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spoke a basic form of English. They had some words she'd never heard of. Still, it was close enough to hers to be understandable. Unlike their portal technology. That's what she really wanted to take home. Like that will ever happen. Still, imagine being able to go to California for a swim and Hong Kong for a shopping trip and then ending up in Paris for dinner. Travel by codex was fast and simple. It was also green technology. At least she thought it was. It would eliminate the need for planes, trains, cars even. The air would be almost pollution free. So much nicer than walking along the street with all the car exhaust she had to breathe in now.
    Well not right now. Right now she was in the Louers' dimension. At least she thought she was. Then she could possibly be underground in the new dimension, too.
    Let's face it. I have no clue where I am.
    "Enough, already. Door open."
    A grinding sound filled the area. The wall in front of her slid to the side. She pivoted, crouching low only to see she was still alone. Then she slipped into the room and stopped just inside the doorway. Was it the tone of voice that mattered here? Odd, considering she'd heard no sounds here. In fact, the silence was starting to bug her.
    "Lights on."
    Instantly the same lighting system turned on, giving a low yellowish light over what appeared to be another empty room. "Crap. I like peace and quiet as much as the next person, but all the time? No. Are there any Torans here? Anything but Louers?" Silence was her only answer. Good thing, too, otherwise she'd have had a heart attack. "Stylus, are you in here?"
    She didn't have her zipper tab in her hand. Damn. Digging deep, she scrounged around in her pockets until she found it. From what she could see, there was nothing in this room. Turning to the closest wall, she repeated the question, her hand ready to write the answer.
    Only there was no answer.
    Shit.
    "Stylus? Stylus, talk to me."
    No answer.
    Double shit. It had been here a minute ago. She knew that. Had felt that deep connection, so close, and now it was gone. Where and how?
    Closing her eyes, she called out as strongly as she could on a mental level.
    No response.
    Somehow, within the last five minutes, she'd lost her connection to the stylus. Why? Her heart raced. She walked the perimeter of the room looking for anything that would show storage, another door, Louers...something to explain how her stylus could have gone missing.
    And came up empty.
    "Stylus, do you have a power source that has run out? Like a battery or something?"
    No answer.
    Fear crept down her spine. All alone was one thing, all alone without the stylus was a whole different problem. Up until the last couple of minutes, she'd thought she was close to holding it again in her grasp.
    Now what?
    ***
    Eric stood in the middle of his father's chambers. Where was his father? Searching as he walked, Eric returned to Paxton. "My father isn't there. I can't find him anywhere."
    Paxton lifted his head, concern clouding his eyes. "He can't be far. Everyone is still on alert. Just because the war is over doesn't mean the danger is."
    Eric shrugged. "I couldn't find him. Ask your stylus."
    Paxton frowned. "We can't be bothering it for every little thing. Walk the building and find him. He's probably in the dining room."
    Studying his codex, Eric typed in a series of numbers to see if he could track his father. "I don't know. This doesn't feel right."
    "Why?"
    "The codex isn't picking up his wrist unit."
    "I believe he has the broken one, remember? I tried to fix it, but he wanted it back before I completed the job." Paxton looked at the charts and papers covering his desk. Grabbing a blank page, he picked up his stylus. "Stylus, where is the Councilman?"
    His hand jerked as the message came through. Gone.
    "What does that mean?" Eric stared at the paper. "Gone where?"
    "Stylus, has the Councilman left the building?"
    Yes.
    "There's no way. He almost never leaves. Ever." Eric glanced