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  "How thoughtful of you," she snickered. "But I'd rather wait in open space. Without a ship." She switched off the screen, refusing to allow further communication with the station. She fumed; wanting to leave him there and go on to R-12, but a short conversation with Menor took away that option.

  "Relax," Menor told her. "Go down to the station for the night."

  She cut him off, too. She paced the length of the cruiser several times, angry despite her best intentions. She called them all names that would have put a blush on the hardest ENDO officer's cheeks. But in the end, boredom won out over pride.

  Asking the Station Manager for permission nearly choked her. The response was courteous and welcoming. Still, she ground her teeth as she slipped the cruiser into space dock within the station.

  Gael straightened her uniform. She checked her hair and made sure there was no sleep in her eyes as the shuttle elevator swept her from the cruiser to the main entry. She knew the drill, having spent time in the diplomatic corps more than once as a cadet.

  A smiling, informative ECHO officer would meet her. She'd be escorted to her quarters, then to dinner in the main hall, then perhaps a quick tour of the station. She had to admit that she was impressed by their sense of order at Miccah. It hadn't taken anyone higher than the station manager to approve her request for a layover. At ENDO, it would have taken a superior officer. Here, it seemed, power shifted differently.

  She stepped out of the elevator, adjusting quickly to the dim light in the main reception area. There were plants of all species from many different worlds growing wildly along the textured sand gray colored walls. There was a mauve cast to the east wall that shifted into tangerine then rose. A cascading fall of translucent particles showered through the colors giving the huge entry an exotic feel.

  "Kalamir, Sadah." Kalatri Astri walked slowly from beneath the colored shower of lights. He bowed low, his hands touching his forehead in the traditional Rian salute.

  Gael, versed in many forms of greeting, returned his salutation. "Kalamir, Sadoh."

  "You have been to Ria?" he queried pleasantly, surprised by her move.

  "Briefly. Your home world is very beautiful. You must miss it a great deal." Gael forced herself to keep her eyes on his face, knowing that the eyes to Rians were everything.

  "Yes," he agreed, gesturing with his hand that they should proceed down the long hall. "And you?"

  "Miss my home world?" She grimaced. "I hardly think so."

  "So ENCOM is your home?"

  "You could say that."

  "Have you ever visited Miccah before?"

  "Yes." She smiled briefly, glancing at the artwork illuminated in blue lighting, admiring the tiny trees with shiny blue-black leaves that had been etched into the wall. "It's very-uh...restful."

  Kalatri laughed and stopped his wide stride abruptly. "In other words, boring?"

  Gael stopped just ahead of him, turning back to look at his face in the blue light. His laughter was like a warm breeze on her skin, making her shiver. It made her uneasy to look at him. His beauty was bordering on the surreal. Rian charm came too easily, too sweetly.

  The lights and the soft music gently wafting down the corridor reminded her of the Recreation Dens on Telfa Base, full of sex and drugs. It reminded her of who he was and why she was there. "You might as well know going into it. I don't like telepaths. I don't like working with an ECHO partner. And I don't like you personally. I'm here because I have to be. That's all."

  He searched her face quizzically then began to walk again. "I was wondering."

  Gael had no immediate choice but to follow. "Wondering?"

  "Wondering what had happened to the female with the terrible face on the communication screen. I see I've found her."

  Gael ground her teeth. Could she control her feelings in this operation long enough to get the job done? She gestured to the blue of his uniform and the red of her own. "Look, we're very different. Not just ENDO and ECHO. It's more a discipline. We obey orders at ENDO and we work as a team."

  "You're referring to the incident on Padda last year?" His voice was smooth and emotionless, like a sheet of clear water.

  Gael nodded, skipping once to keep up with his longer strides. She was tall but she suddenly understood her shorter friends running to keep up with her. "I'm not the sort of person that can pretend that it didn't happen. I think it might be better for everything to be out in the open between us."

