"We don't have a choice."

"I know. Briefing over?"

Threnody tossed her wrapper on the table and stood up. "Yeah. It's over."

"Quicker than the meeting yesterday. I like that."

Kerr and Jason got to their feet. Kerr pulled them both into a psi link with his telepathy even as Jason wrapped them in his telekinesis. Taking a breath, Jason visualized a place he hadn't seen in weeks but would never forget, and teleported out.

They arrived in a room that was at once familiar and not, the stark white walls of the place manned by Strykers wearing black-on-black BDUs. A telepath and telekinetic were on duty, nowhere near Kerr's or Jason's strength, but strong enough to s.h.i.+eld against both men long enough for one to initiate an alarm.

"Let's go," Threnody said.

She jumped off the platform and ran for the door. It had locked at the first sound of the alarm, but that wasn't going to stop them. Threnody slammed her hand against the control panel, short-circuiting the door with her power. Jason wrenched it open telekinetically, and then they were in a hallway, racing past rooms that housed recuperating Strykers. Nurses, surgeons, and psi surgeons were scattered throughout the hall, none of them knowing what to make of the alarm going off. Only when they saw the three former Strykers marked for death did they figure it out.

An intense telepathic strike rammed into Threnody's mind, deflected by Kerr's s.h.i.+elds, but she still felt the near miss reverberate through her thoughts. She stumbled, Jason grabbing for her with one hand to keep her steady.

If you kill even one Stryker, you won't leave this city tower alive, Jael snarled into their minds on a wide public 'path. Stand down.

Sorry, can't do that, Threnody said, letting the words sit at the very edge of her public mind for Jael to hear them. We've got our orders.

And we have ours.

Behind them came the crack of displaced air from a teleport, one right after the other. What felt like ropes of telekinesis wrapped around the three, searching for a way to hold them. Jason slammed his power through the foreign telekinesis and broke through easily enough, clearing their path.

Up ahead, a heavy security door blocked the way, with two Strykers standing before it. They didn't carry any guns, but they didn't have to. The fire that burned near one teenager's hand was warning enough. He sent it in a controlled wave at them, blocking their view of the hall as it covered Jason's telekinetic s.h.i.+elds completely.

Kerr focused his telepathy on the two Strykers. A telepathic strike cut cleanly through their s.h.i.+elds and he knocked them unconscious. The fire faded; their problems didn't. Threnody skidded against the security door, slamming one hand on the control panel. Electricity sparked and popped beneath her palm, frying the system. Jason again telekinetically wrenched the door open.

They immediately got another faceful of fire that couldn't make it past Jason's s.h.i.+elds. More 'path-oriented Strykers were gathering, slamming their individual powers against Kerr's s.h.i.+elds. They weren't merged, but they didn't need to be. Against anyone else, the initial attacks would have shattered their defense. But the Strykers didn't know that Kerr's and Jason's Cla.s.sifications had changed.

"We really don't have time for this," Jason said.

Threnody slammed one hand against the wall, electricity arcing outward down its length to knock several Strykers off their feet. Jason slammed his telekinesis forward, his power ripping down the hallway. It hit against bodies, knocking everyone to the ground with enough force to break bones. His power merged with Kerr's telepathic strike meant none of the Strykers in the hallway were getting up anytime soon.

Jason still wasn't used to his strength, however, and several of the Strykers he hit were slammed hard into whatever was at their back. In one case, a young teenage girl rammed her head against the corner of a nurse's desk. She left behind a splatter of blood as she slid to the floor, knocking over a few monitoring machines, and Jason skidded to a stop beside her, swearing.

"Jason!" Kerr yelled.

"Go," Jason said, even as he knelt down among unconscious and semiconscious bodies. "I'll cover you from a distance."

"Don't touch her," a Stryker said from nearby as he struggled to stand. "You've already hurt her."

"She was in our way," Jason said even as he curled his hand around the back of the girl's head, palm pressed against the b.l.o.o.d.y wound there.

Jason was still connected to the others through Kerr's psi link, providing telekinetic s.h.i.+elding. Jason dropped all his mental s.h.i.+elds, letting his power flood into the girl's body. He didn't care if people could read his intentions in his thoughts. He sank quickly into a world made up of blood and bone, rus.h.i.+ng through the soft shadows of tissue and cell shapes into the flaring network of nerves that spanned the breadth of the brain.

