"... here is a statement by the Prime concerning the rebel attack on the home of the Opposition Leader."

The announcement made Tarris sit up. She ignored her computer for the news. The familiar face of the Roden Sholter filled the large screen.

"Citizens. Last night the home of Opposition Leader Regis was brutally attacked by the cowardly forces of the resistance. While Administrator Regis and his family escaped unharmed, a number of his staff were murdered while defending his property." The old man paused. He turned his head from side to side as if he were addressing a rally. "This has forced the Council to enforce a curfew from sundown to sunup. Protectors will be stationed around the metropolis for the safety of the citizens."

Tarris's mouth fell open. It was all a setup. They were deliberately sent on a mission that was bound to fail from the very beginning. It was an excuse to establish martial law. She felt betrayed. She had given them everything, and they used her. "Protectors... pah!" It was a fancy word for soldiers.

The Prime continued his political rhetoric, but she paid it no heed. She had heard enough. Her belief in the government had been severely shaken, and it left her empty. No one had ever used her like that before. She wasn't naive or stupid. After all, she had to put up with jerks like Corman for most of her life, but to actively use her loyalty and expertise to undermine the very fabric of society... that was unforgivable.

The wheelchair was too slow for what she wanted to do, so she exchanged it for her body frame. Once it had settled in place, she left to walk the streets. Her anger pushed her on to look for something, someone to ease the turmoil within her. Without conscious purpose, her rambling delivered her to an address that she had only just discovered. She looked up at the low-rise building and knew the person she wanted to see was inside. After all she had just spoken to her. Maybe if she saw the woman face-to-face it would help. If not, then she would just slug the woman in the jaw to ease her frustration.

Her visit to the mediprac was just plain reckless, but she didn't care. Why couldn't common sense override her anger? Tarris knew she was being watched, so visiting this scientist was going to put them both in danger. Suspicion and paranoia ruled the metropolis these days, and anything out of the ordinary like this visit would be interpreted as a dangerous move.

She had presented all these arguments to herself, but she ignored them. Maybe Rya would see reason and stop her. Not that she would listen. After all that had happened today, to be able to walk again was paramount. The whole world was kicking her in the teeth, and she wasn't going to take it anymore.

As she stood in the hall outside the woman's apartment, she chided her warrior. Thanks very much, Rya. Her hand passed over the beam to announce her presence.

"Yes?" The muffled voice was barely heard in the corridor.

"It's Tarris Waite." She tried to keep her voice low. She didn't want anyone to know who she was except the woman on the other side of the door.

"Who?"

Had she made so little an impression on the mediprac? "Tarris Waite. The woman you hung up on earlier today."

"I told you before, I'm not interested."

"And I'm not leaving until I talk to you." Tarris's voice hardened as she spoke, a touch of menace seeping into the words.

"Go away, or I'll call the enforcement agency."

She was so close to saying "I am the enforcement agency," but she knew this wouldn't help her case. "Please, a couple of minutes of your time and then I'll leave you alone."

The door slid open with a gentle whoosh to reveal a woman of short to middling height and straight, black, cropped hair. Tarris stumbled back against the far wall, her heart beating at a blistering pace.

"Are you all right?" Bright blue eyes looked on in concern as the young woman's hand reached out to help her.

"Ah... ah... err." Tarris stammered like an idiot. This was the woman in her dreams. Was she going mad?

"Come on. It looks like you need to sit down." The woman moved to Tarris's side, put her shoulder under Tarris's armpit, and helped her into the apartment. Gently Tarris lowered herself into a waiting chair. Her fingers swiftly moved to the hidden pads in her belt to adjust the suit to a seated position.

The woman disappeared and returned with a glass of water. Who the hell was this woman? More important, why was she dreaming about her?

"Now, what's wrong?" Tarris saw concern in those eyes intently watching her, but she couldn't tell her of the dream, at least not yet.

"Sorry. You reminded me of someone so much, I thought I was seeing a twin."

"Why do you want to see me?" The wall of mistrust had risen once more, and Tarris was back to where she had started. So much for medical care.

"I wanted to see if your research could help me to walk again."

"You seem to be walking just fine."

Now Tarris would have to show her. Sighing deeply, she rose unsteadily and adjusted the suit to a stand position. She reached for the Velcro on her pants.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"You believe I can walk? Fine." She dropped her pants to show the mechanical frame that helped her walk.

