the surface shiver and begin to fall. 

Her light touch became an iron grip as she threw up her own wall around his, shoring up his disintegrating protection in an attempt to keep him from complete collapse. He was stable on the surface, but she could feel the fierce storm roiling beneath, and knew she had only bought him time. She also knew her control was being bought at a high future cost to him, but knew she couldn't get him out if not under his own power. She did a quick check on his physical injuries and was relieved to find they weren't as bad as his mental damages. 

She looked up at him and he gave her a weak, shaky smile. "Thanks," he said. 

"Don't say that until we get you out of here," Kalin said, as they walked toward the stairs. She watched Tamsin barrel through the doors at the top of the stairs, and could feel some of the tension in Jaysen's mind ease as she left his field of vision. She couldn't quite grasp the tangled, contradictory emotions his copper-haired friend inspired, but knew Tamsin was a flashpoint that should, for now, be avoided in discussion. "I think you're going to be spending a lot of time with me after we get out." 

"I'm supposed to object at the prospect of spending a lot of time with a beautiful woman?" asked Jaysen, with his former flirtatious humor. From inside his mind, she could feel how forced it was. 

"I'm afraid I'll be sharing you with Chas," she said, keeping up the illusion. She narrowed her eyes at the doors and pulled Jaysen to a stop at the bottom of the stairs as she listened to the empty hiss in her ear where Tamsin's voice should have been. She quickly switched to mental speech. Wait. We need to take another route. 

Why? asked Jaysen. It was more of a feeling than the word; Jaysen had never mastered the art of speaking mind-to-mind. 

Tamsin should have waved us through by now. She must have walked into a trap. She felt waves of concern from him, but didn't bother to spend the energy to soothe them as they walked in another direction. She looked at her wrist. They had seven minutes. 

Tamsin looked desperately for an opening, knowing that every second she waited gave the woman standing across from her an advantage. She watched her own face break into an icy smile. "Here for Jaysen, are you?" asked the woman. 

Immediately Tamsin knew what had been going on, knew why Jaysen had reacted with such hatred for her. "I tried. He refused to leave with me. I had to leave him behind," she lied, as she tried to adopt a defeated pose. She tasted bile at the back of her throat, and tried to control and channel her fury. 

"Now he won't be the only one stuck here," said her counterpart. "Up against the wall; I want to check you for weapons." 

Tamsin stood spreadeagled against the wall, hands above her head. She heard the rustle of fabric as the woman stuck the gun into a holster. Tamsin held her breath steady and waited. Not yet, not yetÉdon't give anything awayÉ 

Her flesh crawled as she felt the woman's hands pat her down, starting at her collar. The hands moved down, toward her waist. Not yetÉ 

An explosion quietly echoed down the corridor from the distance. She felt the woman behind her start slightly, and took her chance. Tamsin pushed off from the wall as much as she could manage and twisted as she kicked out with her right leg. She felt her foot connect with something solid, and heard a crunch as she began falling. Time began to slow with the adrenaline rush. 

"A fall does not have to be a bad thing," her combat instructor had told her, "as long as you know where you will land, and your enemy does not." As she began to fall, she snapped her right wrist back. The blade shot out, and she felt it score. As she fell to the floor, she saw the cut across the other woman's face, and saw drops of blood spatter. The woman was falling; the kick had landed on one of her knees. Tamsin pulled her knees toward her chest and used the momentum of her fall to roll backward over her right shoulder. She sprang up as her feet touched the floor. 

Her double had fallen to her hands and knees and looked up at Tamsin through blood and copper hair. "They forgot to tell us about the knives," she said. She tried to push herself up, but fell as the right knee gave out. Tamsin saw her reach for the gun and kicked her in the head. The blow cracked her counterpart's skull against the wall and she fell, unconscious. Tamsin stripped off the woman's gun and holster and quickly strapped them onto her leg. She began running down the corridor as she looked at her chrono. 

She had five minutes. 

Kalin and Jaysen had climbed to the top of the staircase. For security reasons, no staircase went all the way up or down the complex, and now, Kalin remembered, they had to cross several corridors before they would reach a stairway which would take them to the entrance. She tried to reach out and feel whether anyone was in the corridor, but her mind was too involved in holding Jaysen together and finding their way out to be able to take on another task. All she felt was a wash of many people's emotions ... mostly anger and fear. Many of the sensations were highly controlled, the feeling of a well-trained Gifted mind. She pushed open the door slightly, hoping to peer out and see whether anyone was in the corridor before they crossed. The door handle was suddenly ripped from her grasp as the door was flung open, and a gun was aimed at her head. 

