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assessment was complete. “Good. She needs all the help she can get.”
    Col had suspected that her niece harboured a talent, but for her, this cinched it. It seemed to be psychic, so Makki was safe. Colah smiled as her niece returned to her side.
    The small hand slipped into hers and Col felt a sense of peace wash over her.
    Mak grinned. “You are going to be fine, Auntie. You can trust him. Now, go before they try and keep you here.”
    She hugged her niece and sister one more time before she walked to stand in front of Ysyr. “Well? I am as ready as I am going to get. Shall we be going?”
    He reached out and placed his hand, palm up, in front of her. With a grin, she took his hand and together, they walked through the armed guards, across five hundred yards of salt flat and into his shuttle.
    “Welcome to the Egrin Bor, one of the fastest ships designed by the Kalorda. Take that seat, strap in and hang on. I don’t know when or if the Resicor will rescind their hospitality and I want to be in the air if they do.”
    She looked at the crowd of folk who were watching the shuttle and did as he said. “You and me both.” Being in the air had never seemed like a better idea.

Chapter Six
    They made it off world without incident and the moment that they were free of threat, he applied the engines and fitted a halo to his head.
    Col was shaking. She had done it. She had left the dome behind and a life loomed ahead of her that would let her fly.
    “Master Instructor Ysyr, what is that halo for?”
    “It is my link to the jump engines. We are about to make the first of three jumps to Morganti. Each jump uses technology to move us from one empty spot to the other. There are a finite amount of jump points available in any system and so you must find one before you can jump.”
    She chuckled and fiddled with her harness. “You are beginning with the instruction already?”
    He smiled, “No time like the present. Prepare for jump.”
    Colah held her breath and when a series of lights tracked across the command console, she had the peculiar feeling of being two places at the same time.
    They settled and Ysyr turned to her. “How do you feel?”
    “Weird but fine.” She took a quick mental inventory and nodded. “Yup. Fine.”
    He laughed. “You are doing very well for your first time into space. We are two hours from the next jump point, so tell me about that suit.”
    She looked down and blushed at the expanse of skin that was exposed by the pattern. “It is grafted to my skin. They give us the suit to contain our talents. It has a suppression system in it that is set by our activity levels. Once set, it will remain that way for the rest of the wearer’s life.”
    “You can’t take it off?” He frowned.
    “No. It takes care of bodily disposal for me as well as sweat and oil, I only need to wash my hair and hands.”
    “So, your body is completely cut off?” There was an intensity to his question that she didn’t understand.
    “I believe so. If you mean sex, it has never been a concern before, so I can’t miss what I haven’t had.” She was staring out and watching the planets drift to the side as they sought the next jump point.
    She could see him visibly jerk as she spoke and he turned back to the monitors. She barely heard him mutter, “We will just see about that.”
    Her lips twisted, but she gasped as the lights flashed again and they moved from one point in space to the others.
    “What, no warning?”
    He chuckled. “Sorry, I was distracted.”
    “More flying, less flirting. I am not going anywhere.” She laughed.
    Ysyr nodded. “You are right, of course. I am sure that Fixer could manage something. Not that your suit isn’t very fetching, but it is far more confining than I would like.”
    She chuckled as they moved through the next star system to the last jump point. “It is a design to keep two things from happening. The first is that they don’t want the physical talents reproducing and