ll be left alone here to finish the rest of my pregnancy by myself?"

"I suppose so." My mind started to get dizzy, as I pictured myself traveling back and forth through time, meeting myself coming and going.

"The big question, though, is whether or not we should risk taking o ur son through a gate at a very young age." Her frown deepened.

I shrugged. "There's not much data on that sort of thing. Most babies who are pushed through a gate have congenital defects and the parents want them curedso badly they don't mind the change of gender. But none of them have reached adulthood yet, so we don't really know the ultimate effect on them. And none of them were the children of Seconders. Our child will be unique in many ways."

Rita's hand fell protectively to her stomach. "What happens when we want to leave the Nexus again? The baby would have to go though a gate to return to Earth.

You know as well as I do what the odds of anyone making it through on a second passage are millions to one against."

122

I sighed. "It's a big risk; maybe too big."

She rubbed her stomach, a faraway look in her eyes as if she were consul ting the baby growing within her. "Yet our child will inherit our genes. Isn't it likely he'll inherit the telepathic ability that made it possible for us to become Seconders?

Remember, we are one of the few couples to survive a passage through the gates together."

"Sweetheart, there's simply no way of knowing. There isn't enough data.

Suppose that our telepathic ability is hereditary if you inherit a dominant gene, but suppose we both carry a recessive allele and he got them both. Then what? No, the risk is too great."

I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration. This whole conversati on was bizarre. Normally, I argued in favor of some risk and Rita opposed it- and especially where our baby was concerned. Yet, this time, she was blithely consideri ng the unthinkable. Had she missed me that much? Or did she sense that some ter rible doom might await me on that psycho world?

She tilted her head to one side, and smiled. "You're forgetting so mething, Lee. Suppose he didn't make it? Wouldn't he go into stasis like th e others? And aren't you going to free those people?"

"Well...yes, but it's not that simple. We're-I mean, I'm going to the psycho world. Our son wouldn't come out with those people."

"True." Rita sighed, unable to see a way around this argument. "

The risks for the baby would be huge for a second trip through the gates, at least until we know if he's inherited our telepathic ability." She brightened. "But one trip should be okay.

What does it matter if we have a son or a daughter? Or if she grows up in the Nexus?"

I'd been looking forward to some father-son bonding, but Rita had a p oint.

The baby might change its sex in the future, and so would we for that matter. Hell, I could become a female, and we could enjoy mother-daughter bonding. That brought a smile. I could never claim to be the baby's mother, although even a s a female I'd still be its father. And I thought the sex gates made life complicated before!

"Okay." Her eyes flashed, as she reached a decision. "I think y ou're going to 123

need me on the psycho world. Promise me you'll make that trip into th e future, and take the two of us to the Nexus."

"Fine. No problem, if that's what you want."

I made soothing noises and slipped an arm around her shoulder to draw he r close. It was easy enough to agree with her request. I was confident that the alternate Nexus world chosen for the psychos would keep them segregated and out of trouble, and the baby would be safe on our Nexus, in Donna's care.

My only worry, really, was how to manage the time travel trick. I counted on Rus sell's help there. I hoped that together we could pull it off-and what a mind-blowing adventure that would be!

Rita cuddled up against me, and stroked my hair. "If things start to go on wrong with your psychos, I want to be at your side. I'm sure someone will watch over Justin while I'm gone."

"Justin?"

Her smile turned shy. "That's the name I picked for the baby. Alth ough I guess we are going to need a girl's name too."

"Justina," I said automatically.

She fluttered her long eyelashes at me. "Oh, pretty! I never even tho ught about that. Is Justin and Justina all right with you?"

I squeezed her tight. "Of course it is. Hey, we could call him or her Justin Lee or Justina Li."

We laughed together at that. The laughter felt good after our tense discussion about the baby. As we grew quiet again, I heard the low murmur of voices out in the hall. Rita heard them, too. I saw her body stiffen.

"Hess must have found out you're back," she whispered.