The gun muzzle dropped as soon as the short woman behind it saw she wasn't wearing a uniform. Kalin looked around at the crowd of people, some armed, dressed in light blue cotton ... the garb of a patient. 

Or, in these strange times, of a prisoner. 

Next to the woman with the gun, a man with red hair and a mustache stepped forward. "You're not one of us," he said. "Have you come to get us out?" 

A wave of helplessness washed over Kalin. Jaysen felt it and squeezed her shoulder. She took a deep breath. "We don't have enough people to get you out. But we can help you take over this place." 

"How?" exclaimed the man as the fifteen or twenty people behind him murmured in surprise. 

"There's a central control room one floor up. From there you can control the power, the doors, the lights, the intruder control systems, everything. And the armory's right next to it." The map of the building had been burned into Kalin's mind. "But we'll have to move quickly. The power comes on in ..." she looked at her chrono and winced ..."five minutes, and when it does, you'll lose your only advantage." 

The woman with the gun, curly blond hair cropped short, stared at her with hard blue eyes. "How do we know we can trust you?" 

Kalin took a deep breath to calm herself and held out her hand, palm up. "Look and see." 

The man with the mustache put his hand on top of hers. She felt his mind probe quickly through hers, and felt him turn over her memories of her own stay with the government. His eyes locked with hers and she felt understanding ripple through the link. "I don't think there's anyone we could trust more, Talia," Tomas ... for she had read his name in the link ... said to the short woman. "Let's move ... follow Kalin." 

Kalin led them down the corridors and up the stairs, still helping Jaysen, the focused energy behind her supporting her. Before they went through the doors at the top of the stairs, Kalin said to Tomas, "Do you sense anyone in the corridor?" 

He concentrated for a second. "Not right in front of the doors," he said. "Further away, two, maybe three people." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm not good enough to tell where they are." 

"I'm fairly sure I know where they are," she said. She turned and spoke to the group, reinforcing her speech by sending out images to those who could receive them. "About halfway down this corridor, just after the first juncture, there's a door on the left. Behind that door is the control room. There are probably two or three people in it. If you go right at the first juncture, the armory is the first door on your left. It should be unlocked." 

The group looked grimly determined. "People with weapons should hit the control room," said Tomas. "The rest of us will hit the armory. When the power comes back on, we'll clean this place out." Then he said four words Kalin knew very well from her work in the underground. "Now is the time." He looked at them once more. "Let's go." 

Now is the time. The words known through the underground as the signal for full-scale revolt. Kalin shivered, trying to shut out a sudden mental flash of blood and fire. The people ran out into the corridor and split at the juncture. Talia was the first at the door to the control room, and opened fire as soon as she reached it. Tomas, even though he was unarmed, was right behind her. Through the fading link, Kalin glimpsed the control room. Three soldiers were dead in the room, one sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood, one face down on a console, the third staring at the door with a surprised expression still lingering in his dead eyes, his face slowly turning red from the blood running down. She sensed no regret from Tomas or Talia. 

She understood why they felt they had to strike first, but was still ashamed. If we don't offer them mercy, she thought, carefully shielding herself from Jaysen, who was again semiconscious, how are we any better than them? She continued up the stairs, leading Jaysen, looking quickly at her chrono. 

They had three minutes. 

Tamsin vaulted up the final flight of stairs and pushed the door slightly ajar, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. She saw a tall, thin figure standing near the exit, holding a gun, and wished they'd planned to leave by the same doors they'd arrived by. Then she remembered her double downstairs, and smiled. 

She pulled the hood off her head, shaking her hair out, entered the corridor and walked toward the exit quickly as if she had every right to be there. The man at the door looked at her, registering the copper hair and relaxing slightly. Then he saw her black clothing and began to stiffen, but it was too late. Tamsin grabbed his hand and gave his wrist a vicious twist. He dropped the gun and she kicked it down the hall. He recovered more quickly than Tamsin, throwing her hard into the opposite wall. She felt the concussion reverberate through her whole body, and barely kept on her feet. She had badly underestimated the man. He might be thin, but he was strong, and he was almost half a meter taller than she. She nearly laughed. Gentle Goddess, this man could kill meÉ 

They stood face to face in the corridor, a few feet from the door. She eyed him carefully, trying to find a weak spot. Even his knees are a pretty high kick for me. No way can I aim for his throat. She looked at her face and her breath caught in her throat. 