He could see blood pooling, black stains in his vision that looked wrong. Jason blinked, felt everything lurch around him as he focused on that buildup of blood. He'd only had a few days of practice using his power like this. It wasn't enough time for him to trust it, but he was getting better at focusing. He teleported the blood out of the girl's brain, letting it splash onto the floor in thick droplets near his knee. She would need surgery, but he'd cleared her of immediate danger.

Jason came back to himself in a rush, the world solidifying into the hard angles of standard human eyesight. The emergency alarm that still shrieked through the air was now almost drowned out by the piercing sound of a bioscanner registering off the scale. He looked down and realized a few wires had tangled around his fingers, the electrodes sticking to his skin.

He glanced at the monitor lying on the floor. One of the nurses-human, judging by her lack of uniform-was staring in shock down at it. The machine didn't recognize the psi signature. It wasn't one the nurse had ever before seen.

"Get her to Marguerite," Jason told the youth who was on his knees now, staring at Jason with an unreadable look on his face.

Jason shoved himself to his feet, reaching for Kerr through the psi link. I need a visual.

Kerr gave it to him. Through Kerr's eyes Jason could see the hallway where Jael's lab was located, and the crowd that braced the other two on either side. Keiko was standing shoulder to shoulder with Jael in front of the lab door. Jason teleported into that small s.p.a.ce with blood on his hands, automatically strengthening his s.h.i.+elds as he arrived.

Jael's mind brushed up hard against Jason's mental s.h.i.+elds and her face went ashen. "What happened to you?"

Jason didn't answer her. Threnody did. "Get out of the way."

"You come in here like you did, attacking us, and you think you can give us orders?" Keiko said.

"We didn't come to hurt anyone."

"Like h.e.l.l you didn't."

"No one's dead," Jason said. "Everyone who tried to stop us will live."

Jael's telepathy slid over their mental s.h.i.+elds, not attacking. Kerr followed her touch with ease, ready to defend in an instant. Jael could feel the difference in Kerr's power, so attuned as she'd lately been to an empathic touch.

"You're an empath," Jael said, stunned.

"Barely," Kerr said.

"Your s.h.i.+elds?"

"Stable. Which means there's no one you can pull up who can match me or Jason."

The emergency alarm was still going off, the lights up above flas.h.i.+ng their constant warning. Threnody caught Jael's gaze. "Is Ciari alive?"

Keiko glanced at Jael; whatever telepathic conversation they had was quick. Judging by the murderous look Keiko gave her, Jael disobeyed orders when she said, "Yes. She's alive."

It was all the a.s.surance Threnody needed. Kerr? Do it.

Jael's head snapped back from Kerr's attack as he ripped open her s.h.i.+elds and pulled from her recent memories the visual of her lab in its latest state. He shared that image with Jason.

Leave me behind, Threnody said when she felt Jason's telekinesis wrap around her.

What? Jason said. Are you kidding? Quinton will kill me.

Just do it.

Jason was used to obeying orders, not giving them. The two teleported out, leaving Threnody alone in the hallway with Keiko holding up Jael. Threnody felt Jason's telekinetic touch pull away, leaving her uns.h.i.+elded and surrounded by people who were prepared to see her dead.

We have the gestational unit, Kerr said. Good luck.

Then he was gone and she was alone in her mind.

Threnody raised her arms in surrender. She felt Keiko's power slam into her, telekinesis bruising her body. She hit the wall with enough force to feel her ribs crack. Threnody collapsed to the floor, struggling to breathe. Invisible pressure crawled over her throat, choking her into unconsciousness.

SIXTEEN.

SEPTEMBER 2379.

AMUNDSEN-SCOTT SOUTH POLE STATION, ANTARCTICA.

"Well?" Lucas demanded.

"Don't rush me," Korman said curtly, carefully plugging in the last wire. The gestational unit's control board that monitored energy levels turned from the yellow of battery power to the bright blue of a solid electrical connection. Korman hummed to himself for a minute or two, the glitter from his optic replacements s.h.i.+fting as he studied the data. "No damage from the transfer. Everything is fine."

"Everything except the fact that you left Threnody behind," Quinton said, glaring at where Jason and Kerr stood on the other side of the lab table.

