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  "How will they do that, Elan, without taking us out, too?"

  But Nayna could hear it in Elan's voice; Elan was beyond reason. Nayna's fingers were moving even before Elan said in a much quieter voice. "Better I do it myself."

  "Nayna!" he yelled, but she had already thrown the switch.

  There was no fanfare, no squeals or claxons, no hisses or explosions. The lights didn't even dim. Nayna started counting backwards from thirty. If she heard nothing, her ploy had failed and they were all, at least the three of them, dead. When she reached eleven, she heard Bryder, distorted by two intercom systems. "I'm in, Nayna. Elan's out cold. I think she got shocked."

  "I'll reset the system here and clean up so no one knows," Nayna said, hoping he could hear her. "You take care of her until the message comes through."

  Nayna was inwardly surprised at her sympathy for Elan. Yes, Elan had endangered them all, but she had been put through torment first, had been goaded and mistreated, shorn from the person she treasured. Nayna didn't know what that was like, had never felt that way about anyone, and couldn't pretend she could imagine Elan's pain. But, when she had the thought that she might not see Bryder again, the thought disturbed her. His faith in her warmed her. Elan was a good analyst and had done nothing to deserve her many punishments. And that, Nayna understood.

  When Nayna left, having returned the power room to its former state, minus the dust, she heard Elan in the comm room as she stepped free. Bryder had left the door open and Elan was weeping openly as she talked to a youthful voice over tight beam. "Baby! Baby! You're alive!"

  "I'm alright, Mother. They want to make an agent of me since I pick up languages so quickly. If I am, won't I be able to work with you?"

  "Yes, but I'm just glad you're alive. You take care of yourself. Don't worry about me!"

  "No, no, you have to take care of yourself. Remember someone loves you, Mother. Remember someone needs you to survive. Can you remember that, Mother?"

  Elan sniffed, took a deep breath. "Yes, baby."

  "Bryder, the man who contacted us, says he can relay messages to you from me. Will that make things easier?"

  "Yes, baby."

  "I love you, Mother. I have to go, but remember that. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I'm here and I love you."

  Nayna stood frozen outside the door, her whole body wracked with longing for a sensation she'd never known. To be loved. To love someone so much that you could live for them even at a distance. What did that feel like?

  Bryder surprised her when he wiped her cheeks, but she was not as surprised as when she saw his fingers left wet. She hadn't even noticed she was crying. "Do you know what that's like?" she breathed to him, not wanting to break the spell.

  "Yeah."

  "I wish…" Nayna shook her head. "Do you think Elan will be alright now?"

  "Yes, I think this helped her a great deal. I'll go let everyone in and blame the whole thing on Belger. You get the evidence of the spill, which I have no doubt you have handy, in line so we don't get any more suspicion than necessary.

  "Yes," she said, shaking her head, wiping the last of her tears off her face. "Will you…?"

  "Will I what, beautiful?"

  "Will you, can you tell me what it's like to love like that? To be loved?"

  Bryder surprised her again by kissing her gently on the forehead. "I can. Sooner than you think."

  About the Author

  "We're all mad here." - Lewis Caroll

  My name is Stephanie Barr and I write books, fantasy and science fiction and combinations thereof. A lot of them. I'm also a rocket scientist, raising my two autistic children as a single mother, and herd a bunch of cats. I have three blogs, which are sporadically updated: Rocket Scientist, Rockets and Dragons, and The Unlikely Otaku. Anything else even vaguely interesting about me can be found in my writing since I put a little bit of myself in everything I writes . . . just not the same piece. Those pieces are all parts of my characters such as:

  A four hundred year old shut in who reads fortunes and a care-for-nobody demon with a scruffy cat [Tarot Queen] or

  A happy go lucky prince cum mercenary swordsman cum sorcerer and a rule-abiding self-assured sorceress/warrior who never asks for help, and, of course, six snarky telepathic kittens. [Curse of the Jenri] or

  A clever thoughtful young man who thinks he's weak who can turn into a dragon and a sweet generous young healer who knows her own worth and wields a dangerous wooden spoon [Beast Within - Bete Book 1] or

  A pugnacious firebrand who can think well in a crisis but feels in the shadow of his foster brother and a sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued engineer with a lightning temper and even quicker mind with even more snarky telepathic kittens. [Nine Lives - Bete Book 2] or

  A teenage technological genius, short on social skills but long on dedication to those he loves and a scrappy girl who punches first and asks question later [Saving Tessa] or

  A genius analysts whose been fed lies since birth but still maintained her individuality and a crazy clever man who brings chaos in his wake and makes it work for him. [Ideal Insurgent] or

  A dragon-raised hermity mage who's given up on the world and a former slave who doesn't know the meaning of the word impossible [Taming of Dracul Morsus which can be found in On the Horizon which comes out May 1] or

  Literally dozens of other characters in her anthologies [Legacy and Conjuring Dreams or Learning to Write by Writing] and her book of poetry [Musings of a Nascent Poet]

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephanieebarr

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephanieebarr

  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Barr/e/B00N9W84YK

  My blog: http://stephanie-barr.blogspot.com