His face belied his height. He looked young --- far too young to be there. And those intense blue eyes; surely she'd seen them before. But where? 

He spoke, and everything fell into place. "What are you trying to do here?" he asked, speaking in the soft, blurred tones of the city she'd grown up in. She could almost see him, younger, playing in the streets with the other children. 

"I'm trying to fix a terrible wrong that's been done here," she said. She saw him flinch as he recognized her accent. 

"How can you do this?" he asked, angry and bewildered. "You come from the West, from the same place I do. You know how bad it was for us. People were starving. They killed each other on the streets for drugs or a few credits. You go there now and it's changed. The streets are clean. People have jobs. They have hope! How can you try to destroy everything we worked for?" 

Tamsin felt as if she'd been slapped. His words brought her most buried feelings to the fore, the thoughts she held back when she listened to her friends in Ground Zero talk. She remembered what it had been like growing up, remembered walking by burnt-out buildings, remembered running away from the gangs. When she was lucky, she'd managed to run away from the gangs. She still bore the scars from when she'd been unlucky. And the government had done nothing about it. How could she work for the old one that had done nothing to help them? Even if the desire was to form a new coalition, some of the strongest supporters of Ground Zero were powerful members of the old, deposed government who had escaped Narid. 

The desire to believe in a government that could make such improvements in the West was almost overpowering. But how could she not try to bring down a new one that had done such violence to her friends? "The things that you've worked for have been built on a lie!" she shouted, as much to herself as to him. "Look at what's been done to the people here! They've been tortured, forced to betray their friends and family." 

His fierce blue eyes snapped fire down at her. "What did they do for us when we were in need? They ignored us. They just sapped our resources to improve their lives, then restricted us so we couldn't better ourselves." 

Tamsin saw two figures dressed in black moving toward the doors from behind the guard. She had to keep him occupied until Jaysen and Kalin got through the door. She had to keep him talking. She didn't want to kill him. 

"Those laws were made to protect the environment! Or would you have us be a planet of desert and sewage, like Old Earth?" she said. 

"If the laws were to protect the environment, why was only the West subject to them? Why was the East free to do as they would with their resources? The laws were made to keep us down!" 

Tamsin clenched her fists. He was voicing many of her own thoughts, thoughts she had rationalized away again and again. Worse, she was beginning, in some small corner of her mind, to believe in him. Kalin and Jaysen were almost through the door. She had to keep him talking, and came back to the one point that had kept her fighting against the new government. "None of that excuses what is being done here! How can you support the way these people are treated. They aren't being treated this way for what they've done, but what they are. If you'd been born Gifted, you'd be down there instead of up here." 

She saw him flinch, saw his jaw clench, and saw those intense blue eyes grow opaque. Suddenly she knew. "You are Gifted. You hid it all your life to keep yourself safe, and now you're helping them hurt people just like you." Jaysen and Kalin were right behind him, about to go through the door. "How can you not hate yourself for that?" 

She knew how he loathed himself for turning against people like him. She knew quite well. She felt the same way, because she'd done the same thing. She saw him begin to turn, and saw his eyes catch the motion behind him. 

She reacted before she could think, before she could let him hurt her friends. She rushed him, and her right wrist snapped back just before it hit his chest. The blade slid between the ribs, through several inches of flesh. She felt the warm blood gush out over her hand and body as her other arm wrapped around him. She held him as he began to crumple to the floor, met his eyes and saw the shock and despair there. He tried to speak, but blood dripped out of his mouth. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him, tears threatening to spill out. "I'm so sorry." She held his hand as he died a few seconds later, and closed his eyes. Then she ran out the doors, covered in blood. She stopped, stone-still, as light exploded all around her, momentarily blinding her. 

Their time was up. 

Kalin saw Tamsin rush the tall guard, but didn't wait to see the results. She moved Jaysen out as fast as she could, aware that she couldn't maintain his barriers much longer. She had seconds, a minute at best. 

She got him into the courtyard, but stopped for a moment when she saw the two military aircars sitting there, with Layten between them. She rushed forward. What the hell are you DOING here? she sent, as forcefully as she could. 

He gave a little shrug, the one she found most infuriating. I believe it's called hijacking. Get in. 

