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.She slowed for a traffic indicator, uncertain what the consequences would be for reckless driving, and not wanting to find out.The engine whined softly as they waited, and Jess decided to pump Pavel for information, something she wished she’d done last night.It had been a fool’s use of time, conversing about stars and deserts.“Where’s the municipal hoverport?” she asked.“My bike’s not fast enough?” he asked as she sped forward.“It’s fine,” she said.“Do you know which city-zone the hoverport is in?“What’s your brother got himself mixed up in?”Jess worried that she was spooking Pavel.“If my brother has injuries, I want better options than waiting for emergency services to respond.”“If your brother’s injured, I’ve got a med kit under the bike seat.I can stop bleeding, set bones, whatever he needs.”Jessamyn chewed her lower lip, worrying she’d never get rid of Pavel.She wished she could risk calling Ethan to learn more about his situation, but she couldn’t until she got rid of Pavel.She continued following her tattoo’s directions, feeling more and more anxious as it transformed from green to yellow to orange.Just hold on another minute, Eth, she thought.“Do you know where the nearest hoverport is or not?” She was less than a half-kilometer from Ethan’s location.Jess blinked her right eye three times, causing the membrane in her eye to shift into place to reveal cloaking fabrics in operation.She prayed they’d cloak-tarped the Terran transport.There it was! Sitting in a parking lot behind a rusted-out truck.“Jessamyn,” said Pavel.“That last barrier we passed through? People can’t normally drive through that.”“They can’t?” asked Jess.“No, of course not.This facility is under high security.The only reason you got through is that my bike is registered to Lucca Brezhnaya.What is your brother involved with?”“I’m not sure,” replied Jessamyn, bringing the bike to a halt.She swung her legs out.Hades, she weighed so much on Earth.She looked Pavel in the eye.“But I know he’s in trouble and I have to try to help.Please, go.Now.”Jess glanced down at her tattoo, glowing deep red.Seven minutes had passed since he’d called.She needed to find her brother now whether Pavel stuck around or not.She thought of something.“If you don’t leave, I’m messaging emergency services that you’re kidnapping me,” said Jessamyn.“What?”“Because you’re worried I’ll earn your apprenticeship.”“You’re joking,” said Pavel.Jess saw an angry look flash across his face.“I’m counting down from five.”“Jess—”“Five.Four.Three.”“Message me and let me know you’re okay,” he said, flicking his wrist over the spot where her scan chip lay.Jessamyn had no idea how to “message” Pavel, but she wasn’t planning to in any case.“There was no need to threaten me,” he said coldly.“I’m doing this because you asked.Because I liked the you I met last night.”Pavel revved the hover-bike and drove off, leaving her alone in the dark.Chapter EighteenNO LANGUAGE TO EXPRESSJessamyn noted that her clothes had returned from their spray-shrunk state to their former size.Reaching into a back pocket, she pulled out a thin black balaclava and gloves.It wasn’t as effective as a cloaking fabric, but the black rendered her difficult to see in the pre-dawn gloom.She advanced toward the cloaked transport.Through her glove, the red tattoo glowed softly.Suddenly, her ear implant began transmitting again.But it wasn’t her brother she heard.Voices, electronically altered, filtered through the device in her ear.Ethan was with others, it seemed—but who? Friend or foe? And then, glancing along the building, she saw him.Ethan was being marched and then made to halt facing a wall, legs apart and hands clasped atop his head.The voices she’d heard weren’t Kipper and Harpreet—where were they? And how was she going to free her brother? She glanced at her tattoo, preparing to flick it off.But it was doing something funny.As she crept toward her brother, the red flashed to orange.She paused.What was going on? Had Ethan set her tattoo to lead her somewhere instead of to him? What else was there? The transport?She angled toward the vehicle and the chrono-tattoo glowed cherry red.Another couple of steps and it shifted to a deeper red.She crept up to the side of the transport, hoping to find something that would allow her to rescue Ethan.Lifting the tarp and opening the door silently, she slipped inside.“Jessamyn, daughter,” said Harpreet, seated in the transport.“Thank goodness.Listen carefully.Kipper’s been shot.I don’t know where they took her.Or if she’s alive.Don’t use your left chip again.Stick to the right.Do you understand?”“What about Ethan?” It was all Jess could do to utter her brother’s name.“I’m going to negotiate for his release.If things don’t go well, I need you to do two things.Listen to me,” said Harpreet, grasping Jessamyn’s shoulders.“Set aside your concern for your brother; you cannot save him, but I may be able to.”Harpreet passed Jessamyn a sling-pack meant to sustain team members for up to forty-eight hours solo.Jess couldn’t remember half of what was inside the tiny bag, but the simple act of accepting it awakened a part of her that felt bold and alert, like she felt in a cockpit.“I’m listening,” whispered Jess.“What are my orders should you fail?”“First, cover yourself in the small cloaking wrap.” Harpreet handed a flat-folded object to Jessamyn.“It is extremely heavy in this gravity.Then, set this transport to auto-destruct using this device.” Harpreet placed something small and black into Jess’s palm.“We can’t have the vehicle traced back to Skye.There’s another motor pool two streets back.You would have passed it.”“Yes,” said Jess.She’d seen it.“If I don’t succeed, go to the Galleon and get those rations back home.”Jess nodded once, the pilot in her accepting her mission without question.Then the sibling in her struggled to the surface.“Save my brother,” she whispered.Harpreet touched Jess’s cheek softly and exited the transport.Jessamyn watched from inside as Harpreet strode toward the small grouping, shoulders back, head carried high
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