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I backpedaled, fast, and then dropped the concentration that held me so far up in the aetheric My body was like a massive anchor, heavy without the use of power to hold ravity kicked in hard I snapped and fell across thousands of miles of open water and air, and as I was pulled back towardpeculiar happen in the clouds

I saw theed black edges It was eerie and beautiful and alien, the green of a toxic emerald, and I wondered what kind of power could do that to a natural force

Nothing I could wield, or would want to face

I slaave way The deck of the balcony was hard, and it hurt to hit it even though I grabbed the railing for support That’s going to leave a ht, but I was used to that, at least I was reen color of those clouds, and then, belatedly, on the lancing pain that ripped through ht on it, thinking it was soave way as if ine

I clung to the railing, waiting for soet when your leg goes to sleep, but I didn’t feel any tingle or prickling of blood returning to feed the nerves

It was just nuht, exasperated The exasperation faded The nu, and it kept folding up on me like cheap paper

Okay, noas scared What the hell? I plunked ed the nuers touched flesh, but that was the only feedback there was It could have been so entirely

And then, with a snap, everything came back online, as if the nerve channels had just been switched on again No sloakening, just a sudden shock of pain and heat that made me cry out, and then it was all just nor, and tested the leg

It hurt, but it held

I li area and stretched out on the sofa, probingthat seemed oddly shaped, broken, or otherwise bizarre Except for the continued rando seemed intact

It faded, after a few minutes I stood and cautiously walked around the roo distance of major pieces of furniture Walk it off, Baldwin I’d had worse Hell, I’d had worse just yesterday But it botheredwas supposed to hurt me in aetheric form, certainly not echoed down intoIt just didn’t feel right

I didn’t want to, but I knew I had tothat happened to me increased the chances that I would end up confined to quarters, or tranquilized in the brig, if this floating casino had one of those But this didn’t see I should keep to myself

I checked the clock I was due at the Wardens

"Cher!" I yelled to her closed door "I’m out!" I don’t think she heard over the aircraft-carrier roar of her blow-dryer

I put on my sadly wrinkled, salt-stained, and badly-in-need-of-laundering clothes, grabbed the e ith evil

Chapter Three

The ht; there were plenty of staff members around

Seems that the cruise line and the Wardens had thrown around a hell of a lot of talk about triple pay and hazard pay and bonuses, and as a result, the current passenger complement was outnumbered by its service staff by about two to one

Which I’ve got to say would have been potentially ale one of theuilt on my conscience

Three staff members and three sets of directions later, I arrived at the ship’s hts were up, revealing opulently layered velvet curtains in the traditional dark reds and purples on the walls, some lovely Art Deco sconces, and seats for a couple of hundred people and their snacks

There were thirty-eight Weather Wardens on board, and as I swiftly counted heads, I realized that I was one of the last to arrive

Leatched e, and I kneas noting the way I slightly favored et to tell you to watch your step?" he asked in an undertone Not that anyone was paying attention The Wardens were talking a the finer points of weather control

"Funny," I said "Aht to Remember ?" He wasn’t sidetracked "What happened?"

"I got smacked on the aetheric Hard And I couldn’t see anybody doing it - not a trail, not a wave, nothing No trace And it hurt"

That got his attention "Hurt?"

"Like, ow, crap, da went out on ht away"

"Hot down on one knee and put his large hands around h The conversations out in the auditoriu halt, and I felt every pair of eyes in the place turn to focus on us

I juasp involved, but he wasn’t interested in naughty groping at the moment I felt his power slowly filter into ht It followed the nerves in a slow glide down , into my foot, and out

You could have heard a pin drop in the place

Lewis finally sat back "I’ except some strains in your muscles

Nor and, for a moment, looked completely vapor-locked about it

I cleared ht want to stop now, being that it looks a little odd"