She shoved Jaysen into the rear of one car, sitting down beside him and fastening the safety harnesses, and took his hands. She knew Layten was waiting until the last possible second to take off. Do you know how to fly these things? 

No, not really, he replied. But I'm interfaced with a computer that does. 

Kalin sighed, then put it out of her mind. She would not worry about things she had no control over. Suddenly, the lights flashed on around them. She heard Layten call Tamsin's name. Beneath her hands, she felt a twitch, and felt something crumble in his mind. His body went limp as she felt his mind collapse. 

She began probing his mind, trying to patch him together as she dimly heard the engines roar beneath them. She touched a recent memory, a painful one, and probed deeper. The whole event was flung into her mind, as strong as if it had happened to her. 

He tried to take a deep breath and couldn't. "What do you want from me?" 

Tamsin's damp, warm voice whispered in his ear again. "Only the answers to a few questions." He heard tearing cloth as the knife traced down his spine, felt the blood following it. He didn't dare move, feeling burning where the blade cut him, on his arms, then again across his back and down, knowing even the slightest shift could mean worse damage. He knew the woman wasn't Tamsin, but it didn't matter. The shock of the image of his best friend hurting him held him frozen to the spot, paralyzed with fear and betrayal. He felt the tickle of her tongue again on his ear as he tried to lose himself in the pain, and ignore the knife. "There's no reason I can't have fun while I ask," the voice laughed, as the knife traced down his spine, then lower. 

Kalin traced one hand over her friend's brow, moving the hair out of his still-closed eyes. "Oh, Jaysen," she whispered. 

"You're hurt!" Layten exclaimed. 

Tamsin was aware that the grin on her face was probably maniacal at best. At some point in the past minute, she'd become very detached. She didn't really care what happened next. "Don't worry, it's not mine. Can you cover us?" 

Layten nodded. "We're going to Kerna N'tali's compound. Once we get within those walls, the military won't dare touch us." 

Tamsin felt the smile grow broader across her face. Someone inside her was screaming ... she told it to shut up. "But first we have to get there. Leave your radio at 1430 megahertz - they don't usually monitor that channel. Good luck." She flung herself into the aircar, glancing quickly at Jaysen and Kalin in the back before she started it up. The car lifted quickly, and she brought it as high as she was willing to push it. 

A bass voice came over the radio. "These are aircars, not suborbital vehicles." 

"Yeah, I know, Layten. I'm just pushing it a little high." 

She heard a hiss, then Layten spoke again. "The records say it's not rated to go this high." 

"Well, the records lie. They'll safely go a lot higher than the manufacturers say they will. It's a safety precaution against people like me." Tamsin banked sharply and made a beeline for the N'tali compound. Layten followed behind and at a somewhat lower altitude. Only one of the five moons were full, making them harder to spot. 

There was silence for the next few minutes as both pilots concentrated on reaching their goal. Then Layten's voice crackled over the intercom. "A car is coming at us from Capus. It'll be intersecting our path in two minutes." He paused, and Tamsin could almost hear the computer he'd interfaced with whirring. "It's not hostile yet. It's coming to check out why we're traveling on an unscheduled flight path." 

Tamsin let out a hiss of air between her teeth. Even though those back at the Killian Research Facility who were capable of warning the military of their theft probably weren't inclined to do so, transponders were placed on each car to make them traceable. She'd been hoping that, by the time they were noticed, they'd be in the N'tali compound. "Layten, you do the talking. Audio only, if you can manage it. Find out the most plausible excuse from that computer, and use it. I'll be listening." 

A few seconds later, the radio shifted to the standard military frequency as the other car matched course with theirs. "Ships S93-0760 and S93-0931, please state your course." 

Layten's voice sounded, deep and authoritative, over the radio. "We're traveling to the N'tali compound." 

"For what purpose?" asked the other voice sharply. 

"Our flight path and details of our mission are contained in memo dated 13/12/28, timecode 16:32." 

The radio hissed. "I can't access that file. It's protected ... Code Indigo," said the other car. 

"Exactly. Your superior officer can check our orders." 

There was another pause. The voice came again, less sure. "I'd like a visual, please." 

"I can't do that. Check Code Indigo procedures. No visual allowed." 

"What are ---" 

Layten's voice interrupted. "I can't give you more information. I suggest you return to your base. And, soldier, I suggest you check Code Indigo procedures. If I wanted to, I could shoot you out of the sky right now for interfering." 

