"I don't know. If we turn from the path and avert disaster, how do I know what would have happened if we had stayed the other course?"

"How certain are you of these feelings?"

"When you are hungry, yon know it, yes?"

She nodded, pleased that she understood the concept of hunger on more than an intellectual level. If she forgot to eat, a hollowness in her belly reminded her, and if she ignored her body's need for nourishment, the ache turned into severe discomfort. Tasty foods had always been close by, so she thought of the hunger/feeding cycle as one of the pleasures of being human.

"This feeling is not the same as hunger," Kirek said, "but I recognise it as strong and clear."

"Thank you for telling me. You sleep now." Her last state was unnecessary. The experience clearly exhausted him and Kirek was already asleep.

Chapter Ten.

No longer webbed in on the bridge, Zical was free to pace while his crew worked to figure out what was wrong with the hyperdrive. Meanwhile, he needed to send back a report on the ship's status to Kahn and Tessa and to explain Kirek's prognostication, a prediction that could delay their journey to the galactic rim by years.

Zical didn't know whether he believed in prophecy, but he had been part of a healing circle when Kirek's mother had been pregnant with the boy. Even before his birth, Kirek had demonstrated a psi unlike no other. When he'd added his psi to the rest of the family a powers, his dominant energy force had helped save both Tessa's and Kahn's lives. So Zical didn't discount the boy's words, but he wished he could make a decision on whether or not to return to hypers.p.a.ce based on science. Eager to hear what Dora might have learned from further conversation with the boy, he put off his report to Mystique.

"Purple alert." Ranth's voice resonated throughout the bridge. Warning lights blinked. "Purple ale-"

In mid-warning Ranth's voice went silent.

"What's wrong?" Zical spun, his gaze searching the monitors. He saw nothing on the viewscreen to warrant a warning. No ships in regular s.p.a.ce. No ships coming out of hypers.p.a.ce either.

Ranth remained silent. Then every monitor on the bridge died. Every light, every hum, every vibration ceased as if some s.p.a.ce creature had wrapped them in an invisible net and smothered their machines.

"Status?" Zical snapped.

"Hyperdrive is down," Vax reported. "Ranth is down. Shields aren't functioning.

Weapons are off-line."

"Shannon let out a sharp scream. Zical glanced her way to see that she'd careened into the ceiling and was scrambling for a handhold. Naked.

All of them were naked, their suits shedding from their bodies like old snakeskin.

Shapeless, the suites floated around the bridge.

"What in the stars is going on?" Zical asked, more concerned about the ship than his modesty. Never in the Federation history had the Perceptive Ones' suits been known to fail all at once was not only bizarre, but life-threatening.

Vax frowned. "Our suits have been deactivated along with the ship."

Weightless, not from the null-grav in his suit but from the effects of deep s.p.a.ce, Zical tried to adjust to the differences. With the suit he employed psi to activate null- 107.

grav, now he had to use his muscles instead. The adjustment wasn't easy. He either overcompensated or underreached and finally held firmly to a console to steady his position.

Shannon spoke, her voice pitched high. "Don't look at me. Don't-"

"Life support?" Zical kept his voice calm, knowing his crew would imitate his demeanor. But the sinking feeling in his gut warned him their difficulties were only beginning. Starships were equipped for humans with suits and psi abilities, the decks connected by vertical tubes that his crew traversed by employing the null grav in their suits. Now they would have to use muscles to navigate, and their movements would be slow and ungainly compared to using their psi, but they must accustom themselves to the change.

Worse, without suits to protect them from the pressure differences, solar radiation, and lack of oxygen, they couldn't survive for long if life support went down with the other systems. They couldn't even leave the ship to make external repairs.

At the sound of dripping liquid on the deck, Zical realized they had other problems too. The suits not only expanded their lifetimes tenfold, clothed them, protected them from harsh temperature and pressure differentials, and filtered the air they breathed, the suits kept than clean and absorbed bodily wastes. Since there had never been a suit failure in recorded Federation history, and since every citizen wore a suit from birth until death, no starship contained waste or bathing facilities.

Shannon was trying to cover her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands, her face flushed bright red.

His crew tried not to look at one another. But nudity was the least of their problems.

Zical realized he'd lost the opportunity to even report the nature of their emergency to those back on Mystique. They were on their own.

"What'd the status of life support?" he asked.

