Toemeka Ganti glanced over her shoulder to see if the one-eared man she'd noticed at the Science Center still trailed her. She spotted him, darting between the shabby throng of Jaiparian pedestrians as they headed home from work. He stopped to buy a drink from a street vendor and she wondered if she was just being paranoid. Perhaps they were both just headed in the same direction.
    Posted at the street corner, an armed Talon soldier surveyed the crowd. Toemeka tightened her hand on her satchel, reassuring herself that even if she was stopped she carried a valid work visa. She waited at the streetlight as vehicles raced by; others flew over the congested streets at higher elevations, spitting out a burnt metallic smell. A loud siren wailed and drowned out regular traffic noises as an emergency vehicle roared past.
    The light changed and she crossed the street, heading into an older section of the City of Silver Light. To her the city's name seemed like a mocking reminder of better times. Around Toemeka buildings lay in rubble from the bombings that accompanied General Falcon's invasion ten years ago.
    Toemeka sensed that the one-eared man still followed, but she didn't take another look. If she was being trailed, it was better the spook didn't know she'd spotted him.
    On the next block she walked between the shadows of deteriorating skyscrapers.


    At a cracked, dilapidated fountain a skinny boy in ragged clothes cupped his hands and drank the murky water on the bottom of the marble bowl. She drew out a coin to give the waif, but as she stepped forward he fled into the bushes and disappeared. She stared after him, troubled. He and his people were the reason she was on this planet. The Jaiparian people needed someone to fight for their freedom as her people had needed someone to fight for theirs—only help hadn't come for her people. A familiar heaviness settled over her, the one that came whenever she thought of her family. She couldn't afford weakness, not here, not now.
    Toemeka slipped behind the fountain, focused her awareness on a point above the street, and slid free of her body. From her expanded aerial viewpoint, she saw the one-eared man run across the street, headed her direction. A pulsing cloud of negative energy swirled around him. She shifted her attention back into her body, sure now he was following her. But who had hired him and why? Perhaps her project at work had brought her under scrutiny or had they discovered who she really was. She considered her best options: confront the man, try to lose him, or contact her partner Erling. She itched to confront him, take him by surprise and demand an explanation, but he might have a partner, spooks often traveled in pairs, and she doubted she could handle two men without a weapon. Better to contact her partner Erling. She couldn't use her communicator because they were in stealth mode and been ordered to maintain complete silence. Messages from communicators could be picked up. Erling had left work early to meet a contact at the Twisted Sisters Bar. She'd track him down there, using the skyway system.
    Toemeka left the park and merged with the crowd. Two blocks down, she stopped at a store display window, feigning interest in the exotic evening dresses that no one could afford except Talon officers' mistresses. She drew a deep, calming breath. The spook seemed like a professional and thus wouldn't want her to know she was being trailed. That gave her a slight edge. A piece of trash blew against her legs and swirled by. In the reflection of the glass, an image of the spook appeared as he ambled by. The right side of his head was missing an ear and she wondered if it had been shot off. Once he'd reached the end of the block, she slipped into the store and hurried to the back where it opened into a hallway.
    She found a tube-car and set the coordinates for the skyway. It shot up a floor. On the cool, narrow skyway between two tall buildings, she gazed out the smudged window at the street below. The one-eared man retraced his step, checking doorways, then disappeared into the women's dress shop.
    Toemeka used the maps on the walls to find her way through the maze of the unfamiliar skyway system.
    Loud, discordant music boomed from the stone archway of the Twisted Sisters. She stepped inside, entering a smoky mist that filled the dark room and fouled the air. It was the sort of place she would have come to with Jake to get crazy after a mission. She'd broken up with him right before coming to Jaipar and she missed his lively companionship. She hoped it wouldn't take long to find Erling. She wove her way through the seedy cliental, scanning the crowd for his blond head. His tall height usually made him easy to find. By the back wall a band played and people danced under flashing strobe lights. She stepped into an adjoining room and looked around uneasily. Occupied tables filled the center of the room, but both sides featured enclosed booths. For a clandestine meeting Erling would want the privacy of a booth.
    Glanced in the nearest booth, Toemeka saw two heavily armed mercenaries arguing over a pile of gems that gleamed in the light. As she moved quickly away she felt the negative presence of the one-eared man entering the bar. Her heart speeded up in cadence to the booming music as she quickly scanned the room for someplace to hide. She spotted a women's restroom a short distance away.
    The room had nude pictures on the wall and one occupant who leaned over the sink to touch up her make up. The top of the woman's heavy breasts spilled out of her low-cut dress as she combed her violet streaked hair. Toemeka wrinkled her nose when the strong, heavy fragrance of the woman's perfume hit her nostrils. The woman tossed a pill into her mouth and a glazed over look clouded her eyes.
