He had plans. Plans that needed to be carried out. But in order for that to happen, he needed time. The doctors needed time.

They couldn't fail.

He wouldn't let them.

So he had to do his part. Therefore, he'd do what he needed to do to keep them on track.

And that meant giving them more time.

In whatever way he could.

Ian and Wendy made it back to the computer room without meeting anyone else. They had no idea who the two men were or why they'd threatened Wendy and Ian. They hadn't stuck around to find out. When the men had gone down, the two of them had bolted.

Looking back, he realized none of it made any sense. Nothing in this place did. That room full of computers didn't either.

They stared at each other. Ian was scared to verbalize some of the thoughts running through his head in case Wendy thought he was crazy.

He desperately wanted to talk to the ancients. Any one of them would be helpful.

"We could ask Councilman Adamson," Wendy said quietly. "Or just wait until Sian returns."

"I vote we wait for Sian," Ian muttered. "I can't imagine what Adamson would say if we end up being in the wrong here."

Wendy winced. "True."

"Any idea when Sian is going to come back?"

Wendy shook her head. "No. She's resting after her attack. But honestly she's been working so hard, one of these times I'm expecting her to drop and sleep for hours and hours."

"Let's hope it's not today." Ian stared at his cell phone, wondering if he should text the others. Then he remembered. "What about Jewel? Is she okay? I haven't even seen her since we came back. Would she know? We could use her help right now."

"I don't know," Wendy said.

He frowned. "David wanted us to find her a cell phone. Is she awake, aware enough to use it?"

"She was in tough shape, and I know the doctors have her under observation."

"Fine, but where? Maybe we could find her and see that she's okay for ourselves."

"I like that idea. We've been so focused on this stuff and Rhia that we forgot." The chagrin on her face made Ian feel guilty too.

"So let's go. Maybe she can shed some light on what's going on."

He stood up and reached out a hand. Wendy put hers into his and he tugged her into his arms. He held her close, loving the security of the two of them together, safe.

At least for the moment.

Rhia curled into the corner, her body wracked by shivers. She'd been drugged before, but this time her body was struggling with the injection. Had she given herself the wrong one? Too much? Not enough? Her mind spun and twisted, looking for answers. Answers that weren't coming. Her brain wasn't working. She was conscious but not conscious. Aware but not.

She'd wanted to be half and half but hadn't realized what she was asking for. She'd hoped to straddle the line between drugged and not. Instead, she appeared to be bouncing in a limbo of neither. "Not good," she whispered, rocking back and forth. "So not good."

And the pain in her head, in her bones, even. Who'd have thought drugs would make her marrow cry?

Groaning, she lay down on her back, curling back into a fetal position. What had she done?

Through her gray haze, she heard footsteps come down the hallway. Oh thank heavens. Stumbling to her feet, crying out against the agony of moving, she stumbled to the door.

The footsteps sounded louder and louder.

Tears rolling down her cheeks, she pounded on the door, and pounded and pounded.

"Help me, please," she cried. "I'm locked in."

She leaned against the door, sobs ripping from her burning chest.

"Help," she whispered again still crying her fists giving one last feeble pound before she slid to the floor.

Jewel peered around her door and looked outside. It was a normal looking hallway from the Council Hall. She almost laughed with relief. So she was safe. She grinned. After peering down the hallway in both directions, dressed in her normal clothes, she headed off to the right. She had no idea where all her friends were. But David had to be somewhere.

At the very least, she should be able to find a cell phone and call him. How hard could it be?

There was no one around for ages. She kept going in a straight line for ten minutes and saw no one. Finally, she pa.s.sed several huge men moving monitors from one room to another. They glared at her. She smiled brightly, snuck past, and kept on walking. She didn't look back. She didn't want them to remember her face if anyone came looking for her. And they certainly didn't look approachable. So no cell phone there.

She might be safe here, but until she was with her friends or family, she wasn't going to feel safe anywhere.

Surely Ian or Rhia...maybe Sian was here somewhere.

There was an odd sound coming from one door up ahead. She automatically slowed her footsteps. At the door, she stopped. A woman was sobbing. She frowned. It sounded familiar. Rhia maybe? She hesitated. Should she knock?

She hated to. The poor woman had been through so much; if she needed a few moments to collect herself, then she deserved it.

Resolutely, Jewel kept walking.

Chapter 13.

Tessa lay quiet, her body aching in places she couldn't identify. Her mind floated in the aftermath of exhaustion. It felt like she'd fought a hard battle.

Had she won?

There was no response from the inside. Did that mean yes then? She shuddered, a long aching sigh working down her spine, bones, and legs. She swore even her toes shook. Needing to move maybe to feel connected she stretched out her legs, her arms, even her feet. She almost laughed. She could feel her body inside, her ownership, a hundred percent ownership, in every tiny molecule. Satisfied, she opened her eyes and smiled up at the two worried faces above her.