Vax stood and carefully raised his hand to an air vent. Air circulation appears operational. I can't be certain with Ranth and our monitors down."

"Do we have any other functioning equipment on this ship?" Zical asked.

The ship shuddered and he tightened his hold on the console in order to stay on his feet. Others hadn't adjusted so quickly. They'd automatically relied on their psi to compensate, psi that didn't work without suits, and some crew members ended up floating from their stations.

Vax grunted and kicked off the wall to return to Zical's side. "Captain, there's a ship off the starboard bow. She's towing us with a tractor beam."

Zical stared out the viewscreen, gazing at the tiny ship. What kind of technology did the alien ship employ to render them so helpless in an instant? Who was manning that ship and were they taking them? "Since there's been no communication, we have to a.s.sume their intentions are hostile. Vax, find a way to break the tractor beam."

"Aye, sir."

108.

"Cyn, a.s.sign a team to rig a place for us to void our wastes." He wrinkled his nose.

"Someplace not on the bridge. Put another team to work on the food materializers."

Zical turned to Shannon. "Since communications are down, Dr. Laduna's scientists must he frantic with worry. You and Cyn make your way to their deck and tell them we're working on the problems and that their cooperation is necessary. a.s.sign them some task to keep them busy. Then, Cyn, get on the engines. I want to know why they aren't working."

"Aye, sir."

The green-skinned engineer had taken to nudity the way a gilfish took to flight.

Zical recalled that the women from Scartar rarely wore clothing except for ceremonial purposes. However, she was not pleased with her orders. Cyn didn't like the Jarn scientist and avoided Dr. Laduna whenever possible; nevertheless, she didn't protest her a.s.signment.

"h.e.l.lo, the bridge." A female voice echoed up the tube.

Zical leaned over to see Dora standing down, a deck, her face turned upward.

"Catch." She tossed him a rope but her throw fell short.

While she tugged in the rope and rewound it for another try, he peered down at her and tried not to stare, pleased she was already working out a solution to one of their problems. "Where did you get that?"

"One of Dr. Laduna's scientists, was in the cargo bay when our systems went down.

He and the scientists are rigging ropes between decks all over the ship so we have handholds to help guide us." She tossed the rope again.

This time he caught the line and tied the end to a hatch handle. Cyn and Shannon used the rope to slide down and then Dora climbed up. He held out his hand and helped her maneuver the last two feet. With the ship in jeopardy, now was not the time to notice her body, but d.a.m.n, site had s.e.xy legs, curvy hips, and her generous b.r.e.a.s.t.s...

He forced his gaze to meet her eyes. Unlike Shannon, Dora wasn't the least embarra.s.sed. Instead, she seemed to be waiting for some compliment from him. And he'd be d.a.m.ned if he'd give one about her figure.

"Good work." He gave a nod toward the line, hoping the rest of his crew would be as adaptable. He had to admit so far, Dora had been an a.s.set. She'd offered to help out Kirek and she had taken initiative with the rope.

With an unknown enemy dragging them who knew where, all ship functions at the bare minimum, their lives could be at stake, and he tried to focus on the danger. Still, it wasn't every day that one's nude fantasy woman floated onto the bridge, and he'd have to be inhuman not to notice.

"Ranth is down," Zical told her. "Can you communicate with him?"

Dora remained silent for a few moments, her gaze taking in his anatomy with a slight grin that he could have sworn was pleasure. Yet her voice remained professional.

"I'll try plugging in direct, but I'm not sure what will happen. Ranth is a combination of bioneurocircuitry that's living membrane and tissue and ma.s.sive amounts of hardware.

109.

I suspect the neurocircuitry that is mostly organic cellular matter is alive and well since we seem unaffected, but the part of him that is machine is non-functional, like our other systems."

"Is there any risk to you linking in to Ranth?"

Dora shrugged and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s lifted. "Life is a risk. This mission is one giant risk."

She glanced down the tube where Cyn had already disappeared. I'll have to return to my quarters for the hardware to plug in."

"Hold on." Zical stopped his natural inclination to grab her shoulder. He didn't need the added distraction of touching her on top of looking at all that lush flesh. Her skin bronzed and firm and tight, glowed with vitality. Her magnificent b.r.e.a.s.t.s would make any man's breath hitch in his chest. And those legs... Stars... No woman should have that many gorgeous parts. Only an occasional muscle spasm marred her perfection. But it was her offer to risk her safety for their welfare that stunned him and made him think that she was growing into a woman he'd like to know better. She understood that the success of this mission hinged on the crew pulling together, and he was glad that he hadn't had to order her to try such a dangerous task. She'd volunteered, and her willingness to risk herself not only lightened his load, but increased his attraction to her. He'd always found Dora a beautiful woman-but that was because she'd made certain to form to form her body to his preferences. Now she was developing into the kind of woman he could admire.