    Toemeka shed her tattered coat and stuffed it under the sink, knowing she needed to change her appearance. Underneath she had on a short black sorgti. She'd worn the slip-like garment to work because it was comfortable under her lab coat. It would have to suffice for a dress. She unclipped her barrette and her long hair tumbled over her shoulders and down her back.
    The woman disappeared into a stall, leaving her handbag on the edge of the vanity. Toemeka rummaged through it and found a tube of hair enhancer. She squeezed the point of the tube down her center part. A shimmering liquid flowed down individual strands of her raven-black hair, coloring it violet and adding sparkles. With the woman's dark blue eyeliner, she drew butterfly wings on both sides of her face.
    The toilet flushed. Toemeka quickly smeared on black lipstick and gold eye shadow, then chucked the makeup back into the woman's bag before slipping out the door. She hurried toward the main area, intent on disappearing into the crowd.
    Near the dance floor, a bald man with a thick gold band around his neck gave her a licentious smile. "Want to dance, pet?"
    "Find yourself a different pet."
    "No one turns me down."
    "I turn down whomever I please."
    "Not here. Here you do as I want."
    Toemeka narrowed her eyes and said haughtily, "Apparently you're too stupid to realize I'm one of Condor's priestesses?"
    He gasped, slack-jawed. "You're a priestess!"
    "I've had men put to death for lesser offenses."
    "Sorry, look . . . I don't want trouble with The Imperial Highness." He backed away and vanished into the crowd.
    A resounding, baritone laugh rumbled behind her. Toemeka spun around and gasped. "Commander Rochambeau!" Then she wondered if she was mistaken. The man was large with a distinctive chiseled face, like her commander, but he wore a weathered jacket, a gun belt slug low on his hips, and worn boots. Rochambeau-- her department head-- dressed in a crisp military uniform and polished boots.
    His eyes lit up with recognition and he smiled. "Aren't you Toemeka Ganti, the Mithrian electrical engineer the Science Research Center just hired?"
    She nodded, distressed at having run into him. He'd wonder what she was doing in such a disreputable place.
    "You've transformed," he said still smiling.
    "As have you."
    He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I get tired of a stiff uniform and the angry looks it brings. I came over to offer my assistance when I saw that man harassing you. So you're a priestess. That wasn't in your file." He cocked an eyebrow.
    "A newly acquired position."
    "Conjured for the moment, no doubt. Impersonating a priestess might be considered blasphemy by some."
    "Is it by you?" If he worshipped Condor he might well think it was sacrilegious to impersonate one.
    Rochambeau ignored her question and surveyed the room. "A table just opened up. Let's sit down." He pressed his meaty hand against the small of her back to guide her through the horde of rowdy patrons to the vacant dining table.
    Up close, she got a whiff of his musky after shave. "I don't have time for a drink. I'm here to meet someone. Thank you for checking to see if I need help."
    He cocked an eyebrow. "You'll never find your friend in this crowd."
    At the bar, she spotted the one-eared man talking to the bartender. She dropped into the chair, deciding she was safest with the commander for the moment.
    The mirrored tabletop reflected colored lights overhead. In the center of the table, an azure light bubbled, casting a blue glow on Rochambeau's large but attractive features.
    "You could be trained to be a priestess. You have some of their mysterious abilities and an unearthly beauty." He smirked. "Though they usually don't have violet hair and butterfly wings on their faces."
    She winced at the reference to her disguise. "I have no interest in being a priestess. I believe in science, not faith. She scanned the room for Erling, concerned that he might have already left the inn.
    "You didn't use science when you figured out how the oscillator can be developed."
    Toemeka's attention snapped back the commander. How did he know? "What makes you think that, Commander Rochambeau?"
    "Don't be so formal. Call me Cadmus. It's to your advantage to get to know me." He rubbed his knee against her inner thigh.
    She shifted her leg away from his knee, annoyed that he was coming onto her. "Men often think it's to my advantage to get to know them, though I rarely find it so."
    A vein pulsed on his temple. "You're certainly direct. It's refreshing. Most women are intimidated by my position and the power I hold."
    "I judge personal worth by things other than position."
    "Such as?"
    Before she could answer, the server arrived—a small Starlean humanoid, a race rarely seen in Jaipar. His rounded gold eyes, with a vertical oval in the center, shifted from Commander Rochambeau to Toemeka, and then back. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Commander Rochambeau." He spoke with a heavy accent. "What will be your pleasure tonight?"
    "Koro. Make sure the lady's is fresh."