"Hi," she said, her voice low, sleepy, as if waking up from a long nap. "Did I make it in the proper time frame?"

"Almost." Cody crouched down beside her, his gaze a.s.sessing, searching into the very soul of her. She couldn't blame him.

She smiled. "It's me."

"Is it?" His tone was still doubtful, his gaze more penetrating than ever.

She let him look. She knew who she was. Maybe for the first time since the Deanna incident.

She felt like Tessa now. From this renewed feeling, she could see how confused and conflicted she'd been before. How she'd been struggling to find normal in a world gone wrong.

"I'm fine. In fact, I'm feeling better than fine."

"And Deanna?" Cody asked cautiously. He reached out a hand. She grabbed it, and he straightened and pulled her upwards with him in a smooth movement.

She laughed, feeling young again, happy again.

No longer oppressed. Maybe not oppressed...how about no longer fettered by centuries of emotions and feelings, and knowledge of her actions, the actions of others.

Clean. Fresh. Innocent.

She knew she'd lose that over time, but it was precious. She wanted to experience this, a time of pa.s.sage, her right as a young female to have this time. She'd get to Deanna's stage sometime along the way maybe. She could see how Deanna's choices had made her who she was. And Tessa didn't know the details. But as if on a large canvas, she'd seen the roadmap of Deanna's energy and how the colors still weighed her down. How her actions played on her, affected her next decision.

She imagined it would be the same for everyone. After centuries, there wasn't much else one could do about it.

And if there was, she'd have to find a way. At least she had a sense of the end result; she'd do her d.a.m.nedest to make choices along the way to give her a different ending.

Remembering might be a different issue.

Her father stepped forward, his gaze warm, and d.a.m.n if it wasn't over bright. She couldn't check as she was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug. He buried his face in her hair. Tears came to her eyes and she cuddled in closer. She'd spent most of her teen years at odds with him, and all she wanted now was to stay here with him soaking up his love.

But she was no longer a little girl. And given what she'd been through recently, that little girl was now a distant memory.

Cody's voice whispered through her mind. Are you okay?

She clutched her father hard, sniffling a couple of times before stepping back. With a big smile, she said, "I'm fine."

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "You are more than fine."

Her smile turned misty. "You are the best dad, you know that?"

"d.a.m.n right I am." He turned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to face Cody.

"So now that I've waged war on the inside, it's time to wage war on the outside," Tessa said, a grin on her face.

With that, she strode between them and headed down the hallway. She laughed the first truly free laugh since she'd woken up after battling with Deanna. She couldn't be sure that Deanna didn't have more tricks up her sleeve, but she could hope so.

It had been the weirdest battle ever. How could she even explain? She couldn't, so she just shoved the details to the back of her mind until she had time to study them longer.

When she was alone.

If that time ever came.

Then there was Hortran. She had no idea what he was up to, if anything. He'd been noticeably absent in that go around. But he'd lurked in the background. Or something that reminded her of him was there. But was his personality as obvious as Deanna's when he wanted to be? And if it was, could she access it? She had yet to have time to try. None of this seemed real. And that sense of being so far off the reality ledge kept her isolated more than she wanted to be. She needed to find a way to share some of this with Cody. He might struggle with it like she was, but then at least she wouldn't be struggling alone.

He'd met Deanna and Hortran. He understood the weird relationship between the two. Maybe Hortran had plans of his own in this mess. But if he did, if he knew more about Deanna and what she was at this point, he wasn't talking. Maybe energy always fought for supremacy, or maybe it was just that Deanna's energy couldn't stand that she'd been reduced to being the one not in control.

Either way, there could be only one. And as Deanna had said, Tessa was it.

Cody grinned. Tessa was back. After worrying how much was Deanna and how much was Tessa, he couldn't believe it she was here. d.a.m.n well about time. They were so far past late.

"We need to hurry," he said.

"Oh, why?"

"Motre is preparing against another attack."

She spun around, shock widening her eyes. "What? Why didn't you say so?"

"Because you were busy fighting your own war," he said patiently.

"Let's go, let's go," Serus said patiently. "He's got a large group of our people secured at the second floor. But they have been attacked several times. Many of his group are weak. They needed recovery time."

"We should have gone there earlier," Tessa fretted, running in front of him now. "He's going to feel like we deserted him."

"Well, he might, but Motre would know there had to be a d.a.m.n good reason."

She seemed to ignore that. Then her heart was so d.a.m.n big she wanted to make sure everyone was okay all the time. So far life hadn't worked that way.

They came to the elevator. She went to push the b.u.t.ton then stopped. She turned. "Did we ever get hold of the second canister?"

Silence.

"I have no idea." Honestly, he hadn't even considered it.

In a low tone, she added, "And Bart?"

"He's gone. Just booked it."

"He's good at that," she said with a smirk. "I wonder if he's gone after the second canister."