  "I believe I understand your concern, Lieutenant." He stopped abruptly, Gael almost falling into him. Blue eyes, as cold and clear as sapphires, bored into her startled brown gaze. "You're afraid that I'll try to take over this mission. Your mission. Is that correct?"

  She held herself straight and pressed an imaginary crease from her perfect uniform and smiled, bowing her head slightly. "I'm not afraid of you taking over the mission, Sadoh. I'm worried that I might lose my rank for what I'll do to you if you try."

  There was a moment of absolute silence when even the music seemed to cease its pleasant chatter.

  Kalatri felt the remote and almost unrecognizable stirrings of anger inside himself. Those brown eyes were so assured, the face so confident. The urge to rip away that mask of utter smugness nearly overwhelmed him.

  Instead, he found a not unpleasant ripple of emotion run through him. There was something here, something about this woman that intrigued him. He bowed his own head to her, his hair sliding forward to conceal the expression in his eyes that he wouldn't have been able to hide at that time. An expression it was far better for her not to see. "I'm here to assist you, Sadah. Perhaps you can teach me about team work?"

  Gael didn't believe Astri's humble acquiescence for an instant but the training she'd grown up with pushed aside their differences for the time being. There was no need to be belligerent. He knew how she felt and that was for the best. Maybe he'd stay out of her way. But if she was going to show him ENDO teamwork, there was no time like the present. "I appreciate your compliance, Wi-Astri." Damn.

  His look was more significant than a word could have been. An elegant pale eyebrow rose slightly. His mouth quirked at one corner.

  "I'd bite my tongue off if it would help," she offered, shaking her head.

  "What does it mean...wildcat?"

  "A loner. Someone who has to do things their own way. Anti-authority." She shrugged. "Kalatri Astri."

  There was a definite gleam lurking in his eyes. "Not so bad. I've been called far worse."

  Gael would have put a year's wages on that but refrained from saying so out loud. You see, she chided herself. You can do it.

  They walked silently down several more corridors, each a varying shade of blue, green or violet. As they passed other ECHO agents, Kalatri introduced her. They seemed unable to tear their eyes from her bright red uniform but they chattered happily with them. Most were young. Some were just children.

  "Doesn't ECHO have a separate children's wing?" she asked at last, unnerved by the attention.

  "No. We don't separate our young. We all learn together." He linked his long fingers together pulling them to show the joining. "It makes us stronger."

  Gael remembered the cadet's wing at ENDO. The children were restricted to the lower levels until they had reached an age of practiced order and discipline. They would never have thought to stop a senior ENDO agent in the halls and ask impatiently for an introduction to a visitor.

  "Your quarters." Kalatri stopped at a small room, gaining admittance with a touch of a button. He walked into the pristine white room and entered the code on the master circuit that would bring her food, clothing, etc. "Anything you require."

  "Thanks." She followed behind him. "Ours is very similar."

  "I'll be ready to leave the station in the morning. If there is anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, please inform me."

  "What is it that couldn't wait until you got back from the mission?" She faced him inquisitively, not sure if he would answer.

  "You have
the right to ask," he determined. "When a child is born to Rian parents, he must be joined, guided by a third. We call this person Khmar. It must be done on the third day of life. No earlier. No later."

  "And you are a child's Khmar?" She briefly recalled hearing the term.

  He nodded. "It's a bond as strong as blood and necessary to the child's development."

  "As a telepath?"

  "Indeed."

  "I understand." She took a deep breath and looked up into his face. "Then I'll meet you tomorrow."

  "Yes. Kalamir, Sadah."

  "Kalamir, Sadoh."

  Chapter Three

  Gael spent the evening on the station with a group of young Echo agents. They were bright, interested in ENDO and in Gael herself. They were almost too eager with their questions and demand for knowledge. She was exhausted after her dinner and tour of the station.

  Miccah was much larger than ENCOM with its gardens and labs. Though their discipline was much less stringent, Gael could feel their pride and loyalty to their group. It was in every word and along every corridor as they pointed to achievements and future plans. There was a softer, more relaxed quality to ECHO that she found distressing and interesting at once.