"Hmmm." The woman crouched down to study the metal. Tarris's heart ached as she watched the woman move around. She so wanted to be able to do that again. To be able to walk, run, crouch, and just feel. "Interesting." Intent eyes looked up at her. "Come with me."

"Hang on, errr... Mediprac, Doctor, errr...."

"Don't sprain your tongue there. Call me Asher."

"I'm Tarris."

"So you keep telling me. Come this way."

Tarris fumbled with her pants while she tried to keep the young woman in her sights as she disappeared farther into the apartment. She looked around and took in the surroundings. While it was a lot smaller than her own dwelling, it was comfortable but didn't reek of wealth. Asher was not among the Council's favored. Maybe that was why she was so hostile.

One of the rooms had been converted into a laboratory filled with equipment. "Now..."

Tarris held up her hand. She reached into her pocket and extracted Darmen's bug detector. She activated the device and wandered around the walls. The silent alarm triggered off, and she went in search of the source.

"What...?"

Tarris touched her lips with her finger for silence. Where was the thing? Every time she moved, it moved, too. There was some sort of bug in the room, but there wasn't. Did that make sense? She handed over the box. "You try it," she whispered.

Asher used the box as she was shown and came to the same conclusion. She was about to return the device when its signal increased. "What...?" She looked perplexed. "Turn around," she murmured. She waved the box over Tarris. Finally she stopped on a spot in the small of her back. "It's on you."

"Me? Impossible." Tarris grabbed back the detector and waved it frantically over her back. There it was, as surely as she was standing there. "How the...?" There was no way she could be bugged. She would know.

"Leave now. I told you-"

"Now wait a minute."

"You lied to me. I will not become the Council's lapdog. You hear me? Go back and tell them I'm not interested."

"I'm not from the Council. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"You can no longer be trusted." Tarris could hear the finality in Asher's voice.

"I didn't know about this, okay? I'm as surprised as you are." But Asher was unimpressed. Tarris again reached for the Velcro. "You don't believe me, huh? Fine." She clumsily lowered her pants, grateful for the help to step out of them from Asher. "Check it out." Asher waved the scanner over the cloth. "See? Nothing there."

She moved the scanner toward Tarris. "It only means it wasn't in your pants." The box still had a positive reading.

Down to her underwear and the metal frame, Tarris was going to need help to get them off.

Asher watched in fascination as Tarris manipulated the metal frame to walk herself over to the bench. Curious, she swept her eyes over Tarris's body and noted that her legs, while a little on the thin side, were not atrophied, while the white skin was probably from a lifetime indoors.

"Can you...?" Asher moved to stand in front of Tarris, nose to nose. Tarris began to undo the frame, and Asher bent down to assist once she had figured out how to unlatch it. Tarris shifted her weight to the bench as the frame slowly came free, until she finally ended up on her elbows to support her useless lower half.

Asher moved quickly to assist her and help lift the dead weight of her legs onto the table so Tarris could lie down.

Asher quickly scanned the frame but still nothing. And yet the scanner continued to register a bug in the room. She passed the box over Tarris and discovered a mild signal coming from her stomach.

"Let's turn you over," Asher said.

After much struggling and panting, Tarris lay facedown on the table, her nose ground into the Perspex top. This was ridiculous. She was almost down to bare skin, and yet there still seemed to be a signal. The cool metal slipped down her spine as the device searched her, until it stopped abruptly at the small of her back.

"You're not going to believe this, but the signal is coming from inside you," Asher said.

"No. No. It can't be. I'd know if they put something into me. They wouldn't dare..." Tarris closed her mouth so hard, her teeth crunched together.

"They? Just what is going on here?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Now you have me in this position, is... is there any chance you can do something for me?"

"Why should I help you? You're carrying God knows what inside you, and you expect me to be happy about that?"

"You can see I'm helpless here. Are you even remotely interested in trying out your theories?" Tarris was getting desperate. She could feel the shift away from a positive reaction. She was losing Asher's interest.

"As I said, I'm in no hurry." Asher sounded too calm.

If Tarris had to guess, the woman was in a desperate hurry. She didn't have to be on the Council to know that, if Asher was doing research on a grant, she would be expected to have answers yesterday. No, Asher needed her help as much as she needed Asher's help. "What's it going to take for you to change your mind?"

