The next day instead of going to lunch I went outside and walked until the training center was only a white speck in the distance. Then I sat down on a rock and put my entire mind to devising a solution to my new problem.

It wasn't as if Baria herself could hurt me, but if Norae or her husband Jopson, the center's governors, were to find out, they'd have to tell a military executive simply out of duty. Of course, Baria couldn't just tell them my secrets, since our sessions were supposed to be confidential, but there was no doubt in my mind that she'd find a way to make the information known. Then she'd have me out of her hair before I even knew what had happened. And I'd never see my teammates again. I'd probably be kicked out of the mission program as quickly as I'd be expelled from Pathic Training; at the very least punished with a penitentiary prison term � one of the worse disgraces possible.

It occurred to me that I could have avoided this whole situation by not listening to Tuck; not participating in his crazy scheme. Yet I was still glad I'd gone along with him. As far as I was concerned, it was not the illegal jailbreak that as the problem, but being here. I smiled, amused with myself.

I decided to spend my afternoon break out there, too, instead of reviewing my lessons with Arilla as I was supposed to. I figured that the more time I could spend outside and away from everyone who could read my mind, the better I'd be able to stand being here.

I'd been outside about an hour, when I suddenly heard the sound of laughter. I spun around and my hand flew to my belt before I remembered I was carrying no weapons. Then I relaxed and quietly began creeping toward the sound. I soon spotted two people and watched them for a few minutes, remaining carefully hidden. I recognized one � the boy to whom Cadie had introduced me at dinner my first day here. The other must have been a teacher, though I didn't recognize her. When they sat down and began what looked like a lesson, I decided to get up and introduce myself.

"Well, hello," the woman said as soon as I'd come into view. "What is your name, and what brings you out here?"

"I'm�my name is Bryt. I was just walking�"

"Hey, I remember you," the boy exclaimed. "You're new here, right?" I nodded. "I'm Shandicar, remember? Or Sandy, for short." I nodded again. Actually, I'd completely forgotten his name.

"And I'm Takaura," the woman said. "We come out here every afternoon. You see, I used to be a missioneer, and Sandy had been mission training for a year and a half when he was instructed to come here. Since he doesn't want to get too far behind, I instruct him a little each day. Do you come out here often, too?"

"No," I told the dark-skinned ex-missioneer. Takaura didn't look that old � she must have resigned as soon as her ten years were up. I wondered why. "This is my first time," I continued. "Would you mind if I stay and watch? Observe, you know?" I said, rolling my eyes a bit for the Pathic Training tradition.

Takaura smiled, her green eyes twinkling. "Certainly not," she replied. "You're welcome. Are you having thoughts of becoming a missioneer, too?"

"Actually, I am a missioneer," I said, flushing as I remembered I was no longer wearing my uniform and badge.

"Oh." Takaura looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "You look young for one, if you don't mind my saying so."

"I am young. I graduated early," I said with no hesitation.

"Well, in that case maybe you can help me with young Sandy's training, here. He's quite good." Sandy beamed, and I smiled. He was a lanky kid with a thick shock of brown hair and ears that stuck straight out of his head. His face looked like a five-year-old's, though he must have been at least fifteen to have starting mission training. I would have liked to try instructing him, but�

"I'm not qualified to teach �" I began.

"Neither am I." Takaura grinned. "Oh, Norae knows about our illicit lessons and turns a blind eye to them. I know she thinks they're a good idea. We don't have any drill equipment, of course, so I only teach paper lessons, but hopefully Sandy'll be able to rejoin his class or the one just below after his Pathic Training is complete."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," I said to Sandy, who nodded.

"I want to get back to Mission Training as soon as possible," he admitted.

"What, you don't like being surrounded by beautiful young girls twenty-five hours a day?" Takaura teased. Pathic skills were for some reason much more prevalent in women than in men, so there were only a few males in the whole facility.

"It's not that�" Sandy blushed, an embarrassed teen.

"I feel the same way," I said. "I want to get back to my team."

We talked a while longer about our mutual dislike of Pathic Training, until Takaura announced that breaktime was almost over and we ought to be heading back in time for the afternoon training session. My hand flew to my mouth and I gasped out, "Oh no! I'm so sorry! We've taken up your entire lesson!"

Takaura only laughed. "It's okay, Bryt, it's okay," she reassured me. "We're not exactly running formal classes here."

"Yeah, and it's fun having someone else to talk to. I mean, no offense or anything, Takaura. Will you come back tomorrow, Bryt?" Sandy asked eagerly.

"Of course! I'll come every day if you want me to!" I was overjoyed that I'd finally found a place here where I seemed to belong. My afternoon with Baria was far more bearable having made these new friends, and that evening I didn't have to go through the blackwine ritual. That night I would be falling asleep happy for the first time since arriving.

Arilla knew immediately that something was up. Luckily she was courteous enough to wait until Baria was gone before asking who I'd met that day.

"Met?" I asked innocently, then remembered that there was no point in trying to keep information from Arilla. "Okay, you're right," I said. "You really have to teach me how you got so good at empathy. I met Takaura today, an empath who used to be missioneer?" When Arilla nodded in recognition, I continued, "Also Sandy, who's a student at a Mission Training center." I shrugged. "I was just happy to find someone who understands where I'm coming from."

Arilla kept her face carefully solemn, and I couldn't read her no matter how I tried. "I think," she finally said, "that you were very unfortunate to get assigned to Baria. Her dislike of the government is well known throughout the center." Arilla sighed. "We're so overcrowded, though, and she was the only one free enough�"

"I'm glad I got you as a partner," I told her sincerely. "Even if it does mean I'm stuck with Baria for a teacher."