  The children with their bright eyes and quick minds had impressed her the most. She couldn't help but wonder, as she undressed for bed, if it wouldn't be better for ENDO to have their young ones in the main service with the older agents. It would certainly keep them alert. She smiled, recalling the youngest ECHO trainee's impulsiveness. Their questions had been to the point, their insights challenging.

  She knew even as she thought it through that ENDO doctrine would never allow for the freedom these youngsters enjoyed. Discipline was important, vital, to the code that was rigidly enforced. She reminded herself that it was that discipline that had saved her life. For some, the ENDO way of life was the best. She closed her eyes and put her own childhood firmly behind her, along with any small questions she might have about her chosen calling.

  It was well into the predetermined night cycle of Miccah Station that Gael awakened. She gasped and sat straight up in bed. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and a tingling sensation surged through her body. A sound, growing steadily stronger, a pulsating hum had reached inside of her and captured her awareness. It grew in depth even as she lay back in the bedport, determining that it was part of a dream.

  She had been dreaming. She was standing in that museum exhibit she'd seen last month, staring at those info disk entries they'd found on R-12. It was as though she'd been drawn into those threads of captured life. Then she was in the cruiser, heading towards the ore planet. The small ship throbbed around her, out of control, spinning towards the planet.

  Her hand touched the side of the bedport and her hazy mind cleared instantly. She was on Miccah Station in a dark room perfectly humidified, heated, and circulated. The bedside table held the hand control for lights, monitor, etc. but there was a sound. A throbbing that grew steadier, deeper. She started to press the monitor to ask the manager on duty if something was wrong then thought better of it. Instead of the COM, she pulled on her complimentary blue-gray robe and put her feet on the warm, smooth floor. The sound drew her from her compartment. She wasn't thinking about where she was going. She looked out of her room but she was alone. The corridor was empty. She could sense the silence around her in the darkened hall and felt herself walking but it was dreamlike, unreal. There was a sensation like the beating of wings against her mind that led her forward.

  Gael followed the sound, like music playing, calling to her. She reached an open doorway crowded with other station residents in their nightwear. They spoke for once in quiet whispers among themselves, glancing at her, acknowledging her presence. She wanted to ask what was going on and then return to her own quarters but she couldn't find her voice.

  The sound was coming from the compartment. Not stopping to notice that she couldn't actually hear anything, Gael eased through the loosely packed group. The room was a meeting area of some type, larger then the normal space on the station. It was darker than the corridor had been except for a slight illumination that cast even deeper shadows on the faces of the inhabitants.

  In the center, a tall man in a flowing yellow robe held a child, his large hands supporting the baby away from his body. Another young man and woman, equally tall and garbed in white, stood nearby. Their eyes were closed, their lips moving in soundless chants. This was the song that had awakened her. It was emanating from this group. Rians. Kalatri Astri held the baby, his Khmar, giving him or her their birthright.

  Gael felt something tighten inside of her. The sound hardened and angered her, leaving her cold and alone in the group of people. She shouldn't have been there. This ceremony shouldn't have called to her. She'd been tested more than once and had no psi leanings. Had Wildcat dared to invade her mind with his thoughts? The idea was repulsive to her. It was a violation she wouldn't accept.

  She didn't realize that she was staring directly into Kalatri's face until his eyes opened abruptly and the brilliant blue of his gaze burned into her own. She made no effort to hide the anger that had to be clearly written there. After a moment that felt like an eon to her, she turned away and moved back through the suddenly quiet crowd.

  "Behold!" She heard his voice as she found the corridor. "He who sees without eyes and hears without ears. Though we are far from our world, still we are as one."

  Gael looked back through the group surrounding him. Everyone had broken free of the spell cast by the Rian ceremony and surged towards the parents as Kalatri returned the baby to them. The room was full of voices and faces.