The alarm in her voice surprised me. Maybe my weeks in the Nexus learnin g new mental powers had made me overconfident, but I wasn't really worried about any tricks that Hess might pull. I grinned to show my nonchalance.

"I passed a guard on my way up to the house. He tried to stop me, so I put him to sleep for a while. He probably woke up and spread the word."

Rita bit her lip and tilted her head to one side as she listened with herears 124

and her expanded mental powers. "Those are security people gathering outside.

They're waiting for Hess before making a move."

I stared at her blankly. "Move? What move?"

125

CHAPTER TEN.

"I told you weeks ago that Hess wasn't trustworthy."

Rita made it a simple statement, without condemnation. She wasn't trying to assign blame; she was discussing the facts. I reached out with my mind toward the men in the hall. They'd fallen quiet, but I knew they were there, waiting for their boss to appear and give them direction. They were after me. I took Rita's hand and tried to think of a way to get past them and reach the sex gate in the barn. B ut, no, I couldn't do that-Rita couldn't go through the gate.

"You can escape, and come back for me later," Rita whispered. "

You're needed in the Nexus. Hess hasn't changed-he wants to lock the Seco nders up, and study our mental powers. He's restricted our freedom already. With you back, he probably plans to turn the place into a big prison."

"Why didn't you tell me this was getting serious?"

But thinking back, I realized she had. I ignored it in my joy at seeing her again. She touched my cheek with gentle fingers.

"I know you can't stay here and fight our battles, Lee. You have t o go back.

He's not trying to harm us. I'll be okay until you can come and ge t me in the future.

Right now, you have to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you like this," I muttered. "Hess made me a promise. Hell, the government made me a promise. They're going to pay."

I kicked off the covers, realizing I'd been a fool to trust any government agent.

Back when the Seconders came under attack by the Church of the Gates, I'

d convinced Hess I could make the gates disappear if I wished. In return f or leaving them on Earth, I'd extracted his promise of government protection for the Seconders.

I'd bluffed him once. I'd do it again. Only this time I'd find a way to keep him honest after I left.Rita jerked her thumb at the door. Sliding out of the bed, she tiptoed over, and locked it. She pointed to where our clothes lay in a heap on the floor a nd we got dressed. A calm determination filled me. Hess was not going to win this one.

Beckoning me with her finger, Rita drew me over to the wall away from the 126

door, and whispered, "After you left, things were okay for a while. H e even let Randy and Terri leave to go to the Nexus, too."

I nodded. That's why I'd had no sense of alarm about the situation on Earth.

"I think he got pressured by higher-ups. They knew with you gone, we couldn't make the gates vanish, and it might be their one chance to s tudy us."

"Goddamit!" I don't usually swear. But with the deadline on the Nexus looming over me, I didn't need trouble on both worlds.

"A bunch of government bigwigs came here to meet us about a week ago, and after that Hess got antsy," Rita murmured. "I knew he was plotting something.

As much as I hated to violate anyone's mental privacy I was set to take a look in his devious little mind-only I waited too long to do it."

"What do you mean?"

My hand patted my pockets. Out of sheer habit, I was looking for the sma ll pistol I usually carry. I came up empty, and my heart sank. When I'd said goodbye to Earth the last time, I'd left my gun with Rita-and Rita didn't believe in weapons.

"He agreed to tell the world about Seconders-that we were harmless ," I.

snapped, remembering the promises he'd made after I'd scared the hell out of him by making a gate disappear and reappear.

Hess was merely a puppet of the politicians, of course, and they were te rrified enough to agree to anything once they were convinced I could make the ga tes vanish at will. They needed those gates on Earth in case they became ill-and for certain when they became old. Rita stroked my shoulder and made a soothing sound.

"At first he did try to get more information about Seconders and what we were like. I actually thought he was planning to release information about us to the public at large-and put us in a good light after the scary rumors people hav e heard for the past year or so."