"She told me to," Jason said. "This was her mission and I wasn't going to argue her orders."

"Now you choose to obey without question?"

"Take this fight outside," Lucas said, not looking up from the readouts on his daughter's health. "Right now."

Quinton headed for the door, expecting the other two to follow. Knowing this conversation wasn't one that could be ignored, Kerr and Jason joined him out in the hallway. Without warning, Quinton grabbed Jason by the collar of his s.h.i.+rt and slammed him against the wall.

"What the f.u.c.k were you thinking?" he snarled into Jason's face.

Jason telekinetically shoved him away and Quinton stumbled backward. "I already told you. She wanted to stay."

"I don't care what she wanted. There's no reason for her to stay behind if you had Lucas's daughter."

"Ciari's alive," Kerr said with a shrug. "Reason enough."

Quinton glared at him. "What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?"

Kerr didn't seem concerned about Quinton's temper. "If Ciari's alive, then there's a chance we can reconnect with the Strykers."

"After today, I doubt that will happen," Jason said with a faint snort. He was staring at his left hand, still smeared with blood, and the expression on his face was pained. "They'll be on heightened alert after this."

Lucas pushed open the door to Korman's lab, coming into the hallway. Quinton focused his attention on Lucas. "We're getting Threnody back."

"That was never in doubt," Lucas said, letting the door shut behind him. "But I needed leverage if we're going to convince the Strykers to let us administer the nanites virus."

"So, you traded Threnody for your daughter?"

"And we'll trade their freedom for Threnody." Lucas met Quinton's glare without blinking. "I'm not leaving her behind, as you inelegantly put it. There is a reason for every single thing I do, and Threnody knows that. She knew what was required of her if Ciari still lived."

"You don't know what they'll do to her."

"I know she's still alive." Lucas tapped the side of his head. "I've got a s.h.i.+eld wrapped around her mind, and I doubt your Syndicate officers will immediately hand Threnody over to the World Court. For one, the loyalty you Strykers have for each other is incredibly hard to break. I've mindwiped enough of your fellow Strykers after retrieval to vouch for that. For another, the World Court is going to have far greater problems to deal with than one escaped Stryker. The pirate feed goes live today."

Kerr grimaced at that news. "You're aiming to make the world riot."

"If the dregs of humanity choose to retaliate with violence after learning the truth the government's kept hidden from them, then so much the better." Lucas shrugged, as if the oncoming societal upheaval didn't bother him in the least. "It will make it more difficult for the government to continue with the launch."

"I thought you didn't care if they made it to Mars Colony," Quinton said. "I thought you didn't care if the government left us all behind. We get half the seed bank, they get the Ark and some other planet."

"Things change," Kerr said, refusing to look at Lucas, even if he couldn't stop thinking about what a dead precognitive child had said in some old recorded file.

"Yes," Lucas agreed with a faint, twisted smile. "And that's what Jason is going to be doing to my daughter."

Jason frowned. "What?"

"My daughter needs to grow up with your type of power, and you are going to make sure that happens."

"What do you want me to do? Alter her DNA?" Jason gave Lucas a blatantly disbelieving look. "I don't know what I'm doing with this power, Lucas. Do you honestly want to risk an unborn child-your unborn child-by having me perform some act which I can't guarantee will work?"

"Psions are born with the genetic ability to control their powers. It's instinct that turns into conscious control. Why do you think Kerr had such problems with his s.h.i.+elds? Why do you think you're capable of reading as human on the mental grid after I showed you how to do it once? We're born into bodies that are geared towards supporting our minds."

"That's different than me trying to apply my power to something like this," Jason argued.

"It's worked on all of us at one point or another since we left Buffalo."

"All of you are alive. You aren't some cl.u.s.ter of multiplying cells."

"Which is exactly the best time to do this," Lucas said. "Her DNA is still very malleable. Right now is the only chance you've got to make her into what I need her to be. What we need her to be."

Jason glared at him. "You don't know that I can do this."

"Yes, I do." Lucas's voice was implacable, his gaze unwavering as he stared Jason down. "And you will."

"Why? Because Aisling told you I would?"

"Jays," Kerr interrupted. "You stopped to help a fellow Stryker back on the medical level. Do you believe what you did saved her?"

Jason let out a harsh breath. "Maybe."