"You tell me everything," Asher said. "No secrets, hidden agendas, or lies."

"You want it all. You may not like what you get."

"That will be my decision then, won't it?"

"But if I reveal it all, I'm in a very vulnerable position. What guarantee do I have that you won't use what I show you?"

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh yes it can. You're asking me for everything without any strings attached."

"That's about it," Asher said.

"Well, I'm sorry. I can't do that." Tarris could feel her own disappointment as if it were a tangible thing. Rya stirred within her, also feeling her pain. I'm sorry Rya. It looks like we're bound to this suit. "If you'll help me with the suit, I'll leave you alone and not return." Tarris didn't know what to feel. Anger? Despair? Frustration? As she slapped the frame into place and reached for the familiar clasps, she couldn't look at the woman who had gutted her.

"Why should I trust you?" Asher's low melodious voice held a hint of confusion.

"Because I'm telling you the truth. But you don't want the truth, so just let me get out of here with at least a shred of my dignity intact." Tarris could feel her dream slowly die, withering away with each passing second. She looked at the hand on top of her own, and desperately decided to give it another try.

"All right, you want it all? Don't say I didn't warn you." Tarris reached around to the back of her neck and found the soft skin at the base of her scalp. As she tapped the skin, her hair color slowly faded, the deep brown melted away to the snow-white strands that were her natural coloring.

From beneath her lashes, she watched Asher and waited for the look of horror on Asher's face. Albinos were universally feared. To be albino meant that you were a member of the Special Black Shadow Corps. Concealed whispers and mutterings in the dark had told of what the troopers of the Corps did. Oh yes, she was to be feared.

She reached up to her temple and tapped it to remove her dark irises. Slowly the ice blue tinge emerged from the white, and it softened the otherwise sharp visage. Her angular features were now bordered in white, perfectly balancing the pale skin. Tonight her skin was pink-tinged, as she still felt the aftereffects of sunburn, but she knew the picture she presented to Asher.

"Well..."

"I told you so," Tarris said.

"I figure if you were here to kill me, I'd already be dead." Asher's response was not what Tarris expected. Terror, yes, but not mild interest.

"Yes, you would." She looked up into those rich eyes and saw a hint of fear but nothing stronger. "Maybe I should leave. I've probably put you in danger just by coming here." Her hand reached to the small of her back. "I can't believe this," she muttered. "Someone's going to pay."

"Stay." That was the last thing Tarris expected Asher to say. "You're already here, and the damage is done." Asher's smile took the sting out of the comment.

Tarris stopped strapping on her suit. "I don't understand."

"I don't either. Since you trusted me with your secret, I suppose I can at least look at you." Tarris's blonde eyebrow rose. "For scientific purposes, of course."

"Of course." Well, well, well. What's going on, Rya? "You'd better help me then." This time Tarris leaned back and allowed Asher free rein to remove the rig once more. She grinned impishly as Asher glanced at her from her position near her legs.

"Errr... yes. Give me a moment." Asher shook her head and focused on the clasps to complete the task. She finally put aside the cumbersome frame and helped Tarris to roll onto her front.

Tarris studied Asher's face as she examined her. She didn't need to look at her own body. She knew it intimately. She was more interested in seeing what the mediprac thought of her. Asher's medical eye took in the small bag attached to Tarris's lower stomach, artificially compensating for her lack of control of her urinary system Asher's warm hands pushed and prodded down either side of Tarris's spine, but Tarris didn't mind. These hands were... well, they weren't like a mediprac at all. And she was an expert on mediprac hands. She had felt enough of them on her body to know medical interest and something else entirely. But what that something else was, she didn't know.

"What is this?" Asher asked.

"What?"

"This lump at the base of your spine."

Tarris reached around to feel for the spot. "That? It's scar tissue from the operation."

"What operation?"

"When they tried to repair the damage."

"How long ago was that?"

How long? A lifetime? An eternity? "Let's see. I was sixteen when the accident happened."

"Accident?" Asher said absently as she continued to examine Tarris's back.

"I fell down some stairs and broke my back. They tried to repair it but were unsuccessful."

Asher didn't express any opinions to Tarris, she just kept asking questions. "So how many years have you been like this?"

"Are you trying to find out my age, Doctor?"

"It's strictly professional interest."