Arilla smiled slightly, maybe even a little sadly, as she lay down on her bed. So, following her example, I put out the lamp and went to sleep, satisfied for the first time since I'd come here.

My days fell into a routine from there. Mornings would be my main sessions with Baria � during the evening session I simply observed as Arilla worked. As much as I despised the woman, I couldn't fault her at all as a pathic trainer. I found myself learning more every day, and actually wanting to continue. My sixth sense was developing faster and faster. After two months, I could easily read emotions, tell if a person were being honest, and usually tell if hidden meanings were present in a statement, though I couldn't always discern what they were. Baria taught me exactly what to look for � each involuntary facial nuance and what it betrayed. Of course, these were different for every person � their basic "clean slate" as we called it had to be learned first. Baria taught me how to determine a clean slate after only a few sentences of conversation. She and Arilla could do it with only a few words or even silence. I learned to read Arilla and Baria (to the extent that they let me) fairly quickly, spending as much time with them as I did. I also learned Takaura and Sandy's clean slates and nuances. Eventually I got to learn Norae's, too, as I found myself spending an unexpected amount of time with her. I'm sure it had to do with my being a missioneer.

Whenever Norae didn't call me away, I spent the afternoon break with Takaura and Sandy. This was still my favorite part of the day, involved as I was in my learning. Sandy's mission training was coming along as well as my pathic training. He was both eager and apt a pupil, and I was sure he'd make at least a Minor by the time he returned. A few times I even brought out my weapons, despite the risk of being questioned, to give him some of the physical training he was missing. I noticed that Sandy was particularly adept at hand-to-hand combat, most likely because he could read his opponent's face (in this case mine) and predict where the next strike would come.

Those days when Norae called me away to spend afternoon break with her, I had little choice but to be agreeable (despite which many students were jealous for the attention I received from the Headteacher). She'd ask me lots of questions about missioneer life; about my own Mission Training, and discreetly, about Sandy's; about my feelings toward Pathic Training and the progress I'd made; and about any other young people with pathic potential I might have encountered. I know Norae gathered far more information from these interviews than I told her, but I couldn't exactly refuse her company. Besides, as long as the conversation kept clear of the jailbreak, I felt safe enough. At first I was nervous when her husband, Jopson, would join us, but I quickly realized that he didn't have pathic abilities. No, his sole source of power was being a governor of the center. I thought I should be awed to find myself in such exalted company, and it took me awhile to understand why I wasn't. It came as a bit of a shock when I first realized that these two people, important as they were, didn't hold a tenth of the respect from me that Captain Gill, or even Captain Shay did. I was pleased with my own devotion toward being a missioneer, and toward my cause.

Perhaps this is why I was shocked by some of the attitudes I found among my peers at the center. Arilla, for example, once told me that the reason she worked so hard at empathy was because she wanted to teach it, and therefore not be required to do ten years of military service.

"But what's the point in that?" I had asked her. "You've developed this amazing skill and you're not actually ever going to use it?"

"First of all, Brytani," she'd answered sternly, "the war isn't the only practical purpose for empathy around. And secondly, someone I train at some point will become a missioneer just like yourself."

I was disappointed, realizing how valuable to the mission program Arilla could be, with her power. I grinned to myself upon this realization, because my arguments meant I had to admit that Shay had been right. I now had the potential to be a much better missioneer than I'd been before. But once we were back together, I would still never do anything like this again, no matter how great the reward!

Another aspect of life that I never quite got used to was the constant negativity. Baria was always comparing me to Arilla, telling me that I didn't work hard enough or learn fast enough. I was used to always being the best at Mission Training, being Captain Gill's favorite. Though Arilla said that Baria's displeasurable attitude was only to keep me moving forward as fast as possible, I sensed that Arilla agreed with her. This suspicion was confirmed five months into my Training, when Arilla was allowed to take on her first student. Laradie was only thirteen years old, but very gifted in empathy. Trained by Arilla, still a student herself, Laradie learned more in a month than I had in five, and progressed beyond my level. I was extremely frustrated and yes, even jealous when I saw how slow my progress actually was, despite my thrill at learning so much so quickly. Pathic Training was not like Mission Training, I soon realized, in that it wasn't open to everyone and there wasn't a general program to complete. Rather, everyone moved at their own pace. The end result was that this school moved far more quickly, with both students and teachers much more earnestly working. And in this place, I was below average. It was a condition I'd never lived with before, and was honestly having a hard time handling.

Even this wasn't the worst of it, though. My biggest problem was that everyone around me could read my mind. Okay, not everyone could, I'm sure, but I'd gotten very paranoid. As much as I liked Arilla and wanted to remain friends with her, I found myself avoiding her whenever possible. In truth I was afraid � I didn't want her knowing my innermost feelings, nor what I was thinking at the moment. And of course there was always Baria with her telepathic powers, who grew better every day at keeping my emotions under her control. They both knew I was harboring a dangerous secret, and I was pretty sure that Baria, though her telepathy, could make me disclose it. So whenever I spoke to her I was jeopardizing my team, the last thing I wanted to do. The blackwine ritual, in which I was still forced to take part several times a week, was another potential source of danger. If Arilla asked the right questions, she could easily get the information out of me. I wouldn't have worried had it not been for the grudge Baria held against all the military and against me in general. If Baria ever told Norae what I'd helped to do�I hung my head in shame just thinking about it.

These problems alone weren't enough to drive me away from Pathic Training. No, it took one last event, one last discovery, before it all became too much, and I began looking for a way out instead of a way to continue.