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"Surveillance - "

" - has been blocked froed in other directions And there is no one out here to see reen corn "You can accompany me"

A military nod "After you"

She was under no illusion that she’d won the battle He was si for further instructions The expected mental touch came mere seconds after she stepped onto the deceptively decrepit-looking porch

Councilor, she said

Ashaya, you’re disobeying a direct order Ming’s h with crystal clarity Either he was still in the country or his telepathic poere stronger than she’d previously believed

You should have known the rules would never hold She walked down the steps and into the rows of corn, conscious of the guard shadowing her every ical flaw that has never been subject to rehabilitation Because she was too valuable an asset to chance to the sometimes fatal side effects However, that shield wouldn’t last forever

Your tendency toward claustrophobia was taken into account when designing the lab It’s wide open

And underground She had been buried underground once It had left a per in any sense, she said, knowing she had to be careful, but it doesdifficult after an extended period of time below

Then it’s our design that is flawed, he accepted with cool Psy logic The psych consult was of the opinion that your abilities would reiven the layout and your th

The consult was correct -weakness would get her killed It’s more a case of efficiency All I need is an hour or two upside on a regular basis toThere’s no security risk I’ll allow it

Thank you I would also prefer that the guard not followI do a considerable amount of my work in my head Thatwas undoubtedly accessing as they talked

Another sreed We have the whole area secured

The most subtle of threats Excellent

Be careful, Ashaya So es on your work

It was a hidden reference to Keenan But it wasn’t an e so easy as that Maternal love was for hu knew that far too well

But she was outside now One minute step at a time She was an M-Psy with the capacity to sequence DNA inside hersuit

Deep in the PsyNet, the psychic network that connected lobe, the Ghost came across a piece of infor of hu said in the PsyNet ever left it, but the fact that this whisper hadn’t yet fragun to be absorbed into the fabric of the Net ave hiade, determined to oust the Psy Council from power and free his people from a Silence that was false He had killed in the name of that freedom, would do so many more times before this was all over But he was still Psy He felt nothing, not love, not care, not hate Nothing

So when he considered this unexpected speck of data, it ith the ice-cold ic and reason alone Touch was so he had ever known In the end, it was the very lack of reason in what he’d found that decided him

He filed away the discovery, to be passed on to the sole huht be a man of God, but he was also a soldier And for reasons of his own, he was the Ghost’s ally in the fight to stop Ashaya Aleine and the Council fro Protocol I into force

Decision s fro that had the potential to disrupt the entire PsyNet - the assassination of a Councilor

Chapter 27

Tamsyn put away the last of her instruments and leaned back in the chair beside Talin Both Clay and Nate - talking quietly out of earshot -with you" Tay tests are all negative and I have the best damn equipment on the market"

"You can tell immediately?"

"Yes Which leaves two possibilities One, whatever you’re allergic to is so rare as to not be in the cohing in relief when Clay’s hand landed on her shoulder It felt so right, so what she needed "I can’t think of anything - "

"What about a forest organism?" Clay interrupted "It’s a new environment as far as Tally’s body is concerned"

Tamsyn was the one who shook her head this time "It should’ve still co up nothing"

"What’s the second possibility?" Talin asked

"That it wasn’t an allergic reaction at all We just got lucky with the epi" Ta now?"