Tyler stood in the darkness on the side of the mountain road east of the Confederate base. From far below him came the sounds of snapping vegetation and twisting metal as the car he'd taken from the base completed its destructive roll down the side of the mountain. Finally, the worst of the sounds grew still.

He listened a moment longer to determine if the vehicle's tumble from the cliff would end in an explosion, but the night remained still, with only the occasional rustle of loosened pebbles carrying through the cold night air.

Tyler felt something move against his side. He glanced down at the pack he wore slung over his shoulder. Surely the child hadn't recovered from the effelin already. But a small sound and another movement from inside the container indicated he had.

Intrigued, Tyler pulled open the pack and looked inside. He dropped his free hand into a trouser pocket to remove one of the vials of effelin gas.

Inside the pack, barely visible in the dim starlight, the child blinked blearily up at him, strange silver eyes unfocused. Tiny hands reached upward, grasping at air, and Tyler felt a questioning touch on his mind.

Instantly, he brought up the gas vial. But the touch was neither threatening, nor strong, and Tyler hesitated, the effelin poised over the open pack.

The child continued his tentative exploration of Tyler's mind, barely brushing the fringes of his awareness. And then the child smiled, his unsettling silver eyes stopped their aimless roving and latched onto Tyler's, and he experienced the phenomenal strength and control of the child's mind.

He pressed the breakpoint on the vial and thrust it into the pack.

The child's mind slid from his, and the uncanny eyes closed.

Feeling strangely uncomfortable about what he had just done, Tyler gave the child a final long look, resealed the pack, and started east down the road on foot.

Several minutes later, a dark groundcar drove up behind Tyler. He stopped to watch as the car drew to a halt beside him. He remained calm at the vehicle's approach, but his laser pistol was in his hand, held out of sight at his side.

He glanced inside the car, got a good look at the dark, raw-boned features of the man behind the controls, and returned the gun to its place in one of the pack's outer pockets.

The driver was one of the men Gaunis had sent to assist Tyler in the final stages of this job. He went by the name Tenu; he'd never offered Tyler any rank or other designation.

"Good timing," Tenu said as Tyler joined him inside the vehicle and settled the pack on his lap. "I just made my first pass. I assume things went smoothly?"

Tyler nodded.

"Where's the car?"

"At the bottom of the ravine. Even if the Confederates have a locator on it, it'll be hell to get to." He shot Tenu a sidelong glance. "Let's get moving."

"Not so fast, Tyler." Tenu switched on the car's interior lights. "First, let's see your ticket."

Tyler opened the pack.

Tenu leaned over to look inside. His dark, feral eyes studied the pack's contents. He looked at Tyler, a frown twisting his gaunt features. "Where's the other one?"

Tyler looked at the man, discarded several lies regarding the fate of the child's twin, and decided on the truth. "There was only one."

Tenu pursed his thin lips, glanced from Tyler to the child, and back again.

Tyler shrugged. "I did what I could."

Tenu nodded, switched off the lights, and pulled the car back onto the road, headed east.

They drove in silence for nearly half an hour before coming down out of the mountains to make their way across a stretch of desert grasslands and into the brightly lit Varen spaceport.

Tenu parked the car in a large public lot on the outskirts of the port grounds, then they caught a tram to a terminal on the far side. From there, they walked out across the beacon-lit port grounds toward an assemblage of couriers, yachts, and other mid-sized passenger vessels.

As they walked, Tyler kept a careful eye on the area around them. The only thing that caught his interest was a group of port security men and a few Confederate soldiers gathered around a nearby yacht, apparently searching it, its crew, and its passengers.

For a brief moment, Tyler worried that the yacht might be the one that was to take him off Arecia, but Tenu's lack of interest quickly belayed his concern. Still, the fact that a ship was being searched by Confederate soldiers might indicate that someone on the base had noticed the child's disappearance and started a search.

"Looks like the Confederates are onto you," Tenu said quietly. "Fortunately, they won't be searching our ship." He gestured ahead of them.

The ship Tenu indicated was a large Patrol courier with the insignia of the Esprit, flagship of Admiral Richard Shaw, the Confederacy's staunchest supporter among the United Galaxy's leadership, Gaunis's arch-enemy, and Kressa Bryant's father.

Tyler wondered whether to be impressed or concerned.

The courier's airlock opened as the two men reached the boarding ramp and started up it. A pleasant-looking blond man in the uniform of a Patrol lieutenant commander stood in the opening. He gave Tenu a respectful nod, stepped aside to allow him and Tyler to enter the ship, and sealed the door behind them.