Tamsin's finger itched over the trigger for the car's guns, but she held her fire. After a few seconds, the car banked and turned south. She spoke to Layten over their low frequency. "That was close." 

"Hopefully I intimidated him enough that he won't check that order." 

"Why?" asked Tamsin. 

"Code Indigo orders come from a general. I could forge an audiovisual message with retina prints in two days, but not in thirty seconds. It's an empty message." 

"ETA to N'tali compound is twelve minutes. Keep your fingers crossed." 

Tamsin took a moment to look over her shoulder at Jaysen and Kalin. Jaysen sprawled, comatose, on the seat, his head on Kalin's shoulder. Kalin's ebony hair had fallen forward, obscuring both their faces. 

Tamsin turned back to the console, and tried to quiet the thoughts that were filling her mind. How can you try to destroy everything we worked for? The guard's voice rang through her head. 

They were within three minutes of the compound when she heard Layten's voice again. "Our luck just ran out. There are three cars coming at us. They're big, they're armed to the teeth, and they'll get to us in forty-eight seconds." 

"Scheiss'n," said Tamsin shortly. She checked her sensors. "They're Enigma-class. Aim two meters ahead of the engine at the top of the car. The shielding's weak there, and the fuel line goes through it. One good hit, and it'll blow." She paused, and only heard static from the other end. "Layten, please acknowledge." She switched bands, but still heard nothing but static. "So they're jamming us," she said to herself. "Well, they won't be able to hear each other, either." She hoped he'd heard her last message. 

She put the car in a steep, fast dive and came at the lead car from above, feeling gravity tug against the safety harness. As the other car began to bank, she targeted ahead of the engine, fired and continued to dive below the wedge-shaped Enigma, plotting her course to come up behind the other two cars. Her shot hit dead on. The first car began losing altitude quickly, spitting a trail of smoke that quickly became flame. It exploded about four hundred meters from the ground. Tamsin tried to hold her car steady against the concussion waves buffeting it. She saw the forest below burst into flame. 

One of the two remaining cars went briefly into a spin, then recovered. The other, further away from the blast, stayed steady and turned to intercept her. Tamsin looked at her sensors for Layten's car. The boxy vehicle was bobbing and weaving erratically. "Layten, what the hell is wrong?" she shouted, without hope of a response. She'd been lucky against the first car; they hadn't expected her to attack so quickly. She wasn't too sanguine about her chances against the other two. 

She sent the car up as fast as she could, knowing the only way she could damage either of the other two cars was by an attack from above, where they were less heavily shielded. She also knew the cars would be expecting such an attack. She dove again, firing. This time the Enigmas moved quickly, dodging her shots. She scored a glancing shot against one of them, and completely missed the other. The fight was drifting, she noticed, coming closer and closer to the N'tali compound. If she was lucky, she'd soon be close enough to make a run for it. 

Layten was firing, too, with less luck than she was having, staying barely in range to do any damage. Tamsin pushed the car up again, tearing in a steep left-hand turn around and above the two cars. Both began firing at her, and her car bounced in response. She began to lose thrust. She swore loudly as she arced back toward them, preparing to fire once again. 

Through talent or sheer blind luck, she didn't know which, Layten fired a shot which passed perhaps a meter below her car and hit one of the two remaining Enigmas. The car immediately began to list to one side. After a few seconds, it banked away, turning back toward its base. 

Tamsin was jolted as another shot hit her from the remaining Enigma. She heard the engine hesitate, then continue, but with an underlying disonant hum. Her sensors were down; she was relying strictly on visual. She tried to gain altitude but didn't have the power. She braked sharply and the Enigma shot by her. She slammed her finger on the trigger as her car began to drop from the lack of momentum. 

Nothing happened. 

She slammed her hand against the console hard in frustration, and cursed the makers of the car as she accelerated quickly, making a beeline for the N'tali compound. The car responded jerkily, accelerating in fits and starts, slowly losing altitude. She had no idea where Layten was. The Enigma dropped out of sight in front of her. When she looked over her shoulder through the back window, she saw it coming up from below. It loomed behind her. She saw it shake, and shake again. Layten was firing, without much lasting effect. The N'tali compound was within sight, but she knew she didn't have a chance of reaching it. She braced herself for the Enigma's final shot. 

She saw a bloom of fire come from the rear of the Enigma, then another. It crawled up the car, turning the black hull to red and gold. Then it exploded. 