The Church of the Gates was responsible for most of those rumors. They'

d run a coordinated campaign to convince the public that Seconders were dangerous telepaths out to read people's minds. As a result, we'd been stripped of ourrights in many states, Texas among them, although the Supreme Court had struck down 127

those laws. But more persecution was certain unless we could reverse the tide of public opinion. Hess had promised that the U.S. government would protect us.

"I was naive, too," Rita murmured. "I thought they were scared enough to keep their promises. But fear only makes a cornered animal fight harder to protect its territory. Instead of releasing positive information about us, Hess took whatever we told him and passed it up to his superiors. Oh, they're protecting us , but only because they want to keep us locked up, and our powers under their control."

She shivered. I pulled her close, while tears stung my eyes. I'd thought I'd left her safe. Instead, I'd gone blithely off to the Nexus and left her to face the manipulations of a government gone mad with the hunger for power. As I bent over to kiss her forehead, the nightstand next to the bed caught my eye.

Of course! I'd forgotten in the weeks away, but I kept a gun there. I stepped over to the drawer and pulled it open, my fingers groping inside for the sensitive spot that made the bottom slide back into the desk. I found the concealed switch and the mechanism whirled into action, revealing a space where I kept my .45 arm y automatic, one of the best overall handguns ever manufactured, all things considered. And right now I was considering stopping power, which it had. I reached into the space where it should have been. There was nothing there, but the few little trinkets and gewgaws I kept as a disguise for the bottom compartment. I gaped at Rita in astonishment. She shrugged.

"They came through the building a week ago and took everyone's wea pons.

They did it without warning, so we couldn't read their minds and warn each other."

The goddamned fools! I swear I'll never understand the mentality of the intelligence mavens. Intelligent is the last thing I would call them.

The muscles in my jaw began to ache as I ground my teeth together. They had put me in a bind, and already my pattern sense knew what the next step would be. Someone in the government had decided to call my bluff about being a ble to control the gates. Hess would try to take me prisoner, as well. They had probably concluded that if they held me hostage, those in the Nexus would have to surrender to their demands.

The government wanted to control the sex gates and I had made it obvious128

that that meant controlling the Seconders first. Rita was right. We were both naive- way too naive to be playing power games with politicians who had made a lifelong study of keeping all the power in their slimy little hands. I should have known better, but I never have been able to delve very far into the political mind. I don't possess the necessary hunger for power.

I took a deep breath. Hell, what was done was done. Now to undo it.

Rita gazed at me in sympathy, as she communicated even worse news.

Other world leaders had reneged on their agreements, too, following the lead of the United States. As a result, the situation in many countries was again becoming dangerous for Seconders, and that damned Church of the Gates was causing problems, too. As we conferred, I heard the voices in the hallway grow louder.

We were almost out of time. My mind spun as I tried to formulate a plan. I grabbed Rita's arm.

"Go to the far corner and stay out of the line of fire. Keep your mind merged with mine; I'm going to need some extra mental power to bring this off-if I can."

To Rita's great credit, she didn't ask what I had planned. She sim ply kissed me and ran to a corner lounger turned half away from most of the room, where she would be unobtrusive and out of play-or so the national security agents would believe. They didn't know enough about telepathy to realize we could coordinate our attack via our minds. Part of their ignorance was due to me. I had worked hard to convince them and the public that Seconders weren't really fully telepathic. I told Hess that at the most we could only read emotions and surface thoughts.

I heard a deeper voice outside, the voice of authority. Hess! My heart started to pound with adrenaline. A fist hammered on the door. I froze, waiting, girding my mind for the challenge ahead. I did a mind touch with Rita, and our thoughts melded.

The fist hammered on the door a second time, even harder.

"I know you're in there, Lee!" Hess shouted. "And I suspect Rita's told you about the changes here. Believe me, they are for your ultimate good. Ope n this door and we'll talk about it."

My ultimate good-the excuse the government used every time it wanted to pull a fast one on its citizens. I put my hand in my jacket pocket-th e force of habit