  Kalatri's vision was narrowed to one. He watched as Gael turned and walked silently away.

  ***

  In the morning, Kalatri went quickly to Gael's chamber only to find that she was already gone. He sighed and shut his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts together and trying to find an inner vision that would hold him through the near future.

  His life at ECHO was simple and pleasant. He enjoyed his research and the interaction of others with like minds and goals. There was nothing much that taxed him. Except for the occasional foray into hostile ENDO environments.

  At best, he found ENDO agents to be overbearing and dull witted. He could only assume that years of training with their weapons and their hard bodies had created a stagnation of their minds and their creative processes. At worst, ENDO was brutal, not caring to talk when firing a weapon would do as well. Destroying instead of understanding. He'd been called down more than once for his ENDO- ECHO partnerships; partnerships he inevitably controlled even if it meant some mild discomfort for his fellow ENDO agent.

  Lieutenant Gael Klarke was a typical ENDO officer. She was skilled more surely in the use of the weapons he abhorred than in tact or diplomacy. She was likely to charge in with her weapon screaming, no matter how delicate the moment.

  He didn't want to control her though he had controlled others before when the need arose. He had helped an occasional ENDO officer to do or say what he wanted in critical situations. Or simply kept them quiet and out of the way while he handled the problem. His conscience was clear in those affairs. If he could silence an uncouth agent to keep from ruining years of work to build trust between worlds and their people, Kalatri would do what was necessary.

  Gael was going to be different. After meeting her, he had gone to the ECHO leaders to have his status changed. It would be better, for their reputation, to have someone else on the planet with this particular ENDO officer. From the moment he'd sensed her presence at the station, even while she was still on the cruiser, he'd known that something was different about her. He needed time to explore what that difference was without her disturbing influence.

  He hadn't been able to explain the feelings she invoked in him even to his superior, Juroh, a fellow Rian. The closest thing he'd ever experienced was a mind link with a member of his own family. It made him feel slightly askew, po
werless. Not an emotional response he wanted to experience with an ENDO officer in a possibly vital mission.

  Certainly not a response he could explain to leaders who were adamant about his part in the project. They'd called on many favors to include ECHO in the investigation of the ore operation. Just why, they refused to say. Kalatri wouldn't presume to try to fathom it from them without their consent, especially since a Rian was on the panel.

  "Where is Lieutenant Klarke?" he finally asked the senior COM officer after leaving Gael's room.

  "Lieutenant Klarke is currently within her vehicle at location D-23. She has requested permission to withdraw from Miccah Station at 16:51 today."

  Kalatri looked at the station chronometer near the wall COM and felt an irrational irritation with the woman again. She'd planned on leaving him there, no doubt. He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. He kept his anger with her at bay just long enough...there. That would give her something to do. And give him the time he needed to say his goodbyes and get a few things together.

  At 16:50, Gael started the cruiser's engines, refusing to imagine what sort of reprimand she would receive for leaving Astri there at the station. It wasn't like her to do anything that might reflect badly on her commission but this was going to be the exception to that rule.

  Last night had been too powerful. Anything remotely close to telepaths made her edgy. Confronting a Rian harmony ceremony in her nightclothes had been too far over the comfort edge for her. The less time she spent with Rians, Astri in particular, the better.

  At 16:51, the engine suddenly died. There was no drain on the power converters. No reason for it at all. Without warning from the computer, everything went dead. Cursing fluently and colorfully in at least three different languages, Gael slid under the control panel and gained access to the interface system. The delicate crystal coupling that joined the computer to the ship's functions had dissolved, falling into powder at the touch of her hand.

  She blinked behind her protective lenses. It wasn't possible. She'd outfitted the little cruiser herself before leaving ENCOM. That coupling should have been good for this trip and several thousand more like it. She heard the warning of the computer and the soft swish of the main hatch. Soft booted feet leading to ECHO blue came to stand near her. She hit her head with a thud, groaning out loud. Her plan hadn't worked.