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My watch clocked in fifteenfully in sight I slowed down and stopped, because there wasn’t a lot of cover, and I was fairly certain that even thinking about strolling up to the gates was strongly discouraged I sat down and had some water

Four separate colonies of fire ants were ried army ants, fire ants were one of the creepiest warrior insects out there, in terms of their dedication to a cause I forood twenty-foot distance between the to scale the invisible wall They’d keep doing that, for and cliravity toppled them

Like I said Co The cheerful tones sounded even more out of place here than they nor to uards to hear anything that small, but it still spooked er and looked at the screen

It was Lewis

"I talked to Cherise," he said "She told ht--Of course she had Of course she would I heard the anguish in his voice "He--he was trying to protect us," I said "I’ood kid? He hadn’t been, really But he’d tried "He was brave" Yes He was that

He cleared his throat "Okay," he agreed, and sounded grateful "Cherise tellsfield, Jo You and David"

"David’s ht now than suited up to play, but that’s better than nothing" I sed and clutched the phone tighter "We al to lose hiht the sah You always do" He let a second pass, then changed the subject "I need you to do so for us"

"Ready" I already kneouldn’t be picking flowers, or even so easy that a lower- level Warden would do He saved the worst jobs for his best people

"I need you to distract the attention of the Djinn I need so that they’ll have to deal with directly Do you think you can do that?"

My mouth went dry, and I sippedabout, Lewis?"

"We need to hit her back," he said "We’re playing defense, Jo, and we’re getting slaughtered Get her attention, pull her to your location, and the Djinn will follow We’ll head toward you as fast as we possibly can You won’t be alone"

Actually, I would be, and he knew it The Wardens could only travel so fast, and the Djinn could be anywhere they wanted, when they wanted Not even close to a race

He was askingto the Earth, and then he was asking me to stand still while the Djinn came to destroy me

There was a na here next to a plant chock full of plutonium, uranium, and nuclear weapons I could do the math, and the math divided by zero

"Lewis," I said slowly "You understand what you’re asking me to do?"

"Yes," he replied "Believeour Warden network, and it’s folding Once that’s broken, things will get worse again, very fast, and there’ll be nothing we can do to stop it We’ve got only about another day, Jo, before they destroy every Warden on the planet After that, it won’t even be a week before hu It’s extinction This is the best move we have"

"And better me than you," I said "I don’t mean that in a cruel way The Wardens need a leader, and you’ve got us this far I understand that you need to go on" I gulped in an unsteady breath "I don’t I get it"

"Jo " There was so much torment in that one whisper, so h the phone and hold hi me to my death "Only somebody of your quality could do this in the first place, and minimize loss of life You’re my only choice I wish it was--" His voice failed, broken, and all I heard was harsh, uneven breathing as he tried to get hold of hiain

I felt a wave of resentment pass over me How ives?

It was a valid question I’d worked my ass off for the Wardens, I’d saved theain?

One thing about waves: they pass The emotion peaked, then receded, and in its wake I feltcalet the as I can Lewis?"

"Yeah?" His voice was low and husky, choked hat he couldn’t say

"Make it worth it"

"No pressure" There--soainst the world I laughed

"No pressure," I assured him, and just before I pressed the END CALL button, I whispered, "I always loved you, just a little bit Bye"

I cut the signal before I could hear his response, if he could have ed to make one I didn’t think David would have objected tothat It was true, and it was the last chance I’d have to make that particular statement count

Silence I listened to the wind, which was blowing in fro the bitter taste of sand out of Oklaho the horizon The sun was a fierce, hard ball in the sky, heading west, dropping on its predeterht at all for whatever happened here on this complicated little oasis of life I’d alondered if other planets had sohborhood scraps with Venus and Mars, or yellingbully Jupiter Maybe the sun had its own voice, its own life Maybe the entire universe was alive with life, in fornize because ere too liht

I finished ht about God My rown up in Sunday school and after-school prograether satisfied ion expected ht, and the ansere too vast, too corasp, but that didn’t