Tamsin's car tumbled forward end over end. She tried to adjust the spin, turning it into a side roll that was bringing her directly toward the compound. The ground below her revolved more and more slowly as she stabilized the car. The blue-green blur below her resolved itself into the lake and trees within the N'tali compound. As she pulled the car back to a stable, slow descent, she heard the engines sputter. 

"Don't you dare stall yet!" she shouted at the engines. Unlike the Enigmas, which could glide for quite a distance without power, her car was not very aerodynamic, and would drop like a stone when the engines cut out. 

She was ten meters above the ground when the engines cut out. The car continued its gentle downward glide for a few seconds, then dropped. Tamsin heard a crash as the dark closed around her. 

She woke to hands brushing her body. She instinctively grabbed for them. 

"Tamsin, it's Chas! Don't hurt me!" he exclaimed. "I'm just brushing the glass off you." 

She opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, and her stomach began to heave. Chas moved to the side and pulled her head forward as she began to vomit all over the shattered console. When she was done, he gave her a sip of water. She noticed, in a detached way, that the cloth he was wiping her face with came away red. She also saw three of them. "How are Kalin and Jaysen?" she asked. 

"They're fine ... a lot better than you, as a matter of fact. They're being brought inside now. You destroyed Kerna's flower garden." 

She could smell gardenias, roses and violets all around her. "Whoops. I was aiming for the landing pad." 

"You missed," said Chas. "But the trees to the side of the garden broke your fall. You were lucky." 

Tamsin felt very remote, as if she were dreaming. Her eyes began to sag shut. She felt a sting against her cheek and realized Chas had slapped her. "Don't you dare go to sleep," he said. "You've got a bad concussion." 

"What happened to Layten?" she asked. 

"I lost contact with the computer when they jammed the radio signals," a bass voice said. "And I really have no idea how to fly those things." 

"So we threw you in the water and you learned how to swim. Great," she said, closing her eyes. 

"Don't shut your eyes!" Chas yelled at her, and her eyes snapped back open. She stared at the green shadows above her and heard voices rumbling in the background. 

"No, she can't be moved, it's too dangerous. We'll have to do it here," she heard as the green patterns in front of her began to swell and change shape. She felt herself slide down a tunnel. 

A few days later, Chas walked on the green path by the lake, escaping momentarily the visuals of the standoff at the Killian Research Institute. A copper-haired figure stood at the edge of the water, throwing rocks at the glassy surface. She tossed him a wave as he came closer. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked her. 

"I feel fine," she said. "The upper third of my vision is still gone, though. It's like I'm wearing a hat all the time." 

"There isn't any permanent damage. It'll come back soon," he said. 

She stared at him. "What?" he asked. 

"You saw me just this morning. What do you really want to talk to me about?" she asked. 

He stared out at the water and tried to form his words carefully. "It's about Jaysen." 

She walked away from him a few steps, keeping her back to him. "I don't think I want to hear what you're going to tell me." 

"Kalin's been working with him steadily. He's holding together now." 

"So why can't I see him?" asked Tamsin angrily, turning around. 

Chas hesitated. "How much do you know about what they did to him?" 

"Enough," she snapped. "I had a run-in with her." 

"Kalin feels that it would be best if Jaysen didn't see you for a while," said Chas. 

"How long do you mean?" 

"We don't know. But she thinks that if he saw you right now, it could do a lot of damage." 

"You mean it would send him over the edge again." She laughed bitterly and threw a rock into the lake. "It's like he's still locked up there. Sometimes I wish he was dead. Then I'd have a reason to grieve, to miss him. Even if I do get to see him again, it won't beÉhim." 

Chas walked toward her and put a hand on her arm. He hesitated, then decided to tell her. "Tamsin, Jaysen was in love with you." 

She shook his arm off. He looked at her face. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes were burning. Her breath came fast. "Chas, please go away." 

"Tamsin ---" 

"Chas, I have an overwhelming desire to hit something repeatedly," she said. Her voice was like brittle glass shards. "I'd rather it wasn't you." 

Chas walked back up the path. Before he went between the trees, he looked back toward the lake. Tamsin still stared at the water, an alarming lack of expression on her face. 

Chas went to the house, intending to ask Kalin to check on Tamsin, not sure what she might do next. Layten was sitting in the middle of the room, holograms all around him. 

Chas stared at the flickering images of fire and blood. The research facility wasn't the only building in dispute now. "What's happening?" he asked. 

Layten's voice was triumphant, yet bleak. "Revolution." 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