Inside, another Patrolman sat in the back of the ship's common area. His uniform identified him as a lieutenant, but boyish features and a mop of unruly brown hair made the uniform seem out of place.

He glanced at Tyler with mild interest, but as Tenu moved up behind Tyler, the lieutenant stared for a moment in surprise, scrambled to his feet, and started to salute. A simple gesture from Tenu stopped the young man in mid-salute and sent him back to his seat.

Tyler wondered at the sudden intensity the young man displayed upon seeing Tenu—an intensity even more out of place than his uniform.

"This is Lieutenant Sellera," Tenu said. "He'll be traveling with us." He turned to gesture toward the other uniformed man. "And this is our pilot, Commander Rhoad. Gentlemen, this is Devin Tyler."

"Welcome aboard the Phoenix, Tyler." Rhoad stepped forward to gesture down the short hallway that extended from the rear of the common area. "That's your room," he said, "second on the left." He looked at the pack Tyler carried. "Is that all your gear?"

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"It's all he needs." Tenu reached to take the pack from Tyler.

Tyler stepped away and pulled the pack out of reach. There was no reason he shouldn't give it to Tenu—as the man said earlier, it was his ticket off Arecia—but there was something unsettling about the thought of giving the child to him.

"Not so fast, Tenu," Tyler said. "When do we leave?"

"First light," Rhoad answered.

"And not before," Tenu added. "We can't afford to push our logged flight plan. Unless you want those soldiers getting suspicious?"

Tyler shook his head. "I'm in no hurry," he lied and took another step away from Tenu—just in case. "But I'd like to know where we're going. And if there's any possibility you could drop me off between here and there. Not that I don't appreciate Gaunis's hospitality," he hastened to add when both Rhoad and Sellera gave him suspicious looks.

"This ship is going to two places, Tyler," Tenu said. "To the High Admiral's base, and then back to the Esprit. You can choose from either of those destinations."

Tyler shrugged, unwilling to give the man whatever satisfaction he might gain from a more emotional reaction.

"I'll tell you when I make up my mind," he said and turned away. "It's been a long night. I'll be in my room."

A hand on his shoulder stopped him before he could take more than two steps down the narrow hall. He glanced back into Tenu's hard eyes.

"First, let's have a closer look at this prize Gaunis has gone to so much trouble and expense to get." Tenu wrapped his free hand around the pack's strap.

Tyler spun to face him. Tenu met his gaze.

The mecklin remaining in Tyler's system filled his mind with power. He pushed it down, unwilling to reveal his abilities over such a trivial matter.

Tyler forced his expression to show no emotion, slid the pack's strap from his shoulder, and let Tenu take it. He held Tenu's gaze until the man turned to return to the common room.

Tenu placed the pack on an empty chair. Commander Rhoad moved closer as Tenu pulled it open to reveal the child blinking sleepily in the sudden bright light.

Immediately, a gentle, questioning touch brushed Tyler's mind, similar to what he had experienced on the road outside the Confederate base.

"You were supposed to keep him drugged," Tenu admonished.

"He's had enough effelin to kill most th'Maran." Tyler slipped a hand into his pocket for another gas vial and stepped forward.

"Maybe he's immune to it." Rhoad leaned over the chair to get a better view of the child.

"He better not be." Tenu took a cautious step back. "We've got to keep him from leading anyone to us."

"He's not immune," Tyler assured the two men. "He's just not as sensitive to it as—"

Commander Rhoad cried out in surprise, his gaze locked to that of the child.

Instantly, Tyler brought up the vial of effelin, pressed the breakpoint, and thrust it into the pack. He held it there until the feather-light touch on his mind faded and Rhoad was able to break the hold of the child's silver eyes. But when Tyler tried to withdraw the vial, Tenu took his wrist in a vise-tight grip and thrust it back into the child's face.

"All of it, Tyler," he hissed. "We can't afford any more mistakes." He glanced aside at Rhoad. "Commander, are you all right?"

The man nodded. "He didn't hurt me. I was just startled."

Tenu looked to where Lieutenant Sellera sat unmoving in the back of the room. "Sellera, did you feel any touch on your mind? Anything at all?"

The young man shook his head.

Tenu turned back to give the child a final intense look, then he reached into the pack's side pocket, withdrew Tyler's laser pistol, and tossed it to Sellera.