    "As you wish." The server disappeared into the mass of people.
    Toemeka almost called him back, irritated that Rochambeau had ordered for her, but she let it go. She liked koro well enough.
    "Those green, sickly-looking creatures are disgusting," Commander Rochambeau said. "How do you like your new job?"
    "It's stimulating and challenging."
    "Where did you work before this?"
    "I worked on advanced shield design at Kaldare." What did he really want to know? He must have read her file before she was hired and know her background—her fabricated background.
    "Kaldare's a well respected company." He pulled a pipe from his front shirt pocket and packed hemoot leaves into it. Holding a lit match to the bowl, he inhaled, then blew out a slow stream of smoke.
    The distinctive smell of hemoot drifted across the table. She remembered that Belona, her project supervisor, said Rochambeau was a brilliant scientist. She had to be careful what she said to him.
    The server arrived with their order. He set an eggcup in front of each of them. Toemeka breathed in the spicy aroma of koro as she reached for her wallet.
    Rochambeau shook his head, "It's on me." He dropped a gold brockda into the server's hand.
    "I'll be happy to pay," she said, not wanting to be indebted to the commander. He was the kind of man who would expect some form of payment.
    "No, I insist."
    Not pushing the issue, Toemeka glanced around the room, wondering if Erling had already left the bar. The server didn't give Rochambeau any change and she thought it odd that the koro was so expensive.
    "This better be good quality koro for the price you're charging," Rochambeau said.
    "You won't be disappointed. Will there be anything else?" The gills on the side of the server's head opened and closed as he gave Toemeka a warning glance.
    "No, I'll signal if I change my mind." Commander Rochambeau dismissed the server with a wave of his hand. "These people are so dishonest—always trying to cheat you." He ate a spoonful of koro, then looked up at her. "Exquisite. Try it."
    She bit into the koro and a sharp, bittersweet taste exploded in her mouth. It was good koro, exceptionally good. She took another bite, savoring the flavor, then finished the small morsel.
    Rochambeau sneered. The rest of his koro remained untouched. Her stomach twisted as she realized something wasn't right. She felt strange-- light-headed, sick from the koro. What was wrong with her? Rochambeau's face blurred and weird colors danced around him.
    Then it hit her-- she'd been drugged.
    "What was in that koro?" she gasped. She felt a delay between her thoughts and her words and her mind felt strangely altered. Everything seemed to have slowed down while the colors in the room had intensified.
    "Like it? It's good stuff."
    "You had no right—"
    He cut her off. "Relax, it gives euphoric pleasure."
    She swallowed past the dryness in her throat. "I have to go." She rose, moving clumsily.
    Rochambeau jerked her arm and she thudded back into the chair. "We need to talk. A colleague of mine worked at Kaldare. He said he's never heard of you. Moreover, you broke regulations by discussing your project with Erling Fenian. He doesn't have clearance."
    "He doesn't?" She tried to focus.
    "Not to work on this project. We've been working on it for years and you claim to already have the key to making it work. What makes you think you can succeed when we've failed?"
    "Well... I." Her senses felt overloaded and she couldn't concentrate.
    A dark skinned trader ambled up to a nearby table. The scarf around his neck started to move, then changed into a black and yellow serpent.
    "Look, a snake!" Toemeka exclaimed.
    "There aren't any snakes in here." Rochambeau rose, scraping his chair against the floor. "Let's get out of here. You're too wasted to talk." He grasped her hand, pushed past the snake-man and walked through the pressing crowd of smelly bodies. The room seemed alive, the walls breathing, in and out, in time to the pulsing music.
    Once outside Toemeka discovered that night had descended. Glowing streetlights formed golden circles on the sidewalks that split into double circles and started to change into a ghost-like, grotesque monsters. She tried to pull her hand out of Rochambeau's exclaiming, "We're going to be devoured!"
    "There's nothing here. It's just an hallucinogen. I wouldn't have let you eat so much koro if I'd known you'd be so strongly affected. Try enjoying the experience." Rochambeau pulled her forward.
    Enjoy the experience? She couldn't enjoy it. She had to fight it so that she could escape from Rochambeau. A series of vehicles shot by and she shivered, her thin sorgti left her arms bare and gave her little protection from the cool night air. She wondered what she'd done with her coat, her memory was fuzzy.
    The ground began to vibrate as a long, silver, bullet-shaped speed-rider appeared. It hovered for a moment before easing onto the gravity track.
    "Get on the speedrider" Rochambeau said.
    "Where are we going?" She had to stall, figure a way out of this mess.
    "I'm taking you in for questioning."
    "No."
