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Ms. Black got involved with them to begin with. The program they took her from was a cross border initiative created to deliver health care and study fast-moving viruses among the frontier ’Verses. They killed four at the labs she had established. Several have disappeared and we fear … well, it’s obvious what we fear.”
    Vincenz heaved a sigh. “Not thrilled to have to tell her what’s happened to her parents. I want to make her smile, not shed more tears.” Julian nodded, feeling the same.
    “We’ll tell her together.”
    “That will be good, I think. She seems to trust you two. Just make it brief and straightforward. She’s going to need a lot of uncomfortable truth, but it has to be given to her. She deserves that.” Dr. Pesch consulted his notes again. “They very rarely spoke to her or touched her over her time there. Except.” He paused. “There’s a note. They tried to take a blanket from her. She tore the man’s eye out to keep it. They had to gas the room to get him out. They did it just to see how she’d react. They never wanted the blanket in the first place. After that though, it appears they doubled the amount of sedative in her food and water to keep her more subservient.”
    Julian growled, the rage eating at his belly. “I hope he wearsthose scars forever for his sins. I’d rip his other eye out if I ever met him.”
    Vincenz paled and Julian knew it was guilt. Guilt over something he had nothing to do with, but felt nonetheless. Because he was the man his father only wished he could have been.
    Pesch continued. “She was beaten at random. Starved. They caught her keeping track of time in her room and made her stop with … severe punishments.”
    Julian scratched the beard on his chin. “Why would they kidnap her just to torture her? She’s a useful target.”
    “Something we don’t know yet. It’s why it’s so important we debrief her.”
    “Hal, you’ve seen her. She’s in absolutely no shape to be taken to Ravena to be questioned by soldiers in a military compound. Much less hooked up to a brain scan.” Vincenz leaned forward, intense. Julian rarely saw him this way. But he understood it. For whatever reason, Hannah was important to them. Important to protect. She had no one but them and that would be enough.
    “I agree. She’s stronger than you’re giving her credit for. I think if we can manage to do it here, we should. I wouldn’t voice support for any plan that removed her. Not unless she was getting in the way here. Are you two all right with her presence?”
    Both men nodded. “Yes, yes, of course. We can keep her safe. We have the room and the access to medical care for her.” And Julian would feel better knowing she was there where they could keep an eye on her.
    “I’m going to return tomorrow. Give her a chance to rest and recover from today. I’ll make my official recommendation that she stay here with you. If and when you have to go out on missions, it may be complicated. I just wanted to get that out there. But if she grows to feel secure here, she may be fine when you’re both gone.”
    He stood and shook hands with them.
    “Thank you. For coming out here.” Vincenz was a little pale but he’d regained most of his composure.
    “Of course. There’s something about your Ms. Black.”
    Yes.
    T hey connected with Ravena and waited for all the parties to get hooked in. Vincenz looked in her direction from time to time. Her door was open so he could see the rise and fall of her body. She tended to sleep bundled up in all her bedding. Tenderness skittered through him at the thought.
    Ellis spoke without any preamble. “Vincenz, we’re going to need you to appear at a corps meeting in four standard hours. Holo in. Julian, Ash Walker is on his way to you. I want you to brief him on the results of the interrogations on Ceres.”
    Julian took notes to keep from thinking too closely about Ceres.
    “Andrei will stay here for the time being to coordinate