Dora had always had emotions, but after her transformation she'd seemed too vulnerable. When she'd first taken human form, she'd been afraid to leave her room, but now she was developing inner strength, contradicting his original opinion of her.

Either he'd been mistaken and his first supposition about her character had been made in haste, or she was changing. Her willingness to face danger to help them all showed that she was developing courage, and he was pleased by her bravery on many levels.

Still, he worried about losing not just a friend, but a valuable crew member, and her offer to link upset him. "If you link with Ranth what will happen to you?"

"I don't know."

He admired that despite her shoulder twitching she looked him straight in the eyes.

"Please elaborate."

"If Ranth's dead, injured, or insane, the look may simply not work."

"And if it does work?'

"Communications may or may not be normal."

"I meant if he's damaged and the link works, works, could your brain be fried?"

"Possibly, but it's a risk we must take. We're prisoners. We have to escape."

Zical wanted to order her to forget the idea, but of course, he couldn't-not when the lives of everyone on board might be at stake. Not when it was his responsibility to put their mission back on track. He'd ruined the Perceptive Ones' protection by entering Mount Shachauri and recalling the Sentinel; now he had to put the ancient machine back in place to guard them. And to continue their mission, he needed their 110.

ship's computer, but he prayed Dora wouldn't be harmed her effort. "Get the plug. But don't tap in yet. First, I want to evaluate other options."

"Fine." She reached for the rope, wrapped one bare leg around it, and slid into the tube.

Zical turned back to his crew, hoping one of them had another option. No one did.

Dora hauled her body down the tube but had more difficulty navigating the corridor without the rope to guide her. She pushed off a wall and overshot her quarters, and she turned around, she b.u.mped her head and swore. Then she remembered Kirek and feared she might have awakened him, but when she peeked into the room, she saw him sleeping soundly, his limbs still, his expression calm.

She placed the plug and cord around her neck, knotted the end to keep it in place, then retraced her path. Slightly breathless from her exertions using muscle power instead of her psi and suit, she arrived back on the bridge to see that Shannon was still gone. Vax and Zical were speaking with Cyn, who returned from her engine inspection to give a report in person.

Cyn spoke quickly, her tone frustrated, her green skin darkening with vexation.

"The aliens have put an unidentified damper on the electromagnetic field, corking our engines. Essentially, we're disabled-except for life support systems."

Vax in added, "Which means the field is targeting some systems and leaving others alone. How can they be so specific?"

Maybe they infiltrated Ranth," Dora suggested, joining discussion. "But I'm hoping he's locked down in safe mode, protecting himself from a total attack." She unwound the cord from her neck, pleased that although her leg spasmed, she'd kept her tone steady and her fear in check. It's time to find out."

She'd only told Zical part of the truth. She truly didn't know what would happen when she tapped into Ranth's system, but the likeliest scenario would be her mind merging with Ranth's until she remained trapped inside his hardware-hardware that didn't have room for two personalities. As the more powerful presence, his mind would easily dominate, and she could become lost in cybercircuitry, disintegrating into a billion fragments. Her body could die or simply a.s.sume a comalike state, but if she didn't act, they all faced a very uncertain future, Zical watched her plug one end of the cord into her neck, his expression both determined and worried. "I'm not ordering you to-"

"I understand."

"How can we help?" Zical asked, his tone derisive, but gentle.

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you won't detach the link."

His brows narrowed. "Why?"

"With the dampening field to sidetrack me, I may take a while to find my way back.

I don't want to leave part of myself with Ranth."

111.

Zical scowled at her. "I thought you only communicated through that patch. But you sound as though you're leaving your body behind."

"I may not have a choice, she finally admitted, knowing bow much he disliked her mind link, undoubtably because it reminded him that she wasn't born human. But she couldn't remain silent for personal reasons when the entire mission was at stake.

Zical nodded, his face grave, his eyes warm with concern. "Then you have my word."

Before he could say more, she plugged the otter end a socket and closed her eyes.