    She tried to wrench her hand free from his grasp. He roughly yanked her arm and she cried out in pain as he twisted it behind her. A man with a crooked nose and thin face, glanced at them, then quickly looked away.
    Rochambeau growled into her ear, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. "If you try to escape, I'll break your arm. Your disappearance will be unfortunate, but then anything can happen to a woman alone in the city. Get on the speedrider."
    Toemeka kicked him with the spiked heel of her boots, aiming for his knee. He jumped back. Her heel dug into his shin and scraped down his leg. He grunted, then shoved her onto the steps of the speedrider. Trapped, she boarded the grimy vehicle. People in faded clothes filled the torn seats or stood in the aisle, holding onto rusty handrails.
    Commander Rochambeau flashed his pass to the driver, before joining Toemeka at the back of the speedrider. He shoved Toemeka into a vacant seat and sat next to her. The humming speedrider shot forward and lifted a few feet into the air.
    Toemeka's head spun as the city lights raced by. She wondered why she was still so high and worried that she might be permanently brain damage. When she closed her eyes, sickening brownish-yellow lights swirled before her. Then she heard a popping sound and found herself out of her body. Under a green-streaked sky, she stood on a high, windy balcony where General Falcon and a dark-haired warrior fought with occult weapons. Tense guards stood nearby. A terrible dread for the warrior filled her. More images appeared: guards dropped to the ground with blood pouring from their mouths and noses, a broken railing, the beating of white wings, falling through the air.
    Someone grabbed her arm and she was jolted back into her body.
    "Get up," a deep male voice ordered. "It's our stop."
    Confused, she recoiled from Rochambeau, pressing back into the seat. The speedrider slowed to a stop and he wrenched her up.
    Outside black storm clouds darkened the evening sky. As they rode up a high escalator, Toemeka tried to clear her head, she needed an escape plan. If tortured, sooner or later she'd reveal her team members and their mission. She'd rather die than put her team in danger.
    They stepped onto a dimly lit platform on a hill overlooking the city. Toemeka desperately looked around. Sixty feet away, Talon guards flanked the walled Talon Military Compound front gates. On her left was a large airfield.
    Suddenly a man leapt out from behind a tall evergreen tree and pointed a gun at them. Commander Rochambeau reached for his weapon and Toemeka shoved him, wrenching free. A gun roared and Rochambeau clutched his chest as he collapsed. Toemeka fled toward the airfield, afraid she'd be shot next. Footsteps pounded on the pavement behind her and she forced a burst of speed. The assassin caught up and raced beside her.
    A military guard yelled, "Stop or I'll shoot!"
    When they didn't stop, energy beams tore up the ground around them.
    "Keep low." The man pulled her behind a spacecraft where his dark jacket and slacks blended in with the shadows. He peered out from behind the ship and fired at the soldiers.
    Toemeka crouched beside him, her head still thick and muddled.
    "This way." The man dragged her across the airfield. He pushed two buttons on a handheld remote and the engine of a nearby Viper roared to life and its canopy top opened. Fear sliced through Toemeka and she ground to a stop.
    "You're going to get us both killed!" the man exclaimed. "Run!" A bullet whistled by her head and she raced for the Viper.
    "Get in!" the man yelled when they reached the ship.
    She glanced wildly around, unsure of whether to go with him, unsure of whether to trust him. It could land her in worse danger. Guards dashed toward them, firing weapons. Deep down she knows she had no choice, it was go with him or be shot. She scrambled into the two-seat cockpit. The man jumped in the other side and she watched as he punched in a code. The canopy closed over them as he began the preflight sequence. An energy beam hit the side of the ship and flames lit up the interior in red and orange.
    "The right engine is on fire!" Toemeka screamed. "Put out the fire!"
    The computer answered, "Order acknowledged." Foam shot out, covering the engine and extinguishing the fire.
    "Get ready for takeoff." The man's hands flew across the control panel.
    A helmet automatically lowered onto Toemeka's head and a seatbelt slid across her chest and snapped into place. The ship lifted into the sky with a loud roar, pressing her against the seat. Yellow lights appeared in the darkness below them.
    "We're being followed," Toemeka exclaimed as the yellow lights took the form of three sleek Talon fighters. The Viper shook as they were hit with a missile, but their deflector shield held.
    "ZB, make calculations for a spacejump," the man said to the computer.
    "Calculations begun."
    A second blast rocked the ship.
    "Get us out of here, ZB!"
    "Ready to commence phase one."
    The ship vibrated and a high-pitched whine filled the cockpit. The sound painfully penetrated Toemeka's ears and she crumpled over in agony. Blackness filled her vision and she was engulfed in a world of drug-induced illusions.