"That's yours now, Lieutenant. Keep track of it." He looked at Tyler as he started to protest. "There's a supply of effelin in your cabin, and I've got more if you need it." He picked up the pack and thrust it into Tyler's hands. "Take care of this. One more slip and you pay with your life."

Tyler gave Tenu another harsh look, and then started for his cabin. But he hesitated when he saw Lieutenant Sellera toying with the gun he'd been given. There was something sinister in the way he handled the weapon, something foreboding in the almost loving way he stroked the barrel and grip. He wore a similar weapon at his hip.

Sellera noticed Tyler's attention and brought up the weapon he held. He aimed it between Tyler's eyes, quirked a heartless smile, and made a firing motion.

Somehow, Tyler kept from flinching.

He turned away. A cold shudder rippled down his spine as he tried to forget the intense look in Sellera's green eyes, a look that belied not only his age and innocent looks, but his humanity as well.

Kressa stood inside the bedroom of Keth and Saunorel's quarters. She watched anxiously as the doctor leaned over the bed to complete his examination of Sauni. Keth waited beside Kressa with Aron in his arms. The expression on his dark features reflected Kressa's concern.

Nearly an hour had passed since Aron first detected that something had happened to Sauni and Zac. Jonathan and Halav had reacted instantly to the crisis; Halav calling base security to get men to Sauni's room immediately, Jonathan calling Stingray One to order the ship to begin monitoring all activity around the base and report anything unusual.

Kressa, Keth, and Aron headed straight to Sauni's room, but Halav's security forces had arrived first and were already calling for a medical team and starting the search for Zac by the time the three arrived. Unfortunately, there was little to base the search on and every indication that the kidnapper had a good head start. On the bright side, Sauni, Rannon, and Osten had survived the assault.

The doctor straightened and closed his medical kit. He looked at Kressa and Keth.

"She's going to be fine," he told them. "She…"

Keth did not wait for the rest of the doctor's report. Pushing past the man, he rushed to Sauni's side. She greeted him with a weak smile, and then reached up to take both him and Aron into her arms and hold them close.

"I gave her a mild sedative," the doctor told Kressa. "It should make things a little easier for her, and help her sleep. You'll want to make sure there's someone around when she wakes up later."

Kressa nodded. "Thank you, doctor. Someone will be here."

The doctor gave his patient a final glance, and left the room.

Kressa turned to follow him, intent on letting Saunorel and Keth have some time alone, but a call from Sauni stopped her. She looked back to find the th'Maran woman staring at her, a fierce look in her platinum eyes.

"Tyler did this. Devin Tyler took Zac. I saw him."

Kressa bit back a bitter curse and struggled to push away the memories of all the things Tyler had done to her, and all the people she knew who had suffered because of him.

She looked around. Tyler had been here, in this very room, probably no more than two hours ago. And he had taken Zac. And if it hadn't been for the blind luck that separated the twins this evening, she was sure he would have taken Aron, too. But why? What would Tyler want with Sauni's children? And why risk returning to Arecia to get them?

Maybe he hadn't risked it, Kressa realized. Maybe he'd been here all along. That made the most sense, and it might even explain why he wanted the children—as payment for a trip off-planet.

A sudden gasp from Sauni interrupted Kressa's thoughts, and she looked back at her friend. Sauni was sitting straight up in the bed, her wide eyes locked on Aron's. Keth, seated next to them on the bed, looked on worriedly.

"I feel Zac!" Saunorel cried.

"Where is he?" Kressa asked.

Keth took Sauni's hand in his. "Is he all right?"

Sauni glanced at him briefly, and then her eyes were drawn back to Aron's.

"It's dark there," she said quietly, almost to herself. "Zac is so weak… or tired. I can't see— No… no, Tyler's there. I can feel him. And someone else…"

Even across the distance that separated her from Saunorel and Aron, Kressa could sense the energy mother and son were using to hold the fragile link to Zac's mind.

"I can almost see him," Sauni continued. "His mind…" Her eyes unfocused as she concentrated on something only she could see. After a moment, she collapsed forward with a sob and clutched at Aron.

"He's gone," she said.

Keth cast a lost look at Kressa and wrapped his arms around Saunorel. He held her close and whispered her name over and over, rocking her gently.

Kressa looked on hopelessly, desperate to reassure them that everything would be fine, that they would find Zac, but she could not bring herself to make a promise she wasn